Heaven and Hell

“A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like. “The Lord led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.”
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, “I don’t understand.” “It is simple” said the Lord, “it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves.”
Author Unknown

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RECOMMIT!

Holy and gracious Father, You have given me so many opportunities to start over, to live for You, to overcome my sinfulness, and to turn from my wicked ways. I can’t thank You enough for the incredible outpouring of Your grace,patience, mercy, and understanding.Thank you so much for exemplifying the word you spoke in Galatians 6:9. Father, I recommit again today to live a life reflecting your character and grace and I ask that you not only be pleased, but that You also supply/grant me with the power, patience, and perseverance to help me accomplish your will, plan, and purpose in this life and in the life to come. In Jesus’ name I pray…amen and amen!

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STRIVE FOR THE CROWN 👑 

Back at the turn of a century lamplighters were people employed to light and maintain street lights. Lights were lit each evening, generally by means of a wick on a long pole. At dawn, they would return to put them out using a small hook on the same pole. I read a story about a lamplighter who surrender his life to Christ. While ministering his newly found faith to a friend he said, “You know, I am the city lamplighter and I go ’round turning out the lights, I look back, and all the road over which I’ve been walking is blackness. That’s what my past is like.” He went on to say, “I look on in front, and there’s a long row of twinkling lights to guide me, and that’s what the future is like since I found Jesus.” His friend said, “Yes, but by-and-by you get to the last lamp and turn it out, and where are you then?” He replied, “Why, when the last lamp goes out it’s dawn, and there ain’t no need for lamps when the morning comes.” We may not need lamplighters to light our street lights today but we are called to be lamplighters for Jesus. The world needs to see Christians on fire for Jesus but not with self-righteous attitudes but with a burning passion for Jesus and a desire help grow His kingdom by showing love! 

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Selected and Protected

Lord God of heaven, earth and the galaxies beyond, Your word declares that You are praying for us everyday and You desire that we are one with You as You are one with Christ. and the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, not a house cat, seeking to devour our breakthroughs, hold captive our healing, and create a facade that we are rejected and not accepted into Your Kingdom. This battle is real but we are the sons and daughters of the living God and Your will nor Your words never return void and satan and his demons in Hell will never prevail. In Jesus’ name, we stand selected, directed, and protected no matter what and we receive Your blessings in our lives today. In Jesus’ amen and amen!

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DREAM KILLERS

Why did Joseph share his prophetic dream with his brothers? In his naivity, he thought his brothers would rejoice with him when he shared his dreams with them. Instead, it caused their jealous to turn to hatred of him and the favor of the father on his life. Genesis 37 revealed that as Joseph was entering into the town of Dothan his brothers said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come now let us kill him and cast him into some pit: and we shall see what will become of his dreams” (vv.19-20). Did you notice it? It was Joseph’s promise and purpose they wanted to kill. Sometimes, you gotta be careful when sharing your dreams with others. While we need people to help us grow, not all people are happy about the advancements we make in life. I have heard it said, “People want you to succeed but not that much.” Wisdom teaches us to wait and be careful about our conversation and ‘the pearls of our hearts’. I would even tell you to guard your dream and thus protect the words being spoken over it. I want life spoken into my life and future. God is always faithful to raise up armor bearers and encouragers to share in what He wants to bring to pass in your life. We know the end of Joseph’s lower story (Genesis 50) and we also know that despite the many obstacles he endured God’s upper story plan and purpose for his life could not be STOP! 

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The Frog and The Scorpion

Y’all remember the story about the scorpion and the frog? Well, both of them wanted to cross a stream and the frog agreed to piggyback the scorpion. Midway across the stream, the scorpion plunged his stinger into the back of the frog. As they both began to sank the frog ask, “Why” and the scorpion said, “It’s my nature.” The Bible calls “the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world . . . the accuser” (Revelation 12:9–10), “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), and “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). “The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). So he not only speaks what is false, he hides what is true. Unlike the frog, We can’t be outwitted by the scorpion’s nature because God sees behind enemy lines and tells us all we need to know to not be ignorant of Satan’s designs. The Lord Jesus is no less a warrior today than in the days of old. So I urge you again: Come to him as willing soldiers of the Prince of Peace and learn to say, “He trains my hands for war” (Psalm 144:1).

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A Hole in a Fence

Most have heard the parable entitled, “The Hole in a Fence.” If not, in short there is little boy that has an anger problem and his Dad told him to drive a nail in the fence each time his lost his temper. He quits popping off and so his dad suggested that he pull out every nail when he holds his temper. Alas, all of the nails are pulled out and then the Dad told his son, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.” Proverbs 18:21 reminds us there is power of life and death in the tongue. What our tongue produces has eternal implications, for it reveals what is in our heart. As born again believers our speech should consistently honor the Lord: with the tongue “we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be” (James 3:9-10). Shirley Cesar said, “Hold my mule” and I say, “Hold your tongue.”

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What Are You Wearing?

Ephesians 4:24 says, “Clothe yourself with this new nature.” Ok, what is a ‘new nature’ and what store carries this clothing line?! Well, Paul isn’t referring to clothes you wear rather the contrast to the “old self,” and the result of being transformed by Christ, is to “put on the new self.” Billy Graham said, “In Texas they tell a story about a man who used to hitch his horse every morning in front of the saloon. One morning the saloonkeeper came out and found that the horse was hitched in front of the Methodist church. He saw the man walking down the street and called out, “Say, why is your horse hitched in front of the Methodist church this morning?” The man turned around and said, “Well, last night I was converted in the revival meeting, and I’ve changed hitching posts.” That’s what it means to be born again. That’s what it means to be converted. It means that you changed hitching posts.” May we live in such a way that all people will know that we are bound in the freedom of God’s love in Christ!

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It’s Your Call🗣

There were three brickmasons working on a project. One day an Inspector (Jesus) inquired about what they were doing as he made his inspection. The first brickmason said, I am laying bricks, The second brickmason said he was building a house. The third brickmason said, I am building a magnificent cathedral for God. What’s the point? The first brickmason was focused on completing the job (got to get paid) and the second brickmason was focused on his career. But, the third brickmason was focused on his calling. God brings out our greatest when we greatly pursue our calling. Tony Evans said, “Your calling is the customized life purpose God has ordained and equipped you to accomplish in order to bring Him the greatest glory and achieve the maximum expansion of His kingdom. A divine calling is always intended to bring about God’s glory—to fulfill His kingdom agenda. Therefore, to follow your calling is to live in such a way that God’s kingdom is put on display for all to see (see Matt. 5:14-16).” In the parable mention above the third brickmason was not motivated by a paycheck nor was he only focused on becoming a foreman. He was painstakingly focused on fulfilling God’s kingdom agenda. As a member of God’s kingdom, we don’t have to settle for a mundane life. Rather, we have a divine calling from the Creator of the universe to glorify Him through our life and to advance His kingdom agenda.
#SoliDeoGloria

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Burned Out🤦🏾‍♂️?

One reason we have a tendency to burn out is because we allow crap to pile up in our lives. We become emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Exhaustion can lead to depression and different kinds of spiritual warfare. Prophet Elijah experienced this type of burn out in I Kings 18-19. At the height of his ministry, confirmed by many miracles, he felt so hopeless that life no longer made sense to him. He told God he wanted to die and he laid down under a tree and went to sleep. However, as referenced in the scripture above, an angel woke him up and told him it was time to eat and get moving. Remember the lady with an issue of blood mentioned in Luke 8:43-48? Sometimes we have press to our breakthrough and other times when the burden is insurmountable God wants us to simple surrender it all to Him (I Peter 5:7). If you feel depressed and don’t have the will to go on, look up. Talk to your Creator, the God of the universe. Tell Him everything – all of your fears, your anger, and why you want to give up. Not only will He understand, He can restore you and over time give you a way to get through it. It begins with trusting Him day by day. Remember, He doesn’t give us strength for tomorrow, today. He gives us strength for tomorrow, tomorrow! Don’t quit! Take things one day at a time.

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