Tag: Only Jesus Saves

Prayer that Binds, Holds and Breaks |Power Thru Powerful Prayer Series

20 “Because you have so little faith. He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” … – Jesus the Messiah, Gospel of Matthew chapter 17

A combat-ready heart is much better than a wondering fly by the seat-of-heart. Especially when it comes to spiritual communication.
The power of prayer is incredible. There are examples in the Bible of people who were devoted to a prayer life and what it could do.

Prayer is communication; a two-way communication. Prayer is not just a hotline. I have heard people use the word hotline to God. There is nothing wrong with this. For me, a hotline is a one-way conversation where a person just spills all their worries and heartaches to another person who is listening on the other side. Almost like a confessional, where a priest is behind the wall and listens to everything the repentant person has done in the past. Again, there is nothing wrong with speaking to someone about your problems and past. But there is only one Mediator between God and men, His name is Jesus the Savior who died for our sins once and for all eternity. He is the only One that can absolutely help you.

Powerfully spirit filled prayer is amazing:

1.  True prayer is the one that binds things together. The power of prayer is not in what we are saying or doing or asking God to do. But in what God is saying and asking us to do next. We need to sit still and listen. The Bible states that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. You can spill your guts out all you want. Until you are blue in the face. But only when you stop talking can the other person hold a conversation with you.

2. Powerful prayer holds. Just like Jacob held on to the Angel of the Lord until there was a blessing given. We see that Jacob had gotten to a point in life where he knew that his past was coming back to get him. He would grab on and hold on desperately if needed until that blessing came to him. He knew that God was the only One in charge of his life.

3. Powerful prayer breaks bonds. In the case of a woman who had been bleeding out for twelve years. As a Jewish woman, this would mean that as long as she was,’unclean’, no one would be able to touch her. Not her husband, or children or mom or dad or anyone else. The loneliness of being singled out and unable to have a normal life would be unbearable.
This same woman would have the audacity to barely touch Jesus’ robe fringe.
I imagine her softly touching the Son of God’s robe, almost timidly trying her best not to bring attention to herself. She was ashamed of being too unclean for anyone to have pity on her. Yet, we see that Jesus came to her rescue. She did not have to grab on and wrestle Him down until daybreak. All she needed was to stand still inside of the loud and unruly crowd wanting Jesus’ attention.

She stood still until the perfect time when she knew that Jesus would be close enough to touch. The incredible prayer of patience for those twelve years. We must learn to have this woman’s faith and patience. She is one of the people that I will be seeking out in heaven to ask as many questions as I can.

If you are reading this today, and you have so many things that are troubling you, go the only One that can change your situation. His name is Jesus. Some call Him Yeshua, He is the only One that died for your sins and mine. He tells us to come to Him with all our burdens, He will take them upon Himself and make your life a lot better to bear.

If you are ready to receive His gift of salvation. All you have to do is:
– Bind the promises God has said He would do in your heart. Ask Jesus to cleanse your heart and mind. Ask Him to forgive you of all the things that are weighing you down in life. If it’s your past, leave it behind. Once you ask Him to forgive you, God leaves all the past wrongs behind you. Never to be seen or mentioned by Him again.
– Hold on to His promises, He will never leave you and never forsake you.
He will be with you always from this point on, until the end of time. Which is basically forever.
– Break the cycle. Whatever bad cycle you or your family have been in, God will break that cycle and make you new. You will have a fresh start in life because Jesus has mediated you back to God.
Don’t wait, be one of the people that can say that your prayers were powerful because God was with you..

Follow Up Steps:

How can I know God?

Bible In Your Language

Steps to Peace with God

First Steps

 

oscarlikes2writeLeave a comment

A land flowing with milk but no honey please! |Resurrection Sunday 2017

…9 as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 

Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Church in Corinth Berean Study Bible

It is Resurrection Sunday. Today we usually get up early enough to go to the Sunrise service and celebrate Christ’s triumph over death and sin.
I want to talk about what has happened for the last two Resurrection Sunday’s. We have had visitors migrating into our property. They fly in swarms, looking for a place to make their own. Last year we called the beekeeper. And we’ve had to do this again this year. Last year came as a total surprise when our neighbors called to tell us that there was a swarm of bees in our property. This year we knew what to do and called the beekeeper as soon as we saw a few of the scouts buzzing around our yard.

FullSizeRender-1.jpg
Swarm of Bees

I was sulking about the fact that for the first time in a very long time, we were unable to go to any service for Resurrection Day. We’ve gone to Sonrise service since our adult kids could remember.
The bee swarm sank all hopes of going to any service. Our get-together was harshly interrupted by the swarm and an emergency in the family. All of us felt an emptiness we could not shake.
The crazy thing about this is, that during our Seder-Marriage Supper of the Lamb Rehearsal (as I am calling what we had in our Bible study) I spoke about the haste in which the Israelites prepared their food during their first Passover.
The Israelites would have to remember the slave to freedom period for all eternity. I correlated this with the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the cross and how the times of the Temple sacrifices were precisely done during the same time that Jesus hung on the cross. There are no coincidences in His perfect timing.
I was standing guard outside, making sure people passing by on the sidewalk would stay away from the bee swarm. Alone, and at a low point this year, and I was feeling sorry for myself. You see, like the Israelites, we had to leave the house when we saw a few bees enter the bathroom window.
We had our kids and our grandkids with us. I didn’t want anyone getting stung by the bees. So we left all our food, drinks and festivities in haste! I told my wife and kids to leave the house for safer pastures. I would remain behind to stand guard and make sure people knew there was a bee swarm close to the sidewalk. Now I understand why The Lord had me here on this extraordinary day.
My Jewish neighbors were walking to their synagogues with their families. I had to warn them not to get too close. The day gave me a chance to warmly say, “hello” to them and explain why they had to be careful It gave me an opportunity to tell them that I was unable to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and I also wished them a blessed Passover.
They were warm and interested in my explanation and what I was having the beekeeper do to relocate the swarm.
This past Sunday was The Lord’s perfect timing. My Orthodox Jewish neighbors walked through like they always do on Friday nights. Sunday just happened to be Easter and Passover. The Lord had me there so I could be a sweet-smelling aroma to those that don’t know the incredible love of Jesus. The sacrifice He made as the Paschal Lamb of God who took in all of humanity’s sins on the cross and nailed them once and for all. Like Passover, God has the cross as a permanent reminder for us to look up at the lifted Savior who gave His life so that we would all one day be Risen after death.
I am share my joy and peace, even when my house is literally swarmed with thousands of enemies that could have made me murmur and complain like the Israelites when they had to leave in haste during that first Passover.

IMG_3697.PNG
End of His perfect Day #Resurrection Day

I did not complain because Christ is in me. He lives in me, and I have to share Him during the good and bad times. As I pass through this wilderness while waiting to finally get to the real land flowing with milk and I have to say it, yes, honey! He has Risen! He is Risen indeed!
P.S. Another blessing in disguise, had we gone to services and then to a family gathering, we would have had the bees all over the house. That would have been a bad Easter stinger!

oscarlikes2writeLeave a comment

Month of Giving Thanks- The Tiniest of Seeds

Day 12~ I am a tiny Mustard Seed

 

Screen Shot 2017-11-17 at 8.24.22 AM.png

Today I am thankful for the power of prayer. Not just any prayer but the kind of prayer which brings back people from the shadows of death. The type of prayer which moves mountains. The kind of prayer Jesus tells us about in His Gospels, and if it’s one thing I have learned, is that we take what He tells us as written in stone.

Prayer like this is still possible. If we only just believe, not like those blab it and grab or name it and claim it kinds of prayers. True prayer is a fervent prayer from a servant’s heart. The type of prayer that is touched by the Creator of the universe, the kind of intercession, that knows where the real power comes from. If we, God’s children born of His Spirit would only touch it and embrace the power behind it all.

Lord, I ask for anyone who is reading this, to realize that You are above all creation. You created all living things. You can give us faith like a tiny mustard seed, why? Because it is not by our power or might, but by Your incredible and glorious Spirit Lord.
This incredible type of prayer is the type of prayer You want form us.

The action of  placing trust in You Lord is what causes the most amazing miracle. The miracle of You listening to Your children and then moving us behind You to watch the process. This all takes place on your side Lord. Right in Your heavenly throne room. Everything is done there. We don’t have the power, we just need to have the power of faith. This is all you ask of us. You don’t ask us to move mountains. You don’t ask us to revive the dead. You don’t ask us to heal the sick before You ask us to have the faith of a mustard seed, it is then that Your power and glory are shown.
It is You who has the power which Your Son Jesus holds. It is He who does all the work for us. If only we have the faith of a tiny mustard seed. We don’t need to have trust the size of a mountain to move a mountain. You ask us to have the faith of the tiniest of seeds.
Why? Because we just need to know that we know where the power of prayer comes from~ By You and only through Your Son Jesus. Thank You, Lord, may I have this tiny faith in you. Because when I am weak, you become my strength. When I am wavering, You become my Rock and my Fortress.
The power of prayer is not by my own strength and might but by Your supernatural Holy Spirit who gives me faith to do all things through You… In Jesus’ mightiest and Holiest of Names…Amen.

 

oscarlikes2writeLeave a comment

This Isn’t Your Mom’s Gingerbread House!

In a little town called “House of Bread”

There came a baby who would one day

Raise people from the dead

His life sacrificed on a tree

Breaking the chains & bonds

Setting all of mankind free

Oh Star you point the way

To a baby who in a manger lay

The Holy Night would bring

A new chapter with the break of day

Shining Star
Shining Star from Desktop Nexus.com

This season no matter what part of the world one comes from, everything else takes a backseat to the special moment in eternity when the Creator of the universe came down and lived among us.
About two thousand years ago in a tiny hole in the wall town that most Israelites would not even give a second look to, a baby was born.
“What is the big deal? There are millions of babies born is small towns in every country in the world,” you say.
Yes, this is true. But two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem of Judea, a prophecy or prediction was foretold which stated that the world would see a few incredible signs. These signs would lead to a baby being born that would usher in a new kingdom. This kingdom would be from God Himself. God Himself would come down and inhabit the earth among us. He would be born of a virgin. He would grow up in the North in another no-town,(at the time)called Nazareth in Galilee.
This earthly manifestation of Immanuel or God-with-us would shine a light on this dark world. He would usher in peace that had not ever been seen since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.
You see, right from the time our first ancestors fell from grace, God already had a plan. He would send His only Son to fix this fall from grace.
His Son’s name is Jesus and he was born in the tiniest of villages called Bethlehem or House of Bread. Even in the town’s name we can see God giving us a hint of what His Son would do for us. You see, about thirty-three years later, Jesus would tell everyone that He was the, “bread of life” (Gospel of John Chapter 6 verse 35).
On what the Jewish folks call the Passover or what we Christians know as the Last Supper, Jesus again mentions this Bread thing… He (Jesus) gave His disciples bread and said,… “This is my body, broken for you.”

The two things Jesus mentions is that He is to be Our bread of life and that He, the Living Bread or Living God will sustain us. Jesus showed his disciples how He would be broken for us as a piece of bread is broken to be passed around with family members, nourishing their bodies.
Jesus’ disciples did not know what He meant at the time He said this. He wasn’t saying that the flat loaf of bread He was breaking up into bite size pieces was His actual body. What He was saying, was that the future action of dying a gruesome death on a  death device called a cross would be the way that Jesus would be broken, for us to have eternal spiritual sustenance.
His body sacrificed on the cross would make an end to the fall from grace of Adam and Eve and subsequently, all of human kind.
On that quiet and peaceful night two thousand years ago, when the Star was shining so bright for the Magi from Babylon to make their way to this tiny House of Bread village, God had already planned His own death on a cross thirty something years later.
The proof you ask? The three gifts that were given to this innocent baby were given to someone who would be perceived as a King. A King who seemed to be ready to die. Why else would these wise men include gifts for this newborn which included materials for embalming?

Gold:
Very costly and only the wealthy could give and receive it.

Frankincense:
This very valuable oil or oil resin was worth so much money at in the First Century, that the average Israelite could not afford to buy it. Yet this was one of the ingredients used to make incense for the Jewish Temple. This spice was also used to embalm the ancient and powerful kings like the Pharaohs of Egypt.

Myrrh:
Was even more expensive than Frankincense. This spice was also used for kings and for healing various skin and stomach ailments.

Here is my take on the gifts. You can of course, have your own opinions on the significance of the three gifts.
1. With the gift of gold, it was if the Magi were telling Joseph and Mary that this God-With-Us (Immanuel), baby Jesus was to be a powerful King.
2. This powerful King would also be a Righteous Priest who would be able to plead for our prayers Himself.
3. He would one day die a horrible death and be buried like the world’s most powerful contemporaries. Frankincense and Myrrh would be used. These tow oils or resins fit for a Kingly burial.
So this Christmas, whether you believe the Christmas story or not, throughout the world, the Bread of Life will still be waiting for you to make up your mind. Are you willing to take the Bread that Jesus the King of Kings gives you freely?
This everlasting Christmas gift which will bring you peace if only you should take but a morsel… And have peace everlasting.
Because Jesus is Immanuel, the God who continues to dwell or live among us.

Scriptures:
Genesis Chapter 3- The fall of Adam and Eve and the snake their enemy. Off-springs will be at war
Genesis Chapter 49 verse 10- The Kingly scepter returned to it’s rightful owner but the Jewish leadership did not see it.
Isaiah chapters 7, 8 (Immanuel) and 9 verses 1,2, 6 & 7- The darkness the people in the Northern Galilee area will see a light shine…speaking of Jesus’ coming and His ministry of grace and salvation for all mankind.
Micah chapter 5 verse 2- The prediction of Bethlehem being the town to usher in the Messiah of Israel or the Savior of the world.
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to see Jesus fulfillment of all the Hebrew Scriptures or our Old testament Scriptures.

oscarlikes2writeLeave a comment
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com