"We are in the battle for our lives", says the Lord!
- Matthew 6:33; 10:16, 25 ~ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
It is enough for students to be like their teachers,
and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been
called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household.
- We
must be steadfast for God like the woman who kept seeking help from the
judge & the woman with the issue of blood! Be fearless, with the
tenacity of wolves. If they talked about Jesus & called Him evil,
they will do it to you! If you compromise, you'll lose! Don't be afraid
of them, stand up for who you are! Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus with
boldness. Power is in the Word!
- Ecclesiastes 12 ~ Remember
your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” -
before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and
the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the
street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up
at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are
afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree
blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is
stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the
streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden
bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the
wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came
from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. “Meaningless!
Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”
Not
only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the
people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The
Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was
upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their
collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. Be
warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books
there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
Now all
has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep
his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will
bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it
is good or evil.
- Serve God while you can; NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!
- Hebrews 11
~ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what
we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we
understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,
so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he
was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was
taken from this life, so that he did not experience
death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away." For
before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear
built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and
became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
By
faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive
as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where
he was going. By faith
he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign
country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with
him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with
foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even
Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children
because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so
from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the
seashore.
All
these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not
receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a
distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of
their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they
would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a
better country—a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared
a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him,
offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He
who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only
son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your
offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise
the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from
death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the
Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his
bones.
By
faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because
they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the
king’s edict.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up,
refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be
mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the
fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ
as of greater value than
the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By
faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because
he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the
application of blood, so that the
destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And
what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,
Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what
was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the
flames, and escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle
and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to
life again. There were others
who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an
even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains
and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in
two; they were killed by the sword. They went
about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -
the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and
mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all
commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been
promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only
together with us would they be made perfect.
- You can't see Jesus but you know you are saved! You
can't see the blood but you know you are covered. You can't see angels
yet you know they surround you! We've never seen God but we know He is
the Creator. We know all of this by faith! Take authority over the enemy
& have faith that God will perform in you what He has promised!
- Don't
let anything shake your faith! Be fearless! If God cares for the
animals, which you are far more valuable than, don't you know he will
take care of you! Stand & believe in the Word.
- Because of
the Word, there is division in the world. Light & darkness do not
agree. Put on the whole armor of God & pray for your loved ones!
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