'What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them...'

"The guests at a certain hotel were being rendered uncomfortable by repeated
strumming on a piano, done by a little girl who possessed no knowledge of music.
They complained to the proprietor with a view to having the annoyance stopped.
'I am sorry you are annoyed,' he said. 'But the girl is the child of one of my very
best guests. I can scarcely ask her not to touch the piano. But her father, who is
away for a day or so, will return tomorrow. You can then approach him, and have
the matter set right.' When the father returned, he found his daughter in the
reception-room and, as usual, thumping on the piano. He walked up behind the
child and, putting his arms over her shoulders, took her hands in his, and
produced some most beautiful music. Thus it may be with us, and thus it will be,
some coming day. Just now, we can produce little but clamour and disharmony;
but, one day, the Lord Jesus will take hold of our hands of faith and prayer, and
use them to bring forth the music of the skies." -- ANON

'GENUINE, authentic faith must be definite and free of doubt. Not simply general in
character; not a mere belief in the being, goodness and power of God, but a faith which
believes that the things which "he saith, shall come to pass." As the faith is specific, so
the answer likewise will be definite: "He shall have whatsoever he saith." Faith and
prayer select the things, and God commits Himself to do the very things which faith
and persevering prayer nominate, and petition Him to accomplish.

The American Revised Version renders the twenty-fourth verse of the eleventh chapter
of Mark, thus: "Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Perfect faith has always in its
keeping what perfect prayer asks for. How large and unqualified is the area of
operation -- the "All things whatsoever!" How definite and specific the promise -- "Ye
shall have them!"

Our chief concern is with our faith, -- the problems of its growth, and the activities of its
vigorous maturity.

A faith which grasps and holds in its keeping the very things it asks for, without wavering, doubt or fear -- that is the faith we need -- faith, such as is a pearl of great price, in the process and practise of prayer.

Mat_13:46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

The statement of our Lord about faith and prayer quoted above is of supreme
importance. Faith must be definite, specific; an unqualified, unmistakable request for
the things asked for. It is not to be a vague, indefinite, shadowy thing; it must be
something more than an abstract belief in God's willingness and ability to do for us. It is
to be a definite, specific, asking for, and expecting the things for which we ask. Note the
reading of Mark 11:23:

"And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he
saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he saith." '

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 5)

*******

Mar 11:22  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mar 11:23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mar 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Faith and prayer.


Hand in hand the two go and we need to believe this.

If we pray to a LIVING, LOVING GOD, then we truly believe our GOD, our FATHER GOD hears us, and loves us, and desires that we live in HIS love.  Any parent knows, and any child can comprehend the truth- that loving human parents do their best to do all things for their children's best interests. A truly loving human parent would never deliberately do something to harm their children unless it was a mistake, an accident, something that happened in ignorance through flesh ruled faults. God, our Heavenly Father will NEVER do anything, He will never answer a single prayer that is detrimental to OUR ETERNAL LIFE.

When we ask for anything in FAITH in our loving Heavenly FATHER, we are asking for HIS WILL for us be done, His love, His knowing, His caring, His desire for us to have salvation through HIS Son.  When we ask amiss, we are asking for things not in the faith of our Father, not in trusting His will for us.  If we ask specifically for the saving of a life and that life is not saved, there is a reason for it that goes beyond our desire for that person's life to be spared so they can live longer.

We must pray in specifics knowing that what we ask for in FAITH means asking in the belief of our Savior's desire for us to be found in Him, in His Salvation, be realized truly. The mountain will be moved if it needs to be moved and this we believe because our faith is solely in our SAVIOR, in our GOD.

All in His LOVE!

Take no thought for the morrow

Isa_26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS (Excerpt 4)

'When we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," we are, in a measure, shutting
tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in today. We do not seek
tomorrow's grace or tomorrow's bread. They thrive best, and get most out of life, who
live in the living present. They pray best who pray for today's needs, not for
tomorrow's, which may render our prayers unnecessary and redundant by not existing
at all!

True prayers are born of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread
enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread
tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be
focused upon the present, We must trust God today, and leave the morrow entirely
with Him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of
each recurring day -- daily prayer for daily needs.

As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer. No amount of
praying, done today, will suffice for tomorrow's praying. On the other hand, no praying
for tomorrow is of any great value to us today. To-day's manna is what we need;
tomorrow God will see that our needs are supplied. This is the faith which God seeks to
inspire. So leave tomorrow, with its cares, its needs, its troubles, in God's hands. There
is no storing tomorrow's grace or tomorrow's praying; neither is there any laying-up of
today's grace, to meet tomorrow's necessities. We cannot have tomorrow's grace, we
cannot eat tomorrow's bread, we cannot do tomorrow's praying. "Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof;" and, most assuredly, if we possess faith, sufficient also, will be
the good.'

*******

Mat_6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Truth!

Jesus speaks ONLY truth!

So our doubting our Savior impedes our faith.  When He spoke the words -- 'Take therefore NO thought for the morrow…' -- did He mean what He said?  Did He mean it?! He had to mean it, He had to.  Take therefore NO thought…  how many thoughts? NONE, not a single one! No thought for the morrow, yet we can't help but think of the morrow all the time, right? Tell me how many time just today have you thought of not only the morrow but several morrows, weeks, months, years ahead. We tell ourselves that we have no choice but to think of the morrow, life forces us too and yes, it does in many ways but perhaps we need to think about tomorrow in the light of God's will and not our own.

All our prayers must be in light of God's will.

We truly cannot have tomorrow's grace now, and we cannot eat tomorrow's bread, and we cannot pray today the prayers meant for tomorrow.

We have to believe that we live now, pray now, trust now. The faith we have right now is a faith that believes in the reality of a very loving Savior, an all loving Savior. To live believing in our all loving Savior means that we KNOW, we BELIEVE that all that happens will be according to HIS plan for us.  Every single thing that happens is by HIS design. Do I mean that He designs for us to suffer? Yes, but the suffering is not senseless as we often believe. We can't comprehend the how's and why's and so we believe it's meaningless, it's pointless, and therefore all that remains is that it is cruel and we doubt God's love calling Him a cruel Master, an unloving Master. We say that a loving God would not allow this horrific suffering, this real torture, we say this because we cannot fathom the whys of it all. All we choose to comprehend is the awful pain, the agony emotional, mental, physical suffering. Our belief has to comprehend that our GOD knows why it is happening even when we don't and never learn why. God's design is for us to be HIS.  The pain and suffering isn't meant to drive us away from Him, but to move us ever closer to Him in FAITH, in His grace, HIS LOVE.

Our daily bread- spiritual and physical- we must PRAY daily. Every day we need this closeness with our SAVIOR, our LIVING, LOVING SAVIOR.

Yes, we must pray for the future, but live in today not allowing the anxiety of trying to live in the future overcome us.

Please, LORD, bless us, keep us in YOU! Teach us to live in today with YOU, believing in YOUR truth that we aren't to take thought for the morrow. All in YOUR LOVE!

Doubts Can Destroy Faith

THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS (Excerpt 3)

'Among the large and luminous utterances of Jesus concerning prayer, none is more
arresting than this:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall
he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it."  John 14:12,13

How wonderful are these statements of what God will do in answer to prayer! Of how
great importance these ringing words, prefaced, as they are, with the most solemn
verity! Faith in Christ is the basis of all working, and of all praying. All wonderful
works depend on wonderful praying, and all praying is done in the Name of Jesus
Christ. Amazing lesson, of wondrous simplicity, is this praying in the name of the Lord
Jesus! All other conditions are depreciated, everything else is renounced, save Jesus
only. The name of Christ -- the Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ -- must be
supremely sovereign, in the hour and article of prayer.'

*******

We need to believe this is a reality, not a fiction.

JESUS says to us-

'HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME'  Believes!

Believes- Accepts As True!

Those of us who accept as true the existence, the reality, of our SAVIOR, the only Begotten Son of God, will belong to Him!

The WORKS that our SAVIOR performs we will do!
GREATER WORKS we will do- imagine that!  Why greater? Because our SAVIOR will be WITH the FATHER in His GLORY.

Whatever those of us who accept our Savior as a reality, as being TRUE, ask HIM in HIS NAME, HE WILL DO! And the Father will be glorified by this!

This is truly FAITH, full faith, real faith!  And all this ASKING of our SAVIOR is PRAYER!

Some will be quick to start a running list of all the things they've asked of God in the Savior's name and not had come to pass. To these I say- God answers ALL prayers but in HIS way, NOT OURS!  He answered that prayer when you asked for more money for something you truly need, something you suffered over because the money never came for it. His answer was to perhaps desiring your faith to grow, not lessen.  We allow doubt to replace faith all to often and as we talked about already, doubt can destroy faith.

Yes, God knows you wanted your loved one to keep living, but He also knew that it was best that the loved one begin their long sleep. He knew what was best and we don't have to understand it at all. When we believe we should be that understanding we are truly saying we should be God, because we know better than God, and that is wrong!

After the initial grief, the awful shock and sorrow we truly need to seek forgiveness for our presumptions and fall at the feet of our LOVING Savior and cling to Him, believing that truly all things will work together for good to us if we LOVE HIM.

Believing! Knowing He is TRUTH, that He is TRUE!

Comprehending all our doubt is Satan induced and Satan encouraged. Satan will feed our doubts about our SAVIOR because he knows doubt kills faith!

Please, SAVIOR help us to believe wholly in YOU! Keep us from the evil of doubt!

BY YOUR LOVE, BY YOUR GRACE!

Faith knows there are delays in answering prayers...

THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS (Excerpts)

"Faith in Christ's ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly."

Mat_9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

"It was to inspire faith in His ability to do that Jesus left behind Him, that last, great
statement, which, in the final analysis, is a ringing challenge to faith. "All power," He
declared, "is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."  (Mat_28:18)

"Yet faith is called upon, and that right often to wait in patience before God, and is
prepared for God's seeming delays in answering prayer. Faith does not grow
disheartened because prayer is not immediately honoured; it takes God at His Word,
and lets Him take what time He chooses in fulfilling His purposes, and in carrying on
His work. There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true faith, but
faith accepts the conditions -- knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and
regards such delays as times of testing, in the which, it is privileged to show its mettle,
and the stern stuff of which it is made."

*******
My thoughts-

Truly our doubting God is revealing a lack of faith. When things go bad in our lives we are always tempted to cry out- 'Why, God?! Why?' And that is a cry of despair, of questioning, of doubting.  People will quickly tell you it's fine to doubt God, and yet that doubt chips away at the faith we have. If we aren't careful the chips at our faith which we allow will eventually destroy all our faith.  It's not fine to doubt God. When we doubt we need to ask forgiveness for that doubting, not tell ourselves it's perfectly fine, perfectly normal. We will doubt, that's in our flesh nature, but our spirit nature counters that with the realization it is wrong to doubt. We must repent of our doubting and seek forgiveness. We must BELIEVE, we must have FAITH, and we must PRAY.  Some will find that while they are busy questioning God, and holding fast to their doubt that it becomes harder and harder to pray.

I've known people who have left a very rich prayer life because of their anger and doubt at God because their lives took a tragic turn. Would I do the same? It's very possible, I'm not trying to get the speck out of their eye while ignoring the beam in my own. I could very well react the same given the same circumstance and by God's grace alone, may I never be tested in such a way.

Prayer can strengthen our faith, and it's through faith we pray. We believe and so we pray, we doubt and our prayers suffer.

Bounds writes that, "There is bound to be much delay and long days of waiting for true faith, but faith accepts the conditions and knows there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards such delays as times of testing…"

This is truth.

We ask for things in prayers and all too often expect immediate replies because our request is for a situation requiring immediacy.  Yet, some things we asked for are not given because we ultimately pray for God's will to be done, meaning God who sees the end from the beginning knows how all things work together for good, we cannot know that. We can see Point A and how is might connect to Point B but we would find it hard to comprehend where Point X fits in when it is so many points away from Point A.

One person's tragedy could be another's blessing- we find this often in organ transplants. One person's faith rewarded while another is crushed.  I say crushed but what it really is being called to do is to be TESTED, not crushed. The test can be horrifically painful but we are to be tried and tested, we are called to endure much suffering, we were never told it would be painless. We are told it is endurable all through CHRIST, through believing that our Savior is.  

Yes, believing that our Savior is. That He exists and is able to do all that He's promised this is faith, this is prayer.

By YOUR grace LORD, by YOUR GRACE!

The Necessity of Prayer - Excerpt 1

The following is an excerpt from the book--

THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS

"Faith is the foundation of Christian character and the security of the soul. When Jesus
was looking forward to Peter's denial, and cautioning him against it, He said unto His
disciple:

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, to sift you as wheat; but I
have prayed for thee, that thy faith fall not."

Our Lord was declaring a central truth; it was Peter's FAITH He was seeking to guard; for
well He knew that when faith is broken down, the foundations of spiritual life give
way, and the entire structure of religious experience falls. It was Peter's faith which
needed guarding. Hence Christ's solicitude for the welfare of His disciple's soul and His
determination to fortify Peter's faith by His own all-prevailing prayer

In his Second Epistle, Peter has this idea in mind when speaking of growth in grace as a
measure of safety in the Christian life, and as implying fruitfulness.

"And besides this," he declares, "giving diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and
to patience godliness." (2 Pet 1:5,6)

Of this additioning process, faith was the starting-point -- the basis of the other graces of
the Spirit. Faith was the foundation on which other things were to be built. Peter does
not enjoin his readers to add to works or gifts or virtues but to faith. Much depends on
starting right in this business of growing in grace. There is a Divine order, of which
Peter was aware; and so he goes on to declare that we are to give diligence to making
our calling and election sure, which election is rendered certain adding to faith which,
in turn, is done by constant, earnest praying. Thus faith is kept alive by prayer, and
every step taken, in this adding of grace to grace, is accompanied by prayer.

*******

My thoughts-

Faith is truly kept living by praying.   Praying really is FAITH.  No one prays without faith, because to pray for no reason is really just talking to hear yourself speak, isn't it? To pray to our Savior, to pray to our Heavenly Father we are revealing faith in them. The faith that they and they alone have the power to hear us, to love us.  Praying is something Jesus taught us to do, praying is something our Savior did and very often, every single day.  If we pray any less are we revealing faith?  Our lives need God for all things, for every breath, for everything truly, everything.  We have to recognize our need of God in ALL our life as we surrender ourselves to Him knowing we are dependent upon Him. Praying reveals our understanding that we recognize our need.  Our God is our ALL in ALL.

Please, LORD, please help our FAITH be kept living through our praying. Help us as we undertake this study on prayer. Guide us into ONLY YOUR truth!

All through YOUR love!

Thank you, LORD!

Surrender

The following is an excerpt from a book I read. I don't necessarily believe in all the author believes, but the following really struck a chord with me.

*******

"There are some definite rules, moreover, for real Christian living.

First of all we must surrender our whole selves to God, both their conscious and the subconscious constituents. This takes time.

A very prominent professor in one of our seminaries confessed that after four hours of trying to find full surrender, a few spiritual leaders became very much discouraged. They were still not much different in their feelings and thoughts.

Total surrender takes at least a lifetime.

When our present self finds surrender, moreover, God lets us have ever larger selves to surrender!

Certainly Jesus had to keep surrendering to the end, through Gethsemane and Calvary.

The saints know that years of self-offering are involved.

As one area is won they have found that God lets us find another to be used for him.

Spiritual pain and sense of failure must be no source of worry, for guilt feelings always accompany the growing life.

When God declares present attainment inadequate His judgment makes us feel guilty about it; but how else could we ever keep growing?

Be concerned, rather, if you feel that your life has attained its fulfillment. Especially be concerned if you suspect that you are a saint.

Surrender is the hardest thing life offers and uses up all the time we have.

Surrender, however, is not negative but positive. We should, perhaps, instead of surrender, call it the constant acceptance of God's gracious will.

Surrender, however, is the opening of the door which God will not break down.

Surrender is our job.

Our surrender is made to God who gives us freely all things.

We surrender the narrow, shut-in self to find the wide-seeing and free self. We surrender the self that is feverishly and vainly set on its own way to find God's life satisfying way.

We surrender the self that nourishes its own hurts and prejudices to find the self of fellowship which rejoices in other people's joy and finds redemptive gladness in helping their hurts.

Surrender is the door, the abundant life beyond it is the heart of the Christian faith.

Surrender becomes cheap and evasive, nevertheless, when it is merely or mostly an emotional formula for feeling secure with God.

Real security does not come about that way, for God is no dispenser of comforts to pious prigs.

Surrender to God means genuineness of life, first of all.

It is self-acceptance. It is seeing oneself as one is, in need of being remade."

(Strengthening the Spiritual Life- by Nels F.S. Ferre. )

*******

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

We need to be REMADE- we need to be BORN AGAIN.

We have to accept needing to be born again.

We have to realize that we truly do have a new life in Christ when we are born again.  And that surrendering ourselves DAILY to Christ is a way of life, of understanding that it is HIM remaking us.  Truly we must open the door that Christ knocks at. We must desire Him in our lives.

Surrender.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so WE SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12  LET NOT SIN THERFORE REIGN IN YOUR MORTAL BODY, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but YIELD YOURSELVES UNTO GOD, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Surrendering to Christ. Surrendering ourselves. And it's true that this surrendering takes a life time because day by day we surrender to our SAVIOR. Day by day we make the conscious choices of obedience or disobedience. We are born anew in Christ, through Christ and Christ alone we have hope of obedience, He gives us this hope that we can yield ourselves servants to HIS righteousness which is holiness.  We choose constantly, life is an unending series of choosing.  And surrendering to Christ is choosing Christ, choosing to obey, choosing to open the door so Christ may enter our lives. Choosing to accept the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.  Choosing to be remade by our Savior.

Truly we must surrender self, all by HIS GRACE! All in HIS LOVE!

Warning

Speaking of Paul it was written...

Act 20:18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Act 20:19  Serving the Lord with all HUMILITY OF MIND, and with MANY TEARS, and TEMPTATIONS, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Act 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Act 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Act 20:24  But NONE of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and  THE MINISTRY, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I C0MMEND YOU TO GOD and to THE WORD OF HIS GRACE WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP AND GIVE YOU AN INHERITANCE AMONG ALL THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED.

*******

We are to speak of-
'REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.'

We are to speak of-
'THE MINISTRY, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.'

We are to-
'watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.'

We are commended--
'TO GOD and to THE WORD OF HIS GRACE WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP AND GIVE YOU AN INHERITANCE AMONG ALL THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED'

Do we really want to know how we are to live? We are to live TESTIFYING of the GOSPEL of the GRACE of GOD.  We must watch and remember-   all that we've been taught in God's word.  Paul WARNED every one...   WE ARE TO WARN OTHERS.   Seriously, what we have to give to others is a WARNING.  The warning being that we must repent of our sins, we must be baptised in water and spirit, and we must live with Jesus Christ as our SAVIOR right here, and right now.  We must comprehend that we can be sealed as GOD'S for a future inheritance. We can be sanctified, made holy and acceptable to God through our SAVIOR'S SACRIFICE.

How many people today grow up with the expectation of an inheritance from their parents?  I want to say many, but with the economy what it is and all it's probably a lot fewer than we'd imagine. But we all know of the idea of inheriting another's wealth whether that is in property (however small), goods (however few), or money (even spare change) left behind by the loved one who willed all they had become ours. Or maybe we aren't willed anything because no will is left behind but the government deems us the closest living relative and therefore gives us the inheritance left.   The expected and unexpected inheritances can be tremendous or absolutely nothing, they can be life changing or un-altering.  No matter our circumstance in this event, we are ALL given an inheritance in salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The inheritance is there for the taking but as any inheritance lawyer will tell you, not all inheritances are accepted. Some people refuse to collect their inheritances for one reason or another, they simply leave it alone rather than accept it. Maybe there is a paper they need to sign, but they refuse to sign it. Maybe there is an item they refuse to collect, whatever the situation it's factual that a physical here and now inheritance can be snubbed, just as many will refuse the inheritance offered to them by their Savior.

We live in a world that seems hopeless, all the while people strive for hope- but that hope is sorely misplaced. It is spent focusing on this world. All their hope is placed in this world becoming better collectively rather than in a future with their Savior in a better world, in a heavenly world. We, like Paul, are to live preaching of our heavenly inheritance through our SAVIOR!

Our lives must be lived with this heavenly hope in us. All we do should be secondary to the heavenly hope. We should be giving this heavenly hope to others. Never forcing another to believe, but offering them the chance to believe, this is what we must do, it was done for us. Living with the heavenly hope as a reality in our lives only makes our lives better through that hope. We don't neglect the life we are liiving now we let the hope enrich our lives.

Through the grace of our Lord and Savior we can have a heavenly HOPE. Our lives can have true, real meaning here and now because we have our Heavenly Hope.  There is a reason for all that goes on, the good and the bad, and knowing we have a heavenly hope makes the good and the bad endurable.

All in His amazing LOVE, our SAVIOR our HOPE all by HIS GRACE!