Hezekiah's Tears

I'm in 2 kings right now, as I read through the Old Testament again. And I come to a part that God just shook me up with. It's about Hezekiah the king of Judah, and he is sick and the prophet Isaiah comes in with a word from The Lord that he needs to get his affairs in order because he is going to die, he won't be getting better. And when Isaiah tells him this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed and this is what he said.."remember now, o LORD, I pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in your sight" and it says he wept bitterly. And before Isaiah could even get out of the middle court, God tells him another word, He says " I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, surely I will heal you." I don't know about you but this just rocked me. Our God is so compassionate to us. He loves us so much. In psalm it says this His thoughts toward us are to great to be numbered, they are as the sand on the shore, He thinks about us all the time...and He hears us! Hezekiah prayed from a pure heart to Him and He says of course ill heal you. Would He have healed him if he had not prayed? No. Why? Because we must come to Him. Our amazing God is so good that He lets us choose. He will never force Himself on us. Of course God wanted Hezekiah to be well, but God also wants us to come to Him. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us! Wow. As soon as we pray He hears us! Hallelujah! Oh my daddy God is so good! Thank you for hearing me as soon as I pray! 

His Goodness leads us to repentance

God is good. He never changes. One of my fathers in the faith once said something very simple that the hubby and I found to be so simple yet revolutionary in our lives. He said "God good, devil bad". if anything is bad it comes from satan and if anything is good, it comes from God! In a world where everyone is so confused and blaming God, it would do us well to learn that simple statement. That's what the Gospel is all about. Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed. Did Jesus, when people came up to Him, say "no, it's not my will to heal you, I am trying to teach you something and it's not the right time to heal you"? No! so then why, as the hands and feet of Christ, do we say that? it's blasphemy! that's not God. it's a lie from the enemy.today, in churches, it's one of two extremes that are being taught. it's either God is good and He will not send anyone to hell or the fire and brimstone preaching. Romans 2:4 says that his GOODNESS leads to repentance. there must be a balance in what we teach. the Gospel means the good news.the good news is that we were headed to hell because of our sins but because of God's amazing love and mercy and holiness He saved us through Jesus. His grace provided a way to Him! Through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection we are saved! that's the good news. I seen something that said "someone is going to pay for your sins, will it be you or Jesus"? I love that. when someone goes to hell, they go with their sins already paid for! they go simply because they don't receive the gift! Romans 1:20 says that "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse." there is no one that will stand before God and say I never heard and I never knew you existed. even if they haven't heard a preacher preach to them, they've had this inner witness and they'll be accountable according to the revelation they have. if you continue to read in verse 21 it will reveal progressive steps you can take that will diminish this intuitive knowledge of God from drawing you home to Him. Today, I pray that you will see God's goodness. that you will see his love for you and his amazing mercy and grace!

The Good person test...Are you "good enough" to get into heaven?

I decided to write this since I have my blog posted on my pinterest and I know a lot of people will click it just out of curiosity. I would like to offer you a test! Have you ever heard of the good person test? Do you think you are a good person? Let’s take a quick test to see. Are you ready? Have you ever told a lie? If you have, what does that make you? You would say a liar. Have you ever stolen anything regardless of its value? If you have, what does that make you? You would say a thief. Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain and/or used it as a cuss word? If you have, that’s called blasphemy. Now here’s the one that gets almost all of us. Have you ever looked at a woman/man to lust after them? I know I have. That’s adultery of the heart. Jesus said that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her/him has committed adultery already in their heart. They don’t even have to commit it physically. So by your own admission if you have done all of these things, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart, and don’t feel bad because  most of us are in the same boat. if God judged you by those things against the Ten Commandments, do you think you would be innocent or guilty? I know that I would be guilty. Do you think you would go to heaven or hell? If you are one who says, “I’ll go to heaven because God is supposed to be so loving, and God is mean if He sends anyone to hell”, well let’s use a court case as an example to show how God is…say you are standing in a courtroom in front of a judge, you’ve committed a crime and you are about to be sentenced. The judge asks you if there’s anything you want to say before he makes his ruling. You look at the judge and you say “well, I’m sorry that I did this and I know you‘re a good judge so if you’re good then you’ll let me go.” Well if the judge said ok, since you’ve said you were sorry, I’ll let you go, your crime is dismissed. Would that be right? No that judge would be thrown out. He can’t say you can go when you’ve committed a crime just because you said you were sorry, even if you really meant it. A judge is just and he upholds the law and he punishes those who commit crimes. That is the same way God is. God is good, but He’s also just and He must punish when we’ve broken the law. There must to be a standard for God because it wouldn’t be right or fair for a rapist who has murdered one thousand people to stand in heaven by a person who has spent all their lives healing people in need. The standard God goes by is
Jesus. Jesus is the path that God made for us as our atonement. It’s like this, say you’re back in the courtroom and the judge says “you’re sentenced to 75 years or $200,000.” And you say, “judge I don’t have that money .” So he gives you 75 years in jail as your sentence. Just as he’s about to slam the gavel, this man that you don’t know runs in the courtroom and says “wait! I have the money. I love this person and I sold everything I have to keep this person from going to jail. I paid the price for him.” Because this man paid the fine, the judge is allowed to release you from your debt. Why? Because the requirements have been met. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus paid the requirements of the law; He paid the price for sin. Jesus canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14). He died on the cross for us and rose again! There is no other “God” in any religion that has died to save us! And Jesus  was raised to life to make us right with God (romans 4:25)! The bible says that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. It might be easy for us to lay down our life for someone we love, but would it be so easy to lay down your life for someone who has just murdered your daughter or killed your son? That’s what Jesus did. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us (Ephesians 5:2). God sent him to us, who have done everything that hurts Him and yet He still loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. What must we do then to receive that payment that Jesus paid and be justified and go to heaven? Jesus paid the fine for humanity forever but just because he did that doesn’t mean that everyone goes to heaven. It’s a matter of receiving the gift. The bible says that people are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood for us! (Romans 3:25) if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you will be saved (Romans 10:19). God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith (Philippians 3:9). We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. (Romans 5:1) we must admit that you are sinners. We don’t deserve what Jesus did for us, we don’t deserve to stand in the presence of God, but Jesus died for us so that we can. If you’re one who says “ I believe in God and Jesus, I’m a “Christian” I’m going to heaven.” Believing isn’t enough. The bible says that even the demons believe in God. (James 2:19) Satan himself believes in God and even knows the bible word for word, but that doesn’t mean he’s saved. It’s like this, you’re on an airplane and the plane is going down,
and they give you a parachute. You could say, “ I believe in this parachute, I’ll be ok.” Just believing in the parachute isn’t going to save you. You have to put it on and jump with it on, and that will save you. It’s a matter of not just believing in God and Jesus, it’s accepting His payment and changing your life and having a relationship with Him. God loves you so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to die for you. Could you love someone, a murderer, a rapist, so much that you would sacrifice your child for them? I don’t think we could. But God did. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. The bible, which is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:15 says that “all scripture is God’ breathed) teaches us that Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven. There is only one God, and He brings us into a relationship with Himself only by faith (romans 3:30).It’s by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. In John 14:6 it records Jesus saying, “I am way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me”. 1 Timothy 2:5 says there is ONE GOD and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Matthew 10:32-33 says that everyone who acknowledges Jesus publicly here on earth, He will also acknowledge before His Father in heaven and everyone who denies Him here on earth, He would also deny before His Father in heaven. There is repeated scripture in the word of God that teaches us that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. When people go to hell, they go to hell with their sins already paid for. Jesus paid for every single person’s sins. People go to hell because they reject the payment that Jesus made for them. You may be saying what you have done He couldn’t forgive you for, but God says that your sins He would remember no more(Isaiah 43:25) He said He will cast your sins as far as the east is to the west (psalm 103:12). God will not only forgive you but He will forget them completely! I am going to close this letter but I want to describe you first what Jesus went through that day when He gave up his life for you and me, I pray you will see just how much Jesus loves you and what he went through for you. Before Jesus died on the cross we read in Matthew 27:26, 31 that Jesus was flogged or scourged and then crucified. In jerusalem when they prepared a man for scourging, the victim was stripped of his clothing. His hands were tied to an upright post above his head. The back, buttocks and legs were laid bare for beating. This procedure exposed the greatest area possible to inflict as much pain as possible. The instrument used in flogging was a short whip called flagrum. It consisted of a
handle, to which several cords or leather thongs were affixed, which were weighed with jagged pieces of bone or metal, to make the blow more painful and effective. A medical doctor named C. Truman Davis has described the process of flogging the body of Jesus as follows:  The roman legionary would step forward with the flagrum in his hand. The heavy whip is brought down again and again across Jesus shoulders, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then as the blows continue, they cut deeper into his tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of lead firs produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by the many blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump the stone pavement, wet with His own blood. After Jesus was scourged Matthew 27:27-31 tells us that the soldiers put a crown of thorns on His head. The scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the body which would cause a lot of bleeding. They mocked Him saying “Hail, king of the Jews”. After that, from the place of scourging, Jesus started out on the 650 yard journey bearing his own cross to Calvary. The part of the cross that was carried was the patibulum; the horizontal part which weighed between 75-115 pounds. Along the way we read that Simon of Cyrene help Jesus carry the cross to Calvary. When Jesus arrived, the crucifixion began. Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild pain relief mixture but He refuses to drink. Simon is ordered to place the patibulum on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown down with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly but to allow some movement. The left foot is pressed backward against the other foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The patibulum is then lifted in place and at the top of it, reads “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews”. It’s nailed in place. Jesus is now crucified. He is hung completely naked before the crowd. The piercing of the
median nerve of the hands with a nail can cause pain so incredible that even morphine won’t help; it would cause severe, excruciation, burning pain, like lightning bolts traversing the arm into the spinal cord. Rupturing the foots plantar nerve with a nail would have a similarly horrible effect. As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain as the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweet over the muscles knotting them in deep relentless throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fight to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally carbon dioxde builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life giving oxygen. Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint render cramps, searing pain as tissue is torn from his back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress his heart. It’s almost over, the loss of tissue fluids have reached a critical level, and the compressed heart is now struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues. The tortured lungs are making frantic efforts to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Jesus can feel the chill off death creeping through His tissues. His mission of atonement has been completed. Finally He can allow His body to die. With one last surge of strength, He once again presses his torn feet against the nail, straightens his legs, takes a deeper breath and utters His seventh and last cry, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” What part of all this did Jesus die from; exhaustion, blood loss, etc.? He died after 3 hours of crucifixion from “agony of the mind” producing rupture of the heart. He died of a literal broken heart. He took so much wrath and sin on Himself and He loved you so
much that it caused a rupture of the heart. The evidence from this comes from John 19:34 when the roman soldier pierced Jesus left side. The spear released a sudden flow of blood and water. Please know what love Jesus has for us. I didn’t write this letter to condemn you. Jesus said He came not to condemn the world but to save the world. I am no better than you. I’m just a Christian who doesn’t want to see anyone go to hell. I want everyone to know what Jesus did for us and how much He loved us. I just ask that you open your heart to what I’ve written and know that God loves you and wants you, his beautiful creation, in heaven with him. Thank you for reading this. God bless you.

Full Assurance of Faith

Hebrews 10:22 says "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.." Do we have full assurance of our faith? Or are we, as James said, a double minded man tossed like the sea? I would venture to say that most of us are the man James mentioned. We have faith with doubt mixed. When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have full assurance of that faith. If you didn't, it would pointless for you to do! What would be the point if you didn't believe anything would happen? Our faith in salvation is the beginning point of our faith walk with God. It is a life long walk. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Our faith will grow as we are in the word. The Lord is really helping me in this area right now. I had been praying for my faith to grown, help me Lord to grow my faith, and it's very simple. As I stay in the word and feed on it, faith will begin to grow! It's that simple. I have been submerged in Smith Wigglesworth books recently, and if you don't know who he is, oh my, this man was an anointed man of God with such simple faith that God was able to use him mightily. Even as I read his books, I feel faith begin to grow. I feel a boldness and a courage begin to strengthen inside me, and it's because he teaches the word. How much more will I get from being directly in the word?! Dare to have faith to believe God. Don't limit the Holy one of Israel and only allow Him to do so much in your life. Give Him a whole door wide open to your life~!

Quick & Powerful



You know the Word of God is really an amazing thing to meditate on. How is it that the Word can be everything we need? How is that possible? As I studied in Hebrews, I was brought to verse 12 in chapter 4 that says "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". As I began to see what the Greek meant on it, I learned that the word quick is the greek word Zao which means to live, to breathe, be among the living, not lifeless, not dead, having vital power in itself. Wow. The Word is literally alive. It's breathing. Jesus said My words are life(John 6:63). So what can the word do if it's alive? well, Jesus used the word to fight Satan. It says here that it's sharper than any two-edged sword. If we could get a revelation on the power that we have through Jesus and His word, we'd be a mighty force for God! Whatever situation comes our way, we can go to the word of God and find what He says about it, and speak that over our situation. You know God created things with words, and He created things to respond to words. He then gave us authority over all things. So, when we speak the word of God over a situation, it's not like we are playing God, but rather it's that we are simply taking the authority back that He originally gave us and using it. In Isaiah 55:11 God says that the word that goes forth from His mouth would not return to Him void, but it would accomplish and prosper in the thing which He sent it for. So what we are doing is speaking God's word and trusting that when we speak it, it can't not do what it's sent to do. Now we can hinder the manifestation of it by doubt and such, but it's impossible for it not to do what it was sent for! It's an amazing thing to know that we have the word of God readily given to us to be used. It's literally like as Ephesians 6:17 says, we take the word of God which is the sword and we fight the enemy with it. It's just as real as holding one physically, actually it's more real. The word of God is our answer for any problem, because Jesus is the Word! We can look to the word for power, authority, love, confirmation, guidance, wisdom, comfort etc. Be encouraged today as you get into the word knowing that as you learn what His word says, you are becoming more equipped to handle any situation that comes your way!



Hebrews 4

As I have been studying the Word for My weekly discipleship group, I felt led to write a few things to encourage the body. You know, God has amazing promises in His Word that He is just waiting for us to find. One of the most useful things that I did in my walk was to make a book journaling all His promises I could find. And then when I was able to see them in front of me, I had an authority because I knew what He already given me. In 2 Corinthians 1:20 it says that All of His promises are yes and in Him Amen to the glory of God through us. That means that literally every single promise God has in His word, is readily available to us to bring glory to Him! wow! that means health, prosperity, protection, blessings etc... all of these are ours! Where we get in trouble though is, as Hebrews 4:2 says, we don't mix the word with faith. We can have a head knowledge of the Word, but if we don't mix faith with it, it's useless. James teaches us a lot in his book about walking this faith thing out. He says that when we ask God for something, to ask in faith and not doubt, because if we doubt at all, we should not expect to receive anything from God. You see our faith by itself is dead if we don't have works (showing faith) to go along with it. Faith is a verb. it requires action. it's not a simple word, "oh i have faith" and then sit there and do nothing. Faith requires action. you have to "do" faith, not "say" faith. We must mix the word, and what we learn from the word with walking out that word. For example, if God says that by His stripes you were healed and you see His Word says you are healed, then you walk by faith and act healed, you will begin to do something that shows you believe you are healed! One of the main things the hubby and I do, is when we are sick or something and we speak the word of God over it and believe we are healed, then we don't sit around and mope...when I sprained my ankle, i believed God healed it, so i walked on it! and Glory to God within a day or two I was completely pain free. Or if i'm in pain with something, I get up and walk around..hubby has held me accountable because when we are in pain, we want to sit around and we want everybody to know that we are in pain! but he will say, hey are you healed, act like it! He doesn't cut me any slack and I'm glad he doesn't...and of course i do it to him! :) When we were saved, we mixed the word with faith. we believed the word that said He would save us and we mixed that with our faith in trusting Him to save us! Our faith made an action; receiving Him. It's the same with everything else! So be encouraged today, as you go about your day, to mix His word with faith. exercise your faith and begin to see it grow!