You will keephimin perfect peace,Whosemindisstayedon You,Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 New King James Version Holy Bible
One morning as soon as I woke up my head felt like it was going to explode in flames and my finger tips felt like they were going to explode. I knew this was a with drawl symptom of stopping smoking. There was a quite little voice that informed me not to reach for any niccorette gum, lozenges or the patch. I felt Jehovah telling me He was going to beat it.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.Romans 8:26 New King James Version Holy Bible
Now was decision time: 1 I could surrender to the craving and buy a pack. This would mean ultimate defeat.
2 I could trust Jehovah and obey His instructions.
I felt the Lord directing me to a quiet wood lot. Silly me, had the disbelief that it was going to be smack down time like in the phony wrestling some folks waste their time watching on TV. There was a fantasy of the devil pinning me to the mat and then my super hero Jesus climbing into the ring and giving he devil the what for and casing him away. The reality of it was I laid on a mat and was completely encompassed by peace and strength that could only be the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And He said to her,“Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8:48 New King James Version Holy Bible
Whenever the desire hits me I either reach for Rescue Remedy or the Bible.
The Bible and prayer works better.
In order to receive Jehovahs blessing it is a two part sequence. First you have to have firm faith and believe. Sometimes part of having faith is taking the first step.
Second Jehovah will then bless you. Now you may not receive your request coming to fulfillment because it is either ungodly or because it is not what Jehovah has planned for you.
There was once a prayer for revenge because of what was deemed a serious offense against me. That prayer was denied but instead the Lord blessed me years later seeing that what was done was nothing more that an unintentional misunderstanding.
For years I prayed to be blessed with a Godly woman to be my wife and for us to be blessed with children. That has never come to pass. It would have been impossible to serve my Heavenly King if I were married and had children.
It is impossible to be a Christian without faith. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Having faith is a lifetime of work. It is not a one time deal.
Each time your faith is rewarded your faith will grow but needs to continue to grow until we are walking the streets of Heaven.
Trust Jehovah with your life, His wisdom far surpasses ours. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Prayer: Please Jehovah-Jireh (God is our Provider) bless me with providing me with them means to grow my faith in You. In so doing my Love I will also be blessed with drawing closer unto You. I sincerely request this in the name of He who had faith enough in You to go to the cross Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5 Holy Bible, New International Version
Where do you go to find rest in this face paced shallow world.
To find true rest from anxieties of finances I go to Jehovah and He guides me to the comforting and best financial advice there is in the Bible (number one is to never go in debt. Save for it and be patient).
When the stress of relationships weighs me down like a rock around my ankles and thrown into the sea I go to Jehovah and He guides me to verses in the Bible on how to handle difficult relationships (many times the advice is difficult to follow but will lead to a lot less stress, fights and bitterness in life. I know His advice has improved my relationship peace tremendously by teaching me how to avoid or handle the ones who suck the life out of you).
When I encounter health problems I go to Jehovah and He guides me to Bible verses that teach me proper diet and exercise (both mentally and physically). I know when it is time for me to depart from this world I will go to Jehovah and He will guide me to Bible verses that comfort and reassure me He is waiting to guide me home upon my departure from this world.
Where do I go to find Divine rest while enjoying heavenly communion with my Beloved Father?
Why, in Gods Cathedral of course.
And where is this amazing Cathedral?
Any place in nature.
My preferred places are in an isolated beach, my a quiet gentle little rapids or in a forest or laying under the summer stars.
It is when I am in the beauty of His creation that the weight of the world disintegrates to be replaced with Gods amazing peace and love. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Heseh (God is love) for the amazing privilege of communing with You in Your awesome creation. Thank You my love for the comfort, strength, wisdom, healing, peace and encouragement that You bless me with when I pour out my aching heart into Thy loving arms. I deeply thank you my Love in the name of my Heavenly Healer Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
OLordmy God, I cried out to You,And You healed me. Psalm 30:2 New King James Version
It was in my hard times that Jehovah accomplished His greatest work in my life. Joseph- Anthony: Green
At one time there were undesirable traits in me that Jehovah needed to expel from my being before He could use me. They were the most agonizing and difficult times in my life yet I praise Him for them. That may sound crazy but it is true.
Take spitefulness for example. If you crossed me I could be the most evil and cruel soul you have ever encountered. Folks would literally get on their knees and beg me to stop. These needed to be burned away from me before Jehovah could use me which He did. He arranged for some agitators to continuously torment me. I wanted revenge but He told me to stand there and take it. It was more than I could handle so I cried out to Him to bless me with the strength to with stand these attacks which He abundantly did. Through these awful times He taught me to depend upon Him for strength.
The flip side of the coin was when Jehovah extracted His vengeance upon my tormentors which He arranged for me to witness. When His justice was preformed in my site a small quiet voice said to me:” Seek not revenge but leave vengeance in the hands of the Lord for He knows how to perform true justice.” When I saw the Lords vengeance I was terrified of it. Through this process I learned to depend upon Jehovah for strength and for His divine justice to be executed (yes it is okay for Christians to call upon the Lord for justice to be done unto those who have wronged us).
This is but one example of how He burned off the dross of stubbornness, independence, and spitefulness in my life. Burning off the dross is what they do to metal to make it pure. It is put through a furnace and the useless stuff is melted away to leave a pure metal.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy
Jehovah puts us all through the furnace of afflictions to burn off our undesirable qualities to make us pure in His eyes. That does not mean we are perfect. It means our hearts bodies and minds belong to Him and Him alone. Through this process He healed me of a lot deep hurt and anger that was in my life.
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. Anonymous
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah-M’Kaddesh (The Lord is my Sanctifier) for blessing me with crucifying anything that was worshiped above You in my life and for the blessing of burning off of the dross of all things that impeded my growth into the holy child You have intended for me to be. I exalt You in the name of Your most holy son Jesus Christ. Amen.
May you be blessed in abundance with Jehovahs Devine love, peace and joy today and every day.
O You who hear prayer. Psalm 65:2 New King James Version
When you pray you are not praying to a dead idol made of wood or metal or some make believe fellow like Santa Claus or to dead souls, like the saints. That is foolishness.
Instead with reverence, love and sincerity pray to the living God whose throne is in Heaven.
He hears your cry when suffering sorrow. He blesses you with answers that give reassurance and healing.
He hears your cry when you need help. He answers with protection and resources to conquer your adversary.
He hears your cry when you are alone and feel dejected. He blesses you with filling you with His Divine love, comfort and encouragement. He hears your cry when you need guidance in your life. He blesses you with resources and guidance councilors to show you the path you must take.
He hears your cry when you are remorseful He not only forgives you but guides you in the proper manner to reconcile with the one you have done wrong. This blesses you with peace in your spirit.
He hears your cry when you need to learn something. He blesses you with wise teachers and mentors that reveal the knowledge you need. And of course it is with pure delight he hears your song of praise for His love. To Him that is the sweetest song that ever exists. Of course when we are in a loving relationship we delight in sharing with the one we love how much we love them.
He cherishes your prayer of thank you when He blesses you. That is the respectful thing to do is it not? When you help someone does it not feel good when they thank you? How much more than should we thank our Beloved Father in Heaven when He blesses us?
You do not need to make an appointment and he is never too busy. Jehovah is always there, Jehovah always cares. Joseph- Anthony: Green
When you continuously continue in a weakness (like being short tempered) He does not become exasperated with you and give up on you. When you honesty are repentant and humbly ask for forgiveness He will forgive you and thousand times a thousand.
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Heseh (God is love) for being such a loving Father to this cherished child of Yours. Thank you for Your blessings of Your Hoy love, strength, wisdom, comfort and encouragement as Your never end provisions. I praise You in the name of Your most special blessing Your Holy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sweet sunshine of Jesus’ beautiful love bless you today and every day.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Jude 24 New King James Version
We all have them.
We have inherited them from our parents.
Sinful disposition traits are handed down from one generation to the next. This is why it is important to trace your ancestors. Doing so helps you understand why you are the way you are.
So if say you have relatives in your family tree that were alcoholics you would know it to be very wise to abstain from drinking.
As well it is also of extreme importance to pass this knowledge onto your children to help them avoid much grief and destruction in their lives.
Now there are some bad traits that try as we may we can never conquer them.
So say you are short tempered it does not matter how hard you try to control your temper you will always be short tempered.
All is not lost however.
We are blessed with the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit when we accept Christ as our savior and surrender these weaknesses to Him in complete faith that He shall conquer them.
As well He will bless you with knowledge of what triggers your temper to go off and the necessary steps to avoid these ruinous situations. There will come occasions when you cannot escape them. Then it is time to run to the safety of the Holy Spirit. Call upon Him quickly with complete faith He shall deliver you and He will.
I speak from personal experience on both of these weaknesses.
There were inherited weaknesses that were destroying my life that I had no power over. It was only when I completely surrendered them to Christ that I was saved.
There are ruinous dispositions that require daily prayer to prevent me from disastrous situation that the Holy Spirit either prevent from occurring or guided me through them when they do occur.
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah-Chatsahi (The Lord is my Strength) for blessing me with Your Devine strength to eternally conquer the fleshly weaknesses in my life that was spiritually destroying me and making my life a living Hell. Thank you for blessing me with wisdom and strength on how to keep them at bay. I exalt You in the name of Your strong Son my Beloved Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sweet sunshine of Jesus’ beautiful love bless you today and every day.
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Luke 4:1 New King James Version
Satan is sneaky.
He does not charge into your mind, he is subtle and begins with just little thoughts. Then they become cemented into your mind and grow like cancer. Eventually they will consume you and you commit a sin.
To effectively defeat this creep use the best and only weapon available to you to soundly defeat him very time.
Carry a Bible verse with you constantly and when the scumbag comes just pull out that verse and with power and authority shove it tight down his throat. Then for the finale inform him that you belong to Jesus so just take a hike. Say it with conviction.
Thoughts become habits so surround yourself with Godly thoughts.
To accomplish this listen to sermons on sermonaudio.com (I like to listen to Allister Begg, A.W. Tozer and Spurgeon.) every day, read Christian devotionals like http://www.actsweb.org and Our Daily Bread listen to Christian radio like http://www.joyfmonline.org and http://www.praise1065.com.
Pray to Jesus to reveal to you your bad habits and the method of defeating them.
Sometimes they are too strong for you and can only be defeated by completely surrendering them to Jesus.
As well think of the things that are triggers and avoid them like the plague. So if you are an alcoholic you need to avoid your drinking buddies and do not even walk down the streets with the bars you used to hang out at.
That is what happened to me with my addiction to alcohol. It was too strong for me and the only way to defeat it was through completely surrendering it to Christ. It was defeated that instant. That does not mean that satan does not still try his sneaky little tricks but I have the protection of the Holy Spirit to resist him.
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Yeshua (God our protector) for the most powerful protection against the most devious liar and thief Lucifer. Your most awesome protection of this child that belongs to You has rescued me from the Highway to Hell and leads me on the difficult Pathway to Heaven. I in deep gratitude extol You in the name of my strong King who defeated our nemesis once and for all on the cross Jesus Christ . Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
“If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.” Exodus 34:9 New King James Version
Stiff necked: having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people, refusing to change your ideas or to stop doing something, difficult to deal with. Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Common, admit it, you are stiff necked too. We all are.
I used to be very stiff necked at times. And then, I was blessed with the cure.
His name is: The Holy Spirit.
Many times He convicted me that I was being stiff necked and I admitted it. When I tried on my own to conquer the thing I was stiff necked in I failed. Finally in desperation I cried out in desperation:”My God, I cannot conquer this thing!” It was then that the power of the Holy Spirit helped me conquer it. Notice He did not conquer it but rather He HELPED me conquer it. We cannot sit on our laurels and expect Him to do all the work. We must put forward and effort and work with Him to conquer it.
Now sometimes He will conquer it on His own like an addiction.
It was only by His power that He freed me from alcoholism. I was a biological alcoholic and no matter what I tried to conquer the drinking problem I fell flat on my face. It was only when I totally surrendered to Him that he blessed me with smashing the chains that help me in a living Hell and was dragging me into a permanent one.
It is also why we need to read our Bibles, talk with Jehovah and be obedient unto Him. Otherwise we will fall back into the destructive habits.
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah-Mephalti (The Lord my Deliverer) for delivering me from the destructive habits that were making my life a living Hell and slowly dragging me into a permanent one. Thank you for working with me to conquer those habits which You find disgusting. Thank you for pricking my conscience when I begin to fall back into some of my old destructive ways. I thank you in the name of the greatest Deliverer Jesus Christ. Amen
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life. Psalms 119:50 New King James Version
Remember that phrase from a popular movie :”Where ya gonna go?”
Well, where do you go when your heart is pierced like a knife?
The only logical answer is the Bible.
The Christian has peace because he knows he is loved and cared for the by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christs sacrifice by the grace of Jehovah . Joseph- Anthony: Green
Read of those whose hearts where pierced by sadness and grief and see how Jehovah gently healed them.
Do you have no job and your money is running out? Turn to your Bible and read about those that suffered the same fate and see how Jehovah delivered them. Now do not expect something like the widow and the oil like with Elijah but take comfort and have reassurance that Jehovah will deliver you.
Are you suffering from some incurable disease and are slowly ebbing into your final days and are afraid of what death is like? Read your Bible and see how many of the patriarchs faced their final days.
Are you facing a death in your family, read your Bible and take comfort and strength in how they handled the situation?
Any and all tragic events in our life has been recorded in the Bible in the lives of others to comfort and strengthen us. Pray for Jehovah to guide you to the proper place in the Bible and to open your hearts and minds to what is occurring and how it relates to your present circumstance.
I do not need psychiatrists; I need the Bible to solve my problems. Joseph- Anthony: Green
And, if you read your Bible you will see that Jesus has experienced everything we have and so much more. So of course when we come to Him He understands. He has been there, done that.
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah-‘Uzam (The Lord is our Strength in Trouble) for blessing me with Your awesome strength that has carried me through so many trials and tribulations, sorrows and snares. Thank you for Your Devine Book of wisdom to encourage and strengthen us, the Holy Bible through the valleys in our lives. I exalt You in the name of He who taught this to any and all who were willing to listen and obey Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, intoartistic designs. They made shoulder straps for it to couple it together; it was coupled together at its two edges. And the intricately woven band of his ephod that was on it was of the same workmanship, woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses. And they set onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold; they were engraved, as signets are engraved, with the names of the sons of Israel. He put them on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Exodus 39:2-7 New King James Version
The shoulder pads for the high priest was a symbol of our high priest Jesus Christ.
The jewels in the shoulder pads were precious jewels.
We are precious jewels to Jesus.
The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were engraved upon the stones. Our names are precious and are engraved upon Jesus’ heart. Just as the priest was to carry these upon his shoulders so too does our precious Priest carry us upon His shoulders like a good Sheppard. When the sheep go astray the good Sheppard carries them back to the flock.
When the load of life is too heavy to carry and you believe it is impossible to continue on one more step, give it all to Jesus. If He was strong enough to carry the cross for you, He is more than strong enough to carry your cares. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Many times in my life it was only when I surrendered it all to Jesus that the troubles slowly were resolved. I believe it was slowly because that allowed me time to digest just what an awesome, loving, caring, strong and wise Savior we have in Jesus. Jesus is not just our Saviour in Gods grace but also in our daily lives.
It is in our weakness that Jesus is strong. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Prayer: Thank you Jesus Christ Rohi (Jesus is my Shepherd) for blessing me with having my name engraved upon Your strong shoulders to carry me back to Your Holy flock when I go astray. I exalt You in You strong and gentle name. Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day.
“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge. Exodus 31:2-3 New King James Version
God has created us to serve Him with a special skill He has blessed us with.
Now there are only three responses we can have to this blessing.
The first one is we can deny it with an inferior complex.
This is usually instilled in us by our family and peers at a young age and unfortunately for many carried through out all of their lives.
I am not good enough
For me that was the attitude of many of my family towards me when I was a child. I was sickly and weak. Everybody expected me to be a failure yet I have done amazing things like planting over one million trees all across Canada, teaching in China for ten years and countless other accomplishments.
These were not done on my own but by the grace of God. He blessed me with teachers who were patient and encouraging. It took many years for me to understand I was not a failure.
I have not gone to any school to learn it.
Well, okay, I did go to school to obtain my Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate.
When I was a teacher in China there were many university teachers that would arrogantly look down on me because I only had a Teaching English as a Second Language Certificate. When we went into class to teach they fell flat on their faces while I excelled. Most teachers could only teach at one level say children. I could teach the most difficult students of all age levels and comprehension.
That was not on my own skill but Jehovahs gift to me to use in His kingdoms purpose.
Chances are it is not that you are inferior in your skills but in your faith. That is okay.
Just take that first step through prayer and then follow Christs lead. Watch what He can and will do in you and through you. You will be amazed at the results.
The second one is we can use it to gain personal gain.
That is where you take the credit and use it for material gains.
Hey, I am a good teacher; I will teach at the finest school, have a lot of prestige and make lots of money.
But, God wants you to teach in an impoverished area.
I am a great singer. Instead of using that blessing to help people in their walk with Christ you use it to gain money, a mansion and a big boat. Beware. The gifts Jehovah gives you can and will be taken from you and you can end up losing not only the gift but your health and all your material riches and end up homeless in the gutter.
The third and correct one is we can use it to serve Jehovah.
That is where we are obedient and with a grain of salt of faith take the shaky step forward towards His goal for us to use our God given skills for the purpose He has designed us to fulfill in His Kingdoms.
Now do not worry about how you will do it because Jehovah will bless you with wisdom, knowledge and understanding to accomplish the task. I had never taught before when I went to China and they learn in a different manner than us. I did not know that much less the language.
Jehovah blessed me with Chinese teachers that shared their knowledge with me how to teach.
They use very strong corporal punishment when you get out of line but I did not feel good doing that. Jehovah blessed me with teaching me wisdom in how to use different methods that were more effective. Soon the Chinese teachers who had taught for years were coming to this foreign teacher to learn from him.
I did not understand any of their customs but Jehovah blessed me with some students that loved to teach their teacher so that he would understand his students better so he could be a better teacher.
The whole time they noticed my behavior was different and were curious why. That provided a great opportunity to share Jesus with them. As a result we were both blessed when some of them came to Jesus because of my attitude and behavior.
This process was repeated over a ten year span from the northern end of China to the southern end of China.
Each time I became a better teacher not only of English but of Jesus. Now the thing of it is that I did not know that I had the skill of teaching in me. It was not until I was obedient to Jehovahs calling that I learned it. I learned to teach in a way that they would understand. It has helped me teach in counseling others in different areas of their life as well as help others to understand when you are trying to teach them something difficult for them.
You can go through the best university in the world but if you are not gifted to teach you will bomb.
I had teachers that were great in their filed of electronics but were crappy teachers. Nobody ever understood what they were talking about. It is through prayer, faith and obedience that Jehovah will reveal your calling in His kingdom.
An added benefit of this is the satisfaction of knowing why you are here and that you are accomplishing something important in your life.
Going your own way leads to disaster, going Gods way leads to success. Joseph- Anthony: Green
Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Elohim (God our creator) for creating me to serve You in amazing ways all my life. It fills me with purpose, love and joy. I praise You in the name of Your most obedient son Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the sunshine of Jesus’ sweet love bless you today and every day .
'Because Souls Are Like Gardens' is a collection of fictional and non-fictional musings—anywhere from life's quirky moments and general happenings, to thoughts and experiences around Jesus, the Kingdom, and truth. Much like a garden, what is planted here today, will be different to what is planted here tomorrow. Happy Pickin's!
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:4-6
