John 16:26-27, "In that day you will ask in My name  for the Father Himself loves you. ”

     “In that day you will ask in My name ,” that is, in My nature. Not,“You will use My name as some magic word,” but, “You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” That day, is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “ for the Father Himself loves you ”  The Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.  “ whatever you ask the Father in My name ” (16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship, “ that they may be one just as We are one ” (John 17:22).  “ He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation—to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name—in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “ whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements. Not by anything we are or think we can do.  What a glorious Savior we have!!!              God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:13, "and having done everything, to stand firm."

     Thee are two things we have to do anytime we are involved in warfare.  First, we must do everything that we can do, or in other words, we must carry out God's word in our life.  Second, we want to stand firm, remain, stand still, not move.  We must agree with God's covenant and not be moved off of it.  This is hard to do sometimes because deep inside of us we know that the first requirement has not been completed.  You see sometimes people say, "Pray for me," for this or that, but I know that the answer won't come from my prayers, but from God's word.  The problem is, in most cases today, that people want you to pray for them so they can feel better, or get something from God, but they're not willing to do what it takes to get it.  Sometimes we're not willing to stop the things that are going on in our life.  So we just want other people to pray for us that we will receive.  People sometimes are so full of guilt and shame that they can't even pray for them selves.  There is no easy fix!!  We can, and must, stand on God's word, on His covenant, and not be moved.  We can stand in the midst of the storm and make it through.  But first, and foremost we must do what God's told us to do.  You see, doing God's will is what gives us the strength to stand firm.  We don't stand firm because we're strong, or something like that.  We have the ability to stand strong because Christ is in us and we have full faith in the fact that He'll never leave us or forsake us.  We are not full of guilt and shame, but faith.  When you are in this position in Christ, after you've done everything that you can do, then stand.  He'll never disappoint you.  So if you've been trying to stand but just feel kind of shaky, go back and see what you forgot to do.  Go back and check God's word.  That's the starting point for today.  Are you ready?  Can you be honest with yourself?  God Bless,  Rusty

Luke 24:49, "tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

     The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39—“ for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”—does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified—our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.  The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.  It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ—it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity—it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You ” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.  God Bless,  Rusty

Isaiah 53:6, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."

     We always want to attack other Christians for rebellion.  We our very quick to point out our brothers and sisters that rebel against God's word.  But the bible says in fact that, "we all turn to our own way."  In other words there is not one of us who carries out God's word in it's entirety every day of our life.  Well, what do you call something when you know the word of God and you don't do it?  It's called rebellion.  Oh yes, and we are all guilty of it.  There is not one single one of us who can claim to walk the perfect Christian walk.  Just take out your drivers license, go ahead get it out.  Now look at the name on it.  Is it Jesus Christ?  If it is then you don't have to worry about being rebellious because you walk in the perfect will of the Father.  If it's not, then the name on there is one of a rebellious sheep.  You may get upset with me for saying it but it's true.  It's starts with me and you, and goes through everyone who ever called on the name of a Savior.  So why do we pick people out so readily and slander them because they're not walking in complete obedience to God's word?  I believe that we do these things so that we look better.  If we can make someone else look bad then the focus will be off us.  If everybody else is examining our brother or sister then we're in the clear.  That may not be what we want to hear this morning but maybe it's what we need to hear.  If we just blow this off and say, " that's not me, " maybe we're the exact one that God is looking for today.  If we're not willing to pray about it maybe we're the one that needs to pray most.  Maybe this is a hard devotional and maybe it's not.  The good news is that you don't have to pay attention to it if you don't want.  It's your choice.  I just wrote it for me because I know I need it.  I'm going to pray about the areas that I'm rebellious in today, and then try to do something about them.  How about you?     God Bless,  Rusty

John 17:21, "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us ”

     If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17. It will explain exactly why you are where you are—because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be.
God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus—“ that they may be one just as We are one ” (17:22). Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that?  God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical. Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him—because Jesus prayed, “ that they all may be one  .”    God Bless,  Rusty

Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”

     When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “ seek first the kingdom of God  .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.  “ do not worry about your life ” (6:25). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed—no, that person is a fool. But Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Don’t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.” Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.  It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.  Let's do it this morning.  Let's discipline ourselves and get started.  Amen!   God Bless, Rusty

1 Samuel 15:22-23, " Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better then sacrifice."

     You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this scripture out.  Obeying the Lord is more important then sacrifice.  You see back then they had all kinds of sacrifices that were presented before the Lord.  Burnt offerings, wave offerings and drink offerings, just to name a few.  Were they important to the Lord?  Of course they were.  But, the thing that was more important was the heart's attitude.  In other words, when someone presented an offering, was it out of necessity for the law or was it because someone really wanted to.  In other words, if someone brought the offering because they had to, and all they did was complain about it all the way, was it acceptable, or did they do it out of their religious obligation?  On the other hand if they brought the best they had because they loved the Lord and wanted to please Him, or obey Him, because of that love, isn't there a difference in the offering?  What about today?  What are we to obey?  This isn't hard.  The word of God.  It's really very simple.  Let's use the tithe as an example, just to illustrate this point.  We bring the tithe into the storehouse, and I believe that the tithe goes where you get fed, or, in your local church.  But let's say two people bring the same tithe to the church and lay it before the Lord.  One of them brings it because the church requires it and he won't be able to move up without tithing, but he doesn't like it.  In fact, it's really a sacrifice for him to bring it.  Now the other one brings it to the Lord because he loves the Lord with all his heart and he wants to obey him.  Which one do you think the Lord receives?  Obedience, out of reverence, my friends, is the only right answer for what ever it is that we do for the Lord.  Let's evaluate everything today that we are involved in and ask the Lord to reveal to us our heart's attitude.  Then let's obey Him, which is far better then sacrifice.  Amen!   God Bless,  Rusty

Deuteronomy 28:2+15, " and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.  If you will not obey the Lord your God, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you."

     Obedience is the key to a life filled with God's blessings.  When we obey Him and do all He has asked us to, no matter the cost, then His blessings are poured out and everything that we ever aspired to become on this earth starts to happen in front of our eyes.  The process will start where He will give us the desires of our hearts.  Everything deep within us starts to be realized in Him.  You see, it's Him that put those desires in us in the first place.  We don't have to worry about what if and what about.  If it's deep within us then it has been placed there by Him and it will only come about by our obedience to His will, or, His word.  If we do not follow Him and obey Him then every time we start to get close to something it will fade away.  It's like we can see it and we work so hard to reach the goal and all of a sudden it fades away.  This is how curses operate.  We never quite reach the goal that God has put in front of us.  It seems like it is just around the corner but we can never put our hands on it.  If this is our life cycle then curses are probably operating in our lives.  Somewhere there is disobedience which keeps us from experiencing our promised land.  But, the good news is that as soon as we commit ourselves to His word and start to obey Him, our situations will turn around.  Do you need some turning today?  Then pray and ask God where you are missing Him.  If you want to save time don't bother to ask because you already know the answer.  Then, start obeying Him.  His blessings will not only come upon you, but they will overtake you.  That's His promise, not mine.  So what are you waiting for?          God Bless, Rusty

1 Peter 1:14-15, " As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in your behavior."

     We were called to holiness.  I know that we are imperfect human beings.  I know that we were born with sinful flesh wrapped around us.  I know that God's grace is sufficient.  But, I also know that we were called to be holy.  What that means is that we can not use God's mercy and grace as an excuse to continue sinning.  It is simply not acceptable.  If we are to go into these last days as the warriors that we were called to be, then we must be holy.  You might say, "Well I can't be holy because I'm just a human."  Even though that is a correct statement, it is also an excuse for our sin.  God tells us to, "be holy," so there must be a way to accomplish holiness in our life.  Understand that we're talking about holiness, not perfection.  We can never be perfect but we can walk in holiness in this life. It may sound confusing but it's not.  If you want to know how to be holy it's very simple.  Obedience is the key.  Not only is it the key to holiness but it's the First step to all of God's blessings on this earth.  Holiness is needed in the army but it can only come through obedience.  Obedience lays down your will and picks up His will.  Obedience never walks in the things of this world but humbles its self to the truth.  Whatever it is in our lives that we know is keeping us from God must go.  It must be eliminated if we are to walk holy before the Lord.  Today is the day to start fresh and obey what God's told us to do.  Today is a wonderful day to start.  It only takes one thing to get started.  Come before the Lord this very morning and say, "Yes, Lord I'm ready."  It's time, don't you think?   God Bless,  Rusty

Proverbs 18:21, " Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it's fruit."

     We don't understand how the things we say affect our lives.  Our words affect everything that we are, and everything that we do on this earth.  You see, in the physical world, our health is determined by a big degree by what we eat.  If we eat all junk and fast foods we're going to be very heavy, or overweight, and our body won't be very healthy.  If we eat all healthy foods, we will be slim and healthy.  There are people who can eat right and still be overweight, and there are those who eat terrible and are still under weight, but, those are the exceptions and not the rule.  On the whole we are what we eat.  Well, the same is true in a spiritual world.  It just so happens that our spiritual food is the word of God.  So what we eat will affect our spiritual health.  If we feed on the word of God we will be spiritually healthy, which will also in turn affect our physical bodies. If we feed on the words of the world we will be spiritually dead and our physical bodies will suffer.  So the bottom line is that the words that we accept, or let into our bodies will directly affect our spiritual health.  If someone says something about you, you have a choice.  You can either accept what they say or you can accept what God says about you.  If they, or you for that matter, say for instance, " You can't do that," then you have a choice.  You can either believe that you can't do that, in which case you won't, or you can believe what God says and just smile and do it.  God says, " you can do all things, through Christ."   This is just one example of thousands that happen every day of our lives.  So if we want to be healthy it's very simple.  We need to start eating right.  Don't go to the frig, go to the word.  You'll be healthier.  You don't even have to invest in a pair of Nike's. "Just do it!!!!!"         God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinth 4:10, "that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”

     We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.  You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (phesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).  Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.  God Bless,  Rusty

John 15:7, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you."

     A lot of times we wonder about how to pray or even if we are praying right.  We try to pray in some mystical way so as to please the Father or maybe to impress the people standing around us.  Some people don't pray much because they really don't know how, or they do not understand prayer.  Prayer is really quite simple.  You might say, "How do I know if I'm praying in the will of God? Does God really hear me and answer?"  All these thoughts are answered in this particular passage of scripture.  If we abide in Him then His words abide in us.  That's the key, because if we're going to pray properly and know that He will hear us then we must pray His word.  It's easy.  If you don't know His word how can you pray it?  But if you abide in His word then when you pray, His word will automatically come forth.  "Why is that so important?"  Because His word never fails.  Heaven and earth shall pass away but His word will endure forever.  You see, His word can't fail.  Furthermore, His word is His will on the earth.  When you use His word to pray, you are praying His will and the Bible says, "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.  And we know if He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we ask of Him." (1 John 5:14+15)  Get into His word today.  Get into Him today, after all He is the word. (John 1)  Abide in Him and in His word.  You'll start to see your prayers come to life, and that's good news.      God Bless,  Rusty

Joshua 3:3+4, " When you see the Ark of the covenant then you shall set out and go after it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before."

     It's a time in our nation to find the ark of the Lord, or His presence, and set out after it.  We are going into territory that we've never gone in before.  Our nation is being led down a road which she's never traveled before.  If we are going to walk with the Lord we are going to have to be prepared to do things that we've never done before and go places we've never gone before.  We must walk entirely by faith because everything is changing so rapidly.  There is no longer going to be any normal.  If we try to continue right where we were, we'll find ourselves missing the boat.  Our blessed land that we live in here in America is still blessed, but we are getting to a point were we can't see it in the physical.  Therefore, we must keep our eyes focused on Him and not deviate to the right or to the left.  We don't know the path that our nations on right now but we do know that if we stay with Him, He will be our refuge and no plague shall come near our tents.  We must, "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinth 5:7) today more then we ever have before.  Most importantly, we must trust our Lord to bring us through safely.  If you're not sold out to the Lord, today is the day.  Don't wait, because the days are growing dark.  Today is the day to focus in and start to walk with Him.  He's passing by you right now.  Can you feel His presence?  Grab on and don't let go!  There will never be a better time.          God Bless, Rusty

Psalm 27:13, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would have seen the goodness of the Lord."

     I would have despaired, unless.  Unless what?  Unless I believed!  It's very simple.  In fact it's so simple, and we've heard it so many times it kind of rushes right past us.  You know, we hear something but we've heard it so many times we don't hear it any more.  We've all done it.  The truth is that if we would just open up our hearts to truly hear and believe, we would be in a lot better situation then we're currently in.  The psalmist says that because of the belief that was instilled in side of his heart, he did not despair.  There was an overwhelming truth that invaded him and it spoke very loud and clear, "You Shall see the Goodness of the Lord!"  And this truth was real to Him.  If we would home in on this truth in our own lives, if we would only believe, then we would not despair.  No matter what situation you're currently in or what ever is coming against you, you wouldn't despair.  No matter what tribulation or hardship was fronting you, you would not be afraid.  No matter what sickness or disease, or bankers report, or the news cast says, there would be no fear.  Why?  Because if you truly believe the report of the Lord then you will always be waiting expectantly for His next miracle.  His goodness would always be right around the corner just waiting to show its self.  If you are being pressed today, don't give in and don't let up.  Just press in to the Lord and believe.  His word will never fail you.  His word will make you prosper and be successful.  His word is truth.  The only question for you to answer is, "Do you believe it?"  If you do then get ready because His goodness is on it's way!                        God Bless,  Rusty

Revelation 3:10, "Because you have kept My command to persevere.”

     Perseverance means more than endurance—more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).  Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life—throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.  God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet—places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You ” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance—a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.      God Bless,  Rusty

Luke 17:5, " And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

     I have people ask me all the time to pray for them that they might have more faith.  Sometimes they ask me to pray for their faith.  But the truth is that there is only one way to develop and increase one's faith, and that is through the word.  "Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word."  (Romans 10:17)  So we find that faith is a product of the word.  Every man had a measure of faith, to come to know the Lord Jesus, but faith is a growing organism that keeps growing and multiplying in direct relation to how much we feed on the word.  In John chapter one we learn that Jesus is the word so it really comes down to building a relationship with Him.  Reading the word and fellowshipping with the word will continue to grow our faith until we can move the mountains of our lives and others because of the height and depth of our faith.  If you lack faith for something the solution is very simple.  Just get into the word.  The more word you eat every day the stronger your faith will become.  There's not a fancy formula to increase one's faith, just a simple plan.  Read, study and meditate on the word of God and your faith will increase.  It's that simple.  So why don't you make today a starting pint and get out your bible.  Before you start reading say, " Lord I want to have more faith.  Would you increase it as I study your word."  You'll be amazed at how your faith will increase.  It's that simple.  Let's get started!   Gods Bless,  Rusty

Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the defense (refuge) of my life; Whom shall I dread?"

     The Lord Is!  He's my salvation; everything I need in every situation that I'll ever find myself in.  The Lord Is!  He's my defense;  every thing I need in every situation that I'll ever find myself in.    So, that being the case, if I truly believe He's my salvation and my refuge, then why would I ever be afraid?  That is a good question.  We tend to follow the Lord and claim to be His sons and daughters and as soon as the news, or whatever your media of choice is, reveals something negative we become afraid.  And that my friend is all the media does, reveal negative things to bring fear into the world.  But we're supposed to be above fear and dread.  We're supposed to "walk by faith and not by sight." (2 Corinth 5:7)  So what's happened to us?  Most Christians I know talk about all the problems in the world instead of the answer to the problems.  He is the answer!  Jesus Christ is the only answer so we need not be afraid.  If we have the answer to life's problems then why do we not shout it from the roof tops.  If we had the cure for cancer we wouldn't be hesitant, we would let the whole world know!  We need to stand up and be counted.  We have the answer.  I'm not afraid to tell you that there is only one way out.  "He is the way and the truth and the life." (John 14:6)  There is no other way.  What a wonderful time in history to be a witness to Christ.  Stand up today with no fear and no dread.  Stand up and shout it from the highest mountain, "Jesus is Lord and He's the answer to all the problems!"   It's time the world heard the truth.  Don't you think?            God Bless,  Rusty

1 John 3:2, "it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.”

     Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.  Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “ unless you  become as little children ” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “ believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Just remain faithful to Him.                  God Bless,  Rusty

John 10:10, " I came that they might have life and life abundantly."

     Jesus said He gave us abundant life; life that was exceedingly above the greatest abundance, over and above, extraordinary, more excellent.  Does that sound like your life?  If not, what are you missing?  Some just go through life plugging along, waiting for the Lord to come back.  Some just go through life as people who continually struggle over everything.  Some just except their plight in life as normal.  Some walk through life with disease and sickness, or maybe poverty.  But Jesus didn't tell us that we had to live like that!  He told us that we could have an abundant life full of everything that life has to offer.  He told us we could not only make it, but we could make it and stand with His strength flowing in our veins.  Most of us are like rechargeable batteries.  We get plugged into the source just until we get charged and then we unplug and use the charge given us until it's gone and we have to drag ourselves back to church or a revival meeting to get recharged.  Jesus is the source and He doesn't want us to unplug at all.  He just wants us to stay plugged in and never go or do anything without the source.  This is the key.  If you want to have the abundant life everyday of your life, just stay plugged in.  When you do, His power will always be there and your life will not just be so-so, but it will become abundant.  Get plugged back in today.  Put yourself back in the charger and stay plugged in.  Today's the day!  Just do it!  You'll be forever glad that you did!               God Bless,  Rusty

Matthew 5:22, " But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court."

     In the old covenant it was said, "an eye for an eye."  I personally don't believe Jesus changed things, but He gave the proper revelation on His Father's laws.  No matter what you may believe, or whether I'm right or wrong, the fact is that at the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave us this truth.  Anger at anyone is dangerous for both you and the person.  I believe that Jesus knew the tremendous effect anger has, not only on the person it is directed towards, but in the individual who is angry.  Where does anger come from?  Believe it or not, it comes from unforgiveness.  When we refuse to forgive anyone for an offence, whether it was intentional or not,  a root of bitterness grows.  As it grows it brings forth deep seated anger that can explode at any moment.  That's right, our anger comes from deep unforgiveness, sometimes from things that happened to us years ago.  Sometimes maybe even from our lack of ability to even forgive ourselves.  One things for sure, anger will condemn us, not because of God's judgement but because of what it does to our bodies deep inside.  Anger will control our lives and keep us from being fulfilled in the things of this life.  So, if you're angry all the time, I would suggest that you hit your knees and start to ask God where you have unforgiveness.  If you're serious enough He will show you.  Then take the next step and forgive.  It will save your life and possibly someone else's along the way.  Do it today.  It's time!!       God Bless,  Rusty