Isaiah 61:1, “He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted.”

     Jesus is concerned with our inner man more then we know.  He wants to heal us. Not just our physical sickness and disease, but our emotional pains, and we all have them.  Some have them to a greater or lesser extent then others, but, we all have inner pain.  I believe it’s part of the human experience.  So no matter what it is that hurts deep inside of us, maybe it’s the little boy or the little girl, He wants to bind it up.  He will cleanse out the wound and remove all the infection first.  Some of us have wounds that have gotten more and more infected our whole life.  Some of these infections have been eating away at our emotional being for so long that we can’t even function in certain areas of life because we’ve died there.  He will go deep and clean out all the dead tissue and infection of our inner man and then He’ll breath life back into that part of us.  He closes the wound back up and puts the healing balm of Gilead on it to bring complete healing to it.  He’s such a good God!  You need to bring all your inner pain to Him and let Him start the process.  First step is to admit the pain and bring it to Him.  “Cast all your cares unto Him, because He cares for you.”  I pray that each one of us would bring our hurt to Him today and allow Him to start the healing process in our lives.  God’s Blessings be upon you today,  Rusty

Luke 17:5, “ And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

     I think that one of the biggest problems that we experience in our daily walk with the Lord is our faith.  It seems to go up and down, almost like a wave of the ocean.  If you’ve ever seen the ocean you’ll remember how a wave grows and becomes bigger and bigger as it approaches the shore.  Then, all of a sudden, it just comes crashing down with tremendous force.  But after it crashes it’s gone and has to build again.  That’s kind of like my faith is sometimes.   It is so strong one day, and then the next I wonder what happened to it.  It’s like I have to regain momentum.  I’m sure that God never intended for it to be this way, and maybe it doesn’t work that way with you.  I can only talk to you about my faith.  I believe that the apostles where probably experiencing one of these days, or moments, when they asked Jesus this question.  His answer was so simple and gives me encouragement, “If you had faith as a mustard seed.”  From this statement I realize that my faith can continue to grow.  If I will just continue in the word, my faith will continue to grow.  It’s something that I have control over because it comes from the word, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word.” (Romans 10:17)  You see they didn’t have a bible so the only way their faith increased was by Jesus speaking to them.  We have the whole word and we can study it every day and continue to increase our faith every day.  That is a wonderful truth.  So if your faith gets weak just get out your bible and listen to Jesus.  You’ll feel the faith inside of you increase and grow.  It’s all up to us as individuals, so, does your faith need an increase today?    God Bless,  Rusty

Colossians 1:17, “ He is before all things , and in Him all things hold together (endure).”

     He is the center of all things.  We tend to forget that little tid bit of information but it’s always a part of our lives.  Jesus is right in the middle of everything that goes on around us.  He was before the creation, He will be here long after the creation.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.  He is that secret force inside that gives us the strength to keep going.  The Bible says that, “He that endures till the end shall be saved.”  He is the only power that can keep us till the very end.  He is the life in us and the strength that keeps us going.  “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall endure forever.”  He is the very life that is our salvation.  I just want to praise Him this morning for all that He’s done in my life.  I suggest to you to take time this morning and do the same.  He is good all the time.  Amen!    God Bless, Rusty

2 Corinth 4:1, “ Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart.”

     There is something that goes on in the inside of us.  A battle, so to speak, deep within our beings.  It’s an event that is constantly waging war inside.  When I first became a Christian, someone told me, “If you just receive the Lord into your life, everything is going to be good.  You’ll have peace and love and joy, etc.etc.etc.”  Even though all that is true, and I still believe it’s true, that’s not an accurate picture of the Christian’s walk in this world.  I mean, when I was a good ole sinner boy I never had any problems.  I was just sinning and having fun, or at least I thought I was.  The point is this.  I didn’t start having all this inner conflict until I got saved.  That’s when the battle started.  That’s when the struggles of life really kicked in.  We need to be clear with people when we lead the to the Lord.  We have tell them about the battle and make them understand the process.  One day the process will be over and we will never have any problems in our lives again.  In fact the word says that we can start experiencing that type of life here on this earth, but it’s not easy.  We have to work on our inner man and continue to develop Him.  The more we do that, the more we will move towards a completely tranquil life while here.  It just comes with a cost that, unfortunately, most people are unwilling to pay.  And even when we do reach a point in our life where that peace starts flooding us, the battle doesn’t end, it only intensifies.  But, we must not lose heart.  We must not ever stop reaching toward the prize.  We must not ever give in or give up.  God’s grace will always bring us through.  So no matter what’s going on in your life right now, Don’t give up.  Don’t get out of the battle.  Don’t ever lose heart.  His mercy is greater then anything that can come against us in this world.  Dig in and fight.  That’s a Christian walk in today’s world.  It’s not for weak hearted people.  Get up and keep moving.  God has overcome and will bring us through.  I know what I’m talking about.  God is good,  all the time and especially right now!  Are you ready to press forward?  Let’s go!  There’s a battle to be fought.    Hallelujah!!!!!   God Bless, Rusty 

Micah 7:8, “Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.  Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.”

     When we are knocked down as Christians there is something different that goes on inside of us.  Something different from people who do not know their God.  People who do not trust in their God.  When I get knocked down, there is something deep inside of me that lets me know that ‘everything’s gonna be all right.’  I don’t know how to explain it or fully put my finger on it, so to speak, but I just know that I know.  So, when I fall, or go through some hard times, I have a confidence inside of me that can’t be erased.  When things go on around me that I just can’t understand I know that I know my God is bigger then the problem.  Sometimes we all need to step back and regroup, but that’s just something physical that our body needs.  Inside of each one of us is the architect's drawing that is the basis for our faith.  We know that soon or a later we’ll be able to get back up and go forward even stronger.  So if you’ve fallen and you’re at that place right now in your life, hang on.  Help is not only on the way, it was dispatched before you ever felt the effects of whatever it is you’re going through.  Life is complicated and has it’s ups and downs but one thing we can all be sure of today, “God will never leave us or forsake us.  We will rise back up through Him.”  So all the powers of darkness that would try to stop us beware, “though we fall, we will rise again.  God is our salvation!”  Hallelujah!!!     God Bless,  Rusty    

Romans 1:20, “for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

     How can you not see God in nature?  Oh, admittedly, we get busy some times, in fact most of the time, and we don’t even think about His divine nature.  Sometimes the hustle and the bustle of this world just drive us crazy and we don’t even think about God.  This is probably because we’re focusing on the problems at hand in this physical world and we don’t even see the beauty around us.  For the last two weeks I’ve been trying to concentrate on God but it’s been hard.  Things going on around me seem to have overshadowed any thoughts I might have had about God.  But today I’m sitting on a beautiful porch, in a cabin right on the Toccoa River.  I watched the sun come up and I am listening to the water flow by.  As it flows by you can listen and if you tune out everything else, you can hear God’s voice.  There will be no excuse.  He’s alive and well and as beautiful as ever.  We are certainly a blessed people.  I wish you could all see what I’m seeing, but just let me say that, “God has certainly not gone any where.  He’s all around us.  I pray that today will be the day when you look at your surroundings, no matter what they are, and listen for His voice.  He’s waiting!  Don’t miss Him!    God Bless,  Rusty

Hebrews 11:1, “ Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.”

     I’m learning more about faith every day of my life.  Faith has to be anchored and in the past two weeks, even though I’ve had a heavy heart I still see Him at work.  I had to do a funeral this past week for a very good friend.  It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do because I didn’t even feel like being with people, much less trying to encourage a family and speak to them about the things of God.  But, He gave me the right message and the strength to do what had to be done.  I’m learning that if I just let Him do it, no matter how I feel at the moment, He’ll always come through.  All I have to do is have faith in Him, not in me.  I have nothing to do with it and He has everything to do with it.  So I’ve learned this week that if He needs me, and I allow Him to use me, He can do wonderful things.  Even if I feel like the weight of the world is on me, He still can use me.  I don’t understand it but I’m convinced that He is more then able.  I guess that’s what we call faith, or at least a part of it.  So, no matter what you feel like today, if you hear God calling out to you, just let Him be God.  Just have faith in His ability and not yours and things will probably work out okay.       God Bless,  Rusty

Hebrew 12:15, "See to it that no one comes up short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble."

     One of the things I must be careful of is that I don't allow my family situation to bring feelings of rejection inside of me.  Rejection starts a terrible process inside of me that is very destructive to my inner spiritual life.  As soon as I feel rejected, which basically means I was hurt by someone close, if I'm not careful, seeds of rejection will grow inside of me.  I think that because someone hurt me, they rejected me.  At that point, and we all come to that point many times in our lives, we have a choice to forgive or not to forgive.  This is key to our inner health and healing, forgiveness.  If we don't forgive, an offense is started deep within us, that eventually will turn into a root of bitterness.  When bitterness comes upon us we fall short of the grace of God, which is a terrible thing.  Even though, and we talked about this yesterday, we really can't define grace, by the same token we can't walk this Christian life without it.  Not only does grace get clogged up but the next demon in line is rebellion.  Rebellion doesn't just happen.  It comes from a lot of inner feelings of rejection, most of which we may not even realize.  When these feelings come there is never any forgiveness.  We just grow bitter.  So I must forgive at this point.  Right up front.  Maybe you have had a situation that requires an act of forgiveness.  Maybe you're bitter and angry and just can't figure out why.  I can tell you that somewhere inside of you there is deep rooted bitterness that comes from not willing to forgive someone.  I'm going to take all my wounds to the foot of the cross this morning so that I can be free of inner pain.  I'd invite every one to join me.  It's really the best doctor visit that you'll ever make.  Amen!!!                 God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinth 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you."

     I don't know exactly how to define God's grace.  I know the definition, you know, unmerited favor.  But what is grace?  How does it operate and what is it?  Those are questions that I've never really heard explained properly.  I can however, tell you that I've experienced it in life, on numerous occasions, and I'm experiencing it through this current situation.  All I know is that I feel a lot better then I should feel under the circumstances.  I just feel good and there's this peace inside which I can't explain.  That's God grace covering me.  You might ask, "Well, how does it work?" "I don't know!"  You might ask, "How do you receive it or activate it?"  "I don't know!"  "Well how do you know it's real then?"  "I just do!"    I can't explain it or try to qualify it.  I don't know how it works or how to turn it on or off.  The only thing I can tell you is that it's definitely real.  I guess it's kind of like the Holy Spirit.  You can't see Him with your senses, but you can feel His presence.  Kind of like the wind.  You can see it blowing through the trees but you can't see it.  You can only see the how it affects the leaves and branches of the tree.  His grace is kind of the same.  I don't know how it works but I can feel how it affects me, and I like it.  You might say, "How do you know it's God's grace?"  There is nothing else in this world that could help me to be so calm and peaceful in the middle of my current situation.  There is nothing of this world.  It's God grace.  Can we turn it on or off, I don't think so, but it will be there when we need it, of this I'm convinced.  I'm convinced that His grace is sufficient and that it will always be a part of my life.  Maybe I don't realize it's presence except in these times, but I know it's there and I know God is good, no matter what!!!                God Bless,  Rusty

Proverbs 3:5, " Do not lean on your own understanding."

     Yesterday I opened up this scripture a little but I think we need to keep looking at it.  In the midst of life's circumstances we need a solid foundation to stand on and we need something to keep us steady.  I think about what my wife and I are going through right now and I try to understand what happened.  What did we do or not do to cause this current situation in our life?  We always want to look at things in our lives and justify them or qualify them.  In other words we think that there is a cause and effect for everything that happens in our lives and if it's bad, we tend to think that we must be the cause.  What did we do wrong?  But the bible says that our own understanding of things can be a crutch.  It's like a stick that we use to stay standing but it wobbles and we are not steady.  Our earthly alliances or our earthly wisdom sometimes is used as this support system, but it's very flimsy indeed.  So when we think, or try to figure out things, why they happen, we will just be blowing in the wind trying to steady ourselves with no firm support.  This will eventually lead us to fall. God has a wonderful way of showing us His love and putting our understanding to rest.  We must not try to figure out life's circumstances as if we could control them.  We must just trust in God.  When we do that we will be steady and the winds and storms of this world will not take us over.  We chose today to trust in God no matter what!   How about you?  Are you trying to figure something out that has affected your life?  Do you feel shaky?  Maybe it's time to just trust in the Lord and give Him glory and honor.  Maybe it's time to just move forward.       God Bless,  Rusty

Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

     I'm having to trust in the Lord right now.  I know that most of you would say, " Well, we all trust in the Lord."  But, I'm really having to trust in Him.  I mean, I've always trusted in Him but last Friday morning, our daughter left our home in rebellion.  She chose to leave our family because we have some issues with decisions she's made in her life.  We side with her because we know it's not the will of God for her life.  She's walking outside of God's will and her mother and I can not compromise.  So, because we've chose to stand with the Lord, we've lost our earthly daughter.  She just left.  We don't know where she is or how to get in contact with her.  We're so torn apart over the situation.  My wife has said to me over and over, "What are we going to do?"  I only have one answer, "Trust in the Lord.  He's the reason that we took our stand and now that we have, He's the only One that can see us through.  He's the only one that knows everything that's going on and has the ability to take care of her."   Trust in the Lord!  But what does that really mean?  I've wondered about it through the eternity of the past couple of days.  I speak it and walk the best I can in it, but then I cry myself to sleep every night thinking about it!  We always tell people to trust in the Lord but how often do we actually walk in it?  Well, my family is in it right now!  I know that we all have situations in our lives where we have no choice but to trust in Him.  They're not easy, but God will always see us through.  He's a good God and we can trust Him.  So no matter what mess you are in right now, when the answers just don't seem to come, when your earthly wisdom fails and you're at the end of the road, there's only one thing to do!  Trust in the Lord!  He never leaves us or forsakes us!  He'll see us through, no matter what!          God Bless,  Rusty