John 5:39+40, " You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life."

     I think it's important to understand what's in scripture and what's not.  The Old Testament is all about the coming Messiah.  All through it's pages we read the revelation of Jesus, the Christ that was to come.  It is nothing more then types and shadows of the New covenant, or Testament.  The Gospels were written to us about Him, the Epistles were written for us, the church, to walk with Him and Revelation is a type and shadow, so to speak, of His coming again.  All scripture is written about Him. That's why in John 1 we see Him revealed as the word.  He is the word, manifested and made flesh.  Jesus was trying to tell them the same thing that most ministers will tell you today.  The word reveals Him, but it also, and more importantly, draws us to Him.  If we stop by just reading about Him we wind up just reading another book and never having an experience with Him.  In other words He becomes a character that we'd like to see in a movie but we don't really know Him.  This story will illustrate what I'm talking about;  Say you're a moon enthusiast.  You have studied the moon for years and you are interested in the moon.  It fascinates you.  On Friday night there is a man who is coming to the community auditorium who has studied the moon all his life.  He knows every crater and every plane.  He's the most knowledgeable person on the planet when it comes to the moon.  But, on the other side of town there is another lecture.  The guy giving the lecture over there just came back from the moon.  He was actually there.  So, who are you going to go listen to?  You want to listen to the guy with the personal experience.  Why?  Because he knows things and can tell you about the moon in ways you can never learn in a book.  That's what Jesus is talking about.  I don't want you to learn about me from the book.  I want you to personally get to know me.  The word is living and active only when you allow the Holy Spirit to breath on it and bring life to it.  Jesus wants you to build a personal relationship with Him.  That's what it's all about!  That's the whole story.  Don't memorize the whole bible but not get to know the author.  It would be a complete waste of time.  So the question becomes very simple, "Do you know Jesus as your Lord or do you just know about Him as your Lord? Is He alive in your heart or just your brain?"  This is the point Jesus was making. Think about it!                                God's Blessings,  Rusty

John 17:23, " I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity."

     This is Jesus' prayer to the Father.  He prays for us and for our future glory.  He prays that we would be perfected in unity.  If you ever studied Psalm 133 you'll understand the importance of unity, but what exactly is unity?  Unity is something that comes from a lot of work.  The problem with most of our churches today is that there is no unity.  Oh, there might be with the people that are there, but what about the people that left.  Why did they leave?  Because they didn't agree with something or someone so they just picked up stakes and moved on to find the perfect church.  They'll be looking their whole life because there is no such thing.  The point is that churches are imperfect because we are imperfect.  The idea of a church is to put imperfect people together and find something that can hold them together despite their differences.  A church is the place to learn how to work out our differences.  But the only way we can do that is to allow the love of God, that resides inside of our hearts, to take over and consume us.  That's the key!  When we love each other enough to work out our differences, then we will come together in unity.  You might ask, " How do I do that because you know that sister so and so hurt me very badly?"  The point is that we can't love each other unconditionally.  But God does.  So the only thing that can bring us together sometimes where there was some really bad hurts and pains is being full of Christ.  That's what He's praying.  That we would be full of Him and the Father and through this supernatural love, or the love that the world doesn't understand, we can live together in peace.  WE can come together in unity, not because of who we are, but because of who He is in us.  That's what makes great churches.  People full of God who just love each other no matter what.  In this state, which our Lord prays for us to be in, is where we are perfected.  And because we are perfected together we become one.  According to Psalm 133, in this place of unity is a place where God commands His blessing.  His anointing covers the body and His power flows through it.  Take this wisdom and stretch it across the body of Christ.  Stretch this wisdom across denominational lines and you'll find out why we don't function as the church of Jesus Christ anymore.  You'll see why our cities and our country has no blessing on her any more.  We have torn His body apart limb by limb.  There is no unity among us.  We are not perfected.  His blessing has been withdrawn.  Lord I pray that we would all except our brothers and sisters in Christ across the board, no matter what color or denomination they are.  I pray that we would lay down our differences and be revived with the love of God deep in our hearts.   We need Your blessing back.  It's our only hope in this hour of desperation!                God Bless,  Rusty

Joel 2:12+13, '"Yet even now", declares the Lord. " Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garment."  Now return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, and relenting of evil.'

     Joel was prophesying to the people about the Great Visitation of the Lord. He was showing us the return of the Lord and how His armies would crush the enemies of God.  But even in that day He tells about the love of our Father who gives us every chance in the world to come to Him.  Some people believe it's to late to come to a loving God.  They think that after all that they have done God would not, no, He could not love them and that there is simply no hope.  But God, in His grace and mercy invites each person to come to Him, even up to the last breath.  It's never to late as long as we're breathing.  Don't you understand.  God gives you the very breath that you breathe.  You could not take another one unless He gave you permission to.  We exist because of Him and the only reason that we continue to exist is because of Him.  In other words, as long as your still alive and breathing it's not to late.  As long as you are still alive, no matter what you've been through or what you've done with your life to this point.  No matter how old you are, as long as you still are, there is hope.  God calls each one of us back to Him.  He loves us that much.  The bible says that today is the day of salvation.  Today is the day for the prodigal to come home.  It's the day of celebration and your Father is waiting and watching for you.  He knows everything, that's right, everything, that you've ever done and He still loves you.  I'm writing these words today with purpose because He's speaking to me and telling me that there is more then one person who will read this who needs to come home.  I'm praying and believing that you are the one He's been sitting up at night watching for.  I'm praying that you'll hear the call, get up out of the pig pen and come home to Father.  Repent, rend your heart and return today to Him.  You'll never regret it.  I'm praying for you.  You can do it.  Just trust Him.  As the song goes, "I've got a feeling, everything's going to be all right."       God Bless,  Rusty   

Luke 6:47-48, " Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts on them, I will show you who he's like; he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against the house and could not shake it, because it had been well built."

     Jesus is making a comparison here about the house that was built on the solid rock.  Nothing could destroy it and nothing could shake it.  It was stable.  It had a solid foundation.  It wasn't going anywhere. It couldn't be moved.  We can all understand this illustration but very seldom do we understand the comparison.  He is talking about us.  He is telling us that there is a place we can all be, where the storms of life can't touch us.  There is a place that we can go to spiritually that we never have to worry, no matter what the world throws at us.  We don't have to start boarding up the house and evacuate because Hurricane Self, or Hurricane World is coming into our lives.  There is a place in this world where we can live in total victory in every situation we face.  A place where we can't be defeated.  Where is that place?  It's in God's word.  Jesus was making the comparison of a person who had the word in their life.  A person who believed that what Jesus said was true and had the faith to walk into it.  A person who heard Jesus tell them to step out of the boat and had enough faith in His word to just do it.  If we know and truly believe that what He said is true, then we must act on it, or in other words, we must have the faith to believe it.  If we believe it, and act on it, then we become that house built upon the solid rock.  We can face anything this life throws at us and still walk in victory.  Let me say it another way.  If we're walking in this world, and every time the world throws a curve at us we lose our peace, we're not trusting Him.  If we lose our love, joy and peace every time we run into tribulation in this world, we don't have a solid foundation.  If we're not a good Christian witness in all circumstances, then we're not trusting Him.  His word is real in our heads but it never got inside our hearts.  We believe it in good times but not in the bad times.  If we want to live for the Lord in this world we must believe that His word is true and act on it in every situation of life.  It's the only way to walk victoriously.  It's the only way to remain stable.  So, if we're being shaken today there is only one answer to the problem, no matter what the problem is.  Trust God's word and act on it.  If you will do this nothing will shake you.  That's God's promise.  The question today is, "Do you believe it?"               God Bless,  Rusty  

Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."

     Faith is the first step to tearing down fortresses or strongholds in our life.  The second step is by obeying God.  If you are serious about having God tear these thought patterns down in your mind, (see last three devotions) then you've got to ask Him for wisdom and then obey His word in every aspect.  He will speak to you on what and how you should do it.  It's very simple on paper.  Just do what He tells you to do and you will get through it.  In actual experience it's not so easy.  When He tells us to do something, or gives us direction, we are back to that same choice.  Do we obey God's will (walk by the spirit) or do we eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (walk by the flesh)  If we don't know how to hear from God then we will have a major problem because nothing can be accomplished without Him.  After we learn to hear Him, we then have to learn to walk by faith and do what He says.  His word will never return void.  The trouble with us is that when we hear Him, directions are usually to simple or to complex.  When they're to complex we just don't do them because they don't make any sense to us.  When they're to simple we just tend to blow them off and think it's to easy.  When the people proceeded across the Jordan and came to Jericho, Joshua heard from God.  If he would have used his human knowledge to try to analyze the situation he certainly wouldn't have done what God told him to do.  But, He led the people by faith and did what God told him and the result, well it was totally against anything in the natural.  The fortress walls fell flat.  The stronghold was demolished.  Our strongholds could be demolished just as easy.  All we have to do is listen and obey, no matter how simple or bazaar, and His word always comes through for us.  We may not understand, but then again, His thoughts and ways are so far above ours  we don't understand, even when we think we do.  The best thing we can do is what Michael Jordan used to say in his Nike commercials, "Just Do It!"  God won't fail you.  He can't!  That's why He's God and we're not.  Aren't you glad!!!!      God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinthians 10:4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of this flesh."

     How do we attack these things in or mind?  How do we come against these fortresses?  Joshua 6:1 says that, "Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in."  This is a picture of the strongholds in our mind.  They are perfectly fortified and will not open up for anything of this world.  In the natural (Flesh), there was no way that Israel could have got inside and defeated Jericho.  It would have been impossible.  That's why we can't pull down these strongholds in our minds with anything of this world.  We can try on our own all we want but we don't have the ability to penetrate the fortresses in our mind on our own.  We need something supernatural.  We need a weapon that comes from God.  We need something supernatural.  The first thing that we realize is that the children of Israel entered the land, and were proceeding through the land on faith.  This was the first obstacle they came to and they had a choice.  Should we try to do it on our own or should we listen to God?  In other words, should we listen to our flesh or our spirit? (yesterdays lesson) Should we walk in accordance with God's will or our own?  That's the first question that we have to answer if we're going to tear down these strongholds in our minds.  If we do what God tells us, no matter how much we think that it will work or won't work, we take the first step in the use of our weapons that are supernatural and divinely powerful.  If we put our faith strictly on God and say, " I don't understand this but if you want me to do this I will, " God will give us a supernatural weapon that cannot fail.  If we are willing to listen to Him instead of everyone else, including ourselves, we will take the first step towards pulling these strongholds down that have a hold on our minds.  Obedience is the key to walking in victory.  It's not easy sometimes to walk in perfect obedience but we must understand that it's the first key to pulling the walls down that are tightly shut up in our minds.  Today, if you are serious enough to get in the battle and attack these fortified walls, we must listen for His voice and obey.  I pray that God would give us all the direction we need, and the ability to walk in faith towards that victory.  I'm believing for this in Jesus Name.  Amen!!     God Bless,  Rusty

Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts."

     What does it mean to put something on?  It means to cloak yourself with something, or in this case, someone.  Picture yourself putting a coat on in the cold weather.  You put both your arms through the sleeves, slide it over your body, and then adjust it around your self, finally buttoning it and completely housing your self inside of it.  That's what we are to do with Jesus, only He lives inside of us.  So how do we put something or someone on from the inside out?  You guessed it.  He has to come through our mind.  When we take our thoughts captive and learn to walk in accordance with the spirit, (yesterday's lesson) He works His way through us until we are not seen anymore.  He is revealed through us and becomes our outer garment.  In verse 12 of the same chapter Paul says, "lay aside the deeds of the darkness and put on the armor of light."  If Jesus is the one being seen on us then He will draw all men unto Himself.  It's kind of like putting on a uniform.  When I was in the military I had to wear a uniform because that's who I represented.  Now if I went around doing all the things that I was supposed to, but didn't have my uniform on, everyone would think it was me doing a good job.  I would get all the credit, not the Navy, who I served.  It's the same in a spiritual world.  If we're doing all this stuff but we're doing it in the flesh, it may be good but we're the ones that will get the credit and not Jesus.  If people are not seeing Jesus in us, or, on us, then how can He draw people unto Him?  By the same token, if we're putting on our own Christian uniform to help identify ourselves as Christians, I.E. tee shirts, bumper stickers, Christian symbols on our walls or in our workplaces, and we don't act like Jesus would, then we are actually driving people away from Him.  The only way to let Jesus become our outer garment is to take all thoughts captive that come in our minds.  Concentrate only on the Spirit and not our flesh.  When we do this we don't have to put anything on our selves, He will cover us with His light and glory.  We will automatically be clothed with Him.  I pray today that each one of us would walk with His light, drawing people unto Him.  He is worthy of all praise and honor and glory.  He is Lord.  He is the King of Glory.   Hallelujah!!!       God Bless,  Rusty

Romans 8:6, "For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace."

     Why have we been worried about what goes in and out of our mind?  Because, there are tremendous ramifications to the answer to that question.  The answer to this battle in the mind will result in whether we walk in love and peace on this earth or in death.  In other words the mind cannot keep us from eternal life.  What I mean is if Jesus is your Lord and Savior your mind can't keep you from heaven.  Your mind does, however, determine the quality of life you live here on the earth. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and life abundantly."  A lot of Christians have life inside of them but do not walk in an abundant life on a day to day basis.  I'm not talking about money in particular, although I do believe that God wants His people to be taken care of with all their needs being supplied, and an abundance to bless others.  I'm talking about someone who can walk through this world full of love and joy and peace in the midst of all life's circumstances.  I'm talking about someone who seems to always receive when they pray.  I'm talking about someone who is just full of life and always seems to lift other people up.  I'm talking about the person who always has a song on their heart.  Someone not waiting to get to heaven but allowing God to bring heaven to earth through them.  This is the result of winning this battle in your mind.  This is what comes forth into your life when you learn to take thoughts captive.  Shame, guilt and pain no longer keep you hiding from God.  Instead you become a vessel that God's gifts flow through and you become a blessing to all around you.  This is life abundantly.  It can only come when one learns to not only get in the battle that rages in ones mind, but how to take control of their thought life.  These are sons and daughters of God.  I pray that we would all get in the battle and defeat the fortresses in our minds.  I pray that we would all live the life that God has for us, not someday, but today.  This will be my prayer for all of us today.              God Bless,  Rusty

Colossians 3:2, " Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of earth." 

     The word of God makes it very clear that God knew us before we were created and placed in this fleshly body. (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5)  So for Him to know us we had to know Him.  We knew His very thoughts.  So what happened to us?  We entered this world right out of our mothers womb and the world started a process in all of us that I call brainwashing (BW).  Brainwashing is when someone puts their thoughts in your mind, causing you to act like someone else other then who you are.  So from the time we are born we are fed knowledge from this world (The tree of the knowledge of good and evil)  which causes us to act in a way contrary to who we really are.  Then, are eyes are opened and we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and all of a sudden the things that we knew before we were born into this world start to come alive in us again. (The tree of Life)  This is when the battle in our minds begins.  This BW we have received always comes with a trigger.  This trigger sets off certain thought patterns inside of us that cause us to act certain ways based on the circumstances, or, what we've already defined as strongholds in the two previous lessons.  This is were the battle rages.  We are faced every second of the day, with making choices.  In these choices we can either choose thought patterns out of the BW mind that we've received while living on this earth or we can choose to walk in God's word.  This choice is nothing more then either setting our minds on the things above (higher plane of existence) or the things of this world.  Let me make it even clearer.  Each day, in every situation, we really only have one simple choice to make.  It's the same choice that Adam and Eve had in the very beginning.  Our we going to eat off of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or are we going to eat off the tree of life?  To set our minds on the things above, things of the spirit, will bring life and peace.  To set our minds on the things of this earth, things of the flesh, will bring death.  These are our choices.  I pray that we would all eat off the tree of life today.  Start the battle to take your mind back from the BW it has received from this world.  God promises us life and peace.  I pray that today,  we would all keep our mind focused on the things above, and in this process receive life and peace.  I believe this is part of our inheritance.  The ability to make right choices and to walk in victory every day.  It's not easy, but it's a battle that we have to win.  I pray for victory today for all of us.    God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinthians 10:5, " We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

     Yesterday we learned that we have the ability to war and that our weapons are not of the flesh.  In other words our weapons are not physical weapons that exist in this world.  In Ephesians 6 we're taught about the armor of God, and the only offensive weapon there is a sword.  Again, it's not a physical sword but it's the word of God.  The sword of the spirit, or our weapon that is not of this world , is the word of God.  That's the weapon that we take all thoughts captive with.  That is the weapon by which we can tear down the fortresses that live in our minds.  So how does it work?  Well it's very simple.  Jesus used the same weapon throughout His walk on this earth.  Every time someone said something that disagreed with the word of God, He said, "It is written!"  He immediately spoke the word of God over the situation.  It sounds to simple but that's all there is to it.  Did I mention that you have to use your weapon with the shield of faith in hand?  That's right!  You can speak the word but if you don't have the faith to believe that what God said is true, it won't work.  Example; Your mother and father told you you would never amount to any thing.  Since you were a little child that's all you were told.  Over the years a fortress was built in your head.  You didn't even realize it was there but you continue to fail at things.  Every time you put your hands to something it fails.  What's the problem with you?  Nothing!  It's simply a fortress that has to be torn down.  First you have to believe that God loves you and wants you to succeed.  If you don't believe that (Faith) then your weapon won't work.  If you have the faith to believe it then you can go on the offensive.  Attack the fortress.  "How do I do that?"  Every time you are doing something and you start getting thoughts that you'll never finish or you just can't do it because you've always failed at everything, do what Jesus did in the wilderness.  Stand up in faith and speak the word of God. Example; "I don't believe you any more.  You're nothing more then a stronghold in my mind.  The bible says that I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me!!  Therefore, I take this thought captive and I don't receive you any more.  I'm not a failure because if God is for me who can stand against me.  I'm more then a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I will succeed because I'm blessed and not cursed.   I will no longer walk in this life as a loser.  The word of God is destroying this fortress and just like Jericho, by the supernatural power of God, the walls are coming down."   Now praise God and thank Him for the victory that He's already won.  It's a process that might have to be repeated over and over, but don't give in until your situations start reversing themselves, and they will.  Why?  Because God's word can not fail.  Heaven and earth will pass away but God's word will endure forever.  Start the battle today.  Take down whatever fortress or stronghold is destroying your destiny in the kingdom.  It's all up to you.  God's waiting.  He has a tremendous plan for your life so it's time to get moving.  Don't you think?    God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinth 10:3+4, " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."

     Strongholds!  That's what we have in our minds.  Fortresses that have been built with high walls to keep all intruders out.  Heavily guarded forts that are so strong they seem untouchable.  These are built by all of our experiences that we've had in life.  They cause us to react certain ways to certain situations.  Most of the time we don't even know why we do something or understand the reasons behind the action.  Sometimes we don't even realize what we do is wrong because we've always done it that way.  Strongholds are thought patterns that must be overcome if we are to walk effectively in this world for Christ.  Example;  When I was young my mother died.  Dad worked a lot and I would stay home and watch TV or just play.  Whenever I got lonely, or bored, I would eat something.  This pattern developed a stronghold in my life.  Today, my wife will go to bed early on occasion and my daughter likes to stay in her room a lot at night, so I sit there watching TV or reading.  Guess what I do?  I have to eat something, even when I'm not hungry.  That, my friends is a stronghold.  There are strongholds there that we don't even realize exist, but if we analyze them the fortress will start to appear on the horizon.  We'll see the walls and fortification and know that there is a battle to ensue if we are to gain ground in our spiritual life.  How do we bring down the walls?  That's not important yet.  What is important is crossing over the Jordan and marching right up to Jericho to identify the walls in your life.  The first step is identification.  Pray and ask God why you react certain ways in certain situations and why?  You have to get close enough to see your strongholds and understand them before you can war against them.  Cross the Jordan by faith and get ready.  It's going to be a great ride!    God Bless,  Rusty

Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

  Yesterday, we talked about God knowing we are bad people who sometimes do good, but He's made a way for us anyway.  The thing that kills most of us is how bad we feel after we sin.  The bible says that He bore our transgressions (Actual acts of sin) and He also bore our iniquities (Results of the act).  In other words, when we sin, we commit the actual act of sin, which is the transgression, and then we feel shame and guilt over what we did.  This shame and guilt is iniquity. In other words the shame and guilt are a result of the actual act we performed.  If you go to court the first thing that happens is the jury decides on whether you actually committed the act or not.  Upon the decision you are either guilty or not guilty.  If you are not guilty you are freed and sent home.  If you are guilty, the next thing that happens is you receive the sentence for your crime.  You are condemned.  This is where all the guilt and shame are located in an actual trial.  In the spiritual world we feel the shame and guilt right after we commit the act.  Our mind tells us, " it will be okay, just go ahead, no one will even know it."  But after we do it, all of a sudden our mind says, "You idiot! You did it again! You're worthless!"   That is the iniquity that comes from the act.  But wait a minute.  Jesus paid the price for us.  Jesus already was found guilty so that we could be sent back home.  There is no sentencing because we were not found guilty.  If there is no sentence, because we're not guilty, then why do we feel so bad?  It's the great lie that the devil has orchestrated on us to keep us from accomplishing anything for God.  The word says very specifically that when God forgives our sin we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.  God washes our sin away as far as the east is from the west.  There is therefore, no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  There is no shame and guilt laid on us.  It was already laid on Jesus.  So stop trying to carry it yourself.  If God didn't give it to you, let it go.  We are the ones who get so hung up on what we did that we can't forgive ourselves.  We spend our whole lives feeling guilty for something that according to God never happened!  What a tragic loss of life.  What a tragic loss of manpower to the Kingdom.  We are forgiven.  We are not condemned but are strengthened through Him.  This world needs us so get up out of the pit and move forward.  God needs you.  He's been waiting for you.  It's time, don't you think?    God Bless, Rusty   

1 John 1:8-10, "If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us."

     We make a mistake thinking that we can be perfect.  We get to a point in our lives when we think that we are such a good Christian that we can't do anything wrong.  Sometimes we even convince ourselves that we are good people that hardly ever sin. But that is just opposite of what the bible teaches.  The bible teaches us that we are, in fact, bad people, born with a sin nature, that sometimes do good.  The only thing that makes us worthy is His grace and mercy that is in our lives.  We are the righteousness of God through Christ only.  That is truth.  So when we sin, and we will, we are to confess it and get rid of it.  That's what Christ's sacrifice did for us.  He paid the price for our sin.  He took upon Him our sin, iniquity, sickness and pain, so we could die to sin and live to righteousness.  That's the truth.  So when we sin the Father wants us to confess it to Him.  "Confess what?  What we did? "  Yes , but more then that.  He wants us to come to the point in our life when we acknowledge that He is right.  He wants us to see that what we're doing will do us harm but that He has a better way.  His way is Jesus.  And what does He do when we come to our senses?  He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  In other words we are righteous again in His sight.   Please don't take what I'm saying and twist it.  I'm not saying that you should just keep on sinning because it's okay.  God Forbid!!  What I'm saying is that along the journey as we walk the path of life, there are things in our life that we are working on, trying to get rid of.  What I'm saying is get in the battle and do the best we can all the time.  But don't be afraid when you fall that God is going to strike you dead.  He already knew you were going to sin.  Get back up, confess your sin and get back in the race.  Don't get all bound up in a pity party.  Go forth.  You might say, "I can't because I feel so bad."  You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.  Some have been sitting around for years going over things that they did.  Over and over until all your strength is gone.  That's not what God wants you to do at all.  He's made provision for the bad times.  We must just get a mentality to try to make the good times more and more in our lives so as to live for Him.  The key is His grace.   We are saved by grace and it doesn't stop working in our lives.  He always forgives and cleanses us so what are you waiting for?  Get back up today and go forward in His name.  He has work for you!!                  God Bless,  Rusty  

Galatians 6:7, " you shall reap what you sow."                       Luke 6:36-38, " Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn and you will not be condemned; pardon and you will be pardoned.  Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap.  For by your standard of measure it will be given to you."

     Most of you are already thinking I'm going to ask for money, or I'm going to teach you how to get rich.  This is because this is the way that these scriptures have been taught for years.  I agree that they can be used in a financial sense, but this is not the main thrust behind them.  They are about reaping and sowing, but not just about money.  In fact,  this is not even the context they are used in.  They are used in the context of mercy, judgement and condemnation.  In other words Paul and Luke are both teaching us that what we plant is what will grow.  We will harvest what we have planted.  What's the practical application of this?  If you are constantly judging other people, I guarantee there will be someone behind you judging you.  In other words when we have someone coming against us we tend to look at that person and pray that God would change that person's heart or sometimes we pray that God would stop that person from the abuse they are hurling at us.  The problem with this is that the people who are attacking us are usually just the harvest coming in from what we've sown.   The only way we can turn the situation around is to look at our own hearts and figure out what and where we have sown bad seed and then take care of it.  If we have judgement against us, we should find out who we have judged and then dig up the offences and bitterness inside of our own hearts and make them right.  As soon as we do this the judgements against us will stop.  If we're being unforgiving, someone will not be forgiving us, and on and on.  It's a principle that we need to learn.  In other words, if we really want revival in our lives and in our communities and our homes, we need to start by drawing a circle around ourselves and starting to look inside the circle and line everything up with the word of God.  The problems usually are right there, not in someone else's circle.  I believe that a lot of us have had problems in our lives for years that will disappear if we apply these principles to our live.  So what are we waiting for?  There's no better time then the present to start.                    God's Blessings,  Rusty

Ephesians 4:29, "  Let no unwholesome (rotten) word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear it."

     We talk to much.  It's a simple fact that we talk way to much.  Sometimes we say what we need to say and then we continue, even though we know that we've said enough.  Sometimes we even say that we've said enough, and then find ourselves continuing to tell the story without even taking a breath.  I'm sure that we've all heard this one, "Well it's the truth!!"  So many different things that come out of our mouths.  So many poisons that we spread in the name of Jesus.  "Well, what should we say?"  I'm so glad you asked.  According to the word of God we should not be afraid to speak into any situation, as long as our speech has two very important ingredients.  It has to edify the person.  In other words it has to build a person up.  That means that even if you need to correct someone, which is not our job anyway in most cases, we should do it in a way that is non-threatening.  We should speak and correct in love so that the other person knows that we care about them.  If the compassion of Jesus is there the person will receive what you have to say and actually feel better after you've talked to them.  Compassion always releases something in side of people that sooths them and helps them face every issue in life.  Compassion then, not only builds someone up but it also extends God's grace into the conversation, which is the second ingredient of good speech.  Our speech should always have the grace of God in it.  This is the problem today.  There are to many people in the church that are telling everybody what to do and how to do it but there are not enough people in the church today that know how to extend God's grace to people.  Therefore, what people who are searching for God hear is always conflicting.  The water that Jesus wants to give to people through us comes out bitter and doesn't taste good.  James says, "How can bitter and sweet water come from the same fountain?  This should not be."  So even if we know we are to speak, we should always be, "Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger."  We should always listen for what God wants us to say, but also, how He wants us to say it.  We all need to find some spiritual soap and wash out our mouths and start over.  Every situation we're in will turn out better if we use God's grace.  It's truth!  Try it and See!    God's Blessings,  Rusty

Luke 15:4, " What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?"

     Christ has just been put down by the Pharisees and Scribes for receiving sinners and eating with them.  This is His answer.  He talks about these sinners he's dining with as lost sheep.  The thing that strikes me in this parable is that He's referring to the sinners He's dining with as lost sheep.  They are lost sheep of the shepherd.  Sheep that already were His by relationship.  In other words we think of sinners as the Pharisees did.  We think of sinners as lost people who have never had a shepherd.  Jesus refers to them as people who are of His fold.  People that were part of His flock from before the foundations of the world.  Just because they were sinners in our present world doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't love them.  He's always loved them.  In fact, He knew them before He created them.  The fact that they are in this world and lost does not mean by any chance that he has given up His rightful ownership of them.  This is one of the keys to evangelism.  There are some people in this world that we have deemed unlovable.  Sometimes we have an air about us that we are something and people who are lost in the world are nothing.  We think that God loves us more then them but this is so far from the truth.  Christ never gave up rightful ownership of any one.  They were created by Him and He will not rest until He finds them all and carries them home to the fold.  His compassion is so great He can't stop.  When one of these lost ones, or sinners is found, He doesn't become their Father, He already is their Father.  They are just coming home to the rightful owner.  We must stop playing church (sitting in the sheepfold) and not worrying about the ones who are out there wondering about.  A sheep is the most stupid of all animals in that they don't even have the sense to come home where they will be taken care of.  They just wonder until they die.  We must trace the steps of the lost ones.  The only way to find them is to follow their steps until you find them.  This means that we must get out of our comfort zones, outside of the four walls of the sheepfold and look for them.  Each one is important to Jesus.  He was among the sinners because that's were His compassion was.  That, brothers and sisters is were our compassion needs to be, that is, if the church still has any compassion left.    God Bless,   Rusty

Mark 9:24, " Immediately the boy's father cried out and began saying, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'"

    Jesus just made the statement that, "All things are possible to him who believes."  He said ALL things.  Not just some things, but ALL things!  Did He mean all or was He just trying to make the man feel better?  The only explanation for those who believe that the bible is infallible is that He meant ALL things!  That's what the father of the boy understood because he wouldn't have made the statement he did otherwise.  "I do believe; help my unbelief."  Well, does he believe or not?  How can you believe but not believe?  It's a simple statement but the basics of our faith are caught within it's far reaching implications.  I know that we probably believe the story of David and Goliath, but do we believe?  We believe the story of the resurrection but do we believe?  We believe that Jesus releases prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind and heals the brokenhearted, but do we believe?  We are faced with the reality that what passes through our minds to help us believe might not be enough.  It's enough in a physical world, 2+2=4, but The spiritual plane is higher then the physical.  In other words believing with our head is not faith.  It's just human acknowledgement.  If we are to believe, or have the faith to receive the blessings of God, the truth has to go deeper then our heads.  It has to become real in our hearts.  Our inner man or spirit has to come in full agreement with the word for it to be true.  Only then can the word really be effective in our lives.  To many times we base our belief system in spiritual things by the same way we judge physical things.  We memorize things to pass tests, or get degrees, or simply to remember things.  While there is no harm in memorizing scripture, and I do it all the time,  if we don't understand that simple memorization will not work in a spiritual world, we will be confused at why it doesn't work for us.  We must meditate on the word until it gets deep unto deep.  We must speak it and ponder it until there is no memorization involved, it simply becomes real.  This is why a lot of people don't truly know Jesus.  He has never really been unveiled to them.  They know about him in their head but He has never become real deep within them.  Today, whatever it is that you're believing for, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to truly believe for it.  If you will listen and follow His lead your life will start to change dramatically.  We must all stand in honesty before the Father of creation and admit our weakness for His power to work through us.  We must truly fall on our knees and cry out, "Lord I believe; help my unbelief!"   God Bless,  Rusty

Mark 6:42, " And they all ate and were satisfied."   

    One of the things that fills us in the natural and sustains our body is food.  We must eat to survive.  This is a fundamental truth about the physical body that we live in.  But what about the spiritual man?  It is also a fundamental truth that our spiritual man must eat to survive.  If you read the book of Ruth you will find that the reason that Elimelech and Naomi left Bethlehem ( House of Bread) is because there was a famine in the land.  There was no bread in the house, no food.  And so they went on a journey to survive.  We today are on the same journey in life.  Our spiritual man must be fed if we are to survive.  In the physical world, if you go to fast foods all the time your body will get food but not the proper food that it needs, and soon or a later your health will fail.  It's the same in the physical world.  We must go to Jesus and His word if we are to maintain a healthy spiritual life.  In other words there are many spiritual fast foods out there today.  Books, tapes, TV Shows, sermons and Bible study books, just to name a few.  While these things are not bad by any means, they do not have the nourishment that the actual word of God has.  My point today is this.  Sometimes we read and study so much material which will feed us, but it just doesn't have enough nutrients in it to really give us all that we need.  The only well balanced diet will have the actual word of God, or the bible, as the main course.  There is nothing wrong with these other things but the word has to be first and then the others.  That's why these people in Mark ate and were satisfied.  They were sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing the pure word of God.  Sometimes when we're at a place where we feel dry, or hungry, all we really need is the word of God.  That's the main part of the menu.  I pray that if you need some strength back in your diet you would start making the word your first choice every day when you get up.  After all, breakfast is the most important meal, isn't it?   God Bless,  Rusty

Galatians 6:9, " Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary."

     Weariness comes when we have a load to bear and we do not stand firm under it.  In other words when we have burdens on us and we keep trying to find different ways to deal with the burdens we become weary.  If we would just stand fast and keep focused on the task we would stand a lot better then when we keep putting it off or going back and forth on the issues.  It's like the engine on a car.  If it drives on the highway at a the same speed, the engine will last a lot longer then if we drive all day in the city, starting and stopping.  The car on the highway has, what I call, patience.  It's content to go steady.  Therefore I believe that the key to not growing weary is patience.  This is a fruit of the spirit that a lot of Christians never develop. Probably because of our fast paced society.  We always try to fix things right away and if one thing doesn't work we shift to another thing and then another.  We start and stop and before long the engine runs out, or we are weary.  God's word says if we just stand in there and focus on Jesus, and give the burden to Him then we will be able to keep running the race, at the same pace, standing firm where we are.  When we do this, if our arms start to grow weary from the load, Aaron and Hur will come and lift our hands back up.  If we will stand strong in the Lord and the strength of His might we will eventually reap God's blessings back on us.  If we will just continue to love people and do good, not worrying about the blessings but focusing on Jesus and not deviating from His plan, we will reap in His timing.  So whatever you're doing, don't stop!  Hang in there and keep doing good, no matter what the situation is.  Let God's love flow from your inner most being every day and be assured that God loves you.  Soon or a later His blessings will come upon you and you will reap a harvest.  Have patience and do not lose heart and you won't grow weary.  Remember, "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!!"  That's good news!!       God's Blessings,  Rusty    

Galatians 5:1, " It was for freedom that Christ set us free!!"

     Today is independence day. 10 years ago today I buried my father-in-law.  I remember the sermon was free and free indeed.  It was his independence day.  He was finally free of the leukemia that haunted his body and ate away at him.  His problems were physical but I believe that most of us are battling with spiritual and emotional problems right now that we need to be freed from.  I believe that most of us are in a prison that we can't seem to get paroled from.  Even time we get to the parole board and think that we're going to get out we wind up getting more time added.  Christ said that He was anointed to proclaim release to the prisoners and set us free.  So, today I'm going to say a prayer.  It's a prayer of faith and really isn't anything fancy at all.  It's just a prayer.  I'm believing that when I pray it that any one who would pray it with me, through the power of agreement, would receive a parole and walk free today.  You say, " How is that possible and who are you?  I've been fighting this thing for years and you think if I pray your prayer today I'll all of a sudden be released. How is that possible?"  The answer to that is simply that with man (that's me) nothing is possible, but with God all things are possible.  So, let's say this prayer and trust God to do what God does.  At least that's what I'm believing for.

Prayer - Father I've been in this prison for many years.  I've tried everything I know to get out but it hasn't worked.  Today I trust in you to bring me out.  I trust in You and Your word, so today is my independence day.  Today, finally I'm free of these strongholds and yokes in my life. Thank you Father for freeing me.  I pray and believe for these things in agreement with all my brothers and sisters who are praying this prayer with me, and with your word.  I pray and believe for this release in the name of Jesus.  I now believe that I've been released for Your glory and I do praise You and give You all the honor and glory.  Hallelujah, I'm free and free indeed!!!

God Bless You and please share your testimony with me.    Rusty