My wife and I are going on a honeymoon.  It's our 25th wedding anniversary.  This will be our first honeymoon.  We never went on one before.  So, you won't hear from me this week.  I'll be back on the blog on the 2nd of September.  God Bless everyone until then.                 Rusty

Colossians 3:16, " Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

     We are all suppose to be full of God's word at all times.  We are all to be ready to edify or lift someone up when they need it.  This is part of God's plan for our life.  When I was growing up I remember that on Sunday nights we would all come together and minister to each other.  There would be praise and worship, singing, scriptures, and testimonies.  There would be people who had scriptures to share and people who God would lead to pray for certain situations.  The gifts of the Spirit would flow.  There would be prophecy and different words to the body and in some cases to individuals.  There would be pray for the sick and sometimes God would just show out and heal someone supernaturally.  People's faith would rise up and the place became electric with the presence of God.  I remember reading in the book of Acts that when they all prayed together the walls would shake.  This is kind of the feeling I remember.   Brothers and sisters, we are all to be ministers to the world and to each other.  The Pastor, or what ever you call the person at the front of your church, is not supposed to be the only one doing God's work.  The church today has become a kind of spectator sport.  We sit and watch the person up front perform and then we judge them on their abilities.  The ones that are talented draw a crowd, just like a good  sports team or celebrity does.  Everyone goes to see them.  The churches grow (in size), but the people in the churches don't necessarily grow.    It's not meant to be that way.  Even in the times of Jesus there would be different people in the synagogue who would stand up and read scripture.  It wasn't just one person.  That's were we miss it.  The body of Christ has fallen asleep.  We have taken the success of the church and placed it in one person's hands instead of all becoming a part of the body and doing what God called us all to do.  God's plan is that we all learn to minister to each other.  The walls will never shake with just one person doing their part, no matter what it is.  I pray today that God would use you, yes you, to help build up and edify your local church and the body of Christ in your community.  God will bless you.  It's a truth that we all need to understand and participate in.  I pray that God would spur you forward to bless someone today in whatever manner God leads you.  In the end, you are the one who will receive the blessing.  That's God will for you.  Amen!!    God's Blessings,  Rusty

Ephesians 5:18, " Be filled with the Spirit."                           Exodus 40:34, " And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."     1 Corinthians 3:16, " Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in You?"

     God's plan for us is very simple.  He revealed it through the tabernacle of the wandering Israelites and again through the new testament church.  He didn't plan for us to continue to wander in the desert, nor did He expect us to be able to make it on or own.  He didn't leave us by ourselves, in fact Jesus said that "it was to our advantage that He go away."  Why did He say that?  Because if He went "He would ask the Father and He would send another comforter."  Jesus knew that we couldn't make it on our own.  He was here.  He knows, listen closely, He knows that we'll never make it on our own.  So, the Holy Spirit was sent to be our helper, comforter, teacher and just about everything that we need.  So why is it that we still have so many problems in our life?  Because we don't stay full of the Spirit.  It's God's plan for us to be filled with His glory, just like the tabernacle of old.  We are the temple of His glory on the earth today, each one of us.  When the tabernacle was full of His glory, no man, priests or Moses himself, could enter.  In other words, when the temple is full, flesh is not allowed to operate in us.  We walk entirely by the spirit and lay aside the things of the flesh.  That's God's plan.  Paul puts it in terms that the Ephesians can understand and we need to grasp the same truth.  If we are to walk in the victory that has already been provided for us, then we must be filled with the Spirit and remain full every day of our life.  That's the simple plan of God for us.  Stay full of God!  It sounds so simple, but it's not.  Our flesh constantly tries to take over and it's a constant battle between spirit and flesh.  But we are promised that His fullness will keep us strong in every situation and we will be able to face each day with new vitality and strength.  When we are full we will be able to walk in the truth of His word, " We can do all things through Christ Jesus."  Spend time with Him today and get filled up.  You'll have a wonderful day!        God's Blessings,  Rusty

John 11:40, "Did I not say to you, believe and yo will see the glory of God?"

     God promises us that if we will give ourselves to Him, that He will put us on the potters wheel and reshape us.  We are to be transfigured just as Jesus was on the mount.  Our earthly flesh is to be done away with and we are to start the process of receiving a new glorified body.  How does He do it?  Well the first thing that has to happen is that we have to surrender ourselves to Him.  This is a must!  We can receive salvation and still not surrender our lives completely to Him.  But if we want to be transformed, if we want to raise from the death that we walk in every day, we must come to Him.  Some of us do pretty good at it and some of us don't.  The truth be told, when Jesus comes calling we are afraid to roll away our stones because we know that, just like Lazarus, what's behind the stone stinks.  There is nothing in us that smells good.  If what's inside of us was truly revealed to the world we live in, people would have to wear breathing devices to survive.  There is none that smell sweet on our own.  The smell of death surrounds our inner man.  What is the answer?  Simply trust in God.  Trust that is not embarrassed to just open up everything in our life and give it to Him, no matter what it smells like.  He already knows about it anyway.  If we truly trust in Him, He will call across the vast reaches of eternity with a blast from His  mouth.  His very spirit floats over the dark and void spaces just waiting for Him to cry out, "Lazarus, come forth!""  When we respond to His call, when we get up and stop hiding behind the veil, we invite Him into our dark places.  He promises us that no matter what it is that we've done, no matter how bad it smells, He is the answer.  He starts the process of taking off the grave clothes and bringing us out of the cocoon we've been in.  When we finally come out, into the light, we are transformed into His marvelous kingdom.  We are transfigured into His glory.  Our stinking lives are redeemed and washed clean by His own blood.  So what are we waiting for?  If we will believe, each one of us will see the glory of God in our own lives.  Just surrender and roll the stone away.  Today's the day.  Are you ready?    God's Blessings, Rusty

Psalm 92:4, " For Thou, O Lord, has made me glad by what Thou hast done, I will sing for joy at the works of thy hand."

     Joy is not something we can release in our life.  There are all kinds of emotions that spring forth out of us from the joy inside of us; gladness, exaltation, contentment, satisfaction, triumph, cheerfulness, peace, just to name a few.  Joy itself is not something that we can release in our life, but it's something that God produces in us.  It's produced when the redemptive process starts to be realized deep within us.  When we start to realize what God has done for us, when we start to realize the truth about His grace and mercy deep within us, then the joy starts building deep in our hearts.  As His redemptive power starts to change us and we start to realize the glory that is raising up in us, the joy gets stronger and stronger.  It's a process that grows more and more as we realize what He's done inside of us.  As we start walking with the Lord every one of our emotions gets pulled through this redemptive process as they exits us.  As the joy deep inside of us starts to build, our emotions and the way we react to things on the outside of us start to change.  We start reacting in different ways and all the emotions that God would have us walk in come forth out of us.  A lot of the old things in our life start to disappear and we get to a point where we wonder what's happening to us.  We look back and see how our lives have changed and we start to feel something deep inside.  We can't explain it, it's just there.  We can't seem to understand it, it's just there.  The truth is that the special feelings deep within us are nothing more then the joy of the Lord starting to be felt deep in our hearts.  Sometimes this joy brings us to a place that we just want to explode.  Don't be afraid of this joy but build your life around it.  After all, "The joy of the Lord is your strength!"     Be blessed today,  Rusty  

James 4:7+8, " Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

     I hear a lot of people who are so into fighting the devil.  This I believe is a trap that he sets for us.  By getting us to concentrate on him, we miss the truth of how to walk in freedom from him.  Some people are always talking about, "the devil did this and the devil did that. "   It gets to the point where they're actually glorifying him instead of God.  People get into a mess and they always want to blame the devil.  It's kind of like Flip Wilson (I'm giving away my age) used to say, "the devil made me do it!! "  I have some news for you.  The devil doesn't have half as much to do with our lives as we claim he does.  We simply won't obey the word of God and so we, like all sheep go astray, and then we need someone to blame so, you guessed it, it's his fault.  No it's not!  It's our own fault for not doing what God told us to in the first place.  We are so good at shifting blame, just like our father Adam, "The woman gave it to me, it's not my fault!"   You see the bible is very clear.  If you want the devil to stop bothering you then resist him.  If he's still bothering you, you're not resisting him.  It's that simple.  Well how do I resist him?  By not worrying about him at all.  You see if we stop talking about him and worrying about him and turn to God, he will not be able to have any effect on our life.  If we draw near to God, God draws near to us.  When God's in the house, the devil stays away.  Darkness will not come near the light, it's truth.  So, you resist the devil by not worrying about him at all.  You resist him by simply obeying God.  As you draw closer to God, which you can't do if you're always glorifying the devil, then God will draw near to you and the devil can't come close to you.  This is a simple truth that we need to understand.  All of the horror movies out today have given the glory to the kingdom of darkness.  The truth is that if you walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus covers you and the angel of death is not allowed to come in.  It's very simple.  Stop talking about the devil and start worshipping God, with your heart, body and soul.  If you will do that you'll never be bothered by darkness again.  It's a simple truth I pray that we would all walk in today.  I pray that you would just worship and magnify the Lord right where you're at for a few minutes.  Invite God's presence into your life right now.  You'll have a blessed day.  Amen!    God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 4:13, "until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of god, to a mature man, to the measure of a stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

     The fullness of Christ is the goal that we all should be pursuing here on this earth.  There are a lot of other things that we tend to focus on in our lives that have nothing to do with His plan for us.  There are a lot of things that we focus on and give all our energy to that have nothing to do with this plan.  I'm convinced that His plan and desire for every new testament Christian is to be completely full of His Spirit.  We are to be so full of Him that the world has a hard time determining whether it's us or Him walking in our bodies.  The glory of God will shine through a vessel that's completely full of Him.  He tells us, " do not quench the Holy Spirit."  By quenching the Holy Spirit we actually keep Him from filling us.  Let me explain; Picture yourself as the temple of God that the word of God says that you are, and that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you.  Now, inside of our temples there are rooms.  You have your home which is one room.  Your life at church is another room.  Maybe your recreational activities are another room.  Each one of our temples has a variety of rooms, based on our life style.  Some have a television room and some have a school room or a computer room.  Most people, although they don't want to admit it, have a secret room that only they know about.  The thing is that the Holy Spirit lives in the house but He will not go anywhere you don't want Him because He is a gentleman.  So, we allow Him in certain rooms, at certain times, but, at other times we ask Him to leave.  You might say, "I never ask Him to leave anywhere."  But the reality is that He has to leave where there is sin.   So whenever you're doing something that He can't be involved in He leaves the room, or in other words He is quenched in that room.  He won't come back in there until you invite Him back in.  And so we always have a portion of the fullness of Christ, but we're never really full.  God's plan is to fill the whole temple, every room,  so that nothing can come in because of the presence of God.  He wants to fill every room, especially the room that's locked and no one is allowed in.  I encourage you today to open all the curtains and pull up the blinds in your inner house.  Let the light in so that the fullness of Christ can fill the temple.  It's time for a spring house cleaning.  Cleanse the temple and fill it with His glory.  He's waiting to be invited.  It's your choice!      God Bless, Rusty

Ephesians 2:5, "even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ"

     We never really start to live until we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We can have good times and sometimes we can feel real good in the physical, but we do not really experience life until that moment.  You see real life, life that is beyond what we know on a physical level can only come from one place.  That's in Christ Jesus.  It's just like in the beginning.  God created us from the dust of the earth but we never received life until He breathed into our nostrils the breath of life.  The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, which also means breath.  He breathed the Holy Ghost into Adam to make him alive.  So we have in the New Testament.  On the day of Pentecost, Jesus poured out the pneuma, the Greek word for spirit, which also means breath unto all flesh.  The breath of God now is present in the earth.  All we have to do is receive Jesus and this life, the Spirit of Jesus or the Holy Spirit, comes and lives in us.  Therefore it is no longer us that live, but Christ lives in us, the hope of glory.  The very life that is now in our hearts is Jesus.  It's eternity placed right in our hearts.  This is when we start to feel and experience true life.  And it's not ours, it's His resurrected life that is quickening our mortal bodies.  It's a mystery that I don't think any of us will fully realize until we see Him one day.  Just think of it, eternity is something you can't imagine with your human mind, but it dwells within your heart.  In Christ we not only have life, but life abundantly.  You don't have to wait to receive it one day.  You don't have to wait to you get to heaven to receive eternal life.  You already have it.  He breathes deep inside of you.  This is how we become alive together with Christ.  He comes and lives in us.  It's so hard to put our pee brains around it but if you can understand this truth it will set you free of a lot of cares and worries in this world.  I pray that you would have this person, this life, truly revealed to your heart today.  It will change your life as you know it.    God bless,  Rusty

Matthew 8:26, " Why are you so fearful, men of little faith?"

     Most of us have the ability to walk in perfect faith most of the time.  You know, when the times are good and there's nothing major happening in our lives.  Just like the disciples.  They were spending every day in the presence of the Lord, hearing Him teach about the kingdom of heaven.  They saw miracles on a regular basis and they were amazed.  It must have been quite routine for them to just look at each other and just shake their head in amazement.  They saw people who were in dire straights being renewed and restored.  They must have been on the top of the world.  The problem was that they saw all these things and knew the power of God was at work in the midst of them, but never had to exercise any faith of their own.  It was always Jesus.  As soon as they got in a situation where the storms of life came in and the waves tried to take them under they couldn't cope.  They had no idea of what brought about the miracles.  They had no idea how all these signs and wonders were being performed.  They became so star stuck, so to speak, that they never figured out the means by which they were caught up in all the majesty of what was going on.  So when the time came they couldn't stand on their own.  They didn't have a clue!!  That, my brothers and sisters, is what happens to a lot of people today in the kingdom.  They find their favorite superstar, you know, one of the Christians who has a red cape on underneath their clothes and a big SC (Super Christian)across their chest.  They follow them and put their life on everything that comes out of their mouth, just like the disciples did.  They watch them, like an entertainer, and they feel better, BUT, they never get past the excitement and go to the depth of Christian experience that brings all of us to that level with our creator.  They never realize that we are all the same in God and if we will apply the principles we are taught to our own lives we too can stand and fight the fight.  God loves us as much as He loves anyone.  He created us and wants each one of us to fulfill our destinies in Christ.  He wants us to have our own faith so that when the storms of life come we don't have to wake Him up or go to our favorite SC, but we can stand up on our own and rebuke the waves around us and our families.  Let us not be people of little faith.  God needs sons and daughters today more then ever before.  Stand up and take your place in His kingdom.  Don't be afraid!!  It's your time!!!  Amen!!    God Bless,  Rusty

Zechariah 4:7, " What are you, O great mountain?  Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it! "

     This is a picture of God's grace that is unmatched throughout the word of God.  It's a picture of a mountain, towering strong and mighty before us.  It's right between us and the vision that God's given us for our life.  The battle that ensues is a bloody battle.  We know that it has to be moved so we start running into it with everything we have to try to move it out of the way.  We hit it but it won't move.  We hit it again but it refuses to move.  We become weary and regroup.  After a while we regain our strength and we start again.  We quote scriptures with a new faith and we start to attack the mountain again.  We are so beat up and bruised we can hardly continue, but we know that God gave the vision so we regroup and start attacking the mountain again.  This is an event that fills some of our lives.  Some have been doing this for many years.  Some of us have ruined lives and given all the strength we had to defeating this mountain.  If we truly look at our situation, we'll see ourselves kind of like Wiley Coyote trying to catch the roadrunner.  We just won't give up.  But we've missed God's grace!  "We are saved by grace through faith, not of works that any man should boast."  But here we are, spending our whole life trying to move this mountain and coming up with new ways and reading new books telling us how it can be done.  Finally, one day, we are so totally broken we lay at the base of the mountain totally drained.  All of our strength is gone.  We are beaten and bloody and we've finally had enough.  Somehow, we find enough strength to get on our knees and look straight up at the mountain top.  We scream with the loudest voice we can muster, "I'm finished!  It's over!  I can't do it any more!  I'm finished!  I QUIT!"  We wait for God to encourage us to get back up.  We wait for Him to say something like, "Get back up, you can do it!"  But instead, across the gently blowing winds of the Holy Spirit, His voice thunders across the top of the mountain.  His voice is so loud that the mountain starts to break up in front of us.  It literally starts to fall apart piece by piece in front of us.  As we realize what is happening we can hear the sound of true grace ringing deep within our spirits as His words become audible to us.  We hear the words of His grace as clear as life, "GOOD!!!  I'VE BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME!!! "   As we hear the words ringing in our ears and finally realize what His grace is, the mountain falls in front of us, totally destroyed.  This is grace.  Why don't you just quit trying today?  You might be shocked at God's grace.          God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 4:7, " But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift."

     I hear a lot of sports reporters and athletes refer to people as being arguably the best.  What does that mean?  It means the same in the physical as in the spiritual.  You see, we all have special plans and purposes for our lives, and God has given us each gifts to carry out those plans.  God has given us the grace to allow the gifts within us to operate.  So, in a spiritual realm, we might also say something like, " John Smith (or whoever your favorite evangelist or spiritual leader is) is arguably the best."  Well, what does that mean?  If I was to say that Michael Jordan was arguably the best basketball player of all times, does that mean he was?  No, it doesn't.  The reason is that everyone that ever played basketball was the best.   They were all the best in their time and in their situation.  Each one did what they had to do to accomplish what they were called to accomplish.  Each one was a star in their own rights.  Each one was placed on each team to do what they were called to do on that team.  So they're all superstars.  Well, let's take that into the spiritual realm.  Is one Christian arguably better then another.  The answer is no, absolutely not, or as Paul would say, "May it never be!!"  Each Christian does what they do only by the gifts and grace God gave them for what He had them set aside to accomplish.  There are no superstars in God's kingdom!  We are all just as important as the other because without each other nothing works right.  I saw recently where Joel Osteen's wife is being sued for allegedly getting into a fight with an airline stewardess.  Should we all boycott Joel Osteen?  Of course not.  His wife, as well as Joel are people just like us.  Even if she is guilty, that just makes her like the rest of us, human.  The reason that anyone even knows about it is that we have raised her husband to a superstar level, when in fact, he's also the same as everyone else.  He's just operating in the plan that God had for him, by the gift God gave him, and the grace to operate in that gifting.  He's no different then any of us.  You, are arguably the best Christian ever because you operate in the gifting God gave you by the grace He has upon your life.  In your place in your time you are a superstar.  That's the truth.  You might have a mega church, or maybe you're gifting is to be the best parent or co worker.  Maybe your gifting is to be a servant of everyone else.  Maybe you're just called to encourage people around you.  Whatever it is I hereby announce your admission into Heaven's Hall of Fame.  Congratulations!!!!      God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 2:10, " for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

     This verse is very powerful.  In it we can find answers that reveal our purpose in this life.  Sometimes we wander around feeling unfulfilled or just not satisfied with life.  What is it all about?  What were we put here for?  Those are questions that must be answered in ones life.  Did you ever say to yourself, "There must be more then this!"   If you have, this verse is for you.  You see, God made us.  We are His workmanship.  He made each one of us very unique, and very special.  Each one of us look the way we do, and have the characteristics and talents that we do, because God worked them into us as we were created.  Next, we were created for good works.  That's right, GOOD works!  What kind of works are good?  The kind that were prepared for you with all your talents and abilities.  There are good things that God has for us and we were each prepared just for those works.  Some people don't realize what they're here on this earth for but we must first understand that God, Himself, created us, and through His Son Jesus Christ, as we come to Him, our lives and purposes are unfolded.  God never makes anyone by accident.  Maybe you were not planned for in your parents eyes, but God had you planned from the very beginning.  You, my friend, were not a mistake.  God had a plan and purpose He wove into your very make up so that His plan for you could be realized in this world.  He prepared the works for you, the very works that you should walk in, before He made you.  Just like a car manufacturer will make all the spare parts for a car and take months stocking the warehouses with these parts long before the actual car is released.  God prepared you for destiny, gave you everything inside of you to fulfill this destiny and placed everything you would need in this world to fulfill your destiny.  All we have to do is find out what He called us to do.  When we do, the peace and joy comes into us and we walk into that place with no fear and no struggles.  Are you at that place today in your life?  If not, go to God and start asking Him what He made you for.  What is your purpose in this life? The answer to that question will literally save your life!         God Bless,  Rusty

2 Corinthians 12:9, ""My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

     We are to be witnesses for Christ.  But what kind of witness are you?  When we talk about Jesus we have to understand that everyone that knows us will start to watch us.  They want to see this person that we are talking about.  They need to see something other then what the rest of the world offers them if they are going to decide to follow Him themselves.  We may not realize it, but just like an Olympian athlete who raises their gold medal high and then identifies with that metal, we identify with Christ.  Just like a movie star who wears an Oscar around them in every movie they make,  or a person who went all the way through school and walks with a Dr. in front of their name.  We represent Christ in this world.  So what do we do when we have a bad day or something devastating happens to us.  When we are in the middle of the world's tribulation what do we do?  What can we do?  We can trust in God and believe that He loves us and will bring us through whatever it is that we're going through.  We are to exchange our weakness for His strength and continue to walk as a representative of Jesus Christ.  Let me make it clearer.  We are to wear His grace around our neck like the trophy that it is so that everyone that looks at us will see His love and mercy at work in our life.  In the midst of our worst days we are to walk in victory, not because we feel like it, but because His grace provides it.  In every situation it's His grace that will bring us through.  It's His grace that is working in our lives to be a witness of His beloved Son.  If you don't understand God's grace let me define it for you.  His grace is the agent that has worked in you all of these years to keep you with Him, even though the world tried to destroy you.  It's the gift of God that you first realized as you gave your life to Him.  It's the force that keeps us with Him every day of our lives and will never leave us.  It's the force that lifts us up when we can't go anymore.  You can't see it or touch it but you know it's there, operating in your life.  This, my friend, is what will draw people toward Jesus.  This is something that the world can't offer.  Today in the midst of your mountain or your valley remember this one simple thought, "His grace is sufficient for me!"     God's Blessings,  Rusty

1 Timothy 1:12," I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service."

     If we're going to do anything for Jesus, we must realize that we can try to do it on our own, and it might even work, but not the way God planned it.  He will bless it as far as He can, and He will, to a point, because He loves us, but He can only do so much.  He loves us and has a plan and purpose for us.  When we walk in accordance with His purposes and plans He has for our life, then we will constantly be blessed and His blessings will flow unto us.  I like to say it this way, "When you're walking in the perfect will of God for your life, there is never any lack.  God will provide everything that you need and you will always have the strength you need to do what He has required of you."  The problem we have most of the time is that we go off and do things God never told us to do.  Then we get so tired and constantly need His strength.  It's a constant struggle and we can't seem to keep our head above water.  Will He bless us?  Yes He will.  He loves us.  But there's only so much He can bless us with.  Then there are times that we actually know what He wants us to do, but we do it with the wrong purpose in our heart.  Even though it's good and scriptural, and even though we know it's what He wants, we'll find ourselves getting tired all the time.  Again, this is because we're not fully where He wants us.  We've heard His plan but we're trying to carry it out in our own strength.  The bible says that, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."  To wait actually means to be entwined with.  It's kind of like the way licorice is made in different strands but they're all twisted together.  That's what God wants.  He wants us to be so entwined with Him that we know every move He wants us to make and every plan He has for us.  Then, when we do something it is not our own strength that's accomplishing it but it's Him that does it through us.  It makes our life so much easier.  If we just listen to His voice and then do the things He tells us to do we'll have so much more peace and our strength will remain intact.  Let Him do it.  Let Him fulfill what He's called us to fulfill.  If it's His plan and purpose we can be assured that it won't fail and nothing on this earth can stop it from coming to pass. Amen!!    God Bless,  Rusty

1 Corinthians 1:27-29, " God has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God."

     God does things completely different then us.  I don't know about you, but I'm glad He does.  I'm not sure why He does the things He does, but I'm glad that He does.  I don't understand a lot of things that He does, but when I look back on them and see the way He worked things out, I'm glad He did them just the way He did.  You see, brothers and sisters, the people who He really uses, are in most cases, the ones who know in themselves that they are so unworthy to be used,  that is has to be a mistake.  Only when someone comes to the end of his own self sufficiency can God truly use him.  This is the way God does things.  We would probably look for the one who has the talent or the one who has the reputation.  God looks for no talent and no reputation.  This past weekend, a wonderful man nominated my blog for some kind of recognition.  As I read what he said about me I thought, " Wow!  He's totally off base.  He truly doesn't know me!"  I think about how God uses me and I'm amazed.  You don't know the things I have in my life that are unpleasing to my Lord.  I don't understand how He can allow someone to recognize me.  I'm a person who, if you knew me,  most of you wouldn't even read what I had to say about God.  I'm truly unworthy of any recognition.  The only thing I know is that God gave me some talents (gifts) and He would be displeased if I didn't at least try to use them in some way.  When I look at my life, I truly don't understand why He should allow me to do anything for Him.  I grew up in the sixties and seventies.  I was an alcoholic for 14 years. I was a hippie, you know, peace, love, drugs.  Later I ran the clubs and was a womanizer.  Addicted to sex and pornography.  I treated people so bad that I joined the service and left my home town to start over.  I had such a bad reputation and treated people so badly, that my only alternative was to get out and start over.  I've been in the pits, should probably be in jail for some of the things I did, and don't have a clue why God uses me.  I guess that's why God is God and I'm not.  The whole point I'm trying to make today is that no matter what you've done in life or where you've been God still loves you.  No matter how you've displeased Him, He still will use you if you will just get away from your self long enough to learn about Him and draw close.  That's something I don't understand, and you may not either, but that's God.  I'm so glad He's in charge and not me!  How about you!!!     God Bless,  Rusty

Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  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 say that we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."

     We all sin!  That's the truth!  It is true that when we confess our sin that it is washed away as far as the east is from the west.  It is true that God loves us even in the midst of our bad moments.  It is true that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and that we have become partakers of the divine nature.  But we still sin!  God doesn't condone our sin, He simply forgives it.  He doesn't want us to sin, God forbid, He just knows that we're not perfect.  We should try to walk with God and obey Him the best that we can.  We should do our best to not sin, but to be obedient to Him every minute of our life.  God's love and His grace cover our sin but they certainly don't give us a licence to sin.  May it never be!   But, if we are to walk a successful Christian life, we must understand that we live inside of sinful flesh and there are going to be moments when we fail.  What we do in these moments will either strengthen us or cause us to fall away from God.  If, when we do sin, we fail to recognize God's grace, we will feel terrible, full of shame and guilt and condemned.  Our first instinct, just like Adam, will be to run and hide somewhere.  We won't go to church or we won't get around our Christian friends because we feel so unworthy.  This is exactly what the forces in this world want you to do.  When you're by yourself you are wide open for all kinds of attacks.  But God wants you to run straight to Him, confess your sin and then move on with no condemnation.  We may not understand, but the truth is that we are the ones that won't forgive ourselves when we do something wrong.  God has already forgiven us.  He doesn't love the sin, but He never stops loving us.  So stop trying to be perfect all the time!  Stop putting up a front!  Just be who God wants you to be and except His grace into your life.  You'll have a lot more joy and peace in your life.  You might even get excited about God again!!!      God Bless,  Rusty