Proverbs 16:2, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives.”

     The Lord goes deeper then just the act.  The Lord looks deep inside of us to find out our reasoning in each and every thing that we do.  We can not hide are motives from Him.  What our motives are, or, what drives us to do something is one of the keys to our crowns in heaven.  In other words, you can do the same physical act as someone else.  You can do it the same as them and have the exact same outcome in the physical.  But why we did it is where the real test will be.  In other words, one person did it because God told them to.  The other person did it because they wanted to get the same praise, and have people notice them the same way the first person was.  Their motive, therefore, is wrong.  The heart will always reveal the motive and God looks at our actual hearts, not the acts.  Some people do things for recognition in this world and some do things for recognition in eternity.  We must weigh every action toward God and what He’s spoken to us.  Only then will our motives be pure in every situation.  Amen!!   God Bless, Rusty

Matthew 5:13, “ You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?'” 

     We all know how to use salt.  You know, after the foods cooked you put salt on it to flavor it.  We put salt in with food as we’re preparing it.  Salt is something that brings out the flavor, so to speak.  So Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth.  In other words the Christian is the one who brings out the flavor of life on this planet.Without the sons and daughters of God running around into each situation that arises and salting it, life would indeed be boring and would not taste the way it should.  We bring light into the darkness.  We bring blessing into cursed areas.  We bring life where there is nothing but death.  But if we are no longer salty, how can we season anything?  We can put a label on that says salt, but after it is applied it still won’t work.  In other words if we try to go into the world without Jesus with us, the places we go will never be salted because He is the salt.  We cannot lose Him in our lives but we must stay full of Him.  He is our life and our joy and our strength.  He will season this world through us, but without Him we will be salt less.  So I suggest we all pull into the Jesus station and get filled up with His presence.  Someone we will come in contact with today forgot to salt their bread this morning and they need some seasoning.  Be salty, in Jesus name.    God Bless,  Rusty

I pray that as each one of you goes forward today, through each situation and opportunity that presents its self.  I pray that the Lord would not allow you to become stagnant, but He would keep pushing us into deeper and deeper levels of His love and anointing. My prayer is that in each path of the day ahead, we would feel His presence and become engulfed in His love for us.  I pray He becomes real to you today.  I pray that you have a blessed day in His presence, and that today, through Him, you will be able to do all things.  I ask these things in Jesus name, the name above all names.   May His blessings flow upon you and your family today and throughout your life,  Rusty

Matthew 6:24, “ No one can serve two masters;  for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.”

     I think that the biggest trap that we get into today is complacency, or, in other words just standing back and watching.  Seeing situations developing and not contributing to them.  “That has nothing to do with me,” would be a favorite phrase of a person with this attitude.  But Jesus told us to serve Him and carry out His commandments.  He told us to preach the gospel to all creation.  So when something is taking place and we have the answer, we are to speak it right into the middle of the situation, regardless of how people will react.  A lot of times we simply just don’t like confrontation.  But if we are to serve God, then we are to speak His word, regardless of the outcome.  If we don’t do this we are letting the enemy have his way with people and situations.  We’re not even giving them the opportunity to make the right choice.  If we know and don’t speak, aren’t we actually serving the enemy?  You might get your feathers ruffled over that one but I’m sorry to say that it’s true.  When we don’t follow His lead we are following someone else’s lead.  So if we are to serve Jesus, then we are to be lead by the Holy Spirit and carry out what He would say and do.  It’s that simple!   So who will you serve today?  Which master will be yours today?  It’s really up to you!                God Bless,  Rusty

Matthew 4:23, “ And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”

     Jesus didn’t just walk around performing miracles all day long.  Sometimes we get the impression that all He ever did was the miraculous, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth.  What Jesus did do every place that He went was to first, teach, and then proclaim the good news.  He always spoke the word and then went about dealing with the faith that was generated through that word.  “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word.” (Romans 10:17)  We have to realize that there were no bibles available back then, just people speaking the word.  If faith was to come by the word then the only way the word could come was by someone speaking it.  So Jesus went about, first, teaching.  After that He followed people’s faith in that word and got every one that would believe healed and delivered.  The word is always confirmed by signs and wonders, but they don’t just happen.  They happen because faith is built through the word and after people hear the word they have the faith to receive.  The living word is the the most important ingredient.  Without the Word, miracles will cease.  Where the word is preached, miracles still take place, people are still healed and delivered.  I believe this is a major reason that in these last days God is restoring the teaching ministry to the body.  If you need a miracle in your life, run to the word.  He’s the only one that can bring it forth in your life.  And then, believe, because all things are possible for him who believes!!!!!     God Bless,  Rusty  

Luke 24:45, “ Then He opened their mind to understand the scriptures.”

     I’ve heard it say, “a mind is a terrible place to waste.”  How true that statement is, especially when it comes to our ability to understand the scripture.  We must understand that we can’t just learn the scripture in an intellectual capacity, or in other words, we can’t understand the Word of God with our minds.  Our minds can take in information but understanding that information takes place somewhere else in your being.  If you attend a Bible school, you can study with your mind and learn with your mind to get good grades.  But learning and understanding are two very different things.  Jesus is the Word of God and therefore, the only one that can open up our understanding to the word.  Without a personal relationship with Jesus you will never receive revelation from the word, only knowledge.  In other words, you might be able to understand and know every thing there is to know about the moon.  You might know the names of all the craters and you might be able to identify and speak with authority on the moon from your brain.  But then there is the guy that just got back from the moon.  Which one truly has the understanding?  You got it!  You can know all you want about Jesus, but you can’t duplicate the wisdom and understanding of someone who walks with Him every day.  We all need understanding, not just knowledge, so today is your day.  Call upon the Lord and let Him come live with you.  Let Him eat with you and go to work with you.  He’ll start changing your prospective on life.  He’ll open up your understanding to a brand new world.  To quote a phrase, “Try Him, you’ll like Him!!”      God Bless,  Rusty

James 4:7, “Submit, therefore to God.”

     Submit means to place in an orderly fashion under.  A dependent position or one’s relationship to superiors.   We are to come under God, or more importantly, let Him take His rightful place over us.  This requires submission to His will every day of our lives.  It takes a decision on our part to humble ourselves and to trust in His word every second of every day of our life.  This act of submission is easy to agree to in ones mind but very hard to actually carry out.  We go along every day making so many decisions without God, and in most cases, not even thinking about Him.  I’m not trying to put any one down because I do it too.  I’m talking about things we decide and do that are automatic and we don’t even think much about them, we just do them.  But what if we stopped before every decision?  What about if we asked God what He wanted before every decision?  Yes, in some cases it would seem trivial, but one thing I’ve learned about God over the years is that He never does anything the same.  And so if we start to do things the same just because He led us to do it this way, or that way before, we may be missing Him.  So today, I’d challenge you to talk to God, especially before those things that seem so routine in your life.  Make your life a new journey and never fall into a routine.  We might find out that we’re missing a whole lot of blessings.  Amen!    God Bless,  Rusty

Sometimes we get caught up in doing things the best that we can, but not necessarily the way God would have us do whatever it is.  Sometimes we do things with what seems to be, logically, the best way, only to find out that things didn’t quite work out the way you wanted them to.  We need to pray for Godly wisdom in every situation if we want to do things and have them work out the way God wants them to, no matter how small or trivial they seem. "

Prayer for wisdom;   Father , I pray that each one of us would have Your wisdom today in each decision that we face.  No matter what we face today, we know that everything will work out if we seek your face and find out what you would have us do.  Lord we need wisdom to even understand that we need Your guidance throughout our day. Please help us to be pleasing to You in everything that we do and that Your glory would be seen in us as we go through the tasks of the day.  We love You and want to please You in all things so help us.  Only You know what is around the corner and the best path to take.  We give everything to You today and ask for Your guidance.  Fill us with Your wisdom Lord, not just today but every day of our lives.  We pray for this and believe for this in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, Amen!                              God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:18, “ And with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit.”

     The last piece of armor is prayer in the Spirit.  First let me say that whatever you believe prayer in the Spirit to mean is not relevant to the fact that prayer is the key ingredient to this armor.  I believe that it’s the glue that holds the rest together.  The spoken word, or Rhema, is very important to keeping everything in place because your mouth speaks out of the abundance of your heart.  In other words, do you really believe in the armor?  Keep it firm everyday by speaking it onto yourself, “I am saved by grace and nothing I can do or not do will ever change that.  I wear His robe of righteousness.  I acknowledge that I’m not worthy but He is.  He took my sin and gave me His righteousness.  Therefore I’m in right standing with the Father.  I have truth in me so I’m free to be who Christ wants me to be, and I will walk in this world today with His joy flowing through me.  When the enemy attacks I will hold my shield of faith firmly in place.  I will take the offensive by using God’s word against Him.'  ‘It is written that I’m more then a conqueror in Christ Jesus and you can’t defeat me because Christ has already won the victory.  I am a child of the most high God and all things are possible through Him.  ’”  Do this every time that you need to pray it.  Stand firm every time the enemy tries to tear you down.  If you keep your armor in place you will have a wonderful day in the Lord, no matter what troubles this day holds.  So, stand strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                   God Bless,  Rusty  

Ephesians 6:17, “ and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”

     The sword is an offensive piece of armor.  It allows you to take the offensive when the enemy is battling you.  The word of God is living and active.  Jesus is the Word of God and He is very much alive.  He will defeat the enemy at every turn because God’s word never fails.  Using your sword is very easy.  When the enemy throws a fiery dart at you, you block it with your shield of faith and then you speak the word.  You speak exactly like our Lord did when He was tempted in the desert.  You say, “It is written,” and fill in the power of the word that is needed.  For instance, when those voices in your head say to you, “Don’t even try it because you’ll never be able to do it, “ you need to take your sword out immediately and reply, “it is written that I can do all things through Christ (The Living Word) that strengthens me.”   You quote the word of God because the word is alive.  Your sword yields all the power of eternity in it and nothing can defeat it.  You have the weapon that has already defeated Satan and destroyed all his works.  He cannot stand against it because Christ (The Living Word) has already defeated him at Calvary.  So don’t just stand back and let him put you in a corner and make you a punching bag, take the offensive and hit him with the word of God.  Get your sword out and don’t be afraid to use it.  Don’t listen to his lies.  Walk with God’s truth today and you’ll have a victorious day in the Lord.  So what are you waiting for?       God Bless, Rusty

Ephesians 6:17, “ And take the helmet of salvation.”

     This part of the armor is one that a lot of people don’t understand.  It’s where we must start but a lot of times we stay right there, at the beginning.  This is because we don’t understand God’s free gift.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Eph 2:8+9)  I see people come to the alter over and over again to get saved.  Every time they do something wrong they think they have to get saved again, which is the farthest thing from the truth.  Salvation is a free gift and once we receive Jesus into our heart He comes and makes His abode there.  He doesn’t bring an overnight bag incase He needs to leave again.  But, the enemy will put thoughts in our head and tell us that we are not really saved.  Every time we mess us he’ll lay it on us, “You can’t be saved.  You’re an idiot.  How could God love someone like you,” and it goes on and on.  We need to know that we’re saved, every morning and every minute of the day.  You are a child of the most high God.  Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.  Now, if you’re having those feelings right now I suggest you fall on your knees and ask Jesus to come into your heart.  I know He’ll reveal Himself to you.  Mark it down in your bible and every time you have doubts, go look at that date and say, “I know I’m saved because on such and such a day I received God’s grace into my life.  Don’t receive the lies of the enemy.  Put on the helmet of salvation today and don’t look back.  Amen!

Before we continue with the armor, I’m feeling like we need to pray against the spirit of oppression.  Every where I turn lately people are suffering from headaches.  One of our intercessors at church said her daughter had a dream about it and she believes that all the headaches are being caused by an oppressive spirit that’s working on God’s people.  So, let’s agree together against this spirit.  I believe that, if you have faith to receive, God will take away the tension and fill you with His peace as we pray together, so let us pray:  Father I come to you today in the mighty name of Jesus, and I take authority over the oppressive spirit that has been putting pressure on me and causing my head to ache.  I bind your power over me in the name of Jesus and command you to loose me.  You are not allowed here any more.  I’m a child of the most high God and I have peace with God through Jesus Christ.  So this very moment I put off the headaches, I lay all the pressure at the feet of Jesus, and I receive the peace of God into my body.   I believe this has happened and I walk free today of all pain, in Jesus name, Amen!!    God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:16,” In addition to all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.”

     Our next piece is our shield of faith.  It is of the utmost importance because it’s how we live this Christian walk.  “We walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinth 5:7)  When we look around us there is only one thing that we can hold on to, our shield of faith.  We have to put our hands on it and take it for our possession.  It is held in our authority, so the only way to stand in victory when the enemy starts to hurl his heavy artillery at us is to use faith.  It’s will hold all the other pieces in place by not letting them be challenged.  Our faith is the true battle.  Timothy was told to, “Fight the good fight of faith,”  (1 Timothy 6:12) which is the only battle the Bible tells us to fight.  If our shield is strong, the rest of our armor will be also.  So Faith is key to survival.  It’s the only way that we can appropriate salvation to begin with, and it’s the way to stand in the battle when the archers are unleashing their assault against you.  So, stand strong today, stand strong in the Lord, stand strong in your faith.  It is key!  Make sure you keep it in your hands all day and you will be blessed for it.  Amen!    God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:15, “And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

     The next piece of armor we need to talk about is peace.  If the enemy can make you believe that God wants to punish you every time you make a mistake, you will never have any peace.  Peace is essential to being a witness for Christ.  If you don’t have any peace you will always have your guard up.  Peace then, is a deep inner quality that comes only from a true knowledge of who you are in Christ Jesus.  “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)  God is not waiting for you to make a mistake so that He can chastise you, or punish you.  That’s Old Testament thinking.  When Christ died and shed His blood once and for all, God signed a peace treaty with man.  That treaty says that our Father loves us and His grace is sufficient for us, no matter what.  He’s now waiting for us to walk with Him in the cool of the evening.  He’s waiting for us to jump up on His lap and talk to Him.  He wants us to have that relationship with Him that He’s wanted since He created us.  He loves us.  So with that knowledge we must walk every day with a peace that passes our understanding, no matter what.  Peace will not only draw people toward Him, but that inner peace will keep us strong and able to stand in the midst of the fire.  His peace is perfect peace, not as the world has.  If you have no peace today, I encourage you to pray and let God reveal Himself to you in a new way.  He is our peace.  Receive Him today in His fullness.  Put on the shoes of peace and be blessed.  God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:14, “ Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

     The next piece of armor that we must put on is the breastplate of righteousness.  When we received Jesus Christ as our Lord, His perfection was given to us and all of our sin was taken by Him.  Not just the sin up to that point, but all the sin that we will ever commit was on His body.  When God now looks at us all He sees is His Son’s righteousness.  In fact all He sees is His Son.  Therefore when we sin all we do is confess it.  The moment we confess our sin He cleanses us from all unrighteousness.  The trick of the enemy is to lay shame and guilt on us and drive us into the woods where we hide from God.  He deceives us into thinking God is mad at us, so we run.  But we don’t have to run because God doesn’t see our sin and is not mad at us.  We have complete peace with Him through Jesus.  Therefore, every day we have to walk in the righteousness that’s been given to us in this wonderful, blessed exchange.  God sees us as perfect and we can now partake in that divine nature that has been granted to us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  So, today, put on that breastplate and know who you are, not on your own merit, but through Christ.   It is a life changing revelation that we must all receive if we are to walk in the freedom that God has planned for us.  If your armor is not in place, take time right now and make sure to put it on and wear it properly.  Have a blessed day today in the name of the Lord.            God Bless,  Rusty  

Ephesians 6:14, “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth.”

     The belt of truth.  Our first piece of armor.  It holds a lot of the other ones in place.  Therefore it is vital to the battle.  Jesus said that, “you would know the truth and the truth would set you free.”  Sounds like a fighting, or phrase for battle doesn’t it?  It will set you free.  But what does that mean?  It deals with our volition, or will.  Every day we are faced with different circumstances and a ton of decisions to make.  How do we decide whether it’s going to be our will or the Father’s will in each situation?  We decide by matching up the truth with each situation.  “What does the word say I should do?”  That’s the question.  Every time we make a decision we should be making it based on the word of truth.  If we do this, we will always be able to stand strong.  When we get weak and tired is when we do things we know are wrong and not in accordance to the truth.  But if we walk in the truth, then no matter how the world treats us because of it, we will be able to stand strong.  This is key, knowing the truth.  That’s why it’s so important to study the word every day and feed on it because when the time comes to make a choice, you can only be free if you know and can rightly divide the truth.  I’m not talking about someone else studying it and telling you about it.  I’m talking about each one of us doing it for ourselves.  So today, and every day, start out with the word.  It will keep you strong and help you to stand throughout the day.  Amen!      God Bless,  Rusty 

Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.”

     We are to, #1, stand strong in the Lord, and #2, put on the full armor of God.  These are our orders.  But why must we do these things?  What is the reasoning behind these orders from our commander?  Because our battle is not against flesh and blood.  In other words our battle is not something we can see or even understand.  It’s not a physical battle in this physical world, but it’s a spiritual battle that we can’t see or even understand with our minds.  Our battle is one that’s been raging against man since the beginning of time.  It’s a battle against a foe which we also cannot comprehend with our minds.  So if we can’t see or comprehend our enemy it’s hard to even understand why we are to fight with him.  We must understand that everything that happens around us on a daily basis is because of this invisible battle.  We must trust and believe that we’re in the battle before we will take the appropriate actions and suit up.  If we don’t believe in this invisible forces we will tend to not do all this fighting or dressing in armor stuff.  First we have to believe in what we can’t see.  That’s hard, but then again, we either trust His word or not for everything in life.  So bottom line, we either trust Him or we don’t.  If we do , then we must put on the armor and stand strong every day of our lives.  It will help our spiritual walk tremendously.  So why don’t we just jump in and do it!              God Bless,  Rusty

Ephesians 6:11, “ Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

     Yesterday we talked about order #1.  Today we will look at order #2, putting on the full armor.  In Hebrew the number seven is representative of perfection or completion.  We have seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle, and of course the following Temple.  The High Priest had seven garments that he put on in the Old Covenant, and in the new covenant we have seven pieces of armor.  These are spiritual pieces.  We are made complete and we are able to walk forward into perfection through them.  Even though we cannot ever be perfect on our own, these items give us the ability to, “be partakers of the divine nature,” (2 Peter 1:4).  If we are going to fight every day we have to understand that without even one of these pieces in place, we will have a hard time staying in the fight on a daily basis.  We must, every day, stand strong in His power.  These pieces of armor will enable us to stand firm and, “fight the good fight of faith.” 1 Tim 6:12.  So today before you go or do anything, put on the armor the same as you get dressed in the physical.  If you don’t want to be caught out in the public with no clothes on make sure you get dressed.  By the same token, if you don’t want to be wounded or killed today in the battle, put on your armor.     Amen.   God Bless, Rusty

Ephesians 6:10, “ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.”

     First, we must realize that we’re in a battle.  We are soldiers in the army of God and the minute we become identified with Jesus Christ, the battle begins.  There is no army that exists, that does not follow the orders issued by the commander in chief.  We are no different.  In this first of two orders, we are told to stand strong.  In the midst of all the tribulation that Jesus assured us we would have, in the midst of all the darkness around us we are to stand.  When the doctor says, or the banker says, our children rebel or all hell breaks loose against us, we are to stand.  But not by ourselves, in the strength of His might.  We are to stop trying to overcome everything on our own and just give it to Him.  You know, “We can do all things THROUGH Christ who strengthens us.”  So the first order is to get behind Him because the battle belongs to the Lord and we must just stand strong in Him.  Knowing that, we must understand how important it is everyday to be filled with His presence.  So order #1, right now, wherever you’re at, get filled up with His presence.  Relax, take a deep breath, and ask Him to fill you with His presence.  Do it right now so that you will be able to stand today and fight.  Order #2 will follow tomorrow.    God Bless, Rusty