Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Is God the God of your life? He says that whether we, His chosen, are sleeping or awake, He is always present with us. What a wonderful promise!

If I am not sleeping well I can pray. I can praise Him for His wonderful Love that covers me. In those tender times I can actually hear a song in my heart and enjoy His peaceful presence. If there is pain that awakens me, I walk and talk to the Lord. He is my friend, my best friend.

Do not be discouraged by the hard things you encounter on your journey. This is part of living in a fallen world. Just know that even in the night the Lord is lovingly watching over you. Use the wakeful times to seek His face and give Him praise.

Psalm 63:6-8 says, "When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me."

Day and night...Psalm 42:8 says, "The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me--a prayer to the God of my life."

Although the enemy of our souls wants us to be slack in our desire for the Lord, we must remain steadfast to Him. He gave His life for every person on this planet. If you have received Jesus as your Lord and King then, be alert, always.

I Peter 5:8-11 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

As the Day of the LORD approaches, our enemy, that old lion doesn't sleep day or night does he? He knows his time is short. He is so old that his teeth have fallen out! That is the way I like to think of him. He can growl, try to pounce on my body, try to wear me out so my joy is just a tiny trickle. Yet, on God's faithful Word I will abide in! Day and night. I will depend on the Lord Jesus and be filled with His Spirit; drinking Living Water and eating the Bread of Life daily for my strength.

The Lord remains Faithful and True! Oh, I pray you know intimately the power of God working in your life. Don't be afraid to take the way less traveled. His path is the right one. God bless and keep you in the matchless name of Jesus, amen.

Abundance is...because He Lives!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to another Heartstrings. As The Day draws closer we are called to delight in the Lord; to abide in Him and be ready for His appearing. Are you? 

Jude 24-25 says, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

Who is Jude writing to? The Beloved in Christ Jesus. You and I. Isn't it wonderful that God hasn't left us to ourselves? I mean, there are some days I just don't feel like facing the world...but, He is able to keep me! I want the kind of joy that exceeds my ability to fix myself. I want to experience the glory of His presence. Don't you?

In the book of Revelation we find the words of Christ to the seven churches. As I take time reading these I can see the passion of the Lord for His Beloved. In 1:8 we read this..."I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

This is where we start. If I believe, then I will receive His instruction as His Beloved. So now, Revelation 2:1-7 we get to see the heart of God for the church of Ephesus. 

"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, "These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore, from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'

Isn't there delight, excitement with your first love. Your thoughts are continually on them. You just can't wait to spend time with them. You dream of them. You hope for them. You trust them.

As time goes for awhile you begin to put other matters at the top of your priority list. You know those bills have to be paid somehow? After a time, you realize the day had slipped by and your young thoughts of love aren't calling to your heart as they used to. 

The Love that Jesus covers us in is eternal because, He is Love! Who do you know that came from perfect heaven to put on skin to save you from hell? There is no one. No one but Jesus.

So, as I am reading about the church of Ephesus I realize I am not a teacher, or theologian. I can only apply what Holy Spirit is teaching me in my own life. Please, seek Him for wisdom. Take no guesses. This is not a game to be played. This is not chance. This is Truth revealed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 

And, here it is after being inspired and written over 2,000 years ago. It is still with us today! God will always have the final say. We are given an opportunity to choose life because of His great Love for His creation. I am so glad I have been chosen by the Father, Redeemed by the Son and Sealed with His Spirit!! (Ephesians one).

Come to Jesus if you are weary of trying to do ministry. If you would rather not give the time to serve Him first then you better check our your First Love relationship with the Son of God. 

He who has an ear will you hear?

Abundance is...renewing my First Love life

Good afternoon

Have you heard that praying God's Word is a wise thing to do? Making the scriptures personally mine brings me great delight. So, I want to take time to share this as a prayer.

Father God, the way to happiness and blessing is found in Your revealed will. I thank You today that I can come before You. I am grateful that I can order my conduct and conversation in Your laws. Your Truth.

Help me keep Your testimonies, seek, crave and inquire of You with my whole heart. I don't want to be a wanderer anymore, but to walk in Your ways.

Oh, that my ways were directed and established to hear, receive, love and obey Your Word! I know in this, I can never be put to shame. 

I will praise and give thanks to You with uprightness of heart when I learn Your decisions against particular lines of thought and conduct. I thank You Abba for sending Jesus to redeem my life back to You!

There is only one way to cleanse my way. By taking heed and keeping watch on myself, according to Your Word and conforming my life to it.

So, with my whole heart I have sought You. I yearn for You. Help me not to wander or step aside in ignorance or willfully from You commandments.

For Your Word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed be Your name, O LORD. Be glorified in my life today. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, amen.

You can pray the Word too. This I took from Psalm 119:1-11. For myself this is the best way to know the heart of God. My desires have changed in the last couple of years. What more can I say?

Abundance is...desire, pure from my heart to His

Good morning Heartstrings family,

This morning I heard an awesome, powerful Word of God. It was confirmed through our on-line Pastor. You can go to JackHibbs.com for the message. You will be empowered, filled with hope as you wait for His glorious appearing.

From Lamentations 3:21-26 I read before the service...
"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

You know when the Lord emphasizes things in your life? Like using a magnifying glass. Some parts of your heart seem bigger. I believe He sees every part. Even the things I would rather ignore about my character walk. But, He does see it all. Yet, He is Faithful and True in His love for you and I. Praise the name of Jesus!

There are times when I may feel more broken than repaired. My eyes are dim, my ears tone deaf and my hands weak. Even in all of this He remains Faithful and True in His Love for you and I. So instead of my weakness being enlarged, His Hope in me is magnified. His name becomes the glorious glimmer in my eyes. His Words of Life are heard clearly. My weakness is exchanged for His strength.

That is what I mainly wanted to say today. At the Y of every road I hear the Why? Why can't I get this Lord? Why do I keep failing? Why can't I patiently wait upon Your answers? You know the list can go on mile after mile. Today, I want the questions to stop and the thoughts of my mind be settled completely on God's Promises...for me!

Do take time to listen to what Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart. Listen to the message with Pastor Jack Hibbs too. It is right on! And, hang onto the Hope of Christ in you. All in the matchless name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Abundance is...by entering in

Good morning friends and family

In our crazy world today there is a lot of talk about fuel prices and how high they are going. This issue seems to speak to all who use fuel for driving and operating machinery. You need to conserve, right? How much has this made a difference in going to work? How does it effect farm workers in bringing our needed food to us? Oh, you know all of this. Now, to get back on track.

When I thought of the word fuel this morning, I thought to a question for myself, "What fuels my spirit?" So, going to God's never failing Word, I find answers. These are only a few of many scriptures. Go to your Bible and discover ones that you can apply to your own life! 

The first one I come to is found in 1 John 4:15-16. "Anyone who confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he [abides, lives, makes his home] in God. ~ And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and bye experience) and believe ( adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him."

As I read further I see His love is perfected in us. This gives us confidence and assurance as we boldly face Him on the day of judgement. 

Then, all the dread that exists in the world; all the fear of punishment is turned out the door! If we are still running around with fear and this causes us to feel like we are strangling in the hands of evil then, His love has not been perfected in us. Think about this! There is only one place that true love can be found. That is in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes I feel preoccupied with how I feel. You know you wake in the morning after a night of tossing and turning, due to pain, only to continue in that pain. Or you feel downcast because of too much time on social media. I don't know about you but my strength seems to leak out when I spend more time there than in the Word of God. That is because it is Living and vital for my daily walk.

The more I focus on Jesus, the more I find myself abiding in His unfailing Love! Psalm 33:5 says, "The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing Love." The only place to find peace.

Colossians 1:29 says, "For this I labor [unto weariness], striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me."

What a promise! It reminds me to do what Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the LORD always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!"

This brings me back to Psalm 37:4, where I renew my dependence on God. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart." Desires put in my heart from the heart of God. These I will embrace!

You know this isn't all about me, right? Because not only does His Word energize me for the journey; it also provides a pathway for Him to love other people through me! That is a godly desire!

Do you feel refueled in God's Word? Let His limitless Love be your strength and song as you walk the places that He has chosen. Stay close to Him.

There will never be a shortage of His power, His love and peace. When we choose to abide in Him and let His Word abide in us, we gain the strength to carry on in this world. If you get off track, it takes His Spirit to bring back on the way of truth. There will always be enough Grace. Enough mercy. 

The Lord bless you as you turn wholeheartedly toward Him. He is the fuel that is constant, if...we come to Him. The price has already been paid. So, come with empty tank, it's okay. Only believe all things are possible for Him in the matchless name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and soon coming King. Amen.

Abundance is...to be full and ready to go