Isaiah 46:4 says, Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

We need many things for our survival on this Earth.  Air, food, and shelter come first to mind and many other not so essentials like vacation.  In Hebrews 1:3, the Bible says that Jesus sustains all things by his powerful word and we know in John 1:1 that God and his word are one.  To sustain someone or something is to support, maintain, or keep it in existence.  Ultimately that is what Jesus bought for us-eternal life.  He sustains our existence into eternity.  Our independence is in direct conflict with God as our main support.  When we rely on self more than God we claim the ability to sustain ourselves instead of the One who can truly sustain us.  We are powerless to save and powerless to sustain for eternity.  God alone can.

With all of our busy lives, we push reading the word and time with God aside.  Would we do so if we knew that life or death depended upon it?  Because our eternal destiny is dependent upon a relationship with the Holy One who made us.  We must know him to truly believe in him.  The word is not optional but necessary to know who God is, and to believe that he alone will sustain you.

Acts 17:28 says, For in him we live and move and have our being.

1 Thessalonians 4:1

 Now then, brothers and sisters, because of the Lord Jesus we ask and encourage you to excel in living a God-pleasing life even more than you already do. Do this the way we taught you.

In life and work, whether inside or outside the church, we sometimes give less than our best to God.  We should offer to the Lord our best in our attitudes, time, and resources.  However, whether out of laziness or sloppiness we no longer give the best we are or have.  What does God expect?  He expects excellence. Read Genesis 4:2-16.   This passage is about the offering of Cain and shows us that God doesn’t like second-best whether wrong attitudes or offerings are brought. Cain’s offering was rejected by God and Cain was corrected.

  It is the little areas I always notice myself slacking off in but most importantly achieving everything else I need to do and then giving God the “leftovers”.  We are not putting God first when we get to him last and have nothing left to offer to him.  In church, we deceive ourselves when we think that putting money in the plate fulfills all our requirements from God or that just by showing up that we are assembled together and God is pleased.  He wants ALL of us not just the areas we want to give him.

God is asking for excellence not perfection.  None of us are perfect but He is looking for our willingness to strive for the right attitude in everything we do; He is looking for good stewards in our time and resources.  Do we prepare ourselves for church and ministry?  Or do we slack off thinking that no one will notice?  God notices.

 As with Cain, God corrects those that He loves, however Cain rejected the correction, sinned and was banished from the presence of God.  To live without God’s presence is not to live at all. Today, repent with me, and make a commitment to yourself and to God that you won’t be lazy or sloppy in areas of your life including your ministry for God.  God is excellent in all his ways and expects excellence from us.

Proverbs 3: 11-12

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Proverbs 18:16
A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.

In Matthew 2:10-11 we watch the Magi bring gifts to Jesus, reveling in the fulfillment of the scriptures that foretold that the Messiah would be born. They offered their greatest treasures of gold, incense and myrrh expecting nothing in return but the chance to worship at his coming and express their great joy. The greatest gift ever given was Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the cross gives us freedom from bondage and for all times allows us eternal life if we will believe.
Today our whole ideology about giving is backward, we have giving and receiving mixed up. I watch people use God as a good luck charm. Praying for gifts, healing, and favor without ever knowing the true gift of Jesus or taking the time to develop a relationship with him. We must realize that the greatest thing we offer up to God is ourselves: our service, devotion, and dedication to his son, Jesus Christ. We must take the time to consecrate and clean ourselves up so we can be used in God’s great plan. Expecting gifts from God is a worldly mindset and is not how the kingdom operates, being a servant for God is how we are ushered into his presence and when we put him first, he will always take care of our needs. Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Daniel 10:12
Then said he unto me, Fear not Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, they words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

In the world today, I sometimes wonder if our words matter. People not only do not listen, but rarely realize the impact of what a single word has on someone else. Life is filled with continuous words; about everything and anything but the bible shows us that life and death are in the power of the tongue. When we choose life, to speak God’s word over every situation, we release God to perform great and mighty things and he will come for our words.

When looking a little closer at the word “chasten” in the Merriam dictionary we find it means to correct, prune or purify ourselves. When we set our hearts to understand and purify or correct ourselves before God THEN he hears our prayers and sets his will in action. No one I know wants to correct themselves or be corrected but the fact is that God requires it of us if we want to be heard.

How do we purify ourselves before God?
Daily we must examine ourselves. We must examine our thoughts, motives, and the intentions of our heart before God. We must ask God to bring things to our attention that are not pleasing to him.

There are many examples of answered prayer in the bible from 1 Samuel 1:20 we read about Hannah and how she poured out herself in prayer for a child and God answered her. In Judges 16:28 Samson prayed for strength one more time to pull down the pillars on the Philistines before he died and God answered him. They set their hearts to understand and corrected themselves before God so they could be heard.

Once we get in that place of submission and correction, he not only hears us but also comes for our words, and sets in motion heaven and earth to fulfill his purpose in our lives.

We have developed lethargy in the Body of Christ today when it comes to believing the promises of God and exercising our faith upon them. In the book of Mark in the Bible, we see two different examples of people who had faith born of desperation that would not be silenced or stopped until they received what Jesus had for them. The woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25-34 was sick for twelve years. She suffered greatly at the hands of doctors in that day and only got worse for it; she spent all that she had to get well. She was considered “unclean” and back then anything she touched or sat upon became unclean. She was required to call out if in public “Unclean, Unclean” and could not touch anyone. She was not allowed in the temple because of her uncleanness and was in fact isolated and alone but she heard about this man named Jesus. She must have heard because she was stirred to leave her house and go find him. She must have had people come to her and say, “Have you heard about this man named Jesus? He is a prophet, some say the Messiah, and he is teaching and healing people!” She was willing to risk everything to break the law to get to Jesus.

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. (Mar 5:28 KJVA)

She left her house and found Jesus. A crowd was thronging him. She had to push her way through to reach Jesus’s hem. She was unafraid to push through to get what she needed even though she was spreading her uncleanness to other people. She was willing to do whatever it took to get to Him and she received her healing.

What about blind Bartimaeus? In Mark 10:46-52 it tells us that Jesus passed by and Bartimaeus heard he was coming and cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. (Mar 10:48 KJVA)
The people around him told him to be quiet but he did not listen because he had to have a touch from Jesus.
When the crowd was calling him Jesus of Nazareth, Bartimaeus was calling him Son of David or Messiah. He showed his faith in calling Jesus the Messiah and in throwing off his cloak that designated him as blind and going to Jesus to receive his sight. We cannot be afraid of other people or what they think. We must be bold enough to seek God with all of our might and not give up until we receive! The woman with the issue of blood and blind Bartimaeus both received their healing because they were not afraid to reach out and take what they needed from the Master. Faith moves God and without faith we cannot please him.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11:6 KJVA)

Faith always has action. Take action today!

Link: http://www.dwmontgomery.com/blogs/blog1.php/2008/09/06/darin-s-healing-testimony

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Cor. 1:20 NIV)

The Bible is full of promises for healing, wisdom, and much more and if we will believe and stand on them, we will receive them. Much like Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 17:19-21, God gave Abraham a promise to be the father of many nations and the promise of Isaac, a son, when Abraham was one hundred years old. He believed and it was counted unto him for righteousness. We have the same ability today to believe God’s word, to stand on it and to watch God move mightily in our life. Darin and I learned so much while going through the battle that hopefully it will help someone else to hear how we received his promise for us.

Several years before my husband was healed, I created a list of healing scriptures from the word so I could stand on those for Darin’s healing. My personal favorite scripture I stood on was Isaiah 53:5: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed”.

Two years before my husbands healing was manifested, God spoke to me that Darin was healed during one of my prayer times. I believed, received and rejoiced! One word from God changes everything. The next day came and went and nothing happened. I continued to believe the promise that God had given me. After that, things got decidedly worse. My husband had several automobile accidents due to the heavy medication he was taking and had to quit working. He was devastated and fought depression. After working eight years after the doctors told him to stop, he had nothing left in him and felt like a failure. I still believed the promise and waited. His condition worsened and the doctors had him try an outpatient device that would shock his nerves and this left him almost helpless for weeks. I waited on the promise. My daughter, who had come in agreement with me for Darin’s healing, came to me and said, “Daddy is getting worse and I don’t see him getting healed.” I told her, “God told me he is healed and I don’t care what I see I know he is healed.” I had this picture of Jesus on the cross taking the stripe for this illness on his back for Darin. I was tempted to give up at times, there were very hard times, but God is faithful. I waited on the promise. I had friends come to me and ask me what I was going to do if I lost Darin. I would get frustrated and go to the Lord and say, “How long? How long will it be Lord?” I continued to wait for the promise.

Darin was in extreme pain most of the time and had a very high tolerance for pain, but there were times when nothing would help and he would not be able to take it. One such time I got very impatient with him and told him, “I do not care how you feel, God told me you were healed and so start acting like it!” I can still remember the look on Darin’s face that I would be so hard on him. The fact was tough love was needed because pity would have put Darin in a wheelchair years before that.

Our church came to us and asked us to be care group leaders and Darin and I knew that God was telling us to do it, but Darin said I must tell them that I may not be able to fulfill this ministry with my condition. Darin many times had to leave church to sit in the parking lot due to his extreme pain. He could not sit still. I told him, “No!” If God wants us to do this he will enable you to do the work of the ministry, he is able! (He was so able; we had seven people filled with the Holy Spirit in our care group the first year- God alone gets the praise!)

When Darin received his healing, I praised the Lord because I knew for two years that God would deliver on his promise and he did. How sweet to see that promise come to fruition.

Pick a promise in the Bible for your life today. Do not doubt, do not give up and stay at Jesus’ feet. Find a scripture for your promise and stand on it no matter what comes. Tough things will come your way, but watch and see what God will do!

The liquid seeped through the pages, red in color it dripped onto the floor, for this word from God was bought with a price. One man alone, Jesus, on the cross endured the suffering for all. Others, used of God, would follow, martyred and betrayed, to allow the spoken Word of God to prevail.

God spoke and the world was created, he breathed and life began. God’s word is alive, from everlasting to everlasting, discerning, for correction and entrusted to us for his divine purpose to be fulfilled. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You cannot separate God from his word for they are one. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The word of God is precious and life giving, full of inspiration and hope for the future. It is perfect and complete and addresses all issues in life. It was preserved and passed down, as was the Israelites heritage.

Deuteronomy 11:18 “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”

We must meditate on his word daily for this is our spiritual food which will build up our spirit man inside of us. Building ourselves up on our most holy faith will enable us to go out into the world and share the gospel and do the Great Commission. We must teach our children about our godly heritage and so they themselves will choose wisely when they are older.

The word of God is discerning and alive. It is the only truth in our world today. Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” When God spoke, his words full of power and alive immediately became what was spoken. Today we can have the same, if we will speak his word over every situation in this life, we are victorious through Christ Jesus and the word enables us to fulfill his direction for our life. The word is discerning and does know our thoughts and motives before we do.

2 Timothy 3:16
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible shows us where we have erred; it teaches us about God and equips us for his ministry on Earth through us. If you read the Bible without being consistant to study it, you will get nothing from it. However, if you allow God to open up the scriptures and unlock the mysteries of the word while being alone with him, you will realize the Bible is all we need for today.

God’s word should so permeate our being that it is part of us as God is part of us.
When something dwells in you- it makes itself at home with you. It is part of you no matter what you are doing. You eat with it, and drink with it and live with it.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

We take so much for granted today in America. We have the freedom of religion and the freedom to read our Bibles and the freedom to pray and seek God with our whole hearts but we do not. Many people have died and faced great persecution to make sure that today we have a Bible and easily have access to God’s word. One such man was John Wycliffe, known as the “Bible Translator”. He was a scholar in the 1300’s in England who understood and associated with the common people and truly desired that everyone have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God. He successfully translated the Bible from Latin to English and for this, he gave his life.
In his own words he says, I profess and claim to be by the grace of God a sound (that is, a true and orthodox) Christian and while there is breath in my body I will speak forth and defend the law of it. I am ready to defend my convictions even unto death.

Since God’s word is complete, it will never fail and we will not either as long as we abide in Christ. Isaiah 55:11 “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Once spoken God’s word does not fail and so we can rest assured if the promise is in the Bible it will come to pass. This may not be in our impatient timeline but it will happen.

God’s word has been entrusted to us, Christ’s faithful followers. We must persevere and not give up; we must fight the good fight of faith and study to show ourselves approved.
Jude 1:3“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” The definition of “entrusted” is “to give over to another for care, protection or performance; to give as a trust to someone as a duty or responsibility.

It is our job to defend and protect God’s word. We must staunchly defend Christian truth so others will see and hear and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. His word existed throughout time, and is for today, it is discerning and the absolute truth. His word is suitable for correction and will achieve his purpose for this world. We are part of this awesome plan if we will choose today to accept the responsibility entrusted to us.
God’s word will never fail; we must speak it, read it, study it and apply it today.

Psalms 32:6
“Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found…”

In today’s society of nonstop going, we often overlook the things that are not urgent or do not demand our attention immediately. One of these things is prayer. I have always heard in church that we need to pray and often, but it was simply something that I did not feel was essential. I speak from experience when I tell you that having a rich prayer life only starts by making a decision to pray no matter the interruptions or interferences. I was telling the Lord one day that I wanted a better relationship with him and he impressed upon me that I needed to start praying one hour a day. I decided to obey. Have you ever tried to do something that you didn’t really want to do? That one hour a day was tortuous for me. I didn’t feel like I prayed correctly or right. I didn’t feel like my prayers even reached the ceiling and wanted to quit. I had to give up family time to squeeze in prayer time. I struggled and fought against it tooth and nail until I was in prayer one day and God spoke to me.

He said, “Prayer is simply you seeking my heart and me touching yours.” These few words changed my entire view on prayer. I didn’t need a long robe, a tabernacle, a church choir or three wise men, all that I needed was a willing me. Prayer is communicating with God one on one. I no longer fight and feel anxious about talking to God or spending time being quiet in his presence. He is an awesome God, worthy of all of our praise, and he desires to speak to us and change us into his will for our life. As God walked and talked with Adam in the cool of the garden at night, he longs to do the same with us. Won’t you take the time even a few minutes a day to praise him, to thank him, to spend time with him? The creator who has known you since the foundation of the world, who formed you in your mother’s womb, who holds all your tears in his hand, and knows the hairs on your head is waiting and longing to meet you face to face.