When we obey when God asks us to do something, we show we love God. Our actions always back up our words; otherwise, where is the truth? God is looking for those who will follow him, and we decide if we will follow every day. Luke 6:46 says, and this is Jesus speaking, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” That is the question we should ask ourselves. If we are not going to listen and obey what Jesus asks, why did we choose Jesus, or did we? That is the question? Were they just words we spoke at that time, hoping things would change? If we do not believe in Jesus and give him a chance to change our lives, we have done nothing. Where do we go from here? We chose him and surrendered our will, then we got ready for Jesus to change our circumstances. I say that because that is what happened to me, because I had no other way. For those that did not surrender our will to Jesus, we can still do it even if it’s parts at a time. We go back to Jesus and follow him, expecting things to change and obey and love him. John 14:15 says, and this is Jesus speaking “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” The answer is the Holy Spirit that lives in us.

The Holy Spirit was given to us after Jesus died and went up to the Father. That was the most important thing that happened for us to overcome sin. We need to surrender, listen, obey what the Holy Spirit says to us, and trust the Holy Spirit. It is not easy; we just need to keep moving towards total surrender. It has taken time. You will know when you get there. It requires humility, a single devotion without an agenda, and love as we serve the Lord. The benefits are many, where if we are listening, we hear from the Holy Spirit, we are in God’s will, getting blessings and fixing our issues, which is why we chose Jesus. We must understand that the Holy Spirit can give us wisdom with understanding if we ask. 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 says, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. We also speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” These verses speak of spiritual things as God has revealed to them by his Spirit to those he freely gives. The natural man (fleshly man) does not understand spiritual things because they are foolishness to them. The spiritual man knows things through discernment and is not judged by any man.

The battles we have with people are spiritual battles, and our relationship with the Holy Spirit gives us the knowledge to fight them in real time as they go on. That is what happens to me when the battles come upon me. That also comes when the Holy Spirit can work through us when it needs us to say what the Holy Spirit needs to be spoken at the right time. We are who choose between the Holy Spirit and Satan, where before we knew of God, Satan was what we listened to, not knowing our thoughts were not completely ours. That explains some of the things we did were driven by our feelings, with Satan pushing us over the top. Our thoughts are where the spiritual battle is because that is where we hear the words. We need to understand that our thoughts are manipulated by Satan, and the Holy Spirit also uses our thoughts, where many people do not know God is speaking to them. Remember, if the Holy Spirit lives in us, he can speak through us, or the Holy Spirit can come upon us. God uses everything to speak to us. I have seen God use posters and stickers on cars or campers. John 14:26 says and this is Jesus speaking “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whosoever I have said unto you.” It is up to us to know his voice and who he is.

When God speaks to us, and we refuse to listen or do what he asks, He knows why we do not listen, as God knows all things. After a while, God speaks to us on his timeframe, and he will try to speak to us through people, but he never gives up on us. Disobedience shows we have spirits of the world that afflict us, and again he tries to speak to us. In the end, we walk away from blessings, and again God could send somebody, as we have a choice to go back into the world. God will not leave us or forsake us, but at some point, God takes his hand off us and lets us go our way. Remember, obedience shows we love God. It is up to us to get to a point to overcome our issues with his help to be able to obey. Let us show our love. God Bless.

Positive or negative words influence people. If we were told we would never amount to anything long enough, we would eventually believe that statement. What we do after we hear those words will make our life for the time being; it is deciding what we will do with our life and moving on with our life. Some people will believe that statement and will be underachievers (cursed), others will take those words and prove those words false. I never let somebody’s opinion or words stop me, because I would prove them wrong with my actions. Our will or our drive is tied to our personal beliefs or cause. When I chose Jesus and started to learn about who Jesus was and what was possible, I was all in. Most of the people that I asked that question said they would not give all, only partial; their trust was missing, as people look at things differently. For me, Jesus was the answer to my life; he was the hope I was looking for. There was nothing else that could solve the problems that were in my life. Why would we look to ourselves for answers when we had no answers to begin with?

When we choose Jesus, we give our lives to him; that means all our lives. We will also go to him. In other words, our will changes to his will. Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” We must discern the will of God through spiritual truth and the Bible. Spiritual truth is looking at our situation and discerning that we are in a spiritual battle. When we see that we are in a spiritual battle, what do we do? We should be praying because we are in a losing situation. Most of the battles we are in are spiritual, and we do not know it. We chalk it up to bad luck or circumstances. I was listening to somebody speak about the last part of life and the hardships this person was put through. I listened to this story and had a way to change his situation and understand why it happened. It was to fight in the spirit, a battle against the spirits causing chaos. That was the answer, but this person was not ready for that. They were not ready to build a relationship with the Holy Spirit, nor did they know what I was talking about. It is time for people to win these battles. I prayed with this person to start the fight in their life.

We must know who our enemy is and what our strengths are. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  This was the first Bible verse given to me by the Holy Spirit. It was for me to understand who my fight was against; it was not the person, it was the spirit they possessed that was my enemy. That is what God wanted us to know; that’s why we could love the person and fight the spirit and give the person the opportunity to get rid of that spirit of darkness. People will not have to go through what I went through, where I was told to fight in the spirit, but nobody could tell me how to do that. God wants each of us to succeed in our lives with him; we need to listen to what God has for us through the Holy Spirit. We learn about who wants the best for us, and through the Holy Spirit, what words give us the ability to defeat our enemy. We also learn how to speak to people and what the consequences are for words that give them the perception that we do not care about them or their feelings. Sometimes it is a thin line in giving people God’s truth versus waiting for God to give us the right time to proceed. We have to listen to the Holy Spirit and not be in a rush to tell somebody something.

Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy us; he is not playing games with us. Satan is serious about those who have chosen Jesus because those who have not chosen Jesus, he already has them, and it is easy to keep them where they are because they are sliding down with no hope in sight. John 10:10 says, and this is Jesus speaking, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  We do not know about other choices until somebody gives people the choice of Jesus and a more abundant life. People believe their only choice is the road they are going down. Giving people the good news that they can change their lives into something better is what we are supposed to show people. Interestingly, we have no problem hearing Satan and believing him. God has spoken to us as unbelievers; it is just that Satan had things we are more interested in at the time.

We should see the schemes Satan is giving us to box us in, where we do not know how to get out of situations. If we have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, he will give us what Satan is doing so we can speak the words to stop Satan in his tracks. I have been given words many times to change the course where Satan thinks he has the upper hand, but finds out God is in control. The words we speak through the Holy Spirit stop Satan. Satan’s tool, fear is what he uses to keep us in his control. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” These verses stop fear and any thoughts that do not line up with God. This changed my life because fear had to stop immediately. God’s word has power beyond what most people believe.

We need to use God’s word as a weapon against evil. That is the gift we were given; now the truth comes out. We need to study the Bible at the same time, asking the Holy Spirit questions about winning the battle in life. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit makes our lives easier, with blessings coming when we obey. It is up to us to choose to live life abundantly through the Holy Spirit or our way. God Bless.

If we are serious about praying for somebody, it will show how serious we are about our prayers. There are no set ways to pray, no particular words that need to be spoken. Prayers should come from our hearts. I am going to ask the question, “if we actually gave it much thought, what would it take to get God’s attention to answer our prayers?” We have probably not given it much thought. I am going to say, in my case, after giving it some thought, we have done what we think and have fallen short of the glory of God. When we did not get results, we kept doing the same until we found somebody who had results in God answering their prayers, but instead of finding out what this person believes the reason God answers their prayers, we asked if this person would pray for people or us we know. The problem is that this person, who prays and gets results is swamped with phone calls and cannot get his needs taken care of.

The answer is to ask what this person does so that God answers them, and better yet, take that information and find and get God’s attention ourselves. What I have found is that the relationship with the Holy Spirit that I talk about a lot is the key because the Holy Spirit teaches us all things. What I have found is that our obedience is the key to God answering us. If you are living life and only giving God your time only when you truly need him, you must think you can live without him. We have to live a life of righteousness with God, and at least have a conversation or some acknowledgment from us. Daniel 9:3-4 says “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:” This is Daniel praying and seeking God knowing that he was going to do things that most people were not doing such as fasting, the sackcloth and ashes was a show of humility also we have to love God and keep his commandments. These were all actions shown by Daniel, with his words matching.

That means we pray about ourselves and our family every day, and it proves that our words spoken to God are judged by our actions or inactions. God looks at our motives and our hearts; they show everything in who we are, whether asking for needs or asking for things we wish for, and our thoughts and why we ask for the things we do. If you are thinking about what God wants us to do or putting God first and ourselves second, which is humility, you “will” see results.

What I have seen is that prayers about people that I have disagreed with on subjects in the Bible were answered the next time I saw that person, when I saw their understanding changed, and they agreed with what I had said. My prayer was that God would show them their error or my error. This has happened many times. I am doing God’s business, and God wants things to be righteous. When we look out for what God wants, and most days you think of God first, you are in alignment with him.

In other words, our prayers are hindered by ourselves or disobedience. We need to look at ourselves to see if we are righteous and holy. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Righteousness makes a difference. It also means when God shows us that we need to change, we agree and let God change us instead of fighting him. Change has happened both ways for me, but I am going to say that when God shows me something that needs to change, agreeing to that change and letting God be God is always easier and shows God that you trust him.

Trust is praying for somebody or ourselves and putting that situation before God. Sometimes our prayers are heard, but God knows what is best, and the situation is changed to something else because of the will of the person you are praying for. We are trying in a lot of situations to stay the same with no change. This could be a forced change by God for the people we are praying for, or it could be that their time on earth is up. Sometimes my prayers have taken a month or two. It is still asking God by talking and expecting an answer or conversation with God. We have to be serious. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 says, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.” This does not say to pray for a specified time and give up. It says keep on praying until you get an answer.

This is the problem with people praying; they give up way too easily. It might require praying for an hour or more to get an answer, which shows God we are serious. God tests us to see how we react to things that happen in our lives. Prayer can find direction in our lives. Prayer gives strength in our relationship with God and trust.

A prayer is a tool given by God to communicate with him. It should be used by everybody. I have never heard of prayer classes, nor have I heard of people asking how some people are gifted to pray or how God answers some people promptly. For myself, I have studied God’s ways and character, and have been the person who wrote about whatever subject the Holy Spirit gives me to put on my computer. These are some of the things that have gotten God’s attention from me. Spending time praying, and the few times I do not go to sleep right away, I start praying and fall asleep in a short time. Building a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit is up to each person; it is a choice we all make every day. That choice will change if we get into some trouble in life.

Get right with God and work on our relationship to get God’s attention. Ask people who hear God what they do so that God answers their prayers. It is sometimes good to ask people to pray for us, but we need to be able to fight our own battles.  My point is that what works for me might not work for you. Prayer is a personal thing between God and us. God Bless.     

The word quit means to give up. Should we give up? Is, that what God wants in our life? We need to look at what we are trying to accomplish if it lines up with our life with God. Too many people give up before we really see what God has for us. If God has given us a mission to do, he will not let us fail. We will not fail because God has his hand on that mission. I have been on some missions God sent me on and did what was asked of me and saw through my eyes that it looked like I had failed. I believed what I saw but I did not see what happened after I left with this person. The Holy Spirit told me the next morning that I did not fail with a phone call from somebody with this person. The Holy Spirit made sure I knew the mission was accomplished. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” We will reap what we sow as God will give us what we have coming in due time if we do not give up.

God did not mean for us to give up or quit, it is not in our DNA. We were given perseverance or endurance as qualities given for believers. That is because we are following Jesus for years and through our life many things happen to us. Some physical or mental issues are for a lifetime so we must endure or persevere. If we give up on these issues, we die, or our life is adversely affected. Giving up is why suicide comes upon people and their thoughts because they have tried what they believe everything and have nothing else left for them to try. This is the flawed thinking that comes from trying to endure whatever issue we are fighting without the Holy Spirit giving us wisdom and understanding for the battles we are in, unless we are fighting our battles without the Holy Spirit that lives in us. James 1:12 says “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” The Lord has promised if we endure, we will receive the crown of life.

Without the relationship with the Holy Spirit, we fall on ourselves or man to give us wisdom and that is why we fail because we listen to people telling us what has happened to them. I am not discounting people’s stories what God did for them because God uses people to give messages to people, but God does not do the same thing for the same issues always. We must listen to the Holy Spirit who will show us how we are to react using what the Holy Spirit gives us to do. We are not going to quit or give up if we are in a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is when we are down or have many issues going on in our life and do not have any answers we start thinking about alternatives to our issues, these alternatives come from Satan who so smoothly speaks to us with us accepting these thoughts as ours. We must be careful because Satan tries to fool us into believing he is God. That is where the Holy Spirit comes in to show us who is speaking to us, and we are taught how to know those to whom we are talking. It is a process where we learn to listen and use our senses because God sharpens our senses abilities and that is my prayer. Sometimes we will see things spiritually, or by smell or we hear things that somebody else does not.

Our issues or baggage that was brought with us when we chose Jesus at some point in our life will have to be taken care of. We can put it off or we might not even know it exists, but our past will come back into our view. The difference now is we have God to show us the way to deal with our issues. We need to ask God for his help. Matthew 7:7-8 says and this is Jesus speaking “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” God gives us what he knows we need. We are not on our own, we now can have the answer to all problems, it is us having that relationship with the Holy Spirit that gives us the advantage to overcome our past. We build on what we know with the things we do not know coming from the Holy Spirit at the proper time for us to get the proper outcome. This is not God just getting rid of our problems it is that relationship where together with the Holy Spirit we are given the opportunity to team with the Holy Spirit and people to help us get through our issues to move to a higher level with God and become who we were meant to be. It is our decision, and it is all up to us whether we will walk with God and receive more responsibility with him.

After that decision is made, the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom as we walk through what needs for us to do. I have been through this procedure with issues from my past a few times. Fear was one of my issues, an issue I had most of my life. It was not an overnight issue to overcome. Romans 5:3-5 says “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience, and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” It took me years but with my perseverance and trust in the Holy Spirit, I was able to conquer fear. That does not mean it does not come at me, it means I know it through my senses and knowledge taught me by the Holy Spirit and spiritual sight when it is attacking me and diffuse it. Conquering fear was not easy for me, my attitude was I was going to beat it, it required me to change, sometimes quickly, other times took time. The Holy Spirit was patient with me but pushed sometimes. The tools I needed were given to me when I needed them such as Bible verses. The words quit or to give up were not in my vocabulary, it was to keep walking forward, that does not mean sometimes I took two steps forward and three steps back or one step forward two steps back. It was my goal to keep moving forward and if we keep doing that we will succeed. You must have a goal or a need to be able to overcome ourselves or our thoughts. Something must move us because we have too much that wants to stop us. The forces of evil exist, and we must know that we will overcome them. It is an attitude that nothing will stop us from overcoming and putting us with the Holy Spirit.

Our goal should be to “Never Give Up” on anything. Our Father in heaven is waiting for each of us to speak up and claim our destiny. Eternal life is our goal, grasp the help God has given us through the Holy Spirit. Do not QUIT on what is ours through God. Take the help before us. God Bless.

We must love ourselves to understand what love is. Most people have not given much thought to that aspect. If we have been hurt or bullied, we start to look at ourselves as unlovable. It is how we perceive ourselves, how we feel about ourselves, and it becomes part of us. It is our inner voice that we listen to that is not of God, but of Satan. Because our self-esteem is so low, we buy into these thoughts that can lead us to depression. It brings us back to how we feel because feelings make our day positive or negative. We have to learn to discard the words or our feelings that dictate what our day is like. Proverbs 19:8 says, “He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.” That wisdom comes from God. God’s love changes our outcome in life from a person who was abused to a person God changed to help people like we were before God changed our circumstances.

Satan uses our thoughts to direct our actions. The first thing we must understand is that Satan exists. He is the accuser of the brethren. Revelation 12:10 says, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”  The accuser (Satan) is constantly bringing to God’s attention our shortcomings (what Satan sees as sin). Satan wants us to sin and helps us to accomplish that, then goes to God to accuse us of what we have done. God is all-knowing and knows what Satan has done to make sure we sin. When we understand who Satan is, we can recognize our thoughts, and those that are not righteous, and we can discard.

We combat Satan’s lies that he gives us as thoughts with the Holy Spirit telling us the truth. Satan has a way he uses, a little bit of truth with a lot of lies. Satan hooks us because we see the truth and believe the rest of the statement or story. When we understand this and have the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to follow Jesus with the Holy Spirit giving us God’s wisdom. This is the choice we make every day to follow Jesus or not to follow him. It gets down to choosing to obey God with all our hearts and communicating with God through the Holy Spirit. That relationship dictates our life from then on.

Love started with God because God is love. God’s love is given freely to us; we just need to reciprocate in kind. A relationship with God and the reception of the Holy Spirit give us a heads-up, as love becomes part of us. Love is not automatic because of our perception of love, and because God invented love and is love, we need to engage with God to understand God’s love. God’s love is not a feeling or an emotion. God’s love is unconditional and is used in everything he does; man’s love has an agenda or a need or changes depending on the situation. John 4:7-8,11-12 says “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”   

If our self-worth is low, it is because we dwell on our failures or what somebody else has told us. God made everybody with God-given gifts, meaning we are all valuable. It is us believing in ourselves. That comes from accepting positive thoughts. God sent his Son (Jesus) to pay the price for sin because he loved us, all of us. The life we were given might not have been filled with love, but let’s try to find people who can show us God’s love. That will change our lives and how we see life through our eyes. When we choose Jesus, our perception of love will change; we just need to work through the issues that have been part of our lives.

The pain we have from our past needs to be given to Jesus Christ and laid at his feet. We then need to pray and ask for God’s wisdom. Then read the bible verses that speak to us and our pain. Psalms 147:3 says, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” This is where our prayers come into our situation and have the ability to change everything. Psalms 34:17-19 says “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh (near) unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (remorseful)spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” The righteous the Lord delivers from their issues that have deep regret for their wrongdoings.

The Lord is always near to us. He is waiting for us to say something, be it crying out or in prayer. Our free will, God will not overrule. He gave us free will and is waiting for us to have some communication with him. That communication is us making a real effort to start that relationship with a humble heart. We sometimes feel God has forgotten us, but that is us forgetting about God.

We need to change the way we have done things and move closer to God. The Holy Spirit is waiting on us. Our response is in our hands and will change our lives. God Bless.

I actually forgot about giving my life to Jesus because it’s been over 20 years. I was reminded this week by the Holy Spirit. I spent some time thinking about my choice. I think sometimes it’s good to look at your choices and how they changed your life. This was “the most” important decision in my life by far forever. All the other decisions I made have been made better or saved because of this decision. When I chose Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, that decision gave me the resources to overcome anything and to have eternal life.

When I needed Jesus over 20 years ago, I didn’t know him; I knew of him. I really did not know his nature. I was just looking at solving my issues. I knew in my spirit that God was my only chance. I was not going to give 50% of myself to Jesus Christ; it was 100%. When I said this to people, they said they would not do that. They were not as serious as I was. I considered my choice of Jesus my only shot to change my situation. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” We were chosen long before birth, and we were predestined by Jesus Christ.

For those who have not given all themselves to Jesus Christ, I ask you to think and pray about it. For others, if you have areas of your life you personally want to work on, let me encourage you that working with Jesus works out much better. There is no way you can try to hide something from God. When God feels it is time to deal with your issues or your past, it is your choice whether you decide to cooperate. To have that spiritual relationship with the Holy Spirit requires giving up your past issues. In my case, the Holy Spirit mentions small issues that are taken care of immediately and would make my relationship closer, and give me a deeper understanding of the Bible.

Those are the benefits of obeying when you get that opportunity. There were times years back that I could not obey because of issues I had. Sometimes it is words I need to tell somebody. The more you obey, the more the Holy Spirit can use you and the more “grace” God gives you. Too many people misinterpret “God’s Grace” as automatic. God gives grace when he sees fit; you cannot earn it. Grace is applied freely by him, and we do not know when he uses it. 1Peter 5:10 says, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Our God is looking out for us; He knows what we are going through. We just need to listen and do what he asks.

If we decide to go our own way, he lets us; our decision to move on doing it without God can come with consequences. I call it taking his hand of protection off from you. People do not understand that if God puts you on a mission for him, he takes good care of you. That is why you should not have any worries. It works the same every day of your life. The things I speak about are because I have seen how God takes care of me and other people who follow the Holy Spirit and do what is asked.

When I hear the Holy Spirit has a plan, I get excited because I know whatever it is, my God will take care of me. I trust God with my life. That is giving your life to Jesus. When we gave our lives to Jesus, we have no right to take it back. I remember going on vacation 15 years ago, thinking it was my vacation. I learned that when I went on vacation, the Holy Spirit still had things for me to do. The Holy Spirit also gives you liberty to do what you want to do. When we received the Holy Spirit, we went from servant to son with an inheritance from Jesus. That inheritance is eternal life. It is also the benefits of being in the spiritual family of Jesus Christ! Galatians 4: 6-7 says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

The Holy Spirit just gave me some thoughts about the respect and thankfulness for Him. I wonder how many of us have given that much thought. We want other people to respect us, but do we respect or thank our God for the things he does for us? We sometimes forget where we come from and how we got there. I have given it much thought and do not want to take the Holy Spirit for granted. When I went to work, I used to thank God for all the stoplights being green when I was in a hurry to get there. This was one of the small things done by God that I would thank him for at that moment. The Holy Spirit sees the things that are happening around you, and when you need a hand, he puts his hand out to help. We get in a hurry and forget to treat our God the way he should be treated. Matthew 22:36-38 says, and this is Jesus who answers the question Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”

We need to take some time to reflect on how our God has stood by us in times of need. We need to pray and thank him even in the tough times when things we think did not go our way. God knows what is best for us. Sometimes we might disagree. This all goes back to the choice of giving your life to Jesus. It was all your life, not just a part of it. Your choice will be a blessing to you, your family, and the people around you! God Bless.

Fear has a way of making us think because we believe what fear says. We must remember fear is a spirit, as we are also spiritual. We hear fear as we hear God, as we decide those to whom we will listen. Fear is something we must deal with right now, and it takes our time away. Fear takes our past and brings it into our future; it wants to tell us our future is not bright and keeps us stuck in a situation we cannot move because fear stops us. If we believe our fear, we cannot believe God. 1 John 4:16,18-19 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us.”  Perfect love is God, and that is what defeats fear. Fear has torment, a feeling that comes when fear is present. After many years, I noticed that feeling because that was what the Holy Spirit showed me. When the Holy Spirit showed that to me, it was the key to beginning to overcome fear.

The spiritual battle begins in our mind and our thoughts, where fear and Satan want to stop us, so we do not move. Satan knows exactly what we are going through by our words and actions; Satan cannot read our minds. Satan gives us thoughts that we act on, and with our actions, he knows where we stand. I have learned not to react, so with me, Satan does not know where I stand, which frustrates Satan. Satan’s motive is to get revenge on God, using us to come against God or to have no relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. We have many people who know who God is but have no relationship with the Holy Spirit. Satan is not concerned with people with no relationship because he has them where he wants them. No relationship, and God will say I never knew you. Matthew 7:19-23 says, and this is Jesus speaking, “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name have many wonderful works been done? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Jesus is talking about people when he uses trees without good fruit, cut down, then thrown in the fire. We must do the will of the Father instead of our will and thoughts, where we think we are doing God’s work and think we are going to heaven. We think we have done great things for God, but instead, they were not what God wanted because we do not know what God wanted, either because we did not ask or because we have no relationship with God.

When we think we know what God wants, I have found God has a better plan than what I thought possible. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  This explains why we need to depend on the Lord for wisdom instead of ourselves, because we do not understand what is going on, nor see what God sees in the situations we are in. If we think we know better, that would be pride rising in us. That spirit of pride makes us think we are better than we really are, which would be a lie. The truth is that when we depend on ourselves and either forget about God or choose not to listen to him, we have made a choice, and that choice is to turn our back on our greatest answer to all our issues and have embraced Satan by default. Is that what we really want? That is what Satan wants for us; he wants to confuse us into believing we are following God and doing the right thing. We do not ask the question, “Is that you, God?” Satan knows how to make us believe what he tells us because he knows us. It is because Satan knows how to manipulate us by answering questions or through actions, and when we do that gives us answers. God knows everything about us because he knew us from the beginning. Satan must manipulate or lie to get his answers. Satan waits for us to tell him what he needs, and we oblige him. I learned many years ago, and do not speak out about things that I do not need to.

The Bible has answers to overcome and stop fear immediately 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” These verses given to me by the Holy Spirit stop fear immediately because everything that exalts itself against God’s knowledge and thoughts will have to obey Jesus Christ. Fear is a thought that would have to obey and would immediately have to stop. Fear was stopped when I learned about these verses, and any thought that was not from God, we can just get rid of them. Fear does have torment, and that torment has a feeling. When the Holy Spirit showed me that feeling which I had felt but did not know what it was, I now knew when fear was present, I would deal with it.

God always has a plan; we just need to listen and get on board. Fear controlled fifty years of my life, but God’s plan showed me how to gain that control back through the Holy Spirit. That same plan, with the Holy Spirit’s help, now gives everybody the ability to get rid of fear in their life. God Bless.

When we choose Jesus, we do not choose what we decide to do and what we do not want to do, we do what Jesus wants us to do. Why would we not want to do exactly as we were told when we decided to choose Jesus? That decision changed our life forever. I can say that in my case I had to deal with fear and at first, it slowed me up as God was helping me to overcome. What I chose to do was keep making headway towards my goal of defeating fear. It was moving forward then back then forward until I was given the tools to move on. I see other people struggling with fear and have struggled for some time with the same issues but have not made much headway. It comes down to trusting the Holy Spirit and not depending on our past failures with our expectations not able to get past them failures. It is called fear of failure where we lose our faith and belief that our life will not change as we have been believing a lie from Satan. These past failures keep us from taking another shot at a better life. It is saying and believing we do not have enough money when we should be expecting God to bless us where it is not happening. It is a matter of changing our attitude where we expect God to bless us. It is thinking positive about our expectations all the time. We need to look at ourselves and ask the question what are we doing wrong and why are we not seeing the blessings? We should be pushing closer to God through the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We need to come to God confidently, sometimes we come to God defeated, we need to come to God before we feel defeated where he can pick us up.

We are in control when we choose to overcome issues in our life as God is waiting on us to ask for the help then he will show us to overcome whatever is our issue. For me it was that I had to work my way through that issue so that I could teach somebody else how to overcome it. That is how the Holy Spirit operates as he teaches us so we can teach somebody else. When we refuse to listen and choose what we know we are in trouble. Wisdom comes when we choose to listen and we follow what the Holy Spirit says to us through our thoughts. It comes down to we have lost our hope. Satan stole our hope and our confidence. The answer is to get back in the Bible read and study where God changed the situation and gave that hope back then we will gain back the confidence we lost. That is what I did to change when I had a lack of confidence. We need to put everything we have into Jesus as we gave our life to him believing he could change our life. We are fighting in the flesh, that is why we are beat down. Satan knows we fight in the flesh and tricks us into that fight because Satan knows we will lose. The flesh is the automatic where we were born into. The spirit is where battles are waged and won and lost, where we win because that is where God is and that is why after Jesus died the Holy Spirit is our teacher, spiritual leader and the hope we were given. We must believe and embrace Jesus then give up or surrender our control, our will, to the Holy Spirit. Until we do that our direct line is stopped by us because we do not trust the Holy Spirit where God can use us. One thing God gave us was the ability to choose, free will, we choose everything in our life or our decisions do. Whether we choose the wide road which is where we are when we are born or choose to change to the narrow path to righteousness and heaven thru Jesus, we will make that choice every day. Matthew 7:13-14 says “Enter ye at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Few people will find that strait gate because that narrow path requires us to follow Jesus every day. It is not a choice we make once and we are good; it is a choice we must make every day otherwise we start to go towards the wide gate as Satan always points us to the path towards that wide gate or destruction.

What most people do not understand as spiritual understanding comes from God the issues that stop us or the disabilities we claim are only in the flesh, they do not exist in the Spirit. I was asking a question from somebody I was talking to where the Holy Spirit gave me an answer about the Spirit verses the flesh. This also answers the question about heaven and disease and what we will look like in heaven in our spiritual body without sin verses our fleshy body with sin that eventually will decay and die. We are spiritual beings, but we

were born into the flesh (what we can literally see) where moving to the spirit which is taught by the Holy Spirit and who lives in us is seen in the spirit with our spiritual eyes. Most people are not ready for the spiritual side; the spiritual side is life. 1John 5:10-13 says “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that have the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” The witness is the Holy Spirit that lives in us. If we do not embrace the spiritual side, healing is what he should ask for in our prayers when we have physical or mental issues, and we need to believe and have faith for spiritual things to happen. Study the things of God and ask for God’s wisdom and his understanding to make our life all we want it to be. God Bless.

There are people who will try and run from God. It is foolish to even think about running or thinking you can hide from God. God is omnipotent, (all powerful) omnipresent (present everywhere). These are just 2 of his attributes. This just proves how foolish it is to run and try to hide. We are not really thinking. God knows every thought, every action before we move.

Jonah tried to run from God. His story is in Jonah chapters 1-4. This story starts with God telling Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and give them a message about their wickedness. Jonah flees on a ship to go to another city. God sent out a great wind to get everybody’s attention on the ship. Jonah was sleeping and they eventually threw him overboard. A great fish swallowed Jonah. Jonah prays and is in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights before being vomited out onto dry land. This time Jonah goes to Nineveh and gives the message, and the people receive the message and repent. Jonah was angry that God gave them mercy and that is why he did not want to give the message. God gave Jonah a test to show him why he spared the city. This goes back to trying to run and hide from God.

It also goes to us wanting to do the things we believe God wants us to do. We do not know God and the things we do are according to “our” understanding of God’s righteousness. We do not know God’s righteousness until God reveals his righteousness to us with more understanding. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” When Jesus Christ came and died and the Holy Spiritwas given to those that have a relationship with him and are born again, we can understand his righteousness when the Holy Spirit adds understanding to us. Our own righteousness is like filthy rags, worth nothing.

The biggest reason that people do not do what God wants is fear. They know they have a calling on their life. They are afraid and do not trust that God will give them the tools to be all God wants them to be. Fear is the spirit showing you what you believe is your future. Fear is emotions of worry, anxiety, dread. You are worrying about something that might happen. We accept these thoughts as gospel or truth. They are lies with pictures in your mind. I am an expert, I had fear control me for about 50 years. I overcome fear because of the Holy Spirit and Bible verses that would stop the thoughts immediately. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” The pictures are so vivid we believe them. The Holy Spirit showed me fear has a feeling. That is the dread or the anxiety feeling. The answer was this Bible verse, it would stop fear immediately. Remember we are fighting a spirit and have to fight in the spirit to win. Fear wants to take control over our mind.

 God tells you in his word you are an overcomer. 1 John 5:3-5 says “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” Obey his commandments is the love of God and to believe (not just a thought but also our actions) on Jesus overcomes the world. If we believe the Holy Spirit will give you the tools, you will act like it.

Satan can control our thoughts if we let him. The more we obey the Holy Spirit the more we will defeat Satan and his spirits. We need to overcome our past and the issues Satan wants us to keep living over and over with us believing we are stuck in that same recording. It is time for the Holy Spirit to brake that recording and you becoming the person that God destined for you to be. God has a plan for each of us.

We believe that God has not answered our prayers when sometimes we do not know that God has tasked somebody (another human) to give us our answer. That person has a responsibility to give you that answer. We need to keep on praying. I have been that person to give somebody a message. Sometimes Satan knows and tries to tell you that the person you are to give the message to is not going to like it. Fear sets in, you have to overcome that fear and give that message. We need to get in the Spirit (pray) and let the Holy Spirit overcome. In other words, we need to let the Holy Spirit in you take over and not the flesh.

About 7 years ago, I had a trailer made in Missouri. I left after work and got down to Bloomington, Illinois to pick it up. I was tired and stayed overnight. I left early, felt tired and after an hour stopped at a restaurant with my dad. There was only one person in the restaurant, an older woman and she was talking to my dad about a church. My dad went into the bathroom and she started talking to me about backsliding and not going to her church. At that time, the Holy Spirit told me to tell her that she needs to go back to her church, which is where she belonged. I gave her the message. It was up to God to get me in that restaurant at that time to tell this woman in a place I never was before. It is God’s job to make the logistics work so I could speak to her.

This morning after I woke up the Holy Spirit gave me a song called “Trust and Obey.” I had to look it up to see if one existed. It does and was written in 1887 as a hymn. It is a strong spiritual hymn.

When we run from God, we are running into Satan arms. That is where Satan wants you to be. Satan will feed you the lies he wants you to believe, and we believe him if we believe all our thoughts. I have given information about your thoughts and where they come from. We need to trust and obey. We cannot go anywhere that God cannot touch you if he wants. Psalms 9:10 says “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”  If we trust God, we should not want to run from God. If we love him, we will obey him. Those that have run, it is time to come back into Gods waiting arms. God cannot wait and the joy he will have when you come back. God Bless.

People focus on the battle instead of Jesus where Jesus has the answer. To win the battle we need to trust Jesus and put our focus completely on him. When my son died, the only way I could deal with it was to focus on Jesus because when I took my focus off from Jesus the grief would hit me hard. It was the things I should have done before he died that I did not do as I wished I had done. I said to the Holy Spirit that I would be good in a month but that was not the way it worked out, I needed an extra two weeks where people would let me finish my grieving. Some people take months or years for grief management. It was with Jesus that gave me the strength to work my way through to move on with the things Jesus needed me to do. Focusing on Jesus and asking Jesus to use us keeps our mind open for the Holy Spirit to help us to trust at the same time we do things for God he can work on us and whatever issue we are dealing with. We do not know what the Holy Spirit is planning until it comes about. When the Holy Spirit works on our issues that require us to help and do our part if we do not help, our issue will not be resolved. When we wonder why we are stuck where we are, we need to look at ourselves and ask us why we are still in the same place then ask the Holy Spirit why things have not changed. What I have learned over twenty-five years is the Holy Spirit gives us the opportunity to change and when we get that opportunity to change we need to move at that time or we will wait till the next time comes when the Holy Spirit comes back on his time to see if you are ready, if you are not ready same scenario but the time frame could change a month to six months or more . It depends on us to make that decision; I saw what was happening after two times I chose to trust and moved in the direction the Holy Spirit wanted. I learned quickly after that time and I embraced whatever the Holy Spirit asked, sometimes feeling ten feet off the ground, way out of my comfort zone. John 16:13-15 says and this is Jesus speaking “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the father hath are mine: therefore, said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”  When we do something so important that it will change our life completely, we must buy something as I did or anyone should, as the Holy Spirit is our guide and the one thing that will change us if we let it.

Our spiritual life needs to change once we choose Jesus. We must understand that our life has turned spiritual from seeing things in the spirit which we might have seen before to understanding our words or prayers are communicated through our thoughts directly to the Holy Spirit who lives in us not just the spoken word. We must remember God is a Spirit and we worship him in spirit and truth. Before Jesus died, the spoke of the Father sending the Holy Ghost in Jesus’s name. John 14:26-27 says and this is Jesus speaking “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus came back as the Holy Spirit to live in us so we could become like him using him to show us love, grace, and mercy to live a life where we could overcome sin. That is if we choose to surrender our will every day. We should commit every day to follow and obey what the Holy Spirit has for us as we pray where I find out what my orders are for the day. Most days while I do the things I need done what the Holy Spirit needs are done at the same time or where I am traveling. This is where our minds and thoughts become one where we do not know where our thoughts and the Holy Spirit become one. How can we go wrong or make a wrong decision with the Holy Spirit helping to make us who we were meant to be? Fear stops us from ever finding out who or what God has for us. Why does that have to be when all we have to do is trust and listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say then move where the Holy Spirit wants us? I learned if the Holy Spirit wanted me to talk to somebody, I would ask the Holy Spirit to make reservations for whoever I was to meet. I would meet that person on whenever that time was, on God’s time. It works better than me trying to call to make the time for us to get together. We make things harder than we should when the Holy Spirit knows everything that is to come so let God do it and make life easier.

What we do not understand is we are all different, our plan and goals are different but part of a bigger plan. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken (listen) unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” We come to Jesus with baggage in many cases as I did, that baggage was not necessarily my fault, sometimes bad decisions where we do not know better as we listened to men and now we have the ultimate version of a heavenly Father with all our answers where all we have to ask and get answers when answers come at the right time. Remember answers to prayers come through men or whatever way the Holy Spirit decides to show us. We must be a student of who Jesus is and find who God is where the Holy Spirit was sent to teach us all things. Be the student and overcome our past and baggage we brought as we chose Jesus. Now find God’s plan for us, win our battles, and have a great life. God Bless.