... Jesus cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."
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... Jesus cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."
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We could have all the money in the world and all the supplies, and still not have peace. Or we could have low money and supplies, and still not have peace.
But we can have plenty or less... and still have huge peace.
Keeping our mind “stayed on You” means just that, keeping our minds stayed on the Lord and it says why. The reason is because “we trust in Him.” We can trust the Lord for taking care of us. We do our part by being diligent with what we are blessed with and living our life unto Him. And the Lord, blesses the work of our hands and takes care of us. I have found that if I look at a mountain, it is so big, that it consumes my sight. And if I allow my troubles to overtake my view, no matter how big my trouble really is, they become mountains when I let them consume me. We have to face our troubles squarely, especially if we are responsible for others. But we can do it from a place of security, knowing we are not alone and that we can have all the direction and wisdom from the Lord that we need. The choice is up to us. The Lord’s eye is always upon us and our situations but we have to choose to keep our mind stayed on Him and trust Him. We can do whatever we have to do in this world with the supernatural peace and with the supernatural strength that come from Jesus Christ. Even in the face of knowing that He was about to be tormented physically by the devil’s human servants, Jesus kept His peace. And even when He was hanging on the cross, He helped the thief next to Him, His mother’s situation that was about to happen in needing a son, in a world where a woman, needed a male to stand with her. He helped all of us by giving His all and taking the time to pray, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This was not only for those that did Him wrong that day, but for everyone, for all of us. Jesus kept His peace. Even when His body was severely beaten and crushed to death. Even being separated from His Father, He hurt desperately but He did not despair. He went on to conquer sin and the grave completely. If His grief had overcome Him, He would not have been able to do so. He went on to take the keys to hell and death from the devil. Jesus has shown us the way. And the Lord has sent us His Spirit to be with each of us. God is closer than our breath for those that are born-again! The Lord loves being our God and us being His children. It is why He created us. We do not have to be God. He is. Only He has all wisdom, all knowledge, all provision, not only for the physical (including mental) but for the spiritual. He is El Shaddai. The name of God “El Shaddai” was taught to me when I was young, as “The Lord, Our God Almighty Who Is Our Everything.” I said, how can He be our everything? They said, like a baby in a womb, is completely dependent of the mother taking care of through the umbilical cord. The cord is a lifeline for everything. All is provided. And we find all we need in trusting God.
Look at the context that this verse was given.
This same Jesus, who was born Emmanuel, left and went to be with the Father, but He did not leave us empty-handed. He has sent us His Presence that we can all have Him with us at the same time. Jesus in the physical could not do that, but in leaving, He made this possible. You can even close your eyes and feel His closeness. We are never ever alone. The disciples became apostles. All were martyred but one, whose life was attempted to be taken, but failed. They and the entire early church went through terrible times of tribulation and even persecution. But they chose to stand fast in their faith. Paul and Silas stood fast in hard times.
They were wrongfully beaten and cast into jail, even to being put in stocks in jail. And they chose to sing praises to the Lord. And we know what happened next.
When they chose to praise the Lord, even in terrible circumstances, God not only helped them but God used them to help the jailer and his family come to Christ and countless other prisoners were affected for the better. When the three Hebrews were cast in the fiery furnace, as told of in the book of Daniel, the one who had them cast in, saw four in the fire and the one was like unto the Son of God. And when the fire could not hurt them, they were released and not even the smell of smoke was on them and the only thing that had changed was that the ropes that they were bound with, were gone. By keeping our minds stayed on the Lord and trusting Him, by choosing to praise Him no matter how crazy or despairing this world gets, we can have peace. We can have supernatural peace and supernatural strength. We can operate from a place of joy and peace and have all the strength we need as true followers of Jesus Christ. The other option, is to let the troubles consume us. We could even share our pit with others or join them in theirs. But why would we do that when we can have the fruit of the Spirit and share our fruit with others. Those that have peace, strength and joy fare much better and are certainly better to be around than those that are in depression, despair and are deflated. The choice is up to us. Thank You Lord that You are our God and we are Your children. Thank You for meeting our needs, physical and spiritual. Thank You Lord for Your mercy, grace, peace, strength and joy. Eli Cockrell
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Many would say that with the China virus, COVID-19, Corona virus or whatever name it is being called, and its effects, that the Lord could come for us any minute. But there are many other events that must happen first. No temple has been built yet in Jerusalem. No Antichrist has risen to power. We do not even have a global government for him to rise up from. The Two Witnesses have not started a global ministry yet. The transgressors (spoken of in Daniel) while many, have not reached their fullness. And more. I do believe we are in the early times of the apostasy. Many want to believe the apostasy is a time when many in the church backslide. This is not what the apostasy is. The terms mean a deflection from or forsaking of the truth. The apostasy that is coming on this world is of mankind and is global. It is much like we read about in Romans chapter 1. Mankind in general has chosen to exchange the truth of God for the lie. The lie has been the same lie since the Garden.
While we still have a long way to go, we see the world becoming a darker place. At the same time, we see the true body of Christ becoming more consecrated. What is destined to be, will be. Let us consider the Word of our Lord, recorded by the Apostle Mark.
*** I believe Mark 13:14b-18 is 2-fold prophecy. It happened 70 AD and it will happen again before the Lord comes. Verses 19 and 20 describe the severity of the tribulation that is yet to come. The Lord has warned us what will happen before He comes for His church at the end of the current age. These verses are not pre-Armageddon and Second Coming or even pre-Great White Throne of Judgment. Most of Mark 13 is pre-rapture and rapture verses. Is the COVID-19 virus a sign of the end times? I believe it has been allowed by God to be a wake-up call. Even harder times will come. We need to stay close to the Lord and if we are not in the right place with Him now, we need to get there. The Lord does not want anyone ever to perish eternally and He is calling out to all who can hear Him, “... behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2b ). Eli Cockrell How do we keep our peace and joy when the world seems like it is going haywire all around us? For sure if we listen to the media and additionally, those around us who are in “panic mode,” we can lose our calm very easily.
I have two key verses for today. The first is found in Isaiah.
It could also be put in second person like this, Because one trusts in the Lord and keeps their mind (focus) stayed on Him, the Lord will keep him in perfect peace. If we allow our minds and hearts to focus on our problems and all the possibilities that fear can bring, we will not have peace. But if we will refuse frustration, worry and despair by trusting that the same Lord who took care of us when we had smoother sailing, knowing that He will still take care of us on the stormy seas, then we can have amazing peace. If we need it, the Lord can multiply anything we have, including, bread, milk, fuel and even money. If we have nothing to multiply, He can send us whatever we need by way of someone or something else, even ravens if necessary like He did for Elijah (1 Kings 17:4-6) or the lady and her son the Lord sent Elijah to help at Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16) whose oil and flour never ran out, as long as the drought they were in lasted. The world and the devil, would love for us to operate from a place of fear and panic. God wants what is best for us and to trust Him. To despair is to doubt God. To despair is an insult to our Father and His provision and puts us in a place of sin. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is trust. With faith (trust) in God, nothing is impossible. The second key verse for today is found in Nehemiah.
There is strength in the right mindset. There is spiritual strength too. When we choose to trust God, be thankful and praise the Lord, no matter how stormy life’s seas are, we can navigate our way through with peace, strength and the direction of the Lord! A gloomy heart or fearful heart is not the place to be directed from. But a joyful heart which knows that the Lord knows better than us and trusts Him as our provider, is the greatest place for anyone to be directed from. We are not mere flesh and blood. Our flesh and blood will pass, but our spirit beings are forever. And that spirit being, our inner man, should be feeding itself on the Word of God and trusting the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, to be our Comforter and Strength. He is God with us. When we choose to rejoice and trust God, we are in the best place possible! Why fear as though we have no hope and no God? We are not orphans. If we are born-again, we are the children of God Almighty! So, let us live our faith. We must never forget this verse:
This is true when life has smooth or stormy seas, or anywhere in between. If we trust the Lord and seek His kingdom first and seek to do whatever He says is right, He will take care of us. Eli Cockrell And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. Acts 12:11 When the devil uses people, demons or situations in his attempt to destroy us, God intervenes to save us. Sometimes, the gravity of the situation requires supernatural intervention by the angels of the Lord. In Hebrews 1:14, we read that angels are "all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation." Sad to say, there are believers who believe they have the power to tell the angels to do something for them. They are on dangerous ground, because such a practice, which has no biblical basis, opens the door for demons to lure them into their territory and harm them. The Bible teaches us that only the Lord commands His angels and they fulfill all His commandments, for our own good and for the kingdom of God.
Herod, the king of Israel, had arrested Peter for his faith in Jesus Christ, with the desire to bring him before the people after Passover. But God sent an angel to Peter to deliver him from prison, where he was bound in chains and guarded by 16 soldiers (Acts 12:4). It was the prayers of the church that triggered the intervention of the Lord. The Holy Spirit had led those in the church to intercede in prayer for their brother. Can you imagine how great their joy was and how much their faith was strengthened when they heard Peter's testimony about how the Lord had answered their prayers? If for us it is such great encouragement to read what God has done through His angel, how much more could it have been for them, who were the protagonists of this scene? There are many instances in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testament about the angels sent by God to help His children, and to this day, there are many testimonies about the miracles done by the angels of the Lord. Let us not forget that God never leaves us alone when things go wrong. He always has solutions for every problem we go through and when needed, He sends His angels to fight for us. We are not to pray to angels. We are to pray to the Lord and He decides how to help us and when the situation requires it, He will command the angels to do what we cannot do, until He takes us to be with Him, where Jesus went to prepare a place for us! Carmen Pușcaș |
AuthorsSince we became Christians, the authors of this site, over the decades, with the help of the Holy Spirit, have learned deeper biblical truths and how to have a closer walk with Christ. Through the websites that we are writing on, we try to share with the readers who might be interested, messages about living life with Jesus Christ as Lord. Archives
March 2024
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