2018 Blackboards

God Will Do All He Promises

Posted on April 8, 2018 by admin

Proverbs 4:20-22

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes…

God has given us a sure way to receive the answers to our problems and challenges. It is His Word. Every answer or solution we need is found in the Bible. Yet, many Christians are not walking victoriously in certain areas of their lives. This is because the devil continuously wages a war of distraction against them. He has managed to take them away from the one thing that can bring them victory – God’s Word. He will do everything possible to prevent them from opening the Bible because he knows that the Word will deliver them.

The distraction can be very subtle: A lot of things to get done, a lot of TV programs that interest you, or it may take the form of a big problem that makes you feel that you need to focus all your attention on it. The enemy knows that if he can get you to take your eyes off the Word of God, he can keep you from winning the battle. When you are going through a tough time, it is not enough to know that God’s answer to the problem is “somewhere in the Bible”. Find the scripture in which God has promised the solution. Meditate on it until the truth of that scripture is revealed to you. When you do this, no demon or devil can prevent that word from God from bearing fruit in your life.

Even Jesus Himself used the Word to defeat the devil in the wilderness – “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'” (Matthew 4:4) The way to defeat the enemy is with “It is written…”

There is no substitute for the written Word. God tells us that we will find life and health if we give our attention to His Word and keep it in the midst of our hearts. So get into the Word and let God’s promises abide in you.

Miracles Still Happen

Posted on March 25, 2018 by admin

Colossians 2:10

…and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

When you look at yourself, what do you see? Do you see someone who is imperfect and lacking in many areas, or someone who is whole and complete in Christ?

There are believers who see themselves as incomplete. That is because they are conscious of their lack and imperfections. They say tings like, “There are so many things I have done wrong! How can I be complete with all of these things?” They see their weaknesses, condemn themselves and feel inferior to others.

The good news is that God does not see the way man sees. Man sees the flesh, while God sees the spirit. He sees us already complete in Christ. In spite of our imperfections, He sees us as new creations, partakers of His divine nature and more than conquerors over our faults. And He wants us to see ourselves the same way He sees us.

What we think we need or are lacking in, whether it is godly character traits or physical health, we already have in Christ.

You are not going to be complete in Christ some day – you are already complete in Christ right now! And what remains for you to do is to walk in that completeness every day by believing that it is true and confessing that what you need, Jesus is to you. He is your complete forgiveness, complete righteousness, complete favor, complete healing and complete protection.

So don’t focus on the lack you see in yourself. Focus instead on how in Christ, you are complete in everything at this moment. And instead of weaknesses, lack and defects, you will see His strength, wholeness, soundness and completeness manifesting in you!

The Clause That Makes It All Happen

Posted on March 17, 2018 by admin

Hebrews 8:12

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

We are no longer under the old covenant. We are now under the new covenant. And in this new covenant, God says that He will do three things for us:

Lead us – “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.” (Hebrews 8:10) These are the laws of faith, love and liberty to guide you in everything you do. It is a spontaneous, dynamic, active and intimate way to be led by God.

Work miracles for us – “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Hebrews 8:10) The phrase “I will be their God” denotes a miracle working God. So if you are sick and God says, “I will be your God,” get ready for healing! If you are poor and God says, “I will be your God,” get ready for His supply!

Cause us to know Him effortlessly – “…all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (Hebrews 8:11) The Greek word for “know” here is eido. It means to know intuitively without effort. This means that you will know God easily.

Do you want to experience all these blessings in your life today? Then, you need to know the clause that makes it all happen: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The words “no more” in the Greek carry a strong double-negative. So God is saying, “I will never, by no means, ever remember your sins!”

The more you believe this in your heart, the more you will see those blessings fulfilled in your life. When you realize how much God has forgiven you and remembers your sins no more, you will know Him, His ways and His will for you intimately and intuitively without effort.

So believe in your heart today the clause on which all these blessings hinge, and get ready for miracles and hopes fulfilled in the days ahead!

Covered, Protected, Delivered

Posted on March 3, 2018 by admin

Exodus 13:21

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God led them by going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.

By day, God spread the pillar of cloud as a covering over His people in the desert to prevent the scorching sun from striking them down. The people were shaded and kept cool. Today, you are also under His covering. He will not allow you to be struck down (Psalm 121:3-8), nor be oppressed by the “heat” of the day. (Isaiah 54:14)

At night, when the desert became dark and cold, God gave His people the pillar of fire to light the way for them, as well as to keep them warm and safe. Today, as you walk with God, you will not be overwhelmed by the cold, dark places in life because God’s Word says, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5) You will not fear the terror by night or the pestilence that walks in darkness because God will deliver you from them. (Psalm 91:5-6)

Like the children of Israel, who only needed to look up, and keep their eyes on the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, all you need to do today is to look up and keep your eyes on Jesus. When you need His direction for a situation, look to Jesus who has the words of eternal life. (John 6:68) When you see symptoms of sickness in your body, look to Jesus who has borne away every disease and physical affliction. (Matthew 8:17)

When the children of Israel were bitten by serpents in the desert, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole – a picture of Christ being judged on the cross. (John 3:14) Those who looked at the bronze serpent instead of their wounds were healed. (Numbers 21:9) He who looks to Jesus lives!

Look to Jesus. He is your covering, protection and deliverance!

Living Above The Sun

Posted on February 24, 2018 by admin

John 10:10

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

If you are not enjoying an abundant life, you will feel as if life is full of toil, meaningless and empty. You feel like someone “grasping for the wind”. (Ecclesiastes 2:11) It seems as if nothing you do adds up to much.

The Bible calls this life “under the sun”. (Ecclesiastes 2:11) Someone who lives life under the sun may or may not know God, but God is either forgotten or not the center of things in his life. His thoughts are earthly and he does things to gratify his flesh. In the end, he finds life depressing and unfulfilled. Life under the sun is full of despair.

But this is the opposite of someone who lives life above the sun with God. For life with Him is filled with joy and pleasures at His right hand. (Psalm 16:11) Life is abundantly full and good just as Jesus promised, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”.

When you live life above the sun, your thoughts are heavenward and you become Christ-occupied. You live for Him because you know that all things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16) When you live for His glory, your life takes on a new meaning and purpose.

God’s Word says, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:17) The Greek word for “consist” means “held together”. In Christ, all things are held together. And that is why when Christ is the central figure in your life, you will have it all together. Your mind will be held together. Your hopes and dreams will be held together. Your family will be held together by the cords of His love.

Your life will not be empty, but full of God’s goodness because “Christ in you, [is] the hope of glory”. (Colossians 1:27) It is a wonderful life – this life lived above the sun. And you will have an even more wonderful life to come in heaven!

God’s Help

Posted on February 15, 2018February 15, 2018 by admin

Psalm 55:22

Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.

Have you eve been in a situation and said something like, “I can’t see a way out of the mess I am in.” or “I know that this whole thing is my fault.” or “I don’t even know whether God hears my prayers.” If you stop and think about it, a whole lot of our troubles are probably of our own making.

Now you might have heard that “God helps those who help themselves”. But contrary to popular belief, that saying is not in the Bible! God does not help those who help themselves. God helps those who are helpless and dependent on Him. He helps those who look to Him as their only source of help for their problem. If you say, “My problem is that I am weak.” God says, “I am your strength.” If you say, “Lord, I am the problem. I am a nobody.” God says, “I will make you a somebody.”

Unfortunately, many of us are still trying to help ourselves, we think that some things don’t really need God. But God says, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Do we really believe that? Or do we believe that without Him, we can still do some things to help ourselves? When we stop trying to do things ourselves, we find God more than willing to be our Savior. But when we continue to try to work things out ourselves, we are trying to be our own saviors. Then God will say, “Save yourself, because I can’t help you when you don’t need My help.”

God wants us to cast our cares on Him, but often we continue to try and bear them ourselves, even though we say that we are trusting in Him. Only when we realize that we can do nothing, and are nothing in and of ourselves, can we do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13) Then, we will see the undeserved, unmerited help and favor of God deliver us from every evil!

Getting More Faith

Posted on February 11, 2018 by admin

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Did you know that most people don’t really understand something until they have heard it four to five times. If you see a new commercial on T.V., it usually takes four to five times before you understand what the commercial is all about. The same holds true with God’s Word. The more we hear it, the more we will understand it, and the more we understand it the more faith we get.

I’ve had people tell me that I repeat myself at times with the blackboards, and yes, I do. You see, we all leek! Picture yourself as a vessel filled with water. As time goes on the water will evaporate and even leek because of small holes in the vessel. It is the same with God’s Word. We become filled with His word and as time goes on that Word starts to evaporate or leek from us. That is why it is important to be in God’s Word constantly, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. The more time we spend in God’s Word, the more faith we receive!

It’s a constant battle to stay focused on the things of God in today’s world. There are many distractions designed to make us leek. The enemy is really good at throwing subtle things at us that seem correct. Things like, “God knows if your a good person because He looks at your heart and sees your actions”. Now this might seem like a valid statement, but it implies that if we are good, God sees that and it is a way to our salvation. When the truth is that the only way to our salvation is through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross!

The goal of our enemy is to distract us in order to get us caught up in the things of the world. People who are not saved are conformed in the pattern of the world. The pattern of the world says abortion is OK, it says gay marriage is OK, it says that if you are a good person you are going to heaven. Some believe that they have the right to heaven based on their own personal beliefs. Again the only way to salvation is through Jesus! (John 14:6)

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Christians are called to “not conform any longer to the pattern of the world,” with its behaviors and customs that are usually selfish and often corrupting.

Renew your minds constantly, because we all leek. Staying in God’s Word is an absolute must in order to gain more faith. That faith is what pleases God. It is that faith that heals us, transforms us and gives us the right to call God “Father”.

Cross Conscious

Posted on February 1, 2018 by admin

1 Corinthians 2:2

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church, said that he determined to know nothing among them except “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. In other words, Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, had his mind full of Jesus and His finished work on the cross. God wants your mind full of the cross of Jesus. He wants you cross-conscious.

So what does it mean to be cross-conscious? To be cross-conscious is to see Jesus, who loves you so much that He willingly died for you on the cross. To be cross-conscious is to look to Jesus, who offered His own body to be punished, so that your body can be free from all punishment. To be cross-conscious is to fix your eyes on Jesus, who has provided for your deliverance and victory at the cross. At the cross, all your enemies were vanquished. All your diseases were destroyed. Your poverty was removed at the cross. Your sins were wiped out at the cross.

When the Israelites tasted bitterness in the waters of Marah, God showed Moses a tree, which he cast into the waters, making the water sweet. (Exodus 15:23-26) The tree represents the cross, which turned the bitter waters sweet. Today, Calvary’s tree has turned your bitter situations sweet. Because of the cross, you can expect to see the bitter situations in your life made sweet!

When the Israelites were bitten by serpents in the wilderness, God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole. The pole represents the cross and bronze speaks of judgment. Those who beheld the serpent on the pole lived because they saw their problem – the deadly serpent – nailed and put to death on the cross. (Numbers 21:6-9)

Today, you too will not die but live when you see all your sins judged at the cross, and with them, all your sicknesses, diseases, pains, failures and defeats! At the cross, all that is deadly in your life has been removed!

The Teacher Of All Things Is In You

Posted on January 31, 2018 by admin

John 14:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things…

If you are asking whom or where you can go to to get the help you need, ask no more. Just turn to God who has already promised you the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom He has sent in Jesus’ name to dwell in you.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things. Yes, teach you all things! Do you really believe that? Or are you like some who believe that you seek God’s counsel only for spiritual things, but consult “professional” help for all other things in your life?

God does not want you to run to and rely on worldly wisdom. Now, there is nothing wrong with going to a doctor or engaging a financial consultant, but God wants you to come to Him first for counsel and direction. That is why He has sent the Holy Spirit, the Counselor (John 16:7, NIV), to teach you all things. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He will guide you into all truth. (John 16:13)

The apostle John said, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things… the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things…” (1 John 2:20, 27)

So the way God teaches you is through the anointing within. It is a continuous anointing. In any particular situation, He is anointing you from within, teaching you by the presence or absence of His peace.

For example, a deal you are considering may sound very reasonable. But if you don’t have the peace in your spirit, don’t sign on the dotted line. Sign only when you have the peace. Be led by His peace and you will find that your heart will not be troubled, neither will it be afraid. (John 14:27)

When you follow that peace which only God can give to you as an inward witness, good things and even miracles will come forth!

A Pure Heart

Posted on January 30, 2018 by admin

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Because we are all born sinners, our natural inclination is to please ourselves rather than God. David followed that inclination when he took another man’s wife.

We also follow it when we sin in any way. Like David, we must ask God to cleanse us from within, clearing our hearts and spirits for new thoughts and desires.

We are all witness to the things that are going on in the world today. These things are happening because of hearts that are turned away from God. People have the ability to do many great things, yet they ignore the abilities given by God in order to hate and destroy. This hatred is found all the way at the top including our elected politicians. They spew hatred from their lips in an attempt to promote their own political agendas.

Right conduct can come only from a clean heart and spirit. Ask God to create a pure heart and spirit in you.