DYING, AND LOOKING GOOD DOING IT!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! I will bless the Lord at all times, His praises shall be continually in my mouth. I am in the middle of a fiery trial right now but I am going to praise God anyhow!! I know from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord!!

I am late with blog post because of technical problems with my computer, I need a new one but God allowed me to get this one repaired. Now my air conditioner, which is only a year old is blowing hot air in the middle of a historic heat wave. I do not do well in heat!! but I trust that God will bring me through this. God cannot and will not fail me in my time of need. Hallelujah!!

More and more I have learned to die to self. The flesh and self, go hand in hand. My flesh, my selfish desires are what always get me in trouble. When I was using drugs it was one of the most selfish times of my life, I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it and nothing and nobody else mattered. When I finally realized that God was more important to me than drugs, that's when I was able to quit. Paul said "...I die daily" in 1st Corinthians 15:31, something I am still learning to do on a daily basis. Paul also stated in Romans 8: 12-14
 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Every day I fight a life and death battle with myself in hopes that I die, to myself. I have to completely die so that Jesus can completely live through me, and so I can have a closer relationship with God.When Jesus tells us we must "take up your cross and follow me" He is reminding us that we must die in the flesh daily, the cross being a reminder of how He suffered and how we must also suffer in the flesh.

The bible says "no flesh shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" so now my goal is to kill my "self" and let the beauty of Christ shine through me. I no longer want to be stained by the ugliness of sin, I want to be marked by the beauty of holiness. Living holy sounds "pretty" but it is not for the faint at heart but compared to the ugliness of sin, Death looks good on me.

            God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

CHRISTIAN CARBS: THE PROMISES OF GOD!!

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name. God has been so good to me, His grace and His mercy toward me have been indescibable, what more can I say, other than "oh taste and see that the Lord, He is good!"

I think that we can all agree that we are living in the last of the last days. If your spiritual eyI es are open you can see this for yourself. As we get closer and closer to that "great gettin' up morning" more and more Christians are experiencing anxiety and some are even abandoning their faith. Some have expressed a feeling of despair and a lack of hope. They are like marathon runners who run out of energy in the final leg of the race.

God's word says in Hebrews 12:1   Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

In the world, marathon runners "carbo load" the night before the big race, meaning they eat big plates of pasta for its carbohydrates which they burn for power and endurance during the race. As Christians, we also have a race to run. It is a spiritual marathon and the bible says in Matthew 12:12-13  12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

In order for us to endure, we must also "carbo load." Christian carbs consist of God's word and His promises. God has given us His word for such a time as this. We must load up on these things if we expect to finish this race in the winners circle. If you are not aware of God's word and it's promises, you have nothing to call on when the going gets tough and you're running up "heartbreak hill trying to make the finish line".

The bible is filled with God's promises, such as Philippians 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Titus 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

The bible is filled with God's promises, this was just a very small sample. The bible also says in 1st Corinthians 9:24  Know ye not that those who run in a race all run, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it.

If you want to run this race and win, you have to be fueled up with the word of God. "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him" another of God's promises designed to help us to run and endure this race till the end.
        God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall