keep a pure heart...

God is going to bless His people. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says: "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." We can't control what people do around us or when people work against us, but we can control how we react. We can say, "No matter what happens around me or what others choose to do, I'll rejoice in the Lord." God wants us to look on the positive side. If our heart's not right, we can't uphold the standard of God's Word. We may try in the flesh, but if we don't have the Word and the Spirit working together, though you have understanding, we can't uphold it. It'll quickly fade away. I thank God that we each can have a pure heart. If we keep our heart pure, God will honor that. Friend, none of us knows how much time we have left on this earth before the Lord comes again. The way things are looking causes us to think it won't be long. However, we need to continue to work with and for God. I once read a story about a king and his kingdom. The king called in two servants. He told the first servant, "I want you to go throughout the kingdom and gather weeds of all different varieties and bring them back to me." Then the king told the other servant, "I want you to go around the kingdom and gather flowers of all different kinds and bring them back to me." He told them that they each had one week, and then the two servants went out. The first servant came back after a week with armfuls of all different kinds of weeds. He said, "I never knew there were so many weeds. I'm convinced that all we have in this kingdom is weeds." Soon the other servant returned and said, "Look at all these flowers. I didn't realize we had so many flowers. We have flowers of every variety imaginable. The way I see it, all we have in this kingdom is flowers." One servant saw only weeds; the other one saw only flowers. Why was that? That was what they were looking for. The man who was looking for weeds found weeds, and the man who was looking for flowers found flowers.

Likewise, if we look for negative things, that's what we're going to see. On the other hand, if we look for positive things and look to help others, we'll be lifted. We find what we look for. God is faithful to His people. If we seek Him for help and divine direction, He'll give us what we need. We should look for positive things and be thankful. "Be Careful for Nothing" Paul said in Philippians 4:4-6: "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Paul said, "Be careful for nothing." We need to pray about everything. Sometimes people forget to pray about the little things which are really the most important things for us to be able to learn to trust in HIM always.

"The Will of God...

"The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."

God is...

father son love

Working in God's Kingdom

We live in a culture that might confuse, pursue and force some of us to make God a "spare time" activity rather than our primary purpose in life. The basic goals of life are: get an education, get a job, and perhaps get married and have a family. The majority of people's energy is spent pursuing those three things, and Christians are no exception. But it is difficult to arrange your life around God and His Kingdom when you have already made major choices concerning your education, career, and family. What most of us have never realized is the size of our role-it literally must consume our life and become the reason we exist. It cannot simply be a spare-time activity done after we get home from our "real job." God's one and only concern is that his kingdom work gets done. Jesus said that his father was always at work, and his job was to do the work of his father. Jesus also said that his "food" was to do the will of God. And God wants his only concern to be ours, too. It's clear that we are to emulate Jesus in his pursuit of God's work. Jesus said, "Do not worry about what you will eat or drink, but seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) will be given to you." We have to take seriously everything He said, including, "sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, then you can follow me," "he who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who seeks to lose his life for my sake will find it," "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me," These are powerful instructions that cannot possibly be carried out in just a few hours a week. Jesus is staking a claim on your whole life, and most of us have not handed it over. Perhaps we need to learn to start asking God the simple question, "how can my life help your Kingdom come?" If our career and life's purpose do not specifically and directly impact God's Kingdom, then we need to rearrange everything. Instead of asking God to do things for us and work in our lives to answer our requests, we should be asking God to simply speak, and we should simply listen. In listening, we may hear God calling us to do our part.

African Childrens Choir

Although we were unable to video tape the # 25 African Childrens Choir's uplifting and most joyous performance this past May 6th at GTSF, these kids will forever stay in our hearts. Here is a sample of them preforming in Canada. thank you for your blessings stay in Gods care always n 4ever.

King of Kings

Thats My King!

John 15:1-8

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

Going All the Way Through with God

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched...Isaiah 43:2 God wants us to be diligent and go all the through with Him, not just go until the way becomes difficult, and then stop there. One of our greatest challenges is to face our mountains rather than trying to go around them. Sometimes we go around and around the same mountain, and we end up like the Israelites in the wilderness who wandered around for forty years. (Deuteronomy 2:1-3) We must learn to face our mountains, determined to go all the way through with God. That is the only path to Victory. No matter how difficult it may seem, let God have His way in your life. Pray for God's will and not your own will. God's way is for you to set your face like flint, dig in both heels, and GO all the way through. The attitude that you have while going through it is most important. The Word says that it is to be a joyful attitude, otherwise you may have to make the trip again. (James 1:2-4) Pray this: "Father, thank you for infusing me with the inner strength so that I am ready for and equal to anything. (Phil 4:13) In Jesus name, amen.

Do You Act or React?

I walked with my friend, a Quaker, to the newsstand the other night, and he bought a paper, thanking the newsier politely. The newsier didn't even acknowledge it. " A sullen fellow, isn't he" I asked. "Oh, he's that way every night", shrugged my friend, "Then why do you continue to be so polite to him?" I asked. "Why not?" inquired my friend? "Why should I let him decide how I'm going to act?" As I thought about this incident later, it occurred to me that the important word was "act". My friend acts towards, people; most of us react toward them. He has a sense of inner balance which is lacking in most of us - he knows who he is, what he stands for, how he should behave. He refused to return incivility, because then he would no longer be in command of his own conduct. When we are enjoined to the Bible to return good for evil, we look upon this as a moral injunction - which it is. But it is also a psychological prescription for our emotional health. Nobody is unhappier than the perpetual reactor. His center of emotional gravity is not rooted within himself, where it belongs, but in the world outside him. His spiritual temperature is always being raised or lowered by the social climate around him, and he is a mere creature at the mercy of these elements. Praises give him a feeling of euphoria, which is false, because it does not last and it does not come from self-approval. Criticism depresses him more than it should, because it confirms his own secretly shaky opinion of himself. Snubs hurt him, and the merest suspicion of unpopularity in any quarter rouses him to bitterness. A serenity of spirit cannot be achieved until we become the masters of our own actions and attitudes.To let another determine whether we shall be rude or gracious, elated or depressed is to relinquish control over our own personalities, which is ultimately all we possess. The only possession is self-possession. author unknown

Anyway

* People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered: Forgive them anyway.

* If your are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway.

* If you are successful; you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

* What you spend years building; someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

* If you are honest and frank people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

* If you find serenity and happiness; they may be jeolous; Be happy anyway.

* The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.

by Mother Teresa