Who's Ways??

Getting to Know God's Ways

When you know someone extremely well...you know their ways, habits, etc. 

Because of this you can anticipate what they will do or say.

Isn't that the way we should be with God? 

Know Him so well that we know and anticipate what He will do in our lives?

For instance, I know God as my provider because His Word says in Phil. 4:19 that He will supply ALL of my needs according to HIS riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.

So I anticipate that and choose not to fear when I look at the economy, my bank account, etc.

It is vital to know Him and His ways to be a successful Christian. 

Heed the warning stated in Heb 3:7-10 . Especially pay attention to verse 10: 

 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

You err in your heart when you do not believe God and what He says in His Word. You show Him no honor when you choose to live like the world and not believe in what He has provided for you through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ

Get to know God and His ways and choose not to err in your heart.

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Cherish Our Family Lifestyle

Anyone who knows the Carlisle family knows that we are very happy.  We enjoy life.  We enjoy our children, and we cherish our family lifestyle.  There is no doubt in my mind that the success of our family is due to our relationship with God, our Father. 

First, both Jessica and myself have a personal relationship with God, and we are constantly working to be better for one another.  

I could give several examples when I have failed to be the man that she deserves, but despite that she has always forgiven me and we have grown as a couple.  We insist on keeping God at the head of our family and our household.  We do our best to make sure that what we do as a family pleases and brings glory to the Father.  We believe that by raising our children to love Him we are fulfilling our call as parents, and by being obedient in the raising of our children, we qualify for the blessings and protections that God promises in His Word.

Most of us are familiar with the verses in Malachi chapter 3 and II Corinthians chapter 9 that talk about tithing and multiplying seed. 

Since we have been married, Jessica and I have tithed as we are commanded by God.  We don’t just believe, but we know that because we have been faithful to tithe, God has blessed us financially.  Not only does He provide use with resources to meet our needs, but we have above and beyond our desires.  Just as important as tithing, we make it a priority to speak the Word of God over our family everyday.  

The following confession is something that Shaun has been saying since he has been able to speak, and we believe that Ben will be saying it soon.

We are healed, whole, blessed, protected, safe, prosperous, obedient, good listeners, intelligent, athletic, anointed, tough, strong, patient, honest, and have a sound mind.

Shaun also blesses the food before every meal.  We thank God each and every day for the blessings that He has bestowed upon are family.  

It is important for us to make sure that what goes on within our family and our household is pleasing to God.  For that reason we are currently asking God to bring anything to our attention that does not please Him.  There is always some way that we can improve, and what is encouraging is that when we obey, we see obvious blessings and answers within our family.  

We teach our children that God is our answer in all things.  If Shaun complains of a physical ailment, we immediately instruct him to pray about it.  We also have Shaun pray for us if we have a headache or some other attack on our body.  I have had Shaun pray for my headaches and they have cleared up within seconds.  I am not going to say that it happens every time, but it has gotten to the point where I am not surprised when it does happen.  I have even told others, “let Shaun pray for your headache.” We don’t ask Shaun to pray for headaches or physical ailments because we don’t want to, but because God has given him a physical anointing through prayer and lying on of hands. By encouraging him to work in this anointing as a young child it allows him to see God work through him, building his faith.

What we are doing is more than teaching our children about the ways of God.  We are making it the norm for them.  I started really growing in my relationship with God and believing in the things of God when I was 19 years old.  I often wonder how great my relationship with God would be and how great my faith would be if it would have been bread in me from birth.  Well, we believe that we are going to see it through our children.  Part of our calling is to raise our children to have more faith in God than the tangible things of this world.  They will truly walk by faith and not by sight. 

      

                             

Everyday You Are Faced With Choices

Who Are You Gonna Call (Upon)?

          Everyday you are faced with choices that you have to make. They can be as simple as - what am I going to wear, eat, or do today or as complex as - should I marry this person, take this job or that one, etc. But did you realize that you make a lot of choices you seem unaware of? You will make choices that determine your day, your week or even the rest of your life, as well as choices that determine how you handle situations and crisis in your life.

          Everyday you make a choice to submit to either God or the devil. I bet you didn't see that one coming! J More times than not, without even realizing it, you submit to the devil and his works of darkness.

“What”?!! you say, “But I’m a Christian and I go to church every time the doors are open! I work at the church, I volunteer, for heaven’s sake I teach Children’s church! How can you say such a thing”?!!

Very easily…do you want to know how? By listening to what comes out of your mouth between the “Praise the Lord!” and “Hallelujah’s!”.

You see…if what comes out of your mouth is contrary to the Word of God and what He says about your situation, then you are bringing yourself into submission to satan and allowing the works of darkness to operate in your life.

What you need to do is keep your mouth SHUT until you have heard from God about anything - from how your day should be ordered to what He wants you to speak over your body when symptoms of sickness try to come against you, to what you should say to the person that is right in front of you yelling at you for whatever reason, etc.

Every night you need to seek the Lord and inquire in His temple for the next day. Ask Him to show you how He wants you to handle what may come the next day or in the weeks to come. Ask Him to let you hear what He would have you to speak over people or situations that would arise. Ask Him to prepare you and equip you so that you will not fall prey to the tactics the enemy of your soul will present to you that day. 

Read in John 5:19, 30 about what Jesus did. Something a dear friend once said to us has impacted us greatly. He said “Jesus prayed and sought the Father at night and commanded (or carried out what He saw and heard) during the day”.

God wants you to be prepared as a good soldier to fight the good fight of faith. Declare with your mouth that which brings life to your body, to your family – those you love, to your finances, to your job, to those around you.

How can you prosper in ALL things if you are constantly speaking death to those you love, speaking that you feel sick and agreeing with the symptoms, complaining about work and the people there, etc.

James 3:3-18 talks about the tongue and how it affects your life and the lives of those around us.

Bring your tongue and every part of your being into submission to God. Resist agreeing with satan on ANY level and he must flee. Draw near to God every day and He will draw near to you so that you can be a BLESSING everywhere you go and to whomever you meet!         

(James 4:7-8)

So Who are YOU gonna call upon today?

   

                                         

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Gun Control

The tragedy that took place in Newton, Connecticut on 12/14/12 took the entire country off guard.  The event has sparked discussions about gun control and how future tragedies can be avoided.  Believers are calling for God to be placed back in the school.  Others, incorrectly, are asking why God would allow such a horrible thing to happen.  While I would agree with those that are calling for God back in our schools, the time for talk, debate, and social networking is over.  What I am calling for is prayer.  No debate, post, rant, or rave is going to change the hearts of the American people.

In 1^st Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to be in constant prayer, ‘Be unceasing in prayer’.  Obviously, unceasing means non-stop.  God is telling us to never stop praying.  I am convicted myself when it comes to prayer, let alone unceasing prayer.  In today’s world it is difficult to remember the unlimited access that we have to our Father.  When Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross, He created a bridge that allows us to go before God in the Throne Room of Grace.  That bridge allows us to bring any worldly concern to the Father, and like Pastor Mitch says, we should be leaning on the Holy Spirit for direction in what we pray for.  The Holy Spirit was left on Earth as our helper so that we might know and understand the perfect will of God.

After spending quiet time with the Holy Spirit, if you still are not sure what to pray for, you can never go wrong when praying for God to be glorified.  After all, no matter how things seem to be going, if God is not being glorified, it is pointless.  I promise you that God is not glorified when a tragedy such as Newton, Connecticut takes place.  The prayer that Pastor Mitch gives us is a good example of how to pray for our nation, and it is a good start in glorifying God. 

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Mathew 18:19-20.  More of us need to be agreeing that God’s will be done on Earth, that God be glorified, and that our children are protected against the wiles of the Devil.  Anyone who is not praying these things on a daily basis is failing to contribute to the Kingdom of God.  The very least that a person can do to help their country and their family is to pray for God’s will and protection.  This is where we need to place our focus.  Complaining does no good.  In fact, complaining gives credit to Satan and strengthens his goals.  Arguing about politics and policies is futile and a waste of time.  God wants us to let Him do the work.  He is waiting for us to allow Him to do it.

I am calling for anyone that reads this to make a conscious effort to always be praying for God’s will and for His glory to be manifested.  Every time you see an injustice in the world, pray for God’s will to show greater than the injustice.  Any time you see Satan attack, pray that God’s glory shines through and Satan is forced to flea at the magnification of God.  When victory is experienced, make sure that God is given the glory for the blessings that he provides.  If we can start doing this, God’s protection will return to our country and we will stop seeing such tragic events taking place.

                      

The Season to Arise and Shine

Tis the Season to Arise and Shine

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2: 8-11

A Light for revelation to the Gentiles (to disclose what was before unknown) and (to bring) praise and honor and glory to Your people Israel.

Luke 2:32 AMP

Glory to God in the Highest!!

This is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of our Precious Lord and Saviour - that we remember and appreciate how He humbled Himself and became a man to save us from our sin. I Praise God for all of this and am so very grateful!

As I have grown in my walk with the Lord and have learned from His Word, I am finding out that there is so much more to what Christ has done for us!

He came as the LIGHT of the world - A Light that dispels the darkness. Light also means having understanding and knowledge of the truth. As children of God we have that Light of the gospel within us and it gives us revelation of His Word.

Jesus’ main objective for coming to the earth was to destroy the works of satan (that’s what His Light does) and restore relationship with the Father. As believers, that should be our objective too.

He gave us power to become the sons of God when we choose to believe on Him. (John 1:12) In doing so, He also gave power and authority over all devils and sickness. (Luke 9:1)

We can only know and understand these things and how to defeat satan’s deception by spending time with the Father, reading the Word which helps us get to know the Father, believing what the Bible says and living like we believe it!

This Christmas season live in that Light and Arise and Shine for the Glory of God!!

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Love and Light

Who Is Lord?
Jesus is Lord!

The Love of God

The Love of God

‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoseoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ John 3:16.  

Let us take a deep look into this verse.  Can you imagine someone taking a punch in the face so that you can live a life free of sickness?  Can you imagine someone being kicked in the back of the head so that no weapon formed against you shall prosper?  What about someone having a nail, most likely the size of railroad ties, driven through their wrist so that you may have peace both on the Earth and throughout eternity?

I want you to imagine yourself being this person.  Think about how much you would have to love a person to take this sort of torture for them.  Oh, do not forget that you know for several years leading up to the day of torture what is going to happened.  In addition, you have every opportunity to back out.

Obviously, I am referring to the life of Jesus and his purpose here on Earth.  In Matthew 26:39, Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:”  He is asking that he not endure what is coming because he knows how horrible it is going to be.  But then the second part of the prayer is “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  Despite the knowledge that he has, he will go through with his calling because it is the will of God.  This not only speaks to the love that Jesus has for the world, but it also speaks to the love and trust that he has for God.

In Matthew 4 Jesus was tempted by Satan to not go through with the calling that God had put on his life.  In verse 9, Satan offered Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world.  So, at that very point in history, Jesus made a choice to resist the wiles of the devil and to accept the calling of Jesus.  The world should be thankful that He chose the unselfish path.

Now that you have attempted to relate to Jesus, take it one step further.  Try to imagine the position of God.  Send your only son into a place that will not accept him.  Into a place where he will be ridiculed, persecuted, and eventually tortured and murdered.  Then, he is going to be sent to hell for three days so that the very people that murdered him can have a way to avoid hell.  In addition, throughout time, people attempt to deny that this incredible sacrifice even happened.  Despite knowing all of this, God sent Jesus to the Earth knowing the he would be tempted by Satan, knowing that he would request an alternative, and knowing that there would still be those that rejected Him.

Think about how much God loved us to put His Son through that.  Think about the words of John 3:16 and how true the love of God really is.  Think of how much love God must have for each and every one of us that he will accept us into His Kingdom just for accepting Jesus into our hearts.  He is not asking for us to endure anything close to the sacrifices of His Son.  Instead, He is offering us everlasting life, health, security, and peace.  All of these things were taken from His Son so that we may have them.  The love that God must have for us to do what he did is a love that I want and need a revelation of.  If God will offer up his own son as a sacrifice for my sins so that I may live without lack, without sickness, and without the curse, what would God not do for me?  

Once we get a revelation of the depth of God’s love, we will understand that he has already provided everything we need.  Once we understand this, nothing else will matter except God’s will being done on Earth, and once we are focused on His will, we will stop asking Him for worldly things and start asking what He would have us do for His Kingdom.