Friend, do you understand praise?

Praise of God is not like praise of another human being.

Our reward when we praise God is that we become closer to Him and He enters praise that is offered to Him in truth from our hearts and mind.

His infinite compassion is extended to us when He hears that we have an understanding of His Goodness. That is what praise recognizes, His Purity of Goodness, for ourselves and for others.

When He enters the realm of our praise to Him, we are joined in a Godly embrace. He knows we love Him and He fills us with His Love. We benefit by His presence in us and our spirit is uplifted and our soul feels great love.

Praise is a tool as well, when we are feeling low, that is a great time to praise Him. It is an acknowledgement that He is above our sorrow, anger, unbelief, whatever the situation may be and when praised in a true knowing that He is God, and sees it all, we are transported to a realm above the problem and this defeats what evil has placed in our path.

Praise is the answer to any of our problems!

Friend, as 2016 looms on the horizon, many of us think about what we have accomplished in 2015 and where we want to be at the end of 2016. We start to mull-over new goals for our life.

This is a reminder, to set as the first goal, - to know Truth.

Truth for our life; the meaning of life; how to have an abundant life; how to overcome the obstacles of the big inner conflicts.

True growth happens in the spirit when we make a concerted effort to investigate and learn about the One True God.

Satan will know your plan and will come in with his false ideals and gods to disguise what God is laying out for you so it is imperative that you examine any new grain of knowledge you think you have found to see if it lines up with what a Holy God, a Pure God would say is Truth.

The Bible is the best place to measure Truth.  It is the Truth, and when we find something that doesn't measure up, then we must discard it as an untruth.

Use the appendix of the Bible to search out many verses which have the word you desire to examine most. Don't allow your mind to accept just one verse as the point where you accept the new thought or idea. Two or more verses must have the same Truth presented.

The Charles Spurgeon website is a great tool to use also as this mere man had such a great understanding of who God is and how He responds to us. If you don't have access to a Christian church, a Christian body of believers who you can learn from, www.charlesspurgeon.org is one where Truth is presented in the form of his written sermons.

Mentioned in previous posts is www.theblueletterbible.org  where you can find the text of all the books of the Bible and other commentaries by enlightened Christian scholars who share what they have learned through exemplary Christian living and close relationship with Jesus.

For instance on the Charles Spurgeon site you can look up: hate, divorce, inner conflict, pride, love, etc.

He wrote his sermons based on the human conditions that we all face and eloquently explained them from God's perspective which he urged us to use as our measure.

Let 2016 be the year of advancemnt for your soul and spirit into the Knowledge of Truth so you can apply it to your daily experiences; home life, working life, social life, spiritual life.

God bless you in your quest.

Friend, the Cross of Calvary is where God outsmarted, outwitted and outmanoeuvred the prince of this world who convinced the demons he had all the power to get rid of the new King.

Satan and his followers did all they could and were celebrating their victory while Christ hung on the Cross.

But, God had other plans. He allowed His Own Son to suffer the indignities, the hatred, the physical torment so that He could use the Cross as a conversion tool until the end of this earth for souls, such as us. And Jesus agreed to do this before He left Heaven to come to earth as a babe. His love for all of us combined with love for the Father Godhead and His love for all the Kingdom of God and for God's Law and Plan was to be proved as a sign for all in Heaven and on this earth, and He was up for the task.

What satan meant to do was just get rid of the King, even knowing God would send another in some form. But this Cross would have given satan a great satisfaction - thinking he had outsmarted God and therefore could outsmart Him again.

Do you see how God cannot be outsmarted? If you are on this path where you are in cahoots with satanic thinking, then forget it. God has your number. He knows what you are doing, saying, thinking about Him. You don't fool Him. He cannot be outsmarted in any way; He only allows you your successes against Him for His own Grand Design. You serve a Purpose both if you are for Him or against Him.

Friend, we all learn from others along the path of life.

There are many teachers but there is only One, Great Teacher. His Name is Jesus.

And He is God and will only teach you things of Godliness.

He will never steer you astray because of a hidden agenda.

Many teachers start out gentle and kind but as they grow in "power" over others, the evil one comes in with his demons and leads them astray. (an easy target, one person with a following)

So we must be careful. We should never follow the person, but know the teaching and follow that.

Also, we must be careful to be Godly and never teach that which is wrong or will only benefit ourselves - as in a monetary, egotistical, or overpowering ways.

The devil uses, cunning, manipulation, and deceit to lure us into his demonic clutches.

The devil is a LIAR. He will never tell the Truth to you. EVER.

He's sadistic, and a tormentor, and a user of people to gain himself something. Everyone is dispensible to him. There are billions of souls who if he can kill them off before they come to know Jesus, they will be his.

He has no interest in keeping you alive unless he can use you. He roams about like a roaring lion seeking to destroy all those who he sees are weak and whose mind is turned from God.

And, friend, those numbers grow everyday because he has an army of demons who are at work in all areas of our lives to keep us on their path of "the good life."

Friend, be careful!

The Great Teacher has left His Word the Holy Bible here for us to learn from. Read it with an open and sincere and seeking heart and you will come to know Truth. Start with the New Testament which tells of Jesus the Great Teacher and learn from Him and then later you can go to the Old Testament and learn about how powerful and majestic He is as our Creator God.

Friend, a part of Christian living, is in the miracle of blessing.

Blessings from God are always pure and untainted. They always line up with what the Bible says.

Blessings as some people count them, of unholiness, are not of God but are a showing of the copycat satan who fools their wicked hearts.

Every day is a new opportunity for God to pour out His Bounteous Blessings on His people.

If your mind is closed to Him and His Ways, you will not be able to receive the full measure which is intended for you to pass on to others and they to others, and so on.

When He gives it is always full and overflowing meant to bless many.

An example of this is the Bible story where He fed the 4,000 - 5,000 with just a few (5) loaves of bread and (2)fish.  Everyone was fed and there was plenty left over.

The second story within that story is of the disciples who were the instruments of the original blessing and it was up to them to pass on the blessing to the multitudes.

They joyfully did, and were able to tell the story of the miracle as they went along. People believed because the disciples had first passed amongst them earlier, to ask of any stores of food they had, so they could collect and take them to Jesus for the blessing.

Everyone knew there was not enough to feed but ten to twelve people. The people talked among themselves the word spread of the enormity of the problem of feeding them.

But, they stayed, they wanted to hear Jesus speak and they wanted to receive healings and they did not care about the food so much.

In Mark, it says Jesus had compassion for their need for food.

Mark 8:1-2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for diverse ones of them came from afar.

There was no anticipation for the food to be multiplied. Up to this point they only trusted for healings, which Jesus had become known for. They are touched in their heart and mind with the teachings and wisdom and Truth He spoke of and they gained from that knowledge, so they stayed with their children and old folks in tow, desirous of learning and receiving healings.

These were trusting people, not yet knowing Jesus was God, and they received the blessing of the blessed food.

Are you a disciple able to pass on the blessing or are you one in the multitude?

Either is good. Both are believers. But, God calls us to step out of the multitude and be a disciple.

Friend, have you realized that God is calling you?

Every day, in every way, He is calling you to Him.  He sees you and knows you and wants you to know Him intimately.

He desires to fellowship with your spirit.

He has sent the Holy Spirit to be the intermediary between Himself and you. Holy Spirit to your spirit to Jesus and the Father. It is the only connection to God Himself, that is the ultimate in Power and Love and Truth - and so much more.

Let your soul and spirit, be open and available to Him. Free your mind from all worldly angst, bother, trouble, and all the nit-picking ways of evil that seek to distract you constantly.

Take some time alone to unwind and relax and breathe slowly and rhythmically in tune with the universe. Be still and know that He is God Almighty, Creator of all things, and Ruler over all things and Judge of all things.

Just know that He is in control even though the world is in extreme trouble and conflict. He sees all and knows all about it and Has a way planned from milleniums ago as to how things will proceed. Every scenario is planned and accounted for. Billions of people can make individual choices and He has plan for everyone of us even when our choices change from moment to moment.

Nothing is too big or impossible for Him. He is that Almighty and Powerful.

He sees the beginning to the end of every life. He knows our every thought! And He sees our every deed.

Yet, still He is calling you all day, every day to turn your face towards Him and to see Him for the Lover of your soul that He is. He's like a Mother with her babies. The pain they cause never stops the love from being avaiable and growing.

Learn to believe. Take it upon yourself to believe. Say out loud to your inner self, "I am a believer. Do not stop me."

Tell yourself that this is what you want. " I want to have a relationship with this Jesus who loves me. I want to know all about Him. After all, He loves me no matter what. I understand that He died for my sins and I want to know about that. I hear His call and I'm responding in the affirmative."

You have just answered the call. God bless you as you walk on this new path of the journey of your soul on this earth filled with obstacles and unrighteousness. Just know that God loves you and will look out for you; and be a loving child to Him. Show your gratitude and faithfulness.

Your life will slowly change, you won't see many of the changes but there will be many in you and then your world will begin to look different. Bless you, my friend inJesus.

Friend, our King and Saviour asks us every day if we will acknowledge Him each morning and follow Him through our day.

Firstly He would like us to put aside the critic's voice in our head that makes up a big part of our ego. It tells us that others are not this or that according to our world vision.

Starting in the home let us not be critical of each other and then taking it into the workplace try to practise being uncritical of our workmates, customers, managers and the general public out in the rest of the world.

Friend, try to get through one day! It is not an easy task. Our ego wants to be the top dog! It can find fault wth anybody and anything!

That critical voice is a difficult one to stop, but it must be stopped because it is the voice of evil. It will take you into deeper territory and cause you all kinds of trouble.

We must not let go of reason that is touched with Godliness.  There is a fine line Jesus wants you to walk. Godly discernment without criticism is more like wisdom.

Today let this be your goal - to walk in wisdom.