olive thinks.

Whenever we feel as though we have no words to express the condition of our hearts, we can turn to the love letters that David wrote. Emotions of every kind are written in the book of Psalms. Let them become your prayer and worship to God.

Psalms 25: 4-7
4 Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.

Psalm 30:10-12 (New International Version)
10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help.”
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Daniel 2:20-22
20 Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.

GOD’S INNERMOST DESIRE.

2 Chronicles 7:14
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

READ | JOHN 3:15-18

Probably the most cherished and comforting of all God’s characteristics is His love. However, the fact that He loves us does not determine our eternal destiny; we can still be separated from Him in our lost condition.

Because the Father cares so much for mankind, He made provision to rescue us from our doomed state of alienation from Him. This offer of salvation is extended to everyone, but in order to benefit, a person must accept it. By the death of Christ on our behalf, the Lord opened the door for us to be saved, but He does not push anyone through.

Imagine that you’ve fallen into a rushing river and are about to drown. I jump in to save you, but you refuse my help. Did my diving in save you? No, you did not accept my offer of rescue. In the same way, God made every provision for your salvation, but you must respond to His offer.

Just as a swimmer stretches out a hand to accept rescue, so each of us must reach out in faith, believing that Jesus died for us. Accepting His forgiveness for our sins is not just an intellectual belief. A drowning man will not be saved if he merely knows that a swimmer can save him. He has to put his life in the hands of the rescuer and depend totally on him.

Simply relying on God’s love to save you is not enough. Our heavenly Father desires that everyone be saved, but many will remain lost because they fail to accept His offer. The next move is yours. Choose to believe in Christ, and surrender your life to the One who is willing and able to save you.
John 3:15-18 (New American Standard Bible)

15so that whoever [a]believes will (A)in Him have eternal life.

16”For God so (B)loved the world, that He (C)gave His (D)only begotten Son, that whoever (E)believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17”For God (F)did not send the Son into the world (G)to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18”(H)He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of (I)the only begotten Son of God.
Footnotes:

1. John 3:15 Or believes in Him will have eternal life

Cross references:

1. John 3:15 : John 20:31; 1 John 5:11-13
2. John 3:16 : Rom 5:8; Eph 2:4; 2 Thess 2:16; 1 John 4:10; Rev 1:5
3. John 3:16 : Rom 8:32; 1 John 4:9
4. John 3:16 : John 1:18; 3:18; 1 John 4:9
5. John 3:16 : John 3:36; 6:40; 11:25
6. John 3:17 : John 3:34; 5:36, 38; 6:29, 38, 57; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21
7. John 3:17 : Luke 19:10; John 8:15; 12:47; 1 John 4:14
8. John 3:18 : Mark 16:16; John 5:24
9. John 3:18 : John 1:18; 1 John 4:9

- CHRISTIAN - Without Christ I Am Nothing One of my favorite acronyms given by our Pastor!

2 Chronicles 7:14 (New King James Version)

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.


Check out our blog http://ingodsgraceandmercy.blogspot.com/

thanks Ant!

That in everything he might have first place.” - Colossians 1:18 I’m going to begin with a radical statement: You will never experience the fullness of joy that you were created to know until Jesus Christ has first place in every area of your life.

Now hang onto that for a minute. First place.

First in your home.
First in your choices for entertainment.
First in the way you use your money.
First in your career.
First in your thoughts.
First in your decisions.
First in your marriage.
First in your singleness.
First in your relationships.
First in your dreams for the future.

Say it now: “I will never experience the fullness of joy that I was created to know until I put Jesus Christ first in every area of my life.”

I think a lot of people would intellectually subscribe to that statement, but I wonder how many of us would truly embrace it in a way that affects our behavior? Doing so doesn’t come easily.

Colossians 1:16 says, “All things were created through him and for him.” Through Christ and for Christ. Some people have a hard time with that. They’re like, “I can handle the fact that He created the universe, but I have a hard time with Him creating the universe for Himself. Who does He think He is? His glory? His pleasure? His purpose? Is that ever prideful! How self-centered can you get?!” Listen. The amazing thing is not that Jesus Christ created us for Himself. The amazing thing is that He cares at all. The amazing thing is that He has chosen in His incredible grace to love us, to dwell with us, to forgive us—the list goes on.

Think about your life. Think about His persistent love. Think about how faithfully He pursues you in spite of yourself. The next time you sin or reject or ignore Him, how amazing is it that He just doesn’t walk away and say, “Forget you!” We are here to bring Him glory and to make Him known. He is our purpose and we find our greatest joy when He is at the center of our lives.

God has sworn by an oath to give us a new heart—one that is inclined to obey.

“I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

God promises us not only to give us a new heart, but to write on our hearts his commands. In other words, he promises to cause us to know him. Again, the Holy Spirit is the one who accomplishes this work in us. He teaches us about the Father’s nature and way—and in the process, he transforms us into Christ’s divine image.

Our Lord has sworn a sovereign oath to be merciful to us in our struggles against sin. And until full victory comes, he will be patient and loving with us, never casting us aside. He promises, “No matter what I demand of you, I will supply you with all the power you need to accomplish it. I won’t ask anything of you for which I have not made provision.”

Today, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead—and which enabled him to fulfill God’s law through a perfect, sinless life—now abides in us. God’s own Spirit is alive in us, providing all power over every work the enemy tries to bring against us.

When the enemy comes flooding into your soul, enticing you toward an old lust, call upon the Holy Ghost. Listen to his every whisper, and obey his every command. Don’t shut him out. If you are prepared to do whatever he empowers you to do, he won’t withhold his word from you.

You can move out of the old life and into the new in a single leap. It happens when you see how impossible it is for you to overcome sin by your own human efforts. It dawns on you that a faithful God has sworn to give the Holy Ghost to all believers who ask, and that he will accomplish in you what the Lord has promised by oath. So, finally, you abandon yourself totally to God and his promises. You believe he will perform what he has promised.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). 

-David Wilkerson

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried, 
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied. 
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate, 
And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.” 

“Wait? You say, wait! ” my indignant reply. 
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! 
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? 
By Faith, I have asked, and I am claiming your Word. 

My future and all to which I can relate 
Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to “WAIT”? 
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign, 
Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign. 

And Lord, You promised that if we believe 
We need but to ask, and we shall receive. 
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry: 
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply! 

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate 
As my Master said once again, “Child, you must wait.” 
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut 
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting… for what?” 

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine, 
And he tenderly said, “I could give you a sign. 
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun. 
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run. 

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be. 
You would have what you want - But, you wouldn’t know Me. 
You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint; 
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint. 

You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair; 
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there; 
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me 
When darkness and silence were all you could see. 

You’d never experience that fullness of love 
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove; 
You’d know that I give and I save… (for a start), 
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart. 

The glow of My comfort late into the night, 
The faith that I give when you walk without sight, 
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked 
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST. 

You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee, 
What it means that “My grace is sufficient for Thee.” 
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true, 
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you! 

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see 
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me. 
And though oft may My answers seem terribly late, 
My most precious answer of all is still, “WAIT.” 


Russell Kelfer

“Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them…If ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?” (Daniel 3:14–15).
Daniel’s friends were facing the worst possible crisis any human could face. If God didn’t come and deliver them by a miracle, they were dead!

What will bring Christ into your crisis? He comes when you make the same commitment the three Hebrew children made: “[They]…said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand…But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (verses 16–18).

In other words: “It looks hopeless. If God doesn’t perform a miracle for us, we are dead. Yet our God is able to deliver us from this fiery crisis! But even if he doesn’t, we still will not quit on him. Live or die, we will trust him!”

Beloved, this is the kind of faith that causes angels to rejoice and blesses the very heart of God. It is a faith that says, “Lord, I am convinced, fully persuaded, that you are able to deliver me. If you just speak a word, it will all be over.”

“But, if not, I’m not going to run. I won’t accuse you of abandoning me. I will remain faithful and true. Your ways are higher than mine, Lord – and my life is in your hands. Though you slay me, yet will I trust you!” 
This is what brings Christ into our crisis—the full confidence that he is able to rescue and deliver us out of any crisis! It is a confidence that, no matter what comes, we are in his hands.

-David Wilkerson.