Not By Works

Who is our teacher? God.

15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point
you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Phil 3

23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not
my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14

as the saying goes "the best defense is a good offense"

but, how can we be careful to avoid being like a bull at the china shop?

Morning devotions: Thankfulness is the best way to draw near to God, Hold my Hand and trust, God looks for persistence rather than perfection in our walk with Him, our main focus should be staying close to God, and give up your striving.

as the saying goes "the best defense is a good offense"

but, how can we be careful to avoid being like a bull at the china shop?

AND Learn from Mistakes!

Well...morning/evening haha posting from Westfield Plaza in Penrith AU.....flew down last night from St. Louis to San Francisco and landed in Sydney 6:05 Am Tuesday here.....how are all the peeps doing?

Thank God for your safe journey.
All good here just picked up my wife after 20 hr flight from philippines and had delicious dinner. Cured calamari with vinegar and garlic and squash soup.

VCO had a small collection of bible verses, and VCO did not even spend a single second putting it together into a sermon, yet it was all God who just flow through VCO with whatever favorite bible verses that VCO had at the time

is that what happened?

Hear is the secret to that. I listened to a collection of over 500 one hour Bible Sermons by Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Chuck Swindoll, over almost a decade, and at least 4 times each on those tapes. At work, while I sorted mail. That was before I moved to California. Even Dr. MacArthur said in a sermon, "I never really understood what FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT meant, until one Sunday I stepped into the Pulpit, opened my Bible, and my Sermon notes were GONE! I had to DEPEND on the HOLY SPIRIT to Give me what HE wanted to say. That is definitely want FILLED with the Spirit meant at that moment." I took that message and went a step further than John did. That First Sermon of mine was Totally Dependent on the HOLY SPIRIT. So like my Grandfather taught me, "I it works, DON'T FIX IT." I just applied that to my sermon notes. So my sermon notes was a dozen or more of Verses, with a nice border, and a couple of appropriate Pen and Ink Pictures. Mostly because inmates usually do not know enough to find the Books of the Bible quickly, so it was for their convenience to follow alone easily. BUT as I stepped into the Pulpit I always opened with a Dr. Ed Young Prayer.

"Lord, I thank you for your Holy Word, that You gave threw the Prophets of Old, and threw the Apostle. Father, let me get out of the way, and You speak, that this message will be as pure and true as you originally gave it. In Jesus Name I pray."

I meant that PRAYER with all my heart and being, and then proceeded to TRUST HIM TOTALLY to give me the Words HE wanted me to speak, on the verses I had prepared. I also let HIM pick the SUBJECT each week. I Trust that He would bring an event, IN MY PATH, that would trigger my Mind, "THAT IS WHAT THE LORD WANTS ME TO TEACH THIS WEEK. Like I said, "IF IT WORKS, DON'T FIX IT." Yes some of it came from Dr. MacArthur or Dr. Swindoll sermons, but a lot of it was insight that the Holy Spirit brought into my mind. BUT IT JUST FLOWED. There was NO STAMMERING OR SHUDDERING. Some how I believe that is HOW the Apostles prepared their sermons,
JUST TRUSTING THE LORD.

I Taught sermons like that for almost 12 years, and never wrote out a single SERMON. I just pulled together verses on a specific subject, and printed them for the inmates.

Well...morning/evening haha posting from Westfield Plaza in Penrith AU.....flew down last night from St. Louis to San Francisco and landed in Sydney 6:05 Am Tuesday here.....how are all the peeps doing?

I have no idea why the verse that I collected fascinates me, or what ministry God is calling me for, or what is the theme of all my verses combined

how will I know?

Hear is the secret to that. I listened to a collection of over 500 one hour Bible Sermons by Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Chuck Swindoll, over almost a decade, and at least 4 times each on those tapes. At work, while I sorted mail. That was before I moved to California. Even Dr. MacArthur said in a sermon, "I never really understood what FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT meant, until one Sunday I stepped into the Pulpit, opened my Bible, and my Sermon notes were GONE! I had to DEPEND on the HOLY SPIRIT to Give me what HE wanted to say. That is definitely want FILLED with the Spirit meant at that moment." I took that message and went a step further than John did. That First Sermon of mine was Totally Dependent on the HOLY SPIRIT. So like my Grandfather taught me, "I it works, DON'T FIX IT." I just applied that to my sermon notes. So my sermon notes was a dozen or more of Verses, with a nice border, and a couple of appropriate Pen and Ink Pictures. Mostly because inmates usually do not know enough to find the Books of the Bible quickly, so it was for their convenience to follow alone easily. BUT as I stepped into the Pulpit I always opened with a Dr. Ed Young Prayer.

"Lord, I thank you for your Holy Word, that You gave threw the Prophets of Old, and threw the Apostle. Father, let me get out of the way, and You speak, that this message will be as pure and true as you originally gave it. In Jesus Name I pray."

I meant that PRAYER with all my heart and being, and then proceeded to TRUST HIM TOTALLY to give me the Words HE wanted me to speak, on the verses I had prepared. I also let HIM pick the SUBJECT each week. I Trust that He would bring an event, IN MY PATH, that would trigger my Mind, "THAT IS WHAT THE LORD WANTS ME TO TEACH THIS WEEK. Like I said, "IF IT WORKS, DON'T FIX IT." Yes some of it came from Dr. MacArthur or Dr. Swindoll sermons, but a lot of it was insight that the Holy Spirit brought into my mind. BUT IT JUST FLOWED. There was NO STAMMERING OR SHUDDERING. Some how I believe that is HOW the Apostles prepared their sermons,
JUST TRUSTING THE LORD.

I Taught sermons like that for almost 12 years, and never wrote out a single SERMON. I just pulled together verses on a specific subject, and printed them for the inmates.

Patience!

GOD will reveal it in HIS TIME.

Well...morning/evening haha posting from Westfield Plaza in Penrith AU.....flew down last night from St. Louis to San Francisco and landed in Sydney 6:05 Am Tuesday here.....how are all the peeps doing?

Hardest thing for our flesh to do is have patience and wait on God. He however said" WAIT"! I praise Him that in the waiting I have learned as much about myself as well as HIM!🙏

Well...morning/evening haha posting from Westfield Plaza in Penrith AU.....flew down last night from St. Louis to San Francisco and landed in Sydney 6:05 Am Tuesday here.....how are all the peeps doing?

Glad you are young enough to still to take it. My old BONES could not even take it at half the distance. Is that where your Mom is at?