OPEN SUNDAYS ONLY?

If you are only checking in with the Maker and Creator of everything we know and are and the universe we live in on Sunday morning via whatever avenue you choose, you are missing out on the fullness of all God has to offer!

That is like eating a meal on Monday and telling your body, which is sending you strong signals that it is starving, that it can't eat its fill again until next Monday.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

Jesus included that line in the prayer He shared with His disciples when they asked Him to teach them to pray.  (We call it The Lords Prayer, most teach it as the model prayer. Matthew 6:9)

There are very good reasons Jesus did not say:

• Give us bread once in a while
• Give us bread once a week

Random eating results in an unhealthy body that is subject to illness and susceptible to disease. Once a week feeding would render us so weak that we would be useless for any kind of activity at all.  Our physical body requires nourishment at regular intervals.

The kind of nourishment we choose to provide our body then determines the level of health we enjoy.

Our spiritual selves are the same.

If we feed our spirit minimally, we will receive minimum strength.  Random spiritual feedings leave our spiritual health in a precarious situation.

For maximum spiritual health and strength, we need to feed our spirit DAILY with the bread of life.

John 6:35 And Jesus said to them "I am the BREAD OF LIFE.  He who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst."

John 1 - In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word of God, which reveals the nature and character of God, reveals Gods plans and purposes for all mankind and every individual human being, reveals Who the Word is; Jesus; - this is the BREAD of which, in order to build up our spiritual strength and fortitude, we must eat DAILY.

Here are just a very few of the benefits of daily bible reading:

• Build a strong prayer life that will sustain you in times of crisis
• Build a strong personal relationship with the Lord who made, formed and created you that will result in lasting peace in your life
• Build your understanding of how to live your very best life
• Build your knowledge so you won't fall prey to false teachers and those who would lie and manipulate you for their own advantage
• Build your faith so it will hold you steady in every circumstance of life
• Build your resistance to the temptations of sin so you will not suffer adverse consequences now and later when this physical life ends
• Build your trust in God which will keep you strong when every thing around you is falling apart
• Build your confidence about who you really are so you won't be deceived into being less than who God intended you to be
• Build your strength so you can be a support to others who count on you, like your friends and family
• Build a righteous world view in your thinking so you function as a productive member of society
• Build wisdom patterns that will assist you in every avenue and walk of life
• Build a true love in your heart for others that will bless your life and the lives of those who are in contact with you
• Build honest character that will cause others to trust you and want to be around you
• Build habits that will result in greater happiness in your life
• Build empathy for the plight of others who haven't discovered yet the maturity and wisdom that you have
• Build JOY that isn't dependent on this world or your circumstances in it
• Build contentment with what you have and where you are in your life while providing assurance of better things to come
• Build certainty about life now and ETERNALLY so you won't live your life in fear

These are just a few, very few of the results you can expect when you receive DAILY BREAD that only God can provide!

Can you think of others?  Click comments and share!  God Bless You!

For want of a Needle...

John 16:13

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

To be lost, to realize you are in a strange, unknown place without knowledge of where you are or how to get back to a familiar place is an alarming experience.  I know this for a certainty because my inner compass lacks a needle, leaving me directionally dysfunctional and vulnerable to getting lost on a fairly regular basis.  No matter that it happens often, each time leaves me upset.  One missed turn when I am in a place I am not familiar with easily leads me astray and if I cannot return to familiar territory immediately can quickly escalate to all out panic.  I have experienced times when I am so turned around and hopelessly confused the sense of failure and frustration has left me in tears of fright and helplessness.  Such strong overwhelming emotions- evoked simply because I am lost following a road, where I can easily stop, ask directions and get back on track to where I want to go. 

A compass isn't much good when you don't even
know which direction you SHOULD be heading!

Those who have the innate sense of direction I lack won’t understand the scariness of what I feel, nor will they empathize with frightening helpless feelings of not knowing which direction to turn, because they have not experienced it themselves and cannot relate sufficiently to have true compassion for my plight.

Can you imagine how intensified this helpless, frightening and frustrating feeling must be for those who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior?  Who are not born again and therefore are lacking the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit?  We call them “lost”, but do we truly recognize what this means for them?  Listen to just a few of the descriptions of the word LOST:

Gone astray

Missed the way

Not used to good purpose

Wasted opportunities

Being something that someone has failed to win

Failure to keep, maintain, preserve

Suffer defeat

To be without through theft or negligence

To wander away from and unable to return

Fail to sustain

Cause death or destruction

How much worse could it be?  What if you were eternally, hopelessly lost and you didn't even know it?  Wouldn't that be even worse?  Because if you don’t even know you are lost, you have even less hope, if such a thing is possible, then one who knows they are lost and are seeking the right way, seeking to get the most from opportunity, seeking victory, seeking to preserve, to sustain, to LIVE!  Jesus told us if we seek, we shall find, but if you don’t know you are lost what are the chances you’ll ever find truth? 

Slim to none, my friend if it weren't for the great unbounded grace of a loving God!

But thanks be to God (ICorinthians 15:57) who never leaves us wandering on our own, but offers us the missing needle for our compass that will point us in the righteous direction each and every time without fail.  The Holy Spirit is our guide, our needle in the compass, that brings us to truth every time we wander from it.

1 Corinthians 2:9-11

 But as it is written:

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

Our map is the theo-pneustos, the God breathed word we find in the Bible.  The Holy Spirit is our compass.  And our destination?

Eternal life with Christ Jesus the Lord. (Romans 5:21)

Reading the word of God everyday will keep you firmly on the path, grounded in the truth of God.  Then you will be able to direct others who are lost.  To lead them to the truth which will guide their way, not just now, but eternally.  

There is more, so very much more!  Once God is directing the needle in your compass,(as you daily read His word)  you will have the Joy of helping others move from LOST to FOUND!  Start with the first steps and the Holy Spirit will guide you into places you never thought you'd go.

Do you have questions about what you read in the Bible?  Use the prayer request at the top left of the website and send us your questions.  Or better - ask them in the comment section, which is monitored daily.  We welcome the opportunity to dialog about the truth of Gods word and how it works effectively in the lives of believers!  God bless you this week!  

We post a weekly reading schedule which when followed, results in reading through the entire Bible once every two years.  Join us today and begin the adventure of a lifetime!

Do you feel lost or distant from the Lord?  You are not alone!  God, who created you, loves you and has a plan for your life!  Through Jesus, His Son, you have access to Gods ear and heart - he hears you when you cry out to Him!  Tell Him all that's in your heart, ask for His forgiveness for your sins, and receive the cleansing and forgiveness He desires you to have!  All who call upon the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED!  

Contact us, using the Prayer Request form, and we will gladly talk with you, answer questions, and pray with you. 

Wrangling with faith

Have you ever noticed that in one situation you encounter, FAITH just seems to rise up from your heart and you suffer barely a moment of concern?   Then another situation appears, and FAITH seems to have deserted you entirely?

Why does this happen?  How do we overcome the barriers to unleashing our faith?

Walk with me through a little exercise that may not only help us understand this but may even lead us to the answer of how to overcome these seeming barriers to unleashing faith in every situation we encounter!

The original bathroom - YECH!!

Recently we were blessed to purchase a home.  When we first walked through the house, it looked like this: 

Knowing this wasn't acceptable, we set about doing what it took to change this room so it would meet our needs and be pleasant to be in.  Now, it looks like this:

New bathroom

Amazingly enough, we have completely forgotten what the room used to look like because we no longer see it the old way on a regular basis.  We see this new room, so when we imagine our bathroom, the new room is what we see in our minds eye.  FAITH works like that.  If you have been praying, reading your bible, spending time with likeminded believers and receiving constant reminders of Gods love, Gods grace and all the reasons you have faith in the Lord to begin with, when you are confronted with a situation, faith rises up in what seems almost a natural manner, since it has been constantly in the forefront of your thinking.  The old way of fear is replaced by the new way of faith.   So why is it that the next situation we encounter, faith seems but a distant memory?  The question to ask ourselves at that point is, what have we been keeping constantly in our hearts?  What thoughts are we harboring?  Is there unforgiveness or bitterness we've allowed to overshadow the trust in God we held?  Are we reading His word as a constant reminder of WHO He is and how much He loves and cares for us?  Usually when faith seems distant, we find that it isn't faith, but we who have grown distant.  Distant from the daily bread we truly cannot survive without.

This happens because everyday we go about our lives, listening to music or news casts or watching TV programs or being bombarded at work and other places with a constant stream of negatives and worldly viewpoints that begin to replace the picture we hold in our hearts of our place in the world, our place as a beloved child of God Almighty.  The truth actually begins to dim in our hearts, without the constant reminder of it through daily reading of Gods word, daily prayer and time with our God, and fellowship with others who believe and trust in the Lord.

This is why we read (eat) our Bible (bread of life) on a daily basis.  This is why we encourage others and list reading schedules and give away bibles and constantly go on about putting Gods Word into our heads and our hearts.  Without it, we FORGET.  When we forget, our faith falters.  We are less certain that God, who met our need last time, will indeed meet it this time. 

If you've been following us, you know that for the last 2 years, we've been harping on DAILY READING OF GODS WORD.  Now you know why.  Reading the bible reminds us of who we are - Ambassadors for Christ.  Otherwise, we forget.  We get caught up by the ways of the world, and then we struggle with things God didn't intend us to struggle with, like faith and trust in Him.  He never changes.  But we do.  In order to stay on a path of righteousness, we need daily reminder of what the path looks like, and where it is taking us.

So we encourage you to read, daily.  Our reading schedule is designed to follow our eating pattern, since Gods word is our daily bread.  A chapter in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.  A well fed spirit will not find itself short on faith.  I can promise you that.  More importantly, God promises!

Psalms 34:8  Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!  

As you journey down this road of faith, we would be blessed if you shared your travel adventures with us!  How has reading Gods word changed your life?  What ways has reading strengthened you and helped you through difficult times?  Click on comments below, and encourage others with your testimony!

We're praying for you!  Prayer requests are at the top left.  Prayer changes things - let us pray for your specific needs!

The Planting of Seeds

The Daily Bread of Life - Gods Word

If you plant marigold seeds, what will spring up out of the ground?  Daffodils?  Roses? NO!  You planted a marigold seed and a marigold is what will grow.  There is a verse of scripture truth that tells us...God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  Galatians 6:7  

The seeds planted will absolutely determine the harvest. Two weeks ago we began to share a testimony of one persons life change as the Word of God was planted in the heart.  Change such as this is not unusual or miraculous, but the result of planting the good seed of Gods word into your heart on a daily, regular basis. 

Listen in as the story continues....

"Prior to giving my life over to Jesus I lived my life like most people, trying to fulfill the lust of my flesh, but the flesh is never satisfied.  It never has enough alcohol or drugs or sex.  No matter how hard I tried to live a “good” life (according to my own interpretation of morality) bad things kept happening.   I was going about my routines, sowing seeds of destruction without even realizing it, and then scratching my head and wondering why destructive things kept happening in every situation.

On my first encounter with Gods Word, as I read and believed what I was reading, I didn't know it then, but good seeds began to be planted into my thinking.  Those seeds then began growing and they were growing a good crop.   I did not understand that there is a law of sowing and reaping.  My actions were changing as my thinking was changing and the circumstances of my life began to change.  Prior to coming to understand spiritual things I went about my life sowing bad seeds and then reaping bad results and I was always left wondering why.

I thought about the parable Jesus spoke in Matthew 13:24 - 30   

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 

But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat 

with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of 

harvest I will say to the reapers,   First gather together the tares and bind 

them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'

The pendulum had shifted in my favor as I was planting good seeds by reading the WORD.  The bad crop was still coming to harvest in between the good harvests and the Enemy, the devil,  was trying to fool me into thinking that I was wasting my time, that my daily dose of the WORD was not benefiting me.  But I had the testimony of the PEACE of God that passes all understanding in my heart."

ARE YOU TIRED OF LOSING THE SAME BATTLES

OVER AND OVER IN YOUR LIFE?

From our own experience we encourage you to TAKE UP THE SWORD OF SALVATION.  Gods precious Words of life found in the Bible.  Daily reading of His word will supply what you need to overcome the daily battles we find ourselves in the midst of.  We are in a spiritual war and only spiritual weapons will have the necessary affect to deliver us. Consider these words Jesus spoke in prayer as He taught His disciples while with them on this earth.  

OUR FATHER, WHO IS IN HEAVEN

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

THY KINGDOM COME

THY WILL BE DONE

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

AND GIVE US THIS DAY

OUR DAILY BREAD

Join us as we daily read the Words of Life that heal, deliver and encourage!  A schedule will be posted in the left panel weekly, or follow us on Twitter @TTTMinistries for daily updates.

We would be so pleased to hear from you, answer questions, honor prayer requests or if you'd just like to share what God is doing in your life.