In the midst of EVERY storm, peace

Luke 24: 36-39  Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and said to them “Peace to you.”  But they were terrified and frightened and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them “Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have Flesh and bones as you see I have.”

Peace our Lord and Savior assures us, is ours, and yet we run through our lives frantic and terrorized by every circumstance as far from peace as it is possible to be.  Christians, my brothers and sisters, PEACE, not as the world gives but according the creator of peace, the source of peace belongs to us.  It has been freely given to us and quite frankly the only way to lose it is to be defeated by deceit – lied to and tricked into believing that chaos reigns and has control.  Jesus Himself stands as our advocate and declares to us PEACE.  Will we believe Him or allow the terror of our own hearts to steal His truth from us.

Why are we troubled when we see the mayhem in this world?  Why do doubts arise in our hearts?  Why are we so frightened when He has promised us that we will have such troubles in this world?  We will be persecuted, we will be hated, nation will rise against nation and kingdom will rise against kingdom.  False prophets will rise up and they will deceive many.  Lies will be held up as truth and truth will be denied as a lie.

Behold, has He not told us in advance that these things will come to pass?  Has He not made Himself known?  Hasn’t He shown Himself trustworthy?  Don’t be frightened and don’t let terror keep you from enjoying His peace, his Joy and the freedom He paid so dear a price to give to you.  Just as He did for the disciples, He has done for us.  He assures us that no matter what is going on around us, no matter the wicked state of the world, no matter what our eyes see or our hearts tell us, His truth remains and can be trusted and believed.

Peace to you.  The Son of redemption has declared it and it is so.  Blessings to you my brothers and sisters.  Do not doubt.  Do not fear.  Hold fast to faith for He is faithful who has promised.  Keep in mind always that our lives in Him are Eternal and they are sure.  Recognize the Lord Jesus your Savior and know you are not alone.  Lift up your eyes and hearts to the His truth, that you may know His peace and receive by grace His deliverance.  Keeping in mind always that this world is not our home, just a place we pass through on our way to Our Father.

Our Amazing Lord!

Isn't it amazing how God works? When we get ourselves out of His way, set aside our own will and desire and truly allow His Spirit to lead and guide us we may end up in places we never even dreamed of doing things we hadn't ever thought about and yet they are just exactly the right place and the right things to do, bringing Glory and Honor to His name rather than our own. We are finding this truth applied over and over again in our journeying as Ambassadors for Christ.

You may be familiar with the parable Jesus shares in Luke 12:20 about the man who puts his hope in the physical riches of this world only to enjoy none of the fruits of his labor. His focus was on the temporary things of this world rather than obedience to the Lord. In short the story is a snapshot of his life. He is blessed with abundance of goods, but rather than giving thanks to God and seeking how he might honor the Lord for the abundance he's been granted, he makes his own selfish plans which are never realized as his life ends that very night.

The point or moral of the story is simply to give God the glory, to seek Gods way for our lives and not our own ways. To recognize the temporary nature of this life and keep our focus on the HOPE that is ours in Eternity, precisely so that we won't get fixated on the things of this world. This is an especially necessary reminder in this age of instant gratification. Cell phones keep us in instant constant contact and computers connect us to everything the world has to offer at the push of a button. We've grown so far and so fast, and yet the exhortation remains to WAIT UPON THE LORD. His timing, His will, His plan brought to completion in our lives.

We recently had a "plan" about where we were going and what we were going to do.  It was a good plan that included being a blessing to others, preaching the Word of God and leading people to a saving knowledge of Christ as Savior.  A good plan, but it was our plan, not Gods plan.  Thankfully, as we prayed and sought His way for us, He showed us His way.  It wasn't ours, not what we had thought but His is so much better!

One of the things we've had to guard against in our lives since answering the Lords call to live as Missionaries fully surrendered to Him is a tendency to define what we think "ministry"is or what it should look like based on how it's "always been done." We see it in the churches as well. This is what has worked in the past, so we simply continue in our flesh doing what has worked in the past. A few tweaks here or there to keep up with technology, maybe refresh the music ministry to reflect current tastes, but essentially we plod along doing what we've always done.

In the midst of his discourse to believers in the first century, wherein he touches upon many different subjects, the Apostle James makes this great observation that is timely to our lives today.  "Come now, you who say "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." James 4: 13-15

We are joyfully and even sometimes painfully discovering that MINISTRY as God defines it is very different from "what we've always done" and very different from what we thought it would be. When we insist on defining what His work is, we limit ourselves to our ability and our knowledge. WE BOX GOD IN. We don't stop His work from occurring, we simply stop ourselves from doing His work and begin doing our own. By putting aside our preconceived notions and truly seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will find ourselves doing things we never could have imagined, for He is infinitely CREATIVE, but they will be the things that bring about His glory, His will and have positive Eternal effect on others lives as well as our own.

Thank you for joining us today for an encouraging Word in the Lord!  Subscribe to Tide Turning Tales and get the Teachings and inspiring stories right to your inbox.  Leave a comment and tell us how the Lord is working in your life! We are one body in Christ.  Whatever we do, lets MAKE IT COUNT FOR CHRIST.

IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

Founded on the idea of freedom.  Not freedom FROM religion, but freedom OF religion, this great country began.  Humble but strong in the belief of individual freedom to worship. To pray. To express praise to Almighty God. ARE WE STILL THAT NATION?
I offer no apologetics. A simple question, you answer.
 IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?

Tragic Child Massacre!

Like everyone else, I am horrified, sickened and sad beyond words at the senseless, dreadful and tragic loss of human life - especially one's so young!  My heart aches in pain, not only for those beautiful babies from Newtown, CT, but for those who haven't even been allowed to draw a single breath on this earth, because the GOVERNMENT of the United States of America has declared it will NOT PROSECUTE any man or woman who MURDERS an innocent baby as long as it has not drawn a breath outside the womb!

The majority of people would like to separate these two events, and pretend they are not the same thing.  Most will avoid saying the obvious because it isn't politically correct and acceptable.

Since the innocent children died in Newtown, how many MORE innocent have been brutally torn from the wombs of their mothers into just as painful, just as horrible and just as tragic DEATH?

We talk talk talk about CHOICE - but we are afraid to declare the TRUTH.  CHOICE isn't about whether a child conceived has the right to be born and live a life.  CHOICE is made BEFORE action is taken that could lead to conception.  THAT is when a woman has ONLY HER OWN BODY to make choices about.  After conception, her body houses another - a separate body that belongs to a different human being - NOT HER. 

Evil flourishes when people will not stand and speak TRUTH.  Let that NOT be our crime here at Turn the Tide Ministries.  We will stand, we will speak and we will not be silent for political correctness or social acceptance or any other reason.

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  He created us.  He loves us.  Everyone has the right to REJECT that truth precisely because He gave us freewill to do so.  BUT THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE TRUTH OR ALTER IT ANY WAY! 

Those who have made that terrible choice to end the life of a child live with a knot in their hearts that will never cease.  Those who have repented of sin - this and any and every other sin - and have asked the forgiveness of God our Father and Creator - have received it and sin is remembered NO MORE!

While we are mourning the 20 - don't forget the MILLIONS who deserved the same right to live.

I do not write because I have any moral high ground - I write precisely because I am a sinner who has been forgiven by a gracious God, though I did not deserve it - and for that reason I share the TRUTH of His forgiveness and love with others.