“Practice today for a better tomorrow”

We are living in a time when the world is a mess. Work life, home life, even recreational time for many people has become so rushed and stressful that the ability to enjoy the moment, or “Live for today” is being missed. There are so many legitimate concerns that people have today, that you end up planning life six months to a year down the road and this has become a way of life for too long. We need the Lord’s touch in this area of our lives because we cannot in our own strength fix this. How did it get this way one might ask? I can say with all honesty “The devil made us do it.”

We are prisoners of our most precious commodity, time. Both of my parents were fifteen years old in 1940. I always hear about when they were in their teens and early twenties and at that time not many people could afford to own a car. The majority of people walked or took the trolley to work or school and maybe used the family car if they had one for a weekend ride or vacation. It was a simpler time. The newspaper was a source of information and entertainment and not many missed reading it especially the Sunday edition. My dad worked for the major Boston newspapers for a better part of his life. This is how I know this. Today journalism is a lost art and it has become sensationalism that just stresses us out. I have not watched a news program on purpose for over a year because of this. My stress dropped at least forty percent when I let go of that.

As time went on especially in the United States, everything was being made to make things more convenient. We were able to do more things in less time and that was thought to be a good thing, so what did we do, we kept on compressing that convenience until now you can heat up a bowl of soup (organic of course) in about two minutes. Have you ever seen someone almost lose their mind because the soup in the microwave was taking too long? I saw that once and at first I agreed with the person heating their soup, because we’ve all been conditioned by this system of doing more in less time with fewer resources. Then I later thought about it and realized that soup on the stove takes fifteen to twenty minutes easily. How could someone get irritated by two minutes? That’s quick!

We are so rushed today that we have become the most over medicated people in the world. Many folks are just swallowing there problems in the form of a pill or alcohol. There is a better way and that way is through Jesus Christ. The only way that I can truly cope with the stresses of life is when I relinquish control to my savior Jesus. That in itself is not that easy because all of us want some form of control and we have this belief that relinquishing that control means we are out of control.

I’ve often heard people say that this is “The nature of the beast”. Most people that say this have no idea what they said; they just think that it sounds good. However it is the nature of satan to want control. He wants to control every aspect of our lives to the point that he is able to pull us away from God with temptation of what looks like an easier way. Trust me, there is no easy way. The idea of control being lost when we give it over to Jesus Christ is a total illusion created by the enemy of our souls. In fact we are in the most control of our destinies when we give control of our lives over to Jesus Christ, because he’s the one that knows the plan for our lives, we have no idea what the next few hours hold.

We need to begin making changes in our lives that will decrease our stress and improve our quality of daily life. I am making a conscious effort to take the long way through life; I have to break what I call the microwave mentality which is all about short cuts. If we all start to make changes that will incorporate some old school thinking and slow us down, we will better be able to enjoy our today and it’s only through enjoying today that we can have a hope for tomorrow.

If we continue to zip through today, then our tomorrow’s will come and go and we’ll have missed our potential, our purpose and our freedom by being bound to convenience which only equals stress and that is nowhere close to the purpose that God has for our lives. “Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God said that “I have for you a plan that will cause you great stress and strife” On the contrary. Jesus said in John 10:10 (Message) that “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of”.

Won’t you take a moment now and thank God for sending his only son to die for our sins so that we could have eternal life with God the Father?

Father I thank you for all you have done in my life and the lives of those I know and love. Father without you sending Jesus, we would have no hope for redemption and it is only because you loved us so much that you sent your only son Jesus to die on that cross for our sins. I can never say thank you enough, but I can do my best to bring honor and glory to you in all that I do. I know that this is your will for all mankind and if we’ll just step into your will, we will step into our destiny. I pray father that you will bless in double portion all who read this message and help them to break through the miry clay that this world has become.

In Jesus name I Pray

Amen

God Bless You All.

"The Sharpshooter”

yourvictory@gmail.com

The Vines & Root's That Bind Us

Yesterday I had some tree work done and in our yard we have these huge Oak trees. On one of them we were shown that Poison Ivy had grown alongside the tree and had grown to look like it was part of the tree. The bark and every other thing about it blended in like it was part of the tree. This Poison Ivy vine had become close to four inches in diameter at the base and it wrapped all around the tree at least half way up. It was estimated that this Poison Ivy vine was literally choking off this tree for the last forty or fifty years. Limbs at the top were not blooming well and some branches were actually falling off. After this took place the Lord put this message in me.

Just as these Poison Ivy vines grew very slowly over years and consumed this tree, so grow the vines that the devil wraps around our feet. This is only one reason why we have to be so tuned in to the Lord. So that we can have ears to hear and eyes to see in the spiritual to be able to stop the devil in his attempts early on. If we are not hearing and seeing in the spiritual realms, the devil has all sorts of time to have his way with no interference, and the longer he has to work on us, the harder it becomes to unwrap those vines he connects to us to hold us down in sin, oppression, addiction and so many other things.

If I were out in the woods and had an encounter with a large snake, I know it would be much easier to defeat the snake as it tries to wrap itself around my legs than it would be to get it off of my neck. We must all become more aware of the things that satan is trying to accomplish in and around us. There is such a high number of people in this world that are bound up in vines that they need help to get out of. We need to be that help. Many don't even recognize that they are being consumed by these vines, whether it is drug addiction, alcoholism or sexual immorality. These are vines that were placed on God's people by satan to keep them from achieving the plan that God has for their lives. As the salt and the light we need to bring Jesus to these suffering souls so that He can set the captives free. They won't get free without his help.

The biggest problem in doing this though is that many people have had these vines wrapped around them so long, and been in that place so long, that they may not want to let go of what has become comfortable. Father give them eye's that see and ears that hear. Only our Savior Jesus Christ can set the captives free and He can only do that when He is invited to do so. We cannot do any of this on our own strength. We need Jesus and we have to call on Him. We all have a free will and Jesus will not force himself on anyone, saved or unsaved. He wants so badly for each and every one of us Jew & Gentile to call on him and let Him save us. He will un-wrap the vines and free us from anything that the devil has set in our path. He will sever every vine that is on us and cut every root that the enemy has connected to our spirits.

There are many people that read this blog from all parts of the world. I ask you now, if you were to die today. Do you know that you would go straight to Heaven? The bible says that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Secondly it says that "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." We are all whosever's. If you do not know for absolute certain that if something happened to you today, that you would go straight to Heaven, please say this prayer with me.

Heavenly Father: I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of my Sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that Jesus is your Son, And that he died on the Cross at Calvary that I might be forgiven and have Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now to come in to my life and be my personal Lord and Savior. I repent of my Sins and will Worship you all the days of my Life!. Because your word is truth, I confess with my mouth that I am Born Again and Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus! In Jesus Name, Amen.

If you read & spoke the Sinners Prayer and truly believe the words you read & spoke, then Praise the Lord as you have been saved and your name will appear in the "Lambs Book of Life!"
Thank you for reading.

God Bless you all.

"The Sharpshooter"