Isaiah 8:19-20

Isaiah 8:19-20 (New International Version)

¹⁹ When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

I am always amazed at how people who are professing Christians are still eager to read their horoscopes or to seek the guidance from some form of medium. We are bombarded with advertisements on TV suggesting that we call the hotline and they will tell us our futures. From who we should date to how we should spend our money. God Clearly warns us against such things. Even Face Book has an option to see our horoscope and thousands upon thousands of people have become avid readers sharing their fortune with all of their friends. Many say "Well I know that it is not real or a thing of God but it is still fun to read." God desires for us to come to him for wisdom and to him only. When we seek answers from other places we are dabbling in the Dark Arts which are from the Devil him self.

Leviticus 20:27 (New International Version)

²⁷ " 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' "

If God saw that it was OK to seek mediums why did he give this law out in Leviticus. It is a harsh law not just to kick them out of society but to actually put them to death.

Here is one more look at how God dealt with a Fortuneteller through Paul and Silas.

Acts 16:16-18 (New International Version)

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

Did you see that they commanded the spirit to come out of her. If it was the Holy Spirit of the Triune God that we worship that spirit would not have been commanded to leaver the girl. But rather it was a spirit of evil.

So ladies and Gentleman let us trust in God our Savior not in the evils of this world.

"Hear am I. Send me!"

Today I was reading in Isaiah And I cam across this verse.

Isaiah6:8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?

And I said "Hear am I. Send me!"

This verse often crosses my mind when I look at where my life was and where it is today. 4 years ago I would never have imagined that I would be living in ND and homeschooling my son while trying to be the new Sunday School superintendent at our church. I was happy where I was and I had also felt I was where God wanted me. But when Tim my Dear Husband moved up here I had to change a few things. At first I said NO I will not God. But eventually my heart began to change and I was able to pray Lord wherever you send me I will go. And Wala here I am. It has been a great move for our family even though I could not see it at the time. And I expect it will not be the final time I will be surprised by what God is calling me to do.

I am also reminded of my mom and dad. Ten years ago they began to pray that God would show them where he needed them. It wasn't long and He was leading them to do mission work on the reservation in SD. I along with my parents never would have thought that they would ever become missionaries. But God had a plan and through it I have seen how he has used them to spread the Gospel and to work in their lives as well.

So my question to you is. Have you ever said, Lord, Here am I, Send me? You never know where you will wind up or what you will be doing. But I do know that you will be fulfilling the plans the Lord has for you.

Pray Continuously

Yesterday Ansir developed a chart to hold him accountable for his Bible readings each day. He began reading with Genesis 1-3. While we were driving in the car he made a comment that he couldn't imagine spending every waking moment singing praises to God like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. He thought it would be boring and exhausting. I explained to him that praising God doesn't only come in the form of song. But in being thankful in everything even the dificult situations we find our selves in. Then we listed a few examples. I think he began to understand in the end what praising God continuously means. I also explained that when we give this time and praise to God he gives us strength and fills our hearts with joy so it becomes enjoyable for us to do. I am thinking about picking a day where we stop each hour and praise God, pray for others etc. I got the idea from the Women Living Well Blog

This morning I was reading in my Book Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow & Lorraine Pintus and they referred to this verse.

• Ephesians 5:20 " Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• " And 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 " ¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus".

To pray continuously doesn't mean that we put all things on hold and do nothing else but pray after all we do have a job to do whether it is in or out of the home. The book referred to something as a breath prayer. While we are doing mundane things or our house chores we can also be praying and giving thanks for the blessings in our lives or we could be taking the time to pray for others or even for the things we struggle with. My pastor gave a sermon on this very topic about two weeks ago and he gave some startling statics: Do you know how much time the average Christian spends in prayer? 4 minutes/ day How about the average pastor? 7 minutes/day This was not overly surprising to me as I look at my own prayer life. If we truly started to pray continuously our lives would drastically change and blessings would be bountiful. So my challenge to you is to increase these statistics ten fold or more. So Go And Pray to you King, The God of all Nations, Creator of all Things and Savior to All.

Ezekiel 33-34

Ezekiel 33-34 and discovered a few things Some I knew and it was a good reminder and some I just never thought of. For example:  When we look about the people gathered on Sundays to Hear Gods word how many of them are going through the motions and confessing with their mouths but their hearts reflect just the opposite. I know that at times we all have been this kind of person. We go because it is our duty or because we always have and we do not put what we have heard into practice. I often feel that church has become the place to be seen or a place for socialization and true Christian fellowship has long since been forgotten. When we go to church we are to be supporting one another,praying for one another and our conversations Shouldn't contain only worldly things but also Biblical. Have you ever taken time to listen during coffee "fellowship"? What kinds of conversations do you hear. Are people asking their brothers in Christ for prayer? Are they discussing the sermon? Are they encouraging others to attend Bible class? OR are they just visiting about things that leave out there Lord and Savior all together. I long to be in true fellowship with other believers. 

When I go over to Chapter 34 it reminds us that we have not strengthened the weak, bound up the injured, brought back the strays or searched for the lost. We get so busy in our every day lives we forget about doing this. As a called servant of Christ we should desire to do all these things.God tell us that He will be against those who care only for them selves and not the flock and he will hold us accountable for his flock.  Later in the chapter God continues to express that since we are unable to complete these things fully he has taken our place and is our Shepard. He will make sure we do not stray and he will gather the lost and he will shepherd us with Justis. I am thank full that God is the true shepherd and that he will take care of things however I also know that he will do so by using his people as a tool. Are you able to follow Chirst where ever he leads you? If you ask him to use you he will. 

Let us be leaders in our church encouraging others to have true fellowship and support one another against the Evil foe. 

God Bless Your Day 

In His Service,

Melissa