The devil has been pounding this week, but Jesus is still Lord. I have found that the more you desire and hunger for the Lord the more intense the devil and his bunch turn up the intensity of the attacks. If the redeemed want to serve the Lord they will find the same situation playing out. Don't quit! Don't stop! Don't give in!

The enemy has a quiver full of arrows some are dipped in the poison of discouragement. Some are dipped in the poison of doubt. Some are dipped in the poison of division. The Bible says, "Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (Ephesians 6:16) Please do not just skim over this verse, but get down in it and allow these God breathed words to encourage and empower you.

I want to encourage to you read Ephesians 6:10-18. It is a much needed reminder of what it is that God has provided his children for the battle that they are in.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."

April 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer.

Don't Give up! Don't Give In- But pray for America! Pray for our leaders-Local, State and Federal! Pray for the people! Ask God to have mercy on this nation! We need the mercy of Almighty God! We need Almighty God's protection and power. We nee His guidance and direction. We are nothing without Him and without Him we are nothing.

1. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
Psalm 145:1-6
The psalmist declares, "I will" and so we should with the time we have been given.
I will Extol. I will Bless. I will Praise, I will Speak. I will Declare.
Let's start our morning off in such a powerful way.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying,
Bro. Tracy

We went and visited my Dad today and he asked me to sing and play for him. I sang a couple of Gospels songs that I often sing when I preach. When I finished my Dad began to sing these words in the strongest voice we have heard in weeks-
When I come to the river at the ending of day
When the last winds of sorrow have blown
There'll be somebody waiting to show me the way
I won't have to cross Jordan alone

I won't have to cross Jordan alone
Jesus died all my sins to atone
In the darkness I see
He'll be waiting for me
I won't have to cross Jordan alone

“I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone”

It is tough to watch my Dad decline in such a way, but the assurance of knowing my Dad is saved is a blessing and hearing him sing such wonderful words is a reminder of God’s amazing grace and love. Thanks to all who are praying for my Dad.

Bro. Tracy

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10

The company you keep will in time corrupt the character you possess if the company you keep possess a corrupt character.

1. Guard your choices
2. Guard your company
3. Guard your character

Joy is proof that what we have is real and that it satisfies.  Whether we take in God’s Word in our own time of reading and meditation or when we hear God’s Word preached joy will be the fruit of those times. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16.) If we would come with such an attitude towards God’s Word I believe we would be living empowered lives, equipped lives and lives that would be fueled with a glow that would speak powerfully to the redeemed as well as the lost. Joy will be lived out in the life of the Christian who carves out time in their schedule for God’s Word. I can still remember a short time after I was saved, racing home after work at the factory and anticipating that when I got home I was going to read my Bible. I never want that anticipation to be in the rear-view mirror or a thing of the past. I want the well-worn path that runs from me to my Bible to be just that, a well-worn path. I don't want the weeds and thorns of this world to find a home on my path.

Get a hold of this- The Bible is-THE WORD OF GOD! You may be saying to yourself, "Bro. tell me something I don't know." I know that I have said this time and again, but I have no intention of apologizing, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (II Timothy 3:16a.) That my friends should cause you to not walk, but to run to your Bible! That should light a fire within you that the devil and all the trappings of this world could never put out. I want to invite you to come today with anticipation, with a desire and with an excitement to God's Word. Reach back to that time when God's word was the joy and rejoicing of your heart. You will never regret it.

Thanks for Visiting and thanks for Praying,
Bro. Tracy

  
 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:7-11
 
History tells us that on January 24, 1848 a man by the name of James W. Marshall while working at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California found some shiny metal. After taking the substance to his boss John Sutter the two men tested the metal and discovered that Marshall had discovered gold and thus began the California gold rush.  Many became wealthy, many more did not. Some lost their lives simply trying to get to California.  The early technique was to pan the streams and rivers for the precious gold.

We have a river filled with gold and it is the Bible.  Within this gold filled book there is great treasure to be had if we will pan its depths for Gods golden words. What is it that waits within the pages of God’s word?  Our verses today only scratch the surface.

1. Salvation
2. Wisdom
3. Joy
4. Sight
5. Truth
6. Warning
7. Reward
Verse ten tells us we are to desire God’s word more than pure gold. Such desire will lead us to the sweetest taste we will ever know.  Psalm 119:103 the psalmist writes, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.  The writer conveys with words what his heart feels within.  It is an outward manifestation of an inward joy.  I urge you to taste for yourselves the delicacies of God’s word and partake of the blessed benefits.

Before I was saved, at the age of 36, I might have spent Saturday night at a bar or a pub. I had a blues band, and some Saturday nights I would have been playing out at a bar. I can remember looking from the stage in the middle of a song and thinking that I was part of the reason that many of the folks were there drinking and living in such a way. I did not feel good about that. Sunday mornings would have found me at a local restaurant eating breakfast and reading the Sunday paper. But now...That has all changed! I am born again!! Glory to God!

My Saturday nights are completely different now. I like to pray for the many pastor and preacher friends who God has brought into my life. I anticipate God doing a powerful work on Sunday. I anticipate God doing a mighty work across our nation and around the world! I am thankful that I am saved and no longer the ungodly fool being the main attraction at some bar or pub..

Take time, this evening, to consider who you once were before you were saved, and that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Take time, to praise the Lord for His mercy and grace. Take time, to pray, and ask God to bless in a mighty way the services on Sunday. 

1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. 3. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. 4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 8. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. –Psalm 119:1-8

Take time to meditate over our verses and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate God's powerful truth. A Powerful Life will be lived and it will spring from a Powerful Plan from God.

Our Potential- verse 1
His Promise- verse 2a
Our Portion- verse 2b
Our Persistence- verse 4
Our Prayer- verse 5
Our Position- verse 6
Our Praise- verse 7
Our Promise verse 8a
Our Plea- verse 8b

Glory to God!!

“Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by supplication and prayer, with thanksgiving...let your requests be made known unto God." Philippians 4:6

"That is the Divine cure for all fear, anxiety, and undue concern of soul, all of which are closely akin to doubt and unbelief.”
― E.M. Bounds