In His Presence

God  comes in Expected and Unexpected ways.   Be prepared to be surprised.  He is there for us when we need him.

                                                                                                                                                     We are all looking for something.  Sometimes we don't even know what it is we want to eat, to wear, to do.  We just know that we want something to fill an empty space.  We want something that we know is missing from our lives.  I knew a   person who was rumored to have a hole in his abdomen and he used to put cloth in it to absorb the fluids that were leaking out.  Empty spaces need to be filled somehow and he filled it as best he could for as long as he could, knowing in the end that only God could help him.   My point is that there are empty spaces that we just don't know how to fill and some of these can't be healed or touched by any of the possible fillers we might find.  Our need to fill the space in our soul can't be satisfied by anything less that a Savior.  We need the Son of God to fill our lives with the purp

 Will the knock out punch take you out or will you get up and continue the fight? The reality is that for most of us life is filled with challenges.  Some of us have more than others.  It even seems that some individuals experience more, more health problems, more disappointments in love, in work, with children and well just disappointment after disappointment until.... Sometimes life just isn't fair.  At least it seems that way.  The scriptures speak to this very situation.  But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 (Easy to Read Version)

Trusting is hard.  We all want to feel we have control over our own life but trust is a key component to Christian life.  We learn to trust Jesus with every aspect of our lives.Paul's trust became second nature.  Consider your own journey of faith what has has helped in your own journey? How did you learn to trust Jesus?

Faced with a brutal storm the sailors were frighten and tired. They were doing all that they knew to do.  They used their skill, talent and experience to try and help themselves but it was not enough.  Just like the rest of us they reached a point where the very best they had to offer was not equal to the challenge.  It is then we learn to grab onto the broken pieces,  We will put our trust in God and hang on.

It all sounds like some scary movie, unbelievable except it did happen.  It is recorded in scripture.  A group of brothers go around  claiming to cast out demons and everything is going okay.They use a formula that they felt was safe, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out,” after all Paul was having success.   Then the demon responds.What happens next? Find out for yourself in this week's lesson. Knockoffs Counterfeits and the Genuine Article

State Supervisor of Women Ohio West, Dr. Barbara Jackson shares at the State Women's Convention, Church of God in Christ at Resurrection Power Church of God in Christ. Situations and conditions may be what they appear to be from man's perspective but God's Word is everlasting and never changing.  Don't say it is what it is in a fatalistic fashion, giving up, say it with the certainty of God's Word and promises to us. It is as the Lord says it will be.

  And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.   There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” Acts 19:26-27 (NIV). Paul is being set up, not because of some evil he has done but rather because he has, through the teachngs of Jesus Christ upset the status quo.  Many people were making money from the sale of religious items and now he has become a problem.  What is the response of the movers and changers when people "wake up" and start to worship God?

  God has got your back Episode 43 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. Acts 18: 9-10 The call of Christ is the protection of Christ, the blessing of Christ and the anointing of Christ on the assigned task.

                                                        The Necessity of Prayer                             The life of a Christian must be surrounded and saturated with prayer.

                        The Word Of Our Testimony Episode 40 We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Rev.12:11) Pastor Franklin Culver shares at a Sunday Morning service at Resurrection Power Church in Gahanna, Ohio (image courtesy of Freely.com)