As I study the Bible I see one thing that the great men in the Bible had in common. They prayed, and usually when they prayed you’d find them on their knees in prayer!

I know the posture we take during prayer isn’t what really matters, but it mattered to many of the old and new testament saints and I think we can learn a valuable lesson from them.

Kneeling as you pray,  I believe shows respect and reference to the Lord. I also believe it demonstrates an attitude of submissiveness!

Paul says in Acts 21:5, “And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed!”

Moses was 120 years old when he passed the spiritual responsibility for the people of Israel to Joshua. As this transaction took place, our Lord encouraged Joshua no less than four times to “be strong and courageous!” (Joshua 1:6,7,9,18)

God has a job for all of us to do. Some are called to lead and some are called to follow. It doesn’t matter what job God has given you, the important thing is, are ya doing it? It takes courage to lead and it takes courage to follow!

Whether we lead or follow, true courage comes from the Lord!

I stopped in Calera, OK. yesterday on the way home to drop off a fire bible to Pastor Jacob Toews. While there we had a conversation about our Lord’s resurrection.

We talked about the time when the disciples entered the tomb and our Lord wasn’t there and they found the napkin that had been around His head folded neatly by itself. Pastor Jacob shared something with me about this that was amazing and I’d like to share it with you.

Back in the day when a man had lunch or dinner with someone and he excused himself for a brief period of time he’d always fold his napkin up to let the people know he was returning!

The Bible says Peter entered the tomb and found the napkin, that was about His head, not lying by the linen clothes, but was folded nice and neat in a place by itself. Pastor Jacob says he believes Jesus did this to let everyone know He’d soon return and He did!

He appeared to the disciples and others after His resurrection and He’ll return again some day. It may be today, tomorrow or next week. Will you be ready? John 20:7-8

God’s Word says to, “Pray without ceasing!” We pray, but do we really expect God to answer our prayers?

When God does answer our prayer, we rejoice and talk about it as if we are really surprised! And we are surprised to be honest, because we didn’t really expect an answer!

God hears and answers prayer even though we don’t think He will at times!  How wonderful and gracious He is!

Over the past few months God has been showing me how important it is for me to preach about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It’s not that I haven’t done it, but I’ve preached more about the death of Jesus on the cross than anything else.

God has continued to show me you can’t preach one without the other! They both go hand in hand like a boyfriend walking with his girlfriend in the park!

Jesus died on the cross for us but He was also buried. On the third day He rose from the grave so that we could have victory over death. His body never saw corruption.

If you go visit the grave of JFK, Elvis, or King David the bodies of these men are there, Jesus is not! He’s in heaven at the right hand of God the Father and He’s praying for you and me at this very moment. Believe or Not!

Have you ever took the time to set back and take a good long look at yourself. I have and this is what I’ve discovered. I have bad thoughts and I dwell on them sometimes! I have bad attitudes and because of that I want to get even with those who upset me! I’ve even caught myself telling half truths which is basically a down right lie! Sometimes I say mean, hurtful things to the ones I love, and the list goes on and on. Boy, Am I A Mess!

You may be surprised at what I say or do but nothing I say or do surprises the Lord. The amazing thing is, no matter what we say or do God still works things out according to His plan or purpose!

God is in control of this vast universe! Everything is going according to His plan. Remember what Jeremiah 29:11 says, I know the plans I have for you saith the Lord, plans not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future!

Even though I’m a mess, you’re a mess, and this world is a mess we can find great comfort in the fact that God is in control of the mess! Believe It or Not!

I didn’t do it, you did! Don’t blame me, it’s your fault, not mine! Since the day Jesus was crucified people have been trying to decide who was the blame.

Many of us blame the Roman government, the religious rulers and his cowardly disciples for him being crucified. Oh, they had a hand in it but they should not accept all the blame!

I’ll tell you who is responsible for His death. You are responsible and I am responsible. It was for my sins and your sins that He died.

John 10:17-18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received from my Father.”

He died on the old rugged cross so that sinners like you and me could be saved. Let’s face up to the fact that our sins put Him there and that He was willing to become sin so that we could have forgiveness. Jesus, the Son of God is Awesome!

When we lived in Muskogee years ago there was a church that offered classes on speaking in tongues. I had a friend that was a member of that church and we’d always have a friendly debate about that. He finally joined the baptize church but always informed me he could speak in tongues.

Back in the day when the men of God spoke in tongues, they spoke to others in their own dialect. They were not unknown tongues, they were languages that were understood.

Ephesians 5:18 says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit.” Have you ever been around a drunk man. He seems to have more power and he certainly is more talkative.

Perhaps many of us need the filling of the Holy Spirit today to make us more talkative, not to speak in an unknown tongue which does no go to the hearer, but power to speak the gospel to others. This is the kind of tongues movement we need in this day and time. Let’s use our tongues today to spread the good news instead of gossip!

Have you ever said I can’t do it, or thunk it! I was having lunch with a friend of mine the other day and we were talking about the ministry. He made this comment, “I could never do what you’re doing!”

I have to disagree, he could do what I’m doing and more with the help of the Holy Spirit! Shoot, I can’t do what I’m doing without His help and I’ll be the first to admit it! Without Him, we are nothing but a pile of dirty old rags.

Some of the people on my board of directors and advisory board are doctors, inventors, designers, teachers, housewives and the list goes on and on. God has given us a commission and that commission is found in Acts 1:8.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and the unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Our witness is to Jesus Christ. He is the center of attraction! Jerusalem means our hometown. All Judea means our community. Samaria represents the other side of the tracks, the people we don’t associate with, and then, the uttermost parts of the earth. His command to us is personal, we can’t pass it off to someone else!

In my travels many people ask me what I think about Joel Osteen. I tell them I’m sure he’s a nice man but I’m not hooked on his preaching style. They then ask me what I mean. I tell them he preaches feel good messages. He tells people if they’ll do this and that God will bless them with great riches which is not always true.

You see, I don’t feel you need a lot of money to be rich. I have my saviour, my wife, my kids, my health, a nice car, a motorcycle, a nice home but not much money in the bank and I consider myself a rich man. I’ve been blessed.

I don’t need to get all tangled up in Joel. It Doesn’t Matter what Joel does or what he says. My job is to follow the Lord. I’m to be obedient no matter what and that’s your job to! Keep your eyes on Jesus and your glass will always look half full instead of half empty! Be blessed!