Wed. Oct. 5, 2011 Promises 3

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Good Salvation Wednesday, my dear brothers and sisters, and it is a beauty. Gosh, all mornings are beauties when you wake up with the intent of serving the Lord. Prayers today for the unsaved and that those of us who are Born Again will be used to bring the lost to the feet of Jesus. Reminder to keep praying daily for Baby Boy Noah who has cancer, and also for Vicki who has a very full plate of health issues. As the colder weather sets in, please pray for all those who have had flooding in their homes, some lost their homes while others have lost their heating systems and/or their wells. Some have homes that are condemned and they cannot even go in to get out their stuff.

Promises Day 3: Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (NIV)

Psalm 148:18/20 18 - The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, He hears their cry and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. (NIV)

John 3:3 - In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is 'Born Again.'" (NIV)

Titus 3:4/6 4 - But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. (NIV)

As we talk about PROMISES of God we often just think about those good promises, like He will take care of all of our needs, but we receive promises from God on what will happen if we don't believe in Him. You know like if we do not believe in Jesus, we will go to Hell. Gosh, I needed to tell you that.

Let me take a look at some of the scriptures of today. First from Mark 11:24 and these are the words of Jesus. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." I want to talk just a little bit about my dear friend Ron. Ron was told he had cancer and that it was bad, really bad. Ron did not give up, roll over and maybe just pray a little bit, Ron and his wife turned deeper and deeper into the Bible and to the love of Jesus. They looked for scriptures that promised healing, they prayed and BELIEVED THE PRAYERS WERE ALREADY ANSWERED. You see that in the scripture from Mark in short it tells us to pray and whatever we ask for, if we believe, then we will receive. His wife, Donna, would anoint him with oil as talked about in the Bible. They truly believed he would be healed and the cancer is all but gone. IS GOD GOOD FOR HIS WORD? ALL THE TIME, brothers and sisters, all the time. Brothers and sisters, if you are not going to trust God to answer your prayers, then why pray at all? If you don't think God is going to answer your prayers, then why waste your time on praying?

Now I love this promise, I really do, because it talks about those two SCARY words, "Born Again." I have been asked already this question. Dan, are you a Christian? My answer was yes, and then came this zinger, are you one of those "Born Again" Christians? And of course my answer would go something like this. Yes, I am "Born Again," are you? The person said, no, I am just a Christian! And the door was open for old Pastor Dan to go in with arms wide open and my mouth also. Folks, the plain old truth is this, "If you ain't "Born Again" you ain't a Christian. Folks, like it or not, it is one of the promises of God. It is a fact and it must be true for it is not just in the Bible in the words of Jesus, why it is written on old barns, and you know if it is on a barn it must be true. Ok, I am kidding about the barn lettering, but not about the fact that you MUST BE BORN AGAIN. Look again at the scripture.

John 3:3 - In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is 'Born Again.'" (NIV)

Do you see those words, NO ONE can see the Kingdom of God unless what? Come on say it with me -- YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. Oh those little scary words. "Born Again". "Born Again" as the barn would read. "Ye must be Born Again."

While we find many, many promises from God telling us the good things, like He will provide all of our needs, He will heal us, and so on, we also find those things we don't want to hear, like in some scriptures where it tells us we can't work our way into heaven, we must believe and have faith, and yes, be born again. You can make all the food in the kitchen of your church for every social event for years and years, but that will not get you into heaven. Just believe in God and in Salvation through Jesus and then go to work for Him daily. Live for Him and walk with Him...

Dear Father in Heaven, I believe in You, I believe in Salvation through Jesus, who died for our sins, my sins. Forgive me this day, dear Lord, and put me to work in the fields of Harvest trying to bring folks to the feet of Jesus to be saved. Please, Lord Jesus, hear our prayers of today and honor them according to Your will... I love you, Jesus, and I pray in Your name. Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings and your love for Jesus and each other. Love, the best gift we have received from Jesus. "Please share it." Love ya, Pastor Dan.