Psalms 139:14 “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful; I know that full well.” I love how God loves to tell us how valuable we are to Him! Thank you, Lord that You tell us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

1Peter 1:18-19 “For I know it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” What an honor.

Galatians 4:7 “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has also made you heir.”

John 1:12 “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” We are royalty according to His word, princes and princesses to the King of all Kings!

God’s promises affirm our worth, our value. There are many! Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” I have had moments in my life where I have felt completely alone, abandoned, yet he gave me another promise in Psalms 34:18 ” The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He has never left me, maybe I withdrew from Him, but as a good, good Father, He has always been right there with me. Sometimes reaching out to others can help us to see our value. We may learn to value ourselves as we value others, reaching out to give love when inside we feel that we have nothing left to give. I paint children’s faces, when I reach out to brighten the life of a child, it makes every burden drift away, reaching out to someone else can provide for that person exactly what they need.

Philippians 2:3″ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.”

We do not have to worry about how we may increase our own value, or even how we may be able to value others as we approach our days. All we need to do, is surrender our day to Him, and ask Him to have His will be done in each of us, everyday! When we understand who we are in Christ, it is a place of great royalty, we are His children, we lack nothing.

Jesus gave us all a second chance, by His obedience to lay His life down for all of us, no we do not deserve what He did! He loves us and values us so much, that He died for all of our sin, shame, and bondage. He rose again to life, which is also a gift that His sacrifice has given to us, but we must believe that he did this for us, ask Him today to forgive you of all sin, and invite Him into your life to make all things new for you. Ask His Holy Spirit to also live within you, guide and give you strength for every day.

He will never leave you or forsake you as the scripture says, He shows you the way to embrace your value in Him.

Ephesians 4:31-32 reads: “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.”

Proverbs 11:17-19 reads: “Kindness is rewarded-but if you are cruel, you hurt yourself. Meanness gets you nowhere, but goodness is rewarded. Always do the right thing, and you will live; keep doing wrong, and you will die.”

Jesus came to earth as a man like we are, John 1:14 reads “The word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw His true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From Him the complete gifts of undeserved grace and truth have come down to us.” Jesus died so that we may have another chance at life, eternal- that right had been lost when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and disobeyed God. Our Father God loved us so much, was so ultimately kind to us, that He chose to sacrifice His only Son as atonement of our sinful nature. Even those who ate with Him, saw the many miracles that Jesus had performed for them, even those same people condemned Him to die on the cross. Jesus told the Father, Luke 23:34:”Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” such an act of kindness in the very depth of His suffering with the weight of our sin upon Him. He was doing what His Father sent Him to do, He obeyed the Father, yet interceded on behalf of those who condemned Him to death, a strong message of mercy and kindness.

Jesus took upon Himself all of our sins, all of our shame, sickness, bondage when He willingly died for us to give the ones who did not deserve what He had done for them, a second chance for eternal life.

He also rose again to demonstrate to the world that death had been defeated by His obedience to do the will of the Father.

All we need to do is ask Him to forgive us of all our sins and believe that He did all of this for each one of us and ask Him to be Lord of our lives. He also sent His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in all we should do. I honestly know that I would have perished long ago if I had not made this very important decision to become a believer in what Jesus had done for me, He renewed everything in my life, He has been so kind to me! Ask Him today to make your life new!

In God’s word there are many instances where God sent an angel to bring a message of hope, to protect, comfort, serve, carry out His judgement, and to give Him praise. Hebrews 13:2, reads: “Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guest without even knowing it.” I have had encounters with angels, you do not ever worship them, for they are sent by God, we are to worship only Him. I am sure there have been many encounters with angels that I have had that I did not realize, I was talking to an angel; as indicated in this scripture. Colossians 1:16 reads: “Everything was created by Him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God’s Son and everything was made for Him.” It is clear here that there are seen and unseen things in this world. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 reads “We live in this world, but we don’t act like its people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use God’s power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. We capture people’s thoughts and make them obey Christ. “So our battle is with the unseen in spiritual warfare. And many times in the Bible God sent His angels to assist the people of God. Here are some examples when God sent angels to assist people in the Bible: Genesis 18-God sent messengers to Abraham and Sarah to tell them that in her old age, Sarah would soon bear a son. Genesis 16: God sent an angel to Hagar, in the desert, the angels brought her a message that she was not forgotten. Judges 6: God sent an angel to encourage Gideon as he was down on himself, the angel told him that he was a mighty warrior. God sent and angel, Gabriel, to Mary in Luke 1 to tell her that she would give birth to the very Son of God. Matthew 28 an angel appeared at the empty tomb of Christ to announce that Jesus was alive, He is risen. Psalms 91 it reads that God would give His angels charge concerning us to guard us in all our ways. 2 Kings 6:17, Elisha prayed that his servant would see the armies of angels surrounding the city -God gave him spiritual sight, he opened his eyes and realized these mighty, invisible beings. I have heard of accounts where God has done the same things for missionaries in the field or even in war zones in special circumstances. God is the all powerful is who sends them, we do not have that ability, we can pray and ask God to send His angels , He is in charge whether He does or not.

When my baby was killed, and I was almost killed, I remember calling out to God. I asked Him to help me, to save me. I had lost a lot of blood, and had no eyesight, and was ready to pass out. As we hear sometimes, I saw my life pass before me, as if it was the end of it, this happened to me. As I was pinned against the wall, by the assailant, I heard a voice say, “Forgive him”, so I said to the assailant. “Look at what you have done to me, (I was unrecognizable), I want you to know that I forgive you for what you have done to me.” After these words were spoken, I felt the weight of the assailant lift off of me, no longer was I pinned. Then I heard a loud sound as if this man was thrown on the floor, I saw a brilliant light in the room (I had no eyesight), then I heard a voice say, “You can go.” To this day, I believe that was an angel that God sent to free me from this man who attacked me.

The unseen world is very real, with today’s threats, and many dark things that we see happening, people say, “How can this be happening?” Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the unseen. If you are saved do not take for granted the need to put on your whole armor of God. Ephesians 6: 14-17 reads: “Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armor, your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit.” Read God’s word daily, and we talked today about God’s messengers that He sends to be a service to His people.

However, there are corrupted angels, who were thrown out of heaven when Lucifer fell like lightning out of heaven, he took with him one third of the angels who are now corrupt. It’s a battle in the spirit realm that many people do not understand. Know that God’s word is clear, God is above all things, all powers, authorities etc. Important, to know God. To know His Son, to know and listen to the Holy Spirit, to remain safe in this hour.

If you have never asked Jesus to be Lord of your life, ask Him to forgive you of all sin, cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Jesus died for your sins to be forgiven, He rose again so that your life could be made new, and He sent His Holy Spirit to be your comforter and strength every single day. If you believe. He will make your life new. In Jesus’ name AMEN

“You belong to the light and live in the day. We don’t live in the night or belong to the dark. Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet. God doesn’t intend to punish us but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died for us, so we could live with Him, whether we are alive or dead when He comes. This is why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11

“God did this because He wanted you Gentiles to understand His wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and He is your hope of sharing in God’s glory.”

Colossians 1:27

He is our hope of salvation and our hope of sharing in God’s glory! Our salvation and knowing that God lives in us, comes when we ask Jesus to come into our lives and to be savior of our lives. It does seem like a mystery to most of us, but His scripture clearly says -Jesus forgives us of all our sin, He willingly laid down His life, rose again so that you may have a new life in Him. All you need to do is ask Him!

Soon it will be time for His return to earth, we need to be ready-we need to tell others and get them ready!

Before His crucifixion, at Gethsemane, Jesus asked His disciples to watch and pray (Matthew 26:36-46). He was feeling deeply sorrowful, it’s unthinkable how heavy the weight of the world’s sin must have been on a mortal body. Although He is God, He was here in the flesh. He felt all the things that we feel. When He descended from the garden, Jesus found His disciples sleeping.

We need to stay sober, awake, vigilant. We need to pray diligently during these serious times that we are in. Do not be surprised if God wakes you up in the middle of the night to pray, and don’t forget to put on the whole armor of God, for the battle we are in is not against flesh and blood! Ephesians 6.

If you have never asked Jesus to be your savior, now is the time, do not let another day go by!

Become a person of the day!

Many people pray but few are prevailing and returning with their testimonies. (Christian Life-True Love Fostering Fellowship, peace, victory and success in life-Steps with God-Ngozi Nwoke). It is said, it takes prevailing in prayer to conquer the challenges in your lives. Knowing how to travail in prayer empowers you to prevail at all times. I found these steps to prevailing prayer by Ngozi Nwoke I thought it to be worth sharing here. She used the examples of Isaiah 66:7-8-Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16-17(KJV).

This reminded us that Elias prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months. Why travail? Because it engages your heart. It pours your soul to the Lord. Engaging your heart results in explosive answered prayers. Matthew 25:3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. Matthew 25-26-the Lord tells us to keep watch -for we do not know the day or the time of His coming. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” Matthew 26:41

“Watch” was often associated with guidance, direction by the light, and by the Spirit. Though it may be symbolic, if our lamps have no oil, we cannot see where we are going. There is a whole sermon here, but by watching and praying we are putting a guard around us to keep us from falling into temptation, and from missing the coming of our King. Matthew 25-26

A personal story about travailing: I worked for the state and our head nurse, wonderful lady-was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. At the end of shift, it was announced that she had weeks or days to live. My heart was moved with compassion, and I sensed that a travail was stirring in me so thinking it may pass quickly -I went to the lady’s room. There I began to travail as quietly as possible, when it did not lift quickly, I just left and drove home. At home I travailed praying in the Spirit- 3 hours total. I felt it lift. I decided to go on with my evening. The next day I was told that her prognosis had changed, things were not as grave, she was still in the hospital. I decided after work to go to the hospital to see her. I walked in her room and she was so happy to see me. She said, “Thank you for coming to see me yesterday and praying for me.” She said, “I was so sick and you walked into the room and put your hands on me and prayed, and it seemed like things turned around right away.” I said -“Yesterday? “She said, “Yes, thank you so much for praying!” Well, I was about to say I was never there yesterday, and instead I just said, “You are welcome”, not knowing what to make of this myself, and certainly not wanting to dishearten my sick friend. After all -who was encouraged about feeling so much better! I was just a vessel who engaged my heart to provoke divine intervention on behalf of my friend. All Glory to God!

Maybe you have not made a decision to ask Jesus into your heart and life yet, perhaps this message went over your head, I just want to tell you that you can just talk to the Lord and He will listen to what you are asking Him. Jeremiah 33:3 “Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don’t know and can’t find out.”(CEV)

Just say Jesus, I do believe that You are real, You died for my sins, to give me a fresh start, You rose again, to give me a new life eternally, forgive me of all the sin I have been stuck in, give me Your Holy Spirit, set my life anew, change me forevermore. Thank you, Jesus!!!In Your name Amen!

How to prevail in prayers:

1. Engage your heart to provoke divine intervention.1 Samuel 2:13-19
2. It takes groaning in the Spirit to travail in prayers. Romans 8:26-28, I John 5:14-15
3. Engage in a cry of faith. Mark10:47-52
4. Engage effectual fervency in prayer. James 5: 16-18