Good morning and happy Thursday. Do you believe in the devil, Satan?  Do you think he has powers? Do you think he has reign over this world today? Satan knows God better than we do. He talks to God about us. He bears false witness to God. He's seen God. He mirrors his ministry after God. To look like God but with a very different motive behind it. He knows how to raise the sidewalk just enough in front of us that we don't see it before we trip. It looks harmless at first so we go along the path he has tried to lay down to look like its God's plan. No offense here, but it's kind of like leaving Texas roads and entering Oklahoma roads. As soon as you get into OK, the roads are nice and smooth and pleasing. Then after you've gotten comfortable on it, the real okie road shows up and you need to hang on and your car will need some work done when you get home. Satan works on us so smoothly. His cunning is his subtleness. You never know when it's really him, unless. Unless you have and maintain that relationship with Jesus. Let Him stand before the Father for you and cancel out what Satan is saying. Let Him be the One who took your place. He's already done it, we just have to receive and accept it. Then we have to live it. Father forgive us of our past, but thank you for letting it make us who we are today. That we can see where the evil one was in our lives and recognize him easier now because of you. You lead us and we follow. No matter where and no matter what. Thank you for saving us and going before the throne for us today. Let our lives being lived be a reflection of you to the world around us. Let them see you and not us and most definitely not the evil one today and everyday. Thank you God for this day to be reconciled back to you for the things we've done yesterday. Help us to be stronger in our weakness as we approach you today. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Tuesday. God said to take care of the poor, the orphans, and the elderly. I think we're doing a poor job of that. What does it say about the state of our culture if the biggest news in Texas, for some, is the cowboys win? Did you know that the government's emergency system issued a warning against zombie attacks. It was done as way to get the countries emergency system operators to look at preparedness plans. But yet it took zombies to get their attention. The news of the day is about the very things God told us to care for and we've become so numb to life we can't see it. Moreover we can't feel it. We're losing our contact and relationship with people. We pull into our drives and go inside and shut the door and call it safe. I know it's not all of us but it's most of this country. We're being cornered and fenced off so that Satan can have his control over us as well. Who's gonna stand up? Who should be standing up?  We fall on our knees to fight Satan. We have to stand up after the amen and do what God is directing us to do. It's to love each other and to take care of each other. Every four years we divide up sides and tell lies and deceive to get what we think we want. It's got to end with a revival of the Christian nation taking back what we've sat around and let go of because we didn't stand up. It's easy to pray for guidance. It's hard to follow the trail He laid out before you. Let's make a difference in this country with or without a government you like. They don't do it anyway, we do. Love on someone today and tell them you love them. Let people in your life know they matter and then go matter to people who don't know you. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Monday. And yes it can be if you just let it be. God designed us to walk with Him in perfect peace and harmony, so what's kept us from being full of peace and harmony? We have. Ourselves have done it to ourselves. With a little help but mostly us. It's a choice we make. It's the things we do or have done. Even the past keeps us from harmony and peace. So what's the point if even the past holds us down. Again, it's a choice. We can let our past go and give it over to God and it's done. But it has to be done in you too. He let it go, why can't you. It's because of that little devil in your ear that keeps reminding you of it. Two things need to happen; we need to ask for forgiveness and stay away from those sins from now on, and we have to accept the forgiveness and know we are truly forgiven. Guilt and shame are what the devil uses to keeps us down. It's our choice to stand up to him by being on knees to God. It's not hard and doesn't take a lot of time. Once you get going it may, but if we keep a daily vigil going it will be brief enough. The point is, we have to make the effort to be with Him, He's already with us. And if He can create all this stuff in the world, why wouldn't He be able to bring peace into our lives. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Friday. If Jesus walked into the room you're in right now, what would you do? How would you change the way you're doing everything right then? How would your worship of Him change? What are you doing that you would stop doing that instant? Why are you needing Him to walk in the door to change it all? Satan is good at what he does. He's always in our ear with the, " It's ok, it's not hurting anyone else" line. When we let Jesus stand for us in our lives just as if He's standing in the room at the moment, Satan loses his power over us. When the Holy Spirit is let loose within us to become the way we live outside, Satan has no power over us. He will flee from you. But if given even a hint of a chance, his attacks on you will intensify greatly. This is where young or new Christians loose their battles the most. "Why follow God if it's gonna be this hard all the time?". I agree, who wants that in their life when they're trying to turn it around, no one. This is a mature, stronger Christians call to arms to help a brother in need. By living our lives as if Jesus is right there we have strength through Him. And just a reminder, He's in the room right now. He's with us always. Live like it the best you can. Talk to Him daily, hourly, whatever it takes to weather the storms of life. He is with you always. Joshua 1:9. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Thursday.  Perspective, we all have a different one on the way we see things. Some are similar but still have differences. Sometimes those differences are pretty far apart and off the mark all together. With a large crowd of people and a crime committed, how many different stories of how it happened do you think there will be? A crowd was gathered around a cross one day as a man was being hung on it. The ones behind the cross didn't see the love and compassion on a beaten face, they only saw the back of the cross and a little bit of the man. As saddened as those who were in the front and at the foot of the cross, they had to feel His love for them and everyone else pouring out of Him, literally. So how do those people tell the story of that day? How did they see it go down? In order to see and understand better, we have to be willing to move and see from someone else's point of view. To know what they have seen and been through to understand what they feel. If just one of those from behind the cross moves to the front, their whole world and life is changed forever. We have to stop hiding behind the cross and move to the front and start seeing the world from there. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Tuesday. What a great get a way weekend with the family. It was so good to just enjoy time with them and talk about old times. The mountains are a great place to go and see God's beauty and love for us. It was nice to let home and work be out of our minds and refresh ourselves, even if only for a long weekend. We all need a reboot once in a while because we're humans and don't lay our worries and troubles down like we should. We keep trying to get them handled and before too long they've become a bigger pile of stuff. It just feels refreshing to starting this short week fresh and new and nothing as a distraction. It's been laid down and handed over to the One who handles that stuff for us. Thank you God for the fresh start to a new day, week, month, and year. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and and happy Tuesday. You've heard the adage about its not how you start the race but how you finish. That can can only come from a God of mercy. And no one has any excuse for not getting in the race to begin with. Deep inside I guess some people feel they've fallen too far to be loved and that even if someone did, God wouldn't. It's funny how we can find all the reasons in the world not to follow after Jesus but don't have many for doing it. Christians can sometimes be the meanest people, and most not intentionally, but mean none the less. It's no wonder more and more are turning away from Christianity and to the world instead. The world takes them in no matter where they've been. Well so does God you might say, but we're the ones they see in front of them. We're the front lines. We're Jesus to many for the first time ever. Welcome them into the race, even if it's the last lap and you've ran a million miles and their gonna go 400 meters. Love them has if they've been with you the whole time. Jesus gave a parable about this a long time ago about the workers in the field. The ones who worked at the last of the harvest received the same amount of pay as the first. Nothing has changed over all this time. We have to make the decision to act with love and not human feelings. Unless we've got those feelings in line with God's. Put off the world and love and welcome others to the race. They may be the one that helps get you to finish line. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Thursday. Forgiveness. How many times a day do you think you make a judgment about some one by how they look or act when you see them? How many times do you do that with people you know or have known for many years?  You hold on to an old memory of that wrong they did way back? How many of us look at ourselves in that same light? So why is the light cast differently for us than them? Borrowing from Casting Crowns, " open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers". The same way we want to forget what we've done in our past is the same way we need to forget others of their past. When this action takes place, we begin to be more like Jesus. When the people of His days here were about to stone a woman to death, Jesus bent down and wrote in the sand. Many dropped the stones they held and left. He then asked for those without sin to cast the first stone. The rest left with that. Jesus had compassion for us that we will never get, but it's not too hard to begin to peruse that way of thinking and behaving. How different would life be if we stopped looking at the outside and got to know the inside? Just think, just as we look at others in that other light, others are looking at us in it. We're just as messy as everyone else and some of us are messier than others maybe. Fact is we are all messy. And when we're pointing at others, three fingers are pointing back at us. I think there's a reason for that. I don't know what Jesus wrote in the sand that day, but it came from love for a sinner about to be killed. He knew her heart and forgave her of the wrong she had done. It was done and over and she was never seen that way again by Him. That's the perfect example of how we should be. Forgiveness. The toughest thing to do and receive but still the greatest thing we can do for each other. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Seems like anyone you talk today will tell you their opinion on the how bad of shape this country is in. From the economy to the kids today, it all looks hopeless. We sure need to do something to fix this. I just don't know what's wrong with these kids today. You've all heard those things or even said them yourselves. Thing is, we all know the answer. God is slowly and surely being removed from the fabric of this country's make up. What's happens to a well knit article of anything when you remove a thread from it? It then begins to unravel. It has been a slow start but slowly the very thread of God has been being pulled from the cloth that sets us apart from the world. What's wrong today is that we are seeing the unravel begin after the many washings we've tried to give it. This cloth is ruined. It's time to begin anew. To resew the fabric of the values of the Lord into our family. We do that one family at a time and as we do we refuse to ignore the problems of this country any more. To make a stand and be bold in it.  To love our neighbors but not excuse the sins. To not just put it off as its their life not mine. It's like keeping the cure to cancer to yourself and not letting the world know about it. Well, we have the cure for the cancer killing our country. God and salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. But it has to start with each of us. We can't wait till someone else starts it. Move. Move now. Do what's right for your family and friends. Don't support another immoral movie, sitcom, law change or anything that goes against God's laws. But continue to love on them all. Don't be hateful but kind in your rebuffing of the ways of the world. Put Satan behind you and move forward in the name of Jesus. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Monday. Back in the day, not the 80's, Jesus was walking around gathering crowds as He taught and healed and changed lives forever. People, not all of them, saw Him and ran to Him knowing who He was. Many, not all, were brought to a point of salvation in just who He was. When He left to go to His place in Heaven, God the Father didn't leave us alone. He left us us with His Holy Spirit. John and Peter were carrying out this teaching and sharing Jesus to anyone who would listen. On one day, 3000 came to know Jesus, not all. On another day, 5000 came to know Him, but still not all of them. Our work is not about getting all to know Jesus. We are sowers of seed. God is the farmer and we work for Him. We do our part and He will take care of the rest. We don't have to see the harvest of what's been sown. We don't need to pat ourselves on the back when someone gives their life to Him. We just need to get the seed sown. That's hard enough as it is. We're weak in the Spirit and lack faith to move by it, but not all. Make September a month to invite one person to church or for you to go yourself. I invite any and all of you in Amarillo without a church home to come with me to mine. People it's time for a revolution in our country and this is how it starts. Simply planting seed. It will grow and there will be a harvest. But in the mean time, lives can be changing and the field can begin to over flow with abundance. Who would have thought back in the day, yes the 80's, that I would be here like this today. Not many that knew then would have. Lives change through a life in pursuit of a relationship with Jesus. Why would I want to keep that from anyone. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Friday.  I love to hit the snooze in the morning sometimes. I mean I really like to put off the inevitable. ( sarcasm ). Then I wake up and realize I'm running late and things are going to be a mess. How many people do you know that are hitting the snooze of the alarm calling them to a relationship with Jesus.? Thy just keep putting it off because the "sleep" feels so good. But what happens when they finally wake up and realize the mess they're in? I don't wanna know that I could've helped and didn't. If you've been following along this week you've seen a pattern in God's messages. He has stressed this more this week to me than ever before. Remember this is His words and not my own. Don't leave friends and family or yourself asleep when you can wake them. I don't always stand in His light, but when I do, I love it and can't believe I ever get out if it. That's the power this world and Satan can have on us. Wake up,  WAKE UP. Don't fall asleep on this one. Don't keep hitting the snooze. It's time to be about the Fathers business. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Thursday. As we talked about yesterday and last night at class, how do we bring The Book of Revelation to us today? How does it impact us? The angel unlocked the abyss and a swarm like locusts invaded the earth. They were like horses for battle with faces like humans and breastplates of armor and long beautiful hair and teeth like a lion and a tail like a scorpion sent to torment but not kill the unsaved for 5 months. So have you seen that walking around today?  It's graphic and a little scary. It's hard to explain, but bottom line is its demons and they are doing the work for Satan as God has allowed them. So as this happens, those who have come to God in this tribulation time are safe and are seeing this take place. So who do you see today that is being tormented by their own demons? Who do you see today that is struggling with life on a daily basis. It's very relevant to today. You have turned to God and are safe. If your life is in His, death is welcome so there is no fear. But if not, the torment of this world is only worse for eternity. Who's going with you? What seeds are you planting among the fields you walk through everyday. There is rich fertile soil that's lost and needs to hear the words you have been given. Today is someone's tribulation time. Show them the Way and all in Heaven will rejoice at their salvation. Be Jesus today. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Wednesday. We've been studying the Book of Revelation on Wednesday nights and we've gotten to chapter 9. Man, if I was to just start there I would have a hard time believing God loves us. John paints a very vivid picture of events that are still to come and we will be a part of. It's an ugly picture of the end but it's also a beautiful one if you can see how God is doing battle for us to push those who have resisted Him to turn to Him now. This is the last chance they will have. It's so bad at this time that they beg to die and can't. That's an ugly feeling I imagine. To want to die and have that same torment forever than to turn to Him and hail Him as King. Why would we wait? It's real and it's coming. The end is coming and we will be before His throne. Don't wait and if you're already there then get more to come with you. We have  work to do and I don't want anyone going through the tribulation times because I didn't share the Good News with them. Be Jesus to the world around you. In love always. <><

Good morning and happy Tuesday. Why have we complicated life so much? God gave the Israelites 10 rules and they turned em into thousands because it made them feel more special when they done more righteous stuff. God didn't change a thing when Jesus was on the scene and getting the word out to the gentile nations. His rules stayed the same and Jesus showed us the simplicity of following God's word. It really is simple, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, love each other the way you love yourself. So what's gotten in the way? We've forgotten the root of the original ten. The bar is set high and for a reason. We need Him to reach it. We cannot do it on our own. But our society has become about ourselves through the years and slowly moving away from the simpleness of what God has for us. He didn't want it to be hard, but He also didn't want it to be just a given. We have to commit ourselves to Him and not this world. Jesus was love in the flesh. Action you could see and today read of. Is your love hidden and reserved for the things you want to give it to? Or does God lead you to give it and you choose to keep it?  There is the dilemma of todays chaos. We don't love each other the way we should. Know this for sure; if you're reading this from a text from me this morning, I love you. I really do. You mean something to me. And if you're reading this from the Internet page, the same goes for you. No one is different and no one is above another. When we fall in love with God, all this becomes simple. The world will make it hard, but faith in the promise God has made will overcome the world. Wait, He's already done that. So move on to the next place in the journey before you. Loving God and others the whole way. In love always. <>< 

Good morning and happy Monday. I had an interesting question asked, of a group I was in, about reflection. Rewording it a bit to fit more than just that group, I will ask you. Looking back, what in your life have you fought with or struggled with that you have put down and now have picked back up?  Why is it that we find peace in God and in living in His will as best we can, and we can't stay there? Do we feel lost without some sort of control over our lives? If so, then we never really died to ourselves and surrendered to God?  This is a slippery slope, but given how we all fail, it's about how to stay in the light of God the best we can. That is done with daily time, and for some of us, hourly time, with God. We have to get in His Word and read and study and begin to apply it. It does still apply and in case we forgot, there's a big part of it still to come. We can't put it off as history and not think it does not go along for us today. I think sometimes that may be why we disregard it. I don't know. Each of us has to find the way that keeps us close to Him. I think about Jesus'  apostles and how they we're with Him and knew Him but never really got what was going on until the Holy Spirit filled them. Then they lived and died for the Name of Jesus Christ. It's no different today. We know Him, and if not really staying in the Word, miss what He's doing until we give in to the Holy Spirit that is given to us by God Himself. Trust Him and live for Him. Stay near Him and His church will grow by Him through you. In love always. <><