I was so excited to be able to share my testimony at the Christ Community Church Celebrate Recovery service last Friday night in St. Charles Illinois. It was great to see another awesome CR program in full swing making a huge impact in their community all made possible by the healing power of Jesus Christ!!
I am going to take a short mini vacation and spend some time with some dear friends in Arizona.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Psalm 91:14-16 Devotional
Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91:14 gives us a great promise to those who love God and acknowledge his name. He promises to rescue us. You might be wondering what is God rescuing us from? Well if you read the entire 91st Psalm you will get a glimpse of what happens to us every day in the spiritual world. It reminds us that we are under a constant attack but God is taking care of those attacks and defeating the enemy thousands of times a day! That is an amazing thought when you take a second to think about what happens to you during the course of a day.
But there is a catch to this whole rescuing, delivering, and protecting thing. The catch is 3 very important things.
The first catch is to Love God. The second is to acknowledge and never be ashamed of his name. The third is to pray in his name.
Prayer is the main thing that initiates God to protect, rescue, and deliver us.
Look at verse 15 again: He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
Did you get the “he will call upon me”? Well the call upon me is when we pray and I love the response from God—and I will answer him and not only will I answer him but he gives us additional promises. The first additional promise is that when we are in trouble, God will be right there with us.
The second additional promise is that God will deliver us and then honor us. God does not say he might, or will consider, or he will pray about it, but he promises to deliver us and then tags another amazing thought that he will honor us.
Have you ever consider the thought that God will honor you? What does that mean? It simply means this; if you honor God with your life and your lips, God will honor you and will do it with additional promises.
Look at the last verse of Psalm 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Here is another additional promise that God will give you if you love him, acknowledge his name, and call (Pray) upon him.
God promises us a long life and that long life is eternity which never ends!!!
Be Blesses and Encouraged as you read this today!!!
Bill Rieser
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91:14 gives us a great promise to those who love God and acknowledge his name. He promises to rescue us. You might be wondering what is God rescuing us from? Well if you read the entire 91st Psalm you will get a glimpse of what happens to us every day in the spiritual world. It reminds us that we are under a constant attack but God is taking care of those attacks and defeating the enemy thousands of times a day! That is an amazing thought when you take a second to think about what happens to you during the course of a day.
But there is a catch to this whole rescuing, delivering, and protecting thing. The catch is 3 very important things.
The first catch is to Love God. The second is to acknowledge and never be ashamed of his name. The third is to pray in his name.
Prayer is the main thing that initiates God to protect, rescue, and deliver us.
Look at verse 15 again: He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
Did you get the “he will call upon me”? Well the call upon me is when we pray and I love the response from God—and I will answer him and not only will I answer him but he gives us additional promises. The first additional promise is that when we are in trouble, God will be right there with us.
The second additional promise is that God will deliver us and then honor us. God does not say he might, or will consider, or he will pray about it, but he promises to deliver us and then tags another amazing thought that he will honor us.
Have you ever consider the thought that God will honor you? What does that mean? It simply means this; if you honor God with your life and your lips, God will honor you and will do it with additional promises.
Look at the last verse of Psalm 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Here is another additional promise that God will give you if you love him, acknowledge his name, and call (Pray) upon him.
God promises us a long life and that long life is eternity which never ends!!!
Be Blesses and Encouraged as you read this today!!!
Bill Rieser
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Moody Radio with Chris Fabry
Had a great day talking on Moody Radio on the Chris Fabry show today. I had an opportunity to share some of my testimony, talk about Celebrate Recovery and Chris mentioned the upcoming release of my new book; They Called Me White Jesus.
I had a chance to talk to some people who called in and encourage them but they were the ones who encouraged me!!! If you missed the show, check out this link: http://podcasts.moodyradio.org/ChrisFabryLive/2009-01-13_Chris_Fabry_Live.mp3
I had a chance to talk to some people who called in and encourage them but they were the ones who encouraged me!!! If you missed the show, check out this link: http://podcasts.moodyradio.org/ChrisFabryLive/2009-01-13_Chris_Fabry_Live.mp3
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Armor of God
The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
As Paul wraps up another great letter to the church of Ephesus he gives us the ultimate battle plan to sustain the attacks that will occur in our lives.
The first thought that comes to mind when I look at this battle plan is that when I signed up to be on God’s team I came to the realization that my battles and trials along with persecution will not be something that might happen but will happen. It is part of the true Christian life and anyone that is serious about living with God is going to be battle tested against the devils schemes.
This is what Christians refer to as “Spiritual Warfare”
It is important for many of us to be reminded that when the storm hits and the trials come that they are not always a result of something we did that was wrong but because of things that we are now doing right.
It is also important to know that our trials can get worse before they get better.
In verse 10 we see a recovery principle revealed when Paul tells us to be strong not in our strength but in the Lord and not in our power or plans but in His mighty power.
One of the greatest truths from Jesus is that apart from him we can do nothing but with him all things are possible.
In verse 11 Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
So the first question before you have to ask yourself when the storm hits, when you get tempted, when you get persecuted, when your family disowns you, when you get attacked is—do I have the full armor of God on?
The question is: not is it available because it is. The question is do you have it on?
One question worth exploring about verse 11 is: what are the devils schemes?
Here is his mission statement: Steal-Kill-Destroy—any questions?
He hates you with a sick twisted mind that can never change. He will always hate you and he hates you more now because you have accepted Jesus Christ. He hates your family, he hates your friends and he wants you dead—period!!
One of his schemes is to make you think that the enemy is other people. The devil has tricked you into thinking that the real enemy is your spouse, the person who abused you, the person who left you, the person who persecuted you and so on.
But verse 12 tells us that our battles are not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.
Did you ever stop and think that you have been fighting against the wrong enemy?
Did you ever stop and think that the people you really care about most are not really your enemy?
Did you ever stop and think God is not who you should be mad at when he loves you and the devil hates you?
Did you ever stop and think that because you did not put on the full armor and were attacked by the devil’s schemes that it is foolish to blame God when he told you how to withstand against those types of attacks?
Did you ever stop and think that it is not God’s job to put on your armor which brings us to verse 13—Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand.
I am sure that you can pinpoint when the day of evil was for you.
You can also count on the day of evil coming back to try you again and when that day comes, are you ready to stand your ground?
So what does stand your ground look like?
The answer is in verse 14 starting with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.
Consider this—if the devil can attack you by getting you to believe a lie because one of his titles that Jesus gave him is: “the father of lies” there must be a truth to combat and destroy any and all lies that he will send your way.
Here is a great example—if you are fearful about anything other than God such as the fear of losing your home, all your money, your spouse leaving you and fear grips and controls you—the truth that will destroy and defeat that lie is found in 2 Timothy 1:7 which says that God did not give you a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind and because you now have this truth as one of the notches on your belt, you can choose truth over the lie, the accusation, even how you actually feel about it and you will have defeated that evil attack.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
As Paul wraps up another great letter to the church of Ephesus he gives us the ultimate battle plan to sustain the attacks that will occur in our lives.
The first thought that comes to mind when I look at this battle plan is that when I signed up to be on God’s team I came to the realization that my battles and trials along with persecution will not be something that might happen but will happen. It is part of the true Christian life and anyone that is serious about living with God is going to be battle tested against the devils schemes.
This is what Christians refer to as “Spiritual Warfare”
It is important for many of us to be reminded that when the storm hits and the trials come that they are not always a result of something we did that was wrong but because of things that we are now doing right.
It is also important to know that our trials can get worse before they get better.
In verse 10 we see a recovery principle revealed when Paul tells us to be strong not in our strength but in the Lord and not in our power or plans but in His mighty power.
One of the greatest truths from Jesus is that apart from him we can do nothing but with him all things are possible.
In verse 11 Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
So the first question before you have to ask yourself when the storm hits, when you get tempted, when you get persecuted, when your family disowns you, when you get attacked is—do I have the full armor of God on?
The question is: not is it available because it is. The question is do you have it on?
One question worth exploring about verse 11 is: what are the devils schemes?
Here is his mission statement: Steal-Kill-Destroy—any questions?
He hates you with a sick twisted mind that can never change. He will always hate you and he hates you more now because you have accepted Jesus Christ. He hates your family, he hates your friends and he wants you dead—period!!
One of his schemes is to make you think that the enemy is other people. The devil has tricked you into thinking that the real enemy is your spouse, the person who abused you, the person who left you, the person who persecuted you and so on.
But verse 12 tells us that our battles are not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.
Did you ever stop and think that you have been fighting against the wrong enemy?
Did you ever stop and think that the people you really care about most are not really your enemy?
Did you ever stop and think God is not who you should be mad at when he loves you and the devil hates you?
Did you ever stop and think that because you did not put on the full armor and were attacked by the devil’s schemes that it is foolish to blame God when he told you how to withstand against those types of attacks?
Did you ever stop and think that it is not God’s job to put on your armor which brings us to verse 13—Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand.
I am sure that you can pinpoint when the day of evil was for you.
You can also count on the day of evil coming back to try you again and when that day comes, are you ready to stand your ground?
So what does stand your ground look like?
The answer is in verse 14 starting with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.
Consider this—if the devil can attack you by getting you to believe a lie because one of his titles that Jesus gave him is: “the father of lies” there must be a truth to combat and destroy any and all lies that he will send your way.
Here is a great example—if you are fearful about anything other than God such as the fear of losing your home, all your money, your spouse leaving you and fear grips and controls you—the truth that will destroy and defeat that lie is found in 2 Timothy 1:7 which says that God did not give you a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind and because you now have this truth as one of the notches on your belt, you can choose truth over the lie, the accusation, even how you actually feel about it and you will have defeated that evil attack.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Friday, January 2, 2009
The Funniest Day in Heaven
It would not surprise me if News Years Day was the funniest day in Heaven. Have you ever wondered what God's reaction is to all of our New Years Resolutions. He must laugh and chuckle because he knows that most of us can never live out the resolutions we make. Now I am not saying that He laughs at us, he would never do that. I just think He chooses to see past our self-will, our self-determination and our frail ability to live out what we want to do in life. He knows that we stink at keeping promises. I am glad today that God made us as imperfect human beings. He has wired us to fail and that is why we need a Savior. A Savior to save us from ourselves. A Savior to save us from this world. A Savior to save us from the grip of Satan. A Savior to save us from the mistakes and sins we make.
This year, I am leaning into Jesus more and not worrying about what I can and can't do. I am going to meditate on what He did for me and what He currently is doing for me right now. I am going to reflect on the victory at Calvary more this year. The blood that was shed for me more this year. The 7000 promises he has made available to me to lay hold of in prayer and faith this year.
I personally have stopped making resolutions and starting meditating on those promises and I am trying to live my life in a way where I can see those promises fulfilled in my life and in the lives of others I care about.
I am going to do my best to live out God's plan for my life this year and the only way I can live out that plan is to call on God with faith and seek Him with my whole heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I have to give God more of my heart this year because when I consider what God has done for me through Jesus and what He did on that cross--my heart is the place where I can start to live a life of gratitude and service to the One that I could never repay!!!!
Be Blessed and Encouraged
This year, I am leaning into Jesus more and not worrying about what I can and can't do. I am going to meditate on what He did for me and what He currently is doing for me right now. I am going to reflect on the victory at Calvary more this year. The blood that was shed for me more this year. The 7000 promises he has made available to me to lay hold of in prayer and faith this year.
I personally have stopped making resolutions and starting meditating on those promises and I am trying to live my life in a way where I can see those promises fulfilled in my life and in the lives of others I care about.
I am going to do my best to live out God's plan for my life this year and the only way I can live out that plan is to call on God with faith and seek Him with my whole heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I have to give God more of my heart this year because when I consider what God has done for me through Jesus and what He did on that cross--my heart is the place where I can start to live a life of gratitude and service to the One that I could never repay!!!!
Be Blessed and Encouraged
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