Weekly Wisdom

March 30, 2009

“God Is My Father…And I Love Him!”

Jesus’ life is a model love story of a Father and Son’s love for one another. Jesus did all He did because of His love for His Father. John 14:31 says,

“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.”

Jesus’ love is seen by His obedience. In John 15:9 Jesus says,

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love.”

Look at 1 John 4:16.

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him.”

Because God is love, He is always wanting to give Himself. The reason God created man is to express His love. If God didn’t have anything to place His love upon, He would not be complete; because love has to have something to love. When a man and woman fall in love, their love brings fulfillment to each other. God created us in His own image, and we are to love like God. In fact, every born again Christian has a deep down desire to love like God loves. I know that our flesh many times doesn’t want to love, but the real us (our spirit man) is born of Love to love.

Start seeing yourself as a love creature. God wants to love you; but unless you start identifying yourself with love, you’ll really never fellowship much with God while on this earth.

Look at Jesus’ life and how He loved His Father. Jesus and the Father have power over everything, and the reason they do is because they are Love.

In I John 5:1 we see God is saying,

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him that is begotten of him.”

God wants us to love Him like He loved us, and then He wants everyone of us to love all the brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. Let me give you an example of how God wants us to love Him.

First, you must know God. You’ll never love somebody until you know them. What is marriage all about? A man and a woman living out their lives together to love each other. Marriage is a picture of God’s love for man.

In Ephesians 5:25 God shows us His love plan.

“Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.”

The ideal marriage should be each partner trying to 'out give' the other. The love that two people share in marriage should be just like God and us.

Can you imagine us becoming so in love with God that we give Him ourselves just like Jesus gave Himself to His Father. I believe that is what heaven will be like. Can you imagine no more selfishness, jealousy, anger, bitterness, etc. God has a home prepared for us that fits his character. He is Love!

Why don’t we start living that life right now on the earth so we can get prepared for Heaven.

In I John 4:18 we are reminded…

“Perfect love cast out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Let love replace your fear of man and God.

I love you,

Pastor Paul Craig

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March 16, 2009

“Power to Overcome”

Jesus has made some powerful promises to us. In these promises is the power to overcome. In John 16:33 we read,

“These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

What did Jesus mean? How are we in Jesus? In John 14:16-17 Jesus said,

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

These verses tell us of God’s great plan of power that is available to us as believers. We have power to overcome tribulation. Jesus actually gave us His power. It’s not just His power; it is His Father’s power as well. We live in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Every born again Christian actually has the power of God inside their very being. You might ask, “Why is there a struggle sometimes? Why do I feel hopeless?” The answer is simple: our faith in God’s promises release God’s power. As you read the wonderful promises, did you praise God for giving you power to overcome? Did it affect you at all? Your faith in God’s power causes the power to flow. It’s very simple. God has a plan to help me overcome. It’s called FAITH! God’s power is released into my life by faith in God’s words.

Religion cannot give you power to overcome life’s problems. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost in us give us the power. Jesus said in John 14:10,

“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.”

I have had a lot of people talk about the Christian Center. They have told me that I must be doing something right since the church has grown and is prosperous. Many have asked, “What’s the secret to your church?” It’s plain and simple. It’s the Father in me that doeth the work. It’s really faith in God. Our faith in God allows God to work in our midst. Faith in God releases the power of God. Other people have asked me questions such as, “Don’t you ever get tired?” In the natural, I experience fatigue, but in the spirit I can’t say I’m tired because spiritual work is done by God’s power flowing through me.

You can OVERCOME! The fight we fight is a fight of FAITH! The devil knows that when we believe God’s word concerning God working in us, we cannot lose. God’s power never fails. We cannot lose if we believe God’s power is in us. Remember, we fight a faith fight. You'd better learn to get faith! Romans 10:17 says,

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

You must never pull away from God’s Word. Tune to 91.1 FM. Listen to good preaching and teaching. Listen to Holy Ghost anointed singing. Don’t ever forget that faith doesn’t come by what you’ve heard…it comes by what you are hearing. You might say, “I’ve heard that before, I don’t need to hear it again.” WRONG!! WRONG!! WRONG!! You receive faith from what you’ve heard, but to receive more faith, you have to hear it again and again. Faith doesn’t come from what you’ve heard…it comes from HEARING!

I Love You,

Pastor Paul Craig

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March 3, 2009

“Where Is Your Trust?”

Today, God will bring help into your life if you trust in Him! I’ve wondered at times why people can’t receive from God. A key revelation to releasing God’s power in your life is trusting totally in Him as your security. In II Chronicles 20:15 God told the people, “…Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

Then in verse 17 He tells them, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you.”

This is like Jesus fighting the battle against satan for us. So many Christians today do not learn to trust in God. I said learn! A person that trusts in God has learned to do so. This does not come overnight. Our natural tendency is to trust in and rely on what our five senses tell us. When we receive Jesus, we start learning how to trust in God. I believe one of the first lessons I received in trusting God was to make the Bible the final authority over my life. I have determined that God is smarter than me. He is the only One who is all knowing. The Bible is for my benefit, not His. It is in Him, but I need the Bible to know what He knows.

In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded to bow down and worship a graven image; or they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. They said in verses 16-18, “…we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Notice these three Hebrew boys have determined in their heart not to trust in their power and ability. Their trust was in the Lord. In verse 25 the King said, “Lo, I see four loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

This tells me that if you put your trust in God, Jesus shows up right on time. In the midst of your trouble, you can count on Jesus walking there with you.

Now let’s go back to the learning process of trusting in God. You learn to trust God by stepping out on His Word. For example, we must trust God when we begin to honor the tithe. A lack of trust in God can be seen by how many Christians will skip paying their tithes, because they are afraid. This fear causes them to rob God according to Malachi 3:8-10. God says that ten percent of our money is actually His, while the remaining ninety percent is ours. When we withhold the ten percent from God by not tithing, we cause ourselves to be cursed. Why don’t people tithe? Because they don’t trust God.

There are many things God wants to do for us. Today, take some actions based on the Word of God, and watch Him bless you. God wants to be your supply. You must give Jesus your life to have His life.

I love you,

Pastor Paul