Not loved by God? Part four, “I love God but…”

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Dec 26, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Unloved by God

(I love God but…Part four)

Have you ever felt not loved by God? That you were failing in expressing your love for Jesus because you did not feel loved by Him? Oh, to be loved by God and to love Him back, what a wonderful experience that could be, but you are not there.

Have you ever entertained these thoughts? It is not easy staying in love with God with the passion and determination you felt a long time ago. God just seems too distant to love Him 24/7. To love people, seem a lot easier than loving God with the same amount of enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and desire. Dogs, babies, children, and my wife give me a much better return on my love for them than God does. God is not listening anyway, and he does not talk to me like people do. I just do not love Him like I am supposed to, and He makes it too difficult to love Him—so many rules to keep.

Nevertheless, the only question that needs to be answered is, “How much do you love Jesus?” Are you failing in your effort to love God like you love people or how you use to love Jesus? Do you no longer feel the energy to love God, and you do not ‘take the time’ to tell Him “You love Him”? Do you ask yourself, “Where are you, God?” Did you know that Jesus had the same feelings as you do?

When Christ was on the cross He said, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus felt alone, unloved by God, and rejected from God’s presence. Yes, He was doing God’s will, but God left Him—God could not look upon sin and Jesus was carrying the sin of the whole world—the sin that God His Father placed upon His Son, Jesus. What a predicament!

God could have done things differently (we know this by the prayers Jesus prayed), but was this a test? Would Jesus still love God through all that He suffered? Would Jesus love His Father no matter what? The answer to all three questions is YES!

You and I will fail; our love for God will fail. God warned us about our love growing cold; we would forget to do those things that express our love for God. It is many things, whatever they may be, that separates us from our love for the Father. What is my answer to this dilemma? It lies in front of us all, Book of Revelation chapters 2-4:

1. Realize that you do not love God as you use to, and then do your past ‘acts of love’ that expressed your feelings for God. Do them even though you do not have those old feelings.

2. Do not fear Satan! The Bible says, “Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18)”, so when fear comes into your life allow the love of/love for God to remove that fear. This love Christ found, used, and depended on through His crucifixion and while in hell.

3. Get rid of any doctrine that is evil and comes from Satan. Usually, it is doctrines/philosophies/laws that say the opposite of Biblical truths of love. The Bible is always correct and truthful, do not let what the world dictates its’ interpretation of love replacing what Jesus says is love.

4. Do not accept the world’s standards that states ‘love & sex’ are the same thing. Sex is only good when sex is under the guidelines of Scripture, wholesomeness, and holiness. Pure love does not violate God’s guidelines about sex.

5. We must continue to wash our hearts, minds, soul, and actions in the blood of the Lamb. Without repentance, forgiveness, cleansing ourselves from sin and worldly ways, we cannot love God with our feelings nor do the works of love.

6. We must express and act with the patience of Jesus. We are to wait on God and continue to love even if we feel that we are barely holding on. This is the true test of love and this test will come to us all.

7. Last, of all, we must never give up by admitting that we are not perfect and do not always exercise the ‘tools of the Spirit’ to love God faithfully. We know God loves us if He chastises us and tells us where we are going wrong or have sin in our lives. Repent, repent again, and then repent some more. It is in all the repentance, crying, feeling sorry, and asking for forgiveness that we will find the love we so dearly need—a love that loves God through it all!

I love people through all their flaws, mistakes, and offenses. God wants you to love Him with the same amount of passion. God’s love is a love that does not give up. “Lord Jesus, give us the same love that you had for your Father so I can love God too!”—this is my prayer.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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Part 3: I love God but…Being Wronged

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Dec 21, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Being Wronged

(I love God but…Part three)

Everyone has been wronged in their lifetime one way or another. I am sure you have been injured emotionally, physically, socially, or mentally as a child, teenager, young adult, middle-aged, or even as a senior citizen. There is no escaping someone’s sin and the damage their sin can do to your life can be unrepairable without Jesus. Sin hurts! In fact, it is devastating in so many ways.

In the last article, I wrote about finding forgiveness from all effects and aspects of your sin. The harm sin makes must take the grace of God to a new level in all our lives. We must discover the forgiveness of God when it comes to finding redemption from the consequences of not only the sin we do but the sin of others and the effect of their sin on our lives.

God wants to bring all of us to forgive others for their sin, but He also wants their sin to no longer having a hold or hindering us in serving Jesus Christ. We must have this kind of forgiveness—to forgive others and to receive forgiveness that washes away the harm of their sin in our lives. All of us have been wronged, all of us have forgiven others, and now we must seek Jesus to take away the consequences of their sin in our lives. We must be whole and full of righteousness; it only comes through forgiveness and the grace of God. This is the healing aspect of forgiveness. This is what Jesus ultimately wanted from His forgiveness being activated in our lives—to have forgiveness that brings healing and wholeness; never allowing the curse of sin (ours or others) to bind our lives.

However, there is ‘another wrong’ that comes from God and many of us have discovered how God ‘wrongs us’ in order for us to find forgiveness, righteousness, freedom, and His perfect will in our lives. Here are some biblical examples of God doing the impossible through creating harm/wrongness on whom He loves. (God’s wisdom is above our wisdom and His ways are unable to be discovered/understood.)

Jesus: The Bible says that it ‘pleased God to bruise (wrong) His Son.” God not only laid on Christ the sin of the whole world, but God turned away from His Son during His crucifixion on the cross. God also left His Son in hell for three days. All of this had purpose and the purpose was for our salvation, but it came with a cost, and part of the cost was for God to wrong His Son. Oh, the wisdom of God, wisdom we can hardly understand. Jesus understood the cost to die on a cross, but he prayed, “Not my will but your will (the Father’s will) be done.”

Paul: God met Paul on the Damascus Road. God spoke to him and blinded Paul. God left Paul in a state of blindness for a few days. Why you ask? Paul had to realize/learn he was wronged by God because he was blind spiritually not only physically. God wronged Paul so he might humble himself, pray, fear the Lord, and repent of his spiritual blindness. (Note: The Bible says Jesus humbled Himself before the crucifixion experience and because Jesus did this, God, therefore, heard His prayers so that God’s will could be done—the fear of God in action).

Job: Job was a perfect man in keeping the laws of God, but there was a lesson that Job had to learn. A lesson none of us would like to learn. God wronged Job and the Bible says, “God repented of the evil that He allowed to come upon Job.” What was the wrong? God took everything Job held dear to himself. God allowed Satan tempt Job by having people steal all Job’s processions, kill Job’s sons and daughters, cause Job to become very sick so he wanted to die, and even allowed Job’s friends to reject him, offer him bad advice, and to curse Job by those who once loved him. (Sound familiar, this is what also happened to Jesus except Jesus did not have a family & wanting to die.)

As is prophesied by Joel 3:14, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” God is calling all of His people as well as the whole world to be in the valley of decision. The Book of Revelation clearly states the harm the angels of God are to do to all mankind—we are being called to decide.

We can either humble ourselves as Jesus, Paul, and Job or suffer the consequences of the sin we have in our lives. Jesus overcame all the sin of mankind and offer forgiveness to all of us because humbled Himself, chose God’s will for His life, and feared God above anything He wanted. Will you be like Jesus? Will you accept God’s will for your life no matter how difficult? God will not leave you nor me where He finds us! God will redeem us and take us out of the valley of death, Psalm 23:4.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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Part two: Do not become discouraged

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Dec 18, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Do Not Become Discouraged!

(I love God but…Part two)

It happens often, becoming discouraged while serving Jesus Christ. Jesus knew we would/could become discouraged; therefore, the Grace of God made contingency plans to take care of this.

You know the story about Jesus stating that He has prayed for Peter because ‘Satan wants to confuse, discourage, and hider Peter’s relationship with God,’ (Luke 22:32) “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Jesus knew what would happen to Peter if he gave up and so it is today with you and me. God does not want us to be discouraged over our mistakes or the conviction and trouble Satan has brought our way.

Satan never wants you and me to find forgiveness nor have confidence that all our sins and our sinful nature can be done away with by the love and grace of God. So, let be bold in thinking, ‘Just because you fail God, do not stay there in that state of failure as Peter was soon to find himself. God loves us through Jesus and because and in God’s love we find forgiveness and strength to keep going and rejoicing in Christ even after we have failed/sinned.’

Let’s find forgiveness from our sin through humbling ourselves and confessing our sin to God asking for mercy. Let’s find forgiveness of our iniquities by allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us of the impact our sinful nature and wrongful actions on others (He wants us to make things right through Jesus). Let’s find forgiveness in allowing the washing of water and the blood of Christ in our lives by requesting that the mercies of God create a new heart and a new mind and right spirit in all of us.

Do not become despondent or see yourself as a failure—this is why Jesus died for us and has made a way for us to find forgiveness from all our sins, all our iniquities, and all our sinful nature—unclean heart, mind, spirit, & words. We must confess to God all our mistakes and what our mistakes have created in us and toward others.

Nevertheless, there are two things all of us must do to secure forgiveness from God: one, we must forgive the sins of others (and the impact of their sins on our lives). Jesus said, ‘we must forgive well to be forgiven also by God’. And two, we must bless our enemies by asking God to forgive them and for God to give them good gifts from heaven.

Jesus did both these things during His trial and crucifixion. We must also forgive and forget so God will forgive and forget all our mistakes/sins. How well we forgive and how well we bless others will be the measuring stick on how clean our ‘robe of righteousness’ is when we get to heaven. It is time to ‘wash our robes in the blood of Christ’ and show forth the praise of Jesus in this world.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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Is sinning your destiny? (part one)

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Dec 15, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Is Sinning Your Destiny?

(Part one)

I have been writing about forgiveness and the need for repentance for quite a while. Forgiveness from your sin is one thing and forgiveness from your iniquity is another and last of all there is forgiveness that removes your heart and spirit from ‘wanting & desiring’ to commit sin.

Sin has pleasure, and it is the pleasure of sin that drives one to ‘keep sinning’ even after forgiveness from sin has taken place in your life. We see this taking place much too often in our culture and church body today. This is why Jesus talked about a new heart and mind. It is the Holy Spirit that creates a new heart, mind, spirit, and personal strength, which is a requirement for all Christians who will be called by the name of Jesus. (King David wrote often in Psalms asking God to create ‘a clean heart and a right spirit’ within him.

To find forgiveness is easy (which is often not easy and requires time, prayer, and crying) as compared to the forgiveness from iniquities (the consequences and destructive power of your sin on others), which often takes considerable time. These two processes seem to go on for days and weeks (note: the Apostle Paul spent two years before his ministry began acquiring forgiveness for his sins and iniquities).

When total forgiveness takes over in one’s life creating a new heart, our heart no longer looks for sin to enjoy and commit. This process of ‘total forgiveness’ doesn’t just require a ‘one-time bath or a single washing of water’ but probably a series of continual washings of spiritual water. A good example of this is the ‘seven times’ dipping oneself into the river Jordan as did Naaman. “So Naaman went down to the Jordan, dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed, and he was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child (2 Kings 5:14). (Note: as healings sometimes take time and effort on our part so does victory over sinful nature in our lives.)

John the Baptist baptized with water, but it is Jesus that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that continually washes us with spiritual water and ‘creates & makes’ all things new in our lives. As stated in Joel chapter 3:18, “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.” As is stated in Revelations about a river flowing from the throne of God. The ‘washing of water’ by the Spirit of God is what prepares us to receive the righteousness and judgment of God. As the baptism of John in the River Jordon prepared the way for Christ and the Kingdom of God so does the working of repentance and forgiveness today gets us ready to do the righteousness of Godly works—"the Kingdom of God is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

It is time for all Christians to ask for, seek, and take a stance against sinful nature in our lives that is driving us back to the sin we once enjoyed and experienced often. God wants all our sinful nature (our desires to keep sinning) to be removed from our lives. Let’s get rid of everything in our lives that drives us back to sins that “so easily overcome us” as Paul states in the Epistles.

Your judgmental attitude, desire to be noticed, sexual lusts, lying, stealing, being easily angered, the hatred of people stopping you from your desires, comparing oneself to others, talking more than listening & coming to quick overbearing decisions, and the list goes on and on. What is the sin in your life that you are always asking and having God forgive you of? It is time for our hearts to change! It is only the Holy Spirit that can change our hearts, forgive us of our sins, and make things right that we made so wrong.

Jesus gave us a list of commandments in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ affirms that it is impossible to be forever with God without keeping these commandments. This is only possible when our sinful nature is taken away and our desire for sinning is removed from our life. (This does not mean that we won’t make mistakes now and then or even each day [just as the Apostle Paul stated what was taking place in his life], but the desire and looking to commit sin is now gone.)

So, let’s get started—a journey of complete wholeness, complete forgiveness, and a complete and total new nature—a new person in Christ! No more sin, no more iniquities, and no more corrupt human nature that desires to commit sin.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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I love God but…

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Dec 13, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

I Love God but…

I am starting a new series called, “I love God, but I am not so good at this thing called love.”

All of us need help with loving God better and renewing our passion for loving Jesus. I hope this series of articles will help you. The series begins this week…enjoy!

This series is my 2020 Christmas present to all who read my blog, WWJWMTD.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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15 Days to Christmas!

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Dec 10, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

15 Days to Christmas!

With only 15 days until Christmas, an article with a little ‘Christmas Spirit’ was in order. 2020 is indeed a year not to be forgotten so easily. A lot of heartaches and so much confusion happened this year. In order to offer hope and strength to fight against all that is wrong and evil about this year, I have offered some words of encouragement, wisdom, and truth, as well as some Christmas gift ideas for that T-shirt or hat.

Words of truth:

Who is the greatest man in history?

His name is JESUS

He was born in a barn, yet Kings and angels came to worship Him. He had no servants, yet people called him Master. He had no education degree, yet all who listened to Him called Him Teacher. He had no medicines to offer the sick, yet all who were sick called Him their Healer. He had no army to command, yet kings feared Him. This Jesus did not fight in any military battles, yet He conquered the world (and does so today). At the end of His life, He committed no crime, yet was judged as a criminal. The leaders of His day crucified Him in order to kill Him and quietly allowed Him to be buried in a tomb to be forgotten. Yet, He is still remembered today.

THIS SAME JESUS LIVES! HE REIGNS! HE HEALS AND SPEAKS! HE IS HONORED AND PRAISED! HIS NAME IS STILL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, PRINCE OF PEACE…”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Words of encouragement:

I look each day for my miracle from Jesus!

Try serving Jesus instead of doing something for Him.

Jesus is my healer…today, tomorrow, and forever!

Words of wisdom:

I am not afraid of Covid-19, it is the CDC that I am worried about.

Jesus Matters More (JMM) or BLM the new KKK

When all seems lost, I look to Jesus because He is always looking for that one lost sheep, me!

Have a Happy Pre-Christmas!

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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Where are you standing?

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Dec 7, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Where Are You Standing?

It is only a fool that does not believe that he or she is not living and standing in the ‘last days’ as proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth, the O.T. prophets, and the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. I challenge you or anyone else to find my statement to be in historical error or a gross miss-interpretation of the Bible. Earth is exactly where biblical characters said it would be at this time in earth’s history.

The problem in my interpretation of Scripture and historical hypothesis is that ‘the Church’ finds itself unprepared and unwilling to take its’ place in the ‘last days’ of the Second Coming of Christ. The Church indeed has a problem, and this problem is no better realized than in California. The problem exists not in all churches within this State but in most churches. Why is there a problem because it has refused to fight? Jesus called His Church to fight but instead, the church wants to ‘get along’ and ‘become acceptable’ to society—“do the legal thing”.

The church errors when it hides behind the Constitution of the United States, or even when it hides behind court rulings, laws, and the protection of government officials. We were called to fight so put on the Armor of God and fight the good battles of spiritual warfare. This has become the time to fight; this is the time of warfare. “There is always warfare prior to coming into God’s timing. This is one of the key indicators that you are coming into alignment in the heavenly realms with His timing. If you are experiencing tremendous amounts of warfare, then you can know the enemy is fighting against the alignment for you to enter into God’s timing” by Lorilei Cooley in her article “The Timing of the Lord”.

When and what will you do when the church no longer has a tax-free status (it is coming)? What will you teach when our government tells us what is sin and what is not sin (it’s coming)? Are you going to allow the government to dictate when you worship, how you worship, and what to worship—it has arrived!

I do not allow or accept what Governor Newsom tells me because I do not accept what Satan tells me. If the church would open their eyes and exercise the wisdom of God, you would know and understand all these restrictions are not about a virus but about control and doing what ‘darkness’ wants you to do. It is time to fight against the darkness, what is evil and the beast (Satan), and all who follow the beast and accept ‘the mark of the beast’ in their lives.

I know what Jesus would do today and He would throw all the money changers (government officials) out of God’s house. Jesus would stand in judgment to what the Government and the medical profession are telling us. Therefore, I also stand with Jesus not the world and against everything that is evil and comes from the Beast/Satan/the Devil.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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What is in your future?

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Nov 27, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

What’s been going on?

Have you taken a survey of your spiritual life in 2020? With all that has been going on, this is exactly what God has wanted you and I and everyone else to do who are called by the name of Jesus. God wanted us tried, tempted, and humbled—this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

As the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil so the Holy Spirit is still doing His job in the members of the Body of Christ. We indeed have been tempted during the year 2020. It caught most of the Church by surprise and unprepared. Why would God do this to His people? This is what God wants from His people.

1. He wants us to repent—to experience repentance that not only cleanses us but changes us. We need to get all our sin out of our lives and to be healed from all the hurt and shame our sin has caused on others. The Holy Spirit is still calling us to this repentance. He is to wash us not just on the outside for others to see but also on the inside what the Holy Spirit Himself sees.

2. God wanted (wants) to bless you with blessings that you have never experienced before. Blessings of unity, of peace, of unfilled wholeness and love that comes only through repentance and through the struggle of keeping the unity in the Spirit. Have you felt the struggle in your spirit and soul—this is the working of the Holy Spirit in your life? We must find unity, not unity as the world gives us but the unity the Holy Spirit creates.

3. God made promises to many of you. Promises of ministry, growth in the Lord, and along with visions of things to come to proclaim to the Body of Christ. But the fulfillment of promises of God does not come without trials and tribulations. We must be tried and tempted in order for us to be confronted by Satan and his deception & lies. If you walked in faith and resisted the devil’s deception and works in this world, you will receive what God has promised and has willed to take place in your life. If you were patient and faithful the fulfillment of God’s words spoken to you through dreams, visions, and prophecy will take place. Be faithful and look to God doing what He promised to you.

4. God wants His Body to not only react to but to create history. We are in the last days and in these days either Satan fulfills what he wants, or the Church fulfills what God wants. We have a choice and in our choice is where we find the faith to stop Satan’s plans and the completion of God’s perfect will. We must find the purposes and action plans of God in this, our generation. It is the time of prayers of faith, it is the time of actions of faith, and it is the time for the unity of our faith being felt and projected upon this world. We must not and we cannot accept what Satan is planning or speaking in this world. It is God’s words that are to be spoken and these words are to redeem the time of Christ’s return.

5. There is a warning in this message from the Lord. If you have not forgiven others for them wronging you—stop and repent for not offering others forgiveness. Do it now! If you have any love for this world, love that is getting in the way of your love for God, let it go now! If you have been working and striving, thinking that the Body of Christ is a building, a program or a denomination repent of this now. The Body of Christ is people and only people. People need to meet together and minister to each other—we do not need another building, another program, or a service that is programmed and prepared days or weeks in advance. We need each other and to worship together. In togetherness, there is unity, praise, thankfulness, and prophetic prayer. It is time for what the Body of Christ can do with ‘unity’ not what we can do ourselves. Unity is found only in who Christ is and what He wants and can do.

What must you and I do? We need to say, “I’m sorry to God” for all the wrong we have done. We need to say, “Sorry” to all the people we have injured and sinned against. We need to be sorry toward and tell the Church “how we have failed” the Body of Christ. We need to express and change in who we are by loving God first and only Him by not allowing the world to receive the love God has placed in our life for Him—“Love not the world or the things in this world”. Last of all, we must begin now to find the unity of the Spirit through Jesus and through the Scriptures God has told and given to us. It is through repentance, loving God that unity will come upon us. And when this unity comes you cannot even imagine what God will do for you, through you, and in you.

(Please share this message with everyone you know and do not know.)

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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Praying Like Daniel

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Nov 23, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Those Unanswered Prayers…A Lesson from Daniel

There have been times when my prayers went into history without being answered. Often I felt like I was praying in a steel bubble; it felt like my prayers did not make it to heaven. All of us have been there at some point in our lives. Have you wondered why God did not answer your prayers? Here is a simple lesson from the Book of Daniel to give you hope and insight into what to do when you pray.

Daniel prayed three times a day by opening up his window toward Jerusalem & Heaven in order to ‘pray out loud’ to the Father of all creation and Lord over the earth. Why would anyone pray three times a day; can anyone have that much to pray about? Here are the lessons to be learned:

1. Daniel wanted to keep himself in a constant state of prayer. He was not just praying for himself but for everyone and everything.

2. Daniel did not pray often so he could repeat his prayers over and over again, but he prayed with passion and sincerity—these were heart and soul prayers.

3. Daniel was unashamed of his prayer life and his words to his God and Father.

4. Daniel’s prayers did not keep him from being imprisoned and out of the lion’s den (Satan’s plans were for Daniel to be killed), but his prayers prepared him for his future to be in God’s hands and will in any and all circumstances.

5. Daniel prayed for his enemies and blessed them; this is how God keeps us in His will and under His protection. (Daniel allowed God alone to be ‘The Judge’.)

6. Daniel did not obey the laws and commands of King Darius of the Medes when the king’s decrees were in conflict with his religion—Jewish laws.

7. Daniel prayers were often for forgiveness for his sins and iniquities (refer to my blog wwjwmtd.com, “A Happy Day” Nov. 22, 2020).

8. Daniel did not tempt God for his diet was based on biblical principles that strengthened his body to pray. He believed his body was a temple of the Holy Spirit, so he had to keep it worthy of God’s presence in his earthly body. Daniel did not tempt God but was thankful for what God had provided.

9. Daniel was not into ‘person worship’ or the ‘lifting-up’ of political leaders who wanted to be worshipped. Daniel gave all his praise and worship to God alone and only offered respect to those in authority. (Once again, today we have religious leaders giving up their authority to political and medical leaders instead of God. God will not help our pastors who elevate political leaders above God.)

10. Daniel knew that Israelites were the Body of God and make up the City of God as spoken by Abraham. God is not a building or a house of worship, but people are the buildings of God, not brick and mortar. Daniel kept himself connected to others in the Body of God—he did not need a building/church to worship God.

So, the next time you pray be passionate, forgiving, blessing others, and remember to place God above everything you are asked to do and be honorable/thankful to God who made you and keeps you.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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A Happy Day!

/ sjwentland / Leave a comment

Nov 22, 2020 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Oh, Happy Day!

When was the last time you had a Happy Day? A real happy day starting when you woke up in the early morning until you fell asleep that evening. There is no way anyone can have a ‘happy day’ without finding great mercy and total forgiveness in Jesus each and every day.

If you have not listened to Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers you need to! Still to this day even after listening to it for the first time 50 years ago this song moves me to tears, rejoicing, and into the presence of God. (Yes, every time I listen and sing it.) Why a happy day? “Jesus washed my sins away! Jesus taught me to watch, fight and pray…to live rejoicing every day!”

Where is the blood of Jesus in your life? Is there a battle to fight which Jesus has brought your way? Are you rejoicing? We are in a battle, Church so where is your rejoicing?

Church, you cannot stand in battle, fight the good fight of faith, or find rejoicing without true forgiveness, receiving great mercy, and without the blood of Jesus flowing over your life and into your veins. Only in standing at the foot of the Cross, watching Jesus being crucified will you find forgiveness for all your sins, iniquities, faults, and weaknesses.

If you are not allowing the Holy Spirit to search your life for sins and iniquities you are failing the directive of Christ (His command how to pray) and denying the operation of the Spirit in your life. Sin is one thing (what you did wrong based on the truth of the Gospel, the Bible, and immoral behavior), but iniquities are something much different. Iniquities are the effects of your sin upon others—the cause and effect of your sin—the consequences of your sin.

Forgiveness is not just for your sin by doing ‘wrong things’ but Jesus wants to cleanse you from the effects of your sin on others—all the consequences of your sin—yes, your iniquities. We must ask for forgiveness that encompasses not only what we did wrong (our sin) but all the trouble, hurt, offenses, and anything else our sin caused (our iniquities).

When I ask for forgiveness I also ask for God to also forgive and heal all the wrong, hurt, and pain my sin caused. I want complete, total, and all-encompassing forgiveness—forgiveness for myself and the power my sin caused on others.

I want everything made right that my sin made wrong. Jesus did not die in vain for me—I will find forgiveness for myself and whatever wrong my sin caused! This is Jesus’s forgiveness for me, you, and all who call upon His Name asking for forgiveness.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately.