Something new

Sorry for not posting in months but this news would make up for that. I am making a weekly devotional book and plan to paste a sample it to my blog post. Its called A Weekly Walk. I plan to finish it before July. please comment what you think of it.

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A Weekly Walk

By Joshua Maness

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Week 1

Be filled with the spirit

Ephesians 5:18-20

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

We must be filled with the spirit; not by alcoholic beverages but by Jesus Christ.

When you give your life to Christ you could experience joy in the most difficult times in your life; this is because you have someone you could look up to, God is your refuge in times of need.

Do you want that joy? Do you want to have a sure refuge?

Put your life in his hands today so you can be with his family.

You must come to a conclusion that “...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”[Romans 3:23].

And see your sin in the same way God would. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away”.[Isaiah 64:6].

After this ask Jesus who died to pay the price for your sins to come into your life

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”[Romans 10:13].

Once you are saved you will be saved forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”[John 3:16].

And if you are one who is already saved you must grow in the faith and spend more quality time in his word and in prayer. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”[James 4:8].

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Have Courage

Joshua 1:9

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest.

God is telling Joshua to be strong and very courageous because Joshua has many battles ahead of him. If God wanted him to be brave God would want us to be brave too.

We need to be brave to spread the gospel, and we have that bravery because we have that firm foundation to lean upon, that foundation is Jesus Christ our LORD.

We also will be encouraged by God when life gets hard.

If you are a child of God you will never need to fear.

God is omnipresent meaning he is everywhere the same time all the time.

Because he is everywhere watching over us we need not worry or be afraid.

fear tends to stop us from doing the work that the lord places on our hearts, and fear is one of the devil's favorite tools.

Bravery is key to success. If you have fear you would not get a thing done.

What you need to do to overcome fear is put your faith and trust in God, he is your help that can be counted on. “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”[Psalm 62:7-8]

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Week 3

Don't Worry and Trust in the Savior

Psalm 91:1-9

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

God is the best place to put your reliance on.

To rely on someone means to depend on someone.

Lets depend upon him to meet our needs; because definitely he will.

If you aren't convinced look at Jesus' Words in Matthew 6:26 & 30 “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ...

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

It all points to faith and trust in our Heavenly Father.

Since he cares and provide the daily needs for the plants and animals, he would also care and provide much more for those that accepted his gift of salvation.

Read the rest of Matthew 6 and remember this week that God cares for his creation and will care for you no matter what the circumstance.

Wise Man, V.S. The Foolish Man (Matthew 7:24-27)

[Mat 7:24-29 KJV] 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.






     Jesus was preaching a parable to the people about a wise man and a   foolish man building a house.


What the difference between the two men and the two houses ?
    The first man was wise,
    The second was foolish.
    The wise man built a house on a sturdy foundation,
    But the foolish built one on a foundation with a beautiful view but was not one bit sturdy.
    The sturdy house was on a solid rock.
    But the foolish mans house was on the sand.
How dose this apply to us?
    Our life is the house and God is the rock the devil is the sand.
    If we listen to God and we do what we've heard we will be likened unto a wise man. 
    But if we heard the word but don't strive do it, we would be likened unto a fool.
On which foundation should we put our life on?
    God should be our foundation the worldly ways shouldn't.
    When we hear the bible don’t only listen to it but do it also.


The only way to gain the firm foundation is through Jesus Christ our Lord

Don't be donkeys! (Psalm 32:9)

[Psa 32:9 KJV] 9 Be ye not as the horse, [or] as the mule, [which] have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

The moral of this passage is DON'T BE DONKEYS!!!
With that said let me explain why. First they don't reason like us people do, and you would need to stick a metal bar in its mouth to control it. Unless it willingly goes to you, then you should take its pressure off as a reward.
We shouldn't have to be forced by God to do his will, but if you do his willingly he will bless you.
If you are stubborn  God can't use you, and the blessings will go to someone else.
What we could learn is to not be like the horse or the mule and let God freely use us to do his will.

Don't be discouraged! (Philippians 1:27-29

[Phl 1:27-29 KJV] 27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;



Even when we are following Christ in the midst of enemies God sees you.
we don't need to be afraid of our adversaries (enemies out to get you!)
As long as you have salvation you wouldn't have to worry because God is on our side.
But if you don't have salvation in Christ check my last post http://jman4jesus.blogspot.com/2013/09/forgiveness-psalm-321-5.html.
Once you are saved you would be eligible to serve the Lord.

Forgiveness (Psalm 32:1-5)

"A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah."

Isn't it nice to know that you are forgiven? All we have to do is confess of our sin and turn to Christ. He wants to forgive the world, but how if we didn't confess.

To be saved we must realize that we are sinners.

And we must see sin as God sees it (like stinkin' rags that people in bible days used for bandages). 

We must turn from sin, running to God asking him to save us. 
And he will! Then your sin will be infinitely covered.