Al Jennings II

How to know if you fear God

Prov. 14:2   Those who follow the right path fear the LORD; 

those who take the wrong path despise him. 

It's easy to know whether or not you fear the Lord. It's as simple as this. If you follow the right path you -- do; if you take the wrong path -- you don't. Is that plan or what?The word of God gives us the right path.

Transformation nuggets

2Cor. 10:3 We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods. 

4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds. 

Don't wage war with human plans and methods. Humans who don't know God operate in the flesh. As children of God we must purpose not to walk in the flesh. Whenever a child of God operates in the flesh, they pick up a weapon that is unable to defend them.

Neither do you become transformed by the flesh, or by any other human plan or method. Use God's method of transformation. And that is by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

2Cor. 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

You change any and every area of your life by changing your thinking, not by fleshly efforts. In other words, a person who thinks they have a drinking problem really doesn't. They have a thinking stronghold that causes them to drink. A person who thinks they have a weight problem, doesn't have a weight problem; they have a thinking stronghold that causes them to gain weight. A person who thinks they have a anger problem, really doesn't. They have a thinking stronghold that causes them to fly off the handle.

Change your thinking in any area of your life will cause your life to change in that area. Get it done! Throw down every thought that does not agree with the Word of God. Change your mind -- change your life.

I really enjoyed teaching the series on transformation. I would encourage you to get your hands on a copy of my new manual on the mind renewal process.

As you go, make disciples

I stumbled on this commentary by ElSeeDee on Matt 28:19 @ www.YouVersion.com
Excellent stuff on making disciples:

A more accurate translation of the beginning of verse 19 would be "As you go, make disciples..." The Greek word here for go is passive. On the other hand, the only active verb is "make disciples." Jesus isn't telling us to all be missionaries and go. He's telling us to make disciples as we go about our daily lives. For some, that daily life is to be a missionary. For others it's to be a mom, or a manager, or a mechanic. The important thing is not that we "go." Jesus expects us to go about our daily lives. The important thing is that we make disciples.

The Redemption Story: In Plain English

Here's something that I'm including in Summit's new web site. It's the redemption story made simple. You can use this information to minister to those who have not yet received Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The Bible is not a history book (although it contains history). It is the story of God’s redemption plan for mankind. Here’s the redemption story in a few simple statements.

1. Man is made up of spirit, soul, and body (1Thessalonians 5:23). 

You are a spirit; you have a soul; and you live in a physical body.

    Spirit -- the real you; the part of you that's been made in the image of God

    Soul -- your mind, will, intellect, and emotions

    Body -- your physical, earthly house that you live in

2. Adam was created to live in fellowship with God, to be like Him, and to have dominion on the earth.

3. God told Adam (God’s first created man) not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16,17). He told him that the day he eats of the tree, he shall surely die. Adam disobeyed God and ate fruit from the tree. Sin is disobedience to God. He (and his wife Eve) sinned when they ate of the tree (Genesis 3:6). 

4. Adam was the head of the human race. When he ate from the tree, he died spiritually.

The death God was referring to was spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God. Death in the Bible never means to cease to exist. Generally speaking, death means separation. You will never consciously cease to exist - ever. You will live forever. When Adam ate of the tree, he continued to live physically. But he died instantly spiritually and his spiritual death spread to all mankind born after him (Romans 5:12).

5. Redemption. The spiritual death that we inherited from Adam put us in the hands of the devil. Redeem means to regain possession of (someone) in exchange for payment. Jesus came and regained possession of us in exchange for His blood. When we accept the free gift of salvation by making Jesus Lord of our life, we are born again and redeemed. Jesus said that you must be born again. The new birth is the recreation of the human spirit (Ephesians 1:7; Rom 10:9,10,13; John 3:3,6-7).

Wake up Church!

Rom. 13:11  But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. 

Sometimes I wonder if people or Christians who call themselves "Word people" are really appropriating or applying the Word in their lives and sharing it with the world that needs it. Oftentimes you hear Word people say, "I'm sitting under the Word," but sometimes I wonder if we are sleeping under the Word."

The Scripture says that it is time for us to wake up out of sleep. From time to time, we need to evaluate our effectiveness. The number one thing on God's heart is reaching the lost. If that's God's number one priority, then don't you think it should be our number one priority? Something to think about isn't it? Don't wait for people to come inside of the church building, let's take the church to people. Let's meet people where they are. Let's love people in practical ways by showing them acts of kindness. Let's represent Jesus by showing the people around us unconditional love and compassion. Let people see in you how good God is! Develop relationships with people who don't know Jesus and demonstrate His love and kindness on His behalf. Make a difference in someone's life. Don't intend to do it; do it now. Start where you are, and let's freely give the Word away as freely as we have received it.

What it means to trust in the Lord with all your heart?

God's always answers YES! to His promises

Have you ever heard God sometimes says yes, sometimes no, and sometimes wait awhile? That's religious thinking, but it's not Biblical. God wants you to have success in your prayer life. God wants you to get answers to your prayer. God says in 2Co 1.20 that all the promises of God are in Him yes and amen. When you pray the promises of God the answer is always yes; and the answer is yes even before you ask. The scripture says that Father God knows what you have need of even before you ask (Mt 6:8); and He already made provision for your need in His Word (Phil 4:19) before you ask; He'll also will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4); He also made provision for your desires John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. We have these promises before we ask. And in giving us the promise He said yes

Before you ask here's the answer: Your needs? Yes! Your desires? Yes!

Jehovah-Nissi: our Victory. Yes!

Jehovah-Jireh: our Provider. Yes!

El-Shaddai: More than Enough. Yes!

YES!!!!!!

A Necessary Ingredient for Learning

This morning in my devotional time I meditated on this verse:

Prov. 12:1  To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction. 

Do you want to grow? Then how are you with discipline, in other words, what is your attitude towards discipline? Do you simply tolerate being disciplined, do you try to avoid it, or do you love it? Wise people love discipline and correction. They welcome it and therefore they become wiser and grow. To learn means to gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or by being taught. If you are going to learn, you must learn to love discipline. Whatever you need to learn that will take you to the next level will require discipline. Do what it takes to discipline yourself to learn. Adjust your attitude to love discipline and correction. Even though your flesh will rebel against it, you must fight through that and renew your mind to what the Word says concerning discipline and correction. God's Word is always in your best interest. The Father knows best.

Musings from Luke 6 & 7

Your Heart Supply - Luke 6:43-45

1. A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 

2. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Building On a Solid Foundation - Luke 6:46-49

3. You build your life on a solid foundation by being a doer of the Word of God, not by merely listening to it. 

The Power of God's Word - Luke 7:1-10

4. Speak the word of God over your trouble and your trouble will vanish. Your words have power because you are a child of God. You can speak to your mountains (problems, challenges, and adverse situations) and make them move, in the Name of Jesus.

5.Great faith only needs a Word from God.

Reflections on Psalm 57

Reflections on Psalm 57

(Verse 1) Call out to God for mercy and tell him that you look to him for protection. Are you in danger? Hide under his almighty shadow until the danger passes by because he is your hiding place. He will preserve you from trouble.

(2) trust God to fulfill his purpose in your life.

(3) God will send help from heaven to rescue you and disgrace those who hound you.

(7) be confident in God and sing his praises

(8) wake up your heart and praise God

(9) God's unfailing love is as high as the heavens, it Cannot fail you! His faithfulness reaches to the clouds, it will never let you down!