Hi Brian!

This week I want to share again from Charles Spurgeon's devotional!

"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." — John 6:37

No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last.

But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; He will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow"; "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them."

"Once in Christ, in Christ for ever,
Nothing from His love can sever." "I give unto My sheep," saith He, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but He will receive thee and make thee His bride, and thou shalt be His for ever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out."

Once we have received JESUS as LORD and personal SAVIOUR, we need NEVER be afraid to be REALLY REAL with Holy Spirit! He KNOWS all about each of us anyway, so it does absolutely no good to try to hide from HIM! Be REAL! Be HONEST! Be attentive to His Word and you will NEVER lack the WISDOM that comes from GOD alone! Here is Hillsong with "Sure Thing":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

This week I want to share this devotional for today by Charles Spurgeon again. 

The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." — 1 John 1:7

"Cleanseth," says the text—not "shall cleanse." There are multitudes who think that as a dying hope they may look forward to pardon. Oh! how infinitely better to have cleansing now than to depend on the bare possibility of forgiveness when I come to die. Some imagine that a sense of pardon is an attainment only obtainable after many years of Christian experience. But forgiveness of sin is a present thing—a privilege for this day, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus he is fully forgiven. The text, being written in the present tense, also indicates continuance; it was "cleanseth" yesterday, it is "cleanseth" to-day, it will be "cleanseth" tomorrow: it will be always so with you, Christian, until you cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for it cleanseth still. Notice, likewise, the completeness of the cleansing, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin"—not only from sin, but "from all sin." Reader, I cannot tell you the exceeding sweetness of this word, but I pray God the Holy Ghost to give you a taste of it. Manifold are our sins against God. Whether the bill be little or great, the same receipt can discharge one as the other. The blood of Jesus Christ is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgressions of blaspheming Peter as for the shortcomings of loving John; our iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone for ever. Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon as one gives himself to sleep.

"Sins against a holy God;
Sins against His righteous laws;
Sins against His love, His blood;
Sins against His name and cause;
Sins immense as is the sea-
From them all He cleanseth me."

We all 'miss it' now and then and 1 John 1:9 is our promise!

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. AMP

The word 'confess' here is the Greek word "homologeo". Strong's Concordance says: to assent, to acknowledge. Vine's Expository Dictionary says: to speak the same thing, to admit. So, all we must do is to acknowedge the sin and then receive the guaranteed forgiveness! That way we are able to stay in intimate fellowship with HIM at all times! Here is Hillsong with "You Saw Me":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

Today's "My Utmost For His Highest" devotional by Oswald Chambers is an interesting one!

The Notion Of Divine Control

How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? — Matthew 7:11

Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God’s control behind everything, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is notioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember — Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort, it comes naturally when perplexities press. Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle — God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?

There are times, says Jesus, when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the notion of the mind of God behind all things strong and growing. Nothing happens in any particular unless God’s will is behind it, therefore you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

I love this reminder! There is nothing that can ever come against us that JESUS didn't already know about, AND have the answer to and the way out of! When we get it firmly in our hearts (spirit, soul and body) that our GOD is ALWAYS FOR us, nothing will ever be able to shake us from our faith and confidence IN HIM! We also have this powerful promise in Romans 8:28:

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. AMP

No matter how things APPEAR to be, when we stand on the promises in His Word, things change! His Word is unchangeable! TRUTH is unchangeable, but 'facts' are ALWAYS subject to change when the Word of God is applied, stood upon and celebrated! Here is an older song from Hillsong called "God Is Great":

Love and Shalom fom the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

I was reading Charles Spureon's Evening Devotional and wanted to share this with you! 

"And God divided the light from the darkness." — Genesis 1:4

A believer has two principles at work within him. In his natural estate he was subject to one principle only, which was darkness; now light has entered, and the two principles disagree. Mark the apostle Paul's words in the seventh chapter of Romans:

 "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members."

 How is this state of things occasioned? 

"The Lord divided the light from the darkness." 

Darkness, by itself, is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other: a conflict which will never cease till the believer is altogether light in the Lord. If there be a division within the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division without. So soon as the Lord gives to any man light, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he secedes from a merely worldly religion of outward ceremonial, for nothing short of the gospel of Christ will now satisfy him, and he withdraws himself from worldly society and frivolous amusements, and seeks the company of the saints, for 

"We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 

The light gathers to itself, and the darkness to itself. What God has divided, let us never try to unite, but as Christ went without the camp, bearing His reproach, so let us come out from the ungodly, and be a peculiar people. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and, as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.

There IS a point to be made here for separating from the DEEDS of darkness, but if/when the believer separates himself FROM the world, then where will his 'ministry' ever manifest and bear fruit? After all, every believer has been called into the full time "Ministry of Reconciliation"(2 Corinthians 5:18)! That is, telling the world of their need for a Saviour, and then introducing them to JESUS! No, JESUS said THIS to the Father in John 17:15-18:

15 I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. 18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. AMP

The world is where we are needed. And NOT just from a pulpit or "preaching" on a street corner, although IF Holy Spirit directs you to, then there is great reward in your obedience! BUT, we have found that MOST of the time people will listen to people they know, trust and are familiar with, such as co-workers, classmates, and friends. Your life shines through all that you all do and the way you carry yourselves and CARE! Your love, respect, care, hard work, discipline, commitment and PRESENCE is what reaches the heart of people to where they desire to know what makes YOU, YOU! You all do it so well! Through your place IN THIS WORLD! Role models!!! We love you all so much! Here are Hillsong Kids with "Never Walk Alone":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

I received so much in today's website devotional from Joseph Prince!  This should be our attitude and action in every 'battle', not jkust for health and healing, but every time the enemy TRIES to attack! We are operating, always, from that place of strength and victory! 

Do Not Fear

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:4–6

Even if you are walking through a dark valley and the shadow of death looms over you, keep speaking the promises of Psalm 23:4–6 over yourself. Know that you do not have to fear, for the Lord is with you.

Notice that the Lord prepares a table before you in the presence (not in the absence) of your enemies. The apostle Paul referred to the holy Communion as “the Lord’s table” (1 Corinthians 10:21).

That means even when the symptoms are in your body, and even when the pain is there, the Lord wants you to come to His table and eat. By partaking of the holy Communion, you eat and receive of all that our Lord Jesus has done for you on the cross. His body was broken so that yours might be whole.

It is human nature to feast and celebrate only after we see that our problems have been solved and our enemies eradicated. But that’s not what God wants you to do. He loves you so much, and right now He says to you, “Rest. Sit down. Eat. For I will fight your battle. I will defeat your enemies!”

As you eat at His table, see yourself getting supernaturally stronger. See the tumor shriveling up. See His health flowing into your body.

Don’t be afraid of your enemies. They might be all around you, but you can eat from the Lord’s Table with joy, knowing that surely, goodness and mercy and His unfailing love follow after you all the days of your life! If you look up the Hebrew word for follow in Psalm 23:6, you will see that it is radaph, which means “to chase, hunt, or pursue.”

See your Daddy God’s goodness and love chasing you down wherever you go. Even if you have to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, or an organ transplant, He is right there with you. In the operating theater, He is there. In the intensive care unit, He is there.

Do not fear—He is with you, and your enemies have no power over you!

AMEN!!! Here is Hillsong with "At The Cross":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!