Living Above the Sun Ministries

37"Solomon prayed...and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; 38 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you." God responds,"If my people who are called by my NAME will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 6:37-39; 7:14 God gives us a responsibility in his response to Solomons prayer. He says, IF you do this, THEN I will do this,

"This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." -Romans 1:17 A good friend of mine, and former instructor said something to me that made me think, and helped me realize my faith needs a little tweaking. This is what she told me: Remember that God doesn't give us obstacles we can't handle, so if He thinks you're strong enough, then have faith in yourself. That is ultimately what you need to do. Have faith in yourself. Try not to let the past or the present get in the way of your future. You will find something, but it will only be what you make of it. If you do not think you are capable, then you won't be. If you let them work you 90 hours per week, then they will. Take control of your mind and heart and your purpose will come to you. I know you can do it. I am so thankful for this lady God has placed in my l

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together . And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy ." -Colossians 1:15-18 Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church here in Charlotte did a series on this. Don't put Jesus first. While this might shock you, I totally knew the point he was driving home before I even heard the sermon. We tend to put Jesus first everyday. That's not a bad thing, we give him the first of our day. Here is the thought I had though, between thinking about this sermon and my post about college and Jesus, I pointed out that I might not have the time to g

"But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble." -1 Corinthians 8:9 As I am of age, 21, I have been questioning and "experimenting" more with alcoholic beverages. I know a lot of people in the church would look down on this and probably condemn me straight to hell. However, if I am not saved through works, I cannot loose my salvation through works. I have sought the scripture on how to go about controlling this sensitive issue. Here is what I have come to: I am from a family of alcoholics, my granddaddy was an alcoholic, and his daddy was. It's vicious. So, it is easy for me to become addicted to an alcoholic substance, or really anything. To be really honest I do not care a whole lot for alcohol. If I'm going to drink I will do it in my home and no where else, I will not go to a bar, or order one at dinner, or drink at a party, in other words be a "social" drinker

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." -Acts 20:24 It says in James 4 that our lives are like the morning fog-it's here a little while then it's gone. Whether we accept it or not, our lives are short. Don't be deceived into thinking that we have lots of time to live for Christ, and to enjoy our loved ones. We need to live for God, today! I have said many times on here how precious life is. It is so true. I am constantly reminded how fragile we are. Just yesterday I found out that a couple that my family has tried to share Jesus with were killed in a motorcycle wreck. They didn't want anything to do with Jesus, they would get mad when we started talking about the gospel. They rejected Jesus, and today they are in Hell. How tragic! As if the wreck wasn't tragic enough, going to Hell makes it even

This is just a rant...nothing with depth really. Ggggrrr! I'm just baffled at the flippant nature of America and what is on TV especially. It's disgusting, I can't even watch TV anymore without it hitting some sort of nerve. What especially bothers me is how TV portrays rapes, and how they feel they can openly talk about it and show graphically what happens. It's offensive to people who have experienced that, such as myself, and TV is the last place they want to relive that horrific experience. It's such a private matter. A matter that doesn't need to be treated like an awareness campaign. Rape is real and it happens, but don't plaster it on TV. Same with sex. Between Victoria Secret Commercials and perfume commercials nothing is left to the imagination. They have taken something God created and twisted it and made it disgusting. Our children's minds are being corrupted. Hollywood it taking our innocence away. Even in our schools! Teaching

"Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise." -1 Corinthians 3:18 You'll need a Bible handy in reading this post, I hope you always have your Bible close at hand as I post scripture and give my take on things. Don't take my word on it, look it up for yourself. The Christian life seems to get harder and harder to live as the days increase. I know so many people today who are being deceived by, not only Satan, but by themselves. It's Spiritual Warfare! In the case of addiction, we call it Spiritual Bewitchment. The word deceive is a verb, it's an action, it means to be led astray; to cause to accept as true what is false. If we are really saved by the grace of our Father, then through that Salvation we have been set free from the deception of Satan. God has removed those spiritual blinders from our eyes and has revealed the truth to us. John 8:32 "You shall know the tru

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other." ~John 13:34-35 I'm not huge on Valentines Day, maybe when God finally gives me a "hunny" that will change. But today and always I love the Valentine that first loved me...the one whose love is red as rubies. His blood was spilled for me that I may spend a real forever with Him, my first true love. His name is Jesus, Wonderful, Counselor, my friend. It is my prayer that I will love others the way Jesus instructed me to love them. 1 Corinthians 13 says that we are bankrupt without love. People will know we are Christians by our love. I challenge you to give some love away this week, I'm going to be looking for opportunities myself. Much love to all the awesome people who read my blog! Thanks! (Maybe I'll post later Marvin Gaye's, &

United - To the Ends of the Earth .mp3 Found at bee mp3 search engine I receive my Voice of the Martyrs newsletter I look forward to getting every month. My faith is always encouraged and stretched as I read how God is moving overseas, and informed on how I can help. In this particular newsletter the words: "How far would you go to deliver a Bible?" As I have been thinking about missionary work lately this question became even more relevant. So I read the information and article and was convicted that I must participate in this project and tell all my friends about it. Colombia Parachute Packs are available for purchase through Voice of the Martyrs. A pack of 10 is $10.00, and a pack of $30 is $25.00. Each pack contains supplies and instructions for making the parachutes that will be used to drop Bibles, radios, and Christian literature into the jungles of Colombia. We would also have to send an additional $5.00 back to cover cost getting it to Colombia. This coun

One of the things about college is you have so many expectations to meet. Where your college books become like your Bible, and your papers become like the prayers you should be praying, and homework in general becomes like a religion. It's very hard to keep Jesus in the equation. You vow to get up early and read your Bible and pray, but you've stayed up till 3 or 4 in the morning and need sleep before it's time to leave for your classes. It's very easy to become consumed with it all. You don't have time to participate in church activities as much, or hang with your friends as much...your life becomes school work. I don't have a solution for this. I struggle just as much to stay hid in His Word and Satan knows it and attacks start coming right after another building up on the already stress that exists from school work, and nagging parents, and things you know you need to do....then we blow up. Sometimes at the wrong person. But I know the Word holds eve

"Stand up, Stand up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high his royal banner, ye shall not suffer loss. From Victory unto Victory His army shall he lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed." I wrote a song called "The Stand" 7 days after a traumatic circumstance occurred in my life February 13, 2007. The day this song was in composing mode, I remember being at the alter all day in hopes to understand and talk to God about the whole circumstance, and hear from Him. I wondered if anyone cared and would walk with me through this pain and hurt. We tend to need people in our lives to help us walk these deep valleys. But, there are times when it's just going to have to be you and God doing the nasty stuff in life, the things that can't be talked about. There are times when people just can't feel what you feel. The first 2 verses of this song are the questioning and crying out to God. Almost like a Job moment. Can anyone see t