Learning, Growing, Overcoming

Good Morning Everyone.


In each of our lifetimes, we will experience many things.
Happy times, sad times, times of grieving, times of laughter,
and times of illness. There will be many happy memories,
and many memories of hard times.

How do we process all this?
What is the big picture?

How do we handle the dark and troubling seasons of life?

Truly, no matter what you say or do, they have to be walked through.
No one escapes problems, or illness or trials. It is part of life.

But the difference is the way we handle it!
We can handle it with grace and courage, or fall apart everytime
something hits. Which I am sure most of us feel like doing.
But looking back over a lifetime of some very difficult and daunting
problems, I have to say all of them made me a stronger, wiser,
more resiliant, less selfish, and drew me closer to God!

When I was younger, I would run from friend to friend and cry
about my situation and fall apart. And I didn't learn a thing,
I became weaker. Then some wise friend told me time after time,
give it to the Lord, and here I was in the middle of a crisis! But she
was right. And I did. I found comfort and sweet healing in his presence.
I had been so busy running around, feeling sorry for the hard knocks
in life, that I had not sat down and had a quiet time with the Lord
and left my burdens totally on him and just rested in his ability to help
me overcome and go through these valleys in my life.

I may still go to trusted friends, but I go to the Lord first. I just ask
my friends when I want wisdom about a situation. But only God will be
with us from birth to death, and prayer REALLY DOES change things.
It is when we find our hope in him daily our spirit is renewed and refreshed
rather than depleted.

Hard times come and go, but Jesus never leaves us or forsakes us.
And weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

Many of you understand loss, grief, pain, abandonment and rejection.
That's not the end of the story. We survive, we grow, we learn we move
on, and we learn to savor the good times, and count our blessings,
and not our sorrows.

Don't waste a minute on regret, or self condemnation or hating your life.
Make it a success by forging through the hard times and showing
that you have a life of faith and not of failure.
A heart turned towards overcoming and not giving up.
And a mind set on the things of Christ and not the mind of the world.

We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb, not given to
defeat nor overcome by sorrow.

Let that precious Word of God flow into your heart daily
and renew your strength and resolve for whatever the day may hold.

We stick our chin out like flint shake our fist at the powers of darkness
and face the day with courage and the hope of God firmly planted in our
heart. We are the army of God, protected, driven by his grace and strength,
and covered by his wings. If God be for us, who can be against us?

Today is a new day.. rejoice in it.

love
millie

ps.. When was the last time you counted your blessings?
This is a important ritual to do everyday.
Don't look at what you don't have, be grateful for what you do have
within your hands.. praise God from whom all blessings flow.


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For Everything God has a Reason

I thought in my heart that I'd give up and die,
for the voyage was rough and why should I try?
I floundered around in a turbulent sea
while the billowing waves kept crashing on me.

The storms raged wildly and the waters rose high;
I knew I was drowning and I cried, "Lord, why?"
I heard a voice answer; it seemed to descend
from out of the clouds and the violent wind.

Then God whispered to me, "I see you down there,
swimming alone in your black sea of despair.
I˜ve watched as you struggled in life˜s hurricane;
I've patiently waited till you called My name.

The waters are swift and it's so hard to sail,
for when you ignored Me I commanded a gale.
I sent the waves crashing in hopes you would see
that you couldn't survive without help from Me.

If your life were easy and storms never came,
be honest, my child, would you call out My name?
If you'll surrender your heart and give it to Me,
I'll be there to calm the most treacherous sea."

The waters at once became still as a breeze;
I said, "Thank You, dear Lord," and fell to my knees.
My heart felt as light as a gull on the wing,
and I lifted my voice His praises to sing.

Now when storms of life rage and waves billow high,
I don't bother my Lord with questions of why.
He gave me His promise and I understand
I've only to ask and He will lend me His hand.
-Author unknown-


I have often felt that many things that bring us to our knees,
teach us while we are down there to learn to pray.






These possibilities are open to everyone.
Don't tell God you are not good enough, do what He asks.
Don't tell God to send someone else, He asked you.
Don't tell God you don't have time to pray, He said seek me first.
Don't neglect the things of God. He said we are to
pick up His cross daily and follow Him.
Don't tell God anything is bigger than His ability.
God is the Great I Am, I am whatever you need.

There is no pit so deep, God's love is not deeper still.

Not my will but thine oh Lord.






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Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God
X EVEN WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE HIM...GOD IS THERE! O
(run your mouse across the x to zero and highlight it )
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Crying Out To God.

copyright Millie Plastaras 2/24/2003

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy,
He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for
sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5-6


There are many different kinds of tears, and these are
actually a sign of what is in the depths of our hearts.
The bible tells us that what we sow in life we reap.
We are planting seeds, and when harvest time comes
we reap what we sow.


Those wanting spiritual breakthrough for specific needs
should really pay heed to this verse. For when we come
before God he wants a broken vessel, one that is surrendered
and seeking. One that listens for the voice of God, and
seeks it with all his heart. Tears of brokenness are blessed
by God, as the word says God values them so much He
keeps our tears in a bottle. (psalm 56:8).
Throughout the word we find where men and women
cried out to God from the deep anguish and agony of
their heart, and God heard their prayers and delivered them.


Tears spent in prayer will sow a seed of faith that will
reap a harvest of results.

Read that again, and keep it in your heart.

Tears spent in prayer will sow a seed of faith that will
reap a harvest of results.

Charles Spurgeon, the great orator and preacher said
that the ministry of tears was "liquid prayer."
They are pouring our heart out before God, seeking
Him with all our heart, soul and mind.
A drink offering before the throne of God, poured
out before his presence, surrendered unto his will.
What a beautiful thing this is in his sight!

In 2 Kings 20:5 we learn of tears of sorrow or suffering.
In Genesis 33:4 we learn that there are tears of joy.
In John 11:35 we learn that there are tears of compassion.
In Esther 4:1,3 we learn that there are tears of desperation.
In Isaiah 42:14 we learn there are tears of travail or giving birth.
In Joel 2:12, 13 we learn there are tears of repentance.

These are indeed a great weapon in spiritual warfare.
For this is the warfare of faith, and of brokenness before God.
A final willingness to say God, I know you are in charge,
I give you all that I have, I pour out my sorrows before you,
in expectancy of your deliverance, hope and ultimate
openness to the will of God. A broken person has
realized their position in God, and seeks His will first.

This results in the blessings of God pouring out upon
those who wait for God.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run
and not be weary, and they shall walk and shall not faint
Isaiah 40:31

Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

Wait I say upon the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires
of thy heart.

Remember...
Only one life will soon be past
Only what is done for Christ will last

Victim or Victor?

Good Morning Everyone,

What is holding you back today?
What is keeping you from being happy or fulfilled?

Is it your circumstances?
Is it your past?
Is it lack of finances?
Is it the words of others that have wounded you,
and made you lose confidence?

Could it be your own mindset?
Could it be that the things you have allowed in your spirit
and thinking have made you feel defeated before you even
TRY to accomplish something?

What if in this premise, you never try? What if the circumstances
of your life so alter you that you cannot feel joy, cannot move
past this point, cannot forgive or find healing?

Do you want to spend your whole life in bondage to the past
or the hurts or the trials of life?

That's right... it is spiritual bondage. You are chained
to whatever you are holding on to. And you cannot move
forward as long as that chain is attached to you spiritually
and emotionally.

Is this what life is about?

Life is about success. It is about pursuing what we know
we should be doing. And people we should be loving.
Jobs we should be accomplishing. Things we should be learning.

Life is about growing, forgiving, moving forward and finding
joy and counting our blessings in each day.

Trials and circumstances are temporary and fleeting.
But our mindset should not cling to those things that weigh us
down and keep us in that world of hurt forever. The circumstances
pass, why are you still holding on to them?

I will tell you why. It is a spiritual battle to keep you from moving
on or enjoying your life or succeeding at one thing. It makes
you feel like a loser, a victim, and that you have no purpose.
It makes you give up and hide away and isolate yourself and
blame others, and feel pain from what people have said or done.

It keeps you from enjoying your life.

It is literally a choice.

You have a choice to grow, to learn, to forgive, to move on,
to pursue your dreams and goals, and to become the best person
you can be.

What do you think you were given life for? To fail?
To give up? To forever feel like a victim and not fight back
and get over it? What is your life about?

My friends, these are things we all face.

WE cannot let people control our thinking or our dreams.
We cannot let the hurts of life become our mindset.

I ask you today, to get on your knees talk to God, lay
these things at his feet one by one. Then release them,
and do not pick them back up. Make a list on a sheet of paper
of people you need to forgive and one by one do it. Make a list
of things that have hurt you, that you are holding on to, and one
by one release them. Make a list of goals, and one by one set
small steps to do some of them.

Don't give up! Don't let the hurts of life dictate to you, who you are!

You are a child of the King of Kings, called for his purpose,
forgiven by his precious sacrifice on the cross. You are beautiful
to him, you have purpose, and a job to do in his kingdom.

Don't let Him down, he needs you to get busy for his sake
and the soul of others.

And don't let yourself down. Your precious life is a gift!

Don't waste another moment on things that weigh you down
or that have no profit.

Live to succeed. And Live with goals in mind. And live
for Christ. These things are what make life worth living.

Everyone has trials, it is all in what we do with those that
makes us succeed or fail.

love always
millie

Only one life, will soon be past,
Only what is done for Christ will last.

I can do all things through Christ, who Strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

Even overcome the past!



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"Thoughts To Live By"

Should you find it hard to get to sleep tonight;
Just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.

Should you find yourself stuck in traffic; don't despair.
There are people in this world for whom driving is an
unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who
has been out of work for the last three months.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think
of the person who has never known what it's like to
love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend;
Think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve
hours a day, seven days a week, for $15.00 to feed
her family.

Should your car break down, leaving You miles away
from assistance, Think of the paraplegic who would
love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror;
Think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes
she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering;
what is life all about, what is my purpose?
Be thankful, there are those who didn't live long
enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other
people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or
insecurities; Remember, things could be worse.
You could be them!!!

Precious Lord, Hold My Hand

Good Morning Dear Friends,


Oh if only we would believe with all our heart daily
that God was God, and his mercies are new every morning.
If only we would accept his salvation, and live every day
of our lives to it's fullest purpose. If only we could share
the love of God with others, and lead them not only by
words, but by the silent sermon of our lives.

If only we could catch the fire of God within our hearts
that we might go out and bring hope to a dying world.

If only we could trust him with our burdens and walk
free in his mercy and loving care and live our lives
in that precious freedom and forgiveness, rather
than in pain and regrets and despair.

Why do we let another day go by without serving Him,
surrendering to Him, worshipping Him, clinging to Him,
and letting Him be God. What hope would fill our hearts,
how we would change how we lived, and how it would
affect everyone.. why do we neglect so great a salvation.
Why don't we take it seriously?

Nothing is more important or vital than this.
Someone may miss heaven because we missed telling them.

Only one life, will soon be past
Only what is done, for Christ will last

Love
millie

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"THE BIRTH OF THE SONG "PRECIOUS LORD"

Back in 1932 I was 32-years-old and a fairly new husband. My
wife, Nettie, and I were living in a little apartment on
Chicago's south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to
St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large
revival meeting. I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last
month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people
were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie goodbye,
clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan
breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66. However, outside
the city I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving I had
forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I
found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed;
something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on
my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the
feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd
called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down,
a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped
open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words:
"YOUR WIFE JUST DIED."

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could
hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called
home. All I could hear on the other end was, "Nettie is dead,
Nettie is dead." When I got back I learned that Nettie had
given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet, that
night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy
together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart.

For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an
injustice. I didn't want to serve Him any more or write gospel
songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew
so well. But then, as I sat hunched alone in that dark apartment
during those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I
went to St. Louis. Something had kept urging me to stay with
Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more
attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with
Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen
more closely to Him.

But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me,
especially a friend, Professor Fry, who seemed to know what I
needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to
Malone's Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was
quiet, the late evening sun crept through the curtained
windows. I sat down at the piano and my hands began to
browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at
peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I
found myself playing a melody, once the words were in my head,
they just seemed to fall into place:

"Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired,
I am weak,
I am worn,
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home."

As the Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my
spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when
we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when
we are most open to His restoring power. And so, I go on living
for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will
take me and gently lead me home.
--Tommy Dorsey

originally published in Guideposts

Held Back or Held By God?

copyright Millie Plastaras 10/17/2007

Good Morning Everyone,

Have you ever been mad at yourself for something
you have done? You felt you could kick yourself?
Or have you ever regretted something you did so
badly, you didn't know how to work past it?

Have you ever felt guilty about the way you
treated people in the past, and you felt there was
no fixing it? What if there is no second chance?
Are you going to hate yourself and feel bad the
rest of your life?

In essence you are telling yourself:
My life is a mess, I have done so much wrong, I do not
feel loved, or wanted, or even deserving of it. I have
messed up my relationships and my career, hurt my
family, nothing I do seems to turn out right.

These things, piled on top one of another, added
with other burdens we carry, produce a self
condemnation within us that become a spiritual bondage
holding us back from joy, peace, and living life to
it's fullest.

They are like a dead weight within our spirit that
weigh us down, and rob us of our joy, and most of all our
hope. Once hope is deferred, or seemingly lost,
life can seem bleak, and a very unhappy place to be.

The dictionary gives this definition of condemnation:

the condition of being strongly disapproved of; "he deserved nothing but condemnation"

My precious friend, do you feel condemned today by others?
Do you feel condemned by yourself?

Let us read this together. Therefore (there is) now
no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for
those who are IN Christ Jesus, who live and walk
not after the dictates of the flesh but after the dictates
of the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus (the law of our new being in Christ)
has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:1-2

So let me get this straight. When we are in Christ,
we are no longer condemned but forgiven? Because
we are walking after Him, seeking His ways, and not our
own? Because we are forgiven, covered by the blood
of the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.

My friend, if He can forgive us and condemnation is
lifted from us by his atoning, why are we for one minute
spending time condemning ourselves? Why do we
time after time hate ourselves for things we do,
and condemn our self to failure and self dislike
and self condemnation?

Could it be satan uses this as a tool to
effectively keep us so upset we never progress past
it and do what Christ has planned for us to do?

Recently I have had some things happen in my life,
and they were so painful, I have spent hours trying
to work past them. Asking God to shed his light on
my situation so I could see it clearly and do what was
right in His sight. To help me let go of it and move on.

After a week, of some fairly intense internal agony,
I was listening to some praise music and started praising
the Lord, and singing along with the song. Instantly
I felt that condemnation and burden lift. It was just
gone. God had removed it. And in it's place I felt
His authority rise in me. You do not ever have to
feel condemned. You do not ever need to hate
yourself. You do not ever need to feel bad about mistakes.
Learn from them, apologize and move on.

Forgive others, it is their problem what they are doing
wrong, and let God deal with them.

It doesn't matter what they think. It matters what God
thinks. It is He we account to. Not everyone will like us.
Not everyone will approve of us. Many will talk about
us, and be unkind to us. So what. Life goes on, and
we still have places to go, people to see, things to do.

We must rise in strength, with the hope of the Lord
fueling our hearts, his forgiveness and mercy new
and fresh and reviving to us each morning, and
we must be held to a higher accountability. To be
a disciple of Jesus Christ, seeking to walk in the
spirit always and not the flesh.

We are not wimpy, we are strong.
We are not in bondage we are free.
We are forgiven, not unforgiven.

Act like it!

We are not condemned, we are free.
Receive that.. and live accordingly.

Do not return to the former condemnation that
the world and your own misguided thinking flung upon
your spirit and your mindset. Shake it off and be free
by the renewal of your mind in Christ Jesus.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew
a right, perservering, and steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:9

Therefore we do not become discouraged
(utterly spiritless, exhausted and wearied out of fear).
though our outer man is decaying and wasting away,
yet our inner self is being progressively renewed
day by day.
For our light, momentary affliction is ever more
and more abundantly preparing and producing and
achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory
(beyond all measure, excessively surpassing
all comparisions and calculations, a vast
and transcendant glory and blessedness never to cease!)
2 Corinthians 4:16

We are equipped, we are beloved, we are forgiven,
we are free. Do not receive the condemnation
and loss of hope. Don't put that on yourself.
Receive a renewed mind, mercy and forgiveness
and move on in God's strength and RENEWAL daily.

We have work to do. No one you know is perfect.
Get over your past, get over your mistakes, and do
something.. positive, while you have life left in your body.

Do not fritter your days away on that which does not profit.

love
millie

Real Love Doesn't Notice Hurts

Good Morning Everyone,

It is curious that the day after I send out a devotion on what
to do if someone hurts you, I get a very hurtful and angry email
from someone in my extended family. Many of the things that
were said were rather cruel, and did not in any way fix
anything.. it merely made it worse. These thoughts echoed
in my heart through the night, and I prayed God give me
strength and wisdom to overcome this and deal with it
righteously.

Have you ever said something in haste?
Have you spoken in anger before you thought things through?

This is sure common for many of us. I can remember many
times in the past when I felt it was my duty to set people
straight and tell them how it was, and oh what harm it did.
It never accomplished one positive or good thing.
Indeed, it made it worse.

One of the greatest lessons in my life is how to not
get hurt, and hold onto things, and not take things personally.

Lately I have been bombarded with incidents like this,
and have spent much time in prayer. I feel like it is a spiritual
battle, and a growing time for me, to once and for all conquer
this and learn to let go immediately and move on.

If we do not learn spiritual lessons ourselves, it is hard to teach
on them. They become so personal and valuable when we truly
understand the intent and meaning of each lesson we go through,
and actually do something about it!

This morning let me share with you what I read in God's Word:

Love endures long and is patient and kind;
Love never is envious or boils over with jealousy
Love is not boastful or vainglorious
Love does not display itself haughtily

Love is not conceited or arrogant or inflated with pride
Love is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly.
Love (God's love in us) does not insist on it's own rights or
it's own way, for it is not self seeking.
Love is not touchy or fretful or resentful;
Love takes no account of the evil done to it
Love pays no attention to a suffered wrong.
1Corinthians 13:3-5

As I read this I thought, Love takes no notice or account
of hurtful things done to it. This then is the real love of God in us.
What a challenge! What a magnificent love!

How can any of us do this?
By striving daily no matter what happens to us
to look in the face of God and say make me right before
You, make me a light. I surrender my hurt, my will, my
internal pain to you. I will move forth in the day and let
the pain of broken and past relationships, and current unsettling
events lay at your feet. I will not carry these but let them go,
and Let Your LOVE reign in me.

This is the cry of my heart today. For those of you who
might get this, and you are holding onto things, and counting
hurts as if they were piles of pennies. Let it go.
It profits nothing. Don't set people straight, let God set
you straight. This is what makes God's love grow in us.

I am working on this today. And I praise God for the valuable
lesson I am learning.

Love
millie

The Grudge

The Grudge
copyright Millie Plastaras 10/10/2007

I held onto my grudge as if it was my friend,
I didn't let it rest, I didn't let it end,
I fed it my anger, resentment and hurt
Then fed it some more to keep it alert.

It kept eating at my spirit till day after day
the part of me that loved was fading away.
I didn't like this, I didn't like that,
this person hurt me, how dare they do that?

Everyone is at fault, everyone is to blame,
It isn't my fault they don't know how to play my game.
So I nursed all this pain, and doctored away
Watching friends one by one go astray.

I held onto my grudge as if it was my friend,
It held onto me until the bitter end.
When my funeral did come people didn't come to see,
Because all they could remember was the anger in me.

So don't let a grudge rob your life of your joy,
For it only hurts you, not another girl or boy.
Find time to let go of all that is past
And live in today and your love will always last.

For a grudge isn't a friend but a enemy severe,
And time passes quickly for those near and dear.
So love fervently and forgive people each day,
whether or not they ask you, be kind on your way.

So don't invite a grudge to be your friend,
It will follow you around till the bitter end,
It will hurt your heart, fill your eyes with tears
and fill your life with bitter, painful years.

Today is your gift invest it with joy and love
and pray your heart is clean to God above.
Enjoy what you have while you are on your way
And notice the blessings in each new day.

What To Do When People Hurt You - Let Go!

By Millie Plastaras 5/17/2005
copywritten, all rights reserved.



We have all been wounded in life.

Sometimes it is people saying unkind, thoughtless remarks.

Sometimes it is neglect.

Sometimes it is rejection.

Sometimes it is loss, or grief.

Sometimes it is when people walk out of our lives.

Sometimes it is abuse of one form or another.



Sometimes it is when people hurt us deliberately,

or make us feel unwanted.


All of these things accumulate in our spirit and become pain
in our hearts and thinking. They alter the relationships we
have and they make us forever change the way we view
other people.

A natural reaction is to set up a wall around us, keeping
people out and trying to make ourselves safe. We think
by doing this, we won't be hurt anymore. So it accumulates
inside of us like a weed, taking root, and taking over our
spirit and our thinking. Filling that place in our heart that
was meant to forgive.

In fact, this keeps us from truly ever enjoying a relationship
in it's fullest ever again. And the very encouragement
and love we need, that wall we built prohibits us from
allowing people, love or encouragement in our hearts.

Sometimes people take everything to heart so deep,
they become so wounded, they become bitter, and it
grows like a cancer within their hearts. It forever changes
who they are, and it blocks the power of God from their
lives because they have allowed bitterness to become
unforgiveness.

Bitterness takes root, and fills the spirit
with many roots, that come out in every word we say,
every deed we do, every relationship we have.

All these hard times, all these losses, all these rejections,
all these times of pain, are life's lessons. They either
make us grow bitter or better. It is simply a choice we
make at the time.

We will all have a time of grieving, of hurting, of tears,
but there has to come a point where we move on.
We all have a need for a time to work through things,
for a time perhaps even be angry or hurt, but there
must also be a time of healing.

If we never reach that point ... we are forever tied to that
person we are angry with, with an umbilical cord of pain,
unforgiveness and sometimes bitterness. We are never free of the past
it has weighed us down, and kept us a slave to the pain.
We are in spiritual bondage.

One must come to the point where they realize they are
wasting their life on pain, and are not enjoying what they do have!
All these hurts from the past are controlling us,
and keeping us from experiencing the joy and love that
is possible in this life.

My child, have you been hurt? Are you lonely?
Is your heart heavy? Do you feel no one truly understands
you or cares? Do you feel the world is passing you by?
Are you afraid to allow people in your life?

There are a few steps we can take to change this situation
and mind set in our spirit. We have to stand on the promises,
premises, and concepts of God.

For God said:

Cast all your care upon me, for I care for you.
1 Peter 5:7

We must go before His presence and bow down,
and say God, I forgive this person who hurt me.

I ask forgiveness for not forgiving them sooner.

I ask for healing from the hurt, the rejection, and the past.

I ask you to cleanse me from all unrighteousness,
all unforgiveness and help me STAND in your
strength, in your hope. Help me stay in your presence
till I feel a release from the past. Till I have peeled my fingers
off of it and let go. Till I have reached the gates of heaven
in my spirit and soared with the wings of eagles, into
the arms of God. Free of the past, free of sin, free of pain,
free of hurt.

Now .. free and fit for your work.
Free to live in today.
Free to savor life.
Free to love everyone.
Free of the pain, the relentless depth of pain that weighed us
down, and destroyed our spirit and relationships
and stole the very joy from our heart.

I hereby make a contract with you Lord that when
people hurt me again, I will give them to you, and let go
of it immediately, and declare myself free from all bondage's
of unforgiveness, anger, resentment and the need to respond
or get even. I declare myself a child of the King of Kings
and I wish to live worthy of that calling, by being all you
have called me to be.

Free in you - at last.

Nothing is worth holding onto.. that keeps me from your
presence oh Lord.

For the time being, no discipline brings joy, but seems
grievous and painful, but afterwards it yields peaceable
fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
A harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness, that is
conformity to God's will in purpose, thought and action,
resulting in right living and right standing with God.

So then BRACE YOURSELF UP, and REINVIGORATE and
SET RIGHT your slackened and weakened and drooping
hands, and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering
knees.

And CUT THROUGH and make firm and plain and smooth,
straight paths for your feet. Yes, Make them! Safe and
upright and happy paths that go in the right direction
so that the lame and halting limbs may not be put out
of joint but rather be cured.

Strive to live in peace with everybody, and pursue that
consecration and holiness without which no one will
ever see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:11:13
Amplified Bible

When you have done all you can do... STAND.
Be firm, strong, secure in Gods love for you.

Don't look back at the past and it's sorrows
and failures, look unto the new day you have
been given, love everyone fervently, forgive easily
and make your life count for something positive each day.


Remember
Only one life, will soon be past
Only what is done for Christ will last

Unbridled (unrestrained, uncontrolled) Faith

copyright Millie Plastaras 10/08/2007
Good Morning Everyone,

In this life, that is so fleeting, and passes by like a summer
cloud, it is so good, and so wise to have things we can count
on and stand firm in and find hope in. To find reliable people,
reliable hope, and a firmness within our heart that does not
give up, and is not controlled by circumstances.

Faith is a important and vital concept in the life of a believer.

The dictionary gives this definition of faith :

1. Confident belief in the truth, value,
or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence

The King James Version of the Bible mentions the word Faith
402 times in it. Faith is the cornerstone on which we connect
with God through our trust in, reliance on, and unfettered
hope in Him, and His abilities and almighty power to save,
equip, protect, and provide for us.

Here are some very defining verses about faith.

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed)
of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do
not see and the conviction of their reality -- faith perceiving
as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.
Hebrews 11:1 (amplified)

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and certain of what we do not see.
NIV

In other words Faith is believing in the absolute power and
awesomeness of God's ability and control over our circumstances
and the whole Universe, even when we cannot see one thing
happening!! We put our faith in, our trust, our reliance on
God and do not waver, we count it as truth and fact when
we do not see it in evidence.

Is your faith like that?

How do we attain that level of faith?

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17

So our faith is built when we read God's word? Why is that?
Because God's Word is from God's heart, and His word
leads us into all his truth, unfolding in our heart and
strengthening it, making it bold in Him, His promises,
His overcoming abilities and producing faith and growth
in our spiritual life.

For the word of the Lord (divine instruction, the gospel)
endures forever.
1 Peter 1:25a

By the same token, lack of the Word withers our faith
and makes us count on things that fail, and let us down,
we have no firm foundation. We quickly become
disillusioned and disappointed in life, and even bitter
because we have been counting on things and people
that let us down.

Is Faith Limited? Only by our own mind. Our faith
is not trusting in ourselves, it is trusting in God.

And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you.
Luke 17:6

So how do we find such reliable faith?

So that your faith would not rest on the
wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:5

How do we rely on God to this level of faith?
By talking to Him, by getting to know Him, by laying
your burdens at His feet, by watching what He does in your life
and others. By seeking that which is above, and not that
which is earthly. By enriching your spiritual life daily
by filling your spirit with HIS word, and by seeking Him
in all you do. Immersing yourself in Him, until you
feel the answer is on the way and your doubt no longer
controls your thinking.

Faith is unbridled hope in God. It is unfettered by our
limited thinking. Faith is reliance on God, utterly,
without reservation.

We live by what we believe, not by what we can see.
1 Corinthians 5:7
NIV

For we walk by faith, not by sight.
1 Corinthians 5:7
KJV

What happens when we cannot muster that kind of faith?

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Basically God is saying if you do not trust in me, how can I
be pleased with you? Any relationship we have that is
worthwhile at all, is based on trust and faith, that the relationship
is sound and worthy.

Let me ask you this dear friend, if you do not have faith in God,
what are you trusting in ?

How is that working for you? Are you happy?

Are you controlling your circumstances? Can your thought
processes change one thing in your life, other than your
own mind? Can you change the heart of anyone else?
Can you change your circumstances? Can you pray
the prayer for the sick and see them healed?

My dear friend if your faith is lacking, your spiritual life is.
If your faith is weak, you have been seeking solace and wisdom
in the wrong place. A christian cannot survive without daily
seeking and living in, and relying on, and finding solace
in the word of God, and in communication with God.

We all have only so much time in this life. Then eternity.
Don't waste your life on that which does not profit.
Do not give up your faith for despair.
Do not allow your circumstances to rule your life.
Do not allow people to be your source of hope and reliability.

Faith is trusting in God, not ourselves.
We can only do this if we rely on, cling to and find hope
in him every hour of everyday.

So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:7-9

Your faith Grows as you allow God to be your source. It can be a trial by fire, but it produces a faith that is more precious and secure and sustaining than any thing else this life has to offer. It is as refined gold, pure and strong and resilient.

Do not let your faith be bound by your circumstances but be unbridled (Unrestrained, uncontrolled) faith that trusts in God no matter what you are going through!

When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek."
Psalm 27:8
love always,

millie

Only one life, will soon be past, Only what is done for Christ will last.

Unfettered Hope

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is
at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory (inner self)
rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in
safety and hope.
Psalm 16:7-9

Dearest Friends,

As you wake up and face this new day, how much
hope are you feeling?

If any of you spend a lot of time watching the news, my
guess is that your hope meter runs lower because of it.
And if any of you are focusing on and worry about your
finances, or your personal problems and feeling consumed
by them, my guess is your hope is draining away.

How can hope be restored? Absolutely!

There are many ways. But the most important?
Is to recognize God is in control. We focus on everything
but that. We focus on our leaders expecting them to "fix"
everything. We focus on our friends and family to help "fix" us
when we are down. And we allow money to bring us a false
sense of security. Sometimes spending it when we don't have
it to feel better because life is so hard.

It is no wonder with this false sense of what we can
be secure in, we often feel let down and disappointed and
lose hope! We are looking at things and people who cannot
live up to the demand of restoring our hope. It isn't their job!

My dear friends, what we put into our spirit is what helps
it thrive or become ill.

We must find hope in God's word every day. It restores
our soul. I find the Psalms to be a great source of hope and
restoration to me. David was man acquainted with mistakes,
flaws and failures, heartache and grief.
He disobeyed God many times, yet
God says David was a man after his own heart. Why?
Because David always repented and sought God. He sought
Him when he knew he was doing wrong, He sought God morning
and night, and he sought God when he knew he was right before
God. David had a heart seeking God!

David sought hope and restoration through God everyday!

David wrote this:

The Lord is my shepherd
(to feed, guide and shield me);
I shall not lack.
He makes me lie down in (fresh, tender) green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
He refreshes and restores my life --
my self; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
(uprightness and right standing with Him -- not for
my earning it, but) for His names sake.
Psalm 23:1-3

Are you feeling restored?
Do you feel rested as if you laid in a bed of
soft meadow grass, comforted by the presence of God?
Do you feel right before God?

These things are vital. You cannot do without them
and expect to have inner peace if you cannot cry out to
God in all situations and rely on, cling to, trust in,
find hope in, and stand strong in God and his precious
promises and powerful abilities, far beyond our
thinking or imagination.

Now unto Him Who is ABLE to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20

Who is that power within us? God!
This power works in us according to our level of
surrender to Him. He is the only one that can
bring the restorative hope you need to face the
day with courage and a rested heart.

But you have to spend time with Him.

Hope deferred (put off) makes the heart sick,
but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Whoever despises the Word of God brings
destruction upon himself, but He who
reverently fears and respects the commandments
of God shall be rewarded.
Proverbs 13:12-12

We can count on God. Everyone else comes and
goes from our life. No one is on this earth that
will not let us down, and we will let people down.
But Jesus never fails.

Hope looks forward with constant expectation.
Despair robs hope from our very soul.Time away
from God uninterrupted, breaks that stream of hope
we all so desperately need.

Choose hope! Abide in God

love always
millie

´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·°°´·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°


Abide With Me

author: Henry F. Lyte 1793-1847
musician: William H. Monk 1823-1889

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Walking In The Light

Good Morning Everyone,

I am sure as you listen to the television you will hear
how to eat healthy many times each day. We are bombarded
with information on what is good to eat and what is not.

I am reminded that what we put into our body as food
is fuel to make our body either run efficiently, or run
poorly. We make conscious decisions to eat wisely,
or eat poorly, and that decision to eat poorly corrupts
our bodies natural processes and often turns out very
harmful to us over the long run.

This is also very true for our spiritual life, whatever we
allow into our spirit, takes root and grows like a little
tree within us, spreading it's branches throughout
our spirit, and affecting our thinking, the friends we choose,
and the way we invest our lives. It also has a huge affect
on our spiritual life. Whatever we allow in our spirit builds
our spirit or tears it down. It is either healthy for us
or destructive.

I think that many of us forget this, even in our relationships.
Who we choose to be around changes us. We become
like them to fit in with them, and they become like us by
our influence. That being said, we then either become
corrupted by them, or better for knowing them.

The Bible tells us that light cannot have fellowship with darkness.

Paul said: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret" (Eph. 5:8-12).

So you see by this, that we are either in darkness or in light.
We either walk with God, or we walk with the world.
Jesus asked us to separate ourselves from the world and
it's way of thinking, to leave fleshly thoughts and desires behind
and seek God's light and truth.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;..." II Cor. 6:17)

It is very important for you to examine yourself often to see
if the people you are getting around, the shows you are watching,
the things you are reading, are leading you TO God or AWAY
from Him.

Do not think you can be friends with darkness and not have
that darkness invade your own spirit. Darkness always cast
a shadow, and when it invades light, darkness consumes the light.
We as Christians have to be vigilant not to allow that, and to rebuke
that which is not of God, and walk in His Light and His Teachings.

Jesus said: "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God" (Jn. 3:19-21).

This verse clearly shows us, that when the truth of Jesus comes
into our life, we walk out of the darkness BY CHOICE. We start
producing fruits of the spirit that show we are a child of God,
and walking in his light. We change, we transform.

That being said, pray for those who don't know Christ, be
a witness in what you SAY and what you DO. And love them
in the Lord, but you cannot fellowship with them, or grow close,
you must be their mentor spiritually, through prayer, and intercession,
and a burden for their soul. Just as someone felt burdened for yours.

Always remember:

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

I love you in Christ dear friends, enough to tell you the truth
from God's word, just as some dear people told me. And I want
all of us to walk with Christ, and be pleasing to Him, and
be His children. And have a burden for the lost souls that
do not yet know Him and pray for them daily. This is our
calling, for each of us. To live a life surrendered to Christ
and to follow the great commission Jesus spoke of in
telling everyone we meet the precious, life changing
gospel of Jesus Christ.

love
millie

The Emerging False Church and its False Teachers

Good Morning Everyone,

One of the greatest concerns on my heart
for today's church is what is "emerging" out of it.

Many are changing God's word
into the word of men.

It is changing this
generation, along with some other powerful influences,
to not only question God, to question the validity of His
Word, but to also do away with the concept that there
are moral absolutes.

I am a Bible purist. I believe the word of God is inspired,
inerrant, God breathed, and is our instruction book. I believe
that if what someone is teaching doesn't line up with God's word
it's not of God. This is something I will not waver on
in any form.

There are moral absolutes, and there is a right and wrong.

For He will render to each one according to his deeds.
Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good
seek for glory, honor and immortality,
But to those who are self-seeking and do not OBEY
the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil,
of the Jew first and also the greek.
Romans 2:6-9

When we want to be right before God,
we first seek his salvation through Jesus, but then our life
changes, we find our inspiration and teachings in God's word
which in turn changes our life into a Godly one. We become
little by little sanctified by renewing our minds in Him,
separating ourselves from the way of the world and walking
with Christ daily. He is first. Not us, not our plans, not
our mind set, but what His Word says.

Anyone can have a opinion, anyone can say it is this way or that,
but what does God's word say? Who will we account to? Those
with opinions? Do we account to God or man?

Make no mistake, there is a right and wrong,
and we must seek the face of God and not be distracted
by churches watering down the word to satisfy the wicked
hearts of men. We cannot be drawn into the "emerging"
doctrines of churches that think everything is ok if they say it
is in the name of ecumenism and unity, at the price of our souls.

This feel good, satisfy people,
forget the concept of sin,
forget the need for salvation,
forget the eternal destination of heaven or hell,
and just be happy, and everyone is ok,
everything is ok to do if you want to, relativism,
is the road away from God and straight to Hell.

I have a striking question for you. How will you know
a false teacher, a false religion or if you are right or wrong
if you never have the discipline to study the Bible for yourself?

What if you are one of those whose questioning of God soon
makes you become the victim of a false church that satisfies men
but leaves out the power, holiness and righteousness of God?

Is it good to question, and want to learn? Absolutely!
But go to the one who has the authority to teach you the
ultimate truth of life, and the way to God.

What if you become mislead, and you mislead your family and
your children, all because you didn't take time to truly STUDY
God's word.

Folks this is serious, it is eternal, it is your soul in jeopardy,
when you allow men to rob you of God's word.

Never forget, satan's number one weapon against you is
deceit. If he can deceive your soul and rob your heart
of the truth of God's word, he can lead you down a slippery slope
into false doctrine, the words of men rather than the words of God,
and this difference can be the difference between light and
darkness, heaven and hell, salvation or eternal separation from
God.

Pray today, ask God to open your heart to His truth, and
to give you a great hunger for His word. This is needful for
all of us. Don't let anyone deceive you.

Be very suspicious about things that are favored by the world,
and understand that popularity with man is NOT
righteousness before God.
Because wickedness abounds in the hearts of men, and
righteousness is foreign to them, if they have not surrendered
all to God and sought personal righteousness and accountability
through Him.

My heart is heavy and burdened about this. It is vital we all get
it right.

Love
millie

Enter by the narrow gate (Jesus) for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are
many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing,
(hiding who they really are), but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits (by the abundance of what
they do, it will either speak of God, or speak of the world).
Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit,
but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does NOT bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.
Matthew 7:15-19

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but He who does the will of my father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not
prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and
done many wonders in your name?
And then I will declare to them, depart from Me, I never knew you,
depart from me you who practice lawlessness.
Matthew 7:21-23

A person can be a minister, or teacher or preacher, or even
priest, or worker for God, and never
have truly surrendered their heart or life to Christ.
There are many such preachers
out there today, who in their greed and arrogance have
changed their ministry into one of financial gain, one of
false teachings, and one of changing Gods word to suit
their goals and what they want it to say. And in doing so
are misleading millions away from the simple gospel Jesus taught.
The gospel of the sinners heart we all have, our need for repentance
from those sins, his atoning for our sins upon the cross, and
our need for Him as a Savior.

We serve Jesus Christ, him crucified and risen the third day,
and we live by His word, and by His forgiveness and mercy.

Ask God to give you a discerning heart about ministers
and leaders, and make sure what they teach lines up with God's word.

Restorative Rest in Christ

Good Morning Everyone.


As I get older, sleep seems more evasive, and quality rest
harder to come by. I am either in severe pain, or having
asthma a great deal at night. It can be a challenging thing.
But I have to keep trying, and pursuing that goal, for I know
that good rest is so vital and restorative to our well being.

But I think a far more challenging thing is not feeling
rest in our spirit. To spend day after day, stressed and
worried is a terrible way to invest our lives. God tells us
in Hebrews 4:1-11 that we can enter into his rest. He
has provided a resting place for us.

I often think of the 23rd Psalm. I believe with all my heart
that every christian should speak that out loud at least
two times a day, with feeling, with thoughtfulness and let
it penetrate your spirit. Meditating on all it has to say to you.

My friends, we have a shepherd, who is guarding us daily.
When we are in His presence we can rest, because
He knows what is ahead, will never leave us nor forsake
us, and will take care of us no matter what is ahead.

How do we enter into that precious, sometimes elusive rest?
Well, seems to me, that if you want to visit someplace
you have to go through the door. If you want to enter
into Christ's rest, you must spend time with him.

If you were honest today, when was the last time you
turned the television or the computer off, and spent a long
time talking to the Lord, as you would a dear friend you wanted
to confide in? When was the last time you sat down and cried
before Him, and told Him all that was weighing you down?
When was the last time you told Him you loved Him, and
sat and spent time worshipping Him?

It seems to me most of us have way too many distractions
that keep us away from that perfect rest. I believe we
need to set aside time everyday to dwell in the presence of
God. Don't expect rest, if you don't ask for it, don't walk
into it, and don't receive it. You have to do that... He has
promised to do all the rest.



Much love

millie

Precious friends, do you hear that still small voice?
Enter into his presence and let Him bring you peace,
comfort, strength and rest for your weary soul.

Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed
on thee, because he trusts in thee.
Isaiah 26:3

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

It is vain for you to rise up early,
to sit up late,
to eat the bread of sorrows,
Because He gives his beloved sleep!
Psalm 127:2

Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest!
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and lowly in hear, and you will
find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-29


Trust: clinging to, relying on, believing in, having faith in,
solid rock faith that does not doubt because of circumstances.
God is not controlled by circumstances, and He is not
controlled by our limited thinking. He is Almighty God,
the Great I Am, I Am whatever you need.

All He is... Is all you will ever need.

Can I Truly Know I Am Saved?

Can I Truly Know I Am Saved?
copyright Millie Plastaras
9/28/2007

Good Morning Everyone,

Often in my devotions I try to remind people what it
means to be born again.

Why? It is the most important decision of your life.

We all must be born
again, according to what Jesus said to Nicodemus in
John 3:3: Jesus answered and said to Him,
"Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Born again, occurs when one recognizes they
are a sinner and wants to do something about it.
They know that Jesus died for those sins ,and if
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9.

Recently I have heard many arguing over salvation
and many who say even though they believe they are
saved, they will not know for sure until after they die.

What is their faith based on then? Their thinking?
Their opinion if they are good enough? Their opinion
if they have done enough good things?

I am appalled by this declaration. Either Jesus finished the work
on the cross or He did not. We, ourselves cannot do the work
of the cross, we cannot save ourselves! Why did Jesus
need to come and die if we could save ourselves?

I want you to look at a
few verses, so that you can see to truly understand that
we can know we are saved today.. we don't have to wait
till we die to feel that assurance and rest in God's ability
to save us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

First when we repent, we are truly sorry enough to quit
our sins, that is what repentance means.


"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death."
2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow and conviction make us feel sorry for our sins
and want to repent of them. This repentance and Godly sorrow in
our heart bring about confession from our mouth of those sins
to God through Jesus Christ, whose blood on the cross cleanses
us from sin.

What happens when we repent?

So repent -- change your mind and purpose; turn
around and return to God that your sins may be ERASED,
(blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing
may come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:19

When you repent, you mean business, and you do all you
can to turn away from former habits. You seek to be a new
person in Christ, by reading his word, attending a Bible teaching
church, and learning new habits, and new thinking in Christ.
You become a disciple of Christ!

Does being a Christian give us a license to sin, because
we are already forgiven? I have to emphatically say no.
When we become a Christian, we are no longer our own,
we are bought with a price - the precious blood of Jesus.
This means we change, we don't want to sin, we want to
please God.

So once we confess those sins, are we perfect? No person
is perfect, we are forgiven! For those of you who think
you can work your way to heaven, no person in the world
has ever been good enough to do that, that is why Jesus came!

He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness
which we have done, but because of his own pity and
mercy, by the cleansing bath of the new birth
(regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, and He did
this in order that we might be justified by HIS GRACE by HIS
FAVOR, wholly undeserved, that is that we might be
acknowledged and counted as CONFORMED to the divine
in will and in purpose, in thought and in action; and that
we might become heirs of eternal life by our hope (in Christ)
Titus 3:5-6

So, even though we are unworthy, can God really forgive us?

Therefore there is now NO condemnation, no adjudging guilty
of wrong, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live not after
the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the spirit.
Romans 8:1

Ok, so now we have repented,
we know it is Jesus finished work on the cross,
His blood that cleanses us,
not our own work that cleanses us.

We are sufficient in God, because of Christ,
how do we know we are really saved?

It is very clear cut. Here is a verse that makes clear
who is God's and who is not.

He who possesses the son of God has life, he who does not
possess the son of God does not have that life.
1 John 5:12

So how does one possess the son of God? Through belief
in his salvation and atonement on the cross! Through
confession of our sins, and receiving that great salvation
of Jesus Christ. WE ask him to forgive us, cleanse
us, be our Lord and Savior, and then we walk with Him
daily seeking to please Him in all we say and do.

How then can we truly know we are saved?

These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the son of God, that you may KNOW that you have
eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of
the son of God.
1 John 5:13

WE can have confidence in God's ability through Jesus Christ
atonement on the cross for our sins. God did this, through Jesus
our job is to receive it. If we receive it, we must believe it,
cling to it, walk by it, talk by it, live by it, find strength in it,
grow in it, and shine in it. We are new creatures in Christ,
no longer our own, the old passed away, behold all has become new.

Cleansed
Redeemed
Forgiven
New
Beloved
A child of the King of Kings.

He alone is Trustworthy
His ways higher than our ways
His thinking Higher than our thinking
His forgiveness and grace beyond our understanding.

WE can trust in, rely on, and cling to God.
He sent his son to do the work on the cross,
now we being new in him work for his kingdom
not to attain that kingdom but to please Him.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by our faith in
Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of
the law NO MAN IS JUSTIFIED.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live
but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me, I do NOT set aside the GRACE OF GOD; for if
righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
Galatians 2:16, 20,21

My dear and precious friends,

If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

Just trust Him. Just confess your sins, trust in His ability to save, and go out and live for Him by what He teaches us to do in His Word and walk the walk and talk the talk because He dwells richly in you by HIS MERCY AND HIS GRACE.

You are His child...live like you believe it, receive it.

Love always

millie

Practice What You Preach

Good Morning Everyone,

As people of faith, when we say that we are, we are
declaring to the world, we not only know God, but
live for Him and trust Him.

My question to you today, is do you practice what
you preach?

I often hear people arguing over the doctrine
of works versus faith. Yet the very people who spend
the most time discussing it, rarely are the ones
out doing the works, they just enjoy arguing.

To what profit?

The profit should be for the kingdom of God. What does
God want from us? He wants those who preach and teach
the gospel to live of it. He wants honest, trustworthy people
who have surrendered their will to Him, and seek each morning
what HE would have them do.

He wants us to tell everyone we meet that He sent his only
begotten son to die for our sins. And that to receive this
gift of salvation we must repent of those sins, walk away
from them (showing true repentance) and seek to be His
disciple daily.

How do we do this? We read his word, we let it seep into our
spirit, take root and grow so that when we talk to people we
can give a sound reason of why we believe what we believe.

So, my precious friend, how does your life line up with this today?
Have you spent time in prayer this week? How long? 5 minutes?
Did you ask Him for help or spend time praising Him and talking
to Him too? Did you open your Bible and seek the precious
wisdom and comfort and strength found within its pages?

My dear friend, don't neglect your spiritual life, 100 years from
now, nothing you have done will be remembered or stand, except
what you did for God. Makes it so clear that our life is a investment.

We must keep this in mind, and truly walk the walk that Christ
talked about, and speak the words that are pleasing to Him,
that profit his kingdom, for his glory, and bring his gospel to
the world around us, not only in words, but by the way we
act and speak.

Love always
millie

PS. When you say you trust God...act like you really believe it.
Otherwise, why would anyone want your faith? Great question isn't it?
It is God who is faithful, not us for sure. Seek that which is above
not that which is earthly.

Only one life will soon be past,
Only what is done for Christ will last.

So I say that we have courage. We really want to be away
from this body and be home with the Lord. Our only goal
is to please God whether we live here or there, because we
must all stand before Christ to be judged. Each of us will receive
what we should get -- good or bad -- for the things we did in this
earthly body.
2 Corinthians 5:8-10


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"Practice What You Preach"

You can know all the scriptures,
Have all the bibles you can reach,
But when push comes to shove
Do you practice what you preach?

Anyone can go to church
And collapse on the floor,
But when Judgment Day comes
Will you be at Heaven's door?

You can have the biggest of fits
And say the Holy ghost passed through,
But is that really reflected
In the things you do?

You can yell far and wide
Proclaiming your love for Christ,
But what have you given him
When for you He gave his life?

You can lecture others
About the wrong things they do,
But before you look at others
You need to look at you.

You can damn all the sinners
Tell them they're headed south,
But what have you done lately
Besides run your mouth?

You can call yourself a Christian
Spend all your days at church,
But while you are praising His name,
Have you been doing the Lord's work?

You can boast of good deeds
To show us the spirit is within
But why show it to us?
You should show it to Him!

You can memorize the bible
Know it from front to back,
But you don't use it to regulate others
Regulate how you act!

Take a good look at yourself
Not at what others do,
Because when He comes to get his children ...
Will He be coming for you too?
--Author Unknown

On Being Grateful

Good Morning Everyone,

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily LOADS US with benefits.
The God of our Salvation.
Psalm 68:19

As I read this verse this morning, I thought about how very
ungrateful most of us are. We don't notice the benefits,
we notice what we think God SHOULD be doing in our own
way of thinking.

God you need to pay my bills off.
God you need to make everyone like me.
God you need to make my job stress free.
God please make all my kids perfect.
God let me have perfect health all my life.
God I do not want any problems.
God please make my life a rose garden.

Where in is the respect and honor for God no matter what our
circumstances are? Where is the counting our blessings and
not our sorrows?

I have to say, almost everyone I know, including myself is guilty
of this. We fight this battle in our mind daily thinking and dwelling
on what we do not have, and what we think we should have
and not even noticing what is within our hands that we do have!

My precious friend do you have a ungrateful heart?
Is it prospering you? Do you feel peace? Do you feel thankful
no matter what your circumstances?

Are your circumstances controlling your thinking?
Or is your faith ruling your thinking?

Profound thoughts aren't they? These are needful things
we need to address daily.

Dear God, please give me a heart of thanks. That I may
look around me daily and thank you for the many benefits
that I do have. For your loving care over me, for loving me
and sending your son to die for me. Thank you that I have
a change of clothes, more than one meal today, and a roof
over my head. Many in the world do not have this.
Thank you that I live in a country where I can go to the church
of my choice and worship you freely. Thank you for your precious
Word to guide me daily. Thank you for forgiving my sins. Thank
you for all the times you have worked through my circumstances
to bring good out of evil. Thank you for the provision and love
you have always given me.

I give you all the praise and honor and glory and humble
myself before you in praise and worship.

Help me to be a light with a thankful heart, so people long
for a relationship with you, and not run the other way because
I am always upset or always in despair.

Help me to be a overcomer, and not feel sorry for myself one
more hour of one more day.

In Jesus name,
Amen

love always
millie

When a persons steps follow the Lord, God is pleased with
his ways. If he stumbles, he will not fall, because the Lord
holds His hand. I was young, and now I am old, but I have never
seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food.
Psalm 37:23-25

Under His Wings

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you
before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the
only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Jude 24

How many of you remember that commercial about the lifeline
device where a elderly lady falls and then pushes on this device
and says I have fallen and I cannot get up. Although these circumstances
are not funny, over the years many have used that phrase in various
ways to find humor in their circumstances.

I was thinking tonight about the times we feel like we have fallen and
cannot get up. When we become so weary that we feel like we cannot
take another step.

The times when our heart cries out within us, oh God help me,
I don't know which way to go. I feel lost, I need comfort, I need direction,
I need help!

Have you ever felt lost in your own world? As if it was unfamiliar and
strange? The times when your circumstances seem so hard and lonely
you almost feel like you are living in a alternate universe? Because it
seems like unfamiliar territory.

I am here today to declare to you, that you are human, and these feelings
happen to all of us. But when we fall, and feel we cannot get up God says:

We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated.
We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We
are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes but we
are not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NCV

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of
the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress in my God
in whom I trust." For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler,
and from the deadly pestilence, He will cover you with his pinions (wings),
and under His wings you will find refuge, his faithfulness as a shield
and buckler. Psalm 91:1-4 ESV

My friends, God said He will hide you under the shadow of His wings,
like a mother bird does to her babies, we are hidden, covered,
and protected. But we have to abide there, and trust Him,
and not be afraid. We have to cling to, rely on, find strength and hope in
Christ.

We cannot allow our circumstances to rule our thinking.

We must allow the promises of God to be our shield and buckler.
Our defense, our hope, our strength, our comfort.

We are never alone. You are not facing your circumstances without
your heavenly Father, He said He would never leave us or forsake us!
Cling to Him, abide under his wings, until it is safe to come out
and face this world again, with renewed vigor and strength from
time alone in the presence of your Father God.

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.


Isaiah 25:4

He is not only able to keep us from falling, but to present us faultless
before the throne of God as we close in with Him, daily, grow
closer, surrender our problems and our will, and abide under His
wings, in His strength, and cling to His promises, speaking his
word and finding comfort in it.

Just trust, and abide under the Shadow of the Almighty,
where you are safe and cared for.

Love always
millie


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God's Wings

A little something to put things in perspective...

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided an interesting picture of God's wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." (Psalm 91:4)

Finding The Way Home

Good Morning Everyone.

Do you know how to find the way home?
If Jesus came back tonite, are you ready to go?
If he came back, and you did not go with Him,
would you know how to find the way home to Him?

This is the most important question of your life.
Who is Lord of your life, and if it is not Jesus, do you
know the way to Him?

Sometimes on life's journey we take the wrong road.
A detour, far away from God, and into a place we really
didn't know would be like it turned out. And sometimes,
because of that detour, it is very hard to find our way back.
Sometimes many temptations and trials are along the way
to discourage us and distract us.

The wonderful news is.. we have a good shepherd, who
is waiting for us to come home. To nurture us, dust us off,
clean us up, and lead us beside still waters. A loving,
kind shepherd, who knows us as is, and yet loves us
anyway. Where else in this life, will you get that reception?

My friend, if you don't know Jesus as your Savior,
if you don't know the way back home, and you have
strayed from His arms, or have never been to Him,
let me lead you to His arms. Jesus longs to be with you
and lead you through the hard and good times of this life.
He promises to never leave you nor forsake you.

All you have to do, is find the way to cross, bow before it,
and confess your sins to Jesus Christ.
One by one, tell him confess each sin you remember you have
done, and ask forgiveness for each thing. Ask Him to
remind you of things you don't remember, so that you might
confess them. Ask Him to come in and cleanse you from
all unrighteousness, and be your Savior. He will, the
minute you confess your sins and ask. Then turn from
your old life, and old sins, and walk a path that shows
you are repentant, and want to walk in God's path now.

Get into a Bible believing, Bible teaching church. Don't neglect
it, it is how you grow in the Lord. Take time to read the
Word daily, and talk to God often, as you would a trusted
friend. This will lead you down a wonderful path.
You will never be alone again.

Love
millie

That if thou shall confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus,
and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you shall be saved.
Romans 10:9

If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and
the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He will
forgive our sins and cleanse us from all the wrongs
we have done.
1 John 1:8-9


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I CAN MAKE IT FROM THERE

The story is told of the little boy that had wondered away from his home, not paying attention to where he had wondered to as he followed his dog until he noticed that his surroundings were no longer familiar to him. His eyes welled up with tears, his little heart filled with fright. Directly, his emotions were no longer controllable. He stood on the corner, sobbing uncontrollably.

Soon, a police officer noticed the young boy crying. He approached the little fellow. "What is the matter, son?"

Through his tears and sobbing, the little boy said, "I'm lost! I had followed my dog away from home and now I'm lost!" and sobbed all the more.

The police officer knelt down beside the little one and gently said, "Son, not to worry. I'll help you get home."

The little boy took a step backward. The police officer gently said, "I'll not hurt you. My job is to see to it that you get safely home. Please let me help."

After a second or two, the little fellow took the officer by the hand.

"Now, where do you live? What is the name of the street?" the officer asked.

The little one looked around and said, "I can't remember the name of my street." His fear began to return.

"O.K." the police officer said. "What is your telephone number? We can call your Mom or Dad and they can come get you."

"We don't have a telephone in our house."

"Well, then, can you give me a landmark of some kind?"

"Yes," the little one said and brightened up. "Not too far from our house is a church with a high steeple with a cross on top of it. Do you know where that steeple might be?"

"Yes, I do, son."

"Well, then, please take me to the foot of that cross and I can make if from there!"

Author Unknown

Who Will Go?

Who Will Go?

copyright Millie Plastaras 9/16/2007


Dear Friends, as I sit here today pondering the passing
of a generation of great preachers,
and evangelists, and people who loved God and listened to what He asked them to do.
They went into the whole world teaching the
"real" gospel, I wonder who will rise to the occasion next?

Who will pick up that Spiritual Olympic Torch for God and
continue the journey for souls?

We have seen the passing recently of D. James Kennedy, one of the
great defenders of the faith. A man of God who not only knew the
Bible intricately, but all the languages of the Bible, who knew
all the arguments, and all the apologetics needed to respond to those
arguments. A man who gave his life for God's work. Leaving behind a
powerful legacy as a man who stood his ground for God,
with integrity and honesty, and a desire to reach everyone
he could with the gospel.

We see the Rev. Billy Graham after many years of a powerful
ministry of preaching the gospel to every nation in the world,
and is now had to slow down because of age and disease.
The once powerful man slowed by age, yet his message and
thirst for God, forever changed this generation and the one
before it. If you watch the videos of him as a young man,
no one can equal that fire burning in his heart and sermons,
and the crystal clear message
he taught around the world. So crystal clear, anyone
could understand it, and thereafter could never say, I never heard
the truth of God's word. Because Billy Graham never
compromised the word to be popular, He spoke the word of God
in clarity and with a hunger to reach lost souls. He was
and is a great fisher of men.

Many great men have passed who had the fire of God
burning within their hearts, a hunger for his word,
a uncompromising walk with God, and were not afraid
to teach of sin, hell, accountability and personal righteousness.
Who believed in the inerrancy of the scriptures and stood
as great Defenders of the Faith and ambassadors for Christ.

How many of you are depending on someone else to do it?
How many of you can say within your hearts,
I am doing all I should be for Jesus?

Does God only use great preachers, teachers and orators to reach people?

Do you hear that still small voice pleading with your heart?
My child will you do as I ask?
Will you follow me and give up everything that is not productive?
Will you seek those who do not know Christ and tell them the good news of the gospel? Are you afraid to tell people about me? Is your light hidden?
My child, if it is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost and dying without Christ.

Why are churches dying?
Why are people growing cold and far from God?

Because those of us who know him have become lazy. We have
depended on our pastor to do the work, and his staff. We become
comfortable, complacent, with the excuse that we have no talent,
we don't know where to go, and what to do to make a difference.

The Body of Christ is a community ALL working together, each
with a task, a responsibility and a accountability.

Too many churches accept that people won't volunteer
any more. Too many people have become pew sitters
and not revolutionaries for the gospel of Christ.
Pastors are afraid to preach the truth and challenge
people to get busy in the church and in their
community and Just do something!
They are afraid people will leave the church,
and that it will be even smaller.

And the churches are withering, and the world is
becoming darker and more violent because the light
that should illuminate the world is flickering by our
very inactivity, lack of prayer, lack of concern
and unsurrendered heart.

What if no one had ever told you about Christ, because they were
simply to lazy or too afraid, or too shy, or too busy?
Where would you be today?

Oh my friends, who will pick up the work and passion of those
who have gone on before us,
and go forth and tell the whole truth of God's word?

When will people get back to the simple message and life style Jesus taught?

We have strayed far from his calling, and teachings.

A new generation is rising, and many are headed in the wrong direction.
This must be a grave matter of prayer to us all.

When will today's preachers stop compromising the gospel
for the feel good preaching they are doing?
Too many are watering
down the Word of God to reach larger crowds. Too many afraid to
offend. God is not politically correct, He wants us to correct
our life of sin, through the atoning blood of Christ, and He must become
the absolute Lord and Savior of our lives,
and then we must become his ambassadors, his disciples!

It has to start with us. We have to challenge ourselves, and to wake up
to the call of Christ, and a burden for lost souls.
We have to be praying fervently everyday for the lost.
We have to be reading the word of God voraciously,
addicted to it, filling our spirits with it's words.
That we may be built up, strong, grounded, rooted in the truth
of God's word and KNOW when someone is not teaching the truth.

So we may be ready in season and out of season to tell the gospel, and the
reason for why we believe what we believe.

And those that tell, teach and preach the gospel, must live of the gospel,
and not compromise it in their lives. We have to walk the walk of integrity and truth, and talk the talk of honesty and surrender to Christ. No compromise!

Are you ready? Can you rise to that calling? Can you leave all behind
except the sweet voice of Jesus leading you?

What must I do to be saved? Repent of your sins, receive Jesus as your Savior,
leave the old life behind and become a disciple. Pick up that cross of Jesus daily and follow Him.

If you don't go, who will?
If you don't pray who will?

If you don't read the word, how will you know the truth?

Nothing is more serious and vital than this.

Only one life, will soon be Past
Only what is done for Christ will Last.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.