In The Potter's Hands

 "In The Potter's Hands"

As the Potter molds the clay, so the

Lord forms His child

From the dust of the earth we have come,

for only a little while

It's a battle of the will in life's long

and weary journey

But not for the one who yields, to

the Lord preferring

The time on the "wheel" can be pleasant,

filled with joy and blessing

 When remolding is successful, with no steps

back or digressing

The potter kneads the clay with strength,

but gently shapes His creation

It's a labor of love, to prevent the clay's own 

demise, and disintegration

The smoothing, mashing, scraping and

formulation 

Begins to rise to the concept of the 

Master's postulation 

The clay becomes a shining light, a worthy

sight for all to ponder

A form of beauty and no more clay, but

now a vessel of honor.

                                                                              By Sheryl Fowler

                                                  (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                             PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Deuteronomy 32:2

"America Under Siege"

"They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom."  (Deuteronomy 32:28)  This scripture was speaking of Israel at the time, but it has a deafening application for America today!  The greatest Nation in the world is under siege.  We are being attacked from without, and perhaps the most terrifying thought of all  ... from within!

                                                          

                

                    WISDOM

America is under siege, because she has removed Almighty God from schools; *37 years after Roe v. Wade, 50 million babies have been aborted; America has left the Godly precept of the creation of Adam and Eve, the natural union of man and woman; *a new poll has found that 51% of Americans agree with this statement: "it is necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country safe from terrorism;" *Bishops are warning that the new: "Equality Bill" being considered by the U.K. government will force Christianity underground ...; and lastly, *a Christian preacher was arrested some time ago when his toe inadvertently brushed the grass of a public school lawn." 

                

                                                  COUNSEL

The American dollar is disintegrating and steady, strong America is losing her balance under enormous, strangling debt.  Yes, we need the "Counsel"  of an Almighty God who knows all things and we need leaders who seek His face.  Our past President Bush said he prayed every day for guidance.  "In God We Trust" is a 'statement' now, more than a heartfelt belief.  What can we do?  Stand!  Pray!  The Lord told us what to do clearly, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

America "the Beautiful" is losing its beauty.  Why?  What is happening?  It's time to get back to our roots, America!  This Nation was founded on Godly principles, by praying God-fearing people.  Rulers in earth are not omnipotent; only God Almighty, Jesus Christ our Lord, is omnipotent.  It's time to look up, stand up, pray up, buck up, shore up, and "read up" the Holy Word of God, the Bible.  God's Word tells us the future.  Some things cannot be stopped; they are prophecy in the making, but we can prepare our hearts, our minds, and our souls ... for our own departure, and the departure of every soul with whom we come in contact,  for the Rapture of the Church (Revelation 4:1; I Cor. 15:52 and I Thessalonians 4:16-18)

"Hear our prayers, O Lord; we turn from our wicked ways; we seek your face.  Help us to change laws, restore Godly principles to every function of our government; help us to elect Godly leaders who will support, defend and love Israel, and who will enact and uphold Godly morals in our schools and public places.  We humble ourselves before You and we ask for Your anointing, Your power, Your direction and intervention to accomplish Your perfect Will in the earth; Your guidance to lead us to, and bring salvation to, every honest hearted soul on this planet.  Bless us, we pray, and shine down Your Glory on America once again; bring the greatest outpouring and revival the world has ever seen.  Bless, we pray, our fighting soldiers, who sacrifice their all for this great Nation, and comfort the families who have lost loved ones for our freedom.  We honor the Warriors!  We ask all these things, by the Name of Jesus, the Word of Jesus, and the Blood of Jesus. Amen!

PS:  Lord, We acknowledge that Wisdom comes only from God and there is no higher Counsel than You!  Amen!

                                                                                                                                             By Sheryl Fowler
                                                    (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
                                               PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

                                                                *Excerpts taken from "20 Signs That The Moral Decline

                                                               of America is Spinning Wildly Out of Control" 1-23-2010. 

Memorial Day

                                                     FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

Somebody always pays for FREEDOM!  American soldiers have fought and died for our freedom throughout the wars in the history of our Nation.  We salute you all!  You give your all; many have fought and died; multitudes are fighting and dying every day to make us free!  The sacrifice is paved in blood, sweat and tears, on the ground, at sea, in the air ... you fight, you die, you pay the cost, and we greatly honor you!

FREEDOM is not free!  Jesus Christ our Lord paid for our freedom from sin, death, hell, and the grave, with His blood, His torn, shredded, beaten body, and His life ... but He rose again; He's coming back ... and for this we can shout and say, "He that the Son sets free, is free indeed!" 

The strength of America is undergirded with the most powerful and beautiful words of all, "In God We Trust," and in the bravery and courage of our fighting men and women in every area of our armed forces.  We are a Nation built on the foundation of Godly principles, prayer, and armies willing to defend this foundation!  

                                            Hands That Pay The Price!

               There are always "hands" that pay the price for all of us!

                                             Hands That Pay The Price!

Hands that pay the price always leave a trail of blood!  We still feel the sin-bought, blood-stained hands of our lovely Lord Jesus Christ, and we feel the impact of the hands that bled in every war for our Nation's freedom.  People who fight on the battlefields understand freedom perhaps better than any other human.  They risk their lives for others, for their country, and for their God.  They are Heroes of the highest degree!  Many come back as "Wounded Warriors," with lifelong scars of the battles fought.  Most often, they do not complain; they are proud for having given themselves for a higher cause.  They are, indeed, Heroes!
 

 

 

                                                      

The Lord Jesus Christ honors "soldiers"  of every kind; soldiers who fight for our country, and soldiers who fight for the faith.  They are actually "one of a kind;" to fight for the belief of one's country's freedom and to fight for the freedom to believe in a true and living God, are beliefs of faith.  Both are warriors for the cause of freedom!

We honor you, Warriors past and present; we salute you, and we bestow upon you the greatest gratitude, and the highest honor due to all "who lay down their lives for a friend."  You great people have the grandest and most notable of titles: "SOLDIER." 

                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                    By Sheryl Fowler
                                                   (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
                                              PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Philippians 2:5

"INSPIRED"

You are who you think you are; you can do what you aspire to do; you can be who you imagine you can be "if" you have the motivation, drive, and work ethic.  But, being "inspired" is a tour into an unknown place, and for this article, it's called the Mind of Christ.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."  How does one acquire the mind of Christ?  How does one think in the universal, creative, galactic impetus of Almighty God?  First and foremost, we must be filled with His Spirit.  Then, we must be baptized in His name.  You say, "How does being baptized attribute to inspiration?"  Glad you asked...  We have to become a "new creature in Christ;" how can we think like, be inspired by, receive divine inclinations, if we are full of sin?  The old nature must be washed away to become a vessel of holiness and purity.  The Lord God desires to live in a holy place and He plants "heavenly inspiration" in minds searching for Holy things. 

                                     "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

                                                                                   (Matthew 14:31)

  

When Peter tried to walk on the water, he doubted and began to sink.  But hey, at least he got out of the boat and "did" begin to walk on water.  Peter was, at that moment, "thinking like the Lord Jesus Christ!"  The mind of Christ ... "that" mind thought walking on water was normal; speaking to the winds to obey was logical; performing miracles was everyday living; and raising the dead was just the thing to do!  What route, what highway, which way do we go to get to the mind of Christ?

                                                            "After He had sent the crowds away, He went

                                                            up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and it

                                                                    was evening, He was there alone."

                                                                                    (Matthew 14:23)

The road to the mind of Christ is among the clouds, away on a mountain apart, dwelling "alone."  Not many want to take that road; very few treasure spending time in the quiet, alone with the Holy One of Israel, the holder of the soul, the Creator, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Some find it uncomfortable; they want music blaring, or others around, but the place of "divine inspiration" is cloaked in seclusion away from the crowds, where one can hear even the faintest whiff of a whisper.  And, sometimes, it requires long waits and a commitment to stay until ...

What does God think about all the time?  What is His main center of focus?  We know that Israel is uppermost in His mind, because it is "the apple of His eye;" He began there, He's coming back there, and it is His heritage.  But, what drives Him, moves Him, stirs Him, angers Him, delights Him, forces Him, saddens Him ... SOULS!  The Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived 33 years, was beaten, bled and died on a cross, rose the third day, and will come back for One reason ... SOULS!  Everything He did, does and will do; everything He was, Is, and Is to come, has its roots in human beings, His beloved creation, those He longs to save, hold, and love forever ... the dust He formed into life ... S o u l s!

If we have the mind of Christ, we will do what He did, and think like He does, which means we will bring salvation to the lost; heal the sick; perform miracles in His name; raise the dead; feed the hungry; hold the hurting; and love Israel, whom He loves. 

To do all this, we must have faith; faith is the underlying key to inspiration; "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."  (Hebrew 11:6)  What brings faith to people?  We all have some, but what causes people to come running to Jesus Christ?  In this day and time, we are competing with the height of technology in films and media. Something has to get people's attention for the work of God in the earth.  We've got it ... we're doing it ... via the mind of Christ. It's what our mighty Lord Jesus Christ would call "INSPIRED!"

                                                                                                                         By Sheryl Fowler

                                                  (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                             PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

To Everything There Is A Season

         A Season         

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                 
                                                   To everything there is a season, and so

are the days of our lives

There shall be days of joy and days

that we sorrow and cry

But, our Lord Jesus says, Little One,

be not dismayed or downtrodden

For I have gone before you and you

are not ignored or forgotten
Endurance will be your forte, a
trait that requires mastery
And molds an honored vessel into
a gilded tapestry

Look upon the trees as they bloom

with beauty and strength

So I have designed your life with a

love that cannot be quenched

Rise up now and let hope surpass

all reason

And remember, my child; to everything

there is a season.

                                                                            By Sheryl Fowler

                                                    (Visit Promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                              PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Galatians 6:8

"CHANGING PLACES"

What does the heavenly "River of Life" look like?  What does Heaven look like?  We can only imagine, but its description causes us to long for it, read about it with awe, and "sow to reap it" one day!  "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."  (Galatians 6:8)  The bottom line?  In this life, we are ever sowing ... if we are breathing; we are either sowing to the flesh, or we are sowing to the Spirit (capital "S," meaning the Spirit of God). 

When the circle is complete, we move!  Everybody lives on somewhere ... it's either Heaven or Hell ... we simply change places.  We replace earth with another "place," but we all live on eternally.  We have all of our senses still intact in either Heaven or Hell; we know this because the rich man who was in Hell in Luke 16:24, called out for Lazarus to dip his finger in cool water to cool his tongue, because he said he was tormented in the flame.  The rich man changed places!

 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift

of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

(Romans 6:23)

Another definition for "death" is really just "changing places."  The word "web" means: a complex structure or design, which is a good explanation of Heaven and Hell; it's complex to us, because none of us has ever been there.  So, we could call "death:" moving to a different "web" site; taking a trip to a foreign destination; going on an eternal leave, or just "changing places."  However, we want to look at it; it requires planning, preparing, and sowing so that our crop comes up in the right place!

"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead

is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will

also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,

who lives in you." 

(Romans 8:11)

Spirit is with a capital "S" in the above verse, and it is this Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, that fills us, and we will speak with other tongues as the spirit gives the utterance.  (Acts 2; Acts 19)  The Bible says that we don't know what to pray sometimes, so when we are praying in the Spirit, or in other tongues, we are speaking directly to God.  It is this Spirit in us, which will raise us to meet our Lord in the air at the Rapture of the church.  (Romans 8:11)  That is why it is essential that all believers be filled with the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.  You say, I have His Spirit, but I have never spoken in tongues."  There is more for you; see Acts 19.  This is all about sowing to the Spirit and preparing to "change places."  

Romans 8:9 states it best about being filled with the Spirit, "You, however, are contolled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."  This is why our Lord wants to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, Joel 2:28, so that we will all be "equipped" to be raised to meet Him in the air at the glorious day when the dead in Christ will rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with Him in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord!   

                                "Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit

                                                            of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

                                                                                        (Romans 8:2)

Sowing and reaping are understood laws of God; no matter what we sow, we will eventually reap the consequences of that seed.  You could say life is a boomerang; whatever we throw out there, it's going to come right back to us.  You say, "Well, I see people who are kind, living for God, filled with the Spirit, and all kinds of bad things happen to them."  It's not over yet!  The rain falls on the just and the unjust.  And ... when we get to heaven, we will see all the times the Angels of God protected us from danger and destruction; all the times the saints of Almighty God were blessed with "unseen" blessings; all the times the "seemingly bad car trouble" kept us from a severe wreck further down the road; the times something happened here to spare us there ... It's not over yet!

Sow, children, Sow, ... Sow to the Spirit of Jesus Christ; sow in fields of righteousness for His name's sake; sow in crops of souls; sow the gifts of the Spirit in lost empty vessels; sow your talents in Zion to reap in the New Jerusalem; Sow  ...   the Lord Jesus Christ will do the sifting ... and, if we sowed to the Spirit  ...

For all those who quesion the validity of the Bible, or who just don't buy all this "religion stuff;" it comes down to this.  It's very simple; there are only TWO destinations, whether you believe it or not  ...  and, one day every single one of us will "change places."

                                                                                                                                              By Sheryl Fowler

                                                  (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
                                             PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

Ephesians 5:14

"WORLD AWAKENING"

The world is in for a "visitation!"  It's time, O Nations, to awake, arise, look up, and view your Creator, Jesus Christ our Lord!  When the world becomes "wide awake," the Spirit of the Lord will descend with miracles, signs and wonders, and inhabitants of planet Earth will behold the presence of the One who's coming back!  Awake, for Christ will shine upon you!

    "And do this, understanding the present time. 

The hour has come for you to awake from your slumber,

because our salvation is nearer now than when we first

believed."  (Romans 13:11)

Some may think we are living in the most treacherous times of the history of the world, but when it's the darkest, it's the brightest, because God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh very soon, (Joel 2:28), and His Glory will "enlighten" the world!   The Saints of the Most High God will not go limping through the pearly gates; we will burst through with shouts of triumph, and we will have joined hands with all the nations of the world!  "Awake" O weary one, mount up with wings and fly; sing for Joy; wave your arms in victory; proclaim the day of the Lord; and let your light Shine before all men!  

You say, "I just don't feel that victorious; you don't know my trials; I've lost everything."  We don't walk by feelings; we walk by faith!  I've had times in my life where I lost "everything" too, and dear one, you will make it!  We must keep our eyes on the prize, Jesus Christ our Lord!  When we go up in the Rapture of the church, or when we die; we will take nothing of this earth with us.  Things, possessions, material relics, are not what is important ... our relationship with our Maker, our God, our Creator, our Lord Jesus Christ is the most important thing of all.  When we "awake," this becomes clear to all of us!  This world is not our home, we're just'a passin' through!

                       "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,                         

and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

(Isaiah 60:3)

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."  (Matthew 24:14)  There will be no excuses when the end comes; all will have heard!  God has an appointment with "all nations!"  The Lord is not willing that any should be lost or perish; it is His desire that "all" would be heaven bound!  (2 Peter 3:9)  The Lord says, "Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."  (Matthew 11:28)  O Nations of the world, Jesus Christ will take you in His arms and wipe away your tears.  Be filled with His Spirit and baptized in His name and your life will never be the same; you will experience "Joy unspeakable and full of Glory!" 

                              "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other."

(Isaiah 45:22)

There is "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism!"  (Ephesians 4:5)  God is calling all nations unto Him, a final call, a call to repentance, a call to holiness, a call to the redemption, which was paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ, with His blood, His death, and His resurrection.  He alone has done this for you and He alone is God!

What a day of rejoicing; we have lived to see a "World Awakening!"

                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                        By Sheryl Fowler

                                              (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                         PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)