He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

"When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”   (Luke 3:21-22 NKJV)

"O God, whose Only Begotten Son has appeared in our very flesh, grant, we pray, that we may be inwardly transformed through Him whom we recognize as outwardly like ourselves.  Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen. "

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Ask according to God’s will and you will receive

"And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.   And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us."  (1John 5: 14 -  15  TLB)

Jesus knows what we need and when we need it. When you pray, bear this in mind.  The key to effective prayer is to ask according to the will and plan of God for your life.  Why waste time asking for what you will never receive?  No mother gives a cup of poison to her young child when he asks for ice cream.

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If you believe, all things are possible

"Every God-begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world's ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God."
(1 John 5:4 MSG)

Faith is more precious than gold and silver.

"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."
(John 1:12 NLT)

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Love of God and love of Neighbor - 2 sides of the same Coin

"Beloved, we love God because He first loved us."  (1John 4: 19 RM)

In what does God's love for us consist?

God is patient and long-suffering with us.  He is kinder than a mother.  He is not very demanding, nor is He irritable and touchy.  He does not rejoice in our failures.  He believes in us and always expects the best of us no matter what.  He does not flaunts  His mighty power. (Cf: 1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7)

Love of God and love of neighbor are two sides of the the same coin.

"If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"
(1John 4:20 NKJV)

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There is no room in love for fear.

"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.   No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us."
(1John 4:11-12 NLT)

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self - seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)

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Lord Jesus, You make my inheritance and my future utterly secure.

"This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."   (1John 4:10 NLT)

"What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]  He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?"  (Romans 8:31-32 AMP)

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Don't believe everything you hear

"My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world." 

"Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!"
(1 John 4:1- 3 MSG)

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The 3 Wise Men saw Baby Jesus in impoverished surroundings and worshipped Him.

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
(Matthew 2:2 NLT)

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
(Matthew 2:10-11 NKJV)

The three kings from the East recognized the divinity of Jesus in very humble surroundings.  LORD help us to walk by faith and  not by   the evidence of our limited senses.

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Keep trusting in that original promise of Jesus

Believe and keep believing the original promise of Jesus that got you hooked to Him.  For me,  it is this:  "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."   (Matthew 6: 33  KJV)

"So keep on believing what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will always be in close fellowship with both God the Father and his Son."  (1John 2: 24  TLB)

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Accept God’s Gracious Blessings

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

"May the LORD bless you and protect you.   May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you.  May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.’   

Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”
(Numbers 6:22-27 NLT)

May our gracious Father make His face  shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you and your family every single day in 2016. Happy New Year!

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What return shall I render to God for all His blessings in 2015?

December 31:  Recall God's blessings in 2015 and thank God with all your heart ♥.

"Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.  These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us."
(1John 2:18-19 NLT)

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
(John 10:27 NIV)

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Whoever does the will of God remains forever!

The more we crave for the world and its goodies the less we love God.

"Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world — wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important —has  nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him.

The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out— but  whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
(1 John 2:15 -  17  MSG)

This world is not our home 🏡.

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Simeon took Jesus in his hands and blessed Him.

Are you actively waiting for the consolation of the Church?

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,  awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him."  (Luke 2:  5 RM)

"Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.”   (Luke 2: 29 - 32 RM)

The pure joy of answered prayer is unbelievable!

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Mary, Joseph and Jesus as migrants in Egypt

Mary, Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt as refugees.  Welcome the stranger.

"After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”   (Matthew 2:13 NLT)

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The Holy Spirit in our hearts confirm who we are.

"Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.  And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.   

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.

Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us."   (1John 3:21-24 NLT)

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Into Your hands I commend my spirit.

 “When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say at your trial, for you will be given the right words at the right time.  For it won’t be you doing the talking — it will be the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you!"  (Matthew 10: 19-20 TLB)

"Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.  But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him.  None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke."   (Acts 6:8-10 NLT)

"As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  (Acts 7: 59 NABRE)

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Today is born our Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord.

"God was incomprehensible, unapproachable, invisible, and hard to imagine.  He became man, came close to us in a manger, so that we could see and understand him."
(St.  Bernard of Clairvaux)

"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people."
(Luke 2:10 AMP)

Glory to God in the highest and Merry Christmas 🎄 to you, family.

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I will give you rest from all your enemies.

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal, sun of justice:  come and shine on those who dwell in the darkness and in the shadow of death.

"The LORD said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant. I have sworn this oath to him:   ‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever; they will sit on your throne from now until eternity."

"My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him, and by my authority he will grow in power.

"And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation."
(Psalm 89: 3-4, 24, 26 NLT)

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I stand at the door and knock.

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

"He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD."
(Malachi 3:3 NLT)

"Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths.
Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long."  (Psalm 25: 4-5 NABRE)

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My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church; come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

“Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD.  I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request."   (1 Samuel 1:26-27 NLT)

"She who had no children has become the mother of seven; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow."   (1 Samuel 2:5 BBE)

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