God lives in Heaven and is not among the people, except for the people that He lives in. You are one of the ones He lives in so GO and tell! We have contact with the ones that God is trying to reach. You have people that are in your area that need to hear of the mercy of God. You need to hear daily of His mercy. We go through our days and have problems that come up. Maybe the problems are of our own making but we have problems and they all need mercy. Sometimes the most important person that I can give God's mercy to is myself. We sometimes treat others better then we treat ourselves. I need mercy just as much as any one else does. We need to get mercy and receive mercy.

  I cannot give to someone if I do not have it. I have to have something before I can give it away. I also have to be willing to give it. Sometimes we might have something but are unwilling to part with it because of sentimental, cost factors, or maybe we need it. God has a unique plan for everything that you give away HE gives back to you. IF you give away mercy He got more. Doritos will make more chips but God will always give you more of what you gave away. Receive and give. Give not because you want to get but give because of what HE gave you. Give out of love not out of greed. Some people have heard Oh if I give this then I will get all these things, oh boy that sounds good and they start spending the harvest before they get it. IF you give to get then you have your reward.

  Mercy is God sharing his love with you and God is love. God is for you! The merciful receive mercy. The judgers receive judgment. God has no judgment without mercy. God gave you mercy in Jesus so walk in the gifts of salvation that you have in Jesus( next month I will start a series on your inheritance in Jesus so you do not want to miss it). BE merciful to others and yourself and do not focus on your failures but focus on God's righteousness which keeps you perfect in His sight!

Prayer- How often do we take the time to pray? I want to point out that prayer is not just making requests to God when we need things. Prayer is an attitude of the heart that comes out of our fellowship. Prayer should incorporate praise and prayer should be something that is a big part of our life. Prayer is an attitude. Have a prayerful attitude! Take the time to pray about things and develop the habit of not responding without soaking it in prayer.

  Jesus prayed more often then anyone else who ever lived. He rose early to pray. HE prayed in the beginning of the day, during the day and at the end of the day. HE prayed for guidance and instruction but never prayed for his needs to be met. He never prayed for others. He laid hands on eyes or spit in the ground or commanded but did not pray. He did not pray to meet his needs but expected his needs to be met and for God's power to work through Him because his life was soaked in prayer. God demonstrated more miracles through him then anyone else.

   Prayer is not a means to get but a means to give. We should pray to fellowship with God. When you look at the Lord's prayer most of it is about fellowship and praise and very little is about your needs being met. It refers to your relationship with others and God but except for one line does not mention your needs. Today most of our prayer is about us and what we need. Most of Jesus prayer was about fellowship.

  Spend time fellowshipping with God and let His presence invade your life. When God comes in the devil leaves. The devil cannot stand to be in the presence of God, we cannot stand to be in the presence of the devil. So get in the presence of God and you will not have to worry about the devil being in your life. When you focus on God then everything else comes in line. When you focus on things then you lose sight of God and what He wants to do in your life. Walk in the attitude of prayer and let the love of God shine abroad brightly in your life.

Dear Friends,

                     today I want to talk about resting. I want to talk about how we need rest and how that we can rest in Him. YOU can rest in Him for HE did the work. You do not have to do the work for Christ did it for you. Jesus did not come to show you how to live a good Christian life. Jesus came to be the way so that by His work you can rest and live victoriously because of Him. He is your victory! You have no victory apart from Calvary. You do not need to strive to perfect your flesh for your flesh was already crucified on Calvary. God crucified your flesh because there was nothing else He could do with it. Your flesh deserved death and at the cross it died, so God sees it as being dead and does not see your sin but sees your Eternal Substitute and has put you in His body. Christ in you the hope of Glory. He is your head and you are part of His Eternal Body, so when God says He is pleased with Jesus then HE is saying HE is pleased with you.

   He made you well pleasing in His sight. You can rest in that. You can rest in His provision and in the fact that you have no fears for God is with you. When God says do not fear he says it 365 times in the Bible, one for every day of the year. God is not mad at you. God is for you. God loves you! God is pleased with you and therefore you are considered to be a commandment keeper and cannot break the law. The law was kept for you by Jesus so God finds no fault in you. 

  Do you see yourself this way or do you see yourself by religious thinking and dogma? Rest in God! Rest in what HE did for you! He did not need to become righteous or holy for He was already perfect and had no sin! He came to earth not for what He would get out of it but because of what you needed from it. He came for you!

   Take time every day to remind yourself of whose you are and what you have in Jesus. Remind yourself of the blessings that God gave to you. Remind yourself of the victories that you have had in your life. Focus on your joy., Focus on all the good things that God is constantly giving to you and rest in the eternal provision of God. Let your ministry come out of your provision, instead of letting your provision come from your ministry. We try to get our provision from our ministry, to be blessed because we ministered; instead let God minister to you and let the ministry be first to God so that your provision will be from what God gave you and not dependent on man. Your ministry needs to be dependent on what God gave you and not on what men give you. Become God focused not man focused.

  I hope that you can rest in Him and in all that He gives. Remember to take some time for yourself so that you do not become to tired, or that you do not become so worn out. Take time to be ministered to from the Lord and let others minister to you.

  Bless others and may God become a minister to you and you become a minister to God. May this word enrich you and may you be enriched by all that is on this church site at www.wordofgracefellowship.com and may you constantly go there to be uplifted by His grace. Walk in love and may you speak of His righteousness all the day long. Grow in His grace for He will keep you, so trust in Him and submit to those who He has put as your overseers and mentors. Go with God today!