NOW Is The Time...It's Ready!!!

Well, the season has come and much prayer has already gone up before the Lord for this, so it is TIME…

“Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.  ³⁵ Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.  ³⁶ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.  ³⁷ And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.  ³⁸ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” John 4:34-38

Brothers and sisters, truly the field is VERY ripe and ready for harvest, but the question is where are the reapers? I believe many people still think as did the ones who desired to follow Jesus but had other things occupying their time and energy, which they regarded as more important than God’s own command to them. (Luke 9:57-62)

Beginning this Monday, January 28, Lord willing me along with the IBLP Prison Ministry team will begin our 2 week mission of presenting the IBLP Prison Seminars to about 10 different facilities in the state of Florida. This is no small task, knowing we DO have an enemy but that our enemy IS a defeated foe under the foot of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!  PLEASE pray for us especially during the dates of: January 28^th – February 1^st and February 4^th – 8^th.

Pray that there would be NO interference with the seminars and that the Word of God would fall upon the hearts of soft soil which have been freshly plowed by the Law of God’s Word! Pray that the Kingdom of Heaven would go forward and the powers of darkness would be bound from hindering this advance. Please pray that God would give each one of us His strength, courage and grace as we face the tests and trials that He will allow to come our way to help us focus upon Him and His strength alone!

I know and look forward to the work the Lord has already begun and will do in the coming weeks!!! I will try to keep you all posted but until then, please remember “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16b

Blessings and THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

More Than Thankful...I AM BLESSED!!!

WOW...don't ever try to put God in a box, because it just won't work! ;D The Lord did so much this week  that I could probably write pages, but one thing I want you to know is that the Lord answered your prayers!!! This seminar has been one of the most difficult seminars logistically but at the same time, it has been one of the most fruitful in one-on-one conversations which consisted of counseling, discipling and sharing biblical truths that the Lord has personally been establishing in my own life!

One of the most encouraging things during this week, was when the Lord showed me His love by confirming through an inmate His will for me to be there at that prison, doing prison ministry at that time for a specific purpose. Let me tell you how it came about...

I started the seminar Monday morning in the barracks of the Pal Program. These inmates make up a unique training program that enables those who are apart of it to receive foundational biblical principles of life and an environment to put them into practice. As I started the seminar out in this barracks, there was a "head inmate" who kind of helped facilitate the program along side of me.

The reason why this is so significant, is because before coming and working under the IBLP Prison Seminars in Little Rock AR, I was searching for the will of God on the issue of coming and I read a pamphlet that was given to me from someone, which shared a testimony of an inmate who was living for himself but had been drastically changed through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

As I read that pamphlet several months ago while I was seeking God's will in this matter, the Lord used it and many other things to confirm His direction for me to come to AR and serve in the IBLP Prison Seminars...the man who wrote this testimony was the very inmate who I was working alongside to facilitate the Basic Seminar...who would have known that I would end up at his prison to do a Basic Seminar under his supervision and help!!! ONLY GOD WOULD HAVE!!!!

This is just another confirmation out of MANY the Lord has given me that has only strengthened my heart in knowing that the Lord has me here in His will for an AWESOME purpose, and that is solely to glorify Him and Him alone!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH again for your prayers, because the Lord heard them and planted seeds which will in no doubt grow to bear spiritual fruit in the lives of these inmates!

Blessings!

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." Corinthians 2:9

Thankful For My Family...

The Lord has blessed me in unspeakable ways through the love, discipleship and care which my family has given me! They are my friends forever and I will always love and cherish each and everyone of them! Take a second and look at my family's update on their website to see what all the Lord is doing in and through each one of them!

Blessings! :)

" Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.  2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.  3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.  4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.  5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.  6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel. " ~ Psalm 128

Persevering In The Battle For The Souls of Men...

The Lord continues to show me that the battle of any true ministry, minister, pastor, missionary or of any follower of Christ who is wholly dedicated to serving the Lord, is the battle fought and won on the knees of those who are continually in the Word and prayer!!! If you fail to keep this as the utmost priority of your life, you have NO ministry! The Lord has again graciously opened another Door of Opportunity for me behind the bars of another prison...

This coming Monday, January 14- 18, Lord willing we will be doing a Basic Seminar in the Grimes Correctional Facility here in Arkansas. PLEASE pray that the powers of darkness would be bond and that the Word of Truth would fall upon soft soil, which would reap in harvest some 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold for the glory of God's name and His Kingship (Matthew 13:23)!

God has already gone before us in this matter and I trust Him to bring the utmost glory to His name during this time of ministering. I have been so privileged to work with the IBLP Prison Ministry program and to have the opportunity to learn many valuable lessons in the field of Prison Ministry. May the Lord's banner be lifted up as we continue to press forward on our knees and in prayer for the souls of men!!!

"We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions." Psalm 20:5

Memories, memories and more MEMORIES!!!

This Christmas was full of fun memories and times of encouragement and blessing which the Paine family will never forget! It is not so much the place or time you celebrate it that makes the memory, but the people you spend it with! The Bates family from Tennessee spent Christmas with our family and let me tell you, it was a BLAST!!!

Games, fellowship, hikes, shooting, amazing meals and more was the course of the short week we had to spend with this family! Our family has been blessed in more ways than what we can even count, because of having the privilege of getting to know the Bates! It was NOT chance that the Lord brought this family into our lives! I think one of the greatest blessings that our family has received by getting know them, is seeing the example of Christlike love pouring out of their hearts towards others, even complete strangers!

The Bates family has fulfilled the well known passage found in Matthew 25:34-40,

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. "

In short, our time with the Bates family over Christmas was a time of giving, sharing and allowing the love of the Lord to flow out of one person to another as we celebrated Christ's coming to earth to bring the love of God to mankind!

Here are some pictures from the week...

Memories...memories and MORE memories!!!

2013...

Another year has come and gone, but the Lord still remains the same! I am reminded of Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." As I look back on the year of 2012, I can only be amazed at the tender mercies of the Lord which He has so abundantly poured out upon me day by day!!! I am so humbled and am so grateful for a Savior,  King and God who first loved me and gave Himself for me in order that I might have a personal relationship with Him for ALL eternity!

I don't know what is in the future for this year, but I do know Who holds the future!!! Therefore Philippians 1:6 is place of refuge for me knowing, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" I am so glad that all my responsibility consists of is abiding in a personal relationship with the Lord and that if I do this, my Father will take care of EVERYTHING else!!! Matthew 6:33 says this, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

As a New Year comes on the scene, many people plan and make what they call "New Years Resolutions" which are many times not kept and are only made for conscience sake, but the Lord did bring something to mind last night. This is not a "New Years Resolution" or something "New" that I am trying to accomplish this year, but instead it is a passage of scripture that has been the out cry of my heart for a long time and continues to be, it is found in Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple."

If anything happens this year, this one thing must always continue to be my one and only focus, because Proverbs 3:6 says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  The Shepherd is always willing to lead His sheep, but His sheep MUST be willing to follow! So as 2013 begins to blossom and unfold, may our one and only desire be to walk closer and go deeper in a relationship with our Heavenly Father who loves us and has given Himself for us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years IN Him!

" That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" ~ Philippians 3:10

Ps. If you have a chance, please take time to read the whole chapter of Philippians 3...it will REALLY encourage you!!!