newsnovdec05

CHOOSE LIFE
By Rev. Verna Brown-Nov.-Dec.05

Romans 9For 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. 10For it is by
believing in your heart that you are made
right with God, and it is by confessing with
your mouth that you are saved. 11As the
Scriptures tell us, 13For "Anyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Until I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ,
and He came into my heart, I was living,
but I wasn’t really alive. Everything I
chased after left me feeling empty. I call
them “empty thrills.” The pleasure of those
activities and achievements were
temporary and at the end of the day, I had
no joy. I remember the day, setting alone in
my house and addicted to drugs, that I
picked up a little book called, “Gospel of
John.” As I read, I heard Jesus say to me,
“For I so loved you Verna, that I gave my
life for you, that if you’ll believe in Me, you
will not perish but have everlasting life.”
He said, “Choose me, I (Jesus) am the way
the truth and the life. Choose life. Choose
me.” That day as I wept and said, “Yes
Lord, I believe you died for me, please
forgive me, I surrender to you,” I began to
live. Really live. His love overwhelmed me,
and it transformed my life. For the first time
I felt joy deep in my soul. His presence is
always with me. My lonely days are gone
because He never leaves me or forsakes
me. He’s a friend that sticks closer than a
brother. He is my Strength, my Healer, my
Victory, my Deliverer, my Everlasting
Father, my Counselor, and my Peace. I
have assurance that when I die, I’ll spend
eternity with Him in Heaven. What a
“GIFT!” He wants to give you the gift of
eternal life as well.
Some of you have received our
devotionals for a long time, but you’ve
never received Jesus as your Lord and
Savior. God loves you so much, and if you
had been the only one, He still would have
come and died for your sins. Don’t go
another minute unsure of where you’ll
spend eternity. He is saying to you now,
“Choose Life.” Just pray this simple
prayer: Dear Jesus, I believe that You
came that I might have eternal life. I believe
that You died for my sins and rose again. I
confess that I am a sinner in need of a
Savior. I repent and ask you to forgive me
of all my sins. Come into my heart. I
surrender my life to you, and accept you
Jesus, as my Lord and Savior. Thank you
for saving me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit,
and help me live for you. Amen.

USE YOUR ANOINTING
By Rev.Dana Waller-Nov.-Dec.05

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because
he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Luke 4:18,19 NIV

The anointing is, simply put, the power and
the presence of the Holy Spirit active in the
life of the believer. It is Holy Spirit
possession. When we are filled with the
Spirit, walking with the Spirit, listening to
the voice of the Spirit, with the fruit of the
Spirit operating in our lives, we HAVE His
supernatural power, the anointing,
available to us, and the authority to use it.
We don’t have to wait for it, hope for it or
beg for it—we HAVE it. Right now!
If we who belong to Christ would USE the
anointing that has been given to us and
remains in us (I John 2:27) there is nothing
we cannot do in our own circumstances or
in the lives of those around us.
We all know people who are desperately
crying out for help and hope. We have the
POWER to speak resurrection life into
dead situations wherever we go. We have
the authority to use that power to break
Satan’s hold on those who are bound. Do
you know anyone whose marriage is in
trouble, whose son or daughter has fallen
into drug abuse, whose husband needs
salvation, who has lost their job, whose life
is falling apart? I’m sure you do.
Remember, we are the contact point
between the Holy Spirit and those in need.
Isaiah 58:12 says we are the “repairers of
the breach.”
My friends, you are not powerless. Far
from it. Rise up! Use the anointing that
God has placed on your life. When you
surrender to the Holy Spirit and operate in
the anointing, you won’t have to find
creative ways to share the gospel—people
will come to YOU! Why? Because there is
something different and attractive about
you—and it’s the ANOINTING!

Prayer: Holy Spirit I surrender completely
to you. Fill me to the top and overflowing.
Show me anything in my life that would
block your anointing power from flowing
through me. Wherever I go, I want to see
as many as possible set free by the life
changing power of God.. Use me Lord, and
give me the courage to be used. Amen.