Roy’s Blog: “Your Purpose”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/25/roys-blog-your-purpose

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) “We are God’s workmanship created  in Christ to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Learning your God given purpose is very important. Many people run around trying to find self-esteem, to find self worth, significance, and purpose. They want to feel good about themselves, valued, so they look all around. They ask themselves, “How can I feel good about me when nothing seems right in my world?”

They do things trying to prop up their self-esteem. But, they turn to the world around them. That’s the wrong place to turn. You don’t find significance through status, because you’ll always find someone one step above you. You can’t find self-esteem in success, because there’s always someone out there who’s achieved a little bit more than you.

You can’t find self-esteem through man’s vision of the perfect lifestyle. Find your self-esteem, your worth, your purpose in God, in living out the life He planned for you before the earth was formed. Don’t judge yourself by man’s measure. Look toward God. He cared for us enough to send His Son to die for us.

David said in Psalm 57:2 “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.”

Roy’s Blog: “Stay Alert”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/roys-blog-stay-alert

I Thessalonians 5:3 “While they are saying, ‘peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains upon a woman with child.”

On Wednesday of this week, President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he would attend the National March For Life in Washington D.C., making him the first president in the history of the United States to attend. Trump plans to address those attending the rally.

Also Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival, Benny Gantz, are set to visit the White House on this coming Tuesday to review the ‘Deal of the Century’.

Two of the said confirmations of the Deal of the Century are reported to be 1) Israel will be recognized as sovereign over the Jordan Valley, including any of the settlements therein. 2) Jerusalem will be formally recognized as the capital of Israel.

P.M. Netanyahu said after getting the invitation, “With such backing from the United States, we should get as broad a consensus as possible around the efforts to achieve security and peace.”

There is a lot going on in the world that is seldom reported by the American main-stream media. Stay alert. Check other news sites. Lot of things big happening.

Roy’s Blog: “Last Days Event”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/roys-blog-last-days-event

Isaiah 2:2,3 “Now it will come about that in the last days…Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord…'”

Israel is holding the fifth World Holocaust Forum today to commemorate the 75th liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

Delegations from 49 countries, including 41 Heads of State are to attend the forum. Vice-President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain’s Prince Charles, and French President Emmanuel Macron are the most prominent names on the list of attendees. The list also includes four Kings and leaders from Australia, Canada, Italy, Ukraine, and Argentina. The presidents of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament are also listed.

This is another amazing event that is moving nations towards the coming of the Lord. They were expecting maybe ten nations to participate.  When have you ever seen an event like this, a gathering of world leaders to Israel? In the “last days” you will see such things happen more and more.

 

Roy’s Blog: “Does God Care About Me?”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/roys-blog-does-god-care-about-me

Psalm 42:9b “Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

Does God know my name? Does He even know I exist? Does He know or care anything about me?

Is there anything beyond my daily struggles?

So many times we resemble autumn leaves falling to the ground, there to perish with all the other innumerable millions of leaves that fall by our side. The earth becomes nothing but one vast cemetery in which we bury our dead.

Where is God in all this? Where can I find Him? Does He care about one single, lowly person such as I out of the vast universe?

Ultimately, all of us come to that deep longing, hungering, and yearning: Where is God?

I have great news. He is right where He has always been…as close as the mention of His name. He hasn’t moved, hasn’t drifted away from you.

Hebrews 13:5b “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” He is with us!

Psalm 42:5a “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope In God!”

Roy’s Blog: “Victory”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/roys-blog-victory

Romans 8:31b “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

People can, and many times do, live in bondage and never know it.

Some prisons are not made up of physical bars or chains. They are made up of the emotional burden of hurt and rejection that can affect every aspect of our lives. It causes us to believe lies about ourselves and undermines our relationship with the Lord, even though God says He is for us and  nothing can separate us from Him.

If you’ve experienced rejection, you’re not alone. It’s almost impossible to go through life without feeling its sting sometime along the way. Rejection penetrates beneath the surface and shapes what we think and feel about ourselves.

The first step to victory over rejection comes when you choose to believe the Lord and find your acceptance in Him.

Roy’s Blog: “Mercy”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/20/roys-blog-mercy

Psalm 23:6a “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

Our God is a “merciful” God.

God’s goodness gives me what I don’t deserve. And God’s mercy spares me from what I do deserve. Everyone is provided a way to be spared what we deserve. What do we deserve?

Because of sin we deserve a life separated from God. When you die, that would be hell. But God provided a way to be with Him for eternity, through His Son Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, your citizenship is in heaven. Royal blood flows through your veins. Angels run before and behind you to guard and protect you. You are special, loved, and unique.

You are a child of the King! If you’ve been to Jesus for the cleansing power His blood provided, you are blessed beyond measure. This is because of God’s goodness and mercy. You can’t buy it, steal it, barter for it. It is a free gift of God, you just have to accept it.

If you have accepted that wonderful gift of God’s Son, your life should reflect it:

God says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall attain mercy. Matthew 5:7.

Luke 6:36 “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Colossians 3:12 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…”

Roy’s Blog: “What Makes You Happy?”

https://bphowlett.wordpress.com/2020/01/18/roys-blog-what-makes-you-happy

Proverbs 15:13 “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”

Being happy is serious business. The entertainment business is huge, from sports facilities in every town, to large recreational parks across the country. We run ourselves to death trying to find what makes us happy. But, does that “happiness” last? Not for long.

Does it make you happy when you look at your spouse? What about when you look at your child? Does just looking at them foster such love that happiness overflows your heart? From the things I’ve read in recent years, this is not as much the case as it used to be, or should be. More and more people look at their pets with the adoration that should be aimed at their children/spouse.

What about Sundays? When you wake up on Sunday morning, are you happy at the thought of going to church? Do you have to force yourself out of bed, drag yourself through the church doors? Does the thought of God–make you filled with a happiness you can’t even contain? If not, ask yourself why not? Maybe your priorities are not focused where they should be.

Philippians 4:4 (NASB) The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice!”

Psalm 68:3 “But the godly are happy; they rejoice before God and are overcome with joy.”