<h1>Be Prepared</h1>
If you have spent any time at all in prison, then you have definitely heard someone say, “ you don’t have to get ready, if you stay ready!”

They were Probably using this statement to impress upon those around them that they stay alert and therefore couldn’t be caught unprepared to meet violence with violence. Or maybe they meant that they were too crafty to get caught with contraband by the correctional officers. But that is our old nature- the nature and thinking that brought us to prison in the first place.

However, if applied correctly, this cliché still contains much truth. We could understand this saying in a deeper way when we see that being “ready” is the state of preparedness that we have accomplished in our lives. It is absolutely true that if we have taken the time to prepare then we will not have to rush around to get prepared for what we see coming at the last moment.

Some things you can’t prepare for in a hurried manner, they take time to prepare. For instance, if you were going to compete in a bodybuilding competition or a marathon you couldn’t begin the day or even the week of the event to condition your body. We also know that you can’t build a house without first digging and pouring a footing and then laying its foundation. Yet, often in our spiritual life we try to throw up the walls and roof of our house before we even lay our foundation. When the storms of life come, we find we didn’t adequately prepare our foundation. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 7; 24 – 27.

Jesus said, “anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rain and flood come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash”.

See the only difference in these two houses is how the builders prepared the foundation. If we are diligent to open God’s word daily and find out what Jesus taught, we can continually build our foundation in him and be ready for any storm so, if we stay ready, we won’t have to get ready!

<h1>As we head into the Spring season, I am reminded that new life is in bloom.</h1>
Although winter has been dull and dreary, color is returning to the Earth, everywhere you look. The grass is green again and the trees and shrubs are soon to bud. Likewise, we should also remember to be aware of the seasons in our own lives. We may have just come through a dark winter of the soul, but take heart; a new season is at hand.

Frustration sometimes comes because we are impatient for the fruit of Summer in the dead of winter. It is not always harvesting time, but there is always work to be done. Sometimes, it is the Season of preparation.

Sometimes, we must simply be diligent to plant and water. Finally, if we are consistent, we will enjoy a fruitful harvest. The same is true of the Spiritual life as well. If the last season of your life has been hard, know this, that season can’t last forever. If you haven’t given up, you will see the fruits of your labor in the coming season.

Don’t give up my brothers and sisters! God is faithful! “And let us not grow weary wile doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart – Galatians 6:9 ; “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1. “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the Earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”- James5:7-8

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him…

So, you see, our God the Father gives us petitions [requests], which is favor and mercy in our prayers. But only according to His will though, and not of our own will…

And what exactly is God’s will in prayer with faith and Grace in the newness of life with Christ???

God’s will for us is that His will and His hearts desires start to become our will and our desires. So, the more you grow with the Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit, by putting on Christ, this very change starts to take it’s place inside of you, and naturally, the old man starts to die with Christ, and because He was also raised up in newness of life, we also walk in newness of life putting on the new man through Grace that Christ has given us through His precious Blood. And not only through Grace, but also faith that comes by Grace, and so the very things we ask for in prayer, start to become the very things that God puts in our heart to pray for, and these desires become our own becoming God’s will we pray and not our worldly selfish prayers any longer. Because you begin to truly fellowship with God. And walk in the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit which only can proceed through Christ from the Father…

But we also must come to the Father in mercy knowing that we are not worthy of God’s Grace, and because of this, we have hope with confidence through faith in the very things we ask for through our Lord Jesus Christ…

And now my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ: What is this newness of life with the new man in Christ???

First and foremost, we must believe our whole being with every beat of our heart that Jesus Christ is a Son of God, and did die so that we could live, and through His resurrection we also will have our resurrection, being raised to life through the same power that did raise our Lord Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit that lives within us, sealing us unto the day of our salvation at Christ Second Coming as first Fruits, which is a very precious gift… The very elect with the saints…

And brothers and sisters in Christ… we are the body of Christ and have been bought with a beautiful price through Grace with the Blood of Jesus Christ, and believing with all our hearts we should no longer live according to our old man with the lust of our flesh and the lust of the world.

But putting aside all our former conduct that does not lead to godliness, but putting on the whole armor of God through the very love of Christ, so that we can withstand the evil one…

[The whole armor of God]

Ephesians 6: 12-18  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Ephesians 4: 22-24 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

2 Peter 1: 3-4  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new…