Times of Refreshing Conference

June 25 – 27

Greater Bible Way Temple

322 Madison St.

Jackson, MI 49202

517.784.2079

Speakers

TH – 7:30 J.H. Osborne, IN

FR – 7:30 Jeff Arnold, FL

SA – 5:00 Gordon Poe, TX

call Jeff Breza for directions 586.453.8060

Mercy and Grace

Think about this my friends. The Lord’s mercies are new everyday. When the Lord touches us and we finally yield to “Him” we become new creatures. Old things are passed away and all things are become new. Praise the Lord for “His” Lovingkindness.

Praise & Worship

Change is easy if we let it happen God’s way!

I have come to the conclusion that if there is something uplifting to say to go ahead and put it out there even if it’s 25 or 50 words. It doesn’t have to be an entire page so that is what we are going to do. We are going to add daily words of encouragement and / or testimonies.

Here is my thought for the day. Let the Lord build you up for He will add beauty to your life. May the Lord give each of you a great weekend and go to Church and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords….Finally, invite a friend or guest to God’s house….

Don’t carry the burdens of 2008 into 2009!

2008 had many up’s and down’s.  Why does life have to be so complicated.  Why can’t our problems go away if we do our part to fix them.  This may seem really basic but there are things that are out of our control.  This includes life and the unplanned circumstances that come our way.  There are storms that come that we had nothing to do with.

Here is an excellent prayer that contains in it a lot of wisdom.  ”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change and the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference .”  We need the mercy and grace of God to lead us to where He wants us to end up.  The burdens of our life can get us down and sometimes we carry them with us from place to place, moment to moment and even memory to memory.  It is my personal belief that we need to make a decision to give our burdens to the Lord today!  

Let us not carry the burdens of 2008 into 2009.  The Lord Jesus is our burden bearer.  He is our life sustainer and our purpose for living.

1 Peter Chapter 5 verses 6 – 11

5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 5:11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

“I am going in a new direction.”

 

We have been given another day.  It is a new day. The Lord is with us, His mercies are new everyday.  We know that the Word of God says His Grace is sufficient.  Tomorrow is a new year.  My question is this;

 

·         What happened in 2008?

·         Did you have a good year?  

·         How are your finances?

·         Better yet, how is your health?

·         Even more significant how is our family?

·         Are the children healthy and doing well?

·         Most importantly did the Lord answer our prayers in 2008?

·         Why would we carry a burden from 2008 into 2009?

 

We are confronted with the fact that the Lord Jesus is on our side and he has answered our prayers. He knows exactly what we need when we need it. Let us end 2008 at an altar and let us begin 2009 with an altar as well.  Here is an excellent scripture reference that teaches us about going in a new direction.

 

Matthew Chapter 2 verses 1 – 12

 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

 

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, thank you for being with me and my family for all of 2008. Thank you Jesus that you have been with me every day, you have been faithful. You have met every need and I thank you. Lord I also want to give you praise for life, health and strength and peace of mind. Lord I look forward to what you will do in 2009. I trust you that everything will be alright. I love you Jesus!

God Bless – Bro Jeff

 

 

 

“Revive us Lord”

Let us lay aside every pre-conceived idea and notion about one another and even about how our day or week or even our month has been going. Each of us need a personal revival.

 

You see this is God’s business!

 

I would like to declare that if we allow the Lord to have His way in our lives then we can receive the Lord’s favor and blessing in our lives. The Lord wants to cause a great revival in us as individuals and as a body of believers. The definition of revival is stated as the act or an instance of reviving. The condition of being revived. A restoration to use, acceptance, activity, or vigor after a period of obscurity or quiescence. A time of reawakened interest in religion. A meeting or series of meetings for the purpose of reawakening religious faith, often characterized by impassioned preaching and public testimony.

 

Are we hungry for Jesus? Do we want more of him? Are we satisfied spiritually? Being revived and desiring revival allows the Lord to do a work in our lives. You see we must become servants of the Word of the Lord. We must realize that when the great revivalist is among us he (Jesus) is there to help us. Remember that Jesus is here to help us. Jesus is our comforter!

 

The Greek word for comforter in the New Testament is Paraclete. The word paraclete as found in 1 John 2 verse 1 and is used to describe the intercessory role of Jesus Christ. In John 14 verse 16 Jesus says another paraclete will come to help his disciples.

 

In Jesus Christ there is freedom and liberty. In order to get the most out of a heaven ordained revival we must let go of things that are holding us back. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Well today let go of those things that are holding you back. We may be dealing with troubled relationships or unsaved family. We may even be burdened down with financial issues. I would like to remind you that He can and would like to help us with our problems. Jesus knows exactly what we are going thru. He will never leave is nor forsake us. He is not thru with us yet.

 

We have the momentum of the Holy Ghost behind us. The creative force of God is with us.

Lessons learned from the woman with the alabaster box.

If you could imagine with me for a minute what it must have been like when Jesus entered a room.

Try to picture the woman who had the alabaster box.  This was something that was precious to her.  This box was the most valuable thing that she had and she gave it all away.  The passage of scripture that I am referring to is in Luke Chapter 7 verses 36 – 50. 

[36] And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
[37] And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
[38] And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
[39] Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
[40] And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
[41] There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
[42] And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
[43] Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
[44] And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
[45] Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
[46] My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
[47] Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
[48] And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
[49] And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
[50] And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
 As you are reading this entry I am using my own words to describe this awesome event.  She had the right idea.

We can learn so much from her and what she was doing and why she was doing it.  She recognized who Jesus was to her, and that there were no limits on what she was willing to give to Jesus.  Why am I referencing this passage of scripture as it relates to repentance?  The reason is; she knew that Jesus was the Savior; she also recognized that she had a past that needed to be forgiven by the Lamb of God.  This woman was considered a heathen by the religious, but she didn’t care.  She gave what she had; she offered herself to the Lord as an act of worship. 

The Lord gave honor to this woman, and spoke freedom into her life when he said, “thy sins are forgiven”. He also told her, “thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”  She came in bound with a past that needed to be forgiven and healed.  She left free, and no longer bound to the past that she was held captive to.  The Lord forgave her because of her willingness to give herself completely to the Lord.

My prayer is that who ever reads this, saint or sinner, would be encouraged to go deeper and higher, to become more intimate with Jesus.  Wouldn’t it be great to wake up one day and no longer carry the burden of life, and walk around frustrated with yourself and others around you?  The Lord offers deliverance to each of us. He is waiting for us to call upon Him.

May the Lord bless you, keep you, and draw you closer to the love of Jesus.

Bro. Jeff Breza

Repentance – part II

If you could imagine with me for a minute what it must have been like when Jesus entered a room.

Try to picture the woman who had the alabaster box.  This was something that was precious to her.  This box was the most valuable thing that she had and she gave it all away.  The passage of scripture that I am referring to is in Luke Chapter 7 verses 36 – 50.  As you are reading this entry I am using my own words to describe this awesome event.  She had the right idea.

We can learn so much from her and what she was doing and why she was doing it.  She recognized who Jesus was to her and that there was no limits on what she was willing to give to Jesus.  Why am I referencing this passage of scripture as it relates to repentance?  The reason is she knew that Jesus was the Saviour, she also recognized that she had a past that needed to be forgiven by the Lamb of God.  This woman was considered a heathen by the religious but she didn’t care.  She gave what she had, she offered herself to the Lord as an act of worship. 

The Lord gave honor to this woman and spoke freedom into her life when he said, “thy sins are forgiven”. He also told her, “thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”  She came in bound with a past that needed to be forgiven and healed.  She left free and no longer bound to the past that she was held captive to.  The Lord forgave her because of her willingness to give of herself completely to the Lord.

My prayer is that who ever reads this saint or sinner would be encouraged to go deeper, higher and become more intimate with Jesus.  Wouldn’t it be great to wake up one day and no longer carry the burden of life and walk around frustrated with yourself and others around you.  The Lord offers deliverance to each of us. He is waiting for us to call upon Him.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you and draw you closer to the love of Jesus.

Bro Jeff

Repentance: part 1

Repentance is the beginning of a New life 

The topic of Repentance is an incredible subject. To some it may come across as negative or scary. I would like to look at the consequences as a result of true repentance. We all know that everything we do has consequences. 

For example when we eat too many donuts, for too many days, there will be the consequence of added weight. As a result of that, is the negative consequence of having too much sugar in our body and the consequence of having too much sugar are medical complications such as diabetes, blood pressure, water retention, etc… The most obvious consequence of eating too many donuts is weight gain. In addition to the aforementioned consequences, there is the potential consequence of an image problem, like your clothes not fitting and some extra flab that used to not be there. One day you step on your scale and before you know it, you have gained 50 pounds. Now your eyes are open to the problem of being overweight and you have determined something has to be done. The key word is you have identified that there is a problem and that you are determined to do something about it. The question is: what do you do? Many people become aware that they have a weight problem because there Doctor says something like, “you know, I would like to see you lose 10% of your total body weight by the next time I see you.” He further states that if you keep up at this weight and do nothing about it, you will inevitably get Type I or Type II diabetes and if you don’t start to exercise, there is a high likelihood of heart disease or stroke in your future.”After talking with the Doctor you are really determined to take action because, you don’t want the negative consequences he mentioned. I have been talking about being determined to change after we have identified that there is a problem.

Let’s look at the following scripture reference for further clarification. 

Luke Chapter 15 verses 1 – 7

[1] Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
[2] And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
[3] And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
[4] What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
[5] And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
[6] And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
[7] I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 

You will notice in verse 7 that the scripture says there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents. That is absolutely awesome. Joy in heaven, what does that look like? I like to think about that. It excites me greatly when I know that heaven is rejoicing over the individual. You see the Lord always looks at us as individuals. He knows us by name. Repentance is an extremely personal matter. You are exposing yourself to the Lord even though he already knows what is in your heart. The Lord and apparently all of heaven love our open and honest sincere confession. 

Wait a minute you may be wondering what is the definition of repentance. What does it mean when we are told in the Bible to repent? The following is a thorough explanation of what repentance is: 

There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance.

The verb metamelomai is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas (Matthew 27:3).

Metanoeo, meaning to change one’s mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge. This verb, with the cognate noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised. Evangelical repentance consists of a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness; an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ; an actual hatred of sin (Psalm 119:128; Job 42:5, 6; 2 Corinthians 7:10) and turning from it to God; and a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.

The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Psalm 51:4), of pollution (51:5, 7, 10), and of helplessness (51:11; 109:21, 22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Psalm 51:1; 130:4).

Here is a simple way to look at repentance. We need to have a change of mind and turn away from sin. When we do all of Heaven rejoices. This is a way for us to begin our new life in Christ.