Last night, after being on the road for nearly four months, I finally got to sleep in my own bed. And boy, it sure was nice! It's always great to get home, isn’t it? Well, if it’s that nice to get to our earthly homes after a long journey, can you imagine what it's going to be like to get to our glorious eternal home? I want to share the following illustration a friend sent me. I believe it will truly bless you.

A sick man turned to his doctor one evening, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die — tell me what lies on the other side, will you?"

"I’m really not sure,” said the doctor.

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, don’t know what’s on the other side?"

Suddenly, there came a sound of scratching and whining at the door. As the doctor turned the handle, a dog sprang into the room and leapt on him with an eager show of gladness.

Lovingly bending down and holding the cute pup, the doctor turned to his patient and said “Have you met my dog? I do apologize; He usually comes and sits with me in my office when I work late.

After a short pause, he continued. “He’s actually never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear… I know little of what is on the other side of death, my friend, but I do know one thing… I know my Master is there and that’s I all I need."

We may not know exactly what we will find in that glorious home that awaits us, but those of us who know the Lord Jesus, know He’s there! Be encouraged today! Our long journey here will end in our loving master’s arms.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the Greek olympic games of old, a unique race was run. The winner was not the runner who finished first — it was the runner who finished with his torch still lit!

There are times in our lives when we feel like we just can't continue in the race. These are precisely the times when the enemy loves to assault us to the point of breaking and torment us saying "You'll never make it to the finish line, you may as well just quit now". This is the time we need to cling on to God's promises! The Lord will soon reward our diligence for all our toiling here in this world. Paul said, "Let us not grow weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint".

Let's allow God's wonderful promises to strengthen and comfort us in each circumstance so that we can run the race — not to finish first, but to run together, side by side — the flame of our torch reaching the finish line blazing brightly with fire for Him!

Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Years ago, I heard an anointed missionary and personal friend speaking on the consequences of sin. He told a story about a pair of brothers he knew quite well.

In his teenage years, the older brother went through a time of rebellion against his Christian upbringing. He went to a few parties, drank a little alcahol, tried a few drugs and quickly felt convicted of his behavior and repented before the Lord. While it was only a short few weeks of rebellion, it made a real impression on his younger brother. You see, he was looking up to his big brother. And in those few months of watching him rebel, he decided that trying out a worldly thing or two himself was okay to do.

The older brother readily overcame that time of rebellion. He went on to Christian college and grew to be a wonderful man of God. He traveled all over the world teaching, reviving and leading many to the Lord.

As he came to this part of the story, my anointed missionary friend began to quiver.

"That older brother was me," he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. And my younger brother, he whimpered, is dying of drug addiction today…and it all started during my time of rebellion."

"I would give just about anything to take back that few weeks of backsliding just to see my little brother living for the Lord today, but I can't. I can only pray that you who are listening today will realize that the consequences of sin are no joke".

What a painful example of the consequences of sin. We never know who's watching and how they may be affected by our actions.

The job we have as Christians is no small one — whether you realize it or not, there are so many who are observing our lives to see where our faith will lead us. There are many who are hungry for Him and so much work to be done! Let's strive to get serious about God and influence many for Him!

Failure is never a pleasant feeling. It isn’t enjoyable to lose a job, see a relationship falter, or fail a test. But the disappointment we feel when we face defeat can be turned to joy if we look at it the right way!

Thomas Edison was busy working in his laboratory at 2 o’clock one morning when an assistant came into the room and noticed that the inventor was smiling broadly.

“Have you solved the problem?” he asked. “No,” replied Edison, “that experiment didn’t work at all. Now I can start over again.” Edison could have such a confident attitude because he knew that the road to success is often paved with disappointments that serve to extend the road — not to block it. Each failure brought him a little closer to success.

Living a life of victory is not about being perfect — because we are human — and will always make mistakes. The key is learning how to get up after we have fallen. It’s natural to make mistakes — but it’s supernatural to learn from those mistakes and move forward!

Matthew 14:28-31 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, "Come." And when Peter got out out of the boat, he walked on the water, to go to Yeshua (Jesus). But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Yeshua (Jesus) stretched out His hand, and caught him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

When Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water – he literally stepped out of the boat! Imagine that! But was Peter going overboard? No, I don't believe so — he was literally taking a step of faith with his eyes fixed on the Lord!

Often, when we step out in faith – it may appear that we are going overboard, but are we really? Honestly, the question is — "Can you really go overboard in your faith toward God?" I don't think so! When our passion is no longer on the Lord, then that's when we're going overboard.

When you love the Lord God with "all your heart, mind and soul"– it's okay to step out and go all out for God — because in God, the only way to go overboard is to not go overboard enough!

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.

There are some things in our lives that take alot of prayer and a lot of faith to overcome. But why is it so hard sometimes to stand in faith for those things?

D.L. Moody spent many hours praying for faith. He once said, "If all the time I have spent praying for faith was put together, it would be months. I thought that someday faith was going to come down and strike me like lightening. But faith did not come. Then one day I read in the 10th chapter of Romans, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." I now opened my Bible and began to read God's Word and faith has been growing ever since."

Much of what we believers describe as 'faith' has nothing to do with Biblical faith. Our faith must not be based on emotion, or want, and not on the latest exciting conference or revival. But it must be centered on God's Word, on Yeshua (Jesus), His death and resurrection, His salvation. The Living Word is the eternal, everlasting love of God which has been poured out upon our lives.

Let's read, hear, apply and live the Word today, and we will grow strong in faith! There's so much work to be done!

Yesterday, as I was getting my daughter Elianna (5 years old) ready for school, our increasingly spunky son Obi decided to climb the ladder on the bunk bed in their room. When he climbed the ladder in the past he usually went up only one level, but yesterday he decided to try and climb all the way to the top! As I was carefully watching him, he began to climb down…and his foot missed one of the steps, and he somersaulted down right into my arms. (Just so you know, we've taken down the ladder since this incident!)

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure Obi became more daring because he saw that I was watching him. Anyway, he had absolutely no fear of falling, and just pressed forward toward the top. Then, even when he did fall, I quickly caught him. I think we can learn a deep lesson from Obi. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have that kind of total trust and faith in our Heavenly Father? Instead of being apprehensive and fearful, or dwelling too much on the past, we could just exercise courage and trust about taking the next step into something incredible, maybe something higher than we've ever known before – remember, we have a God with whom nothing is impossible!

Climb to new heights today – and don't worry about falling, for truly His Everlasting arms are opened wide ready to catch you should you slip! With so much work to be done, do not allow the fear of failure to hold you back!

The captain of a submarine was once asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!"

There is an area beneath the surface of the ocean known to sailors as the "cushion of the sea". In this place, although the ocean may be raging terribly above, the waters here are never stirred.

I think you know where I'm going with this. There is a place, a wonderful place, we can go to find refuge during the frightening storms raging above us — a place where we don't feel a thing — no fear, no worry for tomorrow.

Let's get down there today. Let's find that perfect peace the Lord intends for every one who trusts in Him. There's so much work to be done!

We have a Christian friend who constantly talks about her problems. Every single time we talk to her she tells us how bad things are going in her life and how much she is lacking. Interestingly, in all the years we've known her and prayed for her, things have only gotten worse. Though she has come to believe in the God of victory, she is not living a victorious life. How many of us are in this boat?

We have another friend who has experienced many hard things in her life. But ever since this friend gave her life to the Lord some years ago, her attitude has changed completely. She is grateful, so very grateful for God's salvation and goodness toward her. Though she began her walk with the Lord with nothing, she has been excited at what God has in store for her life and has often spoken in great faith for her future. This girl has come so far. We have watched her blossom as God has done amazing things in her life. She is now part of a thriving ministry and the Lord is using her mightily. He has blessed her with a home, a car and finances and she reaches out to many with all that she has. It's beautiful.

It seems clear, yet took us some time to realize that the thoughts we think and the things we say are so much more powerful than we can imagine. They are life or death to our ministry, our relationships, our finances and everything else.

Are you struggling something today? It's time to start looking up! Stop complaining! Start speaking in faith! Watch how the Lord turns things around! There's so much work to be done!!

My wife has taught Israeli dance workshops all over the world. And over the years, she has acquired a few interesting and rather funny stories of people, including herself, tripping and stumbling over each other during a class.

Stumbling is not one of my most favorite things in the world. It's embarrassing and often hurts. The fact is, however, that stumbling is something we all must experience. The question is — what do we do when it happens?

Imagine this. You're walking home and you trip and fall over a random object on the sidewalk. You scraped your knee and it hurt a little. And the kids walking home from school behind you saw you trip and and giggled amongst themselves — that was kind of embarassing. But will you go all the way back from where you came and and start again from the beginning? Or will you just sit and sulk on the curb, refusing to take another step at the thought of it happening again? No! Of course not! That would just be silly, wouldn't it?

So is it on our walk through life with the Lord. Satan would love nothing more than for us to go sulk in a corner somewhere and dwell on our humiliation and fear that it might happen again. But the Lord wants us to rise up, dust the dirt off our clothes, maybe give a little chuckle ourselves and move forward for His Kingdom!

Yes, we may stumble on this long and sometime treacherous journey but we will not be cast down! The Lord has upheld us and He will always! Let's get up and move on today! There is much work to be done!

Talking to people about God has become a regular part of our lives. Between meeting people on the boards and in our chat rooms (which you should really come and visit at www.worthychat.com!) and the opportunities which open up in our daily lives, we find ourselves sharing with people from all walks of life – unbelievers, new believers, people who have come and gone from the faith and back again.

It's so typical of the human nature to want all our questions answered before we decide to make any commitments, isn't it? We want proof that God is real and that the Bible is accurate. We want to know why sometimes those who call themselves Christians do awful things and how God could allow bad things happen to good people. Sadly, as soon as we think all our questions are all answered to satisfaction, undoubtedly more appear. It happens to the best of us.

While there numerous answers and proofs to these questions, we have come to realize that some things just can't be answered with our minds – they have to be answered with our hearts. The deepest faith doesn't come by getting all our questions answered – it comes simply when we open our hearts to the Lord and invite Him to search it through and through.

Don't get me wrong, it's good to ask questions and be knowledgeable of our faith, but the fact of the matter is that there are some questions to which we won't find answers until we can see the Lord face to face and ask Him ourselves.

Regardless of whether we're new believers, old believers or not yet believers at all, let's all of us open our hearts to God today and ask Him to do a work in us. May you be blessed this new year as the Lord reveals new and wonderful treasures to your hearts.