BTZ Blog

More people will be influenced for Christ by a life living example than could ever be influenced by a mouth searing argument! Some people doing bad deeds realize the folly of it and repent and turn to Christ only to now amass a heap of good works to acquire God’s favor and acceptance. Although doing good works vs bad works is commendable they are still an affront to the GRACE of God. They are as filthy rags in His sight! God accepts you only on the merits of GRACE through the sacrifice of Jesus. Through relationship with Him, accept His GRACE and His GRACE alone, from that will flow good works! Are you a PREYING person or a PRAYING person? A preying person capitalizes on the vulnerability of another person to injure and maim them by gossip and slander. A praying person is one who brings people’s vulnerabilities to God in prayer and covers the person with love and forgiveness. So which are you a PREYER or a PRAYER! Along this journey of life we need to set our course and compass for th...

The Name of Jesus is not a magic formula you say at the end of a prayer to provoke God to answer your request. The power that is in the Name of Jesus is because of relationship. Before my son (Sheldon) or daughter (Vanessa) were born the names they now have didn’t mean much to me. But say one of their names now and my heart fills with emotion, I can smell the freshness of their babyhood, I hear the sound of their voice as a toddler, I feel the pain they endured when they hurt themselves, their crying made me cry, what brought them joy brought me joy, that is the kind of power their name has on me now. If they ask me for something and it is in my power and their best interest they know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I will do it. Their names erupt with power as does mine to them because of our relationship. It is being in relationship with Jesus that gives His Name power in your life and because of His LOVE and the relationship between you and Him, His NAME is POWERFU...

The path to God in the Old Testament System was instituted by God and was in an upward movement to God. MAN obeying LAWS and RITUALS in the TEMPLE where the PRIEST offered up the SACRIFICE and heard from God, the PRIEST then shared what God wanted with the PEOPLE . After Jesus MAN instituted the same model to satisfy religions way of getting to God and preserve a hierarchical system of control in that the PEOPLE viewed the Bible as a RULE and REGULATION book which they go to "CHURCH" to hear HIRED PROFESSIONAL PASTORS expound unto them and where they make a SACRIFICE of their TIME and MONEY . Since Jesus the way is completely reversed. No longer is it man trying to get to God, it is now God coming to man embodied in Jesus! The path is now from GOD to MAN! It is now GOD through JESUS the "WORD" to MAN! It is not that we desire God it is that God desires us. When we would not come to God, He came to us. Man resisted Him, He instituted a plan ...

Becoming Christlike does not mean we try to impersonate Jesus by doing as He does. Being Christlike is the process by where we allow what motivated Jesus to motivate us. Being Christlike is living the character of Christ, not his personality or mannerisms. If what you do to be like Christ is not motivated by Christlike LOVE you are not Christlike! Christlike LOVE is “others seeking” not “self-seeking”! The “word’ that God spoke the world into existence, is assumed to be a language with structured words of vocabulary, but it is much more. Before the worlds were formed was the “WORD”, He was with God in the beginning. The “WORD” that was in the beginning by and through who God created everything was....and is....a living being with a mind, will, emotions and intellect! What an AWESOME God! Performance based religion leaves people every striving to perform to the expectations of respective denominations while never quenching peoples thirst or hunger for TRUTH! This leaves people THI...

Restlessness will not be eradicated until we learn to rest in His presence. In His presence we can relax. The Ten Commandments and all the other rules God gave to Israel never gave them rest, it gave them hard work and bound them, it did not emancipate them. Their escape from the bondage of Egypt, not a reward for being law abiding. In the same way today the rules and regulations of religion binds people instead of setting them free, peace and satisfaction comes only through a loving relationship by resting in His presence. Jesus came to destroy the yoke of religions do's and don'ts, should's and would's, for His easy yoke and light burden. God Himself means to be our all in all.. He wants us to rest in Him, in what He is and what He has done. That is a lesson of the Exodus. It was all God’s doing. He planned it and carried it out. It was not the wish of Pharaoh, the co-operation of Moses, or the will of the people. On the contrary, Pharaoh refused to let the...

If God be for you who can be against you?....Well, the worldly system will be against you....religious people will be against you.... controlling power hungry people will be against you....but have no fear....God and you are more than all that can be against you, with Him you are more than a conqueror! People who favor the rich and famous but despise the poor and lowly show that the true value of their inward character is controlled by worldly standards and reveal their true character as coveting and prideful. Living a life of LUXURY is not so much what you have around you as it is having PEACE and CONTENTMENT within you knowing that at the end of life’s journey you will have a LUXURIOUS life. Don’t give GRUDGES, UN-FORGIVENESS or HATRED a ride on your journey of life, if you do they will eventually be in the DRIVER’S SEAT and not only CONTROL your life, but DESTROY it as well! The INTRUSION of CONFUSION in your mind is shielded by the ILLUSION of DELUSION received through your ...

God’s plan of redemption from the days of creation to the day of the evacuation is designed to bring people into the relationship of love that the Father, Son and Spirit have shared for eternity. He wants nothing less—or nothing else! God is not a distant God who sent his Son with a list of rules to follow or rituals to practice. His mission was to invite us into his love...into a relationship with his Father through Jesus, that He described as friendship. Walking toward Him is walking away from sin. The better you know Him the freer from the bondage of sin you will be. But you can’t break the bondage of sin in your own strength! Everything God wants to do in you will get done as you learn to live in His love. Every act of sin results from your mistrust of His love and intentions for you. We sin to fill up broken places, to try to fight for what we think is best for us, or by reacting to our guilt and shame. Once you discover how much God loves you all that changes. As you grow in trus...