Missy is holding her first Bible Study at her house where she is the teacher!  This is an exciting first step for New Hope For Women.  The women I have poured myself into for the past few years are so hungry for more of the Lord and their excitement to share with others has also hit a new level, so I suggested they start Bibles studies in their homes.  Every other week, Michelle, Sharon and Nicole are teaching Bible Studies and in between weeks I am teaching them.  I know Jesus is in the midst of this encouraging them to step into their destinies. As their teacher, I could not be any prouder of them.

God impressed upon my heart, that it is time for the Body of Christ to "Dare to Dream Again".  When we first get saved we are filled with such hope and expectations of how the Lord would use us.  We are excited to tell everyone what the Lord has done in our lives.  We take His Word literally and believe in His promises without question.  But then as we begin to live out this new found faith something happens to us when we are bombarded by the disappointments and the onslaught of trials.  Often we emerge from the smoke off the battlefield feeling overwhelmed, confused and discouraged causing us to rethink how could God use me?  I know for myself, my trust and hope in Christ has never wavered...or so I thought.  My doubt that God can use "even me" is to doubt God's ability and His judgement.  In my doubting of my own personal accomplishments for His kingdom, I found that I am suggesting that God didn't really seem to know who He was picking for this particular task, and I am not the right choice. When I doubt how God could use me I am not trusting His ability through me to accomplish something I probably can not do without His intervention. Therefore, I am not trusting that His grace is sufficient for ALL my needs and shortcomings.  Is it that the promises of God are conditional to our obedience, and I have not been faithful?  So as I began my annual self examination of where I am spiritually and what path am I to take for 2012, I heard these thoughts of disappointment that "I have not done my best for the Lord" and "maybe this is a season to pass the baton onto someone more capable" to complete the work of advancing the kingdom of God through NH4W.    But this is not God...nor are these His thoughts. So in my quiet time of pressing in to hear from God, I heard the Lord speak softly and clearly, "Dare to Dream Again".  As that began to resinate in my spirit it brought light to my darkened areas of discouragement.  I felt this stirring in my heart that God knows me full well, that He knit me together in my mother's womb and He knows how I am wired.  He knows that the task He called me to fits my personality and that "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me".  He knows that even when I am knocked off my feet, that I will get back up and run the good race to cross over the finish line.  Is it possible that God would call me to do something that in my own strength and ability I would not be able to do? That only through dependence on Him could this great task be accomplished?  Of course!  He has called each of us to work alongside what He is doing and He has never required of us to go through anything alone.  So what happened to all those nice prophetic words of encouragement of the plans that God had for me over the years?  In reading the familiar scripture in Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.  Then you will call upon Me and you will come and pray to Me and I will hear and heed you.  Then you will seek Me inquire for and require Me as a vital necessity and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord and I will release you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I have driven you says the Lord and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive" we must keep in mind that God was telling His people this word of encouragement right after they had been captured and displaced by the Babylonian king. When we read the verse before this, He tells them their captivity will be for 70 years!  He gave them this great word of encouragement so that they would not lose hope during this unpleasant period of captivity. He then goes on to tell them that this unpleasant experience will actually work toward bringing them closer to the Lord and being a people who are obedient to His word. He was more concerned about the final outcome of having a people who would know Him and make Him known than He was concerned about the daily routine of life.  Okay....so God is telling me that the words of encouragement throughout the years were to help me cling to His promise through the dry times, and the dark times, and the lonely times, and the relentless attacks from the enemy, that something good was yet to come?  Hang onto the promise and write it down.    In Habakkuk it says, "write the vision down though it may tarry..." So I believe God has brought His Church to a place where it appears nothing exciting is happening within the Body and we are powerless to change the outcome of events we see all around us politically, economically and militarily.  BUT this is a time to "Dare to Dream Again", for this is the season for God's church to come forth and those things He has placed in your heart are for such a time as this.  Yes Church, we are coming into the season where the Church will arise!!  As God planted this short word in my spirit, He gave me this scripture; Hebrews 6:11-18 "And we desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity (all the way through) in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of your hope until the end.  In order that you may not grow disinterested and become spiritual sluggards, but imitators, behaving as do those who through faith (by their leaning of their entire personality on God in Christ inabsolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness) and by patient endurance and waiting are (now) inheriting the promises. For when God made His promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, saying, Blessing I certainly will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.  And so it was that he (Abraham) having waited long and endured patiently,realized and obtained what God had promised him.  Men indeed swear by one greater than themselves and with them in all disputes the oath taken for confirmation is final. Accordingly God also, in His desire to show moreconvincingly and beyond any doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan intervened with an oath.  This was so that, by two unchangeable things (His promise and His oath in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us."  There is a lot of meat to chew on in this passage, but we need to understand John 16:33 "I have told you these things so that in Meyou may have perfect peace and confidence.  In the world you have tribulation and trials and frustration; but be of good cheer, (take courage; be confident, certain and undaunted)! I have overcome the world, )I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you)."
The promise is bifold, there will be.... but be of good cheer....I have conquered it for you.  In Hebrews 6 God is telling us that we need to first of all be diligent (which means having or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work, or duties, "take delight in") in the task that God has given you not relying on your "feelings for the day".  Then He warns us not to grow disinterested (having or feeling no interest in something, not having a personal interest, being impartial) even in the tough times because we will risk becoming spiritual sluggards.  Then we are told to practice patient endurance (the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way, the capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear) and this apparently is something we must work at so that we do not let ourselves wear out and become of no use anymore. In Daniel 7:25 we are told the mission of satan is to wear out the saints so we give up.  That's why God gives us a strong word of encouragement to hang onto through the onslaught of the enemy's attempt to derail us in our mission.  The purpose for patient endurance is to bring us to full maturity of Christlikeness. We can not give up or get lazy or we will forfeit the prize.  Then God instructs us tolean our entire personality on God in our relationship through His Son Jesus and have absolute ( not diminished in any way, not subject to any limitation; unconditional) trust inHis power, ( not our strength, talents or abilities) His wisdom (not our own human reasoning) and His goodness (knowing His love for us is sure, and His strategy and His process for molding us into the likeness of His Son will bear much fruit).  We need to haveabsolute trust in His very nature and His character and that He is God and there is no other! Because God doesn't lie, we can trust Him completely, therefore we can be confident in our expectations.  Finally, in Hebrews 6:19 we are told that "this hope we have as an anchor"...  our anchor is only as secure as that to which it is fastened.  You see, after reading this scripture, I am encouraged to "Dare to Dream Again" because as long as I am anchored to Christ, I am secure in the purposes of God and the plans He has for my life.  I hope this scripture has encouraged you to have absolute trust in God, so that you can once again be diligent in your pursuit of His promises without growing disinterested but with patient endurance and the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ fulfill the purposes of God as you "Dare to Dream Again"

If you were to ask me if I had trust issues, I would be inclined to say no.  However, after this past week I needed to revisit that question.  It all started on Thursday October 6th when Ron and I loaded up the RV and headed for Charlemont, Massachusetts.  A small town nestled in the heart of the Berkshires in western Mass.  After travelling 6 hours, we found a place to rest for the night in a nearby town and prepared ourselves for ziplining Friday morning.  The weather was perfect, 73’, clear blue sky, clean fresh air and a rushing river, which runs along the banks of the base camp of Zoar Canopy Tours.  Our guides, Gus and Meghan helped each of us get into our gear and then explained everything we would need to know to safely zip down the cables that were suspended between the trees along the mountain side. Our adventure began with two ATV’s packed with eight adventurers, two guides and two drivers which drove us to our destination somewhere high above the base camp where we could see other mountains in the distance through the trees.  I must admit, there was some anxiety as I waited my turn, well…maybe a bit more than “some anxiety”.  Let’s face it I had trust issues, pure and simple!   Our instructions were to wait until Gus gave us the hand signal to place our glove covered hand on the cable  to  create a friction, which would cause us to slow down when approaching the platform on the other end of the suspended cable.  We were told, no matter what, WAIT for Gus to give the signal before beginning to break.  This meant completely trusting Gus’ judgment and perfect timing.  As I stood on the platform 60 ft above earth, I felt my heart beating faster, and I asked myself “how can I put my trust in a man I didn’t know?” But then if I didn’t follow the directions, the consequences of my disobedience would be one of two scenarios.  1. I would get stuck in the middle of the cable line and have to pull myself in to safety, or 2. Smack into the tree full speed ahead.  The first being embarrassing, and the second being painful.  So I stepped off the platform, with my eyes locked on Gus over on the other platform with a big confident grin.  Surrounded by this amazing scenery you would think I would take a peak to admire the beauty.  Nope! I had my eyes on Gus.  By the time we finished our second run, the anxiety was replaced with a confidence in Gus’s experience and perfect timing.  What is my point in writing this? It’s about our trust issues with God.  Although He has proven Himself faithful, we question His timing and wisdom when it comes to our personal journey.  Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” So if we can make everyday decisions involving our trusting a person to guide our activity through trees, driving planes, making health decisions for us and so on, why do we struggle to turn control of our lives over to God Who loves us and is concerned about even the smallest details. Here’s my suggestion, look right into the eyes of God in every challenging situation, don’t worry about the height, or the beautiful scenery.  Fix your eyes on His eyes, and allow Him to give the right hand signals to bring you safely to the other side of your circumstance. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.”   In this text the word cares can be translated to mean, distractions, anxieties, burdens and worries.  Once and for all deal with those trust issues and trust God’s timing and enjoy the ride.

This year at New Life Christian Center, NH4W hosted a missions dinner, Michelle Levenick Rizzo and Sharon Shantz shared their testimonies.  Tears and laughter accompanied their stories.  Also, my daughter Kirsten and son in law Charles, with their 4 children came to share their personal journey in God leading them to adopt an Ethiopian orphan.  They shared statistics as well as a step by step calling from the Lord to help take care of orphans.  Below, Kaya is wearing the t-shirt, “One Less”.  

...Go make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit

 At this year’s retreat, we were challenged with a Word from the Lord, “Redefine Yourself”.  The 4 step message included; 1. Regroup in the secret place. 2. Reposition yourself in Christ. 3.

Receive greater revelation from the Lord. 4. Reproduce from the rebirth.  The complete word is shared on:  www.newhopeforwomen.blogspot.com under the June post.  We had a great time of fellowshipping with one another.

Kensley Mae Muller , born to Hans and Jess in April 2011

Sadie Rose Muller, born to Sarah and Cole in April 2011

Nh4w had the opportunity to help a three year old who was deaf and needed hearing aids.  I sent the money to her family so that this little girl would grow up to be a woman of faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. In the spring I will be able to meet Praise and her family when Ron and I travel to Kenya to minister to the village where she lives. 

Executive Director: Pastor JoAnn Muller 

The Year for Transition  New Year Edition 2011

In Eccl. 3:1-8 we are told there is a proper season for everything.  Solomon gives us 14 pairs of opposites to illustrate the point that each in its season is right, however the timing is the key to whether or not it is proper.  God moves us into season's of our lives, whether it is for refreshing or warfare, in its proper season, each is perfect, necessary and powerful.  As believers we need to know the season that God has us in.  In God's perfect seasons of life, 2011 is a year of transition to prepare us for God's eternal purposes for his Bride.  Early in December the Lord showed me that we needed to prepare for the coming season we would be entering into.  When Joshua led the Israelites to the shore of the Jordan river, he instructed the officers to "pass through the camp and command the people, to prepare your provisions for within three days you will pass over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess."  Joshua 1:11  In Joshua 3 we pick up the story which begins on day three. "After three days the officers went into the camp, commanding the people: When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being borne by the Levitical priests, set out from where you are and follow it.  Yet a space must be kept between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure; come not near it that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you must go, for you have not passed this way before.  And Joshua said, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.  Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over the people.  And they took it up and went on in front of the people." Joshua 3:2-6  There are a few points we need to address in these verses.  First, they were to set themselves apart so that they would be in the proper position to see God work wonders for them.  Secondly, they needed to prepare.  God is saying to us in this season, if we have not properly prepared ourselves, we will not be in position to receive what God has for us.  Thirdly, the ark of the covenant represented God's presence and the priests were instructed to take the ark before the people.  We can not run ahead of God in our enthusiasm to move forward.  Too often we hear from the Lord, but get ahead of Him and then wonder why things aren't working out for us like He promised.  Notice, they were even told precisely how far back to stay so that they would have a proper perspective on where He was taking them since they had never been that way before.  Joshua 3:7-9 "The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant saying, When you come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.  So Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God." These verses tell us that in the time of transitioning into the promised land, it is vitally important to remain still before the Lord, and hear from Him for our every move.  Let's continue; Joshua 3:10-12, "Joshua said, hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.  Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan!  So now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe."  Joshua is assuring the Israelites that God will go before them and drive out their enemies.  God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  God will always go before us to drive out our enemies if we will wait upon His perfect timing and place our trust in Him.  It is also interesting to point out that all tribes came together and moved into the promised land as one.  Once again, we will see the coming together of the Church to move into the promises of God.  "And while all Israel passed over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst pf the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan."  In verse 17, it says that the priests stood firm until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.  Standing firmwill be key in this coming year of transition.  Intercessors need to take their position andstand firm until the Body of Christ passes over.  In the year of transition we can expect to see the Church begin to come forth and arise from its place of "the valley of dry bones".  Now let's look at Ezekiel 37:1-10.  This is where it gets exciting because I believe the prophetic prayers of the Church will begin to speak to dry bones and call them forth.  Let's look at the scripture reference: "The hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of dry bones. (sort of a picture of where the church is today).  And He caused me to pass round about among them, and behold there were very many in the open valley or plain, and behold, they were very dry.  And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I aswewred, O Lord God you know.  Again He said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones; Behold, I will cause breath and spirit to enter you, and you shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover your skin, and I will put breath and spirit in you and you shall live; and you shall know, understand and realize that I am the Lord [The Sovereign Lord Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].  So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise and behold, a shaking and trembling, and a rattling.  And the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked and behold there were sinews upon the bones and flesh came upon them and skin covered them over, but there was no breath or spirit in them.  Thus says the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breathe upon the slain that they may live.  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath and spirit came into the bones, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great army."  Here is what the Lord is saying to us to expect int this time of transtion.

First there will be a calling forth of intercessors to prophesy to the dry bones.  It is very important for us to be obedient to prophesy to the dry bones.  God will honor our obedience.  As the church begins to get connected (bones coming together) there will be a shaking, and trembling and a rattling.  It may appear chaotic at first, but it will soon begin to take form, and we will see commitment take hold as sinews come over the bones (the sinew holds the bones together and keeps them from falling apart under pressure).  Our commitment to each other and the ministry of Jesus will be what holds the Church united.  We will recognize the need for proper covering in the Body, and begin to see the true aligning of the five fold governmental structure of the Church emerge.  And finally we will hear the commissioning in the spirit as the Lord gives us our orders to assemble as a mighty army.  Those who have prepared for this moment will be used to usher in the rest of the Body of Christ to arise from the valley of dry bonesand be made alive in the resurrection of Christ.  2012, the year of completion is not far away.  Son of man prophesy that these bones shall live, position yourself where the Lord shows you within the Body, stand firm, and make sure you are under proper spiritual authority, so you can go forth in power and authority, when the four winds start blowing across America to breathe on the Church.  Prepare yourself for the year of transition which will surely usher in the greatest harvest before Jesus returns for His Bride.

 Peace and God's blessings for 2011!

Our Moment in History        Winter Edition 2010  

 Isaiah 61:1-3 "Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.  Lift up your eyes and look about you; All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.  Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; that the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come."
 A time is coming upon us of great darkness, which will provide an opportunity for the church to arise and be radiant, magnificent and truly the manifestation of the Body of the living Christ.  It seems that whenever we as Christians have come to a place that appears to be a hopeless situation with utter defeat looming in our future, it is at that time the Lord hears the cries of his people and delivers them out of their trouble.  This is an hour for the church to stand on the promises of God, believing in a victorious outcome as we lift our eyes to see our King lead us out of the darkness.  I remember scenes from epic battle movies of the civil war and revolutionary war, in which, in the midst of the smoke, chaos and confusion of a heavy battle, the flag bearer would run into the heat of battle with no weapon.  I would always think, I would hate that job.  They seemed to go through a lot of people.  When one would fall, another would put down their weapon to replace the fallen soldier and proudly pick up the flag.  Generally, it appeared that a soldier would take on that position as a badge of honor.  I only came to understand that, when realizing that the banner lifted high above the smoke and chaos gave clarity in confusion.  In the dark days that lie ahead, the church will become the banner lifted high above the chaos and smoke.  We will stand radiant and the people of all nations will be drawn to our light.  The true church of Jesus Christ will be recognizable as we stand out from among the people of darkness.  This is a time to prepare for the battle that lies ahead.  In the season of advent, take time to prepare your heart to be a resting place for the King of kings to come and make his abode, His dwelling place among men.  Psalm 24 says: "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.  Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.  He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek his face, O God of Jacob.  Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O you gates, lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is He, this King of glory?  The Lord Almighty, he is the King of glory."   We need to become a generation of people that have turned from our idols, with hearts of repentance, who are focused on Jesus.  He is lifting His banner of love over America.  Will the church run to stand alongside of Him as He leads the way to victory?  Will we assemble for battle?  Will we recognize the flag of freedom and love, flying over us beckoning us to "come out from among them"?    Will we be light in the midst of darkness?  Peace and stability in chaos and confusion?  Will we be able to see beyond the moment of uncertainty and be certain that if God is for us, who will be against us?  Recently, the whole world watched as 33 Chilean miners were trapped 200 feet below the surface of the earth.  In a moments time, their normal routine was interrupted by an explosion at the mine.  They were cut off from family, friends, supplies and light.  God in his mercy, allowed one man who was spiritually prepared for the moment, to rise up as a spiritual leader among them.  He led them in prayer several times a day, placing his trust in his God to provide for them and rescue them.  Campus Crusade For Christ, Chili, had arranged for the Jesus Film to be lowered in its audio version for the miners to listen to.  As time went on, those miner's hearts were being prepared by God to receive the message of His love being poured out on the cross for their sins.  The men became humbled, the moment was right, and the report came back that 20 men made decisions for Jesus in that experience.  As we know, God delivered them from their world of darkness and all were rescued safely.  Each of us has been planted in our communities, and work places so that we will be light in darkness.  When the time of crisis comes and the moment is right, will the people see the light of Christ in us and run to us for safety?  Ephesians 5:8-16 NIV  "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light, (for the fruit of the light consists of goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is the light that makes everything visible.  This is why it is said, wake up O sleeper rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.  Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil".  Rise up church of America, this is our moment in history to shine!

Prison Ministry

This past year, God opened a door for me to go to  Bucks County Prison to be a mentor to women who recently made decisions for Christ.  It has been a blessing for me to see God moving on the hearts of these young ladies.  Most of them in their 20's hoping that they do not continue down the cyclic path of the repeat offenders.  They seem desperate for God to intervene in their life.  NHFW continues classes in Riverside Correctional Facility, the largest female intake prison in Philadelphia.

Thank You to All our Partners! Thank you for your partnership in this ministry and for all your support through prayer and giving.  You have been a blessing to us over the years and we could not continue the work without your support.  May God bless you and keep you in the coming season of uncertainty, may He make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you and may the Prince of Peace grant to you His peace.

Family News

It appears that the Lord delights in sending us a Christmas grandbaby, and once again this year, we await the arrival of our granddaughter, Nevaeh.  Her big brother Chase, was also a Christmas baby 2 years ago.  And we will also be celebrating Sophia's birthday, last years Christmas gift, and her brother Jackson who will turn 3 on Christmas Eve. 'Tis the season to rejoice!  We also rejoice at the news of 2 more expected grandchildren this spring.  This will bring our grand total up to 11.  Ron and I are truly grateful to the Lord for His many blessings poured out upon us, especially the gift of these precious children.  It is particularly special to see all our married children and their spouses raising their children in the way of the Lord.  The Bible says that God will bless us, and our children and our children's children.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all our friends and partners!

 HAVE YOU DIED TO YOUR SIN?

Have you died to your love to sin?  In the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul addresses the question,"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"  This question follows his statement in chapter 5 that says "But where sin abounded, grace abounds much more."  Here are the points Paul is making in this chapter, ending with the conclusion; "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus."  1. To be a Christian and continue in sin is entirely contrary to the gospel.  2. Sin is destructive and those who have died to the love of sin and the ruling power of sin should never want to live in it any longer.  3. We have a daily choice to yield to sin or to God.  4. The power of Christ's resurrection at work within us is greater than the power of any sin.  Let's look at verses 5 and 6.  "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that the old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."  If we look at the Grrek verb that translates "done away with"  we find out that it does not mean extinct, but rather defeated and deprived of power.  You see, that is what happens when we come into the death and resurrection of Christ.  In verses 9,10,11 and 12 Paul writes;  "knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts."  Here is the daily choice we face, do we obey the will of God and deprive the power of sin on our lives by allowing the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead to reign in our lives, or do we obey the same old man and his love to sin?  Jesus says to each of us, in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments."  Jesus is saying to those who love Him, they will prove their devotion to Him by obeying Him and His Word.  Where is the focus of your love?  Do you still insist on loving your sin, or have you made a decision to love Jesus more?  This is the most important decision youo will make because it carries a sentence of eternal life or death.  To love Christ more than to love your sin is to live to the fullest.  Have you really died to your love to sin?  If you still love to live in a lifestyle of habitual sin it will destroy everything you hold dear in life because the end result of sin will always be death.  If you have made a decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, then you must make a daily decision to allow the power of Christ's blood to be applied over your life purchasing you from a lifestyle of sin and depriving it of its power that it once had over you.  To love Jesus is to obey Jesus.  To obey Jesus is to follow His direction.  To follow His direction is to give Him control.  Make the decision to love Jesus more than you love your sin. 

Our Mailing Address: 211 Bensal Rd. Hatboro, Pa. 19040