For anyone who feels alone...

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 

Psalms 34:18 NKJV

I recently wrote a post about our need for each other, about how our value of independence in our society may be the cause of the seeming increase in depression and suicide. One of the points that I make in that post is that the idea that, all I need is Jesus is not actually Biblical.

I still stand behind that statement. We are made to be social beings and to be dependent on each other. Though this is true there are times that, for whatever reason, we are not able to reach out to and depend on another human being.

It is in these times that we need to remember that God is always there!

I had the opportunity to learn this very early in life. When we were young my brothers and I lived with an abusive stepfather. There are a lot of stories I could tell about that time but there is one that has always stuck out to me. I wrote more about this story in an early blog post of mine called A Light in the Darkness.

There was a period of time, I am not sure how long, in which he locked us up in our rooms and put black tarp o er the windows and around the doors in order to block out all light. In our society it is very rare for us to experience true darkness but my brothers and I did in that room. There was literally nothing for us to do except sit and wait.

It was in that room that God met me for the first time.

The skeptic would say that I was a kid in trauma reaching out for what little hope I could find. But all I can say is I know what I experienced. God met me in that room. God kept me sane in a time where I could have easily lost all hope.

I don't know where you are at as you read this post. Maybe you are in a place where you feel like no one can understand you, or there's no one to reach out to. Let me tell you, from the experience of a young boy in a pitch black room with no idea of when he would see light again, God is always there to reach out to. Jesus is always there.

God promised that he will never leave and I know that promise to be true.

If you need to cry out to God but don't feel like you have the strength to then please message me or someone else who can do it for you.

Even if you don't reach out I am praying for each person that reads this that God would meet you in a real way, a way that you can not explain away, the exact way that you need Him to right now.

Rooted and Grounded in Love

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:14-19

The passage above is known as one of the "Ephesian prayers". Many preachers, have written books and taught about the benefit of praying these prayers, along with one in Colossians, over ourselves daily. This is definitely a good way to increase some revelation about who God is and our relationship with Him. There is one particular revelation in this prayer that God has been bringing me back to lately and I wanted to highlight for anyone who needs the reminder today. 

It is easy to read this quickly and to think that Paul is praying that the Ephesians would become "rooted and grounded in love", but if you read more closely this is not the case. Paul is actually praying that, since they already are "rooted and grounded in love" they would be able to "comprehend" that love. 

Whether you realize it or not you are rooted and grounded in love!

It is very possible that you are not feeling loved today. Depression, anxiety and stress seem to be at an all time high in today's society and it is easy to feel like we are left alone in our attempts to survive the daily grind, if that is the case then you need this reminder. You are loved! Not only are you loved but you are rooted and grounded in that love. You just need to realize and learn to comprehend that fact. 

What Paul is praying over the Ephesians in this passage are important reminders for us in our day to day walk and I pray the same thing over all who read this post. I pray that:

That the Father would strengthen you through His Spirit in your inner man

That Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith

That you would be able to comprehend and know the full breadth of His love for you

and that you may be filled with the fullness of God

May this be true in your life today and throughout this week!

My Book Now Published: The Authority of the Church

My book is finally published! I have been working on editing this book off and on for years and I kept delaying publishing thinking it would be difficult to complete. However, I found that Kindle makes it very easy.

My book is basically a description of the life that Jesus called us to. It explores the reasons as to why the power of the Holy Spirit seemed so prevalent in the early church and seems less prevalent today. It is the teaching behind my life vision to bring the church today back to the passion, purity and power of the early church as shown in the book of Acts.

I start with a story from my trip to the Philippines in which God used me to heal a little boy. I then proceed to ask the question why these types of miracles seem to be less prevalent today then they were in the Bible. A lot of preachers have addressed this question and simplify it to one issue like lack of faith, lack of holiness, etc. Others tend to explain miracles away with theories of different eras or ideas that only certain people are given the gift of miracles. I address all of these ideas in this book.

Ultimately it comes down to the fact that our power comes from a transferred authority from Jesus, and with that authority comes a responsibility. A responsibility to live the life that Jesus mandated us to live. We are not walking in the power that comes from the authority of Christ simply because we are not picking up the responsibility that comes with that power.

This is an important message for today's church and I encourage you to order the book. It will inform you and empower to live the life that Jesus has called us to live. If you order and agree that it is a timely message then please spread the word. Share the book, share the link for others to buy, and feel free to reach out to me at martureo77@gmail.com if you would like to invite me to come speak at your church, event, or meeting.

The book is available in two formats:

Kindle e-book for $2.99

Paperback book for $8.50

Also if you liked the book please write a review of it on Amazon so that others can see.