Minister Calvin Watt

Good Morning Family,
This morning FB family I want to ask each and every one of you to pray for my family members who are driving or flying in the the Family Reunion this weekend. I come from a family of Preacher's and some of us were given assignments to bring forth, the word of God. My topic is Thanksgiving or Thankfulness. Pray for me. I don't know about you but I am thankful for the Change God has done in my life! Most of you know my story; if you don't, inbox me and I will be blessed by giving you a bit of my testimony. Then you will understand why I Praise God the way I do. I want you to know that the moment we enter through the Gate of Jesus Christ, by believing in Him for the forgiveness of our sins, we dramatically alter our eternity.

He says to us in (John 10:9). "I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved." In other words family we were once blind and destined for eternal separation from God, but now we "see" and will spend eternity as His children. After passing through the Gate, God begins to conform us "to the likeness of His Son" Romans 8:29, until our only desire is to bring Him glory, and praise His name forever. For that family, we need to be thankful. At times family, I want you to know that this process can be painful. It can hurt to strip away layers of pride and crawl from under the dominion of our old sinful nature, oh I know what I am talking about right here - it can hurt to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. But as we persevere and catch a glimpse of His glory, Hallelujah, we will never again desire to be away from His presence.

Psalm 84:10 says, "Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." Somebody say Amen!

What I am saying to you family is that a single day in the presence of God is better than a thousand days anywhere else. Amen Somebody! It is better than anything this world can offer. If we do not believe this is true, we have not yet been in His presence - we have not yet tasted the sweet fruit of His Spirit. And if we believe and have experienced the peaceful joy of His courts but are now consumed and burdened by the trials of this world, then perhaps we have simply forgotten how sweet and fulfilling God's presence can be.

Let me paraphrase the second part of the above verse: "I would rather be the lowest and most insignificant servant in the house of God, so I could be near Him and praise Him, than to live as a ruler in the greatest of mansions but apart from His presence." This passion to be in the presence of God is also recorded earlier in the same psalm: Psalm 84:2 says; My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. I come to tell you family that Daddy longs for us to have this same passion in our life. Psalm 100:4 says: Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. So if this passion has faded due to distractions like computer games, Nintendo and entanglements. Caught up in the he said, she said mess, then you cannot hear His call. I want you to know family that He is calling for us to return.

I dropped by to tell you that the courts of God's holy temple now resides, Amen, within each and every one of us as believers. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that His Spirit lives in you! His presence is available to us right now! No matter how distant we may be or feel, He is really closer than we can imagine. So let's enter through the gate and fill His temple with praise! Let's return as family to a life focused on passionate worship. Let's determine to spend every moment of every day rejoicing in the courts of God. Let’s be thankful for what he has done and is still doing in our lives’ Amen