Hello Overcomers, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.

I just read Hebrews 12:5-15.......

The skilled surgeon was about to perform a very delicate operation on the ear of his patient when he spoke these reassuring words: "I may hurt you, but I will not injure you."

So too, the Heavenly Father in dealing with us may inflict pain, but we can be confident that whatever He does is for our good. In the course of our discipline, He may find it necessary to use the chastening rod, though it will always be administered in love. His pitying heart will never engage in "child abuse." Tenderly He will give the correction we need. The Scriptures says, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are execised by it" (Heb.12:11). You see, God has a wonderful plan for the life of every believer, and He designs many different methods of fulfilling it. Seeing only part of that divine blueprint, we ask, "Why this distasteful experience, this jolting financial reversal, this bodily weakness, this trying circumstance?" It's as if we squirm under the specialist's scalpel and cry out, "Stop, stop, you're hurting me!" We fail to realize that the pain is part of the process of removing the diseased area and is necessary if healing is to take place.

Be assured, child of God, that the chastening you are experiecing comes with the Father's care. All His purposes are for your good. He may "hurt" you, but He'll never "injure" you.

Just remember: God's chastening is not cruel but corrective.

This has been an Overcomer's moment. Love you guys........HK

Hello Overcomers,

I just read Psalm 5............

If WE unlock the gates of the day with Bible reading and prayer, our path is sure to be filled with usefulness and blessing. Joseph Parker said, "The morning is the time for meeting the Lord, for then we are at our best, having a new supply of energy. Blessed is the day that is opened with prayer! Holy is the dawn that finds us on 'top of the mount' with God!"

Under the Old Testament law, the Levites were required to arise and "stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening" (1 Chr. 23:30). According to the New Testament, all believers are priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), and the Lord expects them to commune with Him daily. And those who begin the day with God are most likely to sense His presence in all that they do.

I heard a little 4-year-old who said to his parents one morning, "I won't get up until I see Jesus." At first they didn't know what he meant, but then the little fellow pointed to a picture on the wall. It was a painting of Christ. He wouldn't get out of bed until the light was enough to see the face of Jesus. They learned an important spiritual lesson from their son's innocent remark. It taught them never to begin their day's work until they had first "seen Jesus" in a time of meditation and prayer.

Let's be sure to follow the practice of the psalmist who directed his prayer to God early in the morning and looked to Him for strength. We too should determine never to begin the day until we've first seen Jesus.

This has been an Overcomer's moment. Talk to you soon..........................HK

Hello Overcomers of CCAS,

I just read Psalm 51.

Sin is a serious matter and can leave scars for life, even though it is forgiven. Yet to the one who has fallen we can offer encouragement. I have counseled with former ministers of the gospel who were in despair because they had brought reproach on the name of Christ. They knew their transgression had made it impossible for them to serve as they had before. I assured them, however, that they could still live useful, Christ-honoring lives. Their sad experience could enable them to be effective in helping others who might fall into the same snare. Apparently David had this in mind when he wrote Psalm 51. After confessing his sins of adultery and murder, he pleaded with God to restore him the joy of His salvation. He promised, "Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." This great king could speak from experience as he sought to lead others in the way of righteousness.

In a well-known poem, the writer points out that a bird who had fractured its wing "never soared so high again." Then he adds, "But the birdwith the broken pinion/ Kept another from the snare,/ And the life that sin had stricken/ Raised another from despair."

Yes, sin in the life of God's children can leave ugly scars and lasting regrets. It may even permanently handicap them for certain types of service. Yet when any transgression is confessed and foresaken, the Lord not only completely forgives but He usually opens new and profitable doors of opportunity. So NO ONE NEED DESPAIR!

Love you guys and gals.........

This has been an Overcomer's moment...............HK

Hello Overcomers,

If you get the chance, Read Romans 1:24-32.

One of the least feared but most dangerous consequences of sin is its deadening effect upon the conscience. Holiness creates tenderness and sensitivity, but evildoing produces callousness and indifference. This hardening process is part of God's immediate judgement upon sin. We see this in Romans 1:24, where we read that God "gave them up to uncleanliness through the lusts of their own hearts." Every time we act contrary to His will, something good in us dies. Gradually we lose our moral sensitivity and think of wrong as right and evil as enviable.

Recently I heard a hollywood actress say, "I believe open infidelity could save a lot of marriages. The jealousy that hurts some marriages is actually a fear of the unknown." Although she's been married to a man since 1955, she has had numerous affairs. Her latest one fizzled because the man wanted her to divorce her husband and marry him. She said, "Anything conventional would make me feel trapped." I find that incredible!!

Such blatant disregard for God's standard of morality, whether it's free love with the opposite sex or perverted expressions of love with the same sex, shows how dull the conscience can become. We can readily see this deadening process at work in others, but it's easy to forget that sin affects all of us the same way. It's first signs are a neglect of Bible reading and prayer, sporadic church attendance, and an attitude of indifference to spiritual matters. To keep from growing insensitive, we must cleanse our way by taking heed to the Word of God -- DAILY!

This has been an Overcomer's moment------------ Howard Kent

Hey CCAS members............

I was reading the Bible today and felt God speaking to my heart and I believe He has a message for all of us. I was reading Daniel 6:1-9 and this is what was pressed upon my heart to anybody on this site.

Daniel is an outstanding example of one who showed his faith by his works. The kingdom of Babylon had fallen to Darius the Mede, who had placed it under the jurisdiction of 120 princes. They in turn were under three presidents, and Daniel was No. 1. He conducted himself so honorably in his high office that Darius "thought to set him over the whole realm." The other presidents and princes, however, were jealous and began to devise means of getting rid of him. I wouldn't be surprised if they placed Daniel under constant surveillance. They may of told their agents, "Watch that man! Investigate him thoroughly! Report anything we might use against him!" But hard as they tried, they could find nothing. The Bible says that "he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him" (Daniel 6:4). What a record! What a testimony! He was loyal and conscientious in his secular employment -- all the while giving God first place. Daniel's life was so far above reproach that his enemies had to create a situation in which his "religion" would come into conflict with his "government job."

I wonder, how would we stand under close examination like this? Are we so faithful in our work that our fellow employees can "find no occasion nor fault"? It's wonderful to speak about Christ. But consider the influence of a godly life and a job so faithfully performed that others can find no fault. It silences our critics and glorifies God. like Daniel, our behavior should be unblamable. Then we too will have works that witness!

This has been an Overcomer's moment..............God Bless.................Howard Kent

Hello CCAS members,

I hope everyone is doing well this week. I just finished reading Luke 15:1-7.

It reminded me when I was just a kid, I went with my father to visit U.S. Army Chaplain Steve Arnold on one of the bases he frequently visited. He was a mighty preacher of the gospel and, what I can remember, an effective soul winner. Recently I read an account of how this man of God helped a woman find salvation -- a person who had been dragged down by terrible sin. Late one night a man came to Chaplain Arnold and asked him to go and pray with a dying girl. He accompanied the stranger to a house located in a district of the city noted for its prostitutes. There he found a desperate soul named Mary who said to him, "Isn't there something in the Bible about a sheep that went astray and a shepherd who went out and brought it back again?" The chaplain gladly recounted the story and made the gospel application. As he knelt to pray, several other girls slipped to their knees, sobbing by their companion's bed. Arnold said that when he looked up after his prayer, the dying girl's face was radiant. Over and over she exclaimed, "Oh, it is wonderful! The Good Shepherd has found me and is holding me to His heart!" Later, Arnold was told by one of Mary's friends that she had died.

Several years afterward in another city, a young woman came up to Arnold at the close of a service. "Don't you remember me?" she said. "I'm the girl that told you of Mary's passing. But there's something else I want you to know."

"What is it?" he asked.

"When the Good Shepherd brought Mary in on one shoulder, I came in on the other!"

Yes, CCAS members, the Good Shepherd is still seeking lost sheep!

This has been an Overcomers moment.........Talk to you soon, Howard Kent

Hello Overcomers of CCAS,

Read Psalm 46.

1 Kings 18:44 says: "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand."

Many unique applications can be drawn from familiar scripture passages. For example, an unknown author wrote, "It is well if we can see the form of a Man's hand in every cloud that arises in our lives. It is good if we can discern the figure of our Lord, the mighty Maker of Heaven and earth, in every shadow that spreads it's wings above us. For then our clouds will leave abundant blessings in their wake, and our dark days will reveal the glory of God in all His protecting and comforting power."

A Christian woman was always so bright and cheerful that everyone wondered at her joyous spirit. "But sister," said a friend, "you must have some clouds in your life."

"Clouds?" she replied. "Why of course. If there were no clouds, where would the showers of blessing come from?"

This saint of God, like the poet of old, had learned to "trace the rainbow through the rain."

Many believers reach the place of unquestioning faith in Jesus and can sing Joseph Gilmore's hymn with assurance:

Sometimes, 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,

Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,

By waters still, o'er troubled sea,

Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.

In every cloud that darkens our horizon we may discern the nail-pierced hand of the Man of Calvary. Surely the One who died for us can be trusted to lead and protect us, even in the worst storms of our life.

Victory and perfect peace will be yours if by faith you look for the mighty hand of God in your cloud.

This has been an Overcomer's moment. God Bless.............Howard

Read 1 Peter 2:13-20

A sure test of a person's character is how they respond to false accusations. If you, a believer, is faithfully serving Christ, you will be critized; and the more work you do, the more adverse comments you hear. Your value is measured not only by the friends you have but by the enemies you make as well. God pity the Christian who has no opposition at all - of whom it is said, "Everybody speaks well of him." No believer should want the world's praise or the devil's flattery. A pastor friend of mine once said, "Criticism is the muck in which the plants of the Lord grow strong." A child of God can profit more from criticism than from flattery, especially when it reveals your weaknesses and faults. Even if a charge is untrue, it can help you grow and bring glory to Christ.

The apostle Paul had his share of false accusations. In Romans 3:8 he spoke of slanderous reports. Some people were completely distorting his message of salvation by grace and thereby casting reflection of his apostleship. Servants of God in every age have been maligned: Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah - none of them escaped. And the most severely criticized of all was the Savior Himself. Yet He was unique, for every criticism leveled against Him was unjust!

The Bible says, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you" (1 Peter 4:14). Whenever you are falsely attacked by others, be sure your response is Christlike. You are being proven by your critics!

This is an Overcomer's moment. God Bless............Howard Kent (Matthew 5:11)

Hello CCAS members....

I just wanted to encourage you all that what God has started in you, He will also finish in you.

Hebrews 6:10 says: "God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them."

What ever part of the ministry you are doing, continue to the very end. I have seen and read a lot of what you have done and I think it is just great. I would love to hear from more of you and I pray for each one of you everytime I log on to the site. Christina Cheek is working with me on a project called "The Overcomers." It will hit different parts in our lives and hope when you read the series, you can relate to the characters' situations and thoughts. More on that later.

I would also like to add that Christina is a wonderful artist and has a great eye for detail. Some people say that she has two.

Just keep up the good work guys and gals and don't let ol'slewfoot get in the way. OK?

God bless you all..............Howard Kent