Around The Corner

Well here we are, the end of this year just around the corner. Hopefully we will be here to see the new year. It's not guaranteed, as we all know. The Lord has taught me through the years, that he is the only one that is capable of seeing around the corners. Oh, I know that most of us live as if we will never die, but that isn't true. Death is a appointment that we won't miss, and we have no say so as to when it will happen. I personally look forward to every day. Did you hear of the man that woke up everyday and checked the obituaries to see if he was listed, if not he made his coffee and began his day. I don't check the obituaries yet but I am thankful to be alive. I'm looking forward to the new year and if it arrives for me I will be thankful, but more importantly I am looking for a new heaven and a new earth. I'm also looking for the Lord's soon return where the saints will be gathered together with the Lord to spend forever in His presence. What are you looking forward to? Perhaps some of the same things that I am looking forward to. Hope to see you again soon, perhaps it will be in heaven. Now wouldn't that be great!

Giving thanks to His name!

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:5 Then in verses 9 & 10 of the same chapter, it says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
Spiritual sacrifices, what are they? Hebrews 13:15, says, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." We are the people who were not a people, but now are a people, through his mercy, and are to offer the fruit of our lips by giving God thanks continually. Constant giving of thanks leaves little time for constant bickering, back biting, judging, complaining, gossiping, lying, etc. We of all people should be giving thanks to God for all that he has done for us. As the year comes to a close, perhaps we should be remembering all that God has done for us this year. I like to make a list of God's constant blessings to my family and myself. The list doesn't have to be written, just remembered and rejoiced over. God is good, so would you join me in giving God thanks?

Disappointed! I Hope Not

Ah, this is the day after Christmas and some will tell, of going shopping because all isn't well. They opened their presents and to their surprise did not get what they wanted inside, therefore all isn't well. If your present was Christ, then all is well, for Heaven will be your dwelling place and not that ugly place called Hell. If we have Christ then we are complete, not disappointed which is really neat.

A poet I'm not, but a Born Again Christian I am. Therefore I know that life is in Christ and not in this world. Are you happy and do you know it? Are you disappointed and feeling hurt? Then turn your life over to Christ and He will make all things new, and you too will be happy and not blue. Here's hoping that all is well in your life and that you are happy and grateful for all of God's blessings in your life. My prayer for us all is that we will have and be the things that I just mentioned.

Ah, this is that day after Christmas and all is well. Oh, by the way Jesus is the reason for all seasons in our lives. Blessing to you.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to us all. As we celebrate with family, friends, and other believers, let's all give thanks to the Father for sending His Son, and to Christ for coming, and to the Holy Spirit for being a present help in all of our lives. It is truly wonderful to be in the family of God. So let all Praise God for His adopting us into His family through Christ our Lord. Blessing to all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Actions speak louder than words?

There is an old saying that goes like this, "actions speak louder than words". The Bible says in I John 3:18, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth". Talk is cheap, is another old saying with some merit. If we are to love one another it must in deed and in truth. I John 3;17 says, "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" Are we doers of the word or are we just great at talking about it? God knows and so do we!

Always Do Right!

"Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest." This is a cute old saying, but one that I hope can never be said about any of us. It would be a really good thing for us to always do the right thing and never astonish anyone by our actions. Hopefully people will expect that we will always do what is right. Scripture says, in Proverbs 20:11, that, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right". To be known as a faithful and good man is to be much desired. Lord help each of us to be known as good men as we do that which is right in your sight!

It carries a lot of wait

Patience is a word that carries a lot of wait. You might have heard this saying or not, but there is a lot of truth here. In Hebrews 10:36-38, we see these words, "For ye have need of patience that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." The Lord will come just like He promised, and we must in faith continue on with the work He has given each one of us. Patience is so key in all that we do, and patience requires waiting. How good are we at waiting? Great sometimes and not so hot at others. The pay day of our patience will be that we will see Him return and we will see Him everyday for eternity. Patience does carry a lot of wait! Will it be worth it? YES!

Without Ceasing

I Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing". Talking with God and casting our cares on Him is a wonderful blessing that every believer has. Hebrews 4:16 says, " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I was wondering if any of us have a need just now, and if so, have we given it to the Lord in prayer? Let's take a moment and ask God to show us just what is needed in our lives at this moment. When He shows us what our burdens are, let's give them to the Lord in prayer. I'm praying that we all will cast our cares upon Him!

Free from condemnation

Romans 8:1,2 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". In Christ we are free from condemnation just as he is. Because of his life, we are now free from the law of sin and death. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" John 8:36. Just how wonderful is it to be free? Free from the fear of tomorrow, free from the guilt of our past, free to live in the now. It is enough to make one want to dance the dance of freedom, and shout the praise of God from the highest. We are free, PTL! Do you care to dance?

More Grace

James 4:6 says, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." More grace is what God gives to the humble. I can't speak for you, but for myself I would say, God, be pleased to give me more grace, for this is one who needs and desires it. Lord, help us all to be submissive to you and your will for our lives.
The humble ones are very desirable in God's kingdom, not in the world, but in God's kingdom they are. Humble is the equal to weak in the world's view, but humble to those in the Lord, equals to be lifted up. James 4:10 says, " Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." Lord, teach us of your humility and we will thank you forever. Blessing to all of you who are becoming humble ones of God.

Happy is the people whose _______________!

"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If your happy and you know it, stomp your feet. If you're happy and you know it, say Amen. If you are happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it. If you're happy and you know it do all three." That is how the children's song goes, and boy have I enjoyed throughout the years leading children's church and other groups of people in the singing of this song.
You might ask me, what do I have to be happy about? You could say, that the weather has been awful, and you haven't even started your Christmas shopping, and even if you had you don't have enough money or you have money but not enough time, and on and on one might go with this song of woe. I might reply something about food, clothing, and shelter for starters, at least on the physical level. Most important of all is this, "Happy is that people, that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." Psalm 144:15 Happy are the folks whose God is the Lord. Do we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour? Do we realize that we can enter into God's presence through Jesus at any time and have God give His attention to us and our needs? What do we have to be happy about? You tell me!

What is opened more times by mistake?

Someone once said, "Nothing is opened more times by mistake than the mouth." God's word has much to say about the tongue and mouth. For instance, "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin..." Prov. 10:19. Another is, "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction." Prov. 13:3. One of my favorites is found in Prov. 21:23, "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." And another one out of Prov. 16:23, "The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and added learnng to his lips".
Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. If we hide God's word in our hearts it will help keep us from sinning against God and our fellow man. In Prov. 15: 28, it says these words about the righteous man, "The heart of the righteous studieth to answer...", in the Amplified Bible, it says "ponders how to answer." All of our communications are important and should be approached humbly and with the fear of the Lord, for, "death and life are in the power of the tongue;..." Proverbs 18:21. Opened by mistake!!!

Up The Hill

Have you noticed that when you help someone else up a hill, you're that much closer to the top yourself or that climbing a hill never seems as hard, when we are helping another to the top. Our walk with Jesus can be paralleled to climbing a hill, and when we help someone else in their walk, we too find ourselves closer to the top or closer to home as some say.
Walking with others is always best when possible, for then we can help one another along the way. Have we paused lately to identify those who have helped us with our walk? As we do so, let's remember to thank God for those folks. You know: grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, teachers, neighbors, sunday school teachers, choir leaders, deacons, elders, pastors, our brothers and sisters in the Lord, etc. No doubt there will be many whom we identify as having helped us along the way. God has blessed each of us with an abundance of help, and for that we do give thanks. Thank you, Lord!

Every Thought

In II Corinthians 10:5 we see these words, "...and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". Why is this such an important verse? It is important because, as it says in Matt. 15:19-20, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, thefts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things that defile a man:..." What we are thinking is so key to our lives. For evil thoughts come out of our hearts and defile us. It is good to know the source of our thoughts, for our thoughts can get us into deep water. Galatians: 6:3, mentions another concern about our thoughts, when it says, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Therefore we can be self deceived by thinking we are something that we aren't. Let's be careful to not become deceived for God's word says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" Galatians 6:7. Would you join me in thinking on these things. Another great reference on this subject is Philippians 4:8.
May righteousness always rule our thought life as we bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!

Darkness

I love to camp in the Rocky Mtns., but there is one thing that I don't like at all about the experience, it's the darkness. When you have to move around in the darkness and it gets even worse if your light fails. It's an awful feeling to try to see in the darkness and to try to keep from hurting yourself. If you are walking with someone else, it then becomes that much more of a challenge to not step on or hurt your companion. When the sun comes up, it is an easy thing to see and to move around in the light and not hurt yourself or someone else.
So what is my point. Well, it's this, I John 2:9-11 says, "He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." Are we blinded by the darkness caused by our own hatred? I hope not, but it was written to Christians and it can happen to Christians. How much light is in our lives today? If we have darkness in our lives, we are sure to cause ourselves much trouble and to hurt others around us. Is darkness blinding us? If so we need to light the light by repenting and allowing God to cleanse our hearts and restore us to the light. Then we will be able to see where we are going, and we will also be able to bless others by helping them along the way.