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.