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I am having great difficulty learning the New America----sure is not what I grew up in, I see what is going on and for the life of me I can not even start to get a grip.....Twin Cities, they are burning down the place and stealing everything that isn't nailed down and appears to be getting away with it. Don't wear a mask, go to Jail, serving a sentence for murder, get out of jail and go home,.......I think it was the Pharisee who said Paul had turned the world upside down, HUMMMM, looks like evil has raised its ugly hear to get even.......a thought---People with a bit of power can be very dangerous, and the people are just sheep. I am going to put my foot in my mouth big time so reckon I best stop while stopping can be done......
"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Very comforting words for bad situations
God Bless & keep your heads down...
Love it.....
From my David Jeremiah Study Bible this morning I came across this from the introduction to the book of Isaiah---: We cannot really accomplish things for God until we have had an encounter with God. While it is worthwhile to consider all the different hands-on opportunities that Christians have to serve Christ and His church, our service must begin with honest, open-hearted prayer and personal One-on-one time with God in His Word. The more we invest in our relationship with God, the more we will understand how much we need His guiding, empowering Spirit to accomplish anything that pleases Him.
Its Memorial Day so I checked my American Patriot's Bible to see if there was anything set aside for this day. Never fails I learned something this morning, remember JFK's words---"Do not ask what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country", well I learned that Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes jr., said in his Memorial Day address back in 1884---"It is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for our country in return."
Way back a few thousand years ago, in the days of Moses, remember the Passover?, well God said "this day shall be a memorial and you shall keep it........................If one reads of folks way back in Old Testament times, often when 2 or more would come to an agreement over an important matter they would stack up some stones as a memorial to remind them of their agreement. As you can see memorial days have been around for a very long time, today we remember on Memorial Day the thousands upon thousands of men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in this great country we call America, the USA---------May God Bless America------
We have heard it said more than once that it good to commit a Bible Verse to memory---Here is a good one from Psalm 23:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever"
Sort of offers some good thinking material
I tell my grand-kids they will never know the America I grew up in and it is so sad they will never know the freedoms I had as a youngster, I use to tell my kids that and they did not understand but now that they are older and seeing major changes our country has gone through, now they understand. Evil has chipped away our freedoms one little chip at a time, those little chips are so small that they seem unimportant, but then the object has been chipped away so much that sometimes it appears that what we have left is a pile of chips......It is so sad. "BUT" then I look around at a lot of young folks and I see hope, and hope is a beautiful thing and makes me optimistic and I refuse to allow hope to be taken away. I have often thought of this mess and wondered if in our churches this is exactly what the devil is doing, chipping away our morals--- a little here and a little there---then we are attending a building we call a church and do not realize that the church is the body of Christ.
Point to think on: Have things really changed? I am Addressing ME and like others !!! I and many others say we can't believe how things have changed over the years-----REALLY? In my daily Bible reading often I am chasing a thought back into the O.T. and have said & posted many times that man-kind has not changed one little bit, for whatever---man-kind just won't change----we today are the same stubborn, rebels, self-centered, selfish etc, etc, etc that our fore-fathers were thousands of years ago. It appears that we define things to fit our personal wants. More than once I have heard Christians folks say or tell me......"Yes, Paul wrote that, but, I think he really meant________" and I would always ask, "Then tell me why Paul wrote what he wrote if he did not mean it." We chip away a little here and a little there and end up out of step, then we loose HOPE or we think we loose hope, I suppose maybe a good example would be how we view the word Hope. For the believer "hope " is having confidence in what God has promised, for the unbeliever "hope" is wishful thinking. Study Bible says--"for the unbeliever--seeing is believing"-----"for the believer---believing is seeing."-----Hebrews 11:1 says--"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".........I really hope my wife of 50 years for my birthday will give me a convertible sports car------As a Christian my hope is my faith that one day I will rest in heaven eternally.
I just thought of that Old, Old tune....."When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be"----
A bit long, but well worth your time,--as we are approaching Memorial Day, from my "American Patriots Bible" we have this : "Proverbs 3:5---TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS"
The following is a great memory of a past hero
From overcoming the misery of long years of economic depression in the 1930's, to defeating Nazism and Japanese imperialism, to the Herculean task of remaking the post war America society, this generation of American born for "a rendezvous with destiny" was undoubtedly the most influential of the 20th century. But what was it that made them a generation of patriots, heroes, and builders?
Perhaps the answer was expressed through one of their own, Mitchell Paige, a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nations most prestigious military honor, for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. On Oct. 26, 1942, after all the other Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, for hours Paige operated 4 machine guns, single-handedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. Had that position fallen and the Japanese regained the airfield the Marines had taken, it is possible that the outcome of WWII may have significantly changed.
In the years to come, Paige was repeatedly ask why he would be willing to put his life on the line for his country.. He said that the answers took him back to a Pennsylvania 3 room school where the children were so steeped in the traditions of America that they literally felt themselves a part of a glorious heritage---where the teacher opened the school day with a Bible verse and the Pledge of Allegiance.and where the memorized all the great documents that established the bedrock of America, such as the Gettysburg Address.
His response went this way: "My undying love of country and my strong loyalty to the Marines fighting by my side, gave me no choice but to fight on unswervingly throughout my battles, using my God-given ability to make use of what I had been taught and learned"
WHEN PAIGE LEFT HOME TO WALK the 200 miles to the nearest Marine recruiting station in 1936, his mother packed him a lunch in which she included the note: "Trust in the Lord, son, and He will guide you always." He said this words remained forever in his mind, and whenever fear would overtake him, he was comforted by them.
Paige said, "I will never forget sitting in a foxhole, bloody, burned, and injured the morning after our all night, fierce, hand to hand battle against an overwhelming Japanese force on Guadalcanal. I was alone except for hundreds of dead bodies of the enemy surrounding me. I emptied my pack looking for something to stop the bleeding from a bayonet wound and out fell my small Bible. Picking it up in my dirty, bloody hands, I could scarcely believe it when providentially it opened at Proverbs 3 and there were my mother's words, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."
Michell Paige was a true servant and patriot of America.....and America is proud to have had hundred of thousands of valiant soldiers cut from the same cloth
thanks for all the help on my lil story----all fits in with the ole say'n----"You may be the only Bible some folks will see today".
I wish that I had saved the story or maybe wish I could find it....Any way it went something like this----A rather large church and right across the street was a college campus, well one Sunday morning right after church had started and the church congregation was full and when the preacher got up to preach, the door opened and a young man from college walked in-- with long straggly hair, needing a shave and maybe a bath also, army field jacket, you get the picture---anyway as the young man walked down the isle there was no room for him to sit and if there was the church members sort shifted their position so no room was available, the young man walked down to the front and took a seat right there in the isle, then there was a thump, thump, thump, ---this noise was coming from an old man's cane as he was slowly walking down the isle, when the old man reached the young man sitting on the floor, he slowly sit down beside the tacky young man----then the preacher ready and prepared for his sermon, just said---"I thought I had a good message, but I will not even try to match the sermon we have just witnessed----
There was a bit more, I just can't remember
Psalm 46: 1-2 :
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the mist of the sea. Though the waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling"
Then jump down to the ending of this and we read---"Be still and know that I am God"
I'll not go into how many or much Bible study stuff I have, most of which came from my mom & dad, anyway this past Christmas my bride of 50 years gave me a "Dr. David Jeremiah Study Bible." Now I have always liked Dr. Jeremiah, I always thought of him as a good Christian man/preacher.....my point, after my daily reading of my Christian material or my Bible study of right at 30 years I have found this Bible to be the most clear, meaning the way Dr. Jeremiah explains things, he just takes the simplest things and make them crystal clear.....I wondered for a while if it was this Bible or maybe if the Holy Spirit got tired of my thickness upstairs and decided to open some understanding to me ----- No matter which or maybe a combination of the 2, what I knew becomes more clear each day. "POINT"----If you are looking for a Study Bible I highly recommend this Bible.....But I still remember that it is the Holy Spirit that opens the truth to us, I just believe that He works through this man.-----Like this morning I was in Acts--1st John and then wanted to check something in Romans and noticed that I had hi-lited notes on "Justification", now before you advanced folks think, well--shoot everyone knows and understands "justification." I too know and understand, but this is the way Dr. Jeremiah explains it-----`
'justification is the pivotal idea in the doctrine of Salvation. Before Christ, there was judgment; now there is justification. Being justified is far more than being pardoned or forgiven. Pardon is negative in the sense that it remits a penalty or a debt. Justification is positive in that it bestows a righteous status upon an object. The President can pardon an offense, but cannot reinstate the criminal's position as one who has not broken the law. Pardon deals with past sin but cannot deal with man's future relationship to the law. God deals with both----that is justification. Before Christ, there was judgment, Now there is justification ! " This came from Romans 3-----Like I said, many of us know and understand Justification, but many hear the word, but may not get the drift of it.......Once again my point....this is a good study Bible and if you are looking for one that can make things clear.....this, in my opinion, does the trick....
I went back again this morning to my readings concerning this subject which I posted yesterday....thinking on "Blindness".....In Scripture we have the blind, those who have no physical eye sight at all...then we have those who just choose not to see the truth. We can become so unable to see the truth concerning ourselves, to be able to discern the true direction of our Faith walk in life, meaning to be able to know God's will for us---(Christian community)....We know the Scribes & Pharisees were the religious folks back then, like our Religious leaders of today, in John 9: 40-41----" Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words and said to Him---Are we blind also? Jesus said to them---If you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say, we see, therefore your sin remains". From my footnotes I see--"As often is the case with those who reject Christ, the Pharisees were blinded by their pride, not by ignorance. They choose not to understand, preferring the darkness of their self-interest to the light of Christ.". One of the references to the Greek word blind is the word "toof-o-o"---to develop with smoke--to infiltrate with self-conceit, high minded, lifted up with pride, to be proud.
When I make remarks about organized religion I do not mean to draw anyone away from Christian teaching, it is that to know the truth one must do as Jesus taught, Knock--Seek--Ask, --- When I personally learned to to go to God in prayer (conversation, knocking on His door) seeking truth and wisdom, and asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this is when & where I started to move forward in my Faith Walk, my walk with Christ, my learning to rely upon the Holy Spirit. Just food for thought, the Preacher, the S.S. teacher, the Priest, the friend, the family, NO-ONE can save you except Jesus Christ. From personal experience the removing my selfish wants and desires from what God wants for me can be a real battle. I slip, slide, far down, get all dusty & dirty---then get up and knock all that dust & dirt and move on----I suppose this is what John wrote about in 1st John, we all sin, we all fall short, but we ask for forgiveness, we have an Advocate (lawyer) Jesus Christ to plead our case, we all when we ask receive forgiveness
I know we have many on this board who are very well advanced in their Christian walk and may very well be way beyond this point, but, then there may be 1 or 2 seeking the way-- there may be 1 or 2 whose minds runs on my rails, and just maybe a seed has been planted.......My favorite opening when I was called to speak was "always"--"Why are you here today, you could be out in the sunshine working in your yard, out on the boat fishing, or maybe just sleeping in, may I suggest to you that your are here today because you are right where God wants you to be-----Have you ever experience Jesus Christ----to stand in the presence of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit is truly an awesome experience."-----May I say that you may be reading this board because God led you here.
God Bless and have a great day
I hope and pray that when I get my mind straight & clear I can post on something I have been hung up on for weeks now, all has to do with freedoms and how our freedoms effects us with our following God's will for us and how freedom of doing what we--I want to do,--- I can easily bend and redefine things to fit my wants & desires, then after doing this for a period of time I convince myself that all is ok in my spiritual life, slipping deeper into sin and not even realizing it. Now through these weeks of being lost and trying to find my way through this maze I learn that this personal freedom I have offers to me the biggest downfall I can have in my spiritual walk with God, this downfall is called "BLINDNESS"----I can become so callous in my thinking that I become so totally blind to God's will for me and then I convince myself that all is ok---Like I said, when I get found, right now I am as lost as a leaf in a tornado , well not really lost, just don't know how to properly collect and words my thoughts. It is amazing how in the study of God's words one can learn how limited we are and how unlimited God is----the more I learn the more I know that I know nothing and I can only pray for understanding and wisdom---I am like the guy beating his chest and asking God to forgive him a poor sinner or the Guy who ask Jesus --"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief"-----That piece of scripture I have committed to memory
I do not mean to be harping on or over a specific word......But doggone if this morning I did not get up with this tune on the mind --- "Joy To The World." I even went and pulled out an on song book and read those words while thinking on the inward peace that is "joy".....Just wanted to share and thought maybe it would go well with your morning coffee or tea
God Bless and have a great week------God woke you up this morning for a purpose, a purpose you may never know you fulfilled until you walk through heaven's gate and someone meets you and thanks you for a deed you never knew you did......OH MY !!!! That is what we call joy
a couple weeks ago I made mention to think on Joy verses happiness ......well as you know I am Methodist and our Bishop has said.....NOPE!! No church services, actually that ain't 1/2 bad as lately I have not been getting what I should, another story for another time.....ANYWAY---I turned on the TV and got Dr. David Jeremiah and the 1st 1/2 of the service is music, I watched and listened and had tears in my eyes, beautiful to say the least, then I noticed the folks singing including the congregation, not all, but most should the expression of JOY on their faces, now they appeared to be happy folks, but the JOY of Christ really beamed out......I suppose that is where the term "A picture is worth a thousand words" came from. There is a difference in joy & happy and it was on display this morning
As Christians we need to work on our attitudes so we display true joy----I think
We often ask for prayers for those in need----This morning I saw what could be humorous yet probably a prayer or 2 needed,,,,,,,, enjoy your Sunday and lite'n up just a pinch.....OH !! The humor part----"A man over here in Va. was arrested for wearing a watermelon on his head while attempting to rob a Sheetz store". The picture of this guy was neat........might be one of those things one has to see to be funny--------OOPPPS!!!! 2 guys with watermelons on their head.......I wonder if they were HI as a kite as this time
G'Morn'g Steve----God has given a great gift of listening, sometimes the best thing a person can do is just sit and listen to another-----sometimes it is hard for me to keep my opinions to myself, who would have ever guessed. I really work on learning to be a better listener...Thanks for the post
The last few weeks a couple of things have really rattled my cage, now I know God is in charge and I know all things have a purpose and work for the best, but listen to what has rattled my cage---There is a man on fb, I have never met this guy yet he is a friend on fb, he came down with stomach cancer and had to have his stomach removed and went through a really rough time with this process, then he & his wife learned that his daughter also has cancer, then for icing on the cake just the other day his oldest son was killed in an auto accident, sort of adds a meaning to "when it rains it pours."....They are maintaining there faith and realize all is in God's hands. Then a couple days ago my daughter told us that her close friend had learned that she has brain cancer and required immediate surgery or she would die, yesterday the surgery was done and the doctors told her husband that with Chemo she might could live 6 months, no Chemo life would be 1 month. This girl is in her 30's, 2 young children and a good husband------I have many times told my wife that our health rides right on the head of a pin and at any instant that health could fall off that tiny head on the pin. Come July I will be 77 and I have been as close to stepping off into eternity as one can get without actually leaving this world. Not too many weeks past I ask for prayers for my 80 year old brother who learned that he had lung cancer, -----We do not realize how short life can be until we experience these situations----One moment you can be laughing, dancing in the rain and wake up on your death bed, just that quick----I encourage whoever may read this to think and then question your own Spiritual Condition----Eternity is a very long time to find yourself somewhere where you really don't want to be
Scripture teaches us 2 things----to believe in God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit, the crucifixion and resurrection.......2nd after accepting Jesus as your personal Savior ---He instills in us the Holy Spirit who leads us in the right direction that we are to go.......sort of , if I may, the "Belief" and the "Commands." 1st we have to believe then we learn to do as Jesus taught by the quidance of the Holy Spirit.
Just a little something here to kick your brain in gear this morning----God Bless
1st let me say thank you for your reply, made me really take a look at what & why I posted what I did. I see your point and his---but think I differ a bit in understanding, OH!! it is great to differ at times as I believe it helps us to grow in faith & understand each other better.....Anyway, my thinking is that if by God's Grace we receive a spiritual gift, and my understanding is these spiritual gifts comes from the Holy Spirit, then there is no need for me to try it out to see if it fits (works for me)...Lets say God calls you to a purpose then it is my belief that God will also supply you with all the tools you need to complete that purpose. Anyway that is where I was coming from.....But, you made me pull out a bunch of study material and think---and we all know it can be dangerous when I go to thinking.....Let me close with an example of where my thinking comes from, not that I am right and another wrong, just different thinking----some years ago I was ask to deliver a talk for the Sunday morning service at said church---keep in mind that I am just a lay person with a High School education and by far not the sharpest knife in the drawer----anyway I stayed up all night Saturday trying to get my message right, it was a good talk yet for whatever reason I was very uncomfortable with it, then just after early daylight I noticed one of the songs I had chose-----and right then & there I realized that was to be my topic, now I had no time to prepare so I prayed and ask for help & believe me I needed help. We went to to that little country church and I spoke, I was told it was excellent, on the way home my wife told me that she thought this talk was the best I had ever done......now get this---I could not tell or discuss anything with her that I had talked about. All I knew was that the Holy Spirit told me what my subject was to be and that is the only thing I knew.....Strange as that may sound, it is absolutely true....I suppose there are life experiences that aide in forming our thinking system
I started with thank you and if I may I will end the same way, thanks, a great way to start off my day.
Quote:
So, how do you know whether God has called you to teach? It’s very simple. I’ve often said that if you want to find out whether you’re a leader, then lead and see if anyone follows. The same goes for teaching. If you want to know whether you’re a teacher, then teach and see if anyone listens to you.
A week, maybe 10 or 12 days ago I went to reading from Acts again and for whatever reason I just can't seem to really get going, but not for what one may think, I have really been getting hung up on little things like words and their meaning and why and how they are used---then I am seeing things I had not previously noticed. In chapter 9 we have the Damascus road with Paul's conversion, I worked on that yesterday then this morning I just glanced at chap. 9 again before going on and in the footnotes I see where in Acts Paul's conversion is told 3 times, I never paid any attention to this.( Chap9--22--& 26)---This story occupies more space in the N.T. than any other, (I didn't know that) except for the crucification, burial, & resurrection of Jesus. This post and a buck 50 might get you a coffee at the corner store, but it also points out that I don't care what I think I might know--God keeps opening bits of information to me as I go----maybe I should have said that God keeps opening my mind to things that have always been there of which I paid no never-mind to.----I have faithfully been reading and studying my Scriptures since 1990 and still know nothing, but I have learned to say in conversation that " the way I understand it" not to say "this is what something means". One last point, I am constantly amazed at how God has patience with me and how the Holy Spirit opens doors in God's time not my time.......
God Bless
OH ME !!! Allow me to be the catfish here......I noticed you said if "you want to lead"--"if you want to teach", now I speak from personal experience, there is a big difference in what I may want to do and what God wants me to do. TOOOO early in the morning I best go finish my coffee
Not everything on fb is garbage
One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.
You have two choices... smile and close this page,
or pass this along to someone else to share the lesson
Just for chatting purposes. This morning reading from Psalm 40, I came across the word "iniquities", which over the years I understood it used as sin, which it is, but looking more closely I think over the years I have been selling the word "iniquity" short by just thinking of it as sin. Does it go beyond a simple thought of sin? Then using it in Sunday school teaching or from the pulpit one will think on iniquity as wrong doing against God---or just sin. Hang in there, I am getting to my point---INIQUITY in Hebrew the word would be "AH--VON" or "A-VOWN".-----To bend, twist, distort God's law or God's word. HUMM!! And that right there is my point of thought---when one says " I think what the Scripture means is"----then we start discussing a human's opinion, now are we as humans bending, distorting or twisting God's word to fit our need, wants & desires? Well, like I often say--"food for thought".
Have yourself a great week and God Bless
My 1st reading this morning...Psalm 39
I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.
6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.
10 Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor.
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”
GREAT !! Friday is here.....Back some years ago I told my kids to take a piece of paper and draw a big circle and inside that circle write everything that bothered them, trials, problems, etc. all those things which make for a bad day, ---then on the outside of that circle write all this things that make for a bad day but things which they had no control over, nothing in the world they can do to fix whatever.....NOW--put their energy into all those things inside the circle---other words, work on those things that we can do something about and just don't worry about things we have no control over............Well, yesterday in my Scripture reading I came across this in Psalm 37,: 1st in verse 1. "Do not fret because of evildoers", then down in verse 8-- "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath, Do Not Fret", it only causes harm---well for a while I studied the meaning of the word "fret"...In Hebrew there is about 3 different ways this word is used, then finally decided that my Study Bible best explains, allow me to share----"The Hebrew word FRET is "charah", which speaks of "growing warm and blazing up". To fret or worry is to be concerned over things which one has no control or ability to change. That kind of worry, according to Scripture, is sin.------HUMMM!! The thing I taught my kids, David wrote in a Psalm around 3 thousand years ago, now he did not use the circle idea but taught the same serious lesson. There are times in life where we just have to step back and say--"God, this is out of my control, can you help me out," then all we have to do is trust. In Psalm 50:15, one which I have committed to memory and when I remember to use it, and it always works---"Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you." Like I said when I remember, my problem often is giving up self-control, a very hard thing to do---You know."Step back, I got this" , then I screw everything up. We just have to learn to let go of those things outside of our circle. Learn not to FRET
God Bless and have a great week-end
A lot of truth in there.....thanks Steve
A little something to think on, well for folks like me anyway
Ever think much on JOY verses HAPPINESS......Well I got to thinking on it and this afternoon going to do some more reading on the difference. Now this came about in my morning Scripture reading, I was reading from John 17 Jesus's Prayer, 1st for Himself, then His disciples, then for us......so in verse 13 the word "JOY" for whatever reason caught my eye and kicked the ole brain in gear. How many times I have read the word "JOY" and just breezed over it thinking very little on it----well today it really grabbed my attention. So something to think on
God Bless
Sometimes a song is just the best thing out there...
1 There's within my heart a melody;
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
"Fear not, I am with you, peace, be still,"
in all of life's ebb and flow
2 All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
stirred the slumbering chords again.
3 Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
trials fall across the way;
though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see His footprints all the way.
4 Feasting on the riches of His grace,
resting 'neath His sheltering wing,
always looking on His smiling face,
that is why I shout and sing.
5 Soon He's coming back to welcome me
far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.
Happy Monday !! A few years ago, OH !! Say maybe 3500 to 4000 years ago God told Moses to Bless the children of Israel with------:
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace"
We don't hear this much anymore, but years ago I had a Pastor and he always closed with this for his benedictiion. Comforting words to start off our week.
That being said Have a good week, all in the attitude
Yesterday I wrote a post in response to Steve's post, and this has been heavy on my mind......In no way do I want to mislead anyone, when I mentioned that I believe "once saved --always saved" --I did not mean that once a person thought they were saved that this allows them to go & raise all the hell they want to, and I said that somewhere Paul wrote something along the lines about being tested with fire, one may suffer loss but will be saved.....SOOOO!!! This morning I went to digging for info should I have mislead someone, which brings me to the point....one must read, mediate on, research and speak with God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide one's thinking. So, if I may explain where I came from and point one in that direction:
My thoughts came from 1 Corinthians 3: 1-17
We think of a church as a building, but look at the church as the Church of Jesus Christ, now bear with me a moment---The Church with Christ being the chief corner stone and others building upon this, we have leaders, Pastors & teachers, we also have members making up this body. If we look in 1st Peter 2 we see that Christ is the chief corner stone and we who come to Him are living stones building up this Spiritual House. I suppose, maybe, this is where my thinking comes from, then again another may well be on an entirely different page than me and that's OK. I can well see how one may look upon this subject of "once saved--always saved" from a different angle, If I may, after reading & doing a bit of cross reference work and talking it over with God....follow what the Holy Spirit teaches. If I may use our HillyBilly friend in Tenn., this would be Rick (Tenac) as a point of thought, here we have a man who was as hell bound as one could be, a life of destruction, who one night turned his life over to Christ and left drugs, alcohol and such behind, as I understand we have a man close to death's door and experienced the saving grace of God----bottom line, I just can not see Rick ever turning his back on Jesus. I was never addicted to dugs, alcohol etc, but I had a good-strong addiction sin, I was as well hell bound as ole Rick and I experienced God's saving Grace-----everything bad I had done was erased, it all in the blink of the eye was gone, I was forgiven.....Now the ole devil does not like this one bit and every day of my life I fall short and every day of my life I seek forgiveness----the ole devil knows those sins I so proudly cherished & walked in back years ago and today, everyday he offers me with temptations, if not physical-- temptations of the mind....I think we called lust--I think is the correct word...the wanting for. Now back to "once saved--always saved"----I believe it because of personal experience, I know how I was and I never want that life again, it was what many will call the good life----I found myself in the presence of God--the Father---Jesus--the Son -- and the Holy Spirit, an awesome experience and one that I believe will save me through all eternity-----
Been out in my shop, have some really beautiful Black-Walnut and am trying to make my bride 2 end-tables, anyway I slipped in the house to check on her and thought maybe I would check Steve's morning post and glad I did......for what it worth, my 2 cents worth.....In Sunday school a few years back---once saved--always saved was the topic of discussion, most fell into your post line of thinking, but, OH NO!!! Not me.....I often wonder if those who think they are saved really have never really come to Christ. I suppose different things for different folks, but speaking from my experience only....a lost sinner I was and when I came to Christ and turned my life over to Him, my life changed, right then and there, not a gradual thing like getting into a cold swimming pool, then the Bible teaches that Jesus sent The Holy Spirit to walk with me, come along side and keep me in line, Do I sin, yes indeed , but the Holy Spirit always lets me know when I screw up. Right off hand I don"t know where it is, but Paul taught that our works will be tried with fire and the useless stuff burned up but we will be saved....For me, I wish I were a better person than I am, but, I am what I am, I slip, slide, fall down, get all nasty & dirty, but the Holy Spirit always reminds me and I pick my self up, knock off the dirt & dust and proceed with life-----other words, the Holy Spirit reminds me, I ask for forgiveness and move on. Maybe it is just me, but I can not believe that folks who truly experience forgiveness from a wicked life could ever turn around and deny Jesus. Now that is just my thinking. Allow me to ask a question----Do we think that someone who has truly repented of a very wicked life and experience God-The Father---Jesus--The Son and The Holy Spirit could just go tell them to go fly a kite, I like serving the devil more? Some said to me that they know folks who went back to their old way of life, I, just me here, Don't think they ever really came to Christ in the 1st place...........I believe the Holy Spirit just ain't going to let you go and Jesus said, what ever the Father gave to Him, no-one can ever take them away......but then I am just an ole guy who missed stepping off into eternity by maybe a breath or 2----God Bless, now back to my barn
At the end I added fishing just for you, rather I added it to jerk your chain this morning, jus checking your blood pressure
From my study Bible on the Epistle of James in the introduction I read what hit a note, maybe for me, and maybe for you...anyway:
Walk it---just don't talk it--
Beliefs must translate into life. It is not enough to tuck away a private, intellectual faith in order to blend in with everyone else. If our faith in Christ really means anything, we will stand out. People will notice a difference. On the other hand, those who show little concern for people in need, make no effort to control their tongue, are overly preoccupied with getting ahead should check to see if their faith is real. To claim to belong to Jesus but mirror the attitudes and actions of the world may be a sign that they only are fooling themselves.
Some really good mid-week thinking there----somewhere a long the line we just have to get over ourselves and think on others-----maybe go fishing!!!!
In my study Bible I came across this----got the ole brain in gear---hope it speaks to you also
Prayer doe not always change our situation, but it should always change us.......In prayer we bring our anxieties to an all-wise, and loving, and all-sovereign God, and we ask Him why these things have happened and how we can cope. His answer never changes: This world and its answers will never be enough-----Only He is enough.
God Bless and enjoy this Tuesday which the Lord has given you---Tis a good day to count a few of your blessings instead of troubles---self-pity is not a good thing when we have so much to be thankful for....Maybe you think I am full of it, well that's ok, I don't mind, but take a second and look close by and you will find those who are way worse than you. Each of us is truly Blest
how true---how true---how true-----thanks
how true---how true---how true-----thanks
This morning I had difficulty on what my morning reading would be, after spending a couple of weeks studying 1 & 2 Peter I was sort of at a loss as to where to go next, then I was led to Acts, OH ME ! should allow for a couple of weeks of serious study, just wish I was smart enough to absorb what I was reading & studying. All that being said to let you know a little of how my mind runs -- I started and immediately had to read the very opening a couple of times and got to thinking.....
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Now here is where my mind got to thinking---Thinking that most of these guys were just regular ordinary fellows, most not well educated and very little understanding of what Jesus was saying..... The Holy Spirit, dare I say---taking over their life and the leader, Jesus, leaving, I just could not get past the idea of how at a loss these guys must be and they really did not know what to think----great misunderstanding....Like the future holds what we do not know. They had to be at a total loss to understand what Jesus was telling them.---"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes has come upon you."-----I wonder where their mind ran off to---suppose that was you or me? OH WELL, back to my reading----God Bless and have yourself a Blest Monday
Very strong passage of Scripture from Paul----as one reads this, I suggest thinking on the seed that is planted then what it grows into----a tiny seed tossed in the dirt, covered up and grows into something magnificent.....
1 Corinthians 15:35-58 New King James Version (NKJV)
A Glorious Body
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Our Final Victory
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
I've been working on 1st & 2nd Peter for 2 weeks now, but this morning I flipped opened my Bible and came to this Hi-Lited passage and thought MAN !! could make a really good sermon......takes a bit of thinking, then once the ole brain kicks in........
2 Thessalonians 3:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
started something, then decided against doing so, will try to get it together and post later.....senior moment