THE CIRCUMCISED FLESH
Friday, December 9, 2022
Signs & Wonders of Christ's Arrival - - He Is Called Jesus
THE CIRCUMCISED FLESH
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Thanks Be To God - - For The Extension of Grace
GRACE IS THE GIFT OF GOD
Friday, November 4, 2022
His Indescribable Gift
Friday, October 21, 2022
Arming The Spiritual Warrior -- More Than Gratitude
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Arming The Spiritual Warrior -- Rejoice Always
Friday, May 27, 2022
Today's Word -- Sufficient
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
The Repentant Heart
REPENTANT HEART
Psalm 25:17-18
The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.
Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.
The Spirit of God is evident in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, for it is the Spirit of God that convicts a person of the sins in their heart. It is the hardened heart, the heart which refuses to acknowledge the Holy God and God's Holy Word, that turns away from God. Only the repentant heart listens to the Holy Spirit of God and turns to Him in distress, seeking forgiveness and mercy.
It is the Spirit of God who turns a sinner's heart to God. It is the Spirit of God who leads a person to see God and God's Son. It is the transformative power of God by His Holy Spirit through His Holy Son which changes the heart of the sinner into the heart of the redeemed. This is amazing Grace.
Listen to that Spirit and turn to God this day.
Friday, January 17, 2020
Amazing Grace-Hymn
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Blessed Who Wait For Him
Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:15
Consider also that our Lord's patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.
Isaiah 26:8
Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
I used this shade of blue as it was the closest to sapphire blue I could make. There are two verses in Ezekiel that describe the throne of the LORD as being sapphire or lapis lazuli (depending on which version of the Bible you read). And while sapphire comes in more colors than blue, I have always been drawn to blue sapphires.
Ezekiel 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And, again, in Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Blue is the color of grace. It is the shade of bruising upon Christ's body and face as He was beaten in the courtyards before being whipped 39 times across His back. Blue, cerulean blue, is one of the colors of thread used in the curtains in the tabernacle which separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle rooms.
So, when I picture a sapphire throne on which The LORD sits, that is the color I see. And why does He sit on that particular throne at this time? He is seated at the right hand of The Father, interceding on behalf of His people. Why do we need interceding? We are not perfect, we are sinners, all of us. We make mistakes, errors in judgment and fall short of the glory of God.
We needed a Savior who would know that we are feeble and unable to make it on our own, so God sent us His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to live and example for us, and die in our stead that we would not die in our sins. After Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave in that two day period in which He was sealed in the tomb, God rolled away the stone and Jesus walked out of the grave, having risen from the dead, giving all who believe this eternal life through Him.
And after a few days, Jesus ascended into heaven to be with His Father again, waiting until that day when God says, "Go". "Go get Your church, Your people and bring her home."
Isaiah 25:9
And in that day it will be said, "Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Blessed Instruction_Psalms
Now, don't get me wrong. I love studying with my KJV Bible and I love reading it because I know that the Holy Spirit will reveal to me what I need to know when I need to know it. But I love studying with the Interlinear Bible, too. It tells me the Hebraic word and pronunciation, as well as the Strong's reference, and specific meaning for a word in any verse, not just a general definition or description.
Knowing also that "blessed" when referring to man means "happy" and "to be envied", we read with a better understanding the verses in which we are to be blessed.
Psalm 94:12 Happy and to be envied is the man whom You instruct, LORD, and out of Your law teach.
And don't be getting all feminist on me, either. When God's Word speaks of 'man' in general, He is not excluding women: it is mankind, or man-kind (Genesis 1:27): male and female. But the Word must be applied individually. While all blessings from God to us are for each of us and all of us, we must first believe not only that God is, but that His Word is Faithful and True. Only then can we seek, search out and find how God wants to bless us.
Once we are living the blessing life, those around us will see the difference in us. Our blessings will indeed be enviable to those folks who are in our daily lives; they're going to wonder why we are like we are and what brought about this change in us. A few may even decide they want these blessings, too. That's when we tell them about our Jesus, the Savior of all mankind, who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Who even now is interceding on our behalf to His Father.
Do you know what the Holy Spirit tells me, when I begin to judge the surface of a person? "I love them, too." Only God knows the heart of an individual, only God knows whether or not a person is truly saved when that person dies. It's not my place to know and I should be content with that knowledge. And, yet, occasionally I still hear the Spirit say, "I love that person, too". Contrition and humility are the catch words of the moment. I repent, am forgiven and move on.
The second part of this verse "out of Your law to teach" means more than expounding the verse, whether personal study or teaching another. It is accusative. The Law of God reveals sin and shows us in it that it is impossible to obey said laws without the strength of God aiding us. We are taught by God that we need Him to help us obey Him. And we do. For our God is a holy God and demands us to be holy, too (Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16).
Jesus did not abolish the law of God, He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). In Romans 3:31 Paul writes to the church at Rome the question of faith vs law and reminds them, and us, that our faith in Christ establishes, fulfills, upholds the law of God. Through our faith in Christ we recognize that the law of God reveals our sin and that without Him we are lost and undone. I would be lost, undone, alone and miserable if I did not know Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
If you are lost, undone, alone and miserable I know Who can save you, keep you, befriend you and love you. His name is Jesus Christ. He died for you, fought death, hell and the grave for you, rose from the dead for you. And is seated at the right hand of the Father waiting to intercede for you. "I love the person reading this, too".
Dear Jesus,
I recognize that I am lost without You. Please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be Lord of my life. Guide me through Your Word as I read and study it. Holy Spirit fill me with Yourself and help me be who God wants me to be.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Grace Reasoned
Saturday, July 27, 2019
What's So Amazing About Grace?
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Romans 5:8 "But God commended (established) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
2. We can't earn it.
Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
3. Obtained by Faith in Jesus Christ.
As stated in the above verse, Faith is a Gift from God. It is the first gift we are given when we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Romans 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference.
Romans 4:16 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, ; who is the father of us all."
But, what is Grace that we should desire it so?
Strong's defines it as such: The Lord's favor, freely extended to give Himself away to people, inclined towards, reaching out to people: because He is disposed to bless (be near) them.
There you go, then. The Grace of God is God reaching out to people with Himself and His great love. And just how did He does do that? Through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 is God's Grace demonstrated: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Why should we want Grace?
God wants you and I saved from the eternal punishment of sin, but the only way that is going to happen is if you and I choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
Grace is His Kindness and Love, as written in Titus 3:4-6 "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior."
Ephesians 2:4, 5 It is only through Grace of God that we are saved.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, {by grace are we saved}."
Titus 3:7 "That being justified by His Grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Without that 'hope of eternal life' through belief in the name of The Lord Jesus Christ in this life we live, there is no hope after we die. For if a person dies who does not believe, nor accept God's Grace, while there is breath in the body, then there is no chance for life eternal after breath leaves this body.
Romans 9:27, 28 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
To day is the day of salvation. Today is the now opportunity to accept the Grace of God through His extended right arm of salvation: Jesus Christ. "There is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved." Acts 4:12
How do we accept so great a gift as Grace?
Romans 10:9, 10 "If you confess with your mouth The Lord Jesus, AND believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
For with the heart we believe unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is mad unto salvation."
Romans 10:13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of The Lord shall be saved."
Monday, February 20, 2012
Even Now
1. ain't no baby in the manger 3.it is Joy that filled the manger
ain't no Jesus on the cross it is Love that drenched the cross
ain't no body in the graveyard it is Hope that lies in the graveyard
even now, He isn't there! it is Faith that carries me on
to only Jesus!
2.there's only Joy Grace and Mercy
there's only Faith Hope and Love 4. even now, there's only Jesus
there's only Jesus in this song now even now, there's only Jesus
even now, there's only Jesus there's only Jesus in this song now
even now, there's only Jesus there's only Jesus in this place
even now, even now there's only Jesus in my heart now
there's only Jesus.... in my thoughts, in my life
only Jesus.......only Jesus even now
even now. there's only Jesus
even now
there's only Jesus
even now
there's only Jesus
even now, there's only Jesus
Jesus. Jesus. even now.....