Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Prepositional Faith - Walk By Faith

 

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

Romans 8:23, 24
Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?

1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

    If we could see the future, the life which God has planned out for us, would we really want to see it? All the trials, all the joys? No more surprises, either good or bad. Nor more expectations. No more anticipating what is just around the bend in the road on which we travel. 
    No. No, thank you. I don't want to know what God has prepared for me. Regardless of the tragedies ahead, regardless of the happy times that are yet to come, I want to live a life of faith in God. Faith that He knows what is best for me. Faith in God's timing, God's purpose for my life. 
    I don't need to know every little detail of my future: I just need to know where I'm going when I reach the end of this journey of life that I am currently living. I have placed my faith in God's Holy Word, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross for my sins; Who conquered death, hell and the grave; Who walked out of the tomb in a glorified body, being the firstfruits of the resurrection of the dead into eternal life. 
    That's my future. That's all I need to know.  



Prepositional Faith - Stand, Ask, Walk, Rest

 


JEREMIAH 6:16

Thus says The LORD, "Stand in the old ways, and see, and Ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and Walk therein, and you shall find Rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk therein.'"

    Stand in the old ways. What are the old ways? The Ways of The LORD. He has set them up for us to follow, that we may be blessed of Him and He would be glorified. 

    Psalm 37:1-8
  • Fret not (don't worry about stuff, don't get anxious about anything)
  • Envy not the evildoers (covet nothing they have)
  • Trust in The LORD and do good
  • Cultivate faithfulness
  •  Delight yourself in The LORD, He will give you the desires of your heart
  • Commit your way to The LORD and Trust in Him: He will keep His Promises
  • Be still before The LORD; wait patiently for Him
  • Reiterates to fret not over the schemes of those who commit evil
  • Refrain from anger and abandon wrath 
    Ask For the old paths. Ask God to show us where and how He desires us to walk in His Ways. 
    Walk in the paths which God has foreordained that we should walk in. Everybody has a story because everybody is on a journey to a final destination. When life begins, death is inevitable. It is how we live our lives now that will impact our soul's eternal location. 
    Rest in The LORD. It is entirely possible to be at peace in our lives when we have the Peace of Christ living and breathing in us. Rest in His Word; it's a comfort to go the Book of Psalms and find Bible verses that can calm my soul when I begin to feel anxious over little things. Rest in His Presence: get down on our knees, if we can still kneel, fold our hands or stretch out our bodies on the ground/the floor, and talk to God. He will make Himself known to the ones who truly seek Him with all their hearts. 

    Yet, with all this wealth of knowledge in regards to following God's Word, many people will still refuse to obey Him. They disregard His Word and His warnings. That's not for us to worry about. Our part on their behalf is to keep praying for them: For their hardened hearts to repent, for them to receive The Holy Spirit and be filled with God's power to accomplish God's purpose in their lives. 
    It is not God's desire that anyone perish. It is God's desire that everyone receive salvation through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. But it's entirely up to each and every one of us to make that commitment to Christ while we have breath. For after death it will be too late. 
    Please do not make hell your final destination. Repent and be baptized in The Holy Spirit now. Acknowledge your sins to God when you talk to Him. Weep before The LORD and receive His forgiveness. Come, says the Bride and The Spirit. Come to the altar, Come to the table, Come and see Jesus. 

Sunday, July 28, 2024

Prepositional Faith - Created In Christ

 


Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance as our way of life. 

    We are created in Christ, when God creates a clean heart in us, upon our belief in His only begotten Son as our Lord and Savior. Psalm 51:10 tells us, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." The Holy God working in our hearts begins the preparations for His Holy Spirit to change us and make us into the persons He designed us to be. 
    Sin got in the way of that and ruined everything. Everything sin touches it destroys. But God. But God had a plan to destroy sin once and for all: the death and resurrection of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. The Innocent died for the guilty. His death mitigated the believer's death. 
    For the righteous, those whose sins are washed away by the blood of God's Lamb, death is but a breath, for Christ has conquered death for us. But for those whose sins are not covered by the blood, death is eternal. Eternal suffering, eternal pain, eternal destruction. 
    Now is the time to repent of the sin that has kept you from receiving God's grace through Jesus Christ, The Gift given to everyone, but received by so few. The Gift that is not opened is not really received at all.  Now is the day you open your Gift; this is the time before time runs out. When we seek God with a sincere and believing heart, then God will hear our prayer, and answer us. 

DON'T BE AFRAID - The Song of The Lord 



Thursday, July 25, 2024

Prepositional Faith - Peace Through Christ

 


ACTS 10:36

He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid. 

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now The Lord of Peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. 

    Without Christ there is no peace....of any kind whatsoever. There is the illusion of peace, or the delusion of peace. We live in a world that strives for freedoms, but at another's cost. This world imitates but does not deliver on true peace, for only Christ Jesus can give a person real lasting peace: peace of mind, peace in our hearts. 

    Inner peace does not come from within ourselves, nor does it exist outside of God's Word. "Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace," as the hymnist wrote, comes down from The Father above. 

    In The Word, as listed above, we read that not only is Jesus Peace, but He shares His peace with those who believe that He is God's only begotten Son, sent here by His Father to be our Redeemer: He would take the punishment intended for the sinners who disobeyed God's Word upon Himself. Why? Because of God's great love for the people who inhabit this world we live in. 

    It's Amazing Grace, isn't it? It's almost too wonderful for words, yet many a song has been written praising God for His lovingkindness towards us. Too many to number, for that would actually be impossible. Not all songs written for God were recorded through the ages. But God knows. 

    All those reckless thoughts that attack a person's mental stability through what we see and hear and feel have to go through the blood of Jesus Christ, when we come to the cross and believe that this Man is, indeed, the Promised Redeemer from God. And when we come out on the other side, our thinking has changed. For the blood has washed our hearts and our minds clean. Now we have Peace, the Peace Christ promised to give the people who believe Him and follow Him wherever He leads. We have His Peace within us now. 

    God is amazing. Only God can take The Words that He speaks and wrap them in flesh and bone and place It in a young girl's womb via the power of His Holy Spirit. Nobody in all of history has ever done that, nor will anyone ever be able to do so. This is an awesome feat! This is a God I can trust with my life and my soul, with my heart and my mind! This is peace. 

    Peace flows through me like a river meanders through the mountains. It covers every obstacle in my way, sometimes rushing down like a waterfall; at other times this peace narrows into streams which feed the ecosystems of life. And I am content. With Christ as my Shepherd, leading this sheep of His, what have I to fear? Nothing. I have Peace Like A River because Jesus is my Peace. 

    



 

Monday, July 22, 2024

Hope In Christ

 


Hebrews 2:6

But Christ is faithful as The Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast

    Hope in Christ is the great expectation of the Christian. It is not for nothing that we have followed Christ this far, this long. We are the born again through the blood which Christ shed for us on Calvary. We are the saved, the uncondemned, saints of God, who wear the righteousness of Jesus Christ: the wedding garment He clothes us with when we accept His invitation to come to the cross, confess our sins to Him and receive the forgiveness which He proffers to us. 

    Hope in Christ is the hope of every believer who believes not only that God is, but that God's Word is True and Faithful. It is more than a doctrinal declaration: salvation through Jesus Christ is a way of life when we have His Holy Spirit leading us and guiding us along The Way of Holiness. This third Person in the Trinity is The Spirit of God. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to save us and He sent His Holy Spirit to transform us. It is The Spirit Who writes The Word of God on our hearts when we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died for us. 

    Not all religious paths lead to The One True God. There are many false prophets, false teachers and false witnesses out in the world. The enemy of our souls has sent them to speak his lies, to trick and deceive anyone who listens to their lying tongues and follows them blindly. They are the darkness of this world and the darkness is increasing. 

    But God. But God made a Way, a Light, that shines the Love of God into the darkness. The darkness of men's' minds and hearts; the darkness of prisons. The Love of God is brighter than the noonday sun and pierces farther than the eye can see, faster than the heart can imagine. God did what no one else can ever do no matter how hard they try. 

    God took The Word that He had spoken and wrapped it in flesh and through the power of His Holy Spirit, God placed His Word in a young virgin's womb to be borne by a woman and born of a woman. Jesus Christ is The Son of God, The Son of Man. It is in Him that we have placed our hope of salvation. It is in Christ that all must be found. For those not found in Christ, there is no more hope. Death is final and a person cannot leave hell and enter heaven after death. 

    Now is the time to make your decision of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. All decisions must be made by us on this side of life. I have my decision. My hope is in Christ alone. Have you made yours? Come, The Spirit says to your hearts. Come to Jesus, Come to the cross. Let the Light draw you out of the darkness and into God's arms. Please, we urge you to come and see Jesus. 

    He isn't in the manger any more. He's not on the cross, nor is He in the tomb. All those places are empty. He's in heaven and He's in the believers' hearts. Is He in yours? He wants to be, but you have to open the door of your heart and ask Him in. It's an amazing grace that God would allow this feat to happen, but it happens every time someone comes to Jesus and believes in Him for salvation. 

Sunday, July 14, 2024

The LORD is Merciful - Psalm 103

 


PSALM 103:8

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy.

James 5:11

See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Compassion: according to the Bible, means full of mercy. It is an accusative term applied to God's love, which He extends to us. Not accusatory, but accusative, which is, according to the dictionary: relating to or denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that expresses the object of an action or the goal of motion. And what is the object of God's action or goal of motion: GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:15-17). In His great love, He sent us His only begotten Son by wrapping His WORD in flesh and having It go through life like any other person....almost. For Christ is sinless, the only Person who never sinned against GOD. How could He? He was, and is GOD. An amazing feat which only GOD could accomplish!

    Here, both David and James write that God is reminding us that He shows us mercy, great mercy, and grace. The gods in the areas in which David and James lived were not. The gods being worshiped in those days are still being worshiped today. Yet, GOD is still extending His mercy towards us. 

    Our God is slow to anger (longsuffering, which is more than just being patient).  It's been nearly 2,000 years, since Christ ascended into heaven to be with His Father. That's more than patient; that length of time is, indeed, longsuffering. He has put up with people ignoring Him, mocking Him, hating Him, betraying Him, loving, then leaving Him. And, yet, GOD extends His mercy out into all the world. 

    Though every heart will not receive His Truth by their own choice, God being love, flows out into all the world like a winding stream, touching every person even if they refuse to be loved by GOD. Please don't be that person. GOD loves you and wants only the best for you. How do we know that? John 3:16,17 "For GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For GOD sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

    Again, in 1 John 4:15-17 - If anyone confesses that Jesus is The Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. GOD IS LOVE; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. 

    The 'we' James is referring to is the believers, the ones who have confessed that Jesus Christ is The Son of God. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, 10 "That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved." 

    This is the mercy which GOD extends to us all. This great and wonderful mercy is mine. Is it yours, too? 

THE CROSS - Anne Wilson & Chris Tomlin 



Monday, July 8, 2024

Mine, Too

 


1 JOHN 4:4

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world

    When I attended a revival in my previous church, God filled me with His Holy Spirit. Out of my soul came this beautiful song...in a different tongue, a heavenly language. And I saw this image in me:

    I became a mountain that blew it's top, but instead of fire, out of me came music; rivers and streams of music flowed out of me and down the sides of this mountain. God is still filling me and bringing the music He placed within me out of me. 

    Lately, though, it feels more like trickles of music: bits and pieces of song. The music is in me, the lyrics are in me. The mountain appears to be silent, but deep within the music is building and a crescendo is on the rise --- within me. 

    How do I know this? I am The Lord's: He tells me I belong to Him, that what He is doing in me is for His glory and my benefit. Even now The Lord is with me and He whispers, "You belong to Me. I am your God and your Lord. I am your Shepherd, I will protect you; just stay near Me. I am your Father and you King. I comfort you in this place and I will return to bring you home with Me. You are Mine, too. More than all of nature and its beauty, which I created, you are Mine, too. I love you and I am right here with you in this resting place. Stay near Me. It's getting darker outside and the wolves are closing in. Stay near Me, for you belong to Me."

    John 1:12, 13

But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

    1 John 5:5

Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is The Son of God?

 I BELONG TO JESUS 


Sunday, July 7, 2024

YHWH SHALOM - The Lord Is Peace

 

YHWH SHALOM

THE LORD IS PEACE

Judges 6:23, 24

But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

So Gideon built an altar there to The LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 

Isaiah 6:9

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

    When God calls people to His service, He gives us His peace. We are not called to fear and doubt, we are called to trust and obey. We are not called to worry and anxiety, we are called to rest and remain. Trust in His process and obey His Word. Rest in His Word and remain in Him. 

    Do you think God brings peace only to your surroundings and not to you? Not only can He calm stormy seas with a single word, "Peace", but the storm in our hearts is overridden by His Peace. 

    From Romans to Revelations the peace of God is sent to the churches/individuals to whom the letter is written. And when we understand that we are the church, the letter is written to us, as well. 

    Even in these last hours before Christ returns to get His bride, we encourage you to have His peace present within you. For God has placed a call on each person to enter into His Word, His Joy and His service. There we will know His Peace, for we will know Christ. 

HALLELUJAH PRAISE JEHOVAH - Calvin Bernard Rhone



Thursday, July 4, 2024

Mine

 

Psalm 24:1
The earth is The Lord's, and the fulness thereof,
and all they that dwell therein. 

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
Genesis 1 and 2

THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S
Exodus 9:29

EVERYTHING BELONGS TO GOD
 Deuteronomy 10:14

THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH 
Joshua 3:11

EVERYTHING UNDER HEAVEN IS MINE
Job 41:11

EVEN THE FOOD WE EAT IS THE LORD'S
1 Corinthians 10:25, 26

SALVATION BELONGS TO THE  LORD 
Psalm 3:8 and Revelation 7:10

WISDOM AND POWER BELONG TO GOD
Daniel 2:20-22

TIME BELONGS TO GOD
Psalm 31:15 

Everything we are, all that we have, belongs to God. Denying these facts, as well as denying God, does not refute God's Authority. 
Recognition of God's Authority is a start. 
A thankful heart for God's blessings is a start. 
Receiving God's greatest blessing, salvation through Jesus Christ, 
His only begotten Son, is a start. 
Being transformed from who we were into who we will become is all the middle ground in-between this life and death journey we are on. For time belongs to God and how we spend the time God allots us is up to us. 
Are we filling our days being obedient to God? 
Are we filling our days with acts of worship to God? 
Are we filling our days with prayer to our God? 
Are we  filling our days with resting in His Word? 
Everything we have and everything we are
BELONGS TO GOD.
I am His and He is mine.