A beautiful song of praise and proclamation of Jesus and all that he has poured out for us! His mercies are new everyday. In him I find my hope. This speaks so much truth and enables me to dwell on the truth of his word and the faithfulness that is evident every moment in my life.
” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not see. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
– Hebrews 11:1-3
I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again For I believe…
We just celebrated the 4th of July as a memorial to the beginning of this great nation. It is truly awe inspiring to realize what it really means. Sadly, many of our newer generation of children do not know what the 4th of July is about. It is a subject that is not emphasized as much in our children’s education as it was when I attended school over a half century ago. Certain things begin to get vague over time and their importance is watered down, becoming passive in our minds.
The Christian Church has existed before this nation was formed and still stands today.
My question is this. Is the Christian faith, understanding, belief, and especially spirituality becoming vague, passive and weak. Is it as important today as it was in the days of the Apostles?
I watched the Spurs and Heat play for the world championship and the fans were extremely fanatical about their teams. Why are we not more so about Jesus Christ? It is certainly more important for people’s salvation.
Are we fulfilling our calling now, today? Are we worthy?
Jesus has something to say about that in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
We have a purpose, we are spiritual and we are citizens of heaven filled with power. That power lives in us and that power is Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
I pray that we will stop trying to use Christ and let Him use us!
There are many things happening in this world that indicate that Jesus Christ may come soon. We are to watch for these signs. Matthew 24: 32-33 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near — at the doors!
Watch and pray!
Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
When what we are doing is not working we need to stop what we are doing and go in a different direction. We need to let Jesus light our path for us and then and only then will we be going the right way.
Let’s be as excited as our brothers in Christ were in the days of the Apostles. Be as zealous as the fans were at the Spurs and Heat games. Do it for our Lord and Savior. 1 Corinthians 14:12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.
Revelation 3: Therefore be zealous and repent.
God help us to change and not become lukewarm. Amen!
To grow tomatoes you must first plant a seed and then proceed to nurture the tomato plant by fertilizing and watering it. The plant begins to grow and develop strong roots and stalk so it can hold up the heavy tomato. After the plant is thoroughly nourished and receives a lot of sunlight, it produces beautiful flowers. The flowers begin to change and become little green tomatoes. This is the fruit of the tomato plant and it must grow and grow until it reaches its full growth and then the tomato begins to mature into a beautiful finished creation suitable for the masters table.
A Christian must first have the seed of the Word of God. Luke 8:11 “The seed is the word of God. We received the Word by someone sharing Christ, evangelizing, preaching and many other ways that God may use.
We must be born again and when we are baptized we are raised from a watery grave a new creature. John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We continue to be taught the word nurtured and discipled in the Church. 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
We begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and He becomes the main root of our lives and we are the branches. Jesus is the light of men and His light is bright as the sun. Our faces shine and become like beautiful flowers to God. As we begin to grow we become full of the maturity of the Spirit and await our Lords coming when we will burst into a new creation suitable for the Masters table. Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’
Once we were non believers and didn’t know much, if anything, about Christianity. But somehow we were introduced to Jesus Christ by His grace and our lives changed. We now had something that we didn’t have before. FAITH! By faith we began to recognize that there was so much more to learn and do. We began to grow spiritually. But for something to grow, it has to have something to grow from. A tree grows from a seed planted in the soil and begins to grow roots and then a trunk that that becomes its foundation. A seed, the Holy Spirit, is planted in us and we began to develop spiritual roots in the Church and Jesus is our trunk (foundation).
John 15: 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Now we have a foundation to build on as long as we are in these bodies. As we bear fruit our building is being built and Jesus is the chief cornerstone on which we build.
1 Corinthians 3: 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ” Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Now that your foundation is layed and your temple is being built, your are host to the Holy Spirit. What an awesome responsibility! Now you are totally of God and belong to God.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes it is good to remember just who and what we are. The world does not know this nor can it understand without the Holy Spirit. However, we do know on what we are building and what we stand.
Proverbs 10:25 But the righteous has an everlasting foundation
Sometimes we tend to think we will not see Gods treasure until we are in heaven where it is stored up. But that is not all the treasure that God has for us. It is astounding news to find out what other treasure He has given us here right on earth and we have access to it 24/7.
2 Corinthians 4: 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed —
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
The greatest treasure is in our own bodies now! THAT TREASURE IS Christ! What we do with that treasure is of paramount importance.
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good.
That “GOOD” is what distinguishes believers from the rest of the world. That “GOOD” fulfils the second great commandment of loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Isaiah 33:6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is His treasure.
So believers are filled with the most awesome treasure in all of creation long before they ever get to heaven.
Praise the lord for His love and generosity in sharing Himself with us now. AMEN!
In the book of Hebrews God gives a precise and clear explanation and description of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the first begotten Son of God and the first born of many.
Hebrews 1: 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ” Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
God also gives a very graphic and clear description of believers who overcome as Christ did. AWESOME!
All believers are raised up in newness of life (Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.) at baptism and are begotten of God by His Holy Spirit.
We become a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation
We will be given great power and authority over this world’s nations. WOW!
Rev. 2: 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations — 27 ‘ He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ — as I also have received from My Father
Rev. 3: 9 … indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet,
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Rev.21:7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
How much plainer can it be? We have a higher calling than many believers realize. When Jesus says he has a place prepared for us.
Get this: John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
We are going to live in the Fathers house!
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Doesn’t knowing all of this put a huge thrill in your life? It does for me. I can hardly wait for Christ to return and redeem us.
Whether I am dead or alive at His coming, this verse expresses my feelings.
Psalms 15: 17 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
If we, the people of this world (and the Church), would only follow the blueprint that God has made for us, the poor, the orphans and the widows could easily be taken care of. But…
Deuteronomy 24:17 “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
The scripture in John 3:16 describes God as loving the whole world. God doesn’t look upon the outside skin of a person or how well they speak to define if that person is worthy of His love. It doesn’t matter if it is the famous Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man in 19th century London or Marilyn Monroe.
1 Samuel 16: But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
God looks deep inside to see the real character and who the person really is.
He knows our every sin, but when we truly repent of those sins, He will not remember them any more.
Jeremiah 31: 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
God loves us so much that He is willing to forgive our sins no matter how bad they are. And He will forget they ever happened. Not only that, but God sent His only Son to this world to shed His blood and die in our place to guarantee that we would be free of our sins and receive the free gift of eternal life.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God loves all people! We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. But God has a master plan for us, God is love and He has made it possible for anyone to share His love and glory forever in His kingdom. God will share His throne with us in His kingdom! That is a lot of love!
Father, give your children the strength and the faith to help bring more people into Your kingdom. In Jesus name, amen.
Wouldn’t it be neat if God had the Bible written the same way people write blogs or forums? Most every web page that you find on the internet has a facts section. The most asked questions have a ready made answer. God does answer many questions in the Bible but we have to read and study the scripture to find the answers. Doesn’t the Bible give us instruction concerning this? 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
God has a purpose for everything!
I have been concerned lately about a certain trend among younger generation churches and their rethinking church philosophy. After having read these rethinking churches on their websites, it appears that they have become the world’s church critics. They talk about what is wrong with all other churches etc. Now I have to say this that there are some Christians that need to really believe what the Bible teaches. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
It really disturbs me to see so much criticism and church division!
Here are some interesting observations I read about the difference between Old Testament and New Testament baptisms.
The Bible makes reference to the nation of Israel being baptized as she came out of Egypt, a symbol of sin, and passing through the Red Sea. Just after having passed through the Red Sea, they received the Law of Moses. They did not have the Holy Spirit.
THE LAW GIVEN UNDER THE OLD COVENANT BY BAPTISM
1 Corinthians 10: 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Malachi 4:4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Deuteronomy 4:10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
You can read over and over in the Old Testament how Israel and Judah disobeyed God. In the book of Judges God sent His people into captivity as punishment time and time again. Take note that no where in the Bible will you ever find where Israel observed the 50th year of Jubilee. They couldn’t obey God that long. So you see that their baptism into the Law was never in tended for salvation and eternal life.
THE SPIRIT GIVEN UNDER THE NEW CONENANT
Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised that He would send us the Holy Spirit when He ascended into heaven. John 14:16, 26 and John 16:7
On the Day of Pentecost Jesus kept His promise and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in man
Acts 1: 15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Acts 2: 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Christians today make up the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 12:27) are temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Under the New Covenant the Bible clearly states that when we are saved we receive the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
It is a simple thing to pray a prayer to God and ask Him to forgive all your sins but it is very hard to do. It requires a person to ask God to change their life from the ways of this world to His ways and that is a decision some hate to make. But when one makes the right decision then they will receive treasures they didn’t even know existed. That is another story!
WORLDWIDE INTERNET EVANGELISM 