Fear Not, For I Am With You...

I am precious in the sight of the LORD, my God...I will look to Him and be radiant and my face unashamed.  

Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!
Let them curse, but You bless;
When they arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
Let my accusers be clothed with shame,
And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.

I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;
Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.
For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
To save him from those who condemn him.--Psalm 109:26-31

There is my prayer Father...it is not pretty...my heart wants to be vindicated but nevertheless Your will not mine...Your way...Your glory...be magnified!

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;--Isaiah 43:1-3a

Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have loved you;--Isaiah 43:4a

Fear not, for I am with you;--Isaiah 43:5a

“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.--Isaiah 43:18-21

PRESCRIPTION FOR JOY...

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.--Philippians 2:1-4

To My Precious Daughters...

Because there is consolation in Christ, because there is the comfort of love, because there is the fellowship of the Spirit and affection and mercy in Him...Fulfill my joy by being likeminded with Him.  Joy is found in being of the same mind and of the same love as Christ who did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.  He had no agenda but to do the will of His Father in Heaven and was completely submitted to Him.   The wars, fights and disagreements among us come from our own selfish desires. We are to show others the same kind of sacrificial loving service that Jesus Christ showed us.   If we are right with God, we will be right with others around us. The root of all sin is selfishness and pride.  Disagreements are not solved by anything but a right heart before God....a heart surrendered to the work of the Spirit of God

Our minds, wills and hearts need to be devoted to Christ and His desires: "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21)..

AND then nothing we do will be about us...all will be for Him and His glory.

 - Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Therefore we are "ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake"--2nd Corinthians 4:5

BEHOLD THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD....

CHAPTER 40 ISAIAH...BEHOLD THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD...TO HIM BE ALL THE GLORY!  WITH HIM IS HOPE, FORGIVENESS, NEW LIFE...HE IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING WE WILL FACE...WEAK AND PUNY THOUGH WE MAY BE WHEN WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN HIM WE CAN SOAR LIKE  EAGLES.  HE IS THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT WHOSE WORD BRINGS COMFORT IN OUR AFFLICTION AND HE IS THE ONE WHO CAN DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK! THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER!

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”
“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
9 O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as nothing,
And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18 To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Willing Mind Accepted....

For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.--2nd Corinthians 8:12

Father,

Praying today that I can fix my eyes on Your Son...that my heart would be steadfast...completely trusting in Him.  I do not want to spend my money for what is not bread or my wages for what does not satisfy.  Help me to listen carefully to You and eat what is good...oh Father, that Your abundance would  be my soul's delight.  Help me to put off any double mindedness and rely and rest only in the shadow of Your perfect love.  By your Spirit give me a willing mind...one that desires to obey...one that gives You the pre-eminence always and shines Your light in a dark and dying world.  Give me eyes to see people as you see them...Help me to see myself as I truly am:  a sinner who has been forgiven much and shown so much mercy.   

Father, I am so much in need of Your grace!! Thank you that I can go boldly to Your throne to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Thank you that your grace is sufficient to run with endurance the race that is set before me...I want to be as You are Father, to those You have placed in my life...My life is hidden in Your Son...May His purposes be mine and may He be glorified always!!

For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
⁵ You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.

MY JESUS

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

The foolish person will no longer be called generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.--Isaiah 32:1-8

JESUS!! JESUS!!! JESUS!!!!

What a message of comfort and hope these words bring to God's people both then and now as we go through such dark times.  Who is my cover from the tempest, my river of water in a dry place...my great rock in a weary land??? My JESUS!!  

One day Jesus will reign in righteousness and on that day truth will prevail!  All will be seen CLEARLY for what it is.  Word and deed will match.  No longer will evil be called good and good evil.  No longer will darkness be put for light and light for darkness or bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.  No one will think themselves wise and prudent in their own sight.  

The foolish or vile man will no longer be esteemed but will be destroyed by his own conceit and self-interest.  Jesus who gave His life for us is the picture of the generous man...and by His generosity we are able to stand before our God clothed in the righteousness of His precious Son.

The work of righteousness in our lives will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. 

We LIVE when we live as Christ instructs us...

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.--Matthew 16:24-27

Singing this song today...

My Jesus, My Savior...

My comfort, my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath, all that I am

Never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,

Let us sing

Power and majesty, praise to the King;

Mountains bow down and the seas will roar

at the sound of Your name.

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, 

Forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand, 

Nothing compares tot he promise I have in You.

--Chris Tomlin

Anxious Thoughts and Dr. Seuss...

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; --1Peter 1:13


To My Beloved Daughters in Him,

I love this verse...it is so helpful for me when my thoughts become anxious to picture what Peter was conveying  here. Gird up the loins of your mind...WHAT???   Long robes were worn by men in the days that 1 Peter was written.  Now you really can't get anywhere fast with a long robe.  Your legs just cannot stretch as far as you would like them, to get up any speed at all and the prospect of tripping increases dramatically.  The picture is of a robed man tucking his skirt under his belt so he could run.  What it means in terms of your mind is to simply pull your thoughts together.  Pull up the loose ends of your thinking and recenter them on what is important.  Christ. Discipline your mind and return your focus to the right place.  The hope that is ours in Him. Be sober.  Think on the right things and rest your hope fully on the promises in His Word. We as believers, girls, live in the present and act in the present based on the future hope we have in Him. We live in the expectation of His return.  The verse that comes to mind here is  Hebrews 12:1-2.


"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Put aside every weight...all those things that encumber and take our focus off our Lord and His power, sovereignty, mercy and grace..and on to those things that are of the world and unimportant in the light of His return.  There is such simplicity in being a follower of Jesus and walking the path that He  has laid out for us.  When we gird up the loins of our minds, lay aside the weights and look up, the things of this world truly do fade away.  His glory and His grace remain and our focus once again is in proper perspective.  Our actions and decisions are again governed by our future Hope.

Read about Abraham in Hebrews 11:8-16.  He exemplified living in the light of a future hope so well.  Abraham's eyes looked to the heavenly city and all his decisions were made in light of the promises God had given him.

Thinking soberly is thinking calmly...it is being self-controlled.  It is not letting thoughts that are not helpful get the best of you.  By God's grace, I do not suffer from anxiety much, but when I do I hate it!! Worry is really the opposite of girding up the loins or loose ends of your mind.  I picture a Dr. Seuss character with all kinds of strings flowing from his head and as he moves about they get longer as his worry increases.  Eventually they get caught on things and he is pulled in different directions and eventually pulled apart.

The only antidote for worry is to immerse yourself in the word of God.  Our flesh in the midst of difficulty tends toward carnality.  We give up and give in and in our hearts we say, "Oh, what's the use."  Resist the temptations of your flesh and choose instead in the midst of your difficulty to think rightly...to renew your mind with His word.   When you find yourself having anxious thoughts...the opposite of really thinking...having thoughts that just go round and round...find a verse or two and recite it and as you recite it, meditate on it.  It may take time to combat, but God's word will have its effect.  It will guard your mind and His peace will begin to fill it.  There is nothing like it...nothing. It will bring you into His presence and even in your darkest times fill you with His joy and His assurance.

Colossians 3:2-4  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.


Love
Mom

God Shining in our Hearts...

To My Beloved Daughters in Him

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.--2nd Corinthians 4:6

THE GLORY OF OUR GOD SHONE IN JESUS CHRIST!  And you and I as believers, have this treasure (Jesus Christ) in our earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  

We are His children, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We have been given the Spirit of adoption by whom we can cry out Abba, Father!  The term "Abba" is an informal Aramaic term that conveys a sense of intimacy.   Like the English term "Papa" or "Daddy" it connotes tenderness, dependence and a relationship free from  anxiety or fear.  So we may be and are:

"hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—  always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So then death is working in us, but life in you.--2nd Corinthians 4:8-12

I love that last line..."So then death is working in us, but life in you."  As we pour out our life for Jesus...as we who believe lose our own lives for His sake, we work life...eternal life with Jesus in the hearts of others!   And His grace, then, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.  

Therefore (emphasis mine) we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,  while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.--2nd Corinthians 4:16-18

May we experience the greatness of God in our lives as we devote ourselves wholly to Him.  Praying the following prayer from Ephesians for each one of us today...


"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."--Ephesians 3:16-21


Ending with the song the Lord has had on my heart all week entitled Lord I Need You by Chris Tomlin.  

Verse 1:
Lord I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You're the one that guides my heart

Chorus:
Lord, I need You, oh I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Verse 2:
Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Yes where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

Bridge:
So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay

The Worthy Walk - Step 1: Humility

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.--Ephesians 4:1-2

To My Beloved Daughters in Him:

It was noted in the previous study that the first three chapters of Ephesians were about doctrine and the last three about duty...or the first three describe our position in Christ and the last three our practice.  Paul begins Chapter 4 of Ephesians by beseeching us to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called.  Here in verse two and three he enumerates the 5 characteristics of the worthy walk...with the goal being endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  That is the goal...unity.  The center of Christian unity is in the heart.   It is not in a set of rules...it is not outward.  In verse 2 Paul gives us 5 attitudes of the heart which bring about peace in the body and bind believers together.

The first step toward a worthy walk and unity is a lowliness or a humility of spirit.  We who have been exalted and blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places are to walk with "all lowliness"....in total humility. Scripture tells us we are to be clothed with humility.  John MacArthur says that we have a  "high calling but a low walk.  

Humility is the foundational characteristic of the worthy walk and encompasses the others.  Without a lowliness of spirit there would be no meekness, no long-suffering, no forbearance and therefore, no unity.  Humility is the opposite of pride.  It is thinking of others and putting them first.   It is considering them more important than yourself.  

Humility is also being self aware.   It is seeing and knowing who you are and who your God is!  It is looking at Him in all His majesty and grace and falling down on your face before Him in gratitude over what He has accomplished on your behalf!  Pride is self deceit...humility takes an honest look at sin and confesses it to God as just that..sin.  Humility gazes on God's greatness and majesty and is painfully aware of its own insufficiency and helplessness.  Without humility even salvation is not possible.  The Bible tells us that unless we become like a little child we can by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.--1 John 2:6

Christ walked in humility.  He describes Himself as meek and lowly in heart...a place to find rest for our souls.  We are to walk as He walked. 

Our Lord made himself of no reputation and took the form of a bondservant and came in the likeness of one of His creatures and humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  He did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but esteemed US!!! as better than Himself.  He died for us when we were yet His enemies so that we could be delivered from both the power and the penalty of sin. This is the mind that we are to have!   

Being humble is esteeming yourself as unimportant....a low priority.  Uh oh...I do not know about you but THIS is not the way I think.  My mind and heart usually go to me...it is only by the power of His Spirit dwelling in me that I can think of anyone else.  A humble person KNOWS his life is not about him but is about his God working His will in and through him.  He has no personal ambition except that which his God desires.  He does not get personally offended...he does not get angry on his own behalf.  He steps aside and allows his God to work even in offenses and perhaps, especially in offenses against him.   A humble person knows he is nothing and deserves nothing....he is grateful for what his God has done and lives with a thankful servant's heart of love and compassion toward those around him. 

Humility brings peace but pride promotes strife.  James 4 tells us that wars and fights come from our desires to have what WE want....not what the other person may desire and most decidedly not what God wants.  Pride is selfish, breaks the peace and loves not.  Beloved, humility puts aside self and loves AND love is the bond of perfection.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.--Colossians 3:12-17

The Day of Death Better than the Day of One's Birth....

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. --Ecclesiastes 7:1

I have been thinking about the second part of this verse a lot over the past two days.  Kinda morbid, I know...  I am, however, glad I did.  I loved the truth of the perspective it brought me. Most of us have family who rejoiced over our birth and will have friends and family who will grieve when we leave this world.  From a worldy perspective then, funerals are sad and "birth" days are to be celebrated.

Through the lens of belief, however, things look quite different.  In reality the day of our birth brings us into a world filled with sin, trouble, futility, and uncertainty; while the day of our death brings a permanent end to all our struggles in the flesh and an eternity with Christ.  No longer do we strive against sin but can now rest eternally in the arms of our heavenly Father.  Through death we enter into His presence...into the joy of our Lord. A believer in Jesus dies with assurance and certainty of his destination.  Absent from the body is present with the Lord. We awake in His likeness.  Truly our exit from this world then is a greater kindness than our entering it...the day of our death is preferable to the day of our birth.

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.--Psalm 17:5

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.--2 Corinthians 5:1

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.--2 Corinthians 5:6-8

 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.--Philippians 1:21-23


Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”--Revelation 14:13

Who Makes You Differ from Another?

For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?--1 Corinthians 4:7

To My Precious Daughters:

Beloved, ask God to implant these words deeply in your heart!  Pride is such deception!  It is of all sins the most ridiculous and foolish. The Bible makes it pretty clear that man is but a breath...a flower that fades and grass that withers. How arrogant we are as human beings to think we are anything!!  We are the work of His hands.  We are the thing formed...not the One who did the forming!  Spurgeon calls us "animated dust."  All we possess comes from the hand of our God...all our gifts are from Him...we cannot glory in them as our own without wronging God.  We owe all to the exceeding riches of His kindness to us in Christ.  As Matthew Henry says "boasting is forever excluded."  

In reality, if we had a proper view, all of who we are would be a reason for humility, NOT pride. A poor man or a beggar glories in those who help and support him.  He does not glory in himself because that would be glorying in his very helpless estate.  In and of ourselves each of us is a beggar...helpless and destined for destruction.  It is only in Christ that we are even made alive!  Without Him we are dead men walking.  He is our all in all.  The more we have received from His hand the more we are in His debt!  Put off pride and put on humility.  By pride and selfish ambition comes nothing but strife, but by humility comes riches, honor and life. God, the high and lofty One...the One who inhabits eternity... dwells with the humble but the proud He knows from afar.  It is Him who formed us, it is Him who works in us...it is Him who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began!  

Beloved, do not envy the gifts and the calling your brother or your sister may have received from  God...do not compare one with another. John 3:27 tells us that a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  Each one of us are used by God for His purposes and have been made and molded with exactly those purposes in mind.  Enjoy the rest that brings. Revel in how fearfully and wonderfully you are made. Walk in the works He has prepared beforehand for you.  Rejoice in how all that comes into your life is not only for your good but His glory.  Surrender all and trust Him to do His work in your heart.  There is NOTHING that we have that we can boast or glory in except our God.  He must increase, and we must decrease!  

Your Conscience...Your Friend

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,  from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,  desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.--1 Timothy 1:6-7

To My Beloved Daughters,

Our conscience is a gift from God.  Our guilt is a good indicator to us that we have somehow offended it or distressed it in some way.  I have read that the Puritans called the conscience "the spy within our bosom."  I really like that.  The conscience, if you think about it, really does stand kind of separate from us and speaks to our hearts from a position of authority.  Ignoring it is NOT a good idea.  Your conscience is your friend...it is your ally in your battle against sin. Our conscience and God's truth work together to set us free from the prisons of sin and guilt.  As we surrender to its promptings and allow His word to do its work and root, James says it acts like a mirror. It reflects our heart to us and transforms us as we surrender to what the Spirit of God shows us.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.--2nd Corinthians 3:18 

Hebrews tells us that the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  

God, by the blood of Christ has cleansed our conscience to serve Him.  We can and should walk blamelessly before Him.  As you read and study His word ask  God to make your conscience tender...to show you those things that He wants you to see.  Ask Him to search your heart and show you any fear, any anxiety or any sin and lead you in the way everlasting.  Confess your sin immediately and ask His forgiveness...don't put it off.  Guilt festers...your conscience will not clear itself but will become loaded down, defiled, and burdened.  Unexamined actions and unresolved conflicts and issues will spill over into other areas of your life and not in a good way.   After a while you will not even know why you do the things you do or the what or why of what you are feeling.  Your load will become heavier and heavier..your mind will darken and anxiety and depression will set in.  Listen to your conscience as soon as it speaks and do not go against it.  Do not allow it to become defiled, seared or hardened by ignoring it...bring those things it shows you before God immediately in prayer.  When we confess our sin 1 John says, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He died for us when we were yet His enemies.  How much more can we count on Him as His child.  He has given us all things necessary for life and godliness and blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.  He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all how shall He not also freely give us all things?  Jesus Christ, the Righteous, is our Advocate. He is not unconcerned or forgetful but lives to make intercession for us.  

Beloved, nothing can separate us from His love...turn your heart upside down before Him and allow Him to cleanse your conscience and heal your soul.  

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It isChrist who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ in Our Relationships...

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.--Hebrews 10:24

To My Beloved Daughters

When we live our lives for Christ this happens naturally...no striving needed.  Our submission to His Spirit grows His glory in our relationships with others.  All our earthly relationships have His magnificent and glorious purpose.  We are all fallen sinners in need of His grace.  His goal is to conform us into the image of His Son and He promises that He will be faithful to complete the good work that He starts in us.  See the people God has placed in your life on the basis of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The way we behave in our relationships with others says much about what we believe about God.  Our words and actions will follow what our heart believes.  Warren Wiersbe puts this in very practical terms.  If a person is a Christian, we can accept Him because Christ lives in Him.  If a person is a non-believer, we can accept Him because Christ died for Him.  Beloved, let Christ be the link between you and your relationships with others.  He gives each of us as believers the privilege to share in His redemptive work.  Love those God has placed in your lives with His love, pray for them fervently, and speak the truth to them in love so that they may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ.   Allow even the circumstances that God permits in your life that crush you and wear you down to shine His light...look to Him in all of it and be radiant.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.--Colossians 3:12-17

WHAT IF...BY BILL

What if Hell were real?

For one thing, all we would know about it authoritatively would be from the Bible.

In turn, that would lend credence to the premise that Heaven was real, as well, since the same Bible is also the authoritative source of information for that, too.

Further, if both Hell and Heaven were real places, as counterintuitive and preposterous as that would seem from a naturalistic worldly viewpoint, then all of the Bible is best taken seriously, since Heaven and Hell are the central themes of redemption, and redemption is the overarching theme of all of Scripture. Simply put, it details how to avoid the one, and attain the other.

So far, so good, yeah?

Here comes the disturbing part - as unimaginably good as Heaven is revealed to be, Hell is equivalently unimaginably bad. It is, in fact, the epitome of bad. There can be no conceivably worse fate than being imprisoned forever in Hell.

But what does that mean?

From what we are told, human beings are immortal. Conscious, and eventually tactile, existence endures after death without end. There is sensation. There is awareness with no cessation. There is no need or ability to sleep or become unconscious. For in Heaven there would be no desire for such, and in Hell, the un-requitable longing for those very things would be unendingly beyond reach or hope of attainment.

In either Heaven or Hell, you are inescapably alive and acutely sensate. In Heaven, these are blessings beyond measure. In Hell, unendurable torments - but endure them you must, for there is no escape, no hope of respite, no hope of relief. 

This is almost impossible to picture. All we experience here on earth, no matter how prolonged, comes with the prospect of an end. Sometimes the end is brought about by the simple passage of time, or by exhaustion leading to fitful sleep, or some other form of unconsciousness. Eventually, even the thought of death brings some hope.

But in Hell, the only prospect is more of the same unending torment.

Hard to really imagine, I know. But if Hell is real, then what I've attempted to describe is real, no matter how unthinkable.

Now here is the truly nightmarish stuff, so be forewarned.

Imagine, if you will, being trapped in an enclosed space, just large enough to accommodate your body laying flat on your back. There is nothing but solid blackness around you and hard, impenetrable surfaces surrounding you. 

You are isolated to the point of feeling as if you are the only being in existence. You can't move, not even to turn over, or bend your knees. You are physically capable of movement, but there is no space to make it possible.

There is absolutely nothing to distract you from your inescapable circumstances. You are alive, excruciatingly awake and aware, and entrapped forever. 

You can think and emote and have perfect recall of all of the opportunities you rejected that were presented to you to avoid this fate by simply accepting the gift that Jesus offers. You have no choice but to experience all of the "if only" regrets and unbearable remorse in raw, soul destroying intensity. Forever.

Would that be mental, emotional and physical torment sufficient enough to be described as immersed in an everlasting "lake of fire"? Or as being endlessly consumed by a "worm that never dies"? Or abiding forever in "outer darkness"?

If Hell were real, it would be like this… or worse.

Now, you can choose to discount or ignore these pictures, and live your scant few years on this planet striving to deny what will be ultimately undeniable.

Or you can accept the gift of redemption offered through the death of God's Son on the Cross, believing that He took upon Himself the payment for your sin.

What if Hell were real?

The only sane response would be abject terror and an unstoppable desire to go to the only Person who could save you, and to cling to Him with all that you are.

Jesus is available today. Today is the day of salvation.

Tomorrow may be too late, for one day, you will breathe your last.

Don't let that day come upon you without Him.

TRUSTING IN HIS UNFAILING LOVE...

He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.--Psalm 147:10-11


To My Beloved Daughters 


I so love this.  What an encouragement for us to place our trust in Him!  Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him and hope in His mercy.  Our soul waits for Him...He is our help and our shield. Our hearts will rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. 


Our God's eyes search to and fro over the entire earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal toward Him. He knows and sees our inward man.  When we give Him our hearts and place our trust in Him...we give Him the glory...we magnify His name on the earth. We can shout for joy and be glad because we favor His righteous cause...we can say continually, Let the Lord be magnified who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.  We who know we are wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked can magnify His name by clinging to Him!  Are you seeing His mercy and grace to us in this.  How kind and tenderhearted of our Father to make the one thing that we really need to do anyway because of our wretched estate, the thing that glorifies His name.  Oh, but how we resist our weakness and fraility!  How often do we say in our own pride and arrogance instead,  I am rich and in need of nothing.  

Beloved, the God who made heaven and earth is the God of the poor and needy...of the broken and contrite heart. He delights when we trust in Him...when we depend on His wisdom and His power and place all of our hope in Him. Consolation...and I love that word because it reminds me of the kind of comfort you give a crying child...IS IN HIM.  Blessed are we if the God of Jacob is our help and our hope!!

Temporary Diplomacy...by Anna

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Every now and then, I find myself taking life too seriously. Stressing over this and that as if it’s deciding to halt the expansion of the universe instead of deciding what clothes to wear this particular morning. Wishing a day had gone better—because I seem to think I have a finite number of days, when I have a limitless eternity of blissful ones ahead. Upset because of lost time with loved ones (which is when I remind myself ‘forever’ sounds long enough to get caught up on pretty much any amount of time). It doesn’t have to be like that. I don’t have to fret over lost days or which clothes or anything else (although the halt of further universe-expansion might be a bump in the road). What’s eighty, ninety years max compared to—again—ETERNITY? The Millennial Kingdom will way dwarf that—and His Thousand-Year Reign on earth is only the tip of the iceberg! 

We are citizens of Heaven. We don’t belong here—not in this running-down, entropy-filled universe. We are ambassadors—of Christ—and our job is simply to save as many as we can from Hell before our brief stay here is over and we’re Recalled—back home! The only things that really matter here, then, is to do what we’ve been sent to do—everything else is fairly extraneous. There are, of course, things you need to do to survive—eat, drink, provide for your family—and there are pleasures here that, although mere shadows of Home, God has put here specially for His weary ambassadors, so we generally don’t get bored. But, caught up in these ‘extraneous’ things, we tend to forget (consciously, at least) that eating, drinking, sleeping, working, and playing—you know, having a life—is not your main job. We forget that life here is a stopover before true Life, a ‘night at a noisy inn’ (Spurgeon’s take) ‘before heading for home’. 

That means that, if you’re a believer, your life here on earth can be, well, hell on earth (pardon the redundancy), you could lose everything and everyone that you cared about—and, in the long run, it wouldn’t matter. It would count as less than a bad day—a bad hour, maybe—in joyful Infinity with your Lord.

I take life too seriously. I forget to take Life anywhere near seriously enough.