The Three C’s of Jesus

“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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”  Isa 9:6-7

Before I go further with this post I just want you to read these two verses from Isaiah – read them, ponder them, dwell on them, marinate in them overnight. These is one of my favorite passages of scripture and tomorrow I am gonna do a short study on them but for now let them soak in and really earnestly think of how breathtakingly glorious they are. They lay it all out, from beginning to end, and that should make our souls sing with joy. So let these verses stew in your heart and soul tonight then join me tomorrow for a teaching. As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless and keep you.

Come Into Him

Just a sweet and tender pondering for you as you turn in for a night of rest from Mr. Spurgeon.

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“The dove came in to him in the evening.” — Gen 8:11

Blessed be the Lord for another day of mercy, even though I am now weary with its toils. Unto the preserver of men lift I my song of gratitude. The dove found no rest out of the ark, and therefore returned to it; and my soul has learned yet more fully than ever, this day, that there is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things-God alone can give rest to my spirit. As to my business, my possessions, my family, my attainments, these are all well enough in their way, but they cannot fulfil the desires of my immortal nature. “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” It was at the still hour, when the gates of the day were closing, that with weary wing the dove came back to the master: O Lord, enable me this evening thus to return to Jesus. She could not endure to spend a night hovering over the restless waste, not can I bear to be even for another hour away from Jesus, the rest of my heart, the home of my spirit. She did not merely alight upon the roof of the ark, she “came in to him;” even so would my longing spirit look into the secret of the Lord, pierce to the interior of truth, enter into that which is within the veil, and reach to my Beloved in very deed. To Jesus must I come: short of the nearest and dearest intercourse with him my panting spirit cannot stay. Blessed Lord Jesus, be with me, reveal thyself, and abide with me all night, so that when I awake I may be still with thee. I note that the dove brought in her mouth an olive branch plucked off, the memorial of the past day, and a prophecy of the future. Have I no pleasing record to bring home? No pledge and earnest of lovingkindness yet to come? Yes, my Lord, I present thee my grateful acknowledgments for tender mercies which have been new every morning and fresh every evening; and now, I pray thee, put forth thy hand and take thy dove into thy bosom

Things Not Seen

This devotional for my morning so perfectly summed up my hearts longing and joyous hope this morning that I felt led to share it with you my fellow believers. Let these words by that beloved man of God C. H. Spurgeon feed your soul today.

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“The things which are not seen.” — 2Co 4:18

In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with him, and made to sit together with him on his throne, even as he has overcome and has sat down with the Father on his throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short-eternity, how long! Death, how brief-immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol’s clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there.

“When the world my heart is rending

With its heaviest storm of care,

My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,

Find a refuge from despair.

Faith’s bright vision shall sustain me

Till life’s pilgrimage is past;

Fears may vex and troubles pain me,

I shall reach my home at last.”

Light…Life…Love

The last couple of days my Bible study has seemed to point to a theme, it’s one I feel called to share with you my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage, sustain, and comfort your hearts in these last days we are blessed with. Days we must be busy sharing the good news of the gospel with a lost world- a world starving, crying out in desperate hope for light in the darkness which they dwell in, life instead of the cold grip of the grave before the eternity of eternal death in the lake of fire they are rushing headlong into.

Love like no other, love that is so powerful He died for them in order to save them from the darkness, from the death, from the hatred of eternal separation from love. Love that died to give us all light and life and love.

Here are a few of the many verses in scripture that are our assurance of this light, this life, this Love!

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭6:23‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Job 33:28  He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Pro 12:28  In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

Pro 13:9  The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless and keep you.

Some Encouragement

I know I can’t be the only one who could use some encouragement from the Word tonight. I know that there is someone else who needs this too, probably even more than me. So let’s just ponder this psalm in our hearts and give thanks to our glorious Father and precious Savior for the tender mercies they pour upon us daily.

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100:1-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As always brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless and keep you as you are about His business spreading the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

This was my verse of the today on one of my Bible apps, what a joyous reminder of the hope and promise we look forward to because we love and serve God. God has so many wonderful things in store for each of us, things we can’t fathom, would never dream of,

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I know that when I first believed, first knew the truth and trembled in fear because I had for so long denied the truth that I was a sinner in the hands of a mighty, righteous and holy God, a God whose laws I had broken, whose love I had rejected; I could never have imagined where he would bring me today, the things He would call me to, lead me to. And the things of this world are nothing compared to the things of eternity when we spend eternity with the God who became man in the form of His only begotten Son in order to become my sin and take the punishment for it to make the way for me to be forgiven and restored to relationship with him. Think of what great love God has for each of us that he makes that same offer for us all, we can all be set free from the chains and bondage of our sin, cleansed, made whole set free to begin a new life living for the one who made us, bought us, saved us! Not just living today for Him but being restored to relationship with him we become kings and priests as sons of God through our faith in Christ- Gods only begotten Son who died on the cross at Calvary for the remission of sin and rose the third day offfering eternal life to all who believe in and call upon His name. That’s mercy, grace, hope, promise, but most of all that’s love. A love that moves mountains and changes lives. That heals broken hearts and shattered lives. That’s love that created the world that created you and then took your place, paid your debt, gave you the gift of redemptive grace because he loves you! Because he has great and glorious things in store for you for all eternity all you have to do is accept his gift and let him begin to work in and through you. Trust me he can and will do incredible things with you when you live in Him.

Emmanuel

Emmanuel. I think about that sometimes, just what that means. Emmanuel. God with us. Think about that for minute. God. With. Us. Not God before us, although He is. Not God behind us, although He is. Not God near us, although He is. But God with us that means he came to earth from heaven to be with us to live with us as one of us. Fully God but fully human he faced or challenges struggles temptations. He showed us the Father, taught us how to draw near to Him. He loved us just as His Father loves us. In fact God, the Father, loves us so much He sent the Son, His only begotten Son, into the world.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)

God with us – Emmanuel! That’s our promise, our hope, our joy – Emmanuel! That’s our God, He’s with us near us loves us died for us. Let’s share that glorious news every chance we get, let’s share our Emmanuel!

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may the Father bless and keep you as you go about doing His work sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Be Still

One of my favorite verses in Scripture is the reminder to “be still and know I am God.”  It’s such a comfort when I am feeling hectic, hurried, frazzled, rushed, etc.  And trust me I feel that way often – life gets real crazy sometimes and when it does taking a second to remember that God is God, all powerful, creator of all things and He’s got this and me in the palm of His mighty hand is exactly what I need to recenter me.  This past week or so has been like that – crazy.  Folks, my husband will tell you I do not handle crazy well, at all, on my own.  Before I knew Christ life being crazy meant me being crazy, I’d fall apart, make stupid decisions, panic, freak and take others with me down the wormhole with me.  But now that I know my Lord and Savior I’m different.  I still don’t enjoy it when life throws me a roller coaster filled with loop-de-doops, crazy curves and all that nonsense but its ok.  I just look to my God, my Savior, my hope and I rest in His promise to give me peace – precious, perfect peace.  And He does because he is faithful and true.  So after the past week of craziness I was pleasantly surprised to find the reminder to stand still and let God do his thing in an unexpected place the book of Job.

Job 37:14
Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

That prompted me to look into the other reminders to stand or be still in Scripture and share them with you to encourage each of you my brethren in your walk with Christ this week.

Psalms 4:4
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Mark 4:39
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Exodus 14:13
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

2 Chronicles 20:17
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

And let me close with this beautiful Psalm of David:

Psalms 4:1-8
1 To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

 

May God bless and keep you as you are about His work this week my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God

A stirring and convicting sermon from the past that remains the most famous sermon ever preached in America! I have heard other readings of it but this one by Max McLean is most moving. I pray you enjoy it and share it. May God bless and keep you my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

https://youtu.be/trH_fyKbuZ0

Powerful Prayer of Thanksgiving

About a month ago I began a Bible reading plan that seemed ambitious but also exciting, read the entire Bible in 90 days. I probably won’t make it in the 90 days, it’ll take closer to 100 I think, somedays reading 10 – 17 chapters is hard to fit in. I kinda thought it might be overwhelming each day, that it’s just all be a blur, and honestly the days when there were a lot of genealogies it was like in the first few chapters of 1 Chronicles but then in the midst of all the this one ruled after this one and begat that one and fought this one God got my attention, spoke to my heart and showed me a simple yet powerful prayer I added to my journal and my life. It struck me for a couple reasons but mostly because it had the echoes of another simple powerful prayer that our sweet Savior taught. May this prayer bless you as it has me.

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord and thou art exalted as the head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest overall; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

– 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Amen! I wrote down other verses that were specific petitions and such but that right there is a lovely prayer of thanksgiving, thanks giving which we should be offering daily not on a specific day each year.

May you God continue to bless and keep you my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ and may we always remember to give Him all praise, honor, and glory as we humbly seek His will in our lives.