Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Heaven!

We are all a little closer to heaven than we were yesterday and a step closer to Glory! Imagine a place where there is never a harsh word spoken; where sin is no more, and joy lines the golden street; where the leaves of trees are for the healing of the nations, and there is no more sorrow or pain. These are some biblical descriptions of what Heaven is like. We know that there will be many children there, and that God Himself will be present wherever we go; yes, heaven is a real place. It’s a place where there is no night because the Lord is the light of it; where there is a city foursquare, adorned as a bride for her husband, with her great beauty she awaits him; with the foundation thereof made of all sorts of precious stones casting many colors in every direction as a multi-colored prism of light, and the street is paved with pure gold, as clear as crystal. It’s a place of peace and rest, and an honorable place for all the redeemed of the Lord. This wonderful place called Heaven has twelve gates standing majestically along a golden wall, and the gates are as pearls of great price. There is also a pure river of life coming out of the great throne in the midst of the city, and a rainbow encircles the throne of grace.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Principles forTrue Giving

Principles of Giving
Cheerfully;
Liberally;
Anonymously:
Give to a need.
Not to those who we wish to impress;
Neither to those who have much, in hopes of gaining their favor.
Give as alms to the poor.

Many times we give to those having a hard time in another area of their lives. Though the intent is to “cheer them up” this is not true giving. Giving must fulfill a definite need in the lives of others. (They need cheering, but that comes from the comforting Hands of the Lord) The giving needs to fit the need.

True giving fulfills a need for others, and not for self.
Give our all to the Lord.
Give ungrudgingly.
Give with no hope of return or reward.
True giving is from the heart; it is genuine and productive.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

God’s Gifts

Simply put, THE greatest gift of God is “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23); there are, however, many gifts, very many, given to us by the Mercy and grace of God. I speak of more than the “sign gifts” that we are all familiar with—yes, even beyond the promise of God, and into the realm of grace. The Lord is so good that it is beyond our comprehension how He could love “such a wretch as I”. Think a moment; aside from the promises of God (which cover all our needs, and beyond, themselves!), we are given (by grace) the treasures of the Lord, according to His Word. We are given a portion of His wisdom, the same wisdom that was with Him before the foundations of the world; the same wisdom that was there when He laid the foundations of the world, by His spoken Word. The Book of Proverbs has much to say about this wisdom, especially the eighth chapter. Along with this wisdom comes the treasure of the Lord. Better than rubies; finer than fine gold; more precious than anything we can imagine, or want “all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it” (Prov. 8: 11); friends, there is nothing greater than the wisdom of God, and the rewards she affords us. “Riches and honor” are with her, “Durable riches, and righteousness” (Prov. 8: 18) so that our barns are filled with good things, and our prosperity will be seen and known (Prov. 3: 10). These are just a few, but there are many more promises given for prosperity and satisfaction, and beyond, that we need to take hold of.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Abel’s Death

Abel’s Death

The question is asked, “If God had a plan from the beginning for the redemption of man, why allow Abel to die, and have to replace the lineage through Seth?” This is to clarify, mostly, only one point, that the grace of God is given freely, and is not “owed” to any of us. God does not have to grant us His grace, but distributes it according to His will. We ought not to expect grace from a demanding viewpoint, and “obligate” our Lord to give it, but we should beg for it, and earnestly seek it from a loving and merciful God. God has a plan; He will accomplish His plan by some means, as well as bless His children also. He is a God of multi-purpose. It is up to Him to execute His plan according to His design, and we are not to question or dispute it. I do not know the reasoning behind Cain and Abel, except that God almost always chose the younger instead of the elder to do His bidding and to accomplish His will.

Perhaps there was something that God did not tell us about Abel, after all, there is no reason to tell us his faults; our Lord need not explain or answer to us anyway, He does what He wills, and we are to accept it. “Blind Faith” you say? Exactly, but faith in a most trustworthy God who is able to do above all that we could ask or think. Abel was a sinner like the rest of us, but God had chosen Seth instead of Abel to usher in the holy seed, and to give Christ a heritage in the human sense. It really matters not why.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

9/22 Principles in Giving

Principles of Giving
Cheerfully;
Liberally;
Anonymously:
Give to a need.
Not to those who we wish to impress;
Neither to those who have much, in hopes of gaining their favor.
Give as alms to the poor.

Many times we give to those having a hard time in another area of their lives. Though the intent is to “cheer them up” this is not true giving. Giving must fulfill a definite need in the lives of others. (They need cheering, but that comes from the comforting Hands of the Lord) The giving needs to fit the need.

True giving fulfills a need for others, and not for self.
Give our all to the Lord.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Joy of The Lord

Nehemiah 8:10

“for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

The “joy of the Lord” gives us a “key” to many other truths in God’s Word, and therefore it remains “our strength”. This joy will cause us to have compassion on others who have no such joy; it will add to our personal peace and favor with God; it will build our faith. One finds that when joy is ebbed, at a low, he loses, at least a portion of the desire to serve God whole-heartedly. I see, then, the truth of this passage, that the Joy of the Lord is indeed my strength. Oh that He would always, and forever, restore unto me the joy of my salvation!


Talking with God is prayer; His talking with us is a blessing.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Afflictions

1 PETER 2:19,20

There is a certain glory in suffering wrongfully and taking it patiently. Christ entered into His glory at the point of suffering wrongfully (Lk. 24:26), and when we enter into His suffering, or suffer with Him, it is only at this point that we do so. When we are “buffeted” for our faults, this is justice; but if we are buffeted “innocently”, this is glory for us Look at 1 Peter 4:14: “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” Consider also the three Hebrew children of Daniel 3: Until they entered the fire, they did not see Jesus, but as soon as they were in the fiery furnace of affliction, Jesus came to visit! Jesus is there for us, whenever we need Him, and even when we think we don’t! So we see the value of patience.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord

Bless His Holy name; “Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy name”. He has lifted me from the pit of despair, and rooted me from the depths of despond; He has quickened me again in His Word, and has filled me again with His Spirit. He has taken me from the abyss of doldrums to the clouds, and still set my feet upon solid ground. Bless His Holy name.
I set out to search His Word, with a tragic heart and in a fit of depression, and He lifted me up. He gently lifted me through His beloved Word, and graciously set me down on solid ground again. So gentle, and yet so firm, His hand, and such compassion I have never known from another. How could I but turn to Him and love Him for all the grace He has bestowed upon me? “Oh see that the Lord is good, His mercy endureth forever.” I will praise Him from the deepest depths of my heart, and from the rooftops I shout to the glory of God; Oh that I might know Him better, and intimately, as one should, and can. He has afforded me to draw close to Him, and my joy is overwhelming. Let me see thy presence oh Lord, and bask in the glory of thy brightness; let me learn to love thee entirely, and in truth, and with my entire being. “Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me”: bless His Holy name forever, and ever more.

The Greatest Gift?

The greatest gift that the Lord has given us may not be His Son at Calvary, as precious as He is, but it is the gift of love that promoted the giving of His Son. Yes, the gift of love is perhaps the greatest of all gifts given unto man. It was love that brought Jesus down from eternity, and wrapped Him in flesh to suffer and die at the hands of His own creation. God gives us the ability to love, and we point it in the direction we want it to go; we decide who to apply it to. The free will of man is seen in this great truth, and we can love Him freely because of it. This is why God commands us to love our enemies, because, normally, we would not “aim” our love in that direction, but the Lord helps us out there, and we find that we can do that which He commands.
He tells husbands to love their wives, and to point our God-given love in their direction, and because He tells us to do it, we can do it. The greatest gift is the gift of love.