THE PURIFYING OF OUR FAITH

Our Faith is purified through our trials, just as gold and silver are purified through the fiery furnace.

It is so important for God to lead us through life and takes us through the fire, the storms,  the deepest waters and the pain of our afflictions. 
 Just as a carpenter makes something useful from a piece of wood, or a sculptor makes something beautiful from a piece of marble, Jesus the Master Carpenter/Sculptor makes something both beautiful and useful from us when He works on us in our life.

Do not resist Him, do not avoid Him, but fall into His loving hands and be made into a work of beauty.

Hebrews 11: 32-40

ARE YOU SITTING ON THE FENCE?

Are you sitting on the fence when it comes to a lot of things the people around you, the politicians, or the Bible says, or the preacher says, or God is saying to you?

The choice is not to sit the fence but to pick a side; and it starts in the Old Testament. 

Genesis 3

King James Version (KJV)

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Okay, so what is it gonna be, What God said, or what the serpent says?  Can't sit the fence, what is your choice?

Then we jump all the way to Joshua Chapter 24:  after God lead the people out of Egypt, the people are given a choice about who they will serve.

 
¹⁴ Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

¹⁵ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.



¹⁹ And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

²⁴ And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

So how about the questions of the day, abortion, sex, lying, cheating, stealing, etc.  In the Book of Revelations Chapter 3:

¹³ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

¹⁴ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit thee out of my mouth.

¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

²² He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

You see, we have to make choices, the right choices.  Many have laughed at the WWJD, (What would Jesus Do?),  but it is truth.  We need to make every decision based on Jesus/God;  not on what someone else  says, what we were taught or told, unless it lines up with God's word and Spirit.

So what is it gonna be?  Can't sit the fence, make a choice now,   "...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."



 

ARE YOU HUNGRY --FOR GOD?

Every day like thousands of other people, I yearn for something in my life to make it feel---right.  I know what my hunger is for.  Everyday when I walk into the back yard and see the beautiful blue sky the different wisps of clouds, hear the birds singing, see my Grace (my horse) grazing next to Silas (the goat) I am filled with the love of God visible in my sight.  I feel like breaking out in song, "How great Thou art... how great Thou art....!"  My heart is so filled with love and passion for my God.  I would that today He would return to take me home.

What about you.  Do you feel the call of God, His love and caring hands reaching out to your soul?

"As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants after You .... You, O Lord, are my hearts desire and I long to worship You.."

My heart aches greatly for My Lord and God....

Come quickley Lord Jesus!

LET US CONTINUE IN FAITH, BELIEVING

Romans 10:8-13   "But what does it say?   “The living Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if  you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and   believe in your heart   that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says,   “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;   for the same Lord is Lord of all,   bestowing his riches on all who call on Him . For  “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Come quickly Lord Jesus.
 

RAMBLINGS

So many of my posts have been taken from my studies, today it is my ramblings, or talk with God today.  I hope it benefits you.


Tues. Sept. 18/2012 AM
O Lord, why are you mindful of me, a sinner-

My child, my creation you are.  I have redeemed you through the blood of My Son Jesus Christ. You have been adopted back into the fold by your actions.

Yes, and I have accepted the sacrifice of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as my own.
I pursue you Lord, yet at times I am side tracked by the things of this world.  I stray from the straight and narrow and find myself far from you.  Yet all I have to do is turn around from my follies and you are right there beside me.  Waiting for me to take your hand and return to the path of righteousness.

I know that my life is not always focused on you.  I find it sometimes easier to just play games, read books, or do nothing rather than study and pray, spend time with you.  They are such mindless activities in which I waste my time.

But then I find myself so unfulfilled that I turn back to the scriptures and to prayer and find myself in need of You and Your "Word".

Help me Father, to rid my life of these senseless things that not only don't fill the void, but that take me farther away from you.
Help me make a start and go were you would have me be.  Closer to You.
In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.


 

MY GOD'S PRESENCE

"The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you;  He will be with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.   Do not fear or be dismayed."
Deuteronomy 31:8


The news in the world is frightening, people hurt people, storms are all around, the earth shakes with condemnation at the actions of man against God's  creation.  Where is our hope?  My hope is in the God of creation, My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  May His glory continue in His creation, may He forever reign here on earth as he does on high with justice and righteousness, Amen.

THANK YOU GOD FOR FORGIVENESS

Today is just one of those many days when I realize I have messed up again.  My worst sin is not being accountable in my money management.  I keep saying I will do it right and then I get so speedy minded I just don't keep track of things. So here I am waiting for another check to come in to cover my mistakes.
Sometimes I feel like God should not forgive me again, so I go to Him and say I am sorry, please help me fix this again, and then I remember, He is saying, "what do you mean again?"   Because when He forgave me last time and the time before and the time before that, He forgot it.  Let me show you what I mean.

Psalm 103:11-12 (KJV)

¹¹ For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
¹² As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.


 

Psalm   (NET)

103:12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us

^{Mathew 7:7-8
7}Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

⁸ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened

Micah 7:19 (NET)

 You will once again have mercy on us; you will conquer our evil deeds; you will hurl our sins into the depths of the sea.

 

Isaiah 38:17(NET)*

 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.

You delivered me   from the pit of oblivion. "

For you removed all my sins from your sight.

 

 

 

 

Can you see it? The forgiveness of sins, the forgetting of the sin that was forgiven.

These sriptures refresh me, they give me my hope, my strength and my God's Words.

They keep me going, trying harder, living stronger in the walk He has set before me.

The straight and narrow is hard, but it is worth the walk. Like a tight rope across the Grand Canyon, with God as my net below.

I hope this message has helped you today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STANDING STRONG ON CONVICTIONS

I am not sure the title for today is appropriate, but you can let me know.

If we are going to stand firm in our faith in God and His promises, we have to be sure we understand those promises.  We want to take advantage of His promises of love, peace, joy, prosperity and forgiveness.  But did you ever study on forgiveness?  Let's look at some scripture:

Luke 17

³ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

⁴ And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Mark 11
²⁴ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

²⁵ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

²⁶ But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Luke 6:42

 

 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.


From these scriptures I am sure you can see that judgement of another person is tricky business.
Our judgement better be about their fruits, not actions that happened in the past or may have already been forgiven by God.

WE are not perfect, neither are they, but it is not our place to judge. Even if they have wronged us.  Especially if we have gone on in our relationship at times as if nothing has happened and then we get angry for something they say or do and then judge the past all over again through the new action.

We have to remember our position in God's eyes.  If someone offends us, then we need to take it to God, and then to that person in love and humility explaining what they have done to hurt or offend us. Then let the relationship develop from there.

James 5:16.
 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

When some one offends you, you should use the same Grace that God extends to you, to the other person.
Intersession for others through prayer, loving, constructive speech will bring others closer to Christ, but to be angry, spiteful and mean will not help you or the other person.

I seek my Christian brothers and sisters, that they will continue in love and study The Word, pray and remain faithful to the God of our creation, and Our Saviour Jesus Christ.







 

FAITH-NEVER ENDING

We have been dealing with faith for the past month, today I just want to share with you a few  scriptures.

Our faith walk includes many things, but trust in Him for everything is #1 after our belief.

Proverbs 3:5-6     " Trust in the LORD with all your heart,   and  do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him,   and he  will make straight your paths."
(all quotes are from the English Standard Version)

Philippians 4:19  "And my God  will supply every need of yours   according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Romans 8:38-39  "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."


I do hope these scriptures bless you, and I hope you are taking time to be with The Lord and study the Holy Word of God.

May God bless you all.
 


 

 

THE LORD'S HELP

tHE LORD'S HELP. WE ALL NEED IT.

How much time do you spend in a day or a week worried about your problems?  How much time struggling with your problems with out seeking the Lord's help?
This is a very common thing, we all do it. Instead we need to be seeking Him and His help, without worry.  Let's look at the Lord's word concerning this problem.

Isaiah 41:10
 "Do not fear, for I am with you, do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God: I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

When we spend time worrying about our problems, instead of just letting God help us, we just continue to stress ourselves out.

He already knows our problems, He already is working to handle them, He just wants us to acknowledge Him and that He has the answers.
This doesn't mean we won't reap the consequences of our actions, but it does mean He will be with us and help us through the results of our actions.

Learning to lean on God in all of our daily life is a hard lesson, but He alone can take us through it,  He alone can ease our stress and comfort us in all our life struggles.

Lean on Him... call on Him... have faith in Him. You will find His peace!




 

LIVING A CHRISTIAN LIFE IN A NON CHRISTIAN WORLD

It is so hard to live a Christian life in this world, especially in this country now.  Everything you do is questioned and people expect you not to do things they find offensive to their absence of beliefs.  God knows good things might rub off on them. OH MY!
Time to stand up for what you believe.
God says:

Matthew 10:32-34    (KJV)

³² Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
³³ But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
³⁴ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

One thing I love about living where I live is that you can say what you want and no one disagrees with you.  When I say that God has blessed us greatly here in our home, they say God is so good.
When I lived up north, you had to be careful about what you said, many people found it odd or offensive to speak of God.
I am so thankful that God has given me the freedom to speak of Him before man, and equally thankful that in this part of American I still have that freedom.
Tomorrow is Labor Day, let us thank God that He gave us the freedom to work in His name and accomplish so much here in America.

 

FATH...LIVING GODLY LIVES

fAITH    Our faith is reflected in how we live our daily lives.  How do we know how to live godly lives?  Our Father God provided direction in His Word.
The directions are every where in His Word.   Just study how His followers, the prophets and how Jesus lived.  It really isn't hard.  Just take the time to study the written Word.  You also need to talk and walk with God and Jesus daily.  Meditate on the scriptures, meditate on Him.  No music, no other books, no TV, no radio, just the Holy Spirit.  Remember the old song..."take time to be Holy, speak oft with the Lord..."

Just DO IT!