SATURDAY EDITORIAL

THE BELIEVER'S RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES

No other country on earth offers its citizens the rights that we Americans take for granted every day. The first ten amendments to the Constituion list our Bill of Rights. Among them are the right to free speech, the right against unlawful search and seizure, and the right to trial by jury. We have the right to vote and the right to worship. Those rights were purchased by the blood of men who fought and died for them. Most Americans not only claim those rights, but we demand them.

Yet, so often the same people who claim their American rights haven't even bothered to find out what rights accompany citizenship in the Kindom of God. If you're one of those people, let me give you a newsflash. God will not be outdone by the United States government!

Everything our earthly government offers us, God provides and more. The Bible says that the government is on Jesus' shoulders. As Christians, we should never be caught wallowing in our circumstances because our scriptural rights have been purchased by His blood.

You won't benefit from rights, you don't even know you have. But once you search the scriptures and discover your rights, you've still got to claim them. I've never searched for gold, but I've heard how it's done. Finding the gold isn't enough. Once you search it out, you've got to go to the right office and file a claim. If someone challenges that claim, you've got to stand on your legal rights and fight.

Like wise, before you will ever live a victorious Christian life, you've got to stake your claim to your rights and fight for them. A Jesuit priest told me the most amazing thing. He said that he didn't take theWord of God literally. The man gave his whole life to the preiesthood! That's pretty literal isn't it? Can you imagine giving your life for a concept you don't believe is the literal truth?

It's sad, but that kind of thing happens all the time. That's why you see graveyards with more life than some churches. I know, because I've been there. And there is only one thing to do for them---resurrect them.

The Bible says, "My people are destoyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowlede, I will also reject thee." (Hosea 4:6)

Lack of knowledge about what?

Lack of knowledge about your rights and privileges.

You will never grasp your rights if you don't understand why they are yours.

Voice of the Covenant by Jesse Duplantis

COMMITMENTS

GUARD YOUR HEART

Ecclesiastes 5 says that 'it is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.' The bottom line with commitment is that God desires for us to honor our commitments. I have found that if there is no harvest of consistency in a person's life, then there has been no sowing of commitment. Some people are best known for their inability to commit to a relationship, job, or church, but God wants us to be committed to the things that honor Him most. If you are married, He wants you to be fully committed to your spouse. If you are a parent, He wants you to be committed to your children. As an employee, be committed to the commitment you've made to your job.

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin

GENEROSITY

GUARD YOUR HEART

You should keep generosity in. Being a generous giver is the mark of a mature believer. Not just generous with finances, but also in time and energy. How about being generous in forgiveness. The reality is that in life you will have many opportunities to not be generous with forgineness, but a mature believer cancels the debt of the person who mistreated them. Do you that's exactly what Jesus was talking aout in Matthew 18? One servant was forgiven a massive debt (just like you and I have been forgiven), yet that same servant turned around and imprisoned one of his servants for a minor debt. When we hold unforgiveness against someone, we are doing the same thing. God wants us to be generous with finances, time, energy, and forgiveness.

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin

VISION

GUARD YOUR HEART

You should also guard vision, whether it's a vision for your ministry, career, future, family, or finances. A vision is simply getting a picture in your heart of what tomorrow will look like. A vision is the down payment on fulfilling your God-given assignment.

In fact, the Bible says that, "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18 KJV). On the NKJV, it says that where there is no vision, people "cast off restraint." So, if you don't guard your vision, then you are throwing restraint out.

Guarding vision sometimes means keeping the voices of the naysayers out. People that have no vision of their own will do all they can to tear yours down. Don't let them! People who should be bringing themselves up ofter-times find it easier to tear other people down in hopes of bringing everyone onto the same level playing field. The problem with that is that God has called you to separate from the pack. You are sanctified (set apart) for God's expressed purpose. Don't settle for fitting into the crowd. The crowd needs a leader, and that's you!

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin

PASSION

GUARD YOUR HEART

Start by keeping your passion strong. Paul told Timothy that he should fan into flame the gift of God that was in him. and you have to do the very same thing. You must guard your inward fire and passion. Jesus even said that you should not be lukewarm. What was He saying? Guard your inward passion for HIm.

By the way, it's no one else's responsibiltiy to make sure that your fire is lit. When I hear people say things like, "The worship didn't really do it for me today." Or "Pastor's message didn't stir me up today." I think to myself, what if we all would just show up to church full of the fire and the passion of God. Then instead, of waiting for someone to tickle our spiritual funny bone, we would help create an atmosphere of praise.

Life's challenges can sometimes pour cold water on the passion for the things of God in our lives. That is why we have to guard passion and ensure that it stays squarely focused on the things of God.

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin

GUARD YOUR HEART

We live in a heart healthy world. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that we hear a lot about being heart healthy. We definitely hear that term used often in commercials and printed on products. The truth is that we probably aren't as heart healthy as we need to be, and that is why it is such a big selling point.

While I think it's great to be healthy and to take care of the "temple" that God has given you, I also wonder what would happen if we gave just as much attention to the "heart" that the Bible talks about as we do the physical heart. I think that our lives would reflect the fruit of the Spirit more. I think that we would live with Godly character in every situation.

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." (NLT) The word "heart" simply means your inner man, your mind, your understanding, and your will. So God is instucting us to guard our inner man, mind understanding, and even our will. Wow! What a powerful verse when you think about it.

The NKJV says it this way, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." What the Bible is saying here is that the heart is where you make your decisions. It is where you determine your pursuits and the things you focus on. Knowing that is just the beginning. What's even more important is that God instructs us to guard our hearts.

FORTIFIED

A few years ago, my family and I visited Castilo de San Marcus in St. Augustine, Florida. it is a fort that was built in the 17th century that sits fight along the water's edge in downtown St. Augustine. It holds hundreds of years of history, but it also taught me something about "guarding." While the fort itself was obviously designed to keep unwanted things out, there is a space inside the fort that was specifically designed to keep things in. Prisoners to be exact. So, as we talk about guarding our hearts, in this issue, we will look at the things that we need to keep in, and next time we will focus on what we need to guard against.

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin

A POEM WORTH READING

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simply headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Pass On The Patriotism!
YOU can make a difference.
In God we trust... all others should be watched closely.

SUNDAY EDITORIAL

Since we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to be able to receive eternal salvation with God the Father, then Christian prayers are the only kinds of prayers that we will ever be concerned with.


As far as the big picture is concerned, there is only one true Christian faith and all of the other religions that are out there are considered false religions because they will not come through Jesus Christ or His sacrificial death on the cross to God the Father.

As Christians, we have something that the other religions do not have – and that is direct access to the throne of God the Father Himself. And as a result of having direct access to the very throne of God Himself, we now have the opportunity to enter into a one-on-one personal relationship with Him, along with being able to pray directly to Him.

Since these other false religions will not come through Jesus Christ and the blood that He has personally shed for all of us, then they will not have the same kind of access to God the Father as we will have – and thus their prayers may not be able to “reach” God the Father like our prayers will, since we are coming directly to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ and they are not.

If you would like a very good article from our main Bible site – www.bible-knowledge.com – on what the basics of our eternal salvation are truly all about in Jesus Christ, here is the direct link to this powerful article:

The Basics of Salvation Through Jesus Christ

This article will give you all of the main verses from the Bible that will show you that there is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved other than through the name of Jesus Christ – and that Jesus Christ is the only way to be able to receive eternal salvation with God the Father.

Once you read and study these specific verses from the Bible, then you will realize why Christian prayers are the only type of prayers that will get “through” with God the Father, as compared to some of the other prayers that are trying to reach God through other false belief systems.

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/15/christian-prayers/

SATURDAY EDITORIAL

As we have said over and over in many of our articles, whether we like it or not, we have all been born into a war zone as a result of the Adamic curse that is still in full operation on this earth today. Not only do we have to battle other people and other adverse types of situations in this life, but we also have to battle demonic spirits from time to time, as many of them are still allowed to roam in the air until Jesus comes back to cast all of them into the bottomless pit during the entire length of His millennial reign from the city of Jerusalem.

If God allowed His Son Jesus to be tempted direct by the devil himself during His temptation test in the wilderness, then you can bet your bottom dollar that most of us will probably have to face some kind of demonic attack from time to time in this life.

That is why there is such an emphasis in the Bible that we learn how to become “good soldiers” of Jesus Christ, that we learn how to put on the “full armor of God,” and that we learn how to be vigilant, alert and sober for any types of attacks that can come at us from the enemy. Again, you do not want to be seeing demons around every corner, but you also do not want to be taking the other extreme end of this scale where you are thinking they no longer exist, or that they will not try and bother us if we do not try and bother them.

As we have pointed out in our article on the Great Commission, the 4 things that God is looking for is that we do the best we can in trying to save, heal, deliver and disciple – and part of the Great Commission command is that we not be afraid to engage with demons and cast them off of people where and when needed.

Every time the Lord told the apostles to go out and walk with His anointing, He always told them to cast out demons in addition to saving the lost and healing the sick. Thus spiritual warfare against demonic spirits was always a part of the Great Commission command. As such, every believer should have some type of basic working knowledge in this area of our walk with the Lord, along with not being afraid to use the power and authority that has already been given to us by the Lord to defeat demons when we do run across these types of situations in this life.

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/phophetic-word-on-becoming-soldier/

LOVE...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does
not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.

For those of you who are curious, here's how we spent our
anniversary day: On our property is an old well house, the
size of a small room, that my husband has been working on
for a couple of years, turning it into a fort for the kids.
Recently he kicked up the pace to furious, for which I was
innocently grateful.

As the happy date approached, he informed me that all the
plans were in place for an overnight outing which included
the kids. As is my habit, I began worrying about the dogs,
the chickens, the cost... all of which he told me were under
control.

It almost became an argument because he was so blase about
all the details that I thought were important. Couldn't I
simply trust him, after all these years?

Ah yes, trust... I had to make a decision to trust him, and
that particular argument was averted. Praise God for love
that allows us to trust.

God Bless You!

Annie

mailto:annie@gophercentral.com
Email Annie

PSALM 39

1 I said, "I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me."
2 I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.
3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 "LORD, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.

7 "And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.
10 Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah

12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more."

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD

This subject is taught so often, and needless to say, it was never recieved much. But it is a horrible trap that Satan sets and sad to say so many fall into it. It has become a serious matter, and it is a problem in our homes, communities, in our schools and ever our churches. Negative talk verses Positive Talk I have counseled many children who have taken on the negative words that were spoken to them as their core values. They have low self esteem, they think negatively, they suffer depression, they even theirselves have taken on the pattern of negative talk towards others. Words can build people up or they can destroy them. Let's look at Gossip, what value does it have in the Father's Kingdom? What Value does it have in the person's life who is doing the gossip or for the person being gossiped about? This is a type negative speech. We see the negative effects of it in Hollywood all the time. Paul told us to think on things that are positive, good and pure. After teaching the teens for many years, I have seen youth chased away from our churches because of the gossip being spread about them some even being lies and fabricated rumors of them. Sad to say it has become normal in our society and even accepted.

In Philipians Paul also wrote that we live in a cruel world. There are many who seek destructive lifestyles and that is their priviledge because of FREE WILL that God gives us, even though it hurts God, he will let them choose. And there are those who have been dealt difficult trials through no fault of their own and have to live out the pain and suffering of others, What an Injustice. And There are those who take joy in destructive speech that destroys others. Aww! The Power of the Spoken Word. We grew up hearing, Sticks and Stones may break my bones but Words will never harm me. Well, That was a cheap way to build up kids to convince them to stand strong. And know what?? It does hurt People. It's bad enough that maybe a person is going through what can be the most difficult trial of their life, that cruel people will add to the pain but spreading ugly talk about them and adding untrue theories to it as well. What happened to "Minding Your Own Business" People now think that anything is free rule. What have our communities come too. With Facebook and Myspace and other social networks improper speech has been used as weapons of destruction. Needless to say, that Words do have the power to hurt people and destroy lives. God's Word tells us to have compassion, to edify, to encourage, to build up and to pray. And His Word Tells me He has Mercy and Compassion for Us. So are we above God I ask? I found the courage within to stand on God's Word, and I was freed from the circle of Gossip. I Lost some friends at that time because of my stand, and I am sorry for that. That is not what I wanted. But the Peace I found outwayed any lost.

God desires for us to live a drama free lifestyle, we should all be about GOD's Business, not satan's. The WORD tells us, Satan comes to steal Kill and Destroy. Are we representatives of his spirit or of GOD's? Paul wrote in:

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Over and Over again, we can read in the Bible about our speech, and about Loving our Neighbors. About having a compassionate love for each other. This is a scripture that freed me from gossip and idle talk, I prayed this in Psalm 39 everytime I was tempted or saw a possible opportunity that I could fall into the trap...

FYI ; Many lives as well as testimonies are destroyed everyday because of idle words of others. People without positive support and encougement give up, some commit suicide, some become so depressed and unproductive in the Kingdom of God, and many will retreat from the public eye in fear of what others say. If you have been a victim, don't give up your power to these cruel tricks of Satan, Press On! Find Your Identity in Christ Jesus! The Peace in Christ is Amazing and surpasses all understanding! Keep Pressing On!

Angel

http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

STANDING AS GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE

God's chosen People. Doesn't that just bring a Peace inside of you and don't you feel the flow of His Love and Grace within?
To be Called God's chosen rises up inside of me a Desire to press on and to be productive for His Kingdom. To exemplify the Characteristics of our Father in Heaven. I know what you are thinking, "But Angel we live in the real World!" Yes we do, we live in the real world, which Paul says in Phillipians 2:15 "that we may be blameless and pure children of GOD who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you SHINE like Stars in the World."
Doesn't that excite YOU. God knows we are living in a very diverse and even cruel World, He understands about the world around us, and He is telling us because we are His Own Chosen, We are set apart and Even Shine in the midst of it all. I feel that so many in this generation continues to do the evil and cruel things they do because they feel there is no hope or purpose to live any other way. But there is and we do. Phillpians 2:12-13 Paul writes again, " So then my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for HIS GOOD PURPOSE!" So see there is our reason to press on, God working in us and through us for His purpose. God's Ultimate purpose is Spreading the Gospel news of Salvation and His Great love, and His purpose also He is working out in each of us. We are His children, We have access to Him thanks to JESUS CHRIST. We are able to come into the Throne Room of Grace and Mercy. So in our own process of becoming more like Christ. Even in those hardest times in life,times we call trials or storms, when we are in pain and suffering we can stand Strong knowing That God is in Control.
Can we become angry or sad with those who come against us? Of course, the Word says Be Angry and sin not. So Anger is an natural emotion within us, yes we should control it and be disciplined. We can take control by not allowing our Power to surrender to a negative response to those who are coming against us. Jesus Did, on the Cross, by saying, "Father Forgive Them for they know not what they do." See He saw the wickedness, He saw the lack of knowledge too. He saw the pitiful state we were all in and how much we needed Him to save us. So, if we can change our perspective and viewing those who come against as Ones who are in need of a Savior, then maybe our response will be different.
What do we do? We pray, we seek ways to minister to them and most of importantly our hearts are tender for their state of well being because of Christlike Love. With That being said, how does that stop people from hurting us, or coming against us, well, it doesn't control their behavior. Only they have that power to make themselves stop, that is what Free Will is.
So now what do we do? Well, just as the disciples had to shake the dust off their shoes when they were not recieved in love.
Sometimes we have to walk away. REMEMBER We must use wisdom and that comes from preparation with the Word of God in our hearts and applying in our daily lives. We still pray for them. And if the door opens for us to minister to them, we do. Showing Love and compassion when possible and sharing GOD's Word. Jesus was Meek, He told us to be Meek. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is Self Discipline under pressure without giving up your power to another. So....
Be Strong in the Lord!! Be of Good courage!! These qualities are valuable to a Believer. Remember IT takes a Stronger person to maintain self control than one that looses it at the drop of a hat. And what is our motivation? L-O-V-E! Love is our Motivation to press on, to be compassionate, to be self-controled, to be gentle minded, to be humble and to be Strong. We love, because Christ first loved us! Lets let Christ's Love be our Guide and our Strength. Remember, equip yourself with the Word. Psalm 124:1 The Lord is on Your side. And Remember , if the Lord be for You, who can Be (verb) against You!

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/

WHAT FRUITS DO WE LIVE BY?

GALATIANS
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Father, God, WE Thank You for Your Love and all of the characteristics of Your great Love. Father, we in the flesh fall short of many of the Fruits You have asked us to portray, Father, we know that Your Mercy is New everyday and Your Grace Covers Us. Lord, I ask you this day, this morning, that YOU Pour Your Love upon your people, Lord Pour Your Love in Me, burn my heart with a burning fire if I am about to sin against You Lord. Father, give me the strength through Your Holy Spirit to portray and live by the Scriptures above, to live in Love, to live in self discipline, to live in JOY and to Live in Peace. Lord, direct my heart, my mind and steps today in the right path You have chosen for me, so that I may Glorify YOU Lord. That is my hearts desire and if at any point my flesh trys to over step my desire to please YOU, place a burning conviction in MY heart so that I may correct my ways and GLorify YOU Lord. I Pray YOU let this Peace begin with Me. And that YOUR Peace and JOY and Love be illuminated through me and my family! IN Jesus NAME, Amen.

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

SUNDAY EDITORIAL

Now some people say that Jesus did not die on the cross. For those people I urge you to look up Roman Crucifixion and study that for a bit. I have yet to come across one example of the ancient Romans crucifying someone and that person lives. Before a crucifixion, the person is scourged which means whipping with a short whip that has sharp bones or pieces of sharp metal attached. Many people died from this before ever making to the cross.

It is impossible for some to be scourged and then hung on a cross for hours to be alive and well, walking around a couple of days later. Also, when the Romans wanted to speed up the death, they simply broke the legs of the person so he could not push up to breath. In the case of Christ, he was stabbed with a spear to make sure he was dead. The Romans were very good at this so we do know that it was a fact that Jesus died on the cross.

Ok so we know that we can prove in a court of law that Jesus lived, preached, taught presumably performed miracles and died by crucifixion. But how can we know that he came back to life?

Well during this time, there were many prophets, a growing number of teachers known as scribes and Pharisees earned money as teachers of the Law. John the Baptist was another prophet in the time of Jesus who was also put to death. But why do we not follow John or these other teachers who were so good that they were paid to teach?

Let’s look at the disciples. If Jesus had not risen from the dead would they have given up their lives to teach about him? Remember what Peter did before Jesus died? These men were afraid for their lives. They did not want to die, so instead they hid. But because they saw the risen Christ, they realized that Jesus really was the son of God. All of the Apostles with the exception of John died by martyrdom. This simply means they were put to death because of what they taught, preached and believed. What again would cause these simple men to give up their lives when immediately after the death of Christ, they denied Jesus, and they cursed Jesus and went into hiding.

Now for my favorite. Saul who changed his name to Paul. Again history does not deny the existence of this man and scientific evidence shows several books of the Bible were written by the same man so we have to conclude that Paul did exist. Why then would someone with such a strong Jewish education, who hunted down and killed Christians because of their belief all of a sudden, change his way and start preaching and teaching people about Jesus Christ?

Once again if we were in a court of law, we could come to know other conclusion except that these men did in fact see the risen Christ.

Jesus Christ was real and did die on the cross. Jesus Christ did rise again on the third day and our faith and belief in Christ Jesus is what saves us.

Hi folks, please understand that I believe we do not need science to prove this. I just sent this because as the pastor of one of the leading online seminaries, I have people come up to me all the time about questions like this. I find it amazing that people will believe the Jesus did not exist or did not come back to life without any intelligent research. If any intelligent person, actually did the research, there is only one logical conclusion they could obtain. As far as people saying that it was not 3 days from Friday to Sunday, I suggest you study Hebrew, Latin and ancient cultures. The phrases, “after three days” and “on the third day,” are not contradictory, either to each other or with Matthew 12:40, but simply idiomatic, interchangeable terms, clearly a common mode of Jewish expression. Just as in 2nd Timothy 3:16 the word Pneuma literally means breathed into. This does not mean that God breathed into the scripture. The word used at the time meant God’s power. So when you read that verse you see Paul saying to Timothy that God’s Power is in the scripture. On the Third day, after 3 days, etc. mean basically the same thing. To prove this point again, the Pharisees wanted guards posted until the third day, Sunday not Monday.

Now I have friends who say He died on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, which day is absolutely correct? I have no idea and neither does anyone else. Just like when was Jesus born, no one knows although I am quite sure it was not 12/25. The point we need to take is that He did in fact, rise up from the dead.

In Christ,

Pastor Bob

http://christianlivingministry.com/news/?p=4

SATURDAY EDITORIAL

Did the Resurrection really happen?

The quick answer to this question is, as Sarah Palin puts it, “You betya” But let us look at this a bit further. In my humble opinion as a student of Biology I find that it must be a much higher act of faith to believe that Jesus did NOT die and rise on the third day based strictly on the evidence.

First we have 4 Gospels and whether or not you believe them science has already proven that they were written about 2000 years ago.

I have heard many arguments state that these documents were not written when Jesus was alive but they were written after he had been crucified. Now this is true but what is also true and must be realized as a fact is that the 4 Gospels and the New Testament was written within a lifetime of when Jesus Christ died and I believe rose from the dead.

Now many people tell me that after time passes things change. They remind me of the telephone game when a message is passed along from person to person and when you get to the end, the message is often completely different from the original message. But we have to also take into account the time of Jesus. It certainly was not the digital age we have now and people did not have cell phones with cameras and video cameras. It was not even in the print age as they did not have newspaper stands on every corner.

During this time it was an oratory age. The rabbi’s of the day had to memorize entire scriptures before they could ever comment on those passages. So were these documents reliably preserved? By comparing the ancient manuscripts we have to conclude that yes they were. We do know that there was a man named Saul and he was one such student. Scholars have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that oratory cultures have been able to pass things down for generations without changing a thing!

The first century Apostles were very serious about writing these things down as accurately as possible. Now these stories were passed down. Plus we have to remember that there were hundreds of other people who were alive during the time of Jesus and we do NOT have any written evidence that contradicts what has been written in the 4 Gospels and the New Testament. Please also remember that Saul who changed his name to Paul was one of these very educated men who understood the Torah and some scholars believe that he may have even heard Jesus preach when He was alive.

But don’t the Gospels contradict each other? Well in a court of law, if every single witness gives the exact same testimony the court will rule collusion meaning they got together and organized their testimony. It is expected that witnesses of an event to have slightly different recollections. What is important is that the concept be consistent. So where we have one Gospel talk about 1 blind many being healed and another talking about 2 blind men being healed really does not contradict each other. The point was that a man who was blind from birth was healed by the miracle Jesus performed.

But the fact still remains that we do not have an original manuscript but instead we have copies. So how do we know that what we have is real? Well the fact is we have over 5000 manuscripts of the New Testament. We have better records of the New Testament than any other document that has ever been preserved

Again in a court of law the evidence is extremely strong. But what about any evidence other than the Bible

The Jewish scholar Josephus describes the life of Jesus and the Roman historian Tacitus writes about Jesus and Pontius Pilot. Suetonius mentions Jesus and there are numerous other documents written in this time frame that mention Jesus of Nazareth. Just go to Google and type in “other mentions of Jesus than the Bible” and see what you come up with. So again if we were in a court of law we have to come to the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth did live, he did preach and teach, he did have disciples and he was crucified.

Continued

Pastor Bob

http://christianlivingministry.com/news/?p=4

CELEBRATING GOD'S LOVE

Be Still and Listen & Celebrate God's Joy!

What is your heart's desire to do for God? Do you love Him so much that You desire to be pleasing to Him? To know that you are operating in what He is calling you to do?

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts which He has chosen for you and know that you have the ability through Him to do so. No matter your age or any limit you might set for yourself, Know that With God All Things are possible! When I interviewed for the job at KAJN, after seeing all that was involved with the job, feeling overwhelmed I begged GOD not to pick me for the job for two weeks! Then the day came when Bro. Craig called me for the job, I prayed! And called to talk it over with my sister to get her opinion, and her husband answered. It was one of those God Piveting Moments for me, when He told me, "Angel, God doesn't called the qualified, He qualifies the ones He calls." Thats when I began to really pray, scared and a little fearful, I prayed, "God, if you are calling me into this ministry, then Father expand the limits I have set for me in my mind, so that I may Glorify You, and learn the things I must learn to be able to do this Job for You." And Guess What??? He DID! He is More than Able!

Thank You Lord, for pushing me out of my comfort zone to fullfill a purpose You have called me to do in ministering Your Gospel and Love on a daily basis! So, what is GOD calling You to do?

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

KEEPING HUMBLE BEFORE GOD

You know staying Humble before God can be tough in the flesh. God wants a soft tender heart to work with. And For years God tore down walls of pain from around my heart to get to that fleshy stage. After many tears and strongholds torn down. I felt it! I rejoiced that God had removed the walls of attitudes around my heart. I felt confident that even when someone hurt me with my new fleshy heart, that GOD is my refuge and He is my Advenger. He would protect me. And somehow, I also thought and believed that If I really worked on being kinder to others and more compassionate and understanding to everyone, that in return they would do so back to me. I mean we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, so shouldn't we LOVE one another as Christ loved us? Well, Most part I was right in believing that, and in believing that if I treat others as I want to be treated so they will return the favor. But I have also learned that there are some people God is still working on as He is on me, and they still HURT others through working out their own pain. So what do I do? I've prayed for them, loved them with a smile and looked the other way. I mean Paul did. He was beaten in prison, layed in horrible conditions and still PRAISED GOD and loved people. I mean He led a prison guard to the Lord! What a testimony. Okay, Im not Paul. Don't claim to be. In fact I even failed the test. Lord forgive me!! I get so tired of being walked on and takin advantage of. I have prayed and ask GOD's help. I dont ever want to offend anyone, so I take it and figure God will work it all out. I know He will. But lately, I am so depleted and tired. My flesh is weak Lord. I dont' want to hurt anymore. I don't want to turn the other cheek. I am tempted to snap back with an unkind word if one is thrown at me. Lord that is not my heart. In fact I find myself wanting to cut myself off from the WORLD completely. Stay in my comfy lil humble home, Worship God alone and not bother anyone. BUT, I know in my deepest part of my heart that is not what GOD has called us to do. You know FEAR is a horrible Trap that keeps You from serving God will all Your Heart and all the potential He has placed in YOU! God revealed my fears to me; there are 3 of them. And I laid them down on the altar Easter Morning along with many others. WELL, Guess What happen? You got it! A test! God didn't waste any time, He sent that test priority express! Then this morning I begin reading as God would lead me to. Funny, how God's Holy Spirit knows what we need before we do. He specifically whispered James 4 after reading it, I was like okay GOD, Help ME Draw Nearer to You. I want to be closer to You to be more and more Like You.

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

GOD HEARD MY CRY

We Serve An Awesome God! My heart was so heavy this morning. I cried. I read God's Word. And I heard specific scriptures to read, and not knowing exactly what these scriptures were ahead of time I obediently read them. And Praise GOD, He heard my cry and broke strongholds and purged the yuckiness I was feeling inside of me. I was so broken hearted before GOD, and even found it difficult to express myself, I called upon a friend to pray for me in my despair. And she Did! I did. She not knowing what I was going through wrote things in a blog this morning that only GOD knew what was in my heart. That was the first break today!! It unlocked my heart and the pain that was in it, and I began to feel a release. So After my repenting for my sin, God began to repair my heart! Then I go and check my email a little later and another friend, a mutual friend of mine and my first friend, and when I read her blog, it confirmed even more that God was doing a big work in me this morning!! I cried and Praised GOD! I was so emotional from the Hand of GOD at work in me. I get so overwhelmed when GOD ministers to me in such a emotional state. To think of all the Millions of people in the world, and HE knows each and every one of us, He even has our hair on our heads numbered! And Yet with all that is Going on in the World, He knows my heart, my broken heart. The best I can described my heart this morning, is to picture a Oil well being drilled and under pressure and there being a reserve under high pressure and God released it! Then I had an early lunch with my son and a good talk, and on our way to KAJN, God brought an old joyful song to me by Audio Adrenaline "I Get down and You Life me Up!" And I got so excited another God Pivoting Moment and confirmation that God heard my cry this morning! Then I get to work and our scripture of the Day is - are you ready for this -
I am so excited right now at how much our God loves us and Cares for us , sorry,the scripture is :

2 Samuel 22:7
7 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

"Ye are the light of the world." -JESUS in Matthew 5:14. Are we hiding our light? [ From Jesus Daily post; just really resonated with a prayer in my heart] What fears in your life are holding you back from letting God's light shine through you. Remember Moses when God asked him to speak to Pharoah. And Moses wanted to back out for fear of not being a good speaker. God Told reminded him that HE created Moses mouth! Too many of us allow fears to stop us from fullfilling a purpose God has placed in our hearts to do. Fear must be overcome from Faith, and I believe when we Really Tap into the FREEDOM we have in Christ how we are able to operate through and in His Spirit, our Faith overcomes our fear. Some of people's greatest challenges are those that they have placed in their own path. Don't be afraid to fail, through our failures we learn our strengths and weaknesses, and we can re-evaluate our goals and set course with God and His Strength and Wisdom, and acheive what God has called us to do! Lets remind ourselves of God's words in Jeremiah 29: 11 -14 I will bless you with a future filled with hope--a future of success, not of suffering. 12 You will turn back to me and ask for help, and I will answer your prayers. 13 You will worship me with all your heart, and I will be with you 14 and accept your worship. Lets pray and ask God to help us face our fears with faith! Keep pressing on in Jesus Christ.

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

IN HIS PRESENCE IS GREAT PEACE

"You will seek My Peace, I will give You Rest. Come to Me with Your Heavy Heart, I will give You Rest. Sit beneathe the shadow of My Wings, I will Give you Rest. Seek My Truth and My will, I will give You Rest, In My Rest You will find the Peace You are Looking For. Come to Me, Sit at My Feet, Allow Me to Wrap My Love around Your heart and Your body, I will give you Rest! My Rest, My peace is none like the World offers you. Seek My heart and you will find My Peace there. Its ready to flow through you, and its ready for you to receive. I speak Words of Truth and Peace through you. Place your life in My hands and find the peace, joy and hope you are looking for. I love you with a non-judging love, with a pure love. You just have to surrender your will to mine and receive my Love for You. My promises are to be fullfilled through you, you will see My Glory and receive all that I have for You. Be obedient to My Word, and To My Father. For I knew You before I formed You in your mother's womb, I have plans for You, those plans are to succeed you, remember no weapon that forms against you shall prosper. Sit and dwell beneathe the shadow of My Wings, I will give You rest, I will give You Peace, and there You feel my great Love for You and shall See all what I have for You. "
Jesus

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/

SUNDAY EDITORIAL

Conclusion

Though most of us know exactly what the Lord is trying to tell us with the revelation and knowledge that is in these verses, for many Christians in this day and age, this one is a real hard one to try and keep on top of.

With the incredible advances in technology and knowledge in the last 100 years, much of the world has become a much better place to live, work and play in. As a result of all of this incredible advancement in technology and knowledge, we now have many more toys and material possessions that we can all strive to acquire more of. We can now shoot for bigger and better houses, bigger and better cars, and bigger and better material things for our lives in general.

With all of these types of material blessings from our Lord, it becomes very easy for many to get out of balance with all of it. Instead of realizing where all of this abundant type of wealth is really coming from in the first place, and choosing to say humble and accountable with it in their walks with the Lord, many Christians start to get too caught up in the actual pursuit and desire for this material wealth.

Before they know it, they have placed their pursuit and desire for all of this material wealth before God Himself. The are no longer wanting to serve and follow God. They now only want to serve themselves and what they can get out of this life.

As Christians, we always have to stay on top of this part of our walk with the Lord. Jesus Himself has made it as clear and as plain as day as to how we are to look at this life and interact with it. We are to stay “in” the world. We have a holy mission and a holy calling direct from the Lord Himself on what it is He wants us to accomplish and get done in this life before we depart to be with Him for all of eternity.

The goal of each Christian’s life should be to accomplish, to the best of our abilities, God the Father’s perfect will for our lives. Our goal should be to serve God and do what He wants us to do in this life – not to chase after the world and all the wealth and possessions of this world, which will do nothing but rot and perish the minute we leave and depart from this life.

We have to keep all of our priorities straight, and our number one priority should be to want to serve God and accomplish His perfect will for our lives. If we make that our number one goal and aspiration in this life, then God will appropriately reward each one of us once we enter into heaven. And those heavenly rewards will far surpass and far exceed any of the material wealth and possessions that we could have gained down here on this earth.

As Christians, we have to realize that we no longer even belong to ourselves, much less to the world in general. We have been bought back at a severe price at the death of our Lord and Savior, and we now belong to God, and God alone. We now work for God, and God alone.

What this means is that our very protective and loving God has now drawn a major battle line in the sand for all of us. He is letting all of us know what we can and cannot do in this life. He is letting all of us know where we can tread in this life and where we cannot tread.

Boundary lines and a fence line have now been put up by our Lord. God is now telling all of us to stay on our side of the fence in our walks with Him. We have to stay on the righteous side of the fence in our walk with Him.

Though there is much in this life that is enticing and tempting to want to cross over and experiment with, realize that there are going to be certain things of the flesh that you will not be able to chase after in this life.

You cannot be doing drugs, abusing alcohol, and sleeping with whoever you want to outside the bounds of holy marriage. You cannot be cheating and scamming others in an effort to try and gain more wealth and riches.

You now have to play everything by the Book – and that Book is the Bible!

Many of our teenagers are battling this cold, hard reality in the high schools and colleges they are attending. God obviously wants them to be “in” this world, as they will need a proper education to progress into the calls and divine assignments that He will have in store for them in this life. But that does not mean you have to cross over into the carnal and fleshly worlds of those who are not walking right with the Lord.

You can sit next to someone in school who may be doing drugs and living a wide and carnal type of life. You can befriend him. You can witness to him as the Spirit leads. You can help him with his schoolwork if he should ask you. But that does not mean you have to leave your side of the fence and cross over into his world of drugs, alcohol, and wild sex parties. You can keep yourself unspotted from the world and yet still be “in” the world to help other people out.

The same thing goes for adults who are working in environments where they have a mixture of good apples and bad apples. Again, you can help out, and work in harmony and unity with those who are living their life on the dark and wild side of this life. But that does not mean you have to cross over and leave your side of the fence to start going to their drug, alcohol and wild sex parties outside of work.

Many Christians have been seduced into crossing over into some of these carnal and fleshly realms as a result of the seductive and persuasive influence of some of their co-workers or schoolmates. This is why this particular piece of revelation is so important for each and every Christian to not only have the knowledge of, but to also abide by it and not be tempted to ever cross over into some of these forbidden areas with the Lord.

These boundary lines are being set up by the Lord for our own good and for our protection. Every Christian mother and every Christian father should be burning this piece of revelation into their young children’s minds at an early age so that they can have all of this knowledge to fall back on when they start to get tempted to cross over into this darker side of life. This knowledge should be fully ingrained into them by the time they move into their high schools, colleges and then eventually into the work place.

This particular piece of revelation may be the difference as to whether or not some of your children ever become everything that God is calling them to become in this life. Every minute of every day someone is getting hurt, maimed, or murdered as a result of crossing over into the darker side of this life and hanging out with the wrong type of people or crowd.

Bottom line – you are still “in” the world as far as God the Father is concerned because He has a specific plan and purpose for your life – but you are no longer part “of” this same world. You now belong to God and Jesus, and you now have to live your life the way They want you to live it – not the way you or the rest of the world would like you to live it.

This choice will always be yours to make. You can either choose to follow God and His ways for your life and stay on His side of the fence in your walk with Him – or you can choose to leave the safety and protection of His side and venture into the darker side of this life where death, cursing and major misfortune will await you.

Once again, God the Father could not make things any more clear and any more plain with the revelation that He is giving us in that we are to be in the world, but not of the world.

Remember, stay on your side of the fence in your walk with the Lord. Many great men and women of God have lost their calls, their ministries, and their earthly destinies in the Lord because they violated this basic, fundamental, common sense rule and revelation from the Lord.

Part two

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/in-world-not-of-it/

SATURDAY EDITORIAL

In the World – But Not of the World (John 17:14)
any of you have heard from your pastors the title of this article in that we are to be in the world, but not of the world in our walk with the Lord. Not only is this a very catchy phrase and saying, but this is also a rock solid God-truth that is coming straight out of our Bible.
Many Christians get a bit confused when they first hear this phrase and revelation. The first question they usually have is if God is calling me to do something worthwhile and noble in my call and purpose for Him down here on this earth, then why is God telling me not to become a part “of” this world? How can I complete my divine call in the Lord if I do not get actively involved in the world and with other people in general?

Jesus Himself went full scale into His surroundings once He received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and then came out of the 40 day wilderness test with the devil. From there, He embarked on a major three and a half year miracle ministry before He went to the cross to die for all of us and our sins.

During those three and half years, Jesus was constantly preaching, teaching, healing and delivering people. At first glance, it looked and appeared as if He had become an actual part of the world with how much interaction that was going on between Him and everyone else that was around Him. But as you will see in the explanations below, God the Father does want us to become actively involved “in” the world so that we can fully accomplish His perfect will for our lives.

Another problem that some Christians have with this phrase is that they misinterpret what God is trying to tell them when He is making the statement that we are not to be “of” the world. They think they should be retreating from life and everyone in general, and some of them end up becoming monks, hermits and recluses hiding away from as much of the world as they possibly can.

I know God may call a very small percentage of His people into that type of special celibate and monastic type lifestyle, but for the most part, I believe God wants His people to become very active “in” the world trying to make it a much better place to live, work and play in. How can you witness, save, teach, preach and help deliver other people if you are not “in” the world trying to reach and connect with them in the first place?

I believe this particular revelation from the Lord has two sides to it. It is like looking at a two sided coin.

On the one side of the coin we are to be “in” the world. As you will see in one of the Scripture verses below, Jesus is telling His Father not to take us out of the world, since we all have a great commission and great call from Him to try and save and help as many people as we possibly can.

We cannot “reach” the lost, the downtrodden, the helpless, the poor, the sinners, and the people who are being held in some type of captivity if we are not “in” the world trying to reach them with the message and gospel of our Lord and Savior.

This is what is meant by the Lord telling us that we still have to continue to be living “in” this world. We all have to be born into this world as a result of the curse of Adam and Eve, and until it is our time to leave and depart from this life, God will expect each and everyone of us to come and work for Him.

Once you enter into a full surrender with the Lord of you and your entire life, then God will place you into His perfect will for your life. And once God places you into His perfect will for your life, then He will lead you into the divine plan and destiny that He has set up for your life. And in that divine destiny will be your call, your missions, your divine assignments, and the specific people that He will want you to work with.

Again, you cannot properly compete your call, your divine assignments, and your tasks and duties for the Lord if you are not willing to get actively involved “in” the world to some degree and to some extent. This is the one side of the coin where we are supposed to be “in” the world.

However, this revelation from the Lord also has a flip side to it. There is a flip side to this same coin. Though we are to be actively involved “in” the world to the degree that God will lead us to, we also have to realize and be very aware that we are not to become too much of an actual part “of” the world.

As you will see in one of the verses below, God is telling us to keep ourselves “unspotted” from the world. In other words, He does not want us to become spotted, contaminated, and tainted by the bad and evil things of this world. And the only way that we can keep ourselves from becoming too spotted and too contaminated from this world is not to get too deep and too friendly with the ways of this world.

In other words, God is asking all of us to walk a very fine line between being actively and properly involved “in” the world so we can reach and help other people – but at the same time making sure that we do not fall too deep and too far into the world where we then start to fall into the actual evil, depravity, and corruptness of this world.

The best analogy I can give you on this so that you can fully understand what the Lord is trying to convey to us is the “fence analogy.”

Imagine a fence line running alongside your right side as you continue to walk on the straight and narrow path that God has you set up to walk on. The phrase and saying that will come off of this fence line analogy that perfectly lines up with what the Lord is trying to tell us in this revelation is that we all should be “staying on our side of the fence.”

On your side of the fence is the divine path that you are taking for the Lord. On this side of the fence are all the righteous ways of our Lord on how we are to act and behave in this life with ourselves and with other people in general.

On the other side of the fence are the walks and paths taken by those who are either not saved, or the ones who are considered to be very carnal and fleshly type Christians, whose only goals and desires in this life is to get as much out of this life while they still can. Their only goals and aspirations in this life is to try and gain as much of the material and lustful things out of this life as they possibly can before their day in the sun is finally over.

We thus live in a dual type of world. On the one side of the fence is the side of God and the righteous way that He wants us to live this life in. On the other side of the fence are the unsaved sinners and carnal Christians who are not living their life God’s way, and who are out breaking any law and commandment they see fit so they can satisfy their cravings for the lustful pursuits and things of this life.

Once you become saved and born again by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are now in whole different ballgame. You are now on a whole different type of playing field. God the Father perfectly lays it out for each and everyone of us in the way that He has worded the following verse I will now give you.


In this verse, God is giving every single one of us a big choice to make in this life. We can either choose to follow God and His ways for living in this life and “live” – or we can choose to follow the wicked and evil ways of this world and “die.” Here is one whopper, all-or-nothing, black and white, straight-to-the-point verse direct from the mouth of the Lord Himself:

“… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days …” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Notice God says absolutely nothing about any type of middle or neutral grounds with this proclamation. Either we choose to follow God and live this life in the way that He wants us to live it – or we can choose to follow the ways of this world and eventually bring down death and cursing upon us and possibly those who may be close to us.

Notice in this verse that God is telling us that we must “obey His voice,” which means that we have to follow directly after Him and all of His ways for us in this life, not after the ways of this world or anyone else in this world.

Now here are 5 very good verses from the Bible that is giving us this specific revelation in that we are to be in the world, but not of the world.

The Scripture Verses
I will first list each one of the verses one right after the other, and then I will point out and highlight several key words and phrases in these verses.

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19)

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)

“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.” (James 1:27)

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15)

“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
Notice in the first two verses that Jesus is specifically telling us that we are not to be “of the world.” He then goes one step further in the third verse from James when He tells us that He wants us to remain “unspotted” from the world.

Jesus then perfectly wraps it up in the last two verses when He tells us that if we ever get to the point where we have become too friendly with the world and the ways of it – then we will literally become the enemy of God Almighty Himself!

When Jesus Himself is telling us that we will become His Father’s enemy if we become too friendly and too attached to the ways and things of this world – you know we are dealing with a very serious warning from the Lord on this issue!

Jesus points out to us that all of the lustful pursuits and things of this life will eventually pass way when we die and cross over. In another verse, Jesus has already told us that what good will it do a man to gain all the wealth of this world as his possessions, but then lose his own soul in the pursuit and acquirement of all of that wealth. It will all have ended up being for naught when everything is all finally said and done.

Part one

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/in-world-not-of-it/

IF ANYONE THIRST

John 7:37-39

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to
Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those
believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was
not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled,
that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man
of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab,
he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was
Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi...

Ruth 1:1&2

And so begins one of the great love stories in the Bible;
reading it is a treat for the heart and soul.

There are many wonderful blessings most of us enjoy that
have become so commonplace we have a tendency to take
them for granted. Things like clean, running water that we
can adjust to just the right temperature with a simple flick
of the wrist; warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer;
every type of food that one can possibly imagine, fresh and
neatly packaged, as close as the nearest grocery store...

The list goes on and on. We miss them most when we don't have
them! Praise God for those everyday blessings; may the Lord
help us to be truly grateful!

God Bless You!

Annie

mailto:annie@gophercentral.com
Email Annie

TEBOW: FOOTBALL

Tebow: football, NFL not source of true success
By: Mickey Noah
Original article can be found here, http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=33293.

CUMMING, Ga. (BP)--With dozens of kids toting Florida Gator signable footballs or miniature orange football helmets, or decked out in blue jerseys with "15" on the back -- and grown-ups wearing their game-day Gator shirts -- it could have been October in Gainesville, Fla.

Instead, the site was First Redeemer Church, a sprawling, 4,000-member SBC church in Cumming, Ga., right in the middle of Georgia Bulldog and Georgia Tech country. The draw was Tim Tebow.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound former University of Florida Gator, Heisman Trophy winner and new Denver Bronco quarterback spoke to 4,800 in two packed worship services and at a breakfast on Sunday, July 4 as part of the church's annual "God and Country Day."

Tebow, who turns 23 in August, was nattily dressed in a pink tie and gray pin-striped suit that failed to hide the bulging left arm that helped lead Florida to two national championships and two SEC championships. But Tebow, a member of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., didn't come to talk about football.

"I was recently doing an interview with a nationally known sports reporter," Tebow said. "She said, 'Now that you've graduated from college, are going to the NFL, will make a lot of money, everybody will know your name and want your autograph ... because of all that, do you count your life as a success?'

"I told her, yes, I count my life as successful," Tebow said. "But not because I'm famous or won two national championships or the Heisman or going to the NFL, it's because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ."

It's common knowledge that Tebow has spent the offseason altering his southpaw, side-armed throwing motion to gain a quicker release for the NFL, where he knows the linemen, linebackers and defensive backs will be bigger and faster. He'll have to get rid of the football quicker, with a much smaller margin for error.

While by all accounts, Tebow had a tough but "educational" mini-camp in June in Englewood, Colo., he said in a Baptist Press interview July 4 he's excited about reporting to camp later this month.

Tebow's daily regimen at the recently concluded mini-camp included days that began at the crack of dawn with weightlifting, running and conditioning. There was a new offensive playbook for the NFL rookie to master, so much of his time was spent in the classroom. Practice followed and Tebow's long day did not end until 7 or 8 p.m. Such is life in the NFL.

Tebow told the First Redeemer crowd that the nationally known sports reporter also asked, "How will you handle the NFL? Some say you'll make it, some say you won't."

"I told her I don't know what the future holds," said Tebow, "but I know who holds the future.

"I've been on a lot of teams with people who are successful in the world's eyes," he said. "They've made a lot of money. They've been first-round picks. They should be extremely happy but they're not because they're missing something. They're missing what's most important -- Jesus Christ."

In 1993, on his knees with his mom, Pam, Tebow accepted Christ when he was only 6 years old. Born in the Philippines, the son of missionary evangelist Bob Tebow, young Tebow was blessed with two Christian role models. Indeed, "Timmy" -- as his parents still call him -- is just blessed to be here. His mother suffered from amoebic dysentery while pregnant and the doctors advised her to have an abortion. She bravely told the doctor "no."

Tebow is especially close to and proud of his dad.

"The examples a dad sets for his sons don't always come from his mouth," Tebow says, "but from what they do. A dad should be the greatest role model in the world for his sons. I learned from just watching my dad -- not what he said but what he did. He believes in making the biggest impact he can in the world for Jesus Christ. That's why I'm so proud of him."

Tebow told the crowds that it was his dad who first instilled passion in him by showing him and his brothers the film "Braveheart." The elder Tebow told "Timmy" he wanted him to have the same kind of passion depicted in the movie.

"If you're passionate and enthusiastic about something, you're going to influence other people. You're going to make a difference in other people's lives," Tebow told the audience.

"Shouldn't we be as passionate about the greatest gift of all -- Jesus -- as we are about football? God gave us His Son, an abundant life and if you can't be passionate about that, I don't know what you can be passionate about.

"But we are not passionate about sharing it and that's pretty disappointing. We talk about football or the movies we see. Why wouldn't you talk about the love of Jesus Christ?"

Tebow said early on, his goals at Florida were to play football with passion, live with passion and be unashamed of the Gospel. "Every day, I wanted to set myself apart as a person, as a Christian and as a player."

One way Tebow displayed his passion and set himself apart for Christ during his four-year career at Florida was his trademark "eye-black" strips -- always inscribed with a Bible verse -- he wore for every game. At the beginning, the strips cited Philippians 4:13. But when he decided to change to John 3:16 for the 2009 BCS National Championship Game against Oklahoma, Tebow caused a panic among his fellow Gator players, especially Urban Meyer, his typically intense and highly superstitious head coach.

"Coach Meyer said, 'No, no, no. What's wrong with Philippians 4:13? We've won a lot of games with that one.'" The players also asked Tebow: "You're doing what?" But Tebow made the change to John 3:16 anyway and the Gators chalked up another win.

A few days later, it would be Meyer himself who would inform Tebow that only 24 hours after that Florida game, 94 million people had "Googled" John 3:16 to see what it says.

Tebow wound up his 20-minute remarks at the First Redeemer breakfast by advising his listeners to "finish strong."

"In football, you have to finish strong," he said. "You finish strong in the weight room, on the practice field, and running sprints. Even if it's hard, you pretend it's not. You fake it until you make it. You don't train for the first quarter but for the fourth quarter. You win games in the offseason. You win them in April, May, June and July."

Tebow recounted the time in January 2009 when the last seconds ticked down in Florida's national championship victory over Oklahoma and Meyer welcomed him to the sideline with a big grin and a hug.

"Coach hugs me and tells me 'Great job, you finished strong. I'm so proud of you.' That memory means more to me than any national championship ring or Heisman Trophy," Tebow said. "We also have to finish strong in life. My goal in life is that when I die and am standing before Jesus, His arms are going to be open wide. He'll hug me and say, 'Timmy, great job. Thataboy. You finished strong. I'm so proud of you.' That's what I'm looking forward to. That's something to live and die for."
--30--
Mickey Noah is a writer for the North American Mission Board.

Copyright (c) 2010 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press. Visit www.bpnews.net. BP News -- witness the difference! Covering the critical issues that shape your life, work and ministry. BP News is a ministry of Baptist Press, the daily news service of Southern Baptists.

Sent to me my preacher John Sweat

INSPIRATION OF GOD

2 Timothy 3:14-17

But you must continue in the things which you have learned
and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profit-
able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised
their voices, saying in the Lycanonian language, "The gods
have come down to us in the likeness of men!"

And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because
he was the chief speaker... But when the apostles
Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes...
and said, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also
are men with the same nature as you..."

Acts 14:11-15

This event was in response to the healing by Paul of a
man who had been crippled from birth.

There are so many things written about the Bible, one could
get lost in a sea of ideas and opinions. The best resource
on the Bible is the Bible itself; it clarifies and
complements itself. That makes it the best place to start
when embarking upon the journey to discover truth.

If we do more than casually read a few verses once in a
while, if we truly study to show ourselves approved by God,
then we will become a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly understanding the word of truth!
(2 Timothy 2:15)

God Bless You!

Annie

mailto:annie@gophercentral.com
Email Annie

WORKABLE HEART

What is the condition of your heart? Is there a revival taking place in there for Jesus? Are there emotions locked up that you have protected for years? Maybe, your heart is Joyful and Carefree! What is the condition of your heart? Think about it. Is it hard? Is it soft and pink? God can't work in a hard heart. He loves a a plump pink soft heart that He can put His hands into and touch and remold to become more of a heart of Christ. God showed me several years ago, as I started seeking Him deligently, that He was going to have to remove some hard walls I had placed around my heart. Mostly they were there to protect my heart from being broken again and again. See everytime I was hurt I allowed a wall to come up around my heart (picture a fort with its high walls with a gaurd on top of it-scanning for the enemy--See that was my heart's condition) Well, guess what, when the Walls were up, not only couldn't anyone get in, but LOVE couldn't get out, I was angry, sad, depressed, lonely and bitter! The condition of my heart --well --it was destined for Hell! I was destined for a life of sadness. Then Jesus open my eyes to His Love--Real Love---I began to Cry! As I cried, the walls came down. O--not all at once, Jesus still had a lot of work in me to do. (that is why I love Phil 1:6 He will complete the good work in Me which He has begun). Well reconstruction began--first God allowed me to revisit all my passed hurts up close and personal--I remember crying on my knees beside my bed and meditating on Christ in the Garden with Blood as tear drops.You know It is possible--I know my eyes were swollen with purplelish lumps fixing to burst. Then I read in Scripture where God sent an Angel to minister to Jesus, that night. I began to pray ernestly and specifically. God began revealing things in me that needed to GO! Through His Word, and His Holy Spirit, Mental Strongholds began to snap ( I literally heard them break) and with each lie being torn down, I began to feel liberated and Free! The Love of Christ filled my Heart, the walls came down, see God showed me that these walls, were called Attitudes! As these walls came down I began to think differently about things, things that were done to hurt me I no longer kept inside of me, I learned to literally to lay them down at the Feet of Jesus. For years I missed out on so much due to the hardness around my heart, because of the fear of being hurt, I didn't let anyone close to me, therefore I missed out on friendship, compassion, Love and FUN!!! I guess this is Why--it is such a burden fo me for Teenagers to know the Christ I know Now--don't waste half your life shut up inside a Hard Cold Fort of Pain! Always on the defense ready to strike at the first person who comes near, in fear of being hurt. (Realize others are hurting as you are and sometimes you are not on their agenda to attack, theya re simply hurting and in need of a Savior to touch them) Sadly, to day when a person lives like this, not only do They Miss JESUS, they are physicaly hurting their body. Heart Disease, stress and mental anxiety are all Results of the Negative Spiritual Conditions of the Heart. Ou Lord wants us to live in Peace, Love , Harmony, and realize that Trustingi n Him brings us that pefect peace. REalizing that He is our Refuge and High Tower, He is advenger and He is Advocate! Interceding for each one of us before the Father. I encourage you today Lay your heart before Jesus, allow Him to work in your heart. And if You have been down this road as I have, pray for God to protect Your heart, keeping you mindful of others and compassionate for there hurts, and put of the armor of God, the Breastplate of Righteousness will not only portect you, but remind you to stand in God's Righteousness, not to stoop as low as the devil's attacks. But to Stand Stong in the Power of His (God's) might and don't give up. God is working in You, to refine You, to Revive You, and To Use You to reach others with His Pure Love that can only come from Reconditioned heart from the Devine Heart Therapist Himself ---Our Lord God Almighty!

Father, touch the hearts of those who read this today, Father Reveal Your Everlasting Love to Them, Reveal to them Your Mercy that is new everyday. Oh, Lord Thankyou for the Supernatural work you have done in my heart and for what You continue to do until the day of Christ's Return. Father allow our hearts to overflow with Your compassion and Love, and most of all , Your Joy may it oveflow and touch the lives of others bringing them new Hope. Oh, Lod, protect our hearts from the evil one. And Father, know our hearts, forgive us and please continue working in us. To bring you Glory! In Jesus Name. Amen

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/

JESUS SAID GOOD MORNING

He did! He really did! Matthew 28.9 "Just then Jesus met them and said, "Good Morning." okay, you probably thinking "So, He said Good Morning!" Look at this again, think about it, we are talking about JESUS CHRIST, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Who is Worthy of All praise. When we read about a king, an earthly king, when they are approached by common people, they stay silent and wait upon them to shower them with praise or some type of worship. They Stand and Wait to be praise.. not Our King, This scripture proves to me, He is approachable, He spoke to the Women softly compassionately and kindly a sweet "Good Morning." I imagine Him with a smile, a soft tone, just "Good Morning." And indeed it was, I mean, our Savior was Raised from the Dead! There was reason to celebrate, it was A GOOD MORNING IN DEED! And Here Christ presenting to these women and to us, We can approach Him with a mixed up Heart, mixed with Joy and Despair and Confusion, and HE has Hope for us and our Hearts. Jesus Christ our King, Our Lord, Approachable! The Curtain was torn, what are you waiting for? Approach the Throne of Grace, with Holy Boldness and assurance that Our Jesus is waiting with a sweet tone, "Good Morning."

Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/

MY HIGH TOER

Straight from my heart~~~~~~~~~~~

We often forget that God knows all our needs, when I say all, I mean also all of everyones at the same time, He has our hair numbered on our heads, He knows our hearts, (all at the same time and yet He is able to focus on each one of us at the same time) Isn't that amazing?

When You find it hard to talk to God, or maybe you are anxious to talk to Him with a list of concerns and burdens , First Sit and be still, remembering that Jesus our Advocate is before the Father making intercession for us, and that The Holy Spirit is also interceding for us. So spend time with God, as Max Lucado once wrote, crawl up in the arms of Our Father and sit a while and soak up His presence and His Love. When, I feel like I am so wrapped up tight and can't seem to relax o pray what I want to pray, I just say; "Heavenly Father, Lord allow me to just sit for awhile in Your presence at Your feet, Father wrap me with Your Love, allow me to feel the warmth of Your presence around me. As I praise you Father." then I take a long deep breathe, and its like I can smell and feel His presence around me. Snuggle up with God, let Him show you His Love fo You. Take Rest in His presence.

When we stop to pray, be quiet first and listen to the Spirit; be thankful and talk to Our Father and TRUST!

Angel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICAN

Independence Day also known as 4th of July is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated on July 4th each year in the United States. It is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress - July 4, 1776. The day they announced to the world that the 13 colonies no longer belonged to Great Britain. Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.

On July 4, 1777, the night sky of Philadelphia lit up with the blaze of bonfires. Candles illuminated the windows of houses and public buildings. Church bells rang out load, and cannons were shot from ships breaking the silence. The city was celebrating the first anniversary of the founding of the United States.

The Fourth of July soon became the main patriotic holiday of the entire country. Veterans of the Revolutionary War made a tradition of gathering on the Fourth to remember their victory. In towns and cities, the American flag flew; shops displayed red, white, and blue decorations; and people marched in parades that were followed by public readings of the Declaration of Independence. In 1941, Congress declared July 4 a federal legal holiday.

The 13 Colonies were

Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts Bay
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Virginia

http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/beacon4god/july4.html

SUNDAY EDITORIAL

In this article I want to give you one of the first basic rules that you will need to abide by. This particular rule is not talked about very often, so I thought I would do this short article for our spiritual warfare section so you will know exactly what this rule is all about and to make sure that you never, ever violate it.

This first basic rule is that you should never try and taunt, bad-mouth, or speak down to the demons in any kind of reviling or condescending type way. Here is the verse from our Bible that will give us this first basic rule of spiritual warfare:
“Yet, Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9)

Then notice that St. Michael “dared not” to try and bring a reviling accusation against the devil. The words “dared not” are again two more extreme words that the Lord is using. These two extreme words from our Lord are telling us under no circumstances are we to try and talk to our enemies with any kind of abusive, humiliating or condescending type language.

The Bible seems to indicate that St. Michael the archangel is one of God’s highest, if not the highest of all of His archangels. And if St. Michael was not allowed to speak out any kind of abusive, reviling or demeaning words direct to the devil himself, then we as good soldiers of Jesus Christ should do the exact same thing if we are ever forced to directly engage with any demons in this life.

In other words, we are not allowed to bad mouth and speak down to the devil and his demons once we start to directly engage with them in any kind of spiritual warfare, whether it be to protect ourselves or to protect someone else.

Jesus Himself also abided by this rule when He was casting demons out of people. Jesus forcefully and with great authority told the demons what they had to do and where they had to go, but at no time did He ever talk down to them, ridicule them, or talk to them with any kind of demeaning or condescending type language.

Though Satan and his demons are already defeated foes and have now all descended down into the lowest levels of evil and depravity, they are still all created beings by the Lord Himself, and as such, we are to never talk down to them or try and maliciously demean them in any way, even though they will try and do that with all of us.

In the same way, God expects all of us to treat our opponents or enemies with courtesy, kindness and respect in any kind of game or conflict we may have with them. He does not want us trying to taunt, humiliate or demean them in any way.

http://www.bible-knowledge.com/warning-do-not-taunt-or-revile-demons/

SATURDAY EDITORIAL

Why America Is Going Downhill
by M. Sidney Wallace

America’s history is full of a myriad of events testing the spirit of her people. There have been wars, financial disasters, medical maladies and countless governmental blunders that have knocked the nation to its knees. Each time Americans bounced back when their leaders reminded them that they were the government and clearly defined what was necessary.

The common man knew that his God gave him certain rights. He also knew that his government’s primary tasking is to protect those rights. He trusted in his neighbors and worshiped his god as he personally saw fit. The successful citizens worked hard, saved their money, and bought property to make a better life for their family. If another tried to steal his property, the citizen felt confident that his government would stop the thief and punish the unlawful because that was a primary responsibility of his government.

The common man knew that his American freedom of choice was better than anything in old Europe, Africa, the Persian Empire, or the Orient. These ancient lands were thousands of years older and yet could not even feed their citizens. Their basic problem was the same 200 years ago as it is today – their governments.

America’s founding fathers were knowledgeable of world history. They understood that the common man simply wanted two things from their government.

1. The freedom to worship his own personal god, and

2. The freedom to choose how to live his personal life.
The government they created was a bare minimum government that would protect the citizens from foreign enemies that desired to return them to enslavement. They also, wrote basic internal laws establishing a moral code of conduct for the citizens. The founders fully realized there were still a multitude of problems in American society. They also knew that no government could correct these problems. American society would solve its problems on its own if the government simply insured equality of opportunity for all. Every person inherits the exact same risks of life at birth. How individual handles these risks should be a personal choice.

Over the history of the United States, a small group of leaders have inspired the citizens to accomplish unbelievable feats by getting out of their lives and letting them make the best choice for themselves. People willing to work, plan, and save benefited enormously. Persons desiring government to take care of them can expect a meager subsistence level of support at best.

Just after 1900, created by a desire for personal power American politicians started looking back to the Old World for leadership. These self-important politicians lost faith in the American common man. They started believing that they could build a utopia in America for everyone. They started accepting the teachings of Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels. These socialistic politicians like Wilson and Roosevelt, started telling the common man that they knew better and that he should allow them to choose what was best for the American society. In the short history of the United States every form of fascist and socialistic governments around the world has, or is, collapsing under their own incompetent governments. Personal freedom as American’s know it is nonexistent in Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Syria, China and too many more to name.

America has always bounced back from any adversity. The problems of today have a very simple solution. We do not need erudite scholars from Ivy League schools to tell us how to solve our problems. To solve America’s problems we need to remove all legislation that says the government is responsible for an individual’s wellbeing and put the responsibility for personal welfare back on the individual.
America was not built on government actions; however, government actions will surely cause its destruction.

HIS AMAZING LOVE OVERWHELMES MY HEART

(JUST SOME THOUGHTS --FROM MY HEART--I PRAY FOR YOU ALL TODAY AND I ASK THAT CHRIST REVEAL HIS PERFECT LOVE FOR YOU AND THAT EACH OF us SEE THE LOVE IT TOOK FOR HIM TO DIE ON A CROSS FOR US ALL.)

PEOPLE CAN'T CHANGE OTHER PEOPLE!!!!

ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE PEOPLE'S HEARTS THOUGH CONVICTION AND HIS TRUTH, THEN THE PERSON STILL HAS THE CHOICE TO MAKE.

TO CHOOSE GOD'S WAY OR NOT!!!

SOMETIMES WE TEND TO FORGET THAT CHRIST IS AN ADVOCATE FOR ALL PEOPLE, YOUNG AND OLD, WE ARE NOT THE ADVOCATE WHEN WE PRAY FOR PEOPLE, WE ARE SIMPLY AND SHOULD BE PRAYING WITH A SINCERE HEART OF LOVE FOR THAT PERSON. it is a petition of love to a loving GOD!

NOT WITH AN JUDGEMENTAL ATTITUDE;LIKE "God change this person to be more like you, so that I can get along with them!"
***DEFINITELY A SELF centered PRAYER HERE!

MANY TIMES IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, PEOPLE LOOSE THEIR WAY OR SOME OF THE WORLDLY BEHAVIORS CREEP UP AND PEOPLE WANT TO CHANGE THEM OR THROW THEM OUT!!! I SAY LOVE THEM!

~~~~ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE THEM!~~~~

WE CAN OFFER COMPASSIONATE LOVING SUPPORT AND CORRECTION, NOT JUDGEMENTAL CORRECTION, BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL FALLEN SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! WE ARE ALL SINNERS. THOSE IN THE FAMILY OF GOD, ARE SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE!!! THEREFORE WE SHOULD HAVE MORE COMPASSION FOR THOSE WHO FALL AND MAKE MISTAKES! AND SEE THEIR STRUGGLE,
*OFFER PRAYER SUPPORT TO THEM, LET THEM KNOW , THEY ARE LOVED , NOT SO MUCH THE BEHAVIOR WE ARE SEEING! BECAUSE GOD SAYS TO LOVE THE SINNER NOT THE SIN, AND ALLOW GOD'S LOVE, AND THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO EXPOSE THEIR SIN TO THEM AND WHEN THEY FEEL TRUE CONVICTION, (THEY KNOW THE TRUTH)

THEN GOD WILL MEET WITH THEM, CONVICT THEM, AND IF THEY REPENT, HE WILL FORGIVE THEM JUST AS HE HAS FORGIVEN US, AND HE WILL TRANSFORM THEM BY HIS GRACE AND LOVE!

(THE REASON SO MANY OF US GET DISAPOINTED WE SET OUR EXPECTATIONS SO HIGH FOR OTHERS, FORGETTING THAT THEY ARE HUMAN AS WE ARE HUMAN. AND THAT GOD IS WORKING IN EACH OF US ACCORDING TO OUR ABILITIES AND DISABILITIES IN HIS GRACE)

THAT IS WHY IT IS CALLED AMAZING GRACE!

REMEMBER THE SCRIPTURES OF THE PERSON WHO OWED A DEBT, AND HIS DEBT WAS FORGIVEN AFTER HE BEGGED, THEN HE TURNED AROUND AND WENT STRAIGHT TO A PERSON WHO OWED HIM, AND HAD HIM BEAT AND THREATENED HIM WITHOUT MERCY. HE DIDN'T LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT HIS MASTER'S GRACE AND MERCY, DID HE? MAKES ME WONDER, HOW MANY OF US GET THE FULL CONCEPT OF GOD'S MERCY, WHEN WE CAN'T FORGIVE OTHERS FOR THIER WRONGS.
(SEEMS LIKES WE HAVEN'T RECIEVED THAT FULL CONCEPT OR GRATITUDE FOR OUR FORGIVENESS)

YES IT HURTS, WHEN WE ARE LIED ABOUT, OR TALKED ABOUT, WE ARE HUMAN. (IT HURTS) BUT ----WE ARE NOW HUMANS WITH A SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH WITHIN--GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT!

--THEREFORE--WE CAN HURT AND BE HEALED BY HIS GRACE---AND STILL LOVE THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE CONCEPT OF GOD'S GRACE! (YES THEY ARE WRONG) THROUGH CHRIST WE HAVE THE POWER TO FORGIVE AS WE ARE FORGIVEN AND LIVE WITH THE HURT BUT NOT IN THE HURT. WE SHOULD LIVE IN THE JOY OF GOD'S GRACE AND MERCY FOR US!

REALIZING THAT GOD IS STILL WORKING ON THOSE WHO ARE HURTING OTHERS AND SHOW COMPASSION FOR THEM.

IF WE LOVE THE SINNER AND NOT THE SIN, THEY WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE. WE ARE BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS IN CHRIST JESUS WHO ARE FILLED WITH THE SAME POWER THAT RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD ---SO WE ARE STRENGTHEN IN HIS LOVE AND WE ARE ABLE TO LOVE OTHERS THOUGH THEIR SIN --JUST AS HE LOVED US!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(DO WE TOLERATE THE SIN WHERE WE BECOME A PART OF IT? NO WAY, LET US SHOW LOVE AND CONCERN AND THEN SEPERATE OURSELVES FROM THAT SIN AND LIVE ON WITH JESUS, BEING COMPASSIONATE TO THOSE WHO HURT OTHERS, LOVING AND KIND. BUT YET LIVE A CONSCECRATED LIVE FOR CHRIST!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JESUS SAID TO PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES! NOT JUST SO THAT THEY BE CHANGED--BUT SO THAT WE BE CHANGED TO STAND STRONG IN HIS GRACE AND LOVE WITHOUT FALLING INTO SIN OURSELVES!
(NOW THAT'S GOOD-! DEFINITELY FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SHOW SOME CHRIST LOVE TO SOMEONE TODAY!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REMEMBER --GOD'S MERCY IS MADE NEW EVERYDAY! LET'S ASK FOR FOGIVENESS FOR OUR SINS FROM YESTERDAY, LEARN FROM THEM, RECIEVE GOD 'S FORGIVENESS FOR TODAY , AND SET OUR MINDS TO MOVE ON IN CHRIST WITH JOY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WE SHOULD ALL BE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS TODAY!
(And each day}
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel
http://heartfireforjesus.blogspot.com/