God has now revealed to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ. Ephesians 1.9

  Even before He made the world,  God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what He wanted to do,  and it gave Him great pleasure.  He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.  He has showered His kindness on us,  along with all wisdom and understanding.  Ephesians 1.3-8
  In the Old Testament,  Christ was still a mystery.  One would believe God by faith and sacrifices were offered for sin.  Then Jesus came.  He is the sacrifice for our sins.  He is no longer a mystery.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and is totally accessible to us every moment of every day.  We don't even have to phone Him (LOL) , we just call on His name. Thats unconditional love. Thank you Jesus!

For you created my inmost being... Psalm 139:13

 You are no surprise to God. Your failures and mistakes don't halt Him from loving you. The Psalmist states: You made me;  You created me. Now give me the sense to follow Your commands. May all who fear You find in me a cause for joy for I have put my hope in Your Word. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. .They cannot be numbered! I cannot even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
Wow! You are important, really important, to God!

By His doing you are in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1.30

Lets start with scripture:
 "For my own sake and for the honor of my name I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out.  I refined you in the furnace of affliction,  but found no silver there.  You are worthless and there is nothing good in you at all. Yet for my own sake ~ yes, for my own sake ~ I will save you from my anger and not destroy you lest the heathen say their gods have conquered me.  I will not let them have my glory."
The work is finished. You can not add nor subtract from this. You can do nothing to earn your salvation. YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN YOUR SALVATION.
Max Lucado: Can you earn your salvation? No. Don't dishonor God by trying.
Dare we boast about this salvation?  By no means. The giver of bread, not the beggar, deserves praise. "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."
It's not about what we do; it's all about what He does.
Amen.

Philipians 3.2 "Watch out for those who do evil, who are like dogs, who demand to cut the body"

  Are legalist harmless? They look good, they act religious, they even promote morality, decency and good living. Is there really any harm to their teaching?
  Yes! Paul speaks out with passion and intolerance towards "knife-happy circumcisers!"
  He even goes further in Galations 5.12 : "I wish the people who are bothering you would castrate themselves."
  Why such intensity? Self-salvation makes light of our problem. Remember Romans 3.10? " There is no one who always does what is right, not even one." Nothing, absolutely nothing that you do, no moral muscle that you flex, no Sunday school attendance, no good deed is enough to save you.  And legalists have a problem with that. They make light of sin and mock God in doing so. As Max says, " Who would look at the cross of Christ and say, " Great work Jesus. Sorry you couln't finish it, but I'll take up the slack?"
  To anyone attempting to earn Heaven, Paul asks," How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?...what has happened to all of your joy?"
  Legalism is joyless. Legalism is endless. There is always the burden to carry of something else "I have to do". Never finished.
  Grace, however, dispenses peace. The Christian trusts a finished work. No more exertions of  law-giving, disciplines of legalism, questioning if we did enough. God pledges His promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves.
Grace offers rest. Legalism doesn't. Your salvation showcases God's mercy. It makes nothing of your effort but everything of His. Isaiah 43.25: I~ yes, I alone~ am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Salvation glorifies the Savior, not the saved.
On a personal note, I believe that this is a hard lesson. We've been so saturated with legalism in this country that even some of the verses in this mornings blog seem, well, extreme. I would like to continue this through the remainder of the week. Any comments would be welcome. Thanks!

We...put no confidence in the flesh...Phillipians 3.3

Legalism. Why do believers hate it when others are judgmental and critical towards them personally, but turn around and do the same thing sometimes?
I will have to admit that lots of this material came out of Max Lucado's book: Its Not About Me. Chapter 10. He nail legalism on the head. Here goes.
" Gods way of making us right with himself depends on faith-- counting on Christ alone."
We quickly side with Paul on the circumcision controversy. The whole discussion sounds odd to our Western ears. But is is so strange? We may not teach Jesus + circumcision but how about:
Jesus + evangelism: How many people have you lead to Christ this year? OR:
Jesus + contribution: Are you giving all you can to the church? Or:
Jesus + mysticism: You do offer penance and pray to the Virgin Mary , don't you? Or:
Jesus +  heritage: Were you raised in "the church"? Or:
Jesus + doctrine: When you were baptized, was the water running or still?  Deep or shallow? Hot or cold?
Legalim = Jesus +. Legalist don't dismiss Christ. They trust in Christ alot. But they don't trust Christ alone.
Think about that today.  Perhaps we need to allow God to do somemore surgery on our hearts again.
Continued tomorrow.

Guard what God has entrusted to you. 1 Timothy 6.20

I love this verse! Guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. 1 Timothy 6. 20-21
I'm not sure why Paul wrote that to Timothy but I can tell you what the Holy Spirit showed me while reading that verse. YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE! And you have to guard that. If you are a believer, a follower of Christ, this is who you are:
A child of God, born again, justified, crucified, risen, a partaker of His Divine Nature, forgiven, called, saved by grace through faith, blessed with all spiritual blessings, the light of the world, in Christ, complete in Him, a new creature. Redeemed, loved , sanctified, delivered from the powers of darkness, reconciled. An heir of God and joint heir with Christ. Gods gift to Christ. More than a conqueror, secure. The righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Free of condemnation.
You are what you are because of the grace of God. Paul knew this. He KNEW this. He stated that everything else in his life counted as rubbish compared to this! Know who you are. Guard it with everything in you; be ready when Satan comes your way to fill your mind with rubbish. He loves to attack you through your thought life and LOVES to use the people around you bring you down. Don't let him. You attack him back and repeat that paragraph up there. All of a sudden, you won't hear from Satan again for awhile.
This is my gift to you! Merry Christmas!

2 Timothy 1.6: I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you...

  Think of something that you are good at...an ability that you have to do something with ease and that you  enjoy.  In my opinion,  God gifted you in that area.  As a follower of Christ,  should we not use the gift(s) He gives us and use it to glorify Him?  This story comes to mind:
  "I am only a candymaker," he thought sadly. " No one will listen to me when I tell of the wondrous love of my Lord, and how and why God entered our world, born as a baby in Bethlehem."
   "How can I tell the children about the love of Jesus?"  he wondered.
    Then he smiled. " I will make them some candy. I will begin with pure white for the virgin birth of Jesus and his sinlessness. It will be hard and pure.  I will make it into the letter J  So that all may be reminded that it is by the name of Jesus that we are saved from our sins.  It will also look like a shepherds staff, so that we may know Jesus is our shepherd, our Saviour and Lord."
  " To remember the awful price of Jesus' love for me,  I shall include red to tell of the blood he shed to save me from my sins. Three small stripes to show his scourging, and a large red stripe for his blood shed on the cross by nails and spear."
  And so the candy cane was made: Crafted in love, and made to help us remember the costly love of Jesus.
                                                                    THE END.
  What gift or talent do  you have to share Jesus this Christmas?  I think of my daughters, all unique.  The first shares her career gifts with all those around her and helps needy children. The second has just found a gift she didn't know she has and is making scarves for homeless people. The third is ministering the Word to all of her unsaved friends in her everyday conversations.  Take what gifts you have and USE them. Even a smile can light someones heart that needs one.  

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him...Romans 3:21

No one is righteous - not even one
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
All have turned away; all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.
Snake venom drips from their lips, their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
They rush to committ murder
Destruction and misery always follow them.
They don't know where to find peace.
They have no fear of God at all.
Romans 3.
Who are these people! How very sad and miserable they are. The Word,(GOD) says that its all people, whether Jew or Gentile that are under the power of sin. Sandy translation: This is every single person without Jesus. Period.  Don't believe me?  Romans 3.21: But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him...vs.22: We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who belives, no matter who we are.
Don't believe you fall into any of those catagories up there? Better face reality!
Romans 3.23: For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of Gods standard. ( read on)  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
I know that the first few lines up there look extreme but think about it. Look around you! This is our world we live in every day.  Let me say to Christians reading this, quit judging, go after the poor, visit the prisoners, go to the coffee house and volunteer! They need a Saviour! Doesn't matter what we look like on the outside! Ask God to help you to see people through His eyes!
If you aren't a follower of Christ,  don't die without Jesus!  Ask Him into your heart today... this is the thing. You may think that I'm wrong, I KNOW that I'm not. Life and death are in the balance here, Heaven and hell. My son died at 19 years old. Babies die every day. God is the One that gave you that last breath you took. Invite Him in,  He has your days numbered...you may think you are smart , but you DON"T know that day.
I hope I find you here ( this sounds much better ) : Because of my faith in Christ, He has brought me into this place of undeserved privilege where I know stand, and I confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing Gods Glory! Romans 5.1
Thank you Jesus!

I love your sanctuary Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells. Psalm 27:8

As I have been meditating on yesterdays blog,  I thought of King David in the Old Testament.  He amazes me. He learned alot while he was a sheperd boy out it the pastures.  If you want to read some great O.T. history, read about David. Throughout the Psalms he's afraid, joy filled, depressed, elated, but if you notice, his faith in God always shines through. He always goes to God with his problems.
I was reading through Psalms this morning and began noticing all the times that David starts his prayer with the words, "You and Your", indicating God. Here's a few to get you started:
Psalm 19:39 You have armed me with strenght for battle; You have subdued by enemies under my feet. ( remember the story of David and Goliath?)
Psalm 19:40 You placed my foot on their necks.
Psalm 19: 43 You gave me victory over my accusers. You appointed me ruler over nations.
Psalm 19:48  You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies.
It seems that the man after Gods heart knew where to go in times of trouble. It seems that outside in the pastures he had some interaction with his God:
The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders above the mighty sea. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightening. The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.
How BIG our God is, and how small we are. David understood this because he spent time in Gods presence. God showed Himself to David in mighty ways, obviously. And God can show Himself mighty to you and me. Even though David was a sinner like us,  he didn't give up on God.
I'll close with this. Psalm 28.7 : My heart has heard You say, "come and talk with me." And my heart responds, " Lord, I'm coming." 

You received God's Spirit when He adopted you as his own child. Romans 8: 15

This is what the Lord says,  "For I know the plans I have for you.  They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you," says the Lord.  Jeremiah 29:11
God does have a plan for you.  We make our own plans and expect God to fit into them.  How dare we tell Him what we are going to do!  Does the clay on the potters wheel tell the potter whether it wants to be a cup or a vase?  We sure are brave!  To try to plan our lives instead of asking God to lead us, guide us, and direct us... perhaps why we are so discontent?  Then we get mad and blame God because we aren't happy. 
Oh me.  I think I will stop here.  I think we all need to really think about what we are thinking about. 
Stay tuned for part two, tomorrow. 
Lets pray about this today.

But you aren't controlled by your sinful nature ~ you are controlled by the Spirit if He lives in you...Romans 8:9

Are you being controlled by the Holy Spirit?  Or are you letting the world dictate what your life should look like, feel like, taste like?  The world will tell you that if your sin isn't hurting anyone else, its OK.  If you do it in secret and no one else finds out about it , it's OK. You get the picture.  But GOD sees. And the GOD we love is grieved.  Grieved because His Son died for that and grieved because we are hurting ourselves, His creation. 
Romans 5 goes into detail about our faith; teaching us that we are utterly helpless without God ~ that God is our friend ~ how God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love.
Take a few minutes to read that.  You will be impressed and inspired . Give up on trying to run your own life and ask GOD to help you.  Its not about you after all, you will die. Its all about Him and your journey with Him.
Romans 8:26, And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

So there is no guilt or condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1

The Old Testament: The law of Moses ( the Ten Commandments ) were unable to  save us because of the weakness of our sinful natured.  So God did what the law could not do.  He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies that we sinners have.  And in that body God declared and end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Romans 8:1-4
Not only did God send Jesus to die for you, but he also wants you to have a wonderful life. Free of condemnation and guilt. If we confess our sins, he forgives our sins. Do you know how big that is?  I taught my children that in my opinion there are 2 kinds of people. Both sin.  But the difference is those people that sin and just keep on sinning and those that sin and turn  and learn.  Meaning, they recognize the sin, confess and turn away from it , but they also learn from it. They find the root of that thing, what the attraction is and quit feeding it.  Anything that you don't feed, dies. 
Romans 8:38, And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.  Neither death nor life,  neither angels or demons,  neither our fears today nor our worries tomorrow -- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below-- Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wow! Unconditional love. How Amazing!

For God so loved the world that He gave Jesus to die for you. John 3:16

   Thats big!  The Son of God died for me.  God in human form.  He's done all He could do to reach down to humanity and show His love for His created ones.  Dying a brutal death for rascals like us! That is love.  That is unconditional love.  I think its hard for us to grasp the  concept of unconditional love.  Love with no conditions.  No strings attached.  No sin too large to keep us from going through the Golden Gates.  Legalists beg to differ but who wants to listen to them anyway?  They are so trapped in the do's and do not's of life that they are miserable and make everyone in their paths miserable too! Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is the greatest! That is because GOD is the greatest and love is God and God is love! Love will last forever! Three things will last forever -faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.  Hey, God said it, not me.
  Lets ponder that this weekend.  Look at yourself in the mirror and repeat the phrase : " God loves you" over and over again. We really need to get it. I'm not sure most Christians truly believe that because Satan tries to steal that away from us. Remember, Satan wants to ruin your life as a believer OR if you are not a believer he wants you in Hell.  That simple.  And if you felt kinda weird in your gut when you read that just now, and you aren't a believer,  that is GOD.  He's such a gentleman.  He's not going to clobber you over the head to get you believe.  He's told you over and over how much he loves you, died for you, what more can He do but prompt you to look up.  Look up, confess that you are a sinner and need forgiveness of all that stuff.  That you are believing Him and His Word by the little bit of faith that you have at this moment.  Please don't believe the lie that you have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus.  Get real!  You've tried that how many times before and here you sit! That's GOD that just prompted YOU.  He's the "cleaner-upper" , not you! 
  Now, after you've prayed,  go online or Christian bookstore or Walmart and purchase a Bible that you can understand.  New Living Translation is great but ask God to help direct you to just the right one.  Hey! Your first step of faith as a Christian! Open your new Bible everyday and read something.  A good place to start is in the New Testament , the book of John.  Proverbs and Psalms are wonderful too!
  Jeremiah 1:19 , For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord have spoken!


 

Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Ephesians 4:23

God is so good! Not only are His mercies new every morning but by the power of the Holy Spirit He helps us with our daily lives. In the previous blog we talked about waking up in the morning and Satan being right there to bid on our thoughts. I don't know about you, but I'm not a morning person. I've tried to be but its just not working. So I was making it real easy for that monster to fill my mind early and set the tone for my day with negativity. After say, 40 years of that, I got tired of it myself. But how does a person wake up like the morning person they are not and chirp like a little birdie? Do you want the anwer today or tomorrow? Ok.OK! Here it is in a nutshell. Gratitude. Gratitude plus prayer. Just that simple. And I must say, it is that simple. Pray first. Ask forgiveness for being such a grouch in the morning. Admit it to yourself and God. And ask Him to help you. Then tomorrow morning when God touches your shoulder and begins to waken you, start listing things you are grateful for. Need some help there? Ok. How about the nice comfy bed and blankets that you are sleeping on? Can you open your eyes and see? Can you hear the coffee dripping into the coffee pot? Can you walk to it and pour some? Smells good? Are you warm? Is there a roof over your head and a vehicle that takes you to work parked outside? You have a job? Do you have Gods Word ? Must I go on? Try this every morning , be consistent. Allow God to renew your thoughts. You will be glad you did and so will eveyone else!

The Lord knows your thoughts Psalm 94:11

Whoa! Or as my kids would say, "uh oh!" My thoughts? Why is He considering those? Uh Oh! Looks like we have to start thinking about what we are thinking about! I don't know if you've ever seen a Joyce Meyer conference ~ but here in S.C. she's on in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. Each minute with her is like a golden nugget of information. She had an entire series on "thinking about what you are thinking about" that lets say, BLEW ME AWAY! Satan used to fill my mind with negative thoughts before my feet even hit the floor in the morning. Now, he doesn't! Why? I asked GOD to fill my thoughts in the morning. I asked and I received! Satan used to flood my brain while driving. Not anymore. Why? I found a Christian radio station that I love. So now I look like a fanatic riding up and down the road praising Jesus! How fun! What I'm trying to convey to you is "garbage in, garbage out." If you fill your mind with garbage, your thoughts will be garbage thoughts. To get rid of those thoughts, ask God to help you and renew your mind with reading the Word. Don't tell me you don't have time or that you don't understand it. Excuses, excuses. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Ask God to help you, He will.
And now, one final thought. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right , and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about the things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

LAMENTATIONS 3:22, 23: The faithful love of the Lord never ends, His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness,His mercies begin afresh each morning.

Do you remember when you were a child and did something you knew was wrong? It was your secret, but deep down inside you felt like a little criminal? Later on came, as it always does, and you got busted! Had to look the parentals or grandparents or teacher, ( whoever) in the eye and confess? Ouch! But remember how much better you felt , how much lighter you felt , to get that thing off you? And better yet, that person somehow forgave you? I do. I felt like a bird freed from its cage.
God. He loves us with and unconditional love. The Creator created YOU, he knows that you are going to sin, He expects it! Thats why Jesus died that brutal death on the cross. For those "little"criminal sins when you were a child and those you are doing at present.
Again. Be honest with yourself! I hope that last night you examined your heart and that there was alot of forgiveness going on between God and yourself. It is morning now, His mercies are new. I still feel like a bird freed from my cage. Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

What do you really believe?

I am 54 years old and know one thing for sure...we live in an "upside-down" world.  We are blessed enough to own Bibles in this country and I'll be there is one in almost every home in the USA. I counted and there are 5 in mine! I love the amplified Bible, its the easiest to understand. But why aren't we reading it? Its the inspired Word of God. The God that loves us uncondionally and with an everlasting love. This book has out sold all others and sits around on tables in our homes collecting dust or sits on the backseat of the car. The leather-bound book curls up from the heat, the pages get tattered and we think we look really spiritual with that worn out Bible when we take it to church! LOL! Come on  now, get honest!
I want to live "right-side up" in this world. The only way I can do that is to get honest with God. Admit to Him that I struggle with understanding how much He loves me. To admit to Him that I want to love Him lots more than I do today.
How honest are you with God? Do you think that He really loves YOU? Do you love Him? Do you love Him enough to walk in the Matthew 7:12 kind of love? How many times have you heard or quoted that verse in your lifetime? We all know it by heart but do we live it?
Lets examine our hearts tonite. Lets allow God to do some surgery on us so we can be salt and light in a dark world where people are searching for us. Yep. Lets get honest with ourselves. God knows what you really believe and He is the One that will do the good work in You. Just ask Him.