TODAY'S PROMISE

 

SO YOU ARE SMART

I just gave up on reading another book by

a smart professor.  It was going to tell me

how to brake the code to the book of 

Revelation.  Now the book of Revelation,

the last book in the Bible, is about my

favorite book.   I have been studying it

for years.

BUT,  like so many more smarties that

I have read over the years they spiritualize

everything to the point where it becomes

completely meaningless.  You become far

more confused than you were before.

You were further ahead to have just read

the Bible the way it was written and take

it for what it says.

After laying the book aside I picked up

my Bible to continue reading where I had

left off.  After reading a few chapters I 

came across this;

"At that time Jesus prayed this

prayer: 'O Father, Lord of heaven

and earth, thank you for hiding

these thing from those who think

themselves wise and clever, and for

revealing them to the childlike."

(Matthew 11:25 NLT)

I think the girl below is named "Ebba".

If I understand Jesus correctly I would

be better off to ask her rather than the

smart professor up on the top.

TODAY'S QUOTE

“God is the God of the humble, the

miserable, the oppressed, and the

desperate and of those that are brought

even to nothing; and His nature is to give

sight to the blind, to comfort the broken -

hearted, to justify the sinner, to save the

very desperate and damned.”

- Martin Luther -

 

MY HIDING PLACE

 

I have lived through a large portion of the

last century, including world war 2, and a

good start into this one.  But I have never

seen life so chaotic as its is today.

Even during the world war we as a nation

were unified.  We were fighting a common

enemy.  But there was at least one difference.

We had not attempted to eliminate God out 

of everything.

The Scriptures teach us that these times were

coming.  And it is going to be getting much

worse.  What to do?

I personally have one comfort or place of

refuge.  A hiding place.  GOD.

"The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, O LORD, do not abandon those

who search for you."

(Psalms 9:9,10 NLT)

God always has been, still is, and always

will be.  I am holding on to God for dear

life.  The world is falling apart all around

me, but I am going through it with God

himself.

"I trust in the LORD for protection.

So why do you say to me,

'Fly like a bird to the mountains

for safety!"

(Psalms 11:1 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

“The LORD is good,

a strong refuge when 

trouble comes.

He is close to those 

who trust in him.”

(Nahum 1:7 NLT)

DEATH OF WICKED PEOPLE

 

We  often take delight in the death of an evil person,

tyrant, dictator, killer etc.  We think they deserve it.

The world is better of without them, and it is.

But God doesn't.

"As surely as I live, says the Sovereign

LORD, I take no pleasure in the death

of wicked people.  I only want them to turn

from their wicked ways so they can live.

Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O

people of Israel!.  Why should you die."

(Ezekiel 33:11 NLT)

It is difficult for me to understand the love

that God has even for the wicked people.

But He died for all of us.  He wants even 

them to simply turn from their wicked ways

to him so He can forgive them.

There is a false doctrine called limited Atonement.

It would teach us that Christ only died for the 

people who are being saved.  But what do the 

Scriptures say about it?

"For this is how God loved the world:

He gave his one and only Son, so that

every who believes in him will not 

parish but have eternal life."

(John 3:16 NLT)

"He died for everyone ..."

(2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT)

"He gave his life to purchase freedom

for everyone."

(1 Timothy 2:6 NLT)

"Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted

death for everyone."

(Hebrews 2:9 NLT)

"The Lord isn't really being slow about his

promise, as some people think.  No, he is 

being patient for your sake.  He does not 

want anyone to be destroyed, but wants

everyone to repent."

(2 Peter 3:9 NLT)

"He himself is the sacrifice that atones

for our sins - and not only our sins but

the sins of all the world."

(1 John 2:2 NLT)

God's every effort is to get EVERY ONE 

to turn from their evil ways to Him.  So,

is it any wonder that if they continue to 

ignore God and His love for them He has

to send them to the Devil's hell when they

die?

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

HOW TO BE REVIVED

 

Those of you who follow the social media

like Facebook etc. know that the trend is to 

try encouraging each other.  You know,

"Try harder", "Hang on a little longer",

"You can do it" and so on.

Face it.  We are frail human beings.  We have

our limitations.  We can only do so much.  God

made us that way so we would have to turn to

him.

God told us how to get revived.

"The high and lofty one who lives

in eternity,

the Holy One, says this:

I live in the high and holy place

with those whose spirits are

contrite and humble.

I restore the crushed spirit of the

humble and revive the courage

of those with repentant hearts."

(Isaiah 57:15 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

"The LORD is good to those who depend

 on him, to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly 

for salvation from the LORD."

(Lamentations 3:25,26 NLT)

BIG WORDS

BIG WORDS

No,

I am not talking about you.  I do not know you.

I do not even know where you live.

But I watch what goes on around me.  And

it just happens that I know a person who just

a short time back received a diploma from some

school or other.  Now this diploma is in the area

I have been involved in for about sixty years.

No, I am not an expert in this area, but certainly

not ignorant about it.

After this person received their diploma a 

complete change came over their vocabulary. 

The multitude of big words and new concepts

that are now the norm for this person even

leave me looking them up.

Perhaps the thing that particularly disturbs me

is that the very people this person is trying to 

reach out to have no concept of what all this

jargon means.

O.K. lets admit it.  

I see pride as the destructive element in this.

My guess is that the pride here will actually 

drive people away from the message.  Yes,

there are people who like the verbiage, but they

are not the people this person is trying to reach.

My daughter suggested this Scripture 

regarding knowledge:

"Now concerning things offered to idols:

We know that we all have knowledge.

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."

(1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV)

Here is just a couple of quotes that I ran across

this after noon while relaxing.

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Most of us were working class people - …

- not intellectuals with a vast fund of  human

learning that had to be unlearned before we

Could become co-workers with God.”

- A.C. Valdez -

 

 

SHAMED BY A CAT

Many, many years ago my wife came home 

with a cat one time.  She was an animal lover.

She has lived out her life and is gone.  But,

that poor old cat is still here.

The cat above is not it.  The poor old, old, old

cat that is here is so old and straggly I would

be ashamed to show it's picture.  It would look

like the cat that belonged to Adam and Eve.

But the point is this.  That poor old thing

wants to be with me.  I have to watch every

time I go through a door that I do not trip

over it.  I have to be careful how I sit or

it will jump up in my lap.  If I move it thinks

it has to mover with me.

If I wanted to be with God the way that cat

wants to be with me, God would probably

send a fiery chariot to get me like he did for

Elijah.

If I wanted to be with God the way that cat

wants to be with me I would be a man after

God's own heart like David was.  Perhaps 

then God could use me as he did David.

David said it best;

"As a deer longs for streams of water,

so I long for you, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I go and stand

before him?"

(Psalms 42:1,2 NLT)

GOD, GIVE ME A HEART FOR YOU.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Always be joyful.  Never stop

praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you who belong

to Christ Jesus."

(1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 NLT)

 

WHY GOD?

 

We all have known of good outstanding Godly

people who have died prematurely.  Then we 

wonder why it was them instead of some good

for nothing person.

My own son was living in another state when

he was killed in an auto accident.  He was just

into the prime of life.  Why God?

It was not until I went up to his funeral that I 

had any concept of his influence on his community.

People constantly where showing me what he had

been doing round the Church.  The Sunday school

class he taught.  The help he had been to them in 

their homes etc. etc.  In fact, his neighbors wanted

to change the name of their street in honor of him.

[It did not work out that way.]

Why Lord?

Then the Lord showed me why.

"Good people pass away;

the godly often die

before their time.

But no one seems to care or

wonder why.

No one seems to understand

that God is protecting them

from the evil to come.

For those who follow godly paths

will rest in peace when they die.

(Isaiah 57:1,2 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Piety and prosperity seldom go

hand in hand, and in many a case

the prosperity that piety and power

have brought has been the ruin of

the man to whom it has come.”

- R.A Torrey -

THE PIT

THE PIT

Two people fell in a pit and cannot get out.

One is a child, the other a theologian.

Throw a rope in to help.  The child will

grab ahold and let you pull him out.  But 

The theologian will ask:  What is the rope 

made out of?  Is it woven or wound design?  

Is it OSHA approved?  What is it’s tensile 

strength?  Who are you? Do you have strength 

enough to pull me up?  Are you certified?

Throw the whole rope in to him and let

him examine it while you go your way.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"The LORD is good,

a strong refuge when trouble comes.

He is close to those who trust in him."

(Nahum 1:7 NLT)

 

TRUE FOOD

"But those who won't care for 

their relatives, especially those in

their own household, have denied

the true faith.  Such people are

worse than unbelievers."

(1 Timothy 5:8 NLT)

This was just to show the preparations my

daughter made to be sure her old Daddy

had something to eat while she was gone

a few days.

But even more importantly she was the

one who reminded me:

"People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from

the mouth of God."

(Matthew 4:4 NLT)

If we were as concerned about our spiritual

lives and feeding on the Word of God as

we are about our physical well being, we

would be Spiritual Giants.

Our physical lives are only going to last

a few days.  So, we feed them well.  But,

our spirits are going to exist forever some

where.  Why do we ignore them?

If we would truly seek the Kingdom of

God and his righteousness first, then we

could:

"Give all your worries and 

cares to God, for he cares

about you."

(1 Peter 5:7 NLT)