Psalm 13 - God is emotionally invested in our lives

Psalm 13How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?How long will You hide Your face from me?  How long shall I take counsel in my soul,Having sorrow in my heart daily?How long will my enemy be exalted over me?  Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;Enlighten my eyes,Lest I sleep the sleep of death;  Lest my enemy say,“I have prevailed against him”;Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.  But I have trusted in Your mercy;My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord,Because He has dealt bountifully with me

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our church is studying through the Psalms this summer, this past Sunday our Pastor took us through Psalm 13, a Psalm of Lament. I took notes as I listened and I would like to post them here today. Perhaps you will be encouraged as you consider my notes.

"How long Oh Lord?" we have felt this and asked the Lord this question ourselves.

Psalm 13 is a lament before God, spoken from the depth of pain.

We have felt stuck in the brokenness of this world.

The Psalms are personal prayers - we can use these to come to God with our own difficulties.

Also as a community - we can use the Psalms as prayers of intercession - speaking and praying on behalf of another person.

Be honest before God - tell Him what is going on in your situation, we must not be fake. We must come before the Lord with truth, telling Him exactly what our situation is and how it is affecting us.

Pray to God with your emotions - with no holding back!

Laments teach us to pray from the depth of our hearts.

In Psalm 13, David accuses the Lord of having forgotten him "How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?"

God will never forget us - Has has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  It is His #1 promise.

David demands for God to do something, to show up and to move in his life.

God hears our prayers, we need to be convicted and expect Him to act and to answer our prayers.

God remembers His promises to us.

God does respond to our prayers.

When we are completely open with God, we will sometimes ask Him for things that we should not ask for. Do not worry about this - The Lord can handle this.  Bring it all to God. 

Become real before Him.

He will change us when we are honest with God.

He will teach you to bless and to love that person who is causing you grief.

God can handle us!

We can express our fears, our anxieties, our heartaches to Him - He is touched by our grief.

Be real with God.

Praise is the foundation of our prayers.

David is convinced that God is good! And we also need to be convinced that God is good!

What breaks your heart breaks God's heart as well!

God is emotionally invested in our lives - He cares for us.

God loves us!

Trust in His unfailing love.

His love will hold you!

In the LORD I put my trust....

May 5, 2014

Isaiah 25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

photo from thisoldhoue.com

Psalm 61:3-4 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

photo from fotothing.com

Isaiah 25 8-9 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

picture from nallifollowthelight.wordpress.com

Click link to listen to George Jones - Jesus Hold My Hand

"Jesus, Hold My Hand" 

( http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/georgejones/jesusholdmyhand.html )

As I travel through this pilgrim land
There is a friend who walks with me
Leads me safely through the sinking sand
It is the Christ at Calvary.

This would be my prayer dear Lord each day
To help me do the best I can
For I need Thy light to guide me day and night
Blessed Jesus hold my hand.

[Chorus:]
Jesus hold my hand
I need thee every hour
Through this pilgrim land
Protect me by thy power.

Hear my feeble plea
O Lord look down on me
When I kneel in prayer I hope to meet you there
Blessed Jesus hold my hand.

[Instrumental]

Let me travel in the light divine
That I may see the blessed way
Keep me that I may be wholly Thine
And sing redemption's song some day

I will be a soldier brave and true
And ever firmly take a stand
As I onward go and daily meet the foe
Blessed Jesus hold my hand.

[Chorus:]
Jesus hold my hand
I need thee every hour
Through this pilgrim land
Protect me by thy power.

Hear my feeble plea.
And O Lord look down on me
When I kneel in prayer I hope to meet you there
Blessed Jesus hold my hand.

When I kneel in prayer I hope to meet you there
Blessed Jesus hold my hand...

Are you in a time of trial and suffering??

1Peter 5:10 - But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Psalm 93:3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their wave

No storm is so great, no wave is so high, no sea is so deep, no wind is so strong, that Jesus cannot either calm it or carry us through it. ( Anne Graham Lotz )


As every one of us can testify we all go through times

of trials and suffering. For Christians this is equally as

true as it is for the non believer. Many times we ask 

the question why or why me. These are hard 

questions to answer but what we do know is that God

 allows trials into our lives and through these trials He 

helps us to become stronger. Just like in nature wind

helps the plants and trees to become stronger so 

it is also in our lives. The trials force us to either 

become strong in the Lord or we will break under the 

pressure of it. I have sometimes planted tomato 

seeds in early spring and set them on the windowsill

 in my house. The plants come up and grow up 

spindley and weak. These plants have no strength or 

endurance in the sun and wind once I transplant  

them to my garden. While if I plant the seeds right 

into the soil in the garden, the plants grow strong and

 healthy. 

Another reason for our trials is that through our 

sufferings we grow in character to become more like

 the Lord Jesus. The fruits of the Spirit are developed 

in our lives through trials and suffering.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The Lord Jesus endured greater suffering than any of us will ever be called upon to bear. Therefore we must always remember to bring our burdens to the Lord.
So what can we do in the midst of our suffering?

1) we must not give in to sin - 1 Peter 4: 15-16  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

2) we must not take revenge - Romans 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

3) we must give it all to the Lord - 1 Peter 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Christians should be preparing for suffering. If you are not currently going through a period of suffering, it will come some day. Suffering will be a part of our life as a Christian until Christ returns. Those who remain faithful to the Lord during their suffering will see that sinful behaviors have no appeal any longer. Living for the Lord Jesus and to be ready to meet Him at all times takes on a new reality.
1 Peter 4: 1-2 

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

I feel that the song "Take up Thy Cross and Follow Me"  is very fitting as we go through our own personal struggles.

Take up Thy Cross and Follow Me
(by Alfred H Ackley - 1922 )

1. I walked one day along a country road,
   And there a stranger journeyed, too,
   Bent low beneath the burden of His load:
   It was a cross, a cross I knew.
   • Refrain:
     “Take up thy cross and follow Me,”
     I hear the blessed Savior call;
     How can I make a lesser sacrifice,
     When Jesus gave His all?
2. I cried, “Lord Jesus,” and He spoke my name;
   I saw His hands all bruised and torn;
   I stooped to kiss away the marks of shame,
   The shame for me that He had borne.
3. “Oh, let me bear Thy cross, dear Lord,” I cried,
   And, lo, a cross for me appeared,
   The one, forgotten, I had cast aside,
   The one, so long, that I had feared.
4. My cross I’ll carry till the crown appears—
   The way I journey soon will end—
   Where God Himself shall wipe away all tears,
   And friend hold fellowship with friend.

from: http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Take_Up_Thy_Cross_and_Follow_Me/

Depending on God ( from Psalm 91 )

Do you want to live in a place of safety and security? If the answer is yes, then Psalm 91 has a message for you. I wrote this Bible Study for my Live By Faith Bible Studies blog -link to blog here Live By Faith Bible Studies 

 This is a beautiful and rich Psalm filled with assurances of God's protection and provision. God's provisions are available to each one of us who diligently seek Him. Please join me in the study of Psalm 91 as we go through the entire Psalm verse by verse.

Verse 1 - 

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Here we learn that it is possible for us to actually enter the secret place of God Almighty Himself - not only can we enter but we are to "dwell" here in the shadow of Almighty God. The word dwell means to live or to abide, it is our home. How infinitely humbling to hear these words - You and I can live with God our Heavenly Father safely in His shadow. His shadow is a place of protection, safety and comfort. It is home - our eternal home in heaven but it is also ours here and now while we live here on earth.

Verse 2 - 

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

We must put our hope and trust in the Lord - not in ourselves or in money, our jobs or possessions, friends, family or even in doctors. The Lord alone is our refuge and strength. We must put our full trust and confidence in Him. Lay down our burdens at His feet and allow Him to work through our situations.

Verse 3 -
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Who will help me? The answer is the Lord God Almighty - He will help me, He will deliver me from the traps of the devil and from the troubles that surround me. A simple explanation for the snare of the fowler and noisome pestilences are our ordinary troubles and diseases that come to us. We trust in God to help us. He sees us in our situation and He is available to come to our aid at all times. We need to come to Him humbly in repentance and faith and not doubt Him even if things do not play out the way we would like them to.

Verse 4 -
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
This verse reminds me of how a mother hen will cover her baby chicks with her wings and feathers. A mother hen will shield her little ones while they sleep and rest and also from any form of danger. Just as a mother hen watches out for her chicks and calls them to the safety of the shelter of her wings so also and even more our Heavenly Father will shield us. We are safe under His wings. He calls us out of danger and as we come to Him, He will "cover" us. Our Heavenly Father cares for us with such incredible love and mercy. God is 100% truth, He only tells the truth, and the Word of God which we find in the Bible is 100% truth.

Verse 5 - 
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
We are not to be afraid of any evil in the night nor in the daytime. God is watching over us because we are His children.

Verse 6 -  
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

We are not to be afraid of the troubles that come to our lives. This could be sickness, loss of a job or relationship, death of a loved one, barrenness, crop failure, or weather related destruction. God is there with us and He will go with us through our hardships. He never leaves us - He is always there. We need to seek Him in our good times and in our hardships.

Verse 7 & 8 -
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
These two verses are hard to comprehend. We know that these verses cannot mean that we will never experience hardships because every one of us does. Christians do experience crises and bad things do happen. So we have to take an eternal perspective on this. Many people will say that the worst thing that can happen is death. Well for those of us who know Christ as our Savior, we know that death is actually only a door - a door that leads us out of this temporary state to our eternal destination. We leave this earth and we enter eternity through the door of death. If we are still alive here when Jesus comes back to earth, then of course we will not need to die. We will be changed and receive our eternal bodies so who knows - depending on when Jesus returns some of us will not need to die. When the non-Christian dies, their eternal destination is separation from our Heavenly Father. This is a place called hell. None of us needs to end up in hell because through faith in Jesus we can be saved to eternal heaven. Jesus died in my place and in your place on the cross. He took our sin upon himself and paid for it all there on the cross. He died and rose again and ascended up to Heaven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Verse 9 -
  Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Our dwelling place is with the Lord. He is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. We look forward to our eternal home with the Lord Jesus in Heaven.

Verse 10-
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
We are secure in the Lord. No evil or harm will ever come to us without the Lord knowing about it and having His hand on the controls. What ever He allows into our lives He is also able and willing to help us with. He will never leave us alone in our situations. He loves us dearly. We are His children if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.

Verse 11 & 12 -  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

These two verses are so very precious. God our Heavenly Father has assigned some angels to take care of us. The angel carries me in his hand. I have a guardian angel whose duty it is to protect me and to keep me as I go about my day. Wow! that is really good news!

Verse 13 - 
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Here the lion, the adder, the dragon represent evil that we encounter in our lives. We encounter evil almost daily as we go about our daily lives. Godless people all around us are doing godless things and though we do not want any part of what they are doing, we live in the same world and therefore see and hear things that are very upsetting to the Christian heart. But we are encouraged here in this verse to "trample it under our feet". We must be careful to put evil away from us. Abstain from every form of evil. With the Lord as our Protector, He guards our hearts that the evil all around us does not cause us to stumble and fall into sin.

Verse 14 -
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
The Lord sees and knows those who are His own and those who truly love Him. The Lord says that those who are His own, He will set on high. What does it mean to know His Name? - It means to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we live in His Presence while we are here on earth.

Verse 15 -
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
We are to call on the Lord. Pray, pray and pray some more. The Lord promises to answer us when we call on Him. He promises to be with us in our troubles and to deliver us. Those are sweet words to ponder for me today! He also promises to honour us as we call on Him. I believe this means that He will stay true to His Word and His promises and will not let us down. We can put our full trust in the Lord. He will make things right and those of us who do put our trust in Him will be rewarded in eternity.

Verse 16 -
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
As we live in obedience to the Lord, He will bless us. In Him is life abundant. We live with hope in our hearts. We rest assured that this life is not all there is - we are on a journey to that heavenly kingdom where there is perfect peace and happiness for all eternity.

God Bless.

Sickness and Suffering - Why?

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Sunday, March 17, 2013
This is a sermon review from my home church that I attend regularly. This year for our Lent season we are doing a series on grief and suffering. We are learning how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in difficult situations. The topic this Sunday was   Sickness - what to say to a friend who is suffering.
Our speaker was Mike. He is a Chaplain at one of the larger hospitals in my area.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 
 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Here is some of what Chaplain Mike said:
What do you say when someone has just received bad news from the doctor? How do you speak to a person who is suffering?

We all experience pain. In some ways pain is a good thing. If you bump your toe you experience pain. If you get near a hot stove, the thought of pain from a burn will keep you from touching the hot stove. 

Suffering involves pain, also emotional pain - pain of a life cut short.
There are heartaches that no level of medication can cover. 

The longer the period of suffering lasts, the heavier it becomes, the harder it is to hold up under it.

Comfort
- comfort comes from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3  describes our Heavenly Father as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles. It is a promise. God wants to comfort you and He will comfort you.

What is comfort?
To comfort someone is to encourage them with compassion. It is urgent and life changing.
The comfort we have experienced in our own trials is meant to be used to comfort others in their situations.

Many times, when we are in a time of suffering we just want it to be over. But we need to give it time to allow God to work in us.

Three Reasons why God allows Suffering
1) It gives us the capacity to enter into other people's suffering.
* your suffering is not just for you
* don't waste what you are going through
* use it as a ministry tool when possible

2) We can learn to rely on God
* 2 Corinthians 1: 8-9 ... that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
* the suffering is so bad we want out but we need to rely on God
* suffering makes the lesson stick
* suffering makes us realize how much we need God ALWAYS

3) It helps us to learn to give thanks in everything
* we learn to know the Hand that feeds us and takes care of us
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Way to Comfort people
Key - to say very little
1) be present - just be there even if it is uncomfortable or awkward
* don't be afraid when nothing is being said
* don't be afraid if it is awkward

2) listen - 
* by listening you validate the suffering person's feelings
* just sit, allow them to talk and just listen
* you will hear them say things like: money has not fulfilled life's dream, generosity is important, family is important, wish spent more time with loved ones, etc

3) Pray - ask the person if you can pray with them
* we serve a loving God who cares for us

What suffering have you experienced?
It was not meant to be wasted.
You have been ordained to comfort others.

If you are suffering, tell someone, reach out to others and allow them to comfort you.
Use your own suffering to help and comfort others.
We will all face suffering.

Develop a strong faith in Jesus now. Develop a strong relationship with Jesus now!

Next Sunday Pastor Ben will answer questions that have come in over the last couple of weeks.

Thought for the week: Christians keep the faith.... but not from others!

When Life Is Not What We Hoped For...

During this Lent season, my home church is doing a series dealing with grief, depression, and the trials of life. So this Sunday March 3, 2013 - the 3rd Sunday of Lent our topic was - "When life is not what we hoped for or expected". I think this is a very relevant topic because if we are honest with each other, none of us could say that life is or has been all that we had hoped for or expected. We all have disappointments, heartaches and trials that shake us to our core when we are in the thick of it. So in this blog post I want to share some of what was taught at my church on this topic.

Thought for the week - A clear conscience makes a soft pillow.

Psalm 13 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

 I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Pastor Ben was our speaker today. Here is some of what he said.

We are learning how to walk with people in brokenness, when people are hurting. Walking with people when life isn't what they had hoped for or expected.

There are many examples we could think of. A few of them are singleness, infertility, divorce.

We need to see people with the eyes of Jesus. See people as Jesus does. We are learning to be the "hands and feet" of Jesus.

Listening to People -

We need to learn to listen to people, really listen, focus your attention on them as they are speaking and gauge your response to them by listening to their situation.

Too often we have solutions to offer before we have even listened to the person who is sharing their problem with us.

We need to talk about things that matter, really matter. 

We need to get beyond talking about sports and the weather - go to a deeper level.

Don't demand that they tell you everything. You need to earn the right to have people open up to you.

Talking about real stuff is scary - we are afraid we will not have solutions to the problem.

We need to become vulnerable - 

We are all broken, we are all in a hurting world.

Do not judge or label people because of the situation they are in.

God's Will - God's Ideal Will / God's Permissive Will

God's Ideal Will is no sin, sickness or disease in our lives. But He has given us the freedom of choice to live our lives according to our own choices. We have the freedom to choose good or evil. This is where His permissive will kicks in. We experience brokenness. He has allowed these things into our lives as His permissive will. He will use all of our brokenness for good if we allow Him to. 

God can take the bad stuff and make good come out of it. God grieves the evil and brokenness, but He allows it.

Humbleness - 

Walk humbly with people.

Don't assume you know the mind of God.

Listen to their heartache.

God is always at work!

John 13:34 

 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Stuck in my mind...

I am sure that many of you could say these words with me - " in recent days I have experienced difficulty in my personal life". Agree? That is a true statement for me. But it is also true that in times of difficulty, the Lord is near to encourage and strengthen me. Praise God!
So for the last couple of days, the Lord has placed a song in my heart that encourages me very much. He has also strengthened me with the gift of assurance that I belong to Him and He has given me Scripture - some verses from the Psalms that I can cling to.
So here is part of the song:

My Redeemer
(  by Philip P Bliss 1876 )

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Chorus

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

 

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

 

( from cyberhymnal.org )

 

Now I would like to share some of the Scripture that the Lord is using to speak encouragement into my heart:

Psalm 33: 17- 18 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.  Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Psalm 34: 6-8  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

19 -  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

22 - The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

 

 

To anyone reading this who is suffering or troubled - may I encourage you to put your trust in the Lord and let Him take away your fears.

Learning to Live for the Shepherd....

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 
 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Are you alone? or maybe the real question is - Do you feel alone? Many times we feel alone in our situations even though there are people all around us. The truth is that a Christian is never alone. The Lord our Shepherd is always with us, drawing us close to Himself, watching over us and taking care of us.
Read Psalm 23 again and let it soak into your spirit.
The Lord is my Shepherd...I shall not want....He leads me and provides for me. He is with me - I am not alone. 
He leads me in paths of righteousness - He leads me in the path He has chosen for my life - a life surrendered to Him.  We find God's will for our lives in His Word. God's Word is the light for our path.
God leads us by His Spirit -  He directs us in the study of His Word, the Bible.  Hard circumstances grow us in the path of righteousness. The struggles in our life create in us the need to turn to the Lord and to call upon Him and trust in Him to hold us.
For His Name's sake - Did you know that God has a reputation? It is His will for us that we live true to His Name and through this we bring glory to His Name! It pleases the Father that we bring glory to His Name.
In our own lives, we need to be proclaiming the authority that God has in our lives. We need to live out our faith. Fly the flag at the top of the flagpole by standing up for truth and righteousness. There is victory in Jesus!
We may find ourselves in a bad circumstance - but regardless of what happens we must trust in the Lord. Show Him that you love Him by trusting Him today.
Embrace your trial, stand up for truth and righteousness - for His Name's sake - today is your opportunity to stand for Him!
Eternity is just around the corner....in a few short months or years we will all stand before the Lord - Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Declaration of Faith!!

Don't you just long for the time when President Obama or Prime Minister Stephen Harper would make a declaration that said this - It would be the top story on CBC, ABC and CBS for sure:

I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
The above decree of course comes from the Book of Daniel in chapter 6. Daniel 6 was a part of my morning devotions this morning and I just began to long for the day when my Canadian Prime Minister Harper or the USA President Obama would get a real glimpse of who God is and they would be willing to take this kind of a stand for the One and Only true living God. So many times we see our leaders embracing all religions. You see this being played out when a national tragedy happens, an interfaith ( all religions included) service is held. It is sad because people are trusting empty religions that can never help them at all. If only the LORD God had His rightful place and the true gospel of Christ - that is salvation through Jesus Christ alone, were proclaimed, then real comfort and hope could be seen in trying and difficult times.
In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus says Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
and in Luke 4:18 Jesus says The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
So we see that the One who truly cares and can comfort and heal broken hearts is Jesus. None of the other religions that are out there are of any help at all ( not Islam, not Hinduism, not Mormonism, not Budhism, or paganism etc) . Come to Jesus today - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you 1Peter 5:7
Prayer: Heavenly Father I pray that You would give special insight into the hearts of Prime Minister Harper and President Obama that both of them would come to know that You alone are Only One true God, the LORD God Almightly, creator of Heaven and Earth. I ask that You would arrange circumstances and provide a national opportunity for them to stand boldly for You and declare to all the peoples and nations of the world that You alone are God - in You alone is salvation.To You Father God be all glory and power now and forever, In Jesus precious Name, Amen

Getting Prepared..for a crisis - Updated!

In my morning Bible reading today, I read Hebrews 11. It is known as the faith chapter. I have read it many times before but this time verse 7 kind of jumped out at me. Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
The question I have in my mind is - What does God want me to do to prepare for the coming world crisis that will affect each of us individually?  We see the build up in the middle east preparing for war, threats from some of the Muslim countries to destroy Israel. We see war in Syria. We see the drought stricken fields in Canada and the USA, the extreme weather that is being reported on the news every night. We see the experts predicting higher food prices and shortages of corn. We see how sexual perversion of all kinds is rampant across our countries. Seeing these things happen, we can see that God is beginning to take action against the sin of our nations. It seems that a line has been drawn in the sand.
Jan Markel, Joel Rosenberg, John McTernan, Ann Graham Lotz and others are warning us just as Noah warned people in his day. In Noah's day, no one listened to Noah as he preached to the wicked people of that day. Day in and day out Noah and his sons worked on the ark which would be used by God to save Noah and his family. Noah acted in faith. The raindrops were not falling yet while Noah was preparing the ark. God told him of the judgement that was about to come on the world, and Noah believed God and began to build the ark. When the flood came upon the world, Noah and his family were ready and were kept safe inside the ark. As a Christian, I too want to live by faith and act upon the word of God, and prepare and be ready.
So the question I am pondering is - What should I do to prepare for that which we see on the horizon? What should I do and what can I do to take care of the people in my family? Thoughts about necessities of life such as food, water,  medications etc. come to mind.
Update - July 18 - as I have been pondering this in my mind the last while, a thought that seems to make sense is to consider making your own relief kit. In the past, many of us have made up relief kits for the less fortunate overseas. So we know that a relief kit would contain many of the essentials rquired in a crisis. To list a few items that I think could be helpful - soaps, band-aids, soothing ointment for a wound - such as Ozonol, painkillers such as advil or asperin, flashlight and batteries, candles and matches, toothpaste, toothbrush, personal hygiene products etc. As individuals, we can each could come up with a list of items beneficial to our specific situations. 
These are questions that we each must work through individually. If the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is delayed, and times get real tough, Will we be prepared?  We need to draw nearer to the Lord daily, allow the Lord to strengthen our faith, so that when He comes, He will find us watching and ready -  Let's make sure we are prepared at all times to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The very most important in preparation is of course to make sure of your salvation. Jesus the only begotten Son of God, came to earth and was nailed to the cross and paid for your sin and mine. He died there and rose again on the third day. We must accept the Lord Jesus into our heart and life, believe in Him that He is the Son of God and that He did this for us. We must repent of all sin, and confess it to the Lord, turn from the sin to never take part in it again and live for Christ from now on. Then nothing at all can separate us from the Lord Jesus.
Romans 8: 38-39 says
³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A Book in the Church Library...Osteen

A couple of Sundays ago I was in our church library and I saw the book Everyday a Friday on display. It is written by Joel Osteen. I signed it out and now I am wondering if what the author teaches is a type of  the "Kermit the Frog" gospel? It's not that I disagree with all that he says, I do believe in looking for the good and being positive but I feel he takes it to the extreme. A quote from  the book "If you go through adversity with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, on the other side there will be a reward".  Really??  I think we are much better off casting our cares on the LORD,  He heals the brokenhearted and goes with us through our troubles. I believe that we need to trust in the Lord regardless of the outcome of our difficult circumstances.
It seems the author's message is a lot of fluff, boost your own ego and make yourself happy. I find that quite different from how we are taught in the Bible to find our joy in the Lord, whether we are in good times or bad, the Lord is our strength. The author says that if we smile through our struggle, then we will have passed the test and then good things will come to us, while the Bible says in Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you .
It is in wholeheartedly seeking God that we find joy. We don't find real joy in stuff here on earth. The author of the book talks of wearing your blessings - him and his wife wanting another property real bad and how God told him its okay and to go ahead and get the property. I compare that with the song  "Be Thou my Vision"  that we sing in church occasionally. Verses 4 and 5
4.Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5. High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

For a person like me who knows people who have been called by God to give up the normal stuff of life, to go to difficult places to work with very poor people, this whole "smile to get blessings" doctrine seems absurd. I know from my own life and the hard things that I have went through, if someone had told me to just smile through my difficult days and that if I did God would bring me out with rich things, I would have not have made it. I can tell you many a day there were only tears and I have found that when I lean on God and His Word, I am strengthened.
A few years ago my friend was very excited about "the Secret" that Oprah was promoting. It was also a think positive and you'll get stuff message. My friend's husband was working out west in the oilfields at the time. Shortly after he came home, he  got sick. I'll never forget when he came to our place to pick up one of our boys to babysit his child, when he came to the door and the shock in his face as he told me the doctor had given him only three months to live and that he had cancer. A few days later my husband and I went over to their place to see how they were doing, and he told us that he was going to beat the cancer, with this positive message stuff. He wasn't able to beat it though, the pain got really intense, he got paralyzed, and died within three the months. The postive thinking didn't help him, but he was really searching and I do believe that he found the Lord during those last few months and that is comforting.

Like the old song says- This world is not our home, we are just passing through, Our treasures our laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

It is not my call whether the church should promote books such as these but I do find it questionable.