Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!

"The enemy has no chance in a battle against the eternal people." - Naphtali Bennett 

The Messiah's Power Over Leprosy

From the time of the giving of the Mosaic Law to the time of Jesus there is no record of a Jew being healed of leprosy (Miriam before the Law and Naaman a Gentile). Yet, in the giving of the Law God gave minute details and procedures as of what to do when a Jew was healed of leprosy. Why is that? Because no Jew had ever been healed of leprosy, the Rabbis concluded that the healing of leprosy was a miracle only the Messiah could perform. Perhaps God gave such detail in Leviticus 13-14 concerning this disease so that there could be no overlooking of who Jesus was! The Messiah!

Through it all....God is good!!

I've had many tears and sorrows;

I've had questions for tomorrow;

There've been times I didn't know right from wrong;

But in eve'ry situation God gave blessed consolation

that my trials come to only make me strong.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to Trust in Jesus,

I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,

And I've seen a lot of faces,

There've been times I felt so all alone;

But in my lonely hours,

yes, those precious lonely hours,

Jesus let me know that I was His own.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to Trust in Jesus,

I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to depend upon His Word.

I thank God for the mountains,

And I thank Him for the valleys,

I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.

For if I'd never had a problem,

I'd would'nt know that He could solve them,

I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to Trust in Jesus,

I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all, Through it all,

I have learned to depend upon His Word.

God will never take you where He does not want you!

Giving thanks for ALL things

What about being thankful for those things that are not really very pleasant? Does not God tell us in His Word to be thankful for ALL things?

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Lately I have been thinking about this verse and trying to thank God when things arise which  I would not entitle as “good”.

Thanking God for the trials of this temporal earthly life reminds me to have a heavenly perspective! Thanking God for trials helps me remember that God is all powerful and in His complete goodness He is using trails in my life for His glory until one day we are caught up to be with Him in glory and there we will bow before Him and glorify Him!

Here are just a few amazing verse that show us some purposes for trials:

Produces patience (James 1:3, Romans 5:3) Produces maturity (James 1:4) Produces experience (Romans 5:4) Produces hope (Romans 5:4) Produces strength (2 Corinthians 12:10) Produces more of Christ’s likeness (Romans 8:28-29) Produces an outlet for ministry (2 Corinthians 1:4)

MOST of all…our trials should result in bringing God glory!

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: - 1 Peter 1:6-7

Give God thanks for ALL things!! 

Colossians 1:15-22

Jesus Christ is the visible manifestation of God!

Jesus Christ is the firstborn of every creature!

Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things!

Jesus Christ holds all things together!

Jesus Christ is the head of the Church!

Jesus Christ is the preeminent One!

Jesus Christ has made peace through His blood!

Jesus Christ can present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight!

Thankful for a friend

Have just been reminded recently of how very blessed I am to have this girl as my friend!

People usually speak of peer pressure as a bad thing...but when you have godly friends "peer pressure" from them can be a very good thing! :) So thankful for this godly friend!  

Wherever He may guide me,

No want shall turn me back;

My Shepherd is beside me,

And nothing can I lack.

His wisdom ever waketh;

His sight is never dim;

He knows the way He taketh,

And I will walk with Him.

- Anna L. Waring

The Glory of the Cross

Here promises were exchange for fulfillment, shadows give way to reality, sin is judges, forgiveness is offered, wrath is propitiated, grace is enthroned, death is defeated, life and immortality come to light, Satan received his mortal wound, the glorious victory of righteousness is assured, the kingdom of darkness received its deathblow and the kingdom of His dear Son triumphs. The cross separated darkness from light, the temporal from the eternal, the carnal for the spiritual, death from immortality, perdition from life, hell from heaven. It is the foundation of the salvation of God, the only hope for mankind, the pinnacle of Christ's self-giving love for man.It is the manifestation of the holiness and righteousness of God in relation to sin. It brings reconciliation, redemption, restoration, and the eventual realization of glorification. It brings praise and glory to the one and only God who Himself actualized it!

This is the glory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

Infinite Plan

"In infinite wisdom God designed salvation; in infinite grace and at infinite cost God procured salvation in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son; in infinite power God sent forth the Holy Spirit to actualize salvation in the individual; in infinite compassion God instituted missions - first through Israel and now through His Church - in order that helpless and hopeless mankind might hear, know and believe the Good News of the infinite salvation of God for mankind." - George Peters in A Biblical Theology of Missions

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:6-8 

These are amazing verses! Jesus Christ is God Almighty and He took on the form of a man. Hebrews 2 tells us that man is lower than the angels. God’s Son took on the form of His creation but not even of His highest creation (Angels) but of an even lower creation (Man), veiled His awesome glory, chose to abide under certain limitations of humanity and died an extremely cruel death in order to provide salvation for sinners like me. Who is more worthy of my life? None! 

September 26th, 2013

50 years ago today my Papa was born. In 1991 the doctors told him that his second child would be born to him on September 26th. I was that second child but come as his early birthday present on September 23rd. Papa and Mama did not know if they were going to have a girl or a boy and Papa was afraid to have a daughter because he didn't think he had what it would take to raise a girl. I stand here today, 22 years later, and say with all my heart that he has been the best Papa a girl has ever had!

Happy Birthday Papa! Thank you for walking with God! I love you!

What Grace!

"What Grace! From heaven to earth, from glory to shame, from Master to servant, from life to death, even the death of the cross!" 

Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on Philippians 2 

Thought for the Day

"While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect Him on earth."

- Puritan Prayer 

God will NOT forsake Israel!

"Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah." 

- Psalm 89:33-37

Single Meaning of Scripture

When God wrote the Bible did He write in understandable language with a specific message? I believe He did! There is single meaning in Scripture not multiple meanings or interpretations that very from culture to culture.

I read this great example and would like to share it with you.

When God communicated to Adam, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen. 2:16b-17) Adam apparently understood this statement as God intended it and communicated it to Eve as well. Confusion entered the picture when the serpent suggested to Eve that God's plain statement had another deeper meaning. He said, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:4b-5).

There is great danger in reading into God's Word things that are not truly written! God did not communicate to man in riddles that he must decode. Rather, He wrote in understandable language exactly what He wanted man to know! We have a good God and He has given us His Word! Let us read it for what it says so that we may know Him and glorify Him!

Quote of the Day

"It shall greatly help ye to understand Scripture if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom, and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what extent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeith." - Myles Coverdale

God's sovereignty in the life of ZVI

                 

I just recently finished reading ZVI-The Miraculous Story of Triumph Over the Holocaust by Elwood McQuaid. Zvi was born into a Jewish family in Poland. At the age of 10 he was separated from his family and spent the years of World War II alone, constantly fleeing for his life. These accounts are incredible! Do you ever wonder why you are still alive? That it seems like you should not have lives through something? God has a purpose for your life; He is not through with you! This is so evidently displayed in Zvi’s life! In all reality, he should not have lived through the Holocaust…but he did! Through reading this book, you can see why God kept him alive and how God used this Jewish man for Him! Zvi was never reunited with his family, after the war he traveled to Israel, fought in the wars for the Independence of Israel (he should not have survived this either), how he was saved through reading a Bible given to him by a elderly lady, how he was shunned by his Jewish brothers for believing in “That one”, and see the incredible boldness he had for sharing about the Messiah to anyone and everyone! Zvi is still alive in Israel sharing the gospel daily with Jews, Arabs, and Gentiles alike. I highly recommend this book! It is easy, fun, and a blessing to read!

Notes

At the beginning of my freshman year at Cornerstone I started writing down notes from sermons, chapel, and missionary sessions. The notebook is now full…it was amazing to look back through it and remember all that the Lord has taught me though the preaching, teaching, and encouragement of godly people over the past year and a half. Here are just a few tidbits from that notebook.

The preaching of the cross shows the love and grace of God, which no other way can show. NEVER STOP PREACHING THE CROSS!

Christ is glorified through sinners being conformed into the image of Him!

To bring glory to God should be our highest motivation!

Make your plans in pencil – God’s ways are not our ways.

Good judgment comes from the Word of God.

Is there anything we do that does not have to include God?

Is God just a fire escape to me or is He the ruler of my life?

We base much of our theology on what we sing and the music we listen to.

The Spirit NEVER leads us to be entertained by evil.

Jesus is the greatest blessing ever given to man!

Two thirds of Moses’ life was spent in preparation. God is constantly preparing us for what He has for us in the future. God’s time is different then my time. God is not concerned with time as we are.

Bringing glory to God does not come through what I do – it is what Christ does in me and through me!

I am identified with Jesus Christ. How does knowing this affect the way I live?

Christ was born to die so that we may have life!

God’s work needs to be done in God’s way.

Knowing God helps us to live right.

Our lives are a manifestation of what we think about God.

The fire purifies the gold. When the goldsmith can see his face reflecting in the gold he knows it is pure. The Lord purifies us so that we are a mirror of Him.

Often we want God’s approval of OUR plans rather than HIS plans

Thankfulness Gage – My thankfulness is a gage of my relationship with Christ.

Do not sacrifice truth for “peace”.

When I pass up an opportunity to share the gospel with someone because I say “Oh, they probably won’t accept it” is me not having faith in God’s power in the gospel of Christ.

“Grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. AMEN” – 2 Peter 3:18

Thanks to God

Thanks to God

By August Ludvig Storm

Thanks, O God, for boundless mercy

From Thy gracious throne above;

Thanks for every need provided

From the fullness of Thy love!

Thanks for daily toil and labor

And for rest when shadows fall;

Thanks for love of friend and neighbor

And Thy goodness unto all!

Thanks for thorns as well as roses,

Thanks for weakness and for health;

Thanks for clouds as well as sunshine,

Thanks for poverty and wealth!

Thanks for pain as well as pleasure

All Thou sendest day by day;

And Thy Word, our dearest treasure,

Shedding light upon our way.

Thanks, O God, for home and fireside,

Where we share our daily bread;

Thanks for hours of sweet communion,

When by Thee our souls are fed!

Thanks for grace in time of sorrow

And for joy and peace in Thee;

Thanks for hope today, tomorrow,

And for all eternity!