Tell Everyone Jesus Saves

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
Each day proclaim the good news that
He saves.
Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone
about the amazing things he does.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
Honor and majesty surround him;
strength and joy fill his dwelling.

1 Chronicles 16:23-27 NLT

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise
The city of our God, the holy place
The joy of the whole earth
Great is the Lord in whom we have the victory
He aids us against the enemy
We bow down on our knees

And Lord, we want to lift Your name on high
And Lord, we want to thank You
For the works You've done in our lives
And Lord, we trust in Your unfailing love
For You alone are God eternal
Throughout earth and heaven above

Steve McEwan 

In the last times...

Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you to expect: “In the last times people who ridicule God will appear. They will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who cause divisions. They are concerned about physical things, not spiritual things.

Dear friends, use your most holy faith to grow. Pray with the Holy Spirit’s help. Remain in God’s love as you look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life.

Show mercy to those who have doubts. Save others by snatching them from the fire of hell. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives.

God can guard you so that you don’t fall and so that you can be full of joy as you stand in his glorious presence without fault. 

Before time began, now, and for eternity glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jude 1:17-24 God's Word

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

A few years ago I attended a training at work where the icebreaker was to name the number one popular songs for certain years from 1950 to the present. Number one in 1964 was "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. I got that one right! The activity was supposed to help bridge the gap between us baby boomers and our young coworkers. However, while I was "racking my brain", they were googling the oldies on their blackberries!!

I was thinking back about trying to hold my children's hands when they were little when we lived in Atlanta. If they saw a ball roll out into the lane, or saw their friend on the other side of the street, they would take off running with no thought for safety. I began to grasp their wrist instead of depending on them to hold my hand. Also, that way, if they tripped and started to fall, they would not fall headlong.

That got me to thinking about how thankful I am that our Heavenly Father holds our hands, and He never lets go.

"Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him."
Psalm 37:24 Amplified

Jesus promised to us who believe in Him:
"And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all [else]; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are One."
John 10:28-30

I love Matt Redmans' song: You Never Let Go

Path of Love

All the paths of the Lord
are mercy and steadfast love,
even truth and faithfulness are they,
for those who keep His covenant
and His testimonies.
Psalm 25:10

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 Robert Frost 

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 NIV 

JESUS IS OUR PEACE

Back in the early 90's, when the kids were still at home, our neighbors invited us over to hear a video recorded live in South Africa by Integrity Music called "Rejoice Africa". It became a tool for inviting many neighbors for "pitch-in" suppers at their house on Friday nights. Several people gave their hearts to the Lord during those times.

There is revival happening now in South Africa that has been televised on God TV.

This song, sung by Lionel Petersen, was one of my favorites!

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

As a young man, Evan Roberts was led by the Lord to share this message of the reality of God and the possibility of complete forgiveness of sins with his home youth group in Wales:

1. Confess all known sin.

2. Deal with and get rid of anything ‘doubtful’ in your life.

3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly.

4. Confess Jesus Christ publicly as Lord and Savior.

By the end of the first week over 60 responded. By the end of the second week Evan began to tour the South Wales valleys preaching repentance and forgiveness, and within a year or so 100,000 converts were said to be added to the Welsh Church. This was the beginning of the Welsh Revival of 1904.

Many have prophesied another great awakening for America, where millions repent of turning their backs on the God who has blessed this nation, and turn their hearts in thankfulness toward God.

Here is some wisdom from Francis Frangipane:

The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. It is one's attitude that determines whether life unfolds into a place of blessedness or wretchedness. Indeed, looking at the same rose bush, some people complain that the roses have thorns while others rejoice that some thorns come with roses. It all depends on your perspective.

This is the only life you will have before you enter eternity. If you want to find joy, you must first find thankfulness. Indeed, the one who is thankful for even a little enjoys much. But the unappreciative soul is always miserable, always complaining. He lives outside the shelter of the Most High God.

My Delight

Delight yourself in the Lord; 

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

I am thinking more and more that the very reason I am here is to DELIGHT myself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Peculiar People

Grandmother Williams (who would be 118 years old if she were still alive) liked to use the word "peculiar". She was always saying something smelled peculiar, looked peculiar or someone acted peculiar. She meant "different".

When my kids were young teens, I was going to drive a group of them to the movies. One of the boys came out sporting a do-rag (bandana) on his head. Just as he was about to get into my car, his Mom saw him, called him back in the house and made him take it off. When he finally climbed in the back seat, I heard him mumble, "Why can't I be different like everybody else?!"

In the Bible, Peter talks about Christians being a "peculiar people". The Message Bible describes us this way: But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1 Peter 2:9

God has made us peculiar people, His own special treasure.  Does it seem that He is lovingly heating up the fire and skimming away the dross?  He wants to purify the gold He has hidden deep in our hearts.

The Merry Month of May

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May is a month of celebrations in my family! Today is my daughter Kathren's birthday. Granddaughter Ashlynn turned 10 last week, and my son Cameron will be 27 next week.
Happy birthday also to my brother and his daughter this weekend!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL!

I recently broke my camera and lost all my pics I had stored on the computer, but Cameron recently emailed this one to me. This is the first year that I won't see him on his birthday.

SAVED FROM WHAT?!

When I went to college in Atlanta in 1967, it was the first time I had my faith challenged. A group of us were painting the exterior of the Baptist Student Center, and a young man passing by asked me, "What did God ever do for you?" 

All I could think of at the moment was, "He saved me."

"Saved you from WHAT?!" he smirked as he and his friends laughed and walked away.

At the moment I was speechless. Later I thought, I know what I should have said! I should have told him I am saved from the punishment that I deserve for breaking God's laws and going my own way.


"What laws?" he might have asked.  Every time I told a lie, stole from someone, hated others, disrespected my parents, or said God's name as a curse word, I sinned against God.

The Bible says,  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

"What is SIN?" he might have wondered. Sin is rebelling against God, saying NO to His gift of love through His Son Jesus Christ.

None of us can be perfect! Only a loving God can remove our sin. forgive us, and deliver us from sin’s penalty. There is nothing I can ever do to earn Heaven.

It was Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection that made salvation possible. He took the punishment and death that I deserved and gave me forgiveness and a brand new start. Salvation is the free undeserved gift of God.

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:24

How do I accept God's forgiveness?
If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9

We are saved by faith, and by calling on the name of the Lord. So you will be saved, if you honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.
Romans 10:9-10

If I could talk to that young man again, I might calmly ask him, "What would you like for God to do for you?"

Unfathomable!

Oh, the depth of the riches 

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are His judgments 

and unfathomable His ways!  

For who has known the mind of the Lord, 

or who became His counselor?  

Or who has first given to Him  

that it might be paid back to him again? 

For from Him and through Him and to Him 

are all things. 

To Him be the glory forever. 

Amen.

Romans 11:33-36 NASB

Father God,

Thank you that Your ways are higher than our ways.  
May we yield to Your plans and purposes. 
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done.

Stout and Sturdy!

My grandparents were raised on farms and continued to work hard all their lives, raising chickens and tending a large garden, into their eighties.

Back then, a farmer looked for a wife who was strong and would be a hard worker. So Grandpa probably thought that the adjectives: "stout and sturdy" were a compliment.

When he was in his nineties, and becoming forgetful, our pastor and his wife paid a visit. Grandpa looked the preacher's wife over and congratulated him on finding a wife who was stout and sturdy! Being goodnatured, Ginger smiled and took it in stride!

I thought of her today when I read that the Lord is looking for a few good stout and sturdy souls:

Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.  
Psalm 27:14 Amplified

My Mother's Favorite Hymn

A young man learned that his mother had become seriously ill, but he was not able to travel the great distance to see her. Wanting so much to comfort her, he penned an inspirational poem called Pray Without Ceasing, and tucked a copy in an envelope with his letter.

Later on, he became ill himself. A friend, sitting by his bedside, caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the scribbled lines of a poem lying on the table, and asked if he could read it.

"Did you write this, Joseph?" the friend questioned.

"The Lord and I did it between us," was the humble answer.

In 1869, the poem for his mother was finally published, along with others, in a simple book entitled, Hymns and Other Verse, by Joseph Scriven. However, the lines to that particular poem have been memorized by millions, and have comforted many who were sick, troubled, or bereaved.

We know it today as, "What a Friend We Have In Jesus".

Pure Hearts

Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.  

But who can endure the day of His coming? 

And who can stand when He appears? 

For He is like a refiner’s fire 

and like fullers’ soap.  

He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, 

and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Malachi 3:1-4 NASB

As I have prayed for our own nation and for Israel this past week, I cannot get this phrase out of my mind. "PURIFY MY HEART".

Lord, You are so pure and holy! Purify my heart, Oh God. Bring revival and repentance to the nations, and let it begin with me.





  

Delight in the Lord

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Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do. 

Psalm 1:1-3 NLT

Still

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10

Our worship leader sang "Be Still My Soul" this morning. I want to share the last verse.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.  

Path of Peace

Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
God's Sunrise will break in upon us,
shining on those in the darkness,
those sitting in the shadow of death,
then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
down the path of peace.

Luke 1:78-79 Message

Soul! are you here without comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your Friend
Ere the shadows grow dark;
O accept of this peace so sublime!

Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!

Warren Cornell

A Clean Record

I was thinking of the thief who was on the cross next to Jesus. This man had been a criminal. Maybe he lived in the area and had even heard Jesus preach, or seen Jesus heal the sick, but he never thought he needed a Savior - until now.

Earlier that day, he had ridiculed Jesus like the others. But seeing the love Jesus had for those who crucified Him, the thief had a change of heart. Jesus not only forgave him, but destroyed the years of evidence that incriminated him. This man entered eternity with a clean record.

See Luke 23:39-43

Servant of the Lord

You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you. 

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, 

for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, 

surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you 

with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 

This reminds me of the hymn "HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION"

Click hymn title to read all the verses.

Here is a peaceful instrumental.

Supernatural Glow

As prom draws near, the high school girls are making appointments at the beauty salons and tanning beds. Before the days of tanning beds and spray-on tans, my pasty white friends and I used to get together and lay out in the sun to get a "healthy glow".

When my daughter went to a small Christian high school, the prom was held in the church gym, and the parents and grandparents would stand in the parking lot and cheer and clap as the couples arrived in their finery.

Well, there's no chance that I'll be going to the senior prom this year -- even though I am more "SENIOR" than ever :) But God invites me: "Keep your beauty appointments with me. Bask in the light of My presence. From that quiet place, you will go out with joy."

For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills 
will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field 
will clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12 NASB

Where God Guides, He Provides

Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
His soul will abide in prosperity,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant.
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will pluck my feet out of the net.
Psalm 25:12-15

Well Water

At our childhood home on Roswell Street there was a well right beside the screened porch, but Daddy had filled it in with dirt when we were little so we wouldn't fall in. Once we came running into the kitchen after playing ball on the vacant lot between us and our neighbor's house, when we realized the city had turned off the water for maintenance. Our neighbor Mrs. Brady hollered and invited us to come draw water from her well. How good that water tasted on a hot afternoon to a bunch of thirsty kids.

I pictured a dipper of cold water when I read from Isaiah today.

Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.

 

Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

And in that day you will say:

“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted."

Isaiah 12:2-4 NKJ 

Father God, 

Refresh us with Your Word as we look to you today to supply every need. Satisfy us with Your goodness. Thank you for refreshing me through the encouragement and prayers of others.

 

Overwhelming Victory

Can anything separate us from the love of Christ?
Can trouble, pain or persecution?
Can lack of clothes and food,
danger to life and limb,
the threat of force of arms?
Indeed some of us know the truth of the ancient text:
‘For your sake we are killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’.
No,
in all these things
we win an overwhelming victory
through him who has proved his love for us.
Romans 8:35-37 Phillips New Testament

Isaiah 9:10

Today I watched the documentary "Isaiah 9:10 Judgment". You can view part of it on YOU TUBE.
I recently read Jonathan Cahn's best selling novel The Harbinger, which describes true events since September 11, 2001, in the form of a mystery.

It is hard to look at the passage in Isaiah regarding the judgment of ancient Israel and the similarities of recent events in America, and not see that God has been warning America to repent and return to to Him.