Archive for February, 2010

 Jesus would say to you this day from Revelation 1&2&21

⁷Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

 ⁸I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty

 To The Church of Ephesus: ⁴Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

 ¹And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

 ²And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 ³And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

 ⁴And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 ⁵And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

 ⁶And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

 ⁷He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 ⁸But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

God’s justice always comes–sometimes sooner rather than later and sometimes later rather than sooner.  Be of good cheer this day and remember always praise the Lord even if you don’t feel like it.

 

We all know what a fast is.  The thought of going without food makes us grimace.  But, what about a 40 day fast from wrong thinking?  What is that?

Pastor Gregory Dickow has a revolutionary plan to help people change their negative thinking little by little.  I personally haven’t gone on the fast, but I have heard him talk about it many times, and there are multitudes of wonderful testimonies from those that have.

It is true that we “are what we think.”  Our thoughts do  control our feelings.

Today, I would encourage you to log onto his website and prayerfully review it and see if this program is for you.  Just log on to:   www.changinglives.org

In conclusion, please remember Romans 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

If you are the latter, and there are many, why do you suppose that is?  Have you done something to displease God?  Are you practicing sin somehow in your life? Does God play favorites?

Another aspect to consider, is that maybe God loves you too much to allow you to become a spiritual “fat cat” totally insensitive to the pain and suffering around you. You might have been specifically selected for a divine purpose, and God is testing you to make sure you can fulfill that purpose, and are serving Him for the right reasons–not what He can do for you, rather what you can do for Him.

Perhaps it is not what you are doing that is wrong, rather what you are NOT doing. People are dying by the thousands daily, going into an eternal damnation. How much do you care? Enough to witness daily? Look around you. Can you see all the hurting people around you? Can you feel their pain? What have you done to ease their pain? A simple gesture like baking cookies and taking it to a local orphanage, or other charitable organization may be what God is looking for. In other words, get out of yourself. “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over.” Luke 6:38

Remember, we have nothing to be discouraged about.  Jesus is coming again.  The dispensation of grace is closing and the new dispensation of the Milennium is on the horizon.  Are you truly ready?  So, look at yourself in the mirror, smile, and say “Jesus loves me.”

 

Why be positive you might ask? After all, if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all.
Everything in my life “went south” you might say.

How do you respond to life when it hands you a lemon? The answer is to “make lemonade.” Look at it this way. If your finances are in disarray, for example, you can either be positive or negative, but either way, your finances are in disarray. So, why not be positive? Being negative isn’t going to improve your finances, but being positive will. 

So, whatever has you making lemonade, smile and praise the Lord anyway.  Dig deeper into the Word of God to find a solution and never be afraid to ask for help, and remember I John 4:4–”greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

How can you know the will of God for you in a given situation?  Billy Graham once said when asked this question, what he was told once. “Go up into the hills and don’t come down until you do know! ”  To paraphrase, I think he meant serious prayer, not the “little dab will do ya”  type.

I feel the key scripture to answer this question is found in Romans 12:1  

 ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual  act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Whenever there is a promise in the Bible there is usually always a condition to be met.  Journal this Bible scripture, pick it apart, and then apply it to your life bit by bit.  Total surrender to Christ is not a one time event.  Personally, everytime I thought I was surrendered to God, I was always able to find something I hadn’t or wasn’t surrendered to Him.

What is it like to have a Father that comes from a long line of farmers, and a mother who comes from a long line of “city slickers?”  My sister and I just had to take after my Father’s side of the family on this issue.  We always loved horses and the farm and one day our Father got us a horse named Lucky.

Our mother on a horse is like a fish out of water.  It just doesn’t work but the day came when she actually agreed to go on a trail ride with us down in Arkansas.  My sister and I were dumbfounded but nonetheless pleased.

Our mother said to the trail boss, “Now I don’t want a fast horse, I want a slow one.”

The trail boss replied in a true southern drawl, “Ma’am I have just the horse for you.”

We all proceeded to mount our horses and off we went my mother included.  After she mounted, she again asked the trail boss,

“Now, are you sure this horse won’t go too fast?”

“Ma’am, I guarantee you this horse won’t go any faster than he absolutely has to!”

As we proceed to go down the trail, we looked back, and saw our Mother  plodding along.

“Mom,” we said, “You are holding us all up.  Kick him or something.”

As we waited for her to catch up, we saw her pet the horse and say, “Now won’t you go just a little bit faster?”

We had a dilemma now.  It would take us 24 hours to finish the trail ride.  Finally, my step-father sneaked behind the horse and got a stick to prod the horse along (our  mother didn’t find out until later) and we finished the trail ride.

Forgiveness in a Depraved and Sadistic World

By Gail Ingebritson

            The Sunflower is the story of a Jew, Simon Wiesenthal, trying to survive Nazi Germany and its concentration camps that victimized him.  He tries to sort out his feelings to make sense out of the indescribable evil that had swept Europe at the hands of Nazi Germany.

            A perplexing circumstance came about, when he was summoned one day into the hospital to hear the confession of a dying German soldier named Karl.  Karl was guilt ridden for the role he played in exterminating the Jews.  He feels a profound need to be forgiven by the Jews, so that he can die in peace.  Simon Wiesenthal had to wrestle with himself and his inner feelings to try to understand how to cope with this dilemma of forgiveness, what it is, what it is not, and if he should forgive this Nazi soldier.  This essay will address these issues of forgiveness, how they apply to us, and the dilemma of Simon Wiesenthal.

            The answer for Simon Wiesenthal is a definite YES, because he will never be set free until he does.  St. Peter stresses this when he writes that “A man is a slave to whatever has mastered [defeated] him (2Peter 2:19 NIV).” Forgiveness is one area that is central to Christian Psychology, not necessarily because it is mandated in the Bible, but because of its therapeutic effects–where God, with His certain absolutes, the patient, and the therapist, work together as a team.  This is one area where Christian psychology veers off in another direction from secular psychology.  Secular psychology, with its atheistic premise, is mired in its philosophy of logical empiricism which is a puny little philosophy (among thousands since Socrates) that emerged after World War I.  The reasoning of logical empiricism is circular because it cannot prove there is not a God.

            Forgiveness is a process, more so than an act to perform.  This concept cannot be emphasized enough.  Secondly, we cannot change our hearts–only God can do this.  We can desire to forgive, and ask God to change our hearts; but, the act of forgiveness is from God, and God only.

            To understand the process of forgiveness, we have to understand what it is not.  It does not consist of attitudes that reflect defeatism such as “you are getting away with it,” or “I’m sorry.”   It is also not saying “You win, I lose” or “I’m weak.” It does not even suggest that you have to approve or agree with what the other person involved did.

            Forgiveness involves allowing God room to work things out for you by letting go of your grudge, and leaving it in God’s hands.  It is a choice, not a feeling, and it is God’s way to freedom.

            The question raised as to where God was during this period of time is quite simple–right there in the middle of it; just one prayer away.  It never ceases to amaze me how much suffering it takes for people to repent, and realize that they have taken a wrong turn theologically. The Jews rejected their Messiah and it cost them everything.  Salvation comes through Jesus now, which is why we pray to God “in the name of Jesus.”  Orthodox Jews, even today, still persecute the Messianic Jews.  When  Jews convert, they know that they have to give up everything, including their family, friends, and home. 

            Jesus says that “if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out, and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:29 NIV) Jesus was using this as an illustration for suffering.  To paraphrase, Jesus is saying that God will let us endure whatever suffering is necessary, if that is the only way an individual will repent, and finally say, “I give up.” Hundreds of Afghanistan Muslims came to this conclusion when they experienced their severe hardships after the Soviet Union invaded their country in the 1970s. They finally took the time to stop and think it through as to what kind of a God they were serving; but, it was the extreme suffering, and nothing else, that caused them to repent at the hands of Christian missionaries that reached out to them either personally or by radio. 

            Forgiveness is wrapped up in the question of where was God when the Jews were being exterminated, because God suffered the same pain and suffering through Jesus on the cross; and, Jesus forgave the Jews while dying on the cross, and he does expect the same from us because God is not giving us what we deserve.  It is also appropriate to remind us of what the Jews shouted to Pilate on the day Jesus was crucified– “Crucify Him–and let His blood be on us and our children.” (Matthew 27:25 NIV) Perhaps they got what they prayed for.

           Also, God did provide a way of escape before WWII through the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Hertzl.  He issued a call for all Jews to return to Palestine.  Very few responded, except those with a “heart” for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  But, those who did, escaped the horrors of the Holocaust.    This definitely does not imply that the Jews suffering the Holocaust were not good Jews, they were.    Man’s inhumanity to man is a never ending wonder to me.  What do they see in evil?  How does this give them peace and satisfaction in life? 

         To summarize, it must be stressed again, that forgiveness is a process more so than an act.  Sometimes it takes us awhile to work through our feelings to be able to forgive, but the healing comes, if we give ourselves, and God a chance.

Jesus would say to you this day, “Be not afraid.  Your feelings can be deceptive, don’t trust them.  You will find me when you search for me with ALL your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

I AM THERE

Do you need me?  I am there.

You cannot see me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand my ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize my works.

I am not strange visions.  I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know me as I am, and then, but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there.  Yet I hear.  Yet I answer.

When you need me, I am there.

Even if you deny me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray, and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet, only with your mind can you know and experience me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.  And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, the good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in me does the world have meaning; only out of me does the world take form; only because of me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling.

I am assurance.  I am peace.  I am oneness.

I am the law that you can live by.  I am the love that you can cling to.  I am your assurance.  I am your peace.  I am one with you.  I am.

Though you fail to find me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in me is unsure, my faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

(author unknown)

THE DIVINE BEAUTY OF NATURE

by Gail Ingebritson

 

            Every day I am gently reminded that nature is a love gift from God because it sings of His Glory.  A year ago, I remember a sleepless night in June.  I felt God was eons of time from me.  I felt hopelessly abandoned.  I decided to take a walk, so I strolled down to the woods behind our house and abruptly stopped.  I had never been in the woods at night.  What would it be like?  How was nature different at night?  I decided to continue walking in the woods so I meandered on to the pond.  I gasped from the beauty of what I saw.  I sat down under a pine tree, closed my eyes, and felt relaxed as I contemplated this beauty picture of nature–God’s love gift!!

            It is a tranquil night in June and twinkling stars decorate the heavens.  The full silvery moon hangs in space ever so delicately, casting moonbeams across the rippling waters.  Little crickets sing their songs by night while the bullfrogs and butterflies sleep the night away.

            As midnight mysteriously approaches and the shadows grow darker, a wise old night owl is perched in a towering pine tree next to me, and majestically leers at the silent world around him.  The sleeping forest that engulfs the wise old owl is ever so still except for an occasional rustling of the leaves as the night winds make their presence known, to softly and gently remind me of the God I cannot see–but, can divinely feel.

            Suddenly, it is the crack of dawn.  The morning sun peeps over the horizon, casting a delicate early morning smile upon the waters while the once silvery moon slips away into oblivion.  A pretty little doe and fawn sweetly meander down the trodden path for a cool morning drink.

            The robins and bluebirds twitter on the dewy branches of towering pine trees and sing, “Glorious morning has come!”  Other little birds join them to sing a concert of praise to God as morning continues to guild the sky.

            My breath-taking night in the dark woods was a new awakening for me.  For now I knew God was right by my side every day and every hour of the night.  I no longer needed to be afraid or feel abandoned.  The divine beauty of nature assures me of a divinely beautiful Heavenly Father who lavished upon me His handiwork of love offering irrefutable evidence of his Holy omnipresence and omnipotent love.

            This is truly a glorious and wonder day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad–for God put it all together.

Dear (insert your name),

How are you?  I just had to send you this letter to tell you how much I love and care about you.  Yesterday, I saw you walking with your friends.  I waited all day, hoping you might speak with me.  As evening drew near, I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you, and I waited.  You never came.  Yes, I was disappointed, but still I love you because you are my friend.

When you fell asleep last night, I longed to touch your brow, so I spilled moonlight across your pillow and face.  Again, I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk–I have so many gifts for you.

You awakened late and rushed off for the day . . . My tears were in the rain.  Today you looked so sad, so alone.  It makes my heart ache because I understand.  My friends let me down  and have hurt me many times too, but I love you.

I try to tell you in the quiet green grass; I whisper it in the leaves and the trees.  I breathe it in the colors of the flowers, I shout it to you in the mountain streams and I give the birds love songs to sing.  I clothe you with warm sunshine, and I perfume the air.  My love for you is deeper than oceans and greater than any need you might have.

We will spend eternity together in heaven.  I know how hard it is on this earth; I really know because I was there, and I want to help you now.  My Father also wants to help you.  He’s that way, you know.  Just call upon me, ask me, and talk to me.  It is your decision.  I have chosen you and I will never leave you . . . because I love you!

Your friend,

Jesus

(author unknown)