a glimpse of heaven's love

Wow!  I can't believe it is already nearing the end of September!  I'm sorry I haven't posted anything to my blog in a few months.  The summer months just seemed to get away from me. Well, school has started...and as with most families of school-age children, this marks rather a beginning.  I like new beginnings...it gives us a chance to start over fresh, to begin again!  That's refreshing and exciting! God likes new beginnings, as well!  I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  God is a God that delights in new beginnings!  He is not only ready but willing that we come to Him, confess our sins, and He will faithfully and justly forgive us and cleanse us of all our sin.  That is a new beginning, my friend...and how refreshing is that?!  It is as if God wipes our slate clean, gives us a fresh white page and says, "Ok, let's start again!" ...

Satan loves to get us down and discouraged, or if nothing else, at least to distract us.  Satan is the Master Deceiver:  He is the Father of Lies.  Why?--because he knows the end of the story!  His end is in "the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev. 20:10) --And because he knows his end, he wants to take as many as he can with him!  But if we know Christ as our personal Saviour, the most he can do is get us down, or discouraged, or distract us.  And why does he want to do that?--so that we aren't of any use to Christ.  (not a good place to be in--don't go there!)  So today I want to talk about the five F's to avoid! Fear For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound   mind.  (2 Tim. 1:7)  Those are key components to the workings of Christ.  We need to stand upon them.  Don't a...

Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."   Isaiah 30:15b "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."        James 1:4-5 "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.      If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." __________________________________ What do all of these verses have in common?   They all have an ingredient of waiting upon the Lord or patience .   And why are these such good qualities to have?   Many times in our fleshly natures, we tend to just do what we think is best, or worse, we tend to think we can just do it ourselves.   Those are both very poor responses....

"James 1:3-4  "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." I love the book of James.   He is so practical.  I may have used this verse before…you'll forgive me if I use it again.  It makes for a good stepping off point!  Many times God is at work in our lives…it may be to reprove us and call us back to Himself, or it may be He knows He can produce more fruit if He can just get our attention.  I don't know where this will find you in your spiritual walk today; but I do hope you will stay to listen. Trials…that is God's time to put your faith to the test!  Will you turn to God and trust , or will you high-tail it outta of there and run the other way?!  Know that when your faith is being tested--no matter the trial or temptation--it is the time to trust God; but you must allow the testing to bring about its intended purpose--tha...

This is a photo of Niagara Falls copied from Bing Images online.  It speaks volumes of God's wondrous glory and power!  God's power--that is what I want to talk about today.  Here are some wonderful verses regarding just that: Zec. 4:6  "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit , saith the Lord of hosts." 2 Sam. 22:40  "For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast Thou subdued under me." Dan. 11:32  "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong , and do exploits." 2 Tim. 1:7  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power , and of love , and of a sound mind ." __________________________________________ These are all excellent verses.  Meditate upon them for a little bit, if you would…and notice ...

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.  He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.                                       One is Evil .  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is Good .  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"   The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." The Bible probably has various verses that back this up; but the one that comes to mind is Romans 8:6 which says, "For to be carnally mi...

G alations 4:4-9  says, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.   And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.     Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.   Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.   But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" As I said in my previous entry, " tragically, it has been my experience, that many Christians today are more prone to just go their own way, with no thought of what God desires of them."  Perhaps this particular blog entry is a continuation of that, or perhaps it is ...

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."  James 1:14  What is it that motivates you? What is your deepest desire? What is your own way? Tragically, it has been my experience, that many Christians today are more prone to just go their own way, with no thought of what God desires of them.  Those are not the target of my blog today.  More than likely, unless the Holy Spirit is at least beginning to change their heart, they will not have a desire to read on.  And chances are, they are not truly saved anyway.  A real Christian isn't just playing church, but has the Holy Spirit of God living within them, guiding and convicting them to do right.  They are not my target audience.  You, however, that are not being drawn by temptation, but by God's grace,  desire to change -- YOU are my target audience! As I said, if you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives within you, guid...

2 Chronicles 12:9 1 Kings 14 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 Brass: Inexpensive - no great value Contains impurities Does not retain its luster - it tarnishes Satan desires to steal the "gold" from our lives.  Anytime he can make something of value less valuable, less glorifying to God, he will.  One of my favorite verses is John 10:10, which says, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  The thief, of course, is Satan.  He is the Father of Lies, and he seeks to devour you (1 Pet 5:8).  Jesus Christ is the One speaking in the verse, and oh, how He desires to give us an abundant life, more wonderful and awesome than we can even imagine--if we will just learn to follow Him, trusting Him and obeying Him.  God's way is always best…you can count on it!  Satan desires to steal the gold from: Our Relationship with God We ought to have that ...

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass, jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.  She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.  Three times, even.  The total had to be exactly perfect.  No chance for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise.  Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster.. no good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! "And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.  "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply...

Someone tell me--what does the "Easter Bunny" and colored eggs, and baskets of candy have to do with Easter?  What is Easter?  I will gladly tell you!  "Easter"--as it has been come to be called--is the celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead!  Another wonderful name for this day is "Resurrection Sunday."  That is what I love to call it…and in all actuality, Christians should celebrate this wonderful and miraculous day every Sunday!   But Resurrection Sunday is just the wonderful climax to the whole gospel.  What is the gospel, you ask?  "Gospel" is an old word meaning "good news."  And Scripture tells us the wonderful "good news" in the following verses: 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 "…Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures:  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" Christ came to this earth to die for us, to take our sin upon Him Who kn...