a glimpse of heaven's love

Psalm 23:3b "...He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." In just the verse previous it says, "He leadeth me beside the still waters."  Well, again, God is leading us...but in this case He leads us in the paths of righteousness.  What does that mean?  Well, first of all, I believe I've heard it said on more than one occasion, "A good definition for 'righteousness' is Right with God-ness ."  In other words, righteousness is a right standing before God . We cannot have a right standing before God without having confessed to God that we are a sinner, and in need of Christ's  finished work on the cross.  That is really a whole new subject...but it is, in fact, where it all begins.  If you do not know Christ as your personal Saviour, please reference "salvation" in my postings.  There are many, many references that will be a help to you.  This posting is primarily for Christians, and the remind...

If you're just joining us,   you've caught us at the third lesson of the well-known passage, the Shepherd psalm, Psalm 23.   Please feel free to go back and read the others.   Psalm 23:2a   "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…"              First of all, it says, "He makes me to lie down…."   There are times in our lives when God must make us lie down.   We're in need of some much-needed rest; some times we need to just get away and have some down time with Him.   There's probably a number of reason we might need some down time , but be assured, God knows best!   We just finished moving to the state of Washington.   I can say--without a doubt--it is like no where else I have been before!   Regardless...we have the privilege of having a horse ranch located behind our yard and neighborhood.   It is quite enjoyable to watch these horses run, play, ...

It seems it wasn't that long ago [September] when I was speaking of "New Beginnings" then.  My, how time just seems to slip by!  But here it is January, the beginning of a brand new year.  So, how are those "New Year's Resolutions" coming?  Are you sticking by them, or have they seemed to go by the wayside?!  Personally, I've stopped long ago making New Year's Resolutions.  I never seem to keep them, at least not for long...so I end up being more frustrated with myself...not the best of situations.   What I do try to do is set some realistic goals for myself, and by God's grace and power I'm endeavoring to reach them.    I do like the thought of new beginnings...God does as well!  He desires for us to reach new heights and do greater things for Him and for ourselves.  Today, I just wanted to share some quotations with you, that might be an encouragement to you to reach higher heights and keep on keeping on fo...

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...

"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 ...