a glimpse of heaven's love

  Psalm 23: 4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;” That’s the blessing, dear Christian, of knowing Christ!   He gives us confidence in the very face of death!   That’s the first question, of course…are you truly a Christian??   I don’t plan on going into that subject on this post…but if there’s any question in your heart and mind that you’re truly saved, that you know Christ as your personal Saviour, please, please turn to the many reference labels I have concerning salvation.   That is a MUST!   …please make sure of your salvation today !     What I do wish to speak about in this post—although I’m sure I will be fairly short—is the wonderful fact that no matter what we’re facing—including death—is that we can have confidence and strength through God.   There is nothing we need to fear.   why? …because God says He is with us!   He promises over and ...

Wow!  I can't believe how long it's been since I've written anything in my blog.  Not that a lot of people tune in to check out what I have to say...but it's the people that do tune in, and more importantly, those that need to hear some of the things I have to say, that make it all worthwhile! I have a question for you!  How have you been doing?  You --personally!  Are you doing good... or are you just pluggin' along?  Check your attitudes...check your emotions...they're a sure-fire way to see how you're really doing!  We tend to be a very emotional people.  If we're happy and excited...we show it.  If we're down and discouraged, we show that as well.  There's an old saying: we tend to "wear our heart on our sleeve."  (actually, it's from Shakespeare in Othello!)  It just means we tend to be very open with our emotions.  That's not always a good thing, particularly if you're down and discouraged.  Let m...

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...

Re-post: May we go forward for God! I love trees--particularly oak trees!  They're so strong looking.  Do you know that God likens us to trees, in at least two places in scripture.  I believe I mentioned this before when I discussed fruit.  Let me reiterate!   I thank God, our God is a God of new beginnings!  He is most gracious and merciful…how awesome a God we serve!  But He's a God of new beginnings because He desires for us to go forward, to reach higher heights for Him.  Let's discuss that topic again: producing fruit.  What is "fruit" ?  I believe "fruit" is everything in our lives--as born-again Christians--that points others to Christ.  That can mean everything from the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace...), to our witness and testimony for Christ, to even the character (or God-like qualities) that God and His Holy Spirit is producing in us.  Fruit refers to evidence of what is within...

7 Deadly Devices of the Devil 2 Cor. 2:11 "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." The devil is always prepared to do battle--we need to be doubly prepared.   In any way Satan can defeat you, he will!   If he can make you ineffective as a Christian, he will!   Be on guard…and be prepared! This is taken from my Sunday school lesson just this last Sunday! (as prepared and taught by Rick Laing at Waupun Baptist Church on March 27, 2011).   I cannot take credit for it; but I can tell you the devil has definitely used every single device in my life--and he will in yours as well.   Please stand guard--be prepared in God's power! Diversion - (turning the mind from great things to minimal things, from the eternal to the temporal) Delusion - (lies and wiles) sin is pleasurable--but only for a season.   Satan knows your weaknesses and he will attack more in those areas just because he knows where you're weake...

Let me turn your attention to our military for a moment.  (It doesn't have to be American, although I am especially partial!)…any military will do for my illustration.  What are some characteristics you can think of?  Feel free to leave your comments!  Here are some I thought of: looks sharp disciplined works hard defends a cause not focused on selfish desires  Now, there's no doubt a number of other characteristics that could be added to this; but this gives us a good start.  This is an excellent comparison for us, Christian!  There are so many countless people today who call themselves "Christians," and yet really have no desire to follow the Savior.  (perhaps I'll save that for another post!)  At any rate, God calls us to have all of those characteristics, and yet too many Christians today would rather just do their own thing.  What a shame!  I think our military today would call that going "AWOL," (meaning Abse...

I love trees--particularly oak trees!  They're so strong looking.  Do you know that God likens us to trees, in at least two places in scripture.  I believe I mentioned this before when I discussed fruit.  Let me reiterate!  Because this is a new year upon us, we should be thinking how we can make this year different--how we can improve upon the things of the past.  I thank God, our God is a God of new beginnings!  He is most gracious and merciful…how awesome a God we serve!  But He's a God of new beginnings because He desires for us to go forward, to reach higher heights for Him.  Let's discuss that topic again: producing fruit.  What is fruit ?  I believe fruit is everything in our lives--as born-again Christians--that points others to Christ.  That can mean everything from the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace...), to our witness and testimony for Christ, to even the character (or God-like qualities) that God and ...