steadfastness

May 18, 2017

Unchangeable!

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8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ​– Hebrews 13:8 NLT

Any time, we hear a message or read a devotional or blog, the first thing that we must be sure of is that it is aligned with the Holy Scripture. God and His Word are not capable of being changed. Any time, we are listening or reading and feel a little tug at our hearts or minds, we need to stop and check the Word. There are different translations of the scriptures, some better than others. But they should all present the same thoughts. If anyone should say that God has given them something to add to His Word, have them read this scripture passage:

Revelation 22:18,19 (GW) 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to this, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book. 19 If anyone takes away any words from this book of prophecy, God will take away his portion of the tree of life and the holy city that are described in this book.


Our relationship with Jesus Christ does not depend on rituals or the kind of foods we eat. It isn’t the externals, it is what is in our heart. Will we be insulted and offended for our faithfulness? Ask the Christians in Iraq right now. We will have to endure insults just as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, did.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 05-18-2017

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May 4, 2016

People, Get Ready!

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1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God. — John 1:1, 2 NLT

John 1:1-5 NLT

He was, He is and He always shall be.  The Trinity, the triune God was, is and ever shall be. They were, They are and They always shall be. They existed before time as we know it, They are alive today and They always shall be.  Two are in heaven, One abides in us. Together, They planned what was, what is and what is to come.  God’s spoken and written words are infalliable, inerrant and immutable.  Their plans are unchangeable. They are the Author and the Finisher of our faith.  As it is written, so it was, so it is and so it will be.  What we believe does not and cannot change what was, what is and what will be.  What we believe wlll only determine our part in it and where we spend our eternity.  They are immovable and unstoppable. They are coming back and nothing or no one can stop them.  Our part is to believe Their story, tell Their story and live rejoicing every day because of Their story.  We, as Christians, have the one and the only true story and true hope. History has confirmed the truth of Their story over and over.
 
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
–The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John the Baptist 1:8 NLT
Post 05-04-2016
February 1, 2016

Help!

even-smaller-bug-light11  I love you, Lord; you are my strength. 2  The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;  my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
3  I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. — Psalm 18:1-3

How blessed are the children of God!  We can cry out one word and our Lord hears and saves us! How marvelous and wondeful are the works of our God! He is our all in all! He is the air that we breathe, the sustenance for our souls and our bodies, a friend in need and deed!  He is a spouse to those that will receive Him, a child, a brother, a sister, a Mother, a Dad, an aunt, an uncle, a grandfather, a grandmother!  He longs to fill every void in our life! 

He is Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider!

He is Jehovah-Ropha, our Healer!

He is Jehovah-Shalom, our Peace!

He is El-Shaddai, Almighty God, our abundant Blesser! 

He is Immanuel, God with us!

3  Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!
4  I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.  I will praise you with songs of joy. — Psalm 63:3-5 NLT

Post 02-01-2016

January 23, 2016

Living in the Sonshine

even-smaller-bug-light124 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. — Exodus 2:24, 25

God never forgets a promise.  He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would one day free the people from Egypt and that time had now come. He had listened to the groaning of His people long enough.  God never fails to deliver on a promise, but He has His own timetable to do so.  He used Moses to fulfill this promise.  If God has made a specific promise to us, individually, He will fulfill it but it may very well be after we have gone through a period of groaning and travail. He has made a specific promise to all of His children.  The first part of that promise was fulfilled when He came in the flesh to redeem us from sin and free us from our bondage to satan.  We and all of nature are now in a period of groaning, waiting for His return to take us out of Egypt (the world).  When He does come back, we will fly away with Him to our Promised Land. A land flowing with living waters and filled with the light of the Son.  No more groaning, no more sorrows, no more pain, a land where the lamb will lay down by the lion.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come! — 1 Cor. 16:22 NLT
Post 01/23/2015
January 11, 2016

Unshakable and Immovable

even-smaller-bug-light124 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” — Matt. 7:24-27 NIV

​We​ can read the Word, study the Word and memorize the Word, but as long as it remains head knowledge only, it will have little, if any, effect on the way we live. James tells us that even the demons believe there is a God and we know that satan quoted scripture in his attempt to deceive Jesus.  Until we receive the Holy Spirit and He interprets those Scriptures for us, we have little or no heart knowledge.  It is out of the abundance of the heart that we speak and act.  Just as the anointing oil that Moses poured on Aaron’s head ran down on his beard, and onto his tunic, the message must run down from our brain to our heart.  James tells us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  We will not practice doing the teachings and Words of Jesus until it affects our hearts.  So, in those times when we feel God isn’t in control and the house seems a little shaky, perhaps, we should check the foundation.  Is our lifestyle based on the Word and do our thoughts and actions reflect heart knowledge of the Word of God?  If not, maybe we need to ask God to help us remodel from the ground up.  Tear out all that fleshly, worldly stuff and build on the Solid Rock. Then when the wind blows and the storms come, the house will not be shaken.  Then, we will stand like a lighthouse in a storm and bring others safely to the shore.
 

58 My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted—be unshakable—do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God. — 1 Cor. 15:58 The Voice

Post 01-11-2016
June 7, 2015

Will Manna and Water Be Enough?

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3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.—1 Cor. 10:3-5 NIV

​As the children of Israel traveled through the desert, they began to complain about the food, so God fed them manna from heaven. They complained about the lack of water, so God had Moses strike a rock and bring forth water for them to drink. The manna represented the body of Christ, just as the wafer we take at Communion represents the body of Christ.  The rock is a representation of Jesus Christ and the water would be a foreshadowing of His blood pouring from His side when the soldier stuck his spear into His side.  So, the Exodus foreshadowed our journey that we must make.  First, they believed Moses would deliver them out of their bondage and they were baptized into Moses. Secondly, they had all the foreshadowing of salvation as represented by the baptism, the manna, and the rock. Thirdly, they had a hope of reaching the Promised Land. If we have accepted Jesus believing that He will deliver us from evil, follow His example of baptism and walk according to the Spirit, we have a hope of reaching the Promised Land, our eternal home in heaven. We, too, must make a journey and some of it will seem like a dry and thirsty land to us. Will we whine and complain or will we really, really trust Jesus and shout for joy in the midst of the storms?  Not because of the storm, but in spite of the storm. Will we be Joshuas and Calebs or Dathans and Korahs?
Post 06-07-2015
May 3, 2015

The End is Victory!

God is waiting to show you the Way.

God is waiting to show you the Way.

1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit​ ​but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?—1 Cor. 3:1-4 (NIV)
​Up until the death of Jesus​, the people would follow after certain Rabbis, the great teachers of religion in that time. These Rabbis taught the Old Testament laws and rules, as well as those who taught idol worship. Now there was a new plan of salvation instituted with the death and resurrection of Jesus. In a sense, it is understandable that the people, at that time, would have been inclined to follow the teachers and not just their teaching. Paul is telling the Corinthians that they aren’t yet able to understand the message. They must first learn that it is the message that is important and not the messenger. Until they understand this and have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord, he is not able to teach them in more depth. We still have the same thing happening in our society today. We have people who are misled and think that the messenger is the savior, thus we have cults and incidents such as Jim Jones, where people follow their leaders even unto death. Paul was concerned that the people in Corinth would turn back to the law or false religion. He wanted to be able to get them grounded in the faith by teaching them about living a Holy life after being saved, so that they, in turn, could make disciples of others. Today, we have many people who are saved and then become unsatisfied with Christianity because we don’t teach them to live holy lives. They drop out of church because we don’t teach them that living for Jesus is hard, but the joy and the end result is more than worth the effort.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.–1 Cor. 15:57 NIV