Volunteering for the Medical Reserve Corps

FWIW, these were my personal thoughts before volunteering…

For me it took a lot of prayerful deliberation. I really sought God’s will for my life. Everything always comes down to what you believe to be true.

I know it is right to be in the world not of the world.

I know it is right to stand up for the common good, for decency, for truth, right, and for the rights of the innocent.

I know that it is right to love others as though they are your own. “Do unto others…”

I know who my God is.

I have made a study of what is the right way to face the trouble ahead.

What did Jesus do? 

He healed the lepers. He healed the lame. He gave sight to the blind….and so much more.

Well, then the dilemma became — even during a pandemic?

The answer to that came back — yes, even and especially then.

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“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with

him, and he with Me.” ~Revelation 3:20

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No where in the Bible are we ever guaranteed a smooth ride in life. There is a blessed hope and He is who I cling to. Pray about all that you do and what it is that motivates your heart. Whose will are you seeking? Your own or God’s.

After years of praying about this I arrived at the preparedness message.

The best way to survive this, in my very humble opinion, is to ensure that each town resident is prepared to weather the “storm” ahead for several months (as many as possible) while remaining in their home as much as they can. Only going out when absolutely necessary – for work, school,or necessities will be important.

Some folks will need help in order to achieve this goal. Getting to the store, even just hearing the word to prepare is tough to get through, making lists, shopping, many things may need to be done.

Those who can, do.

Who else will?

For me, I don’t want to leave this task to others. I must not be the burden I will be if I am not prepared.

So I am working on it again.

Check on your neighbors, ask them if they are ready.

Then set up lines of communication apart from cell phones and land lines. Mike Coston had a good suggestion here and here.

Pray about joining the Monson Medical Reserve Corps

Its our town, helping our town!

 

Technorati Tags: Monson MA,Monson Medical Reserve Corps,Pandemic Preparedness

 

- Acts 17:11-

Are You Ready For Anything?

The beautiful thing about thinking about true preparedness, it covers all aspects of your life. Or, at least it should.

The simple fact is the next few years are going to be full of challenges. Just hearing of wars and rumors of wars, rumors of pestilence, and threats of this or that, can be unsettling – but it doesn’t have to be. The tension in this country alone seems to be at a fevered pitch. The world seems ready to burst at its seams.

Knowing that we are prepared to weather the storms ahead by, first, staying in the Word of God has helped us to prepare both mentally and physically. Do we have a lot of treasure? Not at all. Are we ready to endure, yes we are.

Be assured of your own salvation, know the comfort that this brings. Know what it is like to not worry about anything. Have joy, faith, love, and the abundant richness of peace that comes from knowing. Living this, LIVING THIS, every day brings glory to God.

When all the world seems like it is crashing around us, having that peace will make people hunger and thirst for what is ours and can be theirs through knowing Jesus Christ.

I am not saying to compromise truth, I am saying take the mote out of your own eye first.  I am saying – don’t demand that others follow you, blaze the path in your own heart first. If they choose to follow, wonderful. I am saying that God does not need our wrath to help Him accomplish anything.

We know what the Word of God says about the issues of our day. We know what we believe to be true. The Word of God is a sword that divides, but it is not a sword of battle in the natural sense. The Word of God is not something to beat others over the head with. How we should then live is with confidence in the Word of Truth that we know, we need to live it in our lives first – every single day without compromise.

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” ~Philippians 4:13

It seems as though some think that if we do not confront the issues of the day we will lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the lost. The way that some confront these issues makes me think that they are living in fear, they are demanding their rights because their life and liberty is in jeopardy. So they confront with anything but meekness. How hard this must be.

The idea that this has become a nation of secularists, agnostics and atheists, makes them bristle. But does this bristling come from a hedonistic desire to have rights and to live in a country where we are comfortable as Christians or does it come from the knowledge that those who oppose Christianity are lost for eternity and are their actions motivated by deep care, concern, and love for the lost? If it is from deep care and concern, from the love of Jesus Christ, then his example is how we are to reach the them. Never did I read in the Word of God where Jesus angrily confronted anyone. Never did he stage anything that mocked the lost and sinful. Never did he do anything that could have been considered to have a angry motive except when the money changers were in the outer courts of the temple.

I grieve the loss of Christian ethics in our society, I grieve moral disintegration, I grieve what will be visited upon the innocent and I know a time of trouble will be visited upon all of us. But even in that time of trouble I will have the peace that surpasses all understanding if I am right with God. And it is that peace that is the light that must illuminate the path ahead.

Our forefathers may have had Christian ideals when they founded this nation, but this was never a Christian nation. We never lived in a theocracy, and this is not the kingdom that we long for, live for, or should be fighting for. We are Americans by earthly citizenship, but we have a dual citizenship. Religion and religious values should influence government and policies through what we bring to the table as involved citizens. But as James tells us, with bridled tongue and meekness. The most that we can hope for here is that the majority of people share in our deeply held beliefs. Demanding that others, who do not recognize or long for this truth, tow the line is demanding something that is not for us to demand. Debating in order to change minds about the need to protect the innocent in a day of evil will not happen unless there is a heart change first. Wipe the dust from your feet and move on.

Hearing and Doing the Word

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
~James 1:19-27

We are living under judgment already. Abortion, lawlessness, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, love of money, these are the judgment. And they will increase as more and more people abandon God for the idolatry of today. Instead of fighting, battling, screaming, demonstrating, and fighting against the judgment that some are taking on themselves, live the peace that is ours.

That is not to say that we should live under the judgment. And we should always be ready to speak about the reason for our hope. We have peace and joy. Those under the judgment will not.

Be ready to heap coals of kindness. Be ready to love your enemy, be ready, be prepared to bring glory to God because you are wholeheartedly devoted to His Son Jesus Christ.

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
~James 3:13-18

Technorati Tags: Living in the end times,Book of James

Have No Fear – but do not be deceived

[In response to the vaccine controversy that I am hearing talked about daily]

God will reveal to us the identity of the beast through the Bible. There will be an unholy trinity revealed, antichrist – the beast, Satan – the dragon, and the false prophet – the second beast, who will expedite worship of the beast, insisting people to take his mark.

This unholy trinity will rule using an apostate one world, global religion, a one world government, and a one world economy. Lately I have been reading about far too many global initiatives for my comfort, and they all seem to appeal on the surface. Of course people who do not know the Word of God will embrace these “wonderful, enlightened” initiatives. They are deceived and they are following man’s reasoning and logic.

Are we there yet?

• I pray that in my own Bible reading, God reveals to me where we are in time.
• I pray that I am not deceived.

For unsaved family and friends I suggest that they pray that God reveals Himself to them.

One thing is for sure, I would not want to live without the indwelling Holy Spirit in the days ahead.

The beast

When that beast comes he will appeal to the whole world. He will appear to be a good man, a child of light, and many will come to worship him, believing that he is their God.

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
~Revelation 13:16-17

Seven heads and ten horns – the world will worship him and look to him for peace.

For three and a half years there will be peace and safety. He will appear as a gentle loving man who will first soothe and comfort and exalt himself, that he is here to rescue the people of earth.

Then the covenant with many will be broken.

if you don’t receive the mark you will be hated and then killed. You will not be able to buy or sell.

"Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."
~Matthew 10:21,22

If you receive the mark…

"If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
~Revelation 14:9-11

Refuse the mark, be killed here, but then live with God

"Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
~Revelation 20:4

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Persecution Will Come

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
~Matthew 10:16

Addressing specifically the vaccine controversy

Now, being wise as serpents and harmless as doves, if you thought long and hard about it, how would you implement this mark? Vaccines on the surface seem so wonderful, life saving, and good. Could they be used as a method of delivery for the mark. Yes, but there use would also involve worshipping the beast. We have to be careful that we do not jump into something that just is not true. The mark has to knowingly be taken. Are we trusting man and science more than we are trusting God? This is a controversy that will not go away. And to be honest with you, I do not have a clear answer. This is something that I myself will have to constantly pray about. I did have my flu shot this year, and I am still praising God.

I choose to put on the full armor of God and trust that seeking His truth daily I will not be deceived when the time comes. If you were to ask me if the fullness of this time is here yet, I would say no.

But I too, am watching the horizon. I too, am cautious. I too, am vigilant.

So what should we expect and how shall we live?

Matthew 10 continues on, beginning with verse 17…

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

The Bible is the sword – the sword of truth…the sword of truth that will divide even families

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Have No Fear!

Resources:

Want to be edified?

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

"a noble army, men and boys, the matron and the maid, climbed the steep ascent of heaven, ‘mid peril, toil, and pain."

Martyrs Mirror

"They pressed with such force through the strait gate, they left their flesh on the posts."

Technorati Tags: vaccines,faith based

Why Be Ready, Why Be Prepared – More journaling for today.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when,mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. ~1 Peter 2:18-25

So we choose to not serve mammon, we serve God.

While serving God we are subject to earthly masters – both good and gentle and also unjust ones.

Lately it seems like we are entering into a season of very unjust masters.

“But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”

And we will suffer for doing good.

Jesus Christ is our model. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Be patient, continue trusting God.

 

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So in my travels around the net today I found all sorts of calls for us to stand up and against the new world order. Calls to stand up and against “the change” that is ahead. I read calls to get upset about the economy, to get upset that our rights are being stepped on.

I read many reports where people just seem terrified by the approaching storm and all the upheaval we will endure.

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True or not, you decide.

 

‘Every day brings this nation closer to Nazi-style totalitarian abyss’ a Ex-Hitler youth’s warning to America

Obama to fund forced abortions 

- De-funded during the Bush Administration, US money for the UN Population Fund that supports China’s policy of coercive abortion will flow again during the Obama Administrations, say supporters.

World Leaders Agree to Seek Major Global Reform

World leaders holding an emergency meeting to combat the economic crisis agreed yesterday to a far-reaching action plan that, over the next 4 1/2 months, would begin to reshape international financial institutions and reform worldwide regulatory and accounting rules.

Japan to seek to take lead in creating new financial order: Aso

Prime Minister Taro Aso has made an ambitious bid to take the lead in creating a new global financial mechanism, as Japan announced its fresh commitment to tackling the global economic crisis.

Obama backs global response to crisis: advisers

President-elect Barack Obama supports a coordinated response to the global financial crisis and is ready to work with Group of 20 countries on improving the financial system when he takes office.

Obama urges Congress to quickly pass rescue plan

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday urged lawmakers to quickly pass at least “a down payment” on a new economic rescue plan to help resuscitate the ailing American economy.

2009 Terror Attack Being Peddled By Establishment Media, Intelligence Sources

The notion that terrorists will attack America shortly after Barack Obama takes office is again being vigorously pushed by the corporate media as well as shadowy intelligence sources, and has reached the same crescendo that preceded 9/11, a disturbing sign that the public is being prepared for a newly manufactured mass casualty event.

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My point is…be patient, continue trusting the Overseer of our souls.

Matthew 24:4-21

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 1At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

"So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

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the abomination that causes desolation, then destruction in Judea.

 

Technorati Tags: reach the world with the Gospel

Just journaling my thoughts today – Matthew 7:7-11

Ask, and It Will Be Given

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

 

 

Take care when your brother asks you for bread, that you give him not stones.

 

Changes require wisdom and discernment. Ask, seek, knock.

 

What wisdom do I have? None that I care to share because I do not want to give my brother stones. All I seem capable of doing is pointing to what I notice so that we can pray about such things together.

 

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

 

“I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name”

 

Those old hymns are wonderful.

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: wholly trust in Jesus’ Name

Love the Lord your God – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

How to live during a pandemic period

~ the Christian Faith Based view is dependent on our love of God. ~

God is with us. He will not leave us. He will not abandon us. He will strengthen us, give us courage, and He will help us to stand – NO MATTER WHAT COMES

What He asks of us is that we love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind. He also asks that we love those in our lives as we love ourselves. During a pandemic, during any crisis, that may initially seem quite difficult. That is because we allow our mind to get ahead of us. We allow fear to creep in. We also know that when we are truly fully relying on God, He will give us the strength to endure all. Do not fear.

The One who makes this promise to us is the same One who created the universe. He knows the count of every strand of hair on our head. He knows past, present and future. God makes no mistakes, He knows no boundaries, He is without measure, He is infinite, and He rules His entire creation. He has given us free will to come to Him or to reject Him, but He will not leave us, He is faithful and true all we need do is turn to Him.

One of the greatest prayers that any unbeliever can pray is to pray that God reveals Himself to them.

What will be needed of believers during a pandemic is fearlessness. Fearlessness but not foolhardiness. H5N1 is one terrible virus, and there are other infectious diseases that we may have to work around.

I plan on helping my neighbors all that I can during any crisis that we may face, but I will use my God given intelligence to do so without bringing harm to myself or others. Going door to door aiding others without taking the necessary infectious disease precautions would be a short-lived sort of assistance, literally. We want to be able to love others for the duration of the pandemic, not just a few hours or days. Preparation is necessary in order for our faith based efforts to work in helping others. And what a blessed opportunity we have been given to be able serve God during such a time as this.

Comfort others in the grief, provide food and water to those in need, providing care for children, burying the dead…we will be needed. We will need to love our neighbor and demonstrate that love in real world ways.

This is why we do it

The Great Commandment

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." ~Matthew 22:34-40

“On these two commandment depend all the law and the Prophets.”

“You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.”

The greatest commandment because without the first the second is impossible in it’s entirety and in it’s purest form.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love the Lord your God

with all of your heart – our physical essence and the source of our physical strength. But so much more, the heart is life both spiritual and physical. The heart defines us by what we will and what we desire. Noble, brave, or wicked and depraved, etc., all are attitudes said to be defined in the heart. The heart is the source of our volitions. What I choose to do in my heart, my mind follows, and then my feet. The heart is where we choose the attitude that we will live by at any given time. Our mind may seek retaliation but it is the heart that quiets that urge and seeks love, patience and peace instead. The souls is where the hope lives that stems from the right attitude of our heart.

your soul – the essence and source of expression of mind and body. The soul is the vessel of the deeds of our body, the sum of our emotions and thoughts and the will and attitude of our heart. The soul is who we have been, who we are, and who we will become. It is where we take in the information from our mind and the longings of our heart and define them as our own. The soul is the ethereal imprint of our being and it is what we bring with us when we meet the Lord God. And we will ALL meet the Lord God.

your mind – Our intellect – where we use our knowledge of the world around us and our understanding and develop the attitudes of our heart. The mind utilizes the brain, the organ that senses the world around us and gathers and stores the information that we encounter every day and analyzes that information, the mind feeds the soul and controls the heart.

Love the Lord your God with all of your being. The Apostle Mark added that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our strength. All of our strength is implied because when we take the heart, soul, and mind, in their entirety that is our strength. Love God with your all, with everything that is you. Everything that is you.

The second commandment and obedience to it springs from and is an outpouring of the first. When we love the Lord our God with all of our strength, we will have the ability to love all who are within our sphere of influence, those who God brings into our lives.

There are two expressions of that ability to love.

We have a choice to make, non-believers and believers alike. I don’t tell others what to believe in, but I will tell others that I believe with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. In doing this, and in praying for the ability to love others my heart has been expanded.

We always have a choice

Either we can relate to others by ignoring them, by impacting them for evil or by having an impact on them for good. By ignoring others we have chosen the way of evil since we are not fulfilling the second commandment, to love others as we love ourselves. We cannot ignore our selves and our needs, nor do we want to. We have a drive to survive. So as believers our choice has already been made. We must shed our fear and our lukewarm-ness and become on fire for Christ Jesus. When we do that our passion to fulfill the Greatest Commandment takes all precedence over our lives.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." ~Matthew 22:34-40

 

These words of Jesus Christ were spoken in order that we may know that Deuteronomy 6 was a command that carried forward into the present day.

Old Testament to New – we are still live under the Greatest Commandment

Deuteronomy 6

The Greatest Commandment

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Reading further in Deuteronomy we find more explanation of the heart state required then and now. This is the expression and what is meant by loving our neighbor as ourselves. Look how we are to love the sojourner, the fatherless and the widows, giving them food and clothing. Not because works save us but because we are saved we understand this command.

Circumcise Your Heart

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. ~Deuteronomy 10: -22

Then, as now, there was a blessing and a curse associated with commandments of God. Obey or disobey, there are consequences. Early rain and later rain there are promises to those who keep the commandments of God….and to those who disobey there is punishment. We can lose our reward, complete disobedience to the commandment may indicate that we are not of the Lords flock. “Take care lest your heart be deceived”.

"You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

"And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.

"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.

"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh? For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today. ~Deuteronomy 11

…and Deuteronomy 12 continues…

"These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.

“All the days that you live on the earth”

This verse has current day political implications. Stand by Israel. Another topic for another day.

And now, in the latter rain period, we are to live abiding to the Greatest Commandment. Jesus fulfilled the Law and as the Son of God, fully man – yet fully God, He gives us the power to fulfill the Commandment of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The essence of God that indwells us at the moment of our new birth when we are born into Jesus’ flock.

I and the Father Are One

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law,’I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." And many believed in him there. ~John 10:22-42

Believe

Stand firm, and love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Loving our neighbor will follow when we give all of our heart to the Lord God and we live in obedience to Him.

visit my other blog: Prepared Citizens

 

Technorati Tags: H5N1,pandemic preparedness,influenza,readiness,faith based

I could sit still in my faith

Faith like a child.

Even wearing my dirtiest robes God loved and loves me.

When I sin it grieves the Lord but it grieves me too. I hate the sin that I do. And I do. And I do.

But I know that all I have to do is turn back to Him and away from my own selfishness and pride, look at my own fault and pray for change and cleansing, and it is mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember as a girl being punished and sent to my room. I would spend hours bored to tears. As an “active” child who preferred climbing trees and playing baseball, closing me in my room for hours was a good punishment.

Sitting on my bed I had plenty of time to think about what I had done wrong.

Usually about 3 or 4 hours into my punishment I would write pages about what I did wrong and hand them to my parents. They never asked me to do this. But I wanted to let them know that I had truly thought about what I had done wrong and wanted to correct my behavior. I started writing very young.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obviously I still write.

And I still confess my deeds done before men and before God.

And I have done much that is wrong.

As I sit here I can say that there IS forgiveness for the truly contrite heart. God does not demand works of us, nor does He demand perfection. It simply is not possible. We cannot elevate ourselves to be on a par with the only perfect man, Jesus Christ. The Redeemer of all who would believe – and I believe.

He died upon the cross carrying all of our sins, past, present and even future on that day, that hour and that minute that He died.

 

 

And this is what happened when He voluntarily gave up His life for us, so that we may have new life in Him.

 

 

The testimony of nature

There was no “eclipse”, yet the sun was darkened. At the time of year (Passover) when Jesus Christ was crucified the sun and the moon are opposite each other – there could be no eclipse. Yet, at mid-day, when the sun should be burning brightest, it was darkened while Jesus Christ was mocked and jeered.

That darkening demonstrates God’s judgment, and it is clear.

There is only one escape from this judgment to this day – to bow the knee in faith.

God controlled nature in order that we could see that this was not some zealot dying for what He believed in, but the Son of God bearing the weight of our sin for us. He became our sin.

In Hebrew and Aramaic He cried “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani”. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He thirsted for God and then He voluntarily gave up the spirit to His Father in heaven.

…and He wasn’t even a sinner, but the most righteous man to ever live. Even those who do not believe in Him as the Saviour recognize Him as a great teacher or prophet. Yet His own testimony of Himself would then make Him a liar. He cannot be both – He is the Son of God, by faith I testify to this.

The earth quaked and the thick and heavy temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom – not by man but by God, exposing the Holy of Holies, and demonstrating that through Jesus Christ God is approachable.

Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need ~Heb. 4:16

The end of the sacrificial system – works – had come.

The sayings of Jesus Christ on the Cross

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”, prayed because of the Roman soldiers who were putting Him to death by decree. They did not know. They did not recognize Him.

The repentant thief who recognized the righteousness of Jesus was saved.

And then He lovingly placed the care of His mother into the hands of his beloved disciple John.

One day

Jesus Christ will come back in triumph. He will unroll the title deed to the earth, that He alone is worthy of opening, and Satan will be removed from his throne. (Revelation 5:7)

and then

 

 

Revelation 6

The First Seal–Rider on White Horse

Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."

I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

The Second Seal–War

When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."

And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

The Third Seal–Famine

When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come " I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."

The Fourth Seal–Death

When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come."

I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The Fifth Seal–Martyrs

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;

and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

The Sixth Seal–Terror

I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

 

I could sit still in my faith and not do works

Not by works, but by faith – that is how we find fellowship with God.

Because I love Him I want to serve Him.

Do you desire God?

Technorati Tags: Revelation,End Times,Seven Seals

Sanctify

Here I am in that old place again
Down on my face again
Crying out I want you to hear my plea
Come down and rescue me

How long will it take
How long will I have to wait?

And all I want is all you have
Come to me, rescue me,
Fall on me with your love
And all you want is all I have
Come to me, rescue me,
fall on me with your love

Sanctify I want to be set apart
Right to the very heart
Prophesy to the four winds
And breathe life to this very place

How long will it take?
How long will I have to wait?

And all I want is all you have
Come to me rescue me,
Fall on me with your love
And all you want is all I have
Come to me rescue me,
Fall on me with your love

Lifted up I’ve climbed with the strength I have
Right to this mountain top
Looking out the cloud’s getting bigger now
It’s time to get ready now

Written by Stuart Garrard/Martin Smith ©1997 Curious? Music UK

Technorati Tags: Sanctify,Delirious

Massachusetts Marijuana Laws Nov 4 2008 Election

Technorati Tags: Massachusetts Marijuana Laws 2008,personal testimony

Count it all joy!

For the public’s health: To educate by experience

Please allow me to tell my story here. And why I urge great caution when deciding whether or not to decriminalize marijuana even more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a very personal story and one that I freely give as a hard lesson about the dangers of marijuana.

Marijuana is a seductress.

I started smoking marijuana, and at the time hashish, when I was 12 years old.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 6 years old. My favorite brand was my mothers Kent’s and I even smoked about a pack a day for a short time – although I suspect many were shared with my 12 year old friend “Lauren” who encouraged my thievery, neither of us innocent any longer.

I started swimming and all that stopped until I was 16 and picked it up again at 3 packs a day, ending my swimming career. I ended up quitting smoking altogether when I was 24 and have only had brief forays back into that habit.

My mom? Because of her addiction she did not notice – she could not smell it on me, nor did she seem to care. She was addicted, and she had cartons of cigarettes everywhere. Dad smoked too. Even when my brother tried to tell her once about my smoking, she did not believe my brother. Who would believe that a six year old was smoking. Now I look back thinking that I added to my brothers heavy burden in life because I think that my mother blamed him for stealing her cigarettes. My brother, the one who is missing, he had a tough life too. Adoption can be a wonderful and beautiful thing, sometimes. Not that I am saying all things were bad.

We all make excuses and allowances in our lives for what gives us a little bit of pleasure. When I smoked I never cared about my second hand smoke, nor my littering of cigarette butts everywhere.

I was born a smoker since both of my parents smoked, so many did in those days. (If we step out of our own generation and look back at ourselves —- when I look in the mirror – the reflection isn’t so pretty. But I digress.)

At 12 years old I was introduced to marijuana and hashish by a family member who I idolized. He had gone off to college and had returned for the summer. I jumped at the opportunity. I was so confused about life by that age that the relief seemed wonderful. It allowed me to be numb. It continued to be wonderful for many of my days. I don’t remember much about my sophomore year in high school. I was smoking about 2 joints a day at the time. Before the bus, in the carport at school at lunch, on the way home and after dinner, I was always a little buzzed.

And then the other shoe dropped.

There was a long period where I escaped the clutches of the seductress, the soother of my fevered mind. I did get away from pot for a time. I picked up the pieces of my life and moved on.

But old crutches never seem to go away entirely. Periods of stress in our lives, we rely on these things that seemed to work and we pick them up again and again and again.

Pot didn’t seem all bad to me. I could even point to health benefits — and there were some. My athletic and intense, but living dead self, had abused this shell of a body. I became numb to that pain. I could breathe easier it seemed, both physically… and mentally. To this day I still have constant pain but things have changed.

I gave up smoking pot as a sacrifice that I must make for my children. I became a mom and my mitzvah to my husband and family was to quit smoking pot. The key here to remember is that at this point what I gave up what I gave up  – for my family. My husband, my children. I loved and love them still. This worked for about 10 or so years.

And then my body betrayed me in a big way. I was ill at the time. Misdiagnosed. Scared. Very ill in many ways. I prayed to be saved. My prayer was, Jesus I cannot go another day, another minute. I believe you are the Son of God, please save me.

I was a newly born Christian with all the headstrong thinking that that can be brought out of our broken lives.

I thought that I had to be a toughie and I was being a toughie with Jesus Christ. I thought that my little bit of a walk with Jesus could wrestle a demon in my life. What I had given to Him, I thought I could take back to manage once again.

This attitude that has taught me humility over the years. I am unreliable when I am not living in dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Kids grown, purpose in life adrift, walking on at arms length….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why I had neglected the wonderful blessing other than it was ordained so that I could learn that Jesus wants all of me. Even that He should want all of me – how could my heart have grown so cold?

…and my husband deserved all of me, how I forgot this was through the seductress of my life. An idol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So then……

The long illness of both of my adoptive parents, a brother who is missing, a brother who I am estranged from, and an extended family that I am also estranged from, all the least  – the greater yet – my brothers and sisters in Christ who I longed to be with but COULD NOT be.

And greater still – Jesus,

the silence of the Holy Spirit, yet He was not silent.

It was like a torch burning bright was suddenly doused. Yet, I knew that He was right there all along.

The wind blew and I was blown over.

I was beginning to build a foundation upon sand and the correction came.

I was hit by a cloud of confusion and outright sin. I was hurt and in my confusion I hurt others. I didn’t think that what I was doing was wrong at the time. I thought that I was on the side of right. I may never sort it all out, I am not sure there is a need to, perhaps, but as the Lord leads.

I fell back into the clutches of the seductress – but I did not sin against God.

The testing by fire commenced.

(I can only relate this as an inner dialogue. I prayed continuously about what I was doing. I was in fear of God. Waves of pride, ripples of joy, waves of guilt and shame all washed over me)

I begged for a clean heart. I prayed that every bit of my heart could be totally and furiously scrubbed.

and so this was what it was like.

Do you love me? Yes Lord!

Then learn all that I am going to teach you. You will study the wisdom of men and you will learn their ways.

And we will see what you do with what I give you.

Do you love me? Yes Lord!

Then tell all those teachers who are teaching you these things how much you love me. I will give you a heart that burns in love for them because you asked me for the heart to love them. I will answer this prayer of yours. But know this, the other part of your prayer will also be answered. I had prayed to love others so much that I could lay my life down for them. A friend of mine, who I love, said “uh oh” when he heard me say that.

And the chastening and sanctification by fire continued.

Darkness and light.

As believers we can take heart that all we have to do is turn and He is right there. He never changes, it is us who turn and can turn back – over and over. He is already inclined toward us because of the new birth. Hallelujah for the new birth and glory be to God!

We are tested and tried. And the trying of our faith is wonderful. All that I was living was glorious and very painful. People will attest to this.

Jesus break me. Tenderize this old heart of mine.

I was learning the wisdom of pain and suffering.

Do you love me? yea Lord

Then die for me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So back to the Marijuana Laws of Massachusetts

Changes sought in marijuana laws

But police warn that marijuana use isn’t harmless

and

Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative (2008)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do not speak as an accuser of anyone. I speak as an abuser and user who is under no compulsion or punishment to speak.

I speak as one with experience, knowledge, and some wisdom, about this seductress.

She is a thief too.

She stole years of my life, years of my mind. Years of service.

I have enjoyed the smoke and pleasure and I have resented it too.

I have resented the time away from my family. The hard earned resources selfishly squandered. The control that I lacked at times.

I have resented the years that I felt the need to live hiding because of the use of an illegal substance.

I once had a very good friend tell me that I was dead to him. The reason…a misunderstanding over marijuana.

This is not the way of life – It is a way of death.

And the hope – there truly is hope.

Every day is a new day and a new opportunity awakens with each dawning light that today can be a better one.

One embraced soberly, joyously, through the victory that belongs to Jesus Christ. By living for Him and only because of Him we can have victory over whatever darkens our lives.

So back to the mitzvah.

What I once had put down for my family was easily taken up again. What I learned is that what I lay down for my Saviour, the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ,

He will hold on to for me. I just need to be obedient to Him. I need to always remember that I have no strength or power, I am nothing.

I have faith in Jesus Christ.

I have the Holy Spirit who is everything in my life. God is everything.

My mitzvah is my own afflictions offered up to Him for His use and purposes.

Do you love me? Yes Lord, I do love you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pray that I never, ever, forget this long wrestling lesson. I know that I will be tested and tried again and again so that I grow even more in faithfulness and grace. Such is the Christian life. Pitfalls and pain but also unspeakable joy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So about November 4th and the marijuana laws.

There are many issues on both sides of the argument that are valid points. BUT

I know that my life would have been a lot different had I never smoked marijuana.

I still struggle with the urge every day. It is not addicting, not physically, but it is psychologically and that can be just as bad, if not worse.

Would I want this for my children or grandchildren? No

Would I want care and compassion? Yes

Would I want strictness so that they are deterred? Yes and again Yes.

You decide. (Much more discussion is necessary)

There is not one thing that God NEEDS US to do

How can I say one more thing, how can I do even one more thing?

Know just who He is! The Creator of all the universe, and I am His child. To know this, truly know this, is an indescribable experience.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”

~1 John 3:1

He is, Lord God Creator, of all of the Universe.

God does not NEED US. He does not need me.

He allows us to be partakers, allows us to be blessed, by all that HE does.

All we can hope to do is comfort one another with all that He does for us in our lives in order to bring glory to Jesus Christ.

And He is doing so many amazing things that this Christian feels the overwhelming need to be face down on the floor.

I never get tired of telling my story because my story isn’t my own. It is all about the power of God.

I have been so lost several times in my life that I wanted to die.

Alone, that is a word now, alone. I felt a lone during those times. With a pit in my gut and heartache in my heart I walked on alone. Family all around me that I truly did and do love, yet I was alone.

And wanting death.

So I chose the slow way. So no one would notice. I was so sick of life’s burdens. These heavy bags. I just could not put them down. My life, bills, struggles, ill-health, all these things were the chains on my wrists and feet. And they were growing heavier and heavier. There was no relief, no end in sight, to the burden.

In those heavy bags I carried every hurt, every tear, as if they were my clothes. And I hated them. I was searching for a way out.

~

My mother once told me “If you ever find yourself in a spot where you cannot fall any further down, pray to Jesus and He will lift you up. He will save you”.

~

My wonderful husband always patiently answered my questions about what he believed, but he never pushed his belief on me. But I was curious. He had been through a great deal in his life and he had a serenity.

He bought me my first Bible. I tried to read it but it was so difficult

I just love this man. He prayed for me. He led me without pushing me.

~

I used to be a hider. I hid everything. I had hid from him my horrible heartache. It was a pattern that I had. I hid things all of my life. But evidence of what was breaking me down was coming out in many other ways. I wasn’t hiding things very well anymore. I had a divine appointment waiting for me. I did not know then that I was heading off to it.

~

My husband remained patient, he prayed, and he did not push me. I trust being submissive to this wonderful man.

~

I believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. This must have been a historical sort of belief because when I was in the bottom of that pit, I called out as a true believer in the Son of God, one needing a Saviour.

For me there was this brilliant moment where I knew that I had committed my life to following Jesus Christ. I had that moment where I know that I was lifted up and out of my misery.

~

I was growing and I was obedient….and I was becoming complacent and judgmental.

So new in Jesus Christ, so soonn my love for my brothers and sisters was growing cold. Life was becoming life as I had known it. How could this be? I was a new creation in Christ. I thought my path should be straight and narrow and totally devoid of wrestling.

~

One of my last Sundays in church I had prayed to be able to love others with the love of Christ Jesus and to be able to lay my life down for others if that is what God wanted for my life.

The testing fires so that I would grow in grace, a journey of trust and faith, had began.

Satan demanded to have me…yes, I believe he did. By the grace of God and by the Cross of Christ, satan did not prevail. Not because of my strength or worthiness, I am so very unworthy, but because Jesus Christ is already the victor.

I turned again, and I prayed once more to know God’s purpose for my life. What I thought I once knew I needed to know again.

~

I became passionate about the problems ahead and how many do not know and will not understand why these things must take place. The threshing floor is coming to meet us.

The death of millions, a loss of this magnitude. How can I be silent?

My path was illuminated.

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Luke 14:27

I did not know that I could finish the race. I became afraid and unsure of my own voice.

I did not know because I had forgotten that I am not running this race.

I am being carried across the finish line. Because He is.

~

Are you not finishing the race? Turn away from what is killing your joy, you already know what it is. It is your own pride, your own heart.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20

 

 

Technorati Tags: Power of God,Finishing the race,overcomers

Psalm 127:3

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

 

We have allowed our society to trample on this heritage – our children, our reward.

We have failed to be good stewards of this heritage.

For as long as the law of our land is to allow for the murder of the innocent, and that is what abortion is, murdering the unborn, we have failed.

There is no excuse, no rationalization, no equivocation, we have failed to “occupy till He comes”.

We have allowed our apathetic hearts to turn a blind eye to the murder of millions. A modern day holocaust and we blithely go about our days business with little regard for what is happening all around us.

We should be on our faces, prostrate before our God. We are unworthy. I am unworthy. My robes are spotted with the blood of the innocent because my own voice has not been raised in outcry against what is happening before my very eyes.

We have a choice to be heard this election.

Huntley Brown wrote an article on his website that is truly something that should be read and reread if you are not sure who you will be voting for in this election. It is my hope that those who are convinced that Barak Obama is the right man for the job reconsider their vote. I must repeat the verse.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3

This article is found on Mr. Huntley Brown’s website.

Why I Can’t Vote For Obama
By Huntley Brown

Dear Friends,
A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it’s worth repeating.

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness.
I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can’t dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can’t vote black because I am black, I have to vote Christian because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.
We need to follow Martin Luther King’s words, don’t judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don’t know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record.

His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)
To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing.

Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.
There is a reason the homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.
Let’s take a look at the practice he wanted to continue.

THE 5 STEP PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION PROCEDURE
A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the (live) baby’s leg with forceps.
B. The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

God help him.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.
Think about this: you can’t give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years.
Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright’s sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 – 20 ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you, talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.
Would you support a President who went to a church like that?
Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama’s former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can’t be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can’t have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if it’s a white church or a black church it’s still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama’s former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: ‘Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.

Cone is the man Obama’s mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?
So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing – judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king.
First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 ‘Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.’

Then God says
1 Samuel 1:18 ‘ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.’ 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’ 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, ‘Listen to them and give them a king.’

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama’s positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someone’s value system has to be placed on the nation,
1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation?
2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?
Blessings,
Huntley Brown

 

And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:11-13

 

Occupy till I come

Technorati Tags: Psalm 127:3,Occupy till I come,Abortion,infanticide,Huntley Brown

And they brought young children to Him

"And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God"  Mark 10:13-14

Do we have a sacred trust to the weak things of this world? If we fail to love them like Jesus loves us, have we failed then to bring them to Him? We must not stand in the way of the message of the Cross. Can we harden our hearts to the sufferings of others, should we?

When we fail to love our enemies and our brethren alike, have we not failed Jesus Christ? That is what He commands. Not because we are to do works but because of our deep abiding love for Jesus Christ which causes us to want to do works of love as He has gifted us to do through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

But he said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’  But he said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ Luke 9:59-62

Once sanctified are we not called back into the field? Here I am send me, should be the literal cry from our heart. It is from my prayer and my plea.

Maybe I am wrong in this. But it is my love for Jesus Christ that calls on me to love and assist others.

We are the witnesses. We are witnessing to the power of the love that Jesus Christ had for us by dying on the cross at Calvary.

I am a witness to the love and hope that I have found in Jesus Christ by being in the world and not of the world. Even in the most dire and deadly of times, I do not have to be afraid because of the hope that I have. I have given to Jesus Christ all of my heart and all of my life for Him to do with as He pleases. I am just a witness to His love.

 

Technorati Tags: Mark 10:13-14,Luke 9:59-62,Witnesses