Dying to Live

To keep life in the proper perspective one needs to keep in mind,” The minute you are born, you begin to die”. This is God’s plan for us here on this earth but not for eternity. John 14:1-3 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. Sweet Jesus, thank you for these words. The trials of this world knock us down but your words lift us up. Our hope is you alone. O Lord, show us mercy. Let your words penetrate to the depth of our soul. Amen James 4: 13-17 Come now, you who say” Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit: Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

My Shepherd Jesus

Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
How awesome are these words? If you know Jesus as your Savior, this Psalm should comfort you in the midst of any trial or trouble. Pastor David preached on this today and I was blessed by his message. He spoke of how our Shepherd cares for us in a personal way, how He never stops giving and how it is based on His grace. By His grace, we are refreshed, restored, and made righteous. Our Shepherd's grace results in our Shepherd's glory. By Him, we have nothing to fear! He satisfies us as well as sustains us and pursues us with a love that will never end. His goodness to us is eternal and his fellowship with us is everlasting. In obedience to the Father, he laid down His life and had the authority to pick it up again. Soon He will come and wipe away all our tears and Shepherd us for eternity. Amen

Consequences or Judgment, Call it what you like!!!

Everything has a cause and effect. If you step in front of a moving car, you will be hit unless the driver sees you and has time to stop. If you put your finger in a fire, it will burn you. If you get drunk and drive, you may kill someone or be killed yourself. If you sin, remain unrepentant, and never get covered by Jesus blood, you will go to hell! Sin separates you from God. 1 John 1:8-10 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. You can’t remain in sin and follow Christ. 2 Cor.7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. We must have an acceptable payment to God. The only acceptable payment was God’s, Son Jesus Christ. 1Peter1:18-19 Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways you inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. You can believe God’s holy word or not. You can accept it or not. You can fall to your knees and ask for mercy, or not. God is calling to you if you will listen. Your judgment awaits!! Do you want to face judgment without Christ? Heb.9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment.

Disasters and Such

Many people will tell you their opinion on whether the Lord causes or allows disasters. Well, I think what matters is what God himself says through his word. In my bible study in Isaiah, This verse really stood out to me. Is.45:7 The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. But, his word also says, Ex.33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, The Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. So does a merciful God cause or allow disasters and such? I would say he most certainly does according to his word and his will!!!

By God’s Power

Do you ever think, boy did I do a good job? Well, we actually think we did that good thing on our own. We really need to reconsider just where our power and knowledge come from. Deut. 8:17-18 Beware lest you say in your heart,’ My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’. You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth that he may confirm his covenant he swore to your fathers as it is this day. We need to be careful not to exempt God from our thinking when we are trying to figure out problems. He is in our mind all the time giving us ideas, warnings etc. I think the more we speak with God, the more we will want to. I drive a 2001 Jetta which is still in good condition, thanks to the Lord who constantly gives my husband the knowledge to work on it. Sometimes, when my husband can’t figure it out, the Lord even gives me the knowledge of the right thing to type in Google for help. It is a blessing to know God cares for us in this way. He really wants us to depend on him and him alone. Thank you Lord for the care you give us everyday. Your word is a comfort to us. Your knowledge we can’t even fathom. Lord, your blessings we don’t deserve. You give us mercy when we should get judgment. You are truly the one and only living God. Amen

A Lady Prophet Deborah and the Lady with a tent peg

King Jabin of Canaan was a cruel and wicked man. He and his army commander Sisera did evil to the Israelites for 20 years. They cried out to the Lord for deliverance and he heard their plea. A lady prophet, Deborah, judged the people and she heard from the Lord to get Barak, one of the tribe men, to take 10,000 men and to fight the Canaanites. He was not brave and would not go to fight unless she went with him to battle, which she did but she mocked him. Judges 4:8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you.” Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. The battle ensued and the whole army was slain except the commander Sisera, who fled on foot to the tent of Jael, who was a friend to King Jabin. She offered Sisera a hiding place and drink. She covered him with a rug to hide him. She then took a tent peg and drove it into his temple, all the way through to the ground. Barak the Israelite arrived in pursuit and met Jael. She led him to the dead Sisera.

A Clean Heart

Ps. 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.


These words are spoken by David, in a prayer, after he had sinned with Bathsheba. He begins the prayer with “Have mercy on me O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions”. He is in anguish about his sin. Do we have anguish over our sin? I think we are very flippant about our sin. We do not even think about what sin does to our relationship with a Holy God. He will not tolerate it and we need to run from it at all cost! These words that follow should tear at your hearts for the debt we owe, and the precious one who paid it for us, Col. 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.