Man Is Born To Trouble

Job 5:7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
Well, this statement is so true! We will be close to trouble all through out our lives. If you are a Christian, you will know your share of trouble but you will have a loving friend, Jesus who will always be with you.
2 Cor.4:7-10 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
Take heart dear friends, we are weak but He is not!! Trust in Him and tell others of the hope you have found in Jesus.
2 Cor.4:11-18 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
I really identify with these verses because I have been sick for a while! I am getting better now but I know what it means to have your "outer self wasting away". We all are dying, everyday you are here on this earth, is borrowed time that the good Lord has given you. Do not take for granted that you will be here tomorrow, for you do not know! There are so many people here in the deep South that have lost everything material thing they owned. Some have lost loved ones as well. This makes me think of the book of Job in the Old Testament. He was a very blessed man, had great wealth, good health and a large loving family. He was well thought of in his community and helped the poor. Just the kind of man that the Lord wants us to be. However, all it took for trouble to come to Job was Satan saying to God that Job would not be faithful in times of trouble!! Let us never forget that God uses us for His purpose. We are His and He will teach, love and discipline.
Lord, so many lost, so many searching, help us to speak Your truth! Amen

His Face Was Like the Face of an Angel

Acts 6:15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Stephen, full of grace and power, doing the work of the Lord, how could you be betrayed? This very much parallels the way Jesus was treated by the Jews. Stephen was betrayed by wicked liars!
Acts 6:9-14 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us." But, Stephen being in the spirit, told of all the stories from the old testament that the Jews knew to be true. He answered their charges with the undeniable truth!!He spoke of Abraham and how God told him to leave his kinsman and go to a far away land and how God would give him a great name among the people, and give him a son in his old age. He told them the bible truth about Joseph being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and about how God was with him and used him when a famine came over the whole land to deliver Abraham's kin from certain death from hunger.Stephen told of the birth of Moses and how he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter and how he lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. He told them about how the people made golden calves to worship while Moses was on the mountain talking with God. God turned away and gave them over to worship idols. After a while, godly men, Joshua, David, Solomon walked in the ways of the Lord.Acts 7:49-53 "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?' "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." After speaking these words to the council, they were enraged and ran Stephen out of town and stoned him.Stephen's parting words: Acts 7:59-60  And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Lord, how can man be so blind? Help us to see with Your eyes and Your heart! Amen

God's Great Goodness and Great Mercies

Neh.9:25-28 And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. "Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.
Neh.9:31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
This God we serve is good and merciful! He forgives but also will judge all who deny Him and His Son!
He has made a way of salvation for all who will accept His Son.
Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Lord, time is short, hearts need you, let us be aware of lost souls! Send Your healing words to the hurting. Help us not to be like the foolish people of Israel that were in the old testament. In Jesus name, Amen.

Fatherhood of God

Matt.6:9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
The definition of hallowed: holy, consecrated, sacred
God is our Father!
We are evil, He is good.
We have limited wisdom, He has infinite wisdom.
We have imperfect love. He has perfect love.
We are under the care of our heavenly Father, He loves us, He understands us, He forgives us, He provides for us, He disciplines us and He leads us.
We are the heavenly Father's children!
This is what we have in Him!
 He has given us a new name, a new spirit, and new brothers and sisters.
We have access to God's presence, we are no longer afraid, we have His friendship and we now have an inheritance in His kingdom.
As His children, we worship Him, we glorify Him, we imitate Him, we obey Him and we reflect Him in our lives.
We care for the orphans, not because we are rescuers but because we have been rescued!
We pass the gospel on to the next generation because we want to add to the kingdom (make disciples).
We anticipate God's promise of a future with no pain, no tears, no sin and an eternity filled with His holy presence.

What If ?

By all accounts, the disciples were just ordinary men, nothing special, like me and you! But what if, we had the faith they had when they walked with Jesus? What wonders would God do through us? Or does it matter about us at all? God is still God and we really have nothing to do with it, or do we? God does not need us to do anything but we are powerless to do anything without Him! I think where we enter into this relationship is by our willingness to trust and obey! I just read this bible truth about a lame beggar who was commanded by Peter and John, according to Christ's power, to walk and did.
Acts 3:6-21 But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name--by faith in his name--has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.  "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,  that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,  whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
As you can see from the dialogue, people were astounded by what they saw! However, God being God rules over all things! Blindness, lameness, hearing loss, cancer, brain tumors, heart attacks, wars, famines, storms etc. are not above God's power! God has given authority to His Son, Jesus.
Heb.1:1-8 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire." But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
It is your free choice to read or not to read, to believe or to deny or to choose to think God comes in many forms other than Jesus Christ. I will pray that the light of Christ will feel you with the undeniable truth, He is the only true and living God!!
Father, faith is Yours to give. The lost are searching for the truth. Open eyes and hearts to receive the hope that is found in Christ! Let us teach the truth in obedience to Your word. Amen

Hand of our God

Ezra 8:22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”
Ezra 8:23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
This old testament bible truth still holds true today. God is faithful to all who call Him Father.
Ecc.9:1  But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.
Romans 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Mark 16:19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Col.3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
1Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Do you know that by God's power you are alive? God's hand has the power to save! God's hand has the power to destroy! God's hand is symbolic of God's power and strength; His salvation and His majesty.

He Will Come Again

Acts 1:7-11 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
Acts 3:21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets
His second coming: 
Heb.9:28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Our judgment:
Matt.16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Will you be ready? Lord, I pray for the ones who deny You. Lord, open their eyes! Forgive them and show mercy that is only Yours to give. In Jesus name, Amen