Do We Really Understand?

This is a true story about a young girl who was attending a small group at church. She was having a conversation with her teacher and she said she wanted to be baptised. The teacher was so happy! Before the teacher could ask the young girl about her decision, the young girls' friend blurted out "well, are you saved"? Oh, for us to be so bold in the name of the Lord!! The friend did not wait for the perfect time she just spoke, in love, to the young girl. Friends, how often are we waiting for the right time while we gamble with another persons' eternity?
Lord, help us to be bold, for eternity is coming all too soon for us all. Speak through us when we are too shy. You have all the power, we are Your servants, give us the words to speak. Amen
The gospel in a nutshell, Christ came to save sinners. Salvation is found in no one else but Jesus. We are dead in sin and forever seperated from a holy God. Christ came to bring salvation to all who will humbly bow and ask for His mercy. You can't earn it through baptism, works, tithing, living a near perfect life or anything else man thinks he can do. Man had a debt he could not pay! It was paid by the blood of Christ.
Romans 9:14-16 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Acts 4:12 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."
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Hebrews 10:7-14 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Planning Ahead

We all plan ahead to some extent, but should we?
Ps.146:4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Seems as if God's Word is giving us caution about the way we plan!! 
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.
Prov.27:1  Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Luke 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
Clarke's commentary on the bible states:
"Death is certain to all men, as the fruit of sin, by the appointment of God; and there is a certain time fixed for it, which cannot be exceeded; but of that day and hour no man knows; and therefore cannot boast of a moment of future time, or of a tomorrow, nor of what he shall enjoy on the morrow (w); for, what he has today he cannot be certain he shall have the next; he cannot assure himself of health and honour, of pleasures, riches, and friends; he may have health today, and sickness tomorrow; be in honour today, and in disgrace on the morrow: he may bid his soul eat, drink, and be merry, seeing he has much goods laid up for many years, and vainly say, tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant, when this night his soul may be required of him."
There is one thing that is certain, eternity will be spent somewhere. Christ followers have been preaching the gospel a long time and people have been ignoring it and embracing it just as long.
Father, we know time is getting short. We ask for Your saving power to be sent out over the whole Earth. How people can see Your power displayed and not be afraid of Your judgement is a hard thing for me to understand. Your Word says: Ps.147:11but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love Amen

September Bible Reading

Date                  Old Testament               New Testament

September 1      Psalms 148, 149, 150   1 Corinthians 11:16-34

September 2      Proverbs 1, 2                1 Corinthians 12

September 3      Proverbs 3, 4                1 Corinthians 13

September 4      Proverbs 5, 6                1 Corinthians 14:1-20

September 5     Proverbs 7, 8                1 Corinthians 14:21-40

September 6      Proverbs 9, 10              1 Corinthians 15:1-32

September 7     Proverbs 11, 12            1 Corinthians 15:33-58

September 8      Proverbs 13, 14            1 Corinthians 16

September 9      Proverbs 15, 16            2 Corinthians 1

September 10    Proverbs 17, 18            2 Corinthians 2

September 11    Proverbs 19, 20            2 Corinthians 3

September 12    Proverbs 21, 22            2 Corinthians 4

September 13   Proverbs 23, 24               2 Corinthians 5

September 14   Proverbs 25, 26, 27         2 Corinthians 6

September 15   Proverbs 28, 29                2 Corinthians 7

September 16   Proverbs 30, 31                2 Corinthians 8

September 17   Ecclesiastes 1, 2, 3            2 Corinthians 9

September 18   Ecclesiastes 4, 5, 6            2 Corinthians 10

September 19   Ecclesiastes 7, 8, 9        2 Corinthians 11:1-15

September 20   Ecclesiastes10, 11, 12   2 Corinthians 11:16-33

September 21   Song of Solomon 1, 2, 3    2 Corinthians 12

September 22   Song of Solomon 4, 5        2 Corinthians 13

September 23   Song of Solomon 6, 7, 8     Galatians 1

September 24   Isaiah 1, 2, 3                      Galatians 2

September 25    Isaiah 4, 5, 6                     Galatians 3

September 26    Isaiah 7, 8, 9                     Galatians 4

September 27    Isaiah 10, 11, 12               Galatians 5

September 28    Isaiah 13, 14, 15              Galatians 6

September 29    Isaiah 16, 17, 18             Ephesians 1

September 30     Isaiah 19, 20, 21           Ephesians 2

Awaken Our Soul To Your Salvation

Christ and Christ alone brings salvation! Going to church does not bring salvation! You must believe in Christ through faith for salvation. One mediator! One ransom paid by His blood! One debt, we owed, paid by Christ, for us to be reconciled to a holy God!
Definition of ransomed: Obtain the release of (a prisoner) by making a payment demanded
We are the prisoners, held captive by sin and headed for hell. Christ made payment for our release! Christ has conquered sin and death! God desires for all men to be saved! Because of the hardness of their hearts, not all will be saved!
1 Tim.2:3-6 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Ps.142:7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
People do not think of sin as being in a prison but it most certainly is! You become a slave to sin and go deeper into that way of thinking and before long, you are in so deep, you think there is no way out!! But Jesus is the way out, He will change the vilest of hearts and you will never be the same!
Lord, I pray for the ones who think that they can not escape the prison they are in. If they would but call on You, in humbleness, repent and follow You. Your Word is an ever present help when we are lost and confused. Pour out Your power on the ones who want to know You. You are merciful beyond words. Amen
You can die happy in Christ when it is your time to go or you can be lost and go into eternity and be in fear of judgement and Hell.

Christ Unites the Church

We are undeserving sinners united by unfathomable mercy. Christ came to save sinners. He died. He has risen. He will come again! We have been given unmerited grace! Christ kept the law, we can not! Your works can not earn grace. You can not live a sinless life! You life is not acceptable before God. You are condemned before a holy God but Christ has come to bring salvation to the lost. Do you even know that you are lost? Do you want to be reconciled to God? Jesus can save the worst offender! Listen to Paul's account of how he received mercy!
1 Tim. 12-17  I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Lord, I pray for You to open hearts. Time is getting short, we need a great revival. We need people to know that their eternity depends on Jesus. Amen
As we teach the Word, we must be careful to keep the gospel pure. The law shows our guilt. The Word shows Christ as redeemer!
1 Tim.3-11 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

My Soul Waits for the Lord

Ps.130:1-5 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
To the unbelieving world, there is no hope. But to us who have been given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, we know the truth about hope! We know that we are only visitors here and we will soon go home! That being said, we will have trouble in this life but we will never be without hope. As storms head up the coastline, I pray the lost will think about eternity. You will have one, with Christ or without. Hell is a real place for the unrepentant soul.
Luke 16:22-26 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'
I could tell you what I think about Hell but it does not matter. God's Word is the only true thing that matters. He is judge and we are all going to be judged by Him.
Lord, I ask for mercy as we try to follow You. We are rotten because of sin and we need a Savior! Jesus is our only hope for reconciliation with a holy God. We believe Your word as truth! Amen
Judgement!
Rev.20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Mercy Covers All

You can't buy it! You don't deserve it! Mercy covers all!!
Jesus paid for it! His blood covers all our sin!
Definition of mercy: Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency. A disposition to be kind and forgiving, something for which to be thankful; a blessing

Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his MERCY he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

Jude 1:21 says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the MERCY of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

You belong to the Lord!

1 Cor.6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Ps.124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

There is coming a day of reckoning! The Lord will tarry only so long! He is not slow as some would count slowness!

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

1 Timothy 2:4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Isaiah 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

World wake up! The Lord is coming soon!

Holy God, we deserve death and destruction. But, in your mercy, you sent Your only Son, Jesus to bring salvation to the nations. Help us as we take your word to the world. Open hearts to the glory that is found in you. Amen