What A Blessing To Be Washed Clean

As I sat in the warm clear water, I had the overwhelming sense of what a blessing it is to be washed and clean from filth. I could not help but to compare it to being washed by the blood of Christ, for He truly takes away the filth of sin. I read something in a little devotional that I receive everyday from Life Worth Finding.Org, it was the commentary on Matthew 28:18-20 “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”


Here is that commentary...
Do you know what worry is? Worry is a mild form of atheism. It's acting like God doesn't exist. The great missionary David Livingstone took the Gospel to Africa and actually discovered and unlocked much of Africa. He lived a life of loneliness and danger. On January 14, 1856, surrounded by hostile people beating war drums like they were going to attack the next morning, he wrote in his journal: "Felt much turmoil of spirit in prospect of having all of my plans for the welfare of this great region and this teaming population knocked on the head by savages tomorrow."

Sitting at his campfire, he knows what's out there in the dark. Then he writes, “But I read that Jesus said, 'All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore and teach all nations, and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world.' This is the word of a gentleman of the most strict and sacred honor. I will not cross furtively as I had intended. Why should such a man as I flee? I shall take observations for latitude and longitude tonight. Though it may be the last, I feel quite calm now. Thank God.”

Now what do we do with this new creation we are in Christ, free from the filth of sin ? Pray, learn from God's word, teach, make disciples, and give hope where there is none.

Lord, take our lives and mold them to glorify You in all the world! Amen

Pray and Not Lose Heart

Luke 18:1
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Is.40:28-3

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 

29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 

31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Ps.50:15

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

James 5:13-20

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Job 5:8-11

8 "As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, 

9 who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: 

10 he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; 

11 he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

He hears every prayer offered by a humble heart. We should always pray, not just in times of trouble but when we are overjoyed with thanksgiving. Long for an answer, earnestly seek God and He will be found. I continually talk with Jesus. I have questions and He has the answers. I ask for boldness to speak His word of truth to the lost. I ask for open eyes to see, really see, the ones who need love. I ask for a discerning mind so I can teach the word of truth. I ask for acceptance of the things I can not understand or change, hurtful things that only God knows the whole story. I ask forgiveness when I am not faithful, when I rebel, when I think I have all the answers, or when I think or say mean things.
He is always in control! I am not!

Lord, I pray for faith to lean on You alone! To be humble in spirit, to seek You and Your will, to teach the glorious truth of Your word to the lost. Amen

Into the Lake of Fire

Rev.20:14

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Oh how I rejoice to read this verse!

We all die a little each day but it is a totally different thing to watch someone you love die from cancer. They waste away each and everyday and you can do nothing except to hide your tears from them.

Hospice is a collective group of caregivers who take care of the dying.
Hospice has social workers, chaplains, nurses, men who deliver the needed equipment to keep the patients comfortable and the blessed ones who minister to the personal needs of the dying, baths etc.
Hospice is an incredible tool in your loved one's death journey. They offer pain management which is a huge blessing.

Death makes me hate sin all the more!   

Sin brought death but death has been defeated by the blood of Christ.
Satan is our enemy!
Sin is our enemy!
Death is our enemy!

1 Corinthians 15:26 

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death

Christ is...

Revelation 1:18 
18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades

Christ the redeemer...
Col.2:14
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross

Ephesians 2:15 
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace

1 Peter 2:24 
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed

Satan will...
Revelation 14:10 
10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.


Revelation 20:10 
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever



Christ will...

Revelation 21:4 

4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Lord, we praise You for the power that is found in You. The power of salvation, the power to destroy death, the power to destroy Satan, the incredible mercy You have shown to us who deserve judgment,
and Your obedience to the God the Father are far beyond man's comprehension! Forgive me when I fall into rebellion. Teach me how to love, to teach your word, to show mercy and to forgive. Let me be a blessing to the ones who need a blessing. Teach me to be quite, to listen and really hear from the heart. Amen

Gail's Homecoming

Job 1:21
21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Yesterday I went to, well let's call it what most people call it, a funeral. But this was not a ordinary goodbye to a deceased human being. This could only be described as a celebration of life and a homecoming for a sinner saved by grace who went to be with her Savior. The church was full of people who loved her and her family. They all were there to tell the world that this was not the end for Gail, but the beginning of a promised eternity with Christ. Her grieving son spoke of his mother with a calm and clear voice that could only come from the assurance that Christ is real and He is able to deliver all from the slavery of sin and keep us for eternity by His blood sacrifice. By His death and resurrection, He saves to the uttermost! All mankind will die! All mankind will face judgment! All mankind will have an eternity! It will be heaven or hell, there is no other destination! Once you are dead, all hope is lost!

Heb.9:27
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment

Heb.9:11-15
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

1 Cor.1:18

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Romans 1:16 
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

2 Corinthians 4:3 
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 
10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Hebrews 12:2 
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God

As a Christian I only call earth my temporary home! I am just passing through with a mission from God to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not about if you are a good person or if you do charitable things! It is about the blood of Christ and the washing away of our sinful lives! It is about repentance and being born again as a new creation. It is about clinging to Christ who alone saves men from hell by the power given Him by God the father! If you earnestly seek Him, He will be found. Search the scriptures, open your ear to hear and your eyes to see and your wounded heart to receive the hope that is found in Christ alone!!!

Lord, by Your power and for Your glory! Amen

Water for Repentance

Matt.3:11
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Titus 3:5 
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

What is repentance mean? Man has a sinful heart. He is in rebellion against the law of God. We are to strive to live a holy life unto God. This is the essence of repentance, turn from rebellion and lead a holy life. Man can not be holy without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This sweet Spirit convicts us of all manner of sin. God's word convicts us also. You can not know God if you do not read His word! Your heart deceives!


Man's sinful heart...
Jer.17:9

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Mark 7:20-23

20 And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 

21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 

22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 

23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." 

Man's rebellion...

Romans 1:18-21

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Matthew 13:15 

15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

God's mercy...

Matt.9:13
13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Acts 17:23-31

23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 
25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 
27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 
28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being';as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' 
29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Romans 9:14-16

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 
15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 
16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.


Matthew Henry's commentary...
The gospel call is a call to repentance; a call to us to change our minds, and to change our ways. If the children of men had not been sinners, there had been no need for Christ to come among them. Let us examine whether we have found out our sickness, and have learned to follow the directions of our great Physician.

Lord, keep us from proud hearts. forgive us as we often fail You. Open dead hearts to receive Your word of life. Amen

In His Image

In His Image...
Gen.1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

By His power...
Gen.2:7
7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God's plan...
Gen.2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." 

Gen.2:21-25

21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 

22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 

23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." 

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 

25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. 

Satan's temptation and Man's fall into sin...
Gen.3:1-13

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 

3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 

4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 

9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 

10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 

11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 

12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 

God's sentence for rebellion...
Gen.3:14-19

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 

16 To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." 

17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." 

So you ask "why does God allow bad things to happen"? Man's disobedience caused "bad things"! Man is held in bondage by Satan because of sin! We always try to figure out why, when we should ask God to have mercy and to forgive our disobedience! We like sheep have gone astray! Our good Shepherd, Christ has come to redeem all who are lost! The world no longer has any shame about sinful acts, instead we condone them!

How can man ignore such a great salvation? Death and destruction is what we deserve but Christ in His mercy took God's wrath. Wrath that belongs to you and me! Not even death could hold the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Praise Him! Christ is wholly God and wholly man!

Acts 2:24
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

One man's obedience...

Romans 5:19

19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Christian Faithfulness And Covenant Storytelling

Ps.78:1-8

1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 

3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 

4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 

5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 

6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 

7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 

8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Sermon By Matt M, thank you so much, what a blessing!

A question looms over the unfolding narrative of the Old Testament:

How could Israel be so well loved and yet so wayward?

Is faithfulness to God even possible?

How can we and the generation after us pursue faithfulness to God in 2013?

We faithfully hear the story:

"Our fathers have told us".

Ps.78:1-3

There is a vital relationship between what we hear and our present/future faithfulness to God.

Faithfulness to God displays itself in an attitude of eagerness to hear, to retain, to remember, to respond to what is heard.

The call to "give ear" comes first because biblical faith doesn't begin with an open mouth. It begins with an open ear.

We faithfully tell the story:

"We will not hide them from their children".

Ps.78:3-8

Faithfulness to God is demonstrated not only by our being hearers but also heralds of the covenant story-the story of the rescuing power of God in Christ.

Multi-generational faithfulness is a community effort.

1 Cor.4:15

15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

1 Cor.15:3-4

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

The heart of Paul's message was the story of the covenant with it's central character, Jesus Christ, and His central work: living a righteous life, dying a substitutionary death and rising from the dead so that any who turn from sin and trust Him alone become eternal objects of the mercy and blessing of God.

Judges 2:10

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

They faithfully tell the story:

"They arise and tell them to their children".

Ps.78:5-7

No hope without faith in Christ, have you told your children?