How To Replace Death With Life

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. (John 5:22-23 NIV)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24, KJV)

Just as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life.  (John 5:26, GNT)

Because I live, you will live too. (John 14:19)

Jesus Christ of Nazareth spoke the truth about himself.  

Pass from death to life, today.

Image Credit: Pixabay Free Images

Bible 3+5 Week: More Power From On High

Read the Bible 3 times a day this week.

JOIN ME for a week of reading the Bible 3 times a day for the next 5 days; Monday through Friday. Some of you already do this. Some do it occasionally. Jump on whenever you read this, even if a day or two later.

Easiest times are morning, around noon-time, and before bed. Adjust as needed, as close together or as far apart as necessary, but not running all together. Should be 3 distinctive times in each 24-hour period. I'm reading in my current book of Luke, and I added 1 John to read mid-day. May return to Luke tonight, or something new.

GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY

as you seek His face and

worship Him in spirit and in truth!

Jesus Prayed For You: Did You Know That?

Jesus Christ prayed for us.

Did you know that before he was led away to be crucified, Jesus prayed to his father for you and me? It was after he prayed for his disciples, who had the enormous and monumental task of remaining committed to their calling, that Jesus then prayed for us. His disciples were to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ on a speaking circuit that could have no other ending than that of a painful and humiliating death. Whom else did Jesus go on to think of as he finished his supplications for those who were fingered by God to wear the great mantle of propagating the Gospel? He thought of the ones who would take to heart the words that his disciples would speak.

He thought of you and I, knowing that the world would continue on for an undetermined length of time. He did not know when he would be returning to launch the reestablishment of the new heaven and the new earth. He had no idea of the appointed time to begin the abolishing of the regime of Satan and his army of fallen angels. Only his father knew the appointed day and time. He knew that we would need all of the grace and help from his father that we could receive. His compassion, foreknowledge and wisdom led him to stand in the gap for you and me, to serve as a proxy in prayer at the throne of God, to for a moment not think of what he was about to endure, but to pray for our strength in a corrupt and dying world.

These are the words, that John recorded, that Jesus spoke to God the Father on our behalf:

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:

23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.

26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

(John 17:20-26 NKJV-New King James Version)

The Jesus Christ then is the same Christ that we honor today.

We may be far removed from the timeline of these events, but that Jesus is the same Jesus that we honor today. He loves us because we were given to him by his father. He has never ceased to pray for us. He is even now at the right hand of his father, interceding on our behalf. Let's strive always to remind ourselves of how much he loves us, and always will. Those of us who choose to believe and hold on will be with him throughout eternity, enjoying God's everlasting love.

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Scripture References: BibleStudyTools

Images:

1. "Jesus Christ prayed for us," Pixabay Free Images
2.  "The Jesus Christ then is the same Christ that we honor today," ©SJHolland, acrylic and collage painting

The Truth About Some Fears

As many of us have, I have been battling fear of various things, almost at every turn. There are many things to fear in our society today, and it's not getting any better, as the Bible predicts. Couple this fact with the many fears in our personal lives, and you have a scenario of relentless and increasing torment.

I began to reach out to Christian friends for prayer, without burdening them with details.

I had begun to seek an answer, through consistent and specific prayer, to eradicating this unhealthy fear. I also began to reach out to Christian friends, without unloading and burdening them with too much detail, for help through prayer. I woke up this morning with an interesting revelation.

I already understood that casting down imagination is vital to freedom from fear. My revelation was that there were other things that I had not been casting down, because I did not understand them to be thoughts that needed that. We think constantly, so may feel that if we cast down every jot of thoughts, we would be mentally lobotomizing our brains. We would become vegetables, therefore we know that we have to pick and choose which thoughts to cast down. This sounds like an easy task, but that is why we need God. It is not always as cut and dried as all that. Sometimes there can be a thin line.

Some fears are extensions of real occurrences, and mask themselves as preparation.

I was shown this morning that there were thoughts that I allowed to flourish because I had identified them as highly-likely future occurrences, whether that future is today, next month or next year. We usually see fears as imaginary, or in the mind, or made up. The most damaging fears that I have been enduring are extensions of real occurrences.  Because of this, I did not see them as thoughts that needed to be cast down. My mind had labeled them as highly likely, leading me to allow them to flourish so that I could devise a plan to stop or circumvent them.

My inner man saw it as preparing myself, or being wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. The resulting fears were running rampant because technically and realistically, I could not control nor prevent these possible developments, no matter how small or large they might be. It seems very simple and that I should not have needed revelation to understand. It seems a moot subject, a given, elementary, but that is why we need God. It is not always as cut and dried as all that.

Even as reborn spirits that have a direct link to God, we still have blind spots. We currently live in a fallen world and exist in fallen bodies, so we enter blind spots often. To not understand the revelation of this and to not accept it is to be continually plagued by failures in our lives, and to be confused by our lack of advancement in some areas. Ignoring this knowledge also means that we will not be able to receive God's answer when we ask, seek and knock.

Though God sometimes removes bad circumstances, the answer to freedom is often within.

The answer is not always in the changing or removal of outward circumstances, no matter how difficult, challenging or horrific. How many times have we heard or read that? It is a hard pill to swallow, depending on what you are going through. Though God certainly changes and removes bad circumstances for some, and sometimes for us in his timing, the answer to freedom is often within. There are times that we cannot find it though, without Him.

God removes the dark glasses, raises the blinds and strips off from our eyes and minds the gauze of each gossamer veil that we could never find or remove. About the simplest things, He reveals deep answers that are too confusingly deep and simple for us to ever dig out. Time and time again He has shown me that though the answer was right before me, like a pebble in my path, and simple in comparison to what I was thinking, I would never have found it had He not revealed it to me.

We need God to help us find the answer that is a pebble in our path that we kick to the side, or step over and go on our way.

When we pray, we think that we already understand. This is why my consistent prayer is for him to make my eye single, make my crooked paths straight and order my steps in His word. The battle is certainly not over, but I have advanced.

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 

(Matthew 6:22 KJV)

 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.

(Isaiah 42:16 NKJV)

  Make my steps secure through your promise, and do not let any sin control me. 

(Psalm 119:133 GW)

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All Images From: Pixabay.com. You can thank the volunteer image authors for any of these free images that you use by donating to them any amount that you choose. All images are free for our use, without attribution.

God Is Processing It For You

As we are believing, praying and waiting for various things to come to pass in our lives, it helps to understand that our God is a god of processes. The Free Dictionary by Farlex defines a process as  "A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result." We can see this behavior of God at the beginning of the Bible.

A process is "A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result."

We can see God's principle of processes by starting in Genesis, where we are told that He created the Heavens and the Earth in 6 days. The 7th day was also a process; the process of purposeful, scheduled rest. Even when we experience what appears to be an instantaneous miracle, it is the result of God's procedure of instigating processes to bring about a desired result.

I've heard it said that any person becomes saved because at some time in history, someone prayed for that person. That was a process. Angels were dispatched and the Holy Ghost commissioned to bring about the work. They attended to the drawing of that person to the salvation that God offers through the sacrifice of His only son, Jesus Christ. Some experienced that process when they fought with God before yielding to His calling. Others were not aware of God's process when they surrendered to God without a long battle.

A process is used "To prepare, treat, or convert by subjecting to a special process," or procedure.

Another illuminating definition for the word process is "To prepare, treat, or convert by subjecting to a special process." The word procedure also defines how God operates. "A process is a set or series of actions directed to some end or a natural series of changes; a procedure is a series of actions conducted in a certain manner, an established way of doing something."

"A procedure is a series of actions conducted in a certain manner, an established way of doing something." 

Understanding that God is a god of procedures and processes helps us to endure, with Godliness, the trials and tribulations that He allows to come upon us. It does not matter how small or how devastating a test, trial or training is. If it has the potential to discourage, depress and distract the servant of God, then we must embrace it as a process of God. In order to triumph in our walk with God, we have to accept that He always uses processes and procedures, whether He speeds up or slows down the realization of the end result.

Only in understanding this can the strengthening scriptures take root and empower us to overcome challenges and grow in the Lord.

Only in understanding this can the strengthening scriptures take root and empower us. Romans 8:28 means nothing without grasping hold to this operation of God. Isaiah 26:3 falls on deft ears without considering this principle of God. Romans 12:2 is useless without understanding that God creates change through processes. James 1:4 will bear no fruit without the hearer understanding that God is a god of processes. We need firm footing in order to cooperate with God when we are asked to endure. Only then can we obtain what He so lovingly wants to give.

One day is like a thousand years to God, and vice versa. Even so, it is still a process. Whether we feel the processing in our flesh, or whether our desires seem to manifest swiftly and miraculously, God began the process of delivering to us long ago. He will keep His promises to us, and His Word is true. If we choose to understand this simple principle of God and endure in the way in which He would have us to, then we'll reap all of our desires that we long for and ask for, according to His will.

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him,

those whom he has called according to his purpose.

(Romans 8:28 GNT)

 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

(Isaiah 26:3 ESV)

 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

(Romans 12:2 NIV)

But let patience have her perfect work,

that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

(James 1:4)

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Image credit: plaum

Scriptures taken from: BibleStudyTools.com
All definitions taken from: TheFreeDictionary.com

Lift Your Mind Above Defeat

"No one can ever overcome anything until his thoughts are creative and positive. It is important that you lift your mind to a higher level.

Mentally, as you raise your mind above the defeats and conflicts you face, your personality will receive help from God in the form of clear thinking, resolute reaching out toward happiness, deeper understanding, and renewed strength.

When your thoughts are in confusion, you live in an unreal world, and you cannot see your way up and out of it."

I think the resolute reaching out for happiness is one of the most critical abilities that we need help with. It is during those times of severe discouragement and depression that we feel that we simply cannot make any effort. We can't try anymore. We can't pray. We can't have hope. We can't believe. We just can't make it anymore. Happiness is a choice that we sometimes feel we just can't make, but we can. We can learn how to do this under any circumstances. It will release great blessings for us, and for others.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, which is where my help comes from (paraphrased).

(Psalm 121:1)

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Excerpt from How To Handle Tough Times, A Guideposts Outreach Publication ©1990 Peale Center For Christian Living

Image Credit: Pixabay.com Free Images

Why Won't God Take Bad Memories Away?

Have you ever asked yourself this poignant question? Have you ever struggled to forget a devastating memory about your own behavior, or that of someone else that affected you? Has it been difficult to move on because you keep hoping that the memory will die, or that God will remove it? I have felt this way many times. The truth is that God chooses to erase memories for some, according to his perfect plan. For others, the hateful memories continue to afflict. Why?

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God chooses to erase memories for some, according to his perfect plan. For others, the hateful memories continue to afflict. Why?

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I believe that if my distressing memories are not erased in this world, I still have hope for enduring them. While I suffer them, I remember that Christ also suffered for me, and he suffered much more than I ever will.  I am actually suffering a little, along with him.

I have often wondered about this scripture, "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:17 NKJV). I have learned that whatever memories God doesn't see fit to remove, I carry as my cross. I also have learned through God's word and His direction to channel bad memories and emotions.  They can be used, just as everything can be used, because nothing is without usefulness within the Kingdom of God.

The scripture in Romans 8:13 tells us how. "...but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." To mortify is to be ashamed, embarrassed and regretful. As we consciously endure, rather than fight the shame and sorrow of our bad memories, we are dying with Christ, and living with Him. In being forced to remember, we are not being charged with our failures and condemned for our hurts, but these are being used to elevate us.

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In being forced to remember, we are not being charged with our failures, but our failures are being used to elevate us.

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God knows how to elevate each of us. Even those who have been delivered from some memories are given circumstances to endure, in order to suffer with Christ. I may carry a thorn(s) in the flesh, and bear a cross(es) in this life, but it WILL one day all be over. If I continue in faith, I'll reap rewards, not only in the world hereafter, but here and now. Most of all, my light will shine brighter and brighter, until in the end when it will be engulfed forever by the light of God.

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Through the thorns of bad memories shines the hope of present and future renewal.

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Through the thorns of bad memories shines the hope of present and future renewal. Press on through power from The Word. If God does not see fit to deliver you from those dreaded memories, endure and be recharged. See those memories as God sees them. Your painful memories are nothing but energy. Energy for living. Energy for life through Christ.

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Image: Bare Branches- Artsy Craftery Studio
Image: Apple Tree- Pixabay Free Images
Scriptures Taken From: Bible Study Tools
Word Definitions Source: http://surl.me/49ek5

Seeing The Ducks For What They Are

We serve a Good God, the Most High God, the Only Wise God, the One True God. No matter what is looks like and sounds like, God is in control of our lives, if we've given him that. It is said that if it looks like a duck and quacks like duck, it is a duck. The world, the flesh and the devil would have us believe that the struggles, difficulties, challenges, trials and tribulations that we are experiencing is just the way it is, and will always be. There is another way, though, to think upon this.

The negatives in our lives that look like ducks and sound like ducks are not ducks. They are not what it is. The only thing that IS is our God. He has our very best interests at heart. The Heart of God IS. The Heart of God IS alive. The Heart of God IS caring.

If you are challenged today or tonight; depressed, downtrodden, disturbed, disabled, devastated, dislocated, discombobulated or demeaned, remember what God can, will and IS doing in your life.  He IS the Great I AM. He's not just some shadowy, idealistic vapor in our imagination, and way up there somewhere. He is here. Let go. Believe. Submit to his loving care, his instructions, his prompting, for he IS: the RESTORER, the RENOVATOR, the REVEALER,  the REPLENISHER, the RENEWER, the REVITALIZER, the REJUVENATOR, the REFUELER, the RESTOCKER and the REDEEMER!


Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
(I Chron. 16:34 NIV).

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Image Credit: http://newlaunchout.com/bartley-ridge/
Scripture Source: http://www.biblestudytools.com/search/?q=give+thanks+to+the+Lord.

Your Tears Speak: Scott David Buckley Ministering To The Fractured Mind

Do you ever feel that no one hears your cry or acknowledges your suffering? Does your faith waiver under the burden of difficulties and challenges? Have you ever wondered if anyone even cares about what you are going through? Do you feel lonely, deserted, ignored or alone? Well, you are not alone at all, though it may sometimes or often feel that way. Let this skilled, Christian poet take you out of yourself and into the arms of The Christ who cares for you. This gentle, soothing free verse poem will remind you that your advocate is even now at the right hand of God speaking on your behalf, and giving to you a hope and a future.

YOUR TEARS SPEAK

by

Scott David Buckley

 

I can hear you.

Your tears speak to me.

Voiceless words only I can understand.

Can you hear me?

I cry too.

I am right there with you.

Holding you.

I know you.

I know who you are.

I care about you more than you know.

I see everything.

I feel everything.

My heart breaks for you.

If only you could see.

The love that comes from me.

You need not suffer.

No, suffer no more.

I'd wipe away those tears from those eyes.

Be silent no more child.

I am listening.

You don't need to say a word.

Your tears speak to me.

I can hear you.

©2012 Scott David Buckley

Scott David Buckley is a fellow Christian writer and friend who lives in Newmarket, Ontario. In addition to his blog, he manages several Google+ Christian and mental health communities. He generally writes poetry that bores into the deep well of psychological trauma and despair. He often then flips it and offers the healing balm of spiritual knowledge and faith in Christ.

This minister through verse calls himself, "an 'Alternative Christian', meaning I seek a personal, intimate relationship with God through Jesus the Christ, minus all the trappings of religion & man." If you've noticed in the image, he has a large, short-haired, cream-colored companion named Somewhere, who is always with him. Though Scott is journeying through healing from mental illnesses, he emphatically states that he is not his diagnosis. Here is some of what he shares about his challenges, victories and ministry.

"I must mention though, with my illnesses and all I have never been closer to God than I am now. He has even used me and my illnesses to reach out to the silent, those without a voice. Those who, like I did for so many years, suffer in silence for fear of ridicule and judgement. Which I have experienced and still do." 

"Now, I'm not saying God wants me to have these illnesses, that couldn't be further from the truth. But there are those who need to know that they are not alone, nor are they the only ones who feel as they do and experience that which they do. That there are those like-minded (excuse the pun) and share the same experiences and feelings and do actually understand to a point."

"So, I have become that voice to others that need to hear and see. That's why this poetry blog exists and my other writing blog, Broken Mirror, and my two Google+ communities, Alternative Christian Community and Mental Health & The Christian. These are all ministries that God has given to me and are the means for me to reach those who maybe otherwise wouldn't be touched."

"I must add that it is the Holy Spirit that guides me in everything, in the words I write and so on. I seek only to follow God's perfect will for my life, I seek to use the gifts He has ordained me with, one being the gift of encouragement. I am sitting here punching on this keyboard solely because God gave me life instead of letting me die all those years ago and many other attempts since."

"By God's grace alone I have been saved and I have been chosen, as are all God's children, not by any merit of mine, not by any choice I made, only by God's, and His alone, grace and love I have been chosen. I write because there are so many people out there that have no voice. I hope to empower people, to inspire people, to encourage people. I hope to offer some kind of hope, however that may be. And remember no one is alone in anything. God surrounds us all with His grace and unfailing love."

Visit Scott's blogs and G+ Communities here:

The Poet Mind - http://fromthesoulofapoet.blogspot.ca/2012/12/your-tears-speak.html

Broken Mirror - http://intothebrokenmirror.blogspot.ca/

Alternative Christian Community - https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109458177123629843395

Mental Health & The Christian - https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/102380271241160144764. This is a private group. You must be a member to view the posts.
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Image Credit: http://surl.me/4445

Ask For Courage To Hold On

Some challenges and trials just seem to be too severe to continue enduring. We're not sure how to handle a particular situation that is unfair, depressing, painful, distressing or even devastating. We wonder why it is happening. Like with Job, some may come to say that we've done something wrong, or offended God in some way, but Job had not committed any wrong that justified his suffering. When we honestly can't think of an offense that we may have done, we are once again puzzled and depressed about why this agonizing situation is happening to us.

Sometimes, we feel guilty about past thoughts and deeds, and wonder if we are being punished for them. If we believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all that He did to pay the price of sin for us, we know that God does not punish us. When we remember the absolutes of the Gospel, we again wonder why we are going through this. We again ask why is it happening.

We understand that though we've been forgiven by God through Jesus' sacrifice for us, often we have to live with the consequences of past deeds. Sometimes we can make them right and enjoy smooth sailing regarding those deeds, and sometimes not. God does not always prevent or alleviate the reaping in this earth of what we sow. If this is not the case, reaping for sowing, regarding a particular trial, then what is it?

The truth is that there is often no answer, that we could ever find in this world, for what we are suffering through. Sometimes we are not given an answer when we ask God why. It has been said that some answers will not come until we are with God. Of course, ironically it probably won't matter then.

Whatever the cause of what you are going through, if you believe God and His Word, you will want to hold on through it all. You'll want to endure until the end of the trial; because often there is a special blessing in it for us. There is often the growth to be had that we need in order to receive the higher up blessings that we desire. And the end will come, one way or another. God has ordained an end to suffering I once heard someone say. I believe that. Whether your trial is mental, physical, emotional, social, financial, etc., it will not go on longer than God allows. It is to the Christian that all things work together for good. It is to those who believe that God takes hard and difficult things and turns them in to something good.

Dear Lord: Bless this reader with courage to hold on to faith and to endure what you have allowed. Help him to stand firm and obtain the blessing that this trial will provide. Give her the wisdom to discern between what you have allowed and what circumstances are not of you. Bless him with the knowledge to end any trial or challenge that is not ordained by you. In Jesus' name I ask. Amen.

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Background Image In Graphic Credit: hdwpapers.com

Prayer For Male Victims Of Domestic Abuse

I read this letter from a reader, about female-on-male domestic violence, at the Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) column at Yahoo News:

While female-on-male domestic violence is reported less often than male-on-female violence, it does happen, as anyone who reads my column regularly knows. Men who need help should call the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women -- the toll-free number is 888-743-5754 -- because help is available. (http://surl.me/0o44)


This is a problem that, as with the other ills of this world, has been growing for decades. It is an issue of which the male victims are certainly embarrassed to speak. I'm sharing the phone number above in hopes that it will encourage someone to reach out for help, and that someone will reach out to help.

Dear Lord:

Send helpers to reach out to men who are being abused. Send willing workers and resources to establish places of safety for these men. Encourage them, strengthen them, and most of all give them a hunger and thirst to know You, and to receive eternal deliverance as you help them to have better lives.

In Jesus' name I pray and according to Your will.

Amen.

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Image Credit: http://www.surl.me/agmnd

Paul's Letter Of No Condemnation

Paul grabbed hold to the essence of his salvation.

Because of his past persecution of Christians, Paul elaborates in Romans on the great state of grace that we are under. This grace that we are free to receive was bought for us through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Paul's agenda can be seen as an ultimate sin by some, to harass, persecute and murder those who choose to accept The Christ as Savior. Paul must have felt a great burden when his past came to mind. I believe it came to mind often.  How could so infamous of a past not torment the perpetrator. Through his torment and his desire for relief, Paul was able to quickly grasp hold to the spiritual truth of salvation.

Paul's ministry, after he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, is a large part of the story in Acts. However, though the bulk of Paul's life figures heavily in Acts, he did not write it. At times as we read, we would think that he had. Luke penned Acts, which some feel should have been named The Acts of Paul. If you have read Acts, you may have felt a natural flow to proceed into Romans. This is because Paul wrote Romans, which is actually a letter to friends in Rome. This letter is full to overflowing of the wonderful fact that we are saved by grace, not works. Scripture upon scripture reminds us of this, and is there for whomever will drink of The Living Water of The Word.

Paul grabbed hold to the essence of his salvation. Because of that he was able to obey God and to hold on until the end. God infused him with power and might. The only thing that mattered to Paul was to be able to preach and teach the gospel, whether bond or free, in Jerusalem or Rome, in a jail or hired house, before kings or peasants. He was on a mission on which he could have never conceptualized that he would be. Never would he have dreamed that he would endure a burning and driving desire to speak on behalf of God. He advanced to instant faith, as in scripture, Acts 28:3-6, and he practiced the laying on of hands. He ran headlong into the conflicts which God presented to him with determination and consistency. He never tried to save himself.

Grab hold to the real essence of your salvation, that you therefore do not have to live with a feeling of condemnation about your past, because you are in Christ Jesus. Since you choose to live by the Spirit of God and not according to your fleshly existence, you enjoy freedom from guilt about your past actions, whether they were yesterday, last week or 10 years ago. When those evil memories surface, cast them down with The Word in Romans. Paul  wrote it so that you could live free, just as he did.

Dear Father: Bless this reader with a dynamic understanding of your words of freedom in Romans, and in other places in your Word. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 
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Image Credit: vincenthteh

Reject Revenge, Receive God's Blessings

Taking revenge cheats us.

Have you ever thought about what scathing comments you would return to make to someone who angered you? Ever planned what to do to someone who hurt you? Do you entertain thoughts of revenge, because of mistreatment, unfairness and maliciousness? Do you replay the imaginary scenes of revenge over and over? In your anger and suffering, you have no difficulty justifying these thoughts and plans, right?

The truth is, revenge is never justifiable, because God said in his Word, Vengence is mine. I will repay (Rom. 12:19 KJV). When we reject meting out revenge, and even go so far as to repay evil with good, we heap glowing coals onto the heads of those who spitefully use us (Prov. 25:22 KJV), especially for those who are not repentant and who continue in their behavior. But God's revenge and the heaping coals should not be our focus. They are facts that give us comfort, as we choose a higher path.

God is grieved, not because we plot revenge, but because in doing so, we cheat ourselves out of his blessings. This is what taking revenge, whether physically or mentally, does. It's based in the flesh, and we know that in fleshly behavior dwells NO good thing (Rom. 7:18 ESV). To be carnally minded is death. There is no useful thing in thinking on revenge. To be spiritually-minded is life, and peace.

When we are wronged, our battle is not with flesh and blood, or persons, groups, companies, etc. These are the entities that we see when we plan revenge. Spiritual thinking and taking on the spiritual weapons of God causes us to look past these entities, and see our real enemies, principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:11-12 ASV).

When we take our pain, our suffering, our fears, our angers and channel them through the spiritual principles in God's Word, we become empowered to receive His blessings. His blessings, while they manifest in the physical world, originate in the spiritual world. If we don't choose the spiritual path when we are treated unfairly, we cheat ourselves out of spiritual blessings. We receive from God by relating to him in spirit and in truth. The truth is that the warfare is spiritual, not physical, not fleshly, not carnal.

I know that it is hard. It is difficult. It is not easy to not at least think on revenge, if not being determined to do it. When we can't change our situations, and are subjected to unfairness and hostility, revenge seems the only way out, at least temporarily. While we receive temporary, fleshly relief when we choose revenge, it has no lasting significance. It also eats away at self-esteem and we really don't feel good about ourselves. Don't do it. Don't think on revenge at all, if you truly want and need help and blessings from God.

If we deal in revenge in any way, God won't be cheating us, we will be cheating ourselves. We can't walk in the flesh and receive from the spirit. Oil and water don't mix, and we can't plant orange seeds and harvest apples. We can receive the strength and courage to turn away from relying on the flesh to make things right. All things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23 CEB).

Reject revenge and choose God's spiritual weapons, directed at the real enemies. When we do, all things work together for good, we are kept in perfect peace, the Lord becomes our light and our salvation and we don't fear anyone (Psalm 27:1 KJV), and we overcome the world. As Max Lucado said recently, when he was speaking on Daystar, You can make it through this. If we actively take on God's weapons of warfare against spiritual wickedness, we will win God's blessings, with flying colors.

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Image Credit: sringler

sringler

sringler

sringler

Scriptures Taken From: BibleStudyTools

740 Golden Street

Years ago, I was planning to forward my current address at my son's request. I later emailed and told him that it would be changing in the spring, and I would forward it then. As I reflected upon how disillusioned my son must be with the moving around that I've done, I felt that some of his bitterness about his upbringing stems from that.

Then with the chin up, cheer up, buck up pep talk, that we are sometimes able to give ourselves, when we feel uneasy about others' perception of us, I encouraged myself. I thought well one address that I give will be permanent for all time. When I move to 740 Golden Street my address will never change again. You see, seven is God's number, the number forty is significant to God, and somewhere in eternity the streets are paved with gold.

There is much that has been said about where we will be when it is all said and done. When time is no more, when there is no more sea, and when I know God as I am known, I know that I will be somewhere from which I will never have to leave (Revelations 22:5). I won't have to worry about rent payments, property taxes or homeowners fees since Jesus paid it all in advance, forever.

I won't have to worry about making do with cramped quarters, or poorly located quarters. Jesus said in his father's house are many mansions, and that he was going to prepare a place for me (John 14:2). Whether that scripture is figurative, or literal, or both matters not to me. Jesus said it. I believe it. That settles it.

When I move to 740 Golden Street I won't have to be concerned with obtaining electric service and keeping it on (Revelations 21:23). I will exist in eternal light.

I've been packing for a while, sending my things on to Heaven for my final relocation (Matthew 6:20-21). At my final address I won't need fire, flood, tornado insurance or insurance against Acts of God. It is the act of God (John 3:16) which allowed my name to be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Jesus Christ is my permanent insurance for my final dwelling place.

I do look forward to having a more permanent worldly address. Depending on how much longer God will allow the world to stand, or how much longer I will be here, I may have 1, 2 or 10 more addresses. I don't know. However many more there will be, and where ever they may be, none will equal the address I am most looking forward to. That address is and will always be my permanent one.

The most reliable forwarding address I'll ever be able to give you
is 740 Golden Street.

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Image 1 Credit: tlj515 
Image 2 Credit: BowenMurphy       

Poetry: It Matters To Me About You

My child, I know thy sorrows,

Thine every grief I share;

I know how thou art tested,

And, what is more-I care.

Think not I am indifferent

To what affecteth thee;

Thy weal and woe are matters

Of deep concern to Me.

But, child, I have a purpose

In all that I allow;

I ask thee then to trust Me,

Though all seems dark just now.

How often thou hast asked Me

To purge away thy dross!

But this refining process

Involves for thee-a cross.

There is no other pathway

If thou would'st really be

Conformed unto the image

Of Him Who died for thee.

Thou can'st not be like Jesus

Till self is crucified;

And as a daily process

The cross must be applied.

Just as the skillful gardener

Applies the pruning knife,

E'en so, I too would sever

The worthless from thy life.

I have but one sole object-

That thou should'st fruitful be!

And is it not thy longing

That I much fruit should see?

Then shrink not from the training

I needs must give to thee;

I know just how to make thee

What I would have thee be.

Remember that I love thee!

Think not I am unkind,

When trials come to prove thee,

And joy seems left behind.

'Tis but a little longer

Until I come again;

What now seems so mysterious

Will all be then made plain.

Take courage then; and fear not!

Press forward to the prize,

A crown of life awaits thee,

Glory before thee lies!

 

~ Alice C. Lefroy ~

 

 

Hold on. Don't give up. Tell God.

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Poem From: The Tract League, Grand Rapids, MI 49544-1390
Image Credit:  bcjordan