Poetry: WITHOUT HIM NEVER WANT TO BE

WITHOUT HIM NEVER WANT TO BE

I know the Lord, I know the Lord!

My spirit jumps for joy!

I know the Lord, I know the Lord!

And death has been destroyed.

For God's the very heart of me.

I love him evermore.

Without him never want to be.

I know the Lord, oh joy!

***

(c)Sandra Johnson/Draw Nigh To Hope

He Is Also Coming Back

All of us who love him should make a commitment to think about Jesus always. When our minds stray, an alarm should go off, sirens should scream and red lights should flash to remind us to bring our minds back to Jesus.

As we all know, daily life is becoming more dangerous. While living in fear is not God's desire for us, we can no longer be assured that we will never encounter a fatal situation. We don't know when we could unexpectedly leave this earth. While I know that I am saved through the Shed Blood of Our Dear Savior, Jesus Christ, that is not enough for me. 

Should I leave unexpectedly in any way or should he return before I leave this earth, I want my mind to be as closely upon him as it can be at that moment. I don't want my mind consumed by the cares of this world, desires and distractions when the Word tells me that My Savior will come back in the twinkling of an eye.

During this Easter Day celebration, let us remember that yes, Jesus has risen. Yes, Jesus is alive but he also is coming back and is worthy of our daily thoughts.  

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (I Thessalonians 5:2)

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (I Corinthians 15:51-52)

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Image Of Resurrection Garden: Domestically Blissful

Jesus Might Come Today

Each day takes on a new significance when we say first thing in the morning, Jesus might come today!

It's a truth that our daily lives don't allow us to think about. Sometimes during quiet moments, I stare at the sky and try to imagine how it will be. 

To those who don't love the Lord it will be frightening. It may even be somewhat frightening to those who love the Lord and live for his return. 

Mostly, we will be so very happy to see our Savior finally coming in the clouds. We will be glad that his vindication is beginning.

*****

Grace & Truth Came Through Jesus

 ~ The law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ~

Jesus came and fulfilled all of the requirements of the law because we could not. The law was given to man to show us where we fell short because we were blind to this truth. The Law is a tool. We are born into darkness and can't understand the truth of our condition until God reveals it to us. He used The Law as a bridge to get us to what we must have.

Our blindness and ignorance to the state of our fallen existence doesn't change the fact of our eternal death. We are still in danger of spending eternity, the life when we leave this earth, in separation from God, in desolation. We are still under penalty though we don't understand. 

God, in his perfect love, revealed the truth to man in two parts. Sin is the strength of the law. When God gave man The Ten Commandments, the first part of the revelation, sin in man was revealed to man. Man found that he could not totally perform the law because his thoughts were wicked. 

As we often succeed in being good, our thoughts are consistently breaking The Ten Commandments. God in his mercy showed this to man. Satan wanted man to be ignorant to the truth of their condition. God's plan was for his cherished creation to come into the knowledge of the truth of his condition.

The 2nd part of God's revelation to man was redemption, salvation from the curse of The Ten Commandments, restoration to fellowship with Our Creator. He provided the only sacrifice that could fulfill the requirements to destroy the works of the devil, the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. The Law is man's bridge to Jesus.

Jesus accepted Our Father's request to take the penalty for our condition, for every single human past, present and future. Through Jesus' suffering, death, burial and resurrection, the power of The Law over us was destroyed forever. Jesus became the first to be resurrected from eternal death into eternal life. Because he lives, those who love him will live also. 

Jesus and the Father are one, and separate. God came to earth in the form of His Son, both divine and of the flesh, born of a virgin yet fathered by the will of Our Father. The pure Blood of Jesus and his unblemished Body covers us, when we choose to believe and accept his sacrifice for us. Sin is the strength of The Law and Jesus Christ is the destroyer of the power of sin over us. 

We may fail, but we are covered. We may transgress but we are covered. We may stumble, but we are covered. We can come boldly and respectfully to God because Jesus is on his right hand interceding for us. We can talk with God at any time because Jesus restored our fellowship with Him. We can live in confidence that we have eternal life, that we will live and not die because Jesus is The Resurrection and the Life! 

 ~ The law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ~

It Doesn't Matter How He Looked

If you don't know Jesus in the beauty of holiness, in the essence of spirituality, then how he looks to you will not save you. 

If knowing him is dependent upon how you think he should look, then it's possible that you could be as lost as the person who does not know Jesus and, therefore, does not know God.

If you cannot accept Jesus Christ as looking like all ethnicities, all skin colors and all races, and ultimately as none of them, then do you truly know Him? Do you really understand who he is and why he came?

Image #4

The ignorance and darkness is not in choosing to see Jesus as white, brown, red or yellow and having images like that in your home. The darkness is in insisting that he CANNOT exist in any other way than how you choose to see him. 

The Father sent him to began his life here on earth in the Hebrew race. He is part of the Israelite lineage according to the Holy Bible. 

We have a good idea, and much more evidence has come to light, but we don't know exactly how he looked. We can surmise based on his environment, genetics, recent discoveries and the absence of the world pollutants that exist today. 

Image #7

He was physical but mainly spiritual and divine. He was never restricted by the flesh. However he looked, he belongs to everyone who chooses to believe in him. 

One thing is for sure. He walked this earth for only 33 years. The images that depict him as mature, or with grayed hair, or with skin untouched by any elements, or as a ferocious aged person, etc., can't be accurate. Those who are 33 years of age today look much older than 33-year-olds did in Biblical times, when bodies endured life for hundreds of years. 

Jesus Christ is God of all and no one color, race or ethnicity has an exclusive claim on his characteristics. It doesn't matter how he looked or looks. Ultimately, he is the image of Our Dear Father God and we are the image of them.

Image #9

If we go into an Asian person's home and see an Asian Jesus on the wall, we should be able to say, That's my Jesus! Hallelujah! 

If we go into a Caucasian person's home and see a Caucasian Jesus on the wall, we should be able to say, That's my Jesus! Hallelujah! 

If we go into a Native American person's home and see a Native American Jesus on the wall, we should be able to say, That's my Jesus! Hallelujah! 

Image #12

If we go into a Kenyan person's home and see an African Jesus on the wall, we should be able to say, That's my Jesus! Hallelujah! 

A Scandinavian Jesus! A Chinese Jesus! An Aleut Jesus! A Brazilian Jesus! JESUS! JESUS! JESUS! HALLELUJAH!!!

Jesus Christ is all in all. He is everything that we all need, through the love of Our Father who sent him.

Image #4  http://www.intermix.org.uk/news/news_291205_02.asp Jesus Intermix 

Image #7 https://jesuswithoutbaggage.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/pondering-the-many-faces-of-jesus/

Image #9 Vatican Museum Icons Jesus Blessings  https://www.europeanproceedings.com/article/10.15405/epsbs.2020.10.05.105/image/6

Image #12 Vincent Barzoni’s “His Voyage: Life of Jesus.”  https://richmondfreepress.com/photos/2020/jul/16/294950/

Other images from the usual Pixabay.

Jesus Christ And The Ten Commandments

Without the Ten Commandments we would have never known that we were lost. The Ten Commandments were revealed to us to bring to light that we exist in a sinful state and that we alone can do nothing about it. The Ten Commandments reveal the state of the heart and mind of everyone born on this earth. 

If this situation had never been revealed to us and we had remained ignorant and in darkness, it would not have eliminated the eventuality of our eternal separation from God. We would have become eternally separated from God upon our departure from this earth simply because we did not understand.

Our Father never desired to take anything away from us by giving us Jesus. His desire in sending Jesus Christ here to die for us was so that we would not be separated from him forever. He did not want us to be in darkness forever because of the origin of something that we could not help. 

Satan and his evil helpers blind the minds of every human that is born here. Principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world purposely deceive us into believing that we don't need Jesus. They don't mind if we say we know God, as long as we don't speak of Jesus Christ. Spiritual wickedness in high places deceives us into thinking that we can know God without this Jesus person, who was just a prophet anyway. Evil influence leads us to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ as God taking things from us.

You say that you don't believe in Satan, evil spirits, principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places, demons and fallen angels? That's part of the deception. That's the main feature of the darkness. 

God is a merciful God. He made it easy for anyone to defeat this evil, spiritual army and live in eternal life rather than die in eternal death. He sent his Son, who finished it forever. All anyone has to do is acknowledge Jesus Christ of Nazareth as God's son and the only Savior that mankind has, and confess him as their personal Savior. If you have asked yourself how do I know I believe in Jesus, this is how.

Jesus willingly paid the price for something that we did not understand and could not correct. The revelation is that we have been saved by the love of our God when we acknowledge Jesus and accept him as our Savior. God has not taken from us. Through his loving kindnesses and mercies, he has given to us life and life more abundantly.

I pray that you will be brought into the marvelous light by the truth of what Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has done for you.

 

Jesus Fulfilled The Law Of Moses

Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross fulfilled the Law of Moses, so that we would not have to continue trying to do the Law that we could never fulfill. Doing the Law meant that we were always in a position to die in our sins. No matter how hard we tried to be good and do good, that's just the way that it was. 

Do you see how unfair that would have been, for us to die in the sin condition that we were born with because we ourselves could never fulfill the requirements to be forgiven of those sins? God is the Good Father and he provided for those unredeemable sins to be redeemed through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, Our Lord. 

For Of Him Through Him To Him Are All Things

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things,

to whom be glory forever! 

Romans 11:36

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is worthy of our acknowledgement everyday of the sacrifice that he gave. He was obedient to the request of Our Father, to his own hurt. He gave his pure blood and his unblemished body for us. Because of his sacrifice, we can 

1. live whole lives here in this earth,
2. have a personal relationship with Our Father and talk to him directly,
3. walk through the Straight Gate and live in the Resurrection of Life.

I created this design to praise The Lamb of God for what he has done. He paid the entire price and destroyed what Satan did, forever!

If you like this design, you can see 68 products that it is on. Enhance your environment and wardrobe with anything from pillows to t-shirts to mugs. 

Find them at my Redbubble shop, Draw Nigh To Hope.

Happy Wednesday: The Lord And Success

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. (Psalm 3:5-6)

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:5)

Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. (Proverbs 16:3)

These scriptures tell us that success is from the Lord. What kind of success? The success that also stores up riches in Heaven. There is a type of success that we can generate through the flesh, through carnal thinking, through the way of the world. 

Sharing all of our plans with God first, however, puts us in a position to experience spiritual growth along with the success experience. To begin any journey with a spiritual mind is life and peace. Trusting God with our plans, desires and goals insures that we will not only advance but will be richly blessed when Jesus comes back. Most importantly, God The Father will be glorified along the way.

***

Image Credit: LoveThisPic.com

The Truth Of The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

This earthly life is confusing, unfair and very hard for many, many Christians. There are many who love God who are still striving to do The Ten Commandments.  The list, however, is only a revelation and a guide. The instructions were not given to man to be able to perform flawlessly. In fact, we can't successfully perform them because they originate in the heart of man which is desperately wicked. The Commandments were given as a precursor, a forerunner to the arrival of Jesus Christ into the world.

Those Commandments were also given to show man that more is needed, because the more that we try to do them the worse it gets. Without The Ten Commandments, man could not see the truth about his condition, the result of what happened to us after Lucifer rebelled against God. Through The Commandments, we can see our need for a profound and extraordinary source of help.

 
The one thing that all humans on this earth have in common, past, present and future, whether they have any faith or not, is that we all age and die off of this earth. No one can stop it. Though I have struggled as a Christian, though I have failed, though I still have times when I'm angry with God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only theology or doctrine that makes sense to me. I don't mean that it makes sense with respect to my fleshly, mental or psychological understanding. I mean that it is the only faith-based, divine belief that makes sense to me of all of the world's religions.

Though we can study and learn and grow in the knowledge of the things of the One True God, the Kingdom of God that is given to anyone who wants to receive it, is solely based on faith, faith in the revelation that God has given us about his Son. Those who love God are never able to make sense of things in this life, in this world. God has presented to us the answer that he has given to us and it is based in faith as long as we are on this earth. Those who choose to believe in Jesus' sacrifice continue daily to choose faith no matter what is happening or not happening in their lives. Living in faith in Jesus Christ, however, makes a difference in my life and in my person today, despite the fact that this earthly life is hard.

Life on this earth will never be perfect but God has a plan that he has asked us to believe in and hold to the knowledge of it until we leave here. For me, the very fact that we do leave here in undeniable death, is the fact that ties me to the truth of God's revelation of his Son and all that it implies. God asks us to believe in the salvation of His Son until the end. And whether I am still on this earth or have died on, there will be an end to all of this horror, though it does not seem like it. The spirit of man lives forever, with God or without God. That's where salvation comes in, because physical death is inevitable. Spiritual death is not. We leave here but we are not gone, because the spirit man cannot die. It came from God.

There was great devastation that happened in the spirit world that affected all of mankind. God, in his love for us, provided a way for us to choose restoration of our spirits to a good life and to his love. He made it simple so that anyone who wants it can simply receive it. Just acknowledge that we need a savior and that Savior is the Son that he sent, Jesus Christ. That's all. We don't have to live a certain way. We don't have to do certain things. We don't have to stop doing things or start doing other things. We only need to accept the truth in our hearts. The good thing is that not only has God provided a way out for us, he will also help us to accept the truth. He knows the hearts of every man and knows those who would like to believe and accept.
the
In a nutshell, a big nutshell, this is the knowledge, belief and faith that keeps me everyday and grows and strengthens in me. My prayer is that you are growing and that your faith is increasing in a remarkable way everyday.

Merry Christmas! God Bless!

 

Holiday Blessings 

To You And Your Family

From 

Draw Nigh To Hope

Jesus The Christ Arose And Is With Our Father

Happy Easter!

We celebrate Jesus Christ of Nazareth's obedience

to the Father and his love for us!

 

He was separated from his Father for a period in time,

all for our salvation.

We remember his selfless act and how he submitted,

because his Father asked him to.

For God so loved us that he sacrificed His Only Son,
so that whoever believes on Him should have everlasting life.

I hope your Easter is full of joy and peace

and a new commitment

to Christ Jesus.

Happy Good Friday In Jesus' Name!

 

 Jesus is Lord!

Honoring Jesus Christ On Good Friday

Honoring our Savior Jesus Christ's obedience as he went faithfully

to the cross. All done

for each one of us,

for the joy to come.

Jesus Christ Is Worthy To Be Praised
On Good Friday And Everyday

Thank You Dear Lord For Your Sacrifice On My Behalf.

Christian Poetry: I Call His Name (Jesus)

 

I Call His Name (Jesus)

When I am sad or in pain I call His name.

When I am lost and cannot find my way

I call His name.

When I am thankful and filled with joy,

I call His name.

Nothing would ever be the same if I couldn't call His name.

The Red Bird

A red bird comes to visit me,

He moves from tree to tree.

He looks for food on the ground,

I like it when he comes around.

The Clouds

The clouds look soft as they float by,

They are very far up in the sky.

The sun comes out and chases them away,

Buy they will be back another day.

Georgetta (Georgette) Hanna Johnson, my mother, wrote simple, serene poetry and short stories.

She loved painting beautiful acrylic, folk art landscapes on construction paper. Her favorite color was purple and she enjoyed various types of crafting.

She loved watching T. D. Jakes and Jimmy Swaggart and reading her Bible everyday. She was raised in the Church of God under Bishop Lula Mae Swanson. In her later years, Georgette grew closer to God.

She went peacefully to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in January, 2021

Remembering Christ At All Meals

The food and drink that we consume daily are not the true life through which Christians survive, though we need them to keep our dying bodies alive for this short period on earth. When we allow any meal that we take to represent The Communion or The Eucharist, we are acknowledging that our daily, entire lives are found in Jesus Christ.

We are remembering that we live and have our nourishment through him whom God has appointed as the only Savior of mankind. As many times as we eat daily, it can be a sacred event where we take a moment to recognize Christ.

When we acknowledge Communion in this way, our daily meals become a representation of the eternal life of the soul, which each Believer has obtained through the shed blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It also gives us many more opportunities to remember God's beloved Son.

Choosing to remember Christ at all meals does not need to replace the formal ritual of taking Communion with our churches or ministries. It can be an additional, Holy way to submerge ourselves daily in Christ, to walk in the Spirit more often.

I believe that Jesus meant that whenever food and drink passes our lips, remember Him, until he comes back for us. How blessed it can be to remember Him that often!

I Corinthians 11:23 

Other names for The Communion or Eucharist are The Sacrament, The Lord's Supper, The Last Supper, Holy Communion, Blessed Sacrament and Sacrament of the Altar.

Proclaim The Lord's Death Till He Comes

Allowing each meal that we take to be a reminder to remember Christ Jesus, His sacrifice for us and that we live through Him.

How To Take Communion In Faith

Thoughts on the traditional, formal, infrequent taking of The Communion.