Thanksgiving!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.  Psalms 100

God gives generously to all.....

No matter what stage of life you are in, materially rich or poor, young or old, healthy or ailing, God loves you, has a plan for your life and has made a way for you to have a relationship with Him through the anguish of Christ on the cross.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

Think back over your life, remember those moments of joy and of sorrow, think of how each event, every relationship, every struggle has effected you and made you who you are today.  God uses anguish to shape you.  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the Lord of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.  2 Corinthians 1:3-5.

Jesus promised that in this world we would have trouble, but he told us that he had overcome the world. John 16:33.  .. ..be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.  So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?    Hebrews 13:5-6

God has given you Himself!  "You shall have ............ME"  Exodus 20:3  Now that is something to be thankful for!  His love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations!  

Whatever struggle you find yourself in (if your not in one right now, praise Him for that!), Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6.  

Be thankful, remember his blessings, trust that his love endures and his faithfulness continues.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6.

Joy to you!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Mercy and Patience

"You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me."  Isaiah 43:10

Before God and after God there was no other.  God created.  He created the vast expanse of the universe, He created the beautiful world we live on for us to work and enjoy.  He declared all of His Creation "good".  He created us, for relationship, with Him and with other people.  He made us to show us His love and to give Him love in return.  This brings God glory.  When we honor the creation and the creatures that He has made, this brings God glory.   God is patient, He works with each of us over a lifetime, completing the good work that He began in us.  (Phil. 1:6)  God is merciful, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

In Genesis chapter 6 the Bible records that "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain."  Genesis 6:5-6.

The Lord was grieved that he had made man and his heart was filled with pain.  How sad.  We were created to know God, to care for His creation and to love other people, yet people had only evil in their hearts.  Selfish and corrupt.  The earth was filled with violence.  But God in his mercy had a plan to save Noah and all who believed the message that Noah was sharing while he built the ark.  (2 Peter 2:5 says that Noah was a "preacher of righteousness").  

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, but he is patient wanting everyone to turn to him in love.  120 years passed while Noah built an ark on dry land in a world that wasn't even watered by rain. Noah did everything God told him to do, Hebrews 11 says Noah believed God.  He built the ark with one door, and Noah and his family and all the animals that came to him went into that one door and God shut it.  Then God in his pain and grief, brought flood waters from below and rains from above, I imagine that he cried over the people that he had created.  Until the entire world was covered in water.  Only those who entered the ark through its one door survived.

There is one Savior, Christ the Lord.  The Bible says that he is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provided purification for sins, he say down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven.  (Hebrews 1:3).  

Those who have believed in Jesus as their Savior are God's witnesses, not, will become his witnesses, not, are his witnesses when we feel like it, he has made us his witnesses.  It is something that we are because he lives in us.  As we spend time in the Word and in prayer, we become more and more radiant, more and more like our Savior, but from the moment the Holy Spirit comes into us, we are God's witnesses.  I want to be a good witness, to yield to him when he is moving me to speak up.  I want to grow to be more and more like Jesus, to give myself for others, to bring glory to God, not shame on his name by being selfish and corrupt.  Not to cause God pain and grief.

How you have felt when someone you love has disappointed and saddened you?  Did you respond with tears?  God has given us his Word to teach us the best way to live, but so often we think we know better and don't chose to live by his guidance.  Our lives get all messed up and it breaks God's heart, he is grieved.   Noah must have wondered a few times during the 120 years of ark building, but he believed God and kept on building.  God in his mercy waited 120 years to flood the earth, God in his mercy promised to never flood the whole earth again.  God in his mercy is delaying the final judgment so that many can be saved.  2 Peter 3:15 says, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation."  Thank God for his mercy and patience.  Live the life that his word teaches you to live, pray for those who have slipped away from the faith, encourage them to return to our Father and theirs, be His witnesses.  Even in your disappointment, continue to be patient and have mercy on those who have broken your heart.

"Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning"  Psalm 30:5.  If you have felt disappointed and saddened over someone you love, trust God, be the witness that he made you to be, keep praying for them. Bring glory to God by letting his Spirit produce the fruit of patience in you.  You may yet experience the joy of seeing them come to Christ.

Everything We Need

"the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him.....See I lay a stone in Zion  a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trust in him will never be put to shame.  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious" 1 Peter 2:4, 6-7

Precious Faith, Precious Promises, Precious Savior.

"Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:  Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  2 Peter 1:1-11

"You show that you are a letter from Christ  the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.  Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."  2 Corinthians 3:3-6.  

Precious Faith, Precious Promises, Precious Savior

I don't know about you, but I don't like wasting time or energy.  I don't like feeling ineffective or unproductive.  I want results for my efforts.  In my studies lately a theme began emerging, that I have received a precious gift, the same faith that the Apostles held to, the same faith that Abraham held to.  A new life through the Spirit of God.  A life that He will use to impact others.  A life that will continue forever.  This is a precious gift!

"being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness.  The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 4:22-5:1.

A lot of scripture I know, but did you catch some of what we have?  We have a new life! The same promises Abraham had, the same promises Peter had, the same promises Paul had, we have.  Peter said we have received a faith as precious as the Apostles received.  God makes us competent to be ministers of His promises, so that we will be effective and productive, so that lives can become letters of Christ's mercy and love!

When you were born, you were complete.  Your DNA contained all that you would be.  Your height, the color of your skin, your eyes, your hair were all there.  Your talents and abilities were all there.  You may of been born with the ability to draw, play music, understand math and science, it was all there.  But as you grew the things that you put an effort into developed!

God has given you everything you need for life and godliness, so that you may participate in His divine nature from the moment you placed your faith in Him.  Don't take your salvation for granted, study, pray, and exercise your faith, so that you will develop as his child.  Then you will not be ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus.  You are called to add to your faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  Never forget that He has made you alive and He has the power to do all He has promised in your life and in mine by the power of the Spirit as you obey His Word.

Just as a newborn baby has the genetic code that will determine how he will grow, so to you have everything you need for life and godliness.  Don't neglect it.  A healthy baby doesn't come out 6' tall with brown eyes and dark hair, but as he grows he becomes all that he is made to be.  His fair baby hair becomes darker, his blue gray eyes develop into brown, he gains height and weight over time.  He doesn't play the piano as soon as he arrives home from the hospital, but as his natural ability is nurtured and challenged he grows into a musician.  He finds that he has an aptitude for certain things and develops them.  So it should be with the believer, God has given you all you need for life and godliness, He gifts you for your good and His glory by His Holy Spirit.  Don't stay an infant in the faith (1 Corinthians 3:1-2), develop all He has given you by spending time with Him, yielding to the Spirit and obeying what He says!

Talk to you again soon. Joy!