Tag: #greaterthings

UP From The Grave He AROSE

“He will swallow up death forever! The SOVEREIGN LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove FOREVER all insults and mockery against His Land and [His] People. The LORD has spoken!” – Isaiah 25:8 NLT

Robert Lowry (1826-1899) captured the essence of the reason I celebrate Easter in this hymn he wrote. I remember singing it in church while growing up, and I can still see so clearly my Dad standing and singing this with his whole being. Thank you, Dad, for preaching the Gospel, and thank you, Mom, for always having his back and making his ministry possible ❤ .

Low in the grave He lay—
Jesus, my Saviour,
Waiting the coming day—
Jesus, my Lord.
Vainly they watch His bed—
Jesus, my Saviour;
Vainly they seal the dead—
Jesus, my Lord.
Death cannot keep his prey—
Jesus, my Saviour;
He tore the bars away—
Jesus, my Lord.
Up from the grave He Arose
With a Mighty Triumph o’er His foes.
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He Lives for ever with His saints to Reign.
He Arose! He Arose! Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

[And Repeat with gusto!]

The cross is empty, and most importantly, the grave is EMPTY. He Arose, He Arose, HALLELUJAH, CHRIST AROSE! Sin, you have no power over me; Satan, you can just leave! There is NO power that can separate me from my GOD. I believe in what Paul said to the church in Rome:

“And I am convinced that NOTHING can ever separate us from GOD’s Love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from GOD’s Love.” – Romans 8:38 NLT

And all the people said “AMEN!”

Set Apart From the World

“You can be sure of this: The LORD set apart the godly for Himself. The LORD will answer when I call to Him.

Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD. Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”

Let Your Face smile on us, LORD. You have given me greater Joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

In Peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.” – Psalms 4:3‭-‬8 NLT

I know, and have known, many angry, bitter people. It controls them, and it eats away at them inside. I know this, because I was one of those people. Being angry and bitter put me on medications to stop my stomach from hurting, and heavy doses of pain killers for my migraines. Who did I hurt with my anger? Me! It kept me from being content, and caused upheaval in relationships and in work environments. I have a friend who is very angry and bitter. Trouble and discontent follow him. He claims to be a Christian, but he has no peace. He is unhappy, and ‘hate’ is one of his most used words. That was me, too, until I finally – FINALLY – figured out how much I was hurting myself, and that JESUS was patiently waiting for me to let Him have all that mess. It’s absolutely amazing how much better I am when I’m not carrying all that junk inside. Do I still get upset? Of course; I’m human, and I am very flawed and broken. I have found that when I let other’s attitudes flow around me i stead of into me, life is so much more pleasant. Your anger and your bitterness may hurt me or disappoint me, but I don’t have to take it on myself and react to it in a negative or hateful way. Sometimes I struggle, but I know that with the help and support of the Holy Spirit, I can move past it. The ‘crazy’ driver who cuts me off, the person who is rude to me, the one who calls me a ‘b**’ or other unflattering names…. It’s their problem, not mine. I can react, or I can take a breath and respond. It’s my choice, and as long as I let the LORD take the issue, it’s an easy choice. No one can make me angry without permission. Satan no longer has that hold over me! I give thanks daily to my Saviour for releasing me from my bondage of hate and bitterness, and all the ugly that goes with it.

As Christians, we are supposed to be set apart from the world. The greed and possession-hungry ‘ME’ attitude, the anger and hatred that seems to permeate the world…. it’s not for us. I admit that I enjoy my home, and having the kinds of food I like to eat; I am happy to have a vehicle that I picked out. I have done with much less, and I could again, although I would like to stay where I am. I acknowledge that I am blessed beyond measure. My prayer is to be thankful for having enough and not to be greedy, and that I not be like a stranger, a foreigner in my LORD’S eyes. I am His child, the daughter of the Most High. Don’t be like the lepers who were healed by JESUS. When He heals us of our brokenness, give Him ALL the GLORY. When I come face-to-face with my LORD, I surely don’t want Him to deny me because I refused to recognise His Power and Mercy in my life.

“Has no one returned to give Glory to GOD except this foreigner?” – Luke 17:18 NLT

Listen to Chris Tomlin sing Amazing Grace. My chains are gone; it’s right where I love to be, in the Amazing Grace of my LORD. I know I am Forever His! AMEN.

Reserve, Retreat, Regret

I’ve done that most of my life – reserving myself, staying behind the wall I constructed around my heart to keep from getting hurt. Oh, by the way, it doesn’t work. When I retreat behind my wall, all it does is keep me stuck, resentful, and angry. While I simmer in my reserve, regret for what I imagine coulda-shoulda-woulda happen overwhelms me. I am the prisoner, not whoever or whatever I happen to be upset about. I still get caught up in the cycle, too, but it’s not how I want to live my life. Billy Graham wrote a story about Bill Borden. Mr. Borden was a very wealthy man who went to China as a missionary for Christ, in spite of the opposition of friends & family. After just a few years he died of an oriental disease. While he was dying, he wrote this: “No reserve, no retreat, no regret.”

“Then He [JESUS] called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.’ ” – Mark 8:34 NIV

How many of us as Christians can say the same? “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” – Galatians 5:25‭-‬26 NIV

Easier said, than done! Can we live without reserve, retreat, regret? I don’t believe it’s humanly possible to do on our own. Listen to what JESUS says about living without reserve, retreat, or regret.

“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to GOD. I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have Peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:2‭, ‬33 NIV

Without JESUS, and without the SPIRIT, we are hopeless and helpless againt the world. With JESUS, and the SPIRIT, we can conquer. For as long as we are on this earth, our lives as Christians will never be comfortable or pain free. If they are, then I would say that we are not living the Way. As long as we have JESUS in our hearts and the Holy Spirit over us, we will at least know where we are going. I am no perfect. In fact, I am completely flawed and broken. With Christ in my life, I can’t afford to be invisible. Can we be more like Bill Borden? “No reserve, no retreat, no regret.” Amen.

I Bring You My Tired….

I’m tired. Tired of the physical and financial struggles, tired of hearing bad news through the news media, and tired of entitled, mean-spirited people. Don’t get all freaky; I may be tired, but there’s more that I love about life than what I’m tired of!

“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the Everlasting GOD, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding.” – Isaiah 40:28 NLT

GOD never gives up on us, even when we give up on ourselves. Thank You, LORD!!

From “The New Colossus” (the Statue of Liberty), a poem written by Emma Lazarus in 1883:
“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I’m proud to be called a follower of Christ, a Christian, and I’m proud to be called an American. This poem exemplifies to me what the United States is about. I’m proud that our country has been the Policeman of the world because of the aid we give countries in trouble. It makes me proud (not arrogant) that I have been able to help others in my life, and I am humbled in knowing that this what Jesus asks us to do. Whatever I have done, and in fact, a lot of what the U.S. has been able to accomplish, is because of our reliance of the LORD. Without Him, there wouldn’t be a United States of America. Without Him, I wouldn’t be alive. I believe that we, as a country, need to look back at our roots. We should study the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We don’t need more laws, we need to enforce the ones we have. We need to tighten our belts and consider our own citizens, our children, our elderly, our veterans; our country’s needs, before we send our people and billions of dollars to other countries. We must put GOD back at the helm. I support legal immigration – that’s how most my ancestors got here. American needs to be a country united, not divided over political garbage and race and money. Let’s become AMERICANS, and drop all the hyphenations. I can be an Irish-English-Delaware-Cherokee-Christian-American (I probably left something out!), or I can be an American. If I don’t like living here, I have tbe freedom to go elsewhere. Come on, America, we have some work to do.

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” – Galatians 6:9 NLT

AMEN!

****Update: my Mom reminded me that we are German, also…. How could I have forgotten that???****

Judgemental Noise – Is It Evidence?

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” – Matthew 7:1‭-‬2 NLT

Since Jesus began His ministry over 2000 years ago, He and His followers have been judged harshly by the world. He has been/is called a liar and a crazy man. He has been/is derided and cursed and humiliated. His followers, called Christians, have been and still are persecuted and tortured and killed. The noise of all that; the people who have denied His origins, His Life, and His ministry – is just that, judgemental noise. I guess that the enemy (a.k.a. Satan, Lucifer, the devil, Death…. you get the picture) thinks that the more noise he can generate around Jesus means that fewer people will hear the Message and follow Him, the Christ. We grow up surrounded by noise. By the time the Baby Boom began at the end of WWII, we’ve polluted our lives with noise. Radios blaring, televisions on, rock and roll music, concerts, huge stadiums filled with cheering…. bullying, jeering, rallies – it all adds up, and the noise of our lives often prevents us from hearing Jesus. Pushed by the enemy, we seem to believe that everything and anything, EXCEPT Jesus, is acceptable. Satan uses judgemental noise to drown out the Gospel story. It’s “good” to believe anything you want to, as long as it’s not belief in our LORD JESUS. To be PC, we have to deny that JESUS CHRIST is indeed the Son of GOD as He claimed to be, and ‘O. M. G. You cannot believe this man actually came back from the dead????’ (Yes, that was sarcasm….)

This passage from Right From the Heart 1-Minute Devotions, Day 126, says it so well:

All through the ages, man has speculated about life after life. Dante’s Divine Comedy seeks to describe it. Modern medical science has added to the speculation with its study of near-death experiences. Now all kinds of religions offer their theories.

But the greatest evidence of life after life is in the historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. Christianity is the only faith founded by a man who died and came back to life. No other religion makes that claim.

Historical accounts of His appearances to His disciples and over 500 at one time, were written within twenty years of the event. His disciples faced martyrs’ deaths for refusing to quit preaching of His death and resurrection.

People don’t willingly die for something they know is a hoax. The one thing that would have stopped Christianity in its tracks would have been for Rome or religious authorities to produce the dead body of Jesus. They never did. The best evidence of life after life is the historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.

Noise, especially judgemental noise, has a way of finding Christians. The enemy does his best to cover up our witness that JESUS CHRIST is indeed the Son of the Living GOD, that He rose from the grave; and that He was resurrected in order to show all men and women, all of humanity, the Truth. The Truth about JESUS transcends all color lines, all ethnic, social, and political lines. Our LORD Loves every man and woman the same. Satan will use the busyness of your life to create the noise that keeps you from hearing about Salvation. Can you hear Him calling you over the noise? “Be still, and know that I Am GOD! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” – Psalms 46:10 NLT

Will L. Thompson wrote these words in 1880. They are still true. “Softy and tenderly, Jesus is calling….”

 Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

 

Horses In Heaven

Then I looked up again and saw four chariots coming from between two bronze mountains. The first chariot was pulled by red horses, the second by black horses, the third by white horses, and the fourth by powerful dappled-gray horses. [Red, yellow, black, and white, we are all equal in His Sight!!] “And what are these, my Lord?” I asked the angel who was talking with me. The angel replied, “These are the four spirits of heaven who stand before the Lord of all the earth. They are going out to do his work. The chariot with black horses is going north, the chariot with white horses is going west, and the chariot with dappled-gray horses is going south.” The powerful horses were eager to set out to patrol the earth. And the Lord said, “Go and patrol the earth!” So they left at once on their patrol. In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were riders on red, brown, and white horses. I asked the angel who was talking with me, “My Lord, what do these horses mean?” “I will show you,” the angel replied. The rider standing among the myrtle trees then explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth.” Then the other riders reported to the angel of the Lord , who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.” – Zechariah 1:1-‬11 NLT

“I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.” – Revelation 6:2 NLT

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.” – Revelation 19:11 NLT

No horses in heaven, you say? Oh, I think know there will be!

Life Is Messy

“No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave.” – Psalms 89:48 NLT

We all sometimes wish we could live forever, but really? Not me. As messy and chaotic as my life as been, it could end tomorrow and I wouldn’t be upset; although I do love my friends and family and my animals. I’m pretty sure they would miss me ….. and that makes death a messy situation. Of course, I am very sure of what happens next, and I look forward to absolute JOY of being with my Jesus and with everyone who has gone on to heaven before me. Our bodies and our brains have expiration dates. In fact, all of creation has an expiration date. Just take a look around you. Does anything last forever? We all know that death is inevitable for all living creatures. From the time of Adam and Eve, that bite of the fruit forbidden to them, mankind and nature have been in a messy downward spiral. The earth is in constant upheaval, and even the stars in space are deteriorating and dying. No amount of research, not cryogenics or robotic bodies, will do more that prolong the inevitable. We can stabilize and preserve, and we can build ….. and it will all come to an end.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything GOD made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His Eternal Power and Divine Nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing GOD.” – Romans 1:20 NLT

I don’t understand how ANYONE can state categorically that there is no GOD; no Creator. Creation v. Evolution – but that’s another blog! For the moment, let’s focus on life and death, and what happens next. I love this first-hand account by the physician Luke, where Jesus tells us what will happen after we die, if we will just ask Him.

“One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear GOD even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” ” – Luke 23:39‭-‬43 NLT

Do you know what will happen to you; where your soul will go, when you die?

Blessed Assurance, JESUS is mine! (Written by Fanny Crosby)

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

A Synopsis Of God’s Love For Us

Start in Genesis 1:26…

“Then God said, “Let US make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 6:5-6…

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.”

And Exodus 34:5-7…

“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His Name, The LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the Compassionate and Gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

And last, but very important, John 20:21-23

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.” And with that He Breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

That’s a lot of scripture. The point is that GOD, the CREATOR of the Universe, Who made us in His Image and gave us free will, THAT God, Loves us enough to forgive us of our sins. This is not a white, old, man-god with flowing white robes, this GOD, looks like every man. He’s a colorful God! Look at us, and look at nature. Does all of this really make you think He fits only one picture of Himself? He knows our sins; all of them, whether it’s a “little white lie” or horrific torture and murder. Sin is Sin. In God’s eyes, it is ALL equally bad – and still, He Loves us so much that He is ready and willing to forgive us.

Then He (Jesus) said: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

I have people I need to forgive. Thank GOD I have His help, because I couldn’t do it on my own! Praise His Mercy and Grace. One of my favorite songs is Victory In Jesus. Love to sing this!
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him,
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood
I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought
To me the victory.

Crisis!

It’s interesting to hear how that word is used by different people. For one person, having a crisis might mean not having enough cash to get their morning coffee. To another, it could mean losing everything they have in a disaster. To a child, a crisis is, well, anything that doesn’t go their way. Is your current crisis a danger or is it an opportunity? By definition, a crisis is a turning point, an emotionally significant event, or a decisive moment. We all have crises in our lives, and depending upon our emotional and physical states, they can vary in intensity. Jesus tells us:

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34 NLT

Believing that GOD has our every need covered (note: need, not want) is hard, sometimes. When your child is throwing a fit, or when you are facing personal loss, or it might be that you are obsessing over how you are going to survive with no job or income, it’s not easy to let it go and let GOD handle it. (Guilty!) The one thing I know for sure, the Peace I have in my heart, all stems from the crisis I had when I realized that without JESUS, my LORD and SAVIOUR, I would die and go to hell. Our lives get jambed up all the time. The thing that seems trivial to someone else may constitute a major crisis to me. For me, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see daily life as a crisis …. and that’s a good thing! (Don’t be fooled. I still have meltdowns!) Everything on this earth; every person on this earth, will experience crises in their lives. I’m quite sure I will experience and witness crisis-induced meltdowns throughout the rest of my natural life. It’s normal; it’s human.

When you are faced with the insurmountable and the odds are against you, switch your focus from the mountain and look to JESUS. Whenever I can’t waĺk, He picks me up and carries me. He wants to help you in the same way. Whatever crisis you are dealing with today, remember that this, too, shall pass. Eternity is forever. Human life is fleeting.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:33‭-‬34 NLT