IT IS FINISHED – 148

(Joh 19:30) Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. [NASB]

Tis finished! The Messiah dies, cut off for sins, but not His own.

Accomplished is the sacrifice, the great redeeming work is done.

The veil is rent; in Christ alone the living way to heaven is seen;

The middle wall is broken down, And all the world may enter in.

Tis finished! All my guilt and pain, I want no sacrifice be-side;

For me, for me the Lamb is slain, Tis finished! I am justified.

The reign of sin and death is o'er, And all may live from sin set free;

Satan has lost his mortal power, Tis swallowed up in victory.

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868

Have you read (sang from) your Hymnal today?

IT IS FINISHED – 148

(Joh 19:30) Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. [NASB]

Tis finished! The Messiah dies, cut off for sins, but not His own.

Accomplished is the sacrifice, the great redeeming work is done.

The veil is rent; in Christ alone the living way to heaven is seen;

The middle wall is broken down, And all the world may enter in.

Tis finished! All my guilt and pain, I want no sacrifice be-side;

For me, for me the Lamb is slain, Tis finished! I am justified.

The reign of sin and death is o'er, And all may live from sin set free;

Satan has lost his mortal power, Tis swallowed up in victory.

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868

Have you read (sang from) your Hymnal today?

The Wisdom of your wife

Today I was so blessed to receive a text message from my beautiful wife. It was a message full of wisdom and of love. I do so love her. She is my great equalizer, my sounding board, and my biggest fan, or my most pointed critic. In my life there are priorities; God, Linda, Family, Church, Friends and all else. She is the in to my out, the up to my down, the right to my left and the quiet strength to my loudness. I pray that she will not mind if I share her wisdom with you. Her counsel can well apply to other souls who need that strong encouragement and feminine touch.

This is her Wisdom:

Focus on the task at hand. Do not allow yourself to drift away from what you are working on right now.

Write notes if you are afraid you might forget something. Then return to the task at hand, free of other things, people (including the wife) that might detract you from the task at hand.

People will always call you to ask you to help them in some way. Your heart always wants to say yes. That is a beautiful way to think. But you are only one person. The Lord doesn't expect you to stretch yourself so thin that you are useless to him.

Save days where you are not expected to do something or be somewhere. Your bride, who , in a normal situation, acting from a standpoint of being healed, can be a great resource for you.

So you are doing more things now, that normally She would do, and She wants to be a full participant on the team. God sees your heart and your Bride sees your heart too. Your heart is 90 % of the reason she fell in love with you in the first place.

So, when someone calls or texts or otherwise asks you for help with something, it IS OKAY to say, let me think about that, or let me pray on that, or let me check with my wife on that, or a number of other answers. Unless it is an emergency, you do not have to answer right away. And sometimes you CAN say, I am sorry but I don't think I am the person who could be best for that, but thank you for thinking of me.

I write this to you, because I have been in situations like that during my lifetime, and have learned from the past, that you can't be everything to everybody. Nor should you be.

You can only be you , a wonderful creation of God. Only God can be everywhere and everything all at the same time.

These are my thoughts and I see you much differently than others do.

You are the love of my life and I thank God for you every day.

Have you read your Bible today?

The Wisdom of your wife

Today I was so blessed to receive a text message from my beautiful wife. It was a message full of wisdom and of love. I do so love her. She is my great equalizer, my sounding board, and my biggest fan, or my most pointed critic. In my life there are priorities; God, Linda, Family, Church, Friends and all else. She is the in to my out, the up to my down, the right to my left and the quiet strength to my loudness. I pray that she will not mind if I share her wisdom with you. Her counsel can well apply to other souls who need that strong encouragement and feminine touch.

This is her Wisdom:

Focus on the task at hand. Do not allow yourself to drift away from what you are working on right now.

Write notes if you are afraid you might forget something. Then return to the task at hand, free of other things, people (including the wife) that might detract you from the task at hand.

People will always call you to ask you to help them in some way. Your heart always wants to say yes. That is a beautiful way to think. But you are only one person. The Lord doesn't expect you to stretch yourself so thin that you are useless to him.

Save days where you are not expected to do something or be somewhere. Your bride, who , in a normal situation, acting from a standpoint of being healed, can be a great resource for you.

So you are doing more things now, that normally She would do, and She wants to be a full participant on the team. God sees your heart and your Bride sees your heart too. Your heart is 90 % of the reason she fell in love with you in the first place.

So, when someone calls or texts or otherwise asks you for help with something, it IS OKAY to say, let me think about that, or let me pray on that, or let me check with my wife on that, or a number of other answers. Unless it is an emergency, you do not have to answer right away. And sometimes you CAN say, I am sorry but I don't think I am the person who could be best for that, but thank you for thinking of me.

I write this to you, because I have been in situations like that during my lifetime, and have learned from the past, that you can't be everything to everybody. Nor should you be.

You can only be you , a wonderful creation of God. Only God can be everywhere and everything all at the same time.

These are my thoughts and I see you much differently than others do.

You are the love of my life and I thank God for you every day.

Have you read your Bible today?

Prayer and Faith hold hands

E.M. Bounds, aka; Edward McKendree Bounds has been long known as a great proponent of effective prayer, and of even greater faith as a result. His teachings entitled The Essentials of Prayer have long guided young and old to the beauty and power behind the direct line to our creator.

Bounds wrote that “Augustus Caesar found Rome a city of wood and left it a city of marble”. Today, we place a great deal of pressure on our Under Shepherds to do the same in our churches, but in the spiritual vein. Sadly, we often fail to properly support this leader as he reminds us of the value in strong faith and the power of prayer.

(Psa 5:3) In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

According to Bounds, “He is sent to get them to pray, to trust God, and to keep their eyes on God”. We all, each believer, are a part of this ministry. As we follow the preacher's lead, and the Word of God, our collective role is to change, through Christ, unbelieving sinners into solid praying and believing saints. You gotta have faith if you expect any success.

(Rom 5:1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

(Rom 5:2) through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

God places great importance on the value of faith and this is the reason we need faith in order to be saved. When you have faith, you will find prayer standing right beside. Faith is your belief, prayer is your voice. It is by faith we are saved, and it is by faith that we remain saved.

Paul wrote in Ephesians that the life he lived was lived in faith, not by sight. Faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave Himself for him (and for us).

(Eph 2:8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God....

Let each of us capitalize on our faith by pitching in to help our Pastor, sharing the Good News, through the tremendous power of prayer. Be in prayer at all times. Its in the Book! Have you read your Bible today?

Prayer and Faith hold hands

E.M. Bounds, aka; Edward McKendree Bounds has been long known as a great proponent of effective prayer, and of even greater faith as a result. His teachings entitled The Essentials of Prayer have long guided young and old to the beauty and power behind the direct line to our creator.

Bounds wrote that “Augustus Caesar found Rome a city of wood and left it a city of marble”. Today, we place a great deal of pressure on our Under Shepherds to do the same in our churches, but in the spiritual vein. Sadly, we often fail to properly support this leader as he reminds us of the value in strong faith and the power of prayer.

(Psa 5:3) In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

According to Bounds, “He is sent to get them to pray, to trust God, and to keep their eyes on God”. We all, each believer, are a part of this ministry. As we follow the preacher's lead, and the Word of God, our collective role is to change, through Christ, unbelieving sinners into solid praying and believing saints. You gotta have faith if you expect any success.

(Rom 5:1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

(Rom 5:2) through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

God places great importance on the value of faith and this is the reason we need faith in order to be saved. When you have faith, you will find prayer standing right beside. Faith is your belief, prayer is your voice. It is by faith we are saved, and it is by faith that we remain saved.

Paul wrote in Ephesians that the life he lived was lived in faith, not by sight. Faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave Himself for him (and for us).

(Eph 2:8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God....

Let each of us capitalize on our faith by pitching in to help our Pastor, sharing the Good News, through the tremendous power of prayer. Be in prayer at all times. Its in the Book! Have you read your Bible today?

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST - February 5^th & 6th.

ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED? Part One

"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and serviceof your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." Philippians 2:17

Are you willing to be offered for the workof the faithful - to pour out your lifeblood as a libation on the sacrifice of the faith of others? Or do you say - "I am not going to be offered up just yet, I do not want Godto choose my work. I want to choose the sceneryof my own sacrifice; I want to have the right kind of people watching and saying, 'Well done.'

It is one thing to go on the lonely way with dignified heroism, but quite another thing if the linemapped out for you by Godmeans being a door-mat under other people's feet. Suppose Godwants to teach you to say, "I know how to be abased" - are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a dropin a bucket - to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the lifeyou served? Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministeredunto, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial workand remain saints because it is beneath their dignity.

ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED? Part Two

"I am already being poured out as a drink offering." 2 Timothy 4:6

"I am ready to be offered." It is a transaction of will, not of sentiment. TellGodyou are ready to be offered; then let the consequences be what they may, there is no strandof complaint now, no matter what Godchooses. Godputs you through the crisis in private, no one person can help an other. Externally the lifemay be the same; the difference is in will. Go through the crisis in will, then when it comes externally there will he no thought of the cost. If you do not transact in will with Godalong this line, you will end in awakening sympathy for yourself.

"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the hornsof the altar." The altar means fire- burning and purification and insulationfor one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that Godhas not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God.You do not destroy it, Goddoes; you bind the sacrifice to the hornsof the altar; and see that you do not give way to self- pity when the firebegins. After this way of fire, there is nothing that oppresses or depresses. When the crisis arises, you realize that things cannot touchyou as they used to do. What is your way of fire?

Tell Godyou are ready to be offered, and Godwill prove Himself to be all you ever dreamedHe would be.

Oswald Chambers

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST - February 5^th & 6th.

ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED? Part One

"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." Philippians 2:17

Are you willing to be offered for the work of the faithful - to pour out your life blood as a libation on the sacrifice of the faith of others? Or do you say - "I am not going to be offered up just yet, I do not want God to choose my work. I want to choose the scenery of my own sacrifice; I want to have the right kind of people watching and saying, 'Well done.'

It is one thing to go on the lonely way with dignified heroism, but quite another thing if the line mapped out for you by God means being a door-mat under other people's feet. Suppose God wants to teach you to say, "I know how to be abased" - are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in a bucket - to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served? Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministered unto, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work and remain saints because it is beneath their dignity.

ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED? Part Two

"I am already being poured out as a drink offering." 2 Timothy 4:6

"I am ready to be offered." It is a transaction of will, not of sentiment. Tell God you are ready to be offered; then let the consequences be what they may, there is no strand of complaint now, no matter what God chooses. God puts you through the crisis in private, no one person can help an other. Externally the life may be the same; the difference is in will. Go through the crisis in will, then when it comes externally there will he no thought of the cost. If you do not transact in will with God along this line, you will end in awakening sympathy for yourself.

"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." The altar means fire- burning and purification and insulation for one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God.You do not destroy it, God does; you bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar; and see that you do not give way to self- pity when the fire begins. After this way of fire, there is nothing that oppresses or depresses. When the crisis arises, you realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What is your way of fire?

Tell God you are ready to be offered, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.

Oswald Chambers

Have you ever been forgiven?

(Eph 4:32) Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Of all the things God might ask of us, forgiving one another is probably the most difficult. For many, granting forgiveness is not in our top ten things we like to do. Why is that? Why do we hold onto grudges, sometimes for years, even decades?

(Col 3:13) bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Maybe its a sense of entitlement, they hurt me, now I'm going to hurt them, or wish them to be likewise hurt. Revenge. I heard a fellow say once, “I'll get even with you if its the last thing I ever do!”. Well, he did. A few weeks after he got his “sweet” revenge, he died in a car accident. Prophetic huh?

A commentator heard recently on radio claimed Christians had as much if not more difficulty forgiving others. That surprised me. We are taught that forgiveness is a must if we want to enjoy fellowship with the Lord.

(Rom 12:19) Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.

By not forgiving someone you become the owner of the hate, the anger, and its effects on your body, mind and spirit over time. When you forgive, all that nasty stuff gets released. It no longer eats you alive. It no longer is a tool of Satan. Forgiveness carves out a space for peace. Peace instead of anger, peace instead of hate.

(Mat 6:15) "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Sometimes we hurt others. Maybe it was on purpose, perhaps by accident. There are times when we don't even realize that we have hurt another. When we learn that we have, are we not sorrowful, regretting the incident? Don't we long to feel whole again? Isn't it great when someone forgives us? When we are released from our guilt, our shame our whole attitude takes on a whole new latitude. Forgiveness heals.

How many times would you say that the Lord, Our God has forgiven you over the past six months? How about the past six years? Ten years? Your lifetime? Imagine the sorry shape you would be in if Jesus was not in the business of forgiveness?

Through His death on the cross, we all have been forgiven. Maybe its your time to forgive? Have you ever been forgiven?

(Luk 17:4) "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Its all written in the book. Have you read your Bible today?

 

Have you ever been forgiven?

(Eph 4:32) Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Of all the things God might ask of us, forgiving one another is probably the most difficult. For many, granting forgiveness is not in our top ten things we like to do. Why is that? Why do we hold onto grudges, sometimes for years, even decades?

(Col 3:13) bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Maybe its a sense of entitlement, they hurt me, now I'm going to hurt them, or wish them to be likewise hurt. Revenge. I heard a fellow say once, “I'll get even with you if its the last thing I ever do!”. Well, he did. A few weeks after he got his “sweet” revenge, he died in a car accident. Prophetic huh?

A commentator heard recently on radio claimed Christians had as much if not more difficulty forgiving others. That surprised me. We are taught that forgiveness is a must if we want to enjoy fellowship with the Lord.

(Rom 12:19) Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.

By not forgiving someone you become the owner of the hate, the anger, and its effects on your body, mind and spirit over time. When you forgive, all that nasty stuff gets released. It no longer eats you alive. It no longer is a tool of Satan. Forgiveness carves out a space for peace. Peace instead of anger, peace instead of hate.

(Mat 6:15) "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Sometimes we hurt others. Maybe it was on purpose, perhaps by accident. There are times when we don't even realize that we have hurt another. When we learn that we have, are we not sorrowful, regretting the incident? Don't we long to feel whole again? Isn't it great when someone forgives us? When we are released from our guilt, our shame our whole attitude takes on a whole new latitude. Forgiveness heals.

How many times would you say that the Lord, Our God has forgiven you over the past six months? How about the past six years? Ten years? Your lifetime? Imagine the sorry shape you would be in if Jesus was not in the business of forgiveness?

Through His death on the cross, we all have been forgiven. Maybe its your time to forgive? Have you ever been forgiven?

(Luk 17:4) "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Its all written in the book. Have you read your Bible today?

 

SIN AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Facebook, Twitter, My Space, InstaGram. Communications vehicles of the internet. Messages and ideas transmitted from a portable computer in Rome, Georgia and received in seconds in a basement apartment in Perth, Australia with copies acknowledged in Munich, Paris, and Budapest. Once the SEND button is clicked, your words literally travel around the world. Once the written (or pictured) word is released, it remains on someone's system somewhere FOREVER.

Gods bookkeeping is kinda like the internet in that every word, deed, good or bad, every lie and every sin is recorded FOREVER. Eventually, each of us will stand before one of two thrones and the books will be balanced. [Revelation 20:12]

When I was young, our music came on 78 rpm records. Portable radios weighed 14 pounds. My first telephone number was 21. We still used out-houses and thunder mugs, and Airmail had only recently been invented. No cell phones, no Ipods, no CD's. Sending a message to a distant city meant writing, by hand, your words, sealing them in an envelope affixing postage of three cents, and delivering it to the postman. Within a week, message received. Airmail, two days quicker, but the price would be 13 cents. THIRTEEN CENTS........CAN YOU IMAGINE?

Back then a person had time to think about what was being written. Time to consider what the impact might be on others. Words have power you know. On more than one occasion “time” saved my bacon. Time allowed me to reconsider my words, and since letter writing and mailing is not instant, hurtful and even shameful words or news was changed or tempered to soften or place into perspective the intended message. The letter would be received only by the intended party and unless carelessness ensued, would remain private. Confessed sins would not become public fodder. Oh how things have changed!

Today, the internet, Facebook, Twitter, et al, have become Satan's most celebrated tool. “Sin, at the speed of light” is Hell's new motto. The Devil no longer has to roam the earth to and fro, all he needs is reliable 4G service! Not only can you SIN, news of that SIN can be posted on Facebook and SHARED, and others will CONGRATULATE you on this publicly  confessed SIN then CELEBRATE the very SIN itself!! How cool is that?  The path to Hell has never been so easy, so quick, so accessible.  Repent, turn back to Him. Do it now. 

Oh my Lord, how far we have fallen. How grave is our illness?

ANATHEMA MARANATHA ! ! ! 
(Moral worthlessness, Come quickly Lord)[1 Cor 16:22--KJV]    

Have you read your Bible today?

SIN AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Facebook, Twitter, My Space, InstaGram. Communications vehicles of the internet. Messages and ideas transmitted from a portable computer in Rome, Georgia and received in seconds in a basement apartment in Perth, Australia with copies acknowledged in Munich, Paris, and Budapest. Once the SEND button is clicked, your words literally travel around the world. Once the written (or pictured) word is released, it remains on someone's system somewhere FOREVER.

Gods bookkeeping is kinda like the internet in that every word, deed, good or bad, every lie and every sin is recorded FOREVER. Eventually, each of us will stand before one of two thrones and the books will be balanced. [Revelation 20:12]

When I was young, our music came on 78 rpm records. Portable radios weighed 14 pounds. My first telephone number was 21. We still used out-houses and thunder mugs, and Airmail had only recently been invented. No cell phones, no Ipods, no CD's. Sending a message to a distant city meant writing, by hand, your words, sealing them in an envelope affixing postage of three cents, and delivering it to the postman. Within a week, message received. Airmail, two days quicker, but the price would be 13 cents. THIRTEEN CENTS........CAN YOU IMAGINE?

Back then a person had time to think about what was being written. Time to consider what the impact might be on others. Words have power you know. On more than one occasion “time” saved my bacon. Time allowed me to reconsider my words, and since letter writing and mailing is not instant, hurtful and even shameful words or news was changed or tempered to soften or place into perspective the intended message. The letter would be received only by the intended party and unless carelessness ensued, would remain private. Confessed sins would not become public fodder. Oh how things have changed!

Today, the internet, Facebook, Twitter, et al, have become Satan's most celebrated tool. “Sin, at the speed of light” is Hell's new motto. The Devil no longer has to roam the earth to and fro, all he needs is reliable 4G service! Not only can you SIN, news of that SIN can be posted on Facebook and SHARED, and others will CONGRATULATE you on this publicly  confessed SIN then CELEBRATE the very SIN itself!! How cool is that?  The path to Hell has never been so easy, so quick, so accessible.  Repent, turn back to Him. Do it now. 

Oh my Lord, how far we have fallen. How grave is our illness?

ANATHEMA MARANATHA ! ! ! 
(Moral worthlessness, Come quickly Lord) [1 Cor 16:22--KJV]    

Have you read your Bible today?