ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

AS YOU COME TO HIM, THE LIVING STONE - REJECTED BY MEN BUT CHOSEN BY GOD AND PRECIOUS TO HIM - YOU ALSO, LIKE LIVING STONES, ARE BEING BUILT INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE TO BE A HOLY PRIESTHOOD, OFFERING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. 1 Peter 2:4-5

FAITH AND GOOD WORK = RIGHTEOUSNESS

JAMES 2

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

A person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone...As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the

blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the

night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this

experience because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts

must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm.

The wind blew the grass and earth and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never

removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.

He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father

is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes,

all we have to do is reach out to Him.

NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU !!!

WE BELONG TO THE LORD

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.  - Romans 14:8-9

35...432...1878...13147...

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice    
                                                                                            - Psalms 141:2

ASK GOD FOR A DATE

God’s love for us is so unconditional. Not one of us has earned it, or deserves it. He loves us so much (truly, madly, deeply....) that he became one of us. He is "The perfect love"... in all it’s glory.The greatest tragedy is when an eternal love like that gets unrecognized, lost or denied.

Now look at the yearning of a Man for God's love in psalms 63.....A beautiful Love Song by David!!!
 
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, ... your love is better than life...On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night...I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods... in your name I will lift up my hands. my lips will glorify you... with singing lips my mouth will praise you...I will praise you as long as I live!!!

These are not just love lines that fade away and die...but a heart cry of a redeemed soul which has seen the power and glory of God. Every heart yearns for God...a place of  intimate love, relationship and oneness with God. Music, Art, Poetry and every form of creativity stems out of this yearning attempting to transcend us to a glimpse of  such a world....

The exciting part is God is open, available and looking for such an intimate relationship...(ask him for a date NOW!!!!)

WILL YOU STILL BE READY TO FOLLOW JESUS?

THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP  (Luke 9 :57 - 58)
Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

If this person were you and Jesus said this to you in response to your statement to follow him, WILL YOU STILL BE READY TO FOLLOW JESUS ? Will you be ready to abandon all confidence in yourselves, and completely trust God; would you give up your honor and accept to be nothing; can you renounce your will and submit to the Plans of God?

JESUS - THE ROLE MODEL (Philippians 2:5-11)

Jesus didn’t shout out “how – to instructions” to be restored with God from the heavens; rather He choose to humble himself, came down from heaven to earth taking a human form and gave his life as a ransom for us to be reconciled with God.

Paul writes "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Many fail to see beyond the here and now. We often reason that being humble is an act of foolishness in a corrupt value system. But it doesn't end that way. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:4  " Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life."

THE REWARDS OF HUMILITY  
Paul concludes, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

He loves you and you can trust him for His love towards you has not changed a bit, no matter how distant you think you are away from Him. Ask him to come into your life and to abide with you from today!!! O THOU WHO CHANGEST NOT, ABIDE WITH ME 

GOD IS A SUN AND SHEILD

How lovely is your dwelling place,
LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
place near your altar,
LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
Look on our shield,O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

LORD Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
                
                                           - Psalm 84

ENDURING WORD

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For,

   “All people are like grass,
   and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
   the grass withers and the flowers fall,
   but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.
                                       
                                                             -1 Peter 1:23-25

WHO IS JESUS?

Christ (JESUS) is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. - Colossians 1:15-20

WHO IS GOD? WHERE IS HE?

Who is God? Where is he?

The Lord is spirit. He is everywhere. On a personal note the bible adds " The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth - Psalm 145:18".

God is known in his creation, and he is close to every one of us. But he is not trapped in his creation—he is transcendent. God is the Creator, not the creation. This means that God is sovereign and in control, while at the same time he is close and personal. Let the Creator of the universe rule your life.

The Bible says, God is love - 1John 4:8.

God’s love for us is so unconditional. Not one of us has earned it, or deserves it. We are so fortunate to have his grace and love. Though we may do many good works… it does not earn God’s love.  He is The Creator, who loves the created so much that he became one of us. He is perfect love … in all it’s glory.

We can no more separate ourself from God’s love, then we could separate ourself from God. It is total, unconditional and will always seek out our heart. Even in the depths of sin, we hear the words of the creator in our hearts. My friend, we have been bought and paid for in blood. Jesus died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins.  There is no way to separate ourself from that, unless we very willingly walk away, and even then … The Creator … calls us back and wants us to Him.

Be Blessed!!! You are loved … because GOD IS LOVE!!!!!

REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE; MOURN WITH THOSE WHO MOURN.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE; MOURN WITH THOSE WHO MOURN.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not be conceited. Romans 12:14-16

Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.

Revelation 14:6-7

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.  He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”