"JESUS IS MY EVERYTHING"

Good Evening to All!

The Answers to the Bible Challenge "A Way with Words" are as follows:

1. c) Napthali (Genesis 49:21)
2. b) Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:29)
3. His parents finding him in the temple at age twelve (Luke 2:49)
4. d) the Bible doesn't report what He wrote (John 8:1-11)
5. d) Hebrew, Greek, and Latin (John 19:19-20)
6. c) a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13)
7. b) branches (John 15:5)
8. b) not clarified in Scripture (no scriptural evidence beyond 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
9. d) "sharper than any two-edged sword". (Hebrews 4:12)
10. c) prophesy about Christ's return (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3)

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The LORD is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2 NKJV

This verse needs no reference Bible to explain it. It says it all. The LORD is my everything. He is the One I can lean on without fear of falling, or dropping me. He is my strength. As long as I have Him watching over me I have nothing to fear, because He is my strength. I can withstand anything as long as He is with me. He is my Savior. He died for me that I might have an eternal Home with Him. He saved me from my self (fleshly desires that are apart from God). Without Him I am nothing. I am but dust. It is He that breathed His breath into my nostrils and made me a living soul.

I couldn't resist this picture of the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. With this much power beside me and with His Spirit within me, who can come against me?

During this season, I think it appropriate that we not only celebrate the birth of Christ, but the fact of Who He Is , What His purpose for coming to earth was, and also why He wants to have His Spirit live within us.

We are getting so "immune to the true meaning of Christmas" that it seems like it is becoming too hectic, this is because we are caught up in the commercial side of it. Too many people are trying to be "politically correct" and afraid of offending those of another faith to greet each other with Merry Christmas. "If I never hear another "Happy Holidays" it will be too soon. You might as well say Happy Monday, or Merry Tuesday. People need to quit worrying about offending each other and worry about offend God. After all, He is the One we will all answer to in the end. Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clock to simpler times when all people had to give as gifts were homemade gifts and would concentrate on the love put into making those gifts, preparing the Christmas meal and just being with loved ones?

Think about what God truly means to you, and then re-evaluate your meaning of Christmas. I know I had to take a few steps back during this "busy" season. Take note of the above verse again, and search it with your heart. Think about what God's purpose was for being born of a woman, just so He could come to earth and live among us, learn our ways, go through our trials and tribulations, and in the end, sacrifice Himself so that we can join Him in eternity "should we choose to live according to His will.

All of this as well as being there for us now during all our troubles, and while He won't just pick us up out of our problems, He is there with us to help us through them. He is there for us when we are scared, all we have to do is call out the name of Jesus, and He is there. I know I have done that in the past and I immediately felt His presence and strength surround me.

He is the One who will NEVER let you down. I know there are times when it feels like our prayers are not being answered, but hang on, because they are. God knows what's in our best interest, and so His answer may be NO, or WAIT A WHILE. That is why the Word says to "wait on the Lord." Everything will happen in God's time, because God's timing is Perfect. That is where faith and trust comes in . Without faith we cannot please God, but we must also TRUST in Him to know and do what is right for us because He knows us better than we know ourselves. After all, according to His Word, He knew us in our mothers' womb.

This is why the above verse is so important. We must trust God to be all of these things to us. He will not let us down as man does. We need this feeling to have an intimate relationship with Him which is Vitally important for our eternal Salvation.

Think of it in terms of a marriage. When a couple is married, how long do you think they will last with no communication, no trust, no faith in each other, no love, or no interaction? Probably NOT VERY LONG. The stronger your relationship with God is, the more chance you have of not falling away from Him. So I ask you. This Christmas season, re-evaluate your relationship with our LORD Jesus Christ and commit to becoming closer with Him, by learning more about Him, studying His Word, Prayer, and just plain talking to Him like a friend. That's what He says He wants. He calls us friends, so don't you think we should reciprocated and accept His friendship? Not just on Sundays and Wednesdays but everyday.

Let Him become your rock, fortress and deliverer. Let Him be your shield and the horn of your salvation. I couldn't find a reference for the part of the scripture "horn of my salvation", but as I was looking for it, I feel like God put this thought into my head. The horn of a saddle is the part that you hold on too when the horse starts galloping and getting hard to handle. Therefore, the LORD is "who I should cling to or hang on to" to keep my salvation firm and set. If I lose hold on the horn, I might fall off (my horse) away from my salvation. Therefore I shall keep my eyes on the LORD and look to Him for guidance always.

Good Night to All and May God Bless.

"JESUS IS THE ROCK"

Good Evening to All!

(24)"Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) But everyone who hears these saying of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house: and it fell. And great was its fall." Matthew 7:24-27

The key difference in the two houses is not their outside appearance. Pharisees and scribes may seem to be as righteous as the heirs of the kingdom. The key in the story is the foundations. The house on the rock pictures a life founded on a proper relationship to Christ (16:18, 1 Cor. 10:4, 1 Peter 2:4-8). It will stand the test of Christ's judgment, but the house on the sand will fail the test. (1 Cor. 3:12-15).

A friend commented on my last post in which Pharisees were mentioned, that the Pharisees did sincerely believe that they were right with the Lord, only they were mistaken. They thought as long as they followed all the "laws" and "acted like they were supposed to, everything was all right. They were missing the most important part. a relationship with God. Anyone can go to church, sit on a pew and sing a few songs. In the end, they will get up, say "I didn't get anything out of that service" and leave unchanged. If a person truly has a relationship with God, they will put into the service their love and passion for God, and leave that service feeling changed, renewed. A person will only get out of a relationship what they put into it. God loves us all, but we will only feel Him if we allow ourselves. If we start thinking about what's going on around us, what's going on after church, or even when we try to pray we start thinking of a million things, we cannot be focusing on the One we need to be focusing on. Therefore, we wouldn't notice if He was there or not. His Word says He inhabits the praises of His people. That means when we praise Him, whether it's with lifted hands, song, words, whatever kind of praise you are comfortable with, He will inhabit that praise and you will be able to feel His presence.

The above verses are telling me that I had better be sincere about my relationship with God and build my foundation upon Him only. I tried years ago to have my feet set in both worlds. I believed I was a Christian, just because I went to church sometimes and was a "good person". The trouble was, I wanted to live by the "world's standards, and not really knowing the Word at that time, I didn't see anything wrong in what I was doing. Wearing Very immodest clothing, working in night clubs and such things. If I would have paid more attention to God's Word than just a verse now and then, I would have been saved a long time before I was. I am so glad God sent me a "wake-up call" and introduced me to some people who showed me the truth and encouraged me to start reading my Bible so I would know what God actually expected of me.

As the Bible says you cannot serve two masters. Satan is the God of this world and will do his best to keep us preoccupied with "stuff" so we won't "have time" for a sincere relationship with God. Oh sure, he might allow us to go to church at first, but on the days which there is no church service, we don't think about God, because our days are consumed with work, kids and family, or school. Our nights are consumed with "entertainment of some sort or other preoccupations. The only time we might remember to pray is if we're in trouble or need something. Eventually, we "get to busy to go to church (we are too tired from staying up late the night before), or Sunday might be our only day off from work, so we want to "sleep in". See? I've been there. I finally woke up and realized that I better get a handle on who I wanted "in my corner". I realized I better get serious about my relationship with God and stop providing lip-service and motions. I better get God's Word in m;y heart. I can't help but think back to WWII and Hitler, the burning of books and Bibles. I keep asking myself. If that ever happens here, will I have enough of the Word in my heart to be able to quote it and rely on it? You know, it is possible for this scenario to happen, so it wouldn't hurt to be ready in case it does. If it doesn't then we will still know it if our eyesight gets so bad and ears get so bad we can't see to read or hear the tv or radio. I'm not trying to sound like a gloom and doom kind of person, but I believe it's better to be safe than sorry, and be ready for anything that comes along.

We are the temples of God. Don't you think He wants to live in a temple with a solid foundation? To have an intimate relationship with God, we need to develop and solid foundation on "the rock". After all, Jesus did tell Peter "upon this Rock, I will build my church." He wants a church and a "temple" that will stand the test of adversity and time, not one that will "slide into the ocean, or blow which ever way the wind blows.

God knows what's ahead of us. Satan knows he has but a short time and he is going to pull out all the stops, so we must be ready. He will twist God's Word around so well that it will sound like the truth, but in reality will be deceptive enough that will take us right where he wants us to go unless we can differentiate the minuscule truth part from the lies he tells.

If I seem to be kind of "all over the place", it's because I keep thinking of things I want to elaborate on and say, and I try to include them where they would go best, but then it seems that the following paragraph is "way out there". Needless to say, I hope this is all put together well enough so it's not hard to follow my train of thought. Sometimes I think my caboose ends up in front of my engine. LOL! Anyway, I hope this was beneficial to you tonight as I know it was definitely a "different kind of post.

Good Night and May God Bless!