Perfect love from all eternity to all eternity.
I’m so glad! Jesus lifted me!
Glory, Hallelujah! Jesus lifted me!
Elizabeth Cotton: Simple. Perfect. Love.
Rev. Patrick Vincent
Perfect love from all eternity to all eternity.
I’m so glad! Jesus lifted me!
Glory, Hallelujah! Jesus lifted me!
Elizabeth Cotton: Simple. Perfect. Love.
Be careful what seeds you are planting, watering, and ultimately – harvesting. It would be crazy for a farmer to plant corn and then expect sunflowers. Likewise, don’t expect joy, patience, and good will, if you are planting seeds of doubt, anxiety, and fear,
“You will always harvest what you plant.” – Gal. 6:7 (NLT)
“When your eyes are upon your symptoms and your mind is occupied with them more than with God’s Word, you have in the ground the wrong kind of seed for the harvest that you desire. You have in the ground seeds of doubt. You are trying to raise one kind of crop from another kind of seed. It is impossible to sow tares and reap wheat. Your symptoms may point you to death, but God’s Word points you to life,” ― F.F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer
Get on a treadmill. Push start. Now, I don’t care HOW FAST you run or for HOW LONG – once you step off that treadmill, you haven’t actually traveled anywhere. Not one inch.
This is what it’s like to TRY and earn your own salvation. It’s Treadmill Christianity.
Here’s why I’m saved. Here’s what makes me right with God. Here’s why I can enter Heaven:
“I’m a good person. I go to church. I was baptized. I read my Bible. I pray, fast, & tithe. I haven’t murdered anyone. I haven’t stolen anything. I try to make the world a better place. I pay my taxes. I follow the traffic laws. I help my elderly neighbor. I don’t smoke, drink, curse, rub, or chew. I give a hoot – I don’t pollute. I always return my shopping cart. I don’t gossip… much. I don’t laugh when someone falls… much. I volunteer at the Misison. I sponsor a child with World Vision. Come to think of it; I’m a very good person.”
I, I, I.
Even a lifetime of practicing these good moral behaviors haven’t gotten you one inch closer to Heaven (Isa. 64:6). Just a gerbil on a wheel; panting & tired. None of those things (in and of themselves) redeem you; only Jesus can do that (Acts 16:31).
If you could get to Heaven because of any deed or religious ritual, then there was NO POINT in having Jesus die on the Cross (Gal. 2:21). If you could get to Heaven because of YOU, then you would be able to boast about it (Eph. 2:9). Seriously, imagine that: Boasting before Yahweh?! “Hey Adonai, look at how good I was! Let me in! I deserve it! I earned my place at the table!”
That feeling rising up in you right now and making you feel defensive? Its called pride and God hates it (Prov. 8:13).
Instead, Jesus says “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matt. 11:28.
Are you wearing yourself out on a spiritual treadmill or resting in Jesus?
“Some people wonder why they can’t have faith for healing. They feed their body three hot meals a day, and their spirit one cold snack a week.” – F. F. Bosworth
Feed your spiritual man/woman EVEN MORE than your physical man/woman… What?! Well, if you want spiritual growth, you gotta eat spiritual food!
Jeremiah:
“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.” – Jer. 15:16
Job:
“I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.” – Job 23:12
Jesus:
“But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” – John 4:32
Hmmm, I’m noting a pattern…
How many times have you been told, “now, don’t take this personally, but…”? Well, I want you to take this personally: Jesus is THE ONLY WAY to God.
The postmodern ear may bristle at that, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Jesus, Himself said that. Not me. Not anyone else. JESUS.
“No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
Either you believe that or you reject it. There is no riding the fence. John Duncan called this argument, “inexorable” (meaning unbending, unyielding, & unstoppable). It is black or white, one way or the other, but it can never be both or neither.
For a much more eloquent argument, look up C.S. Lewis’s “Lunatic, Liar, or Lord” trilemma in Mere Christianity.
Exclusive claim? Oh Yes. The claim is indeed, exclusive,but the invitation to accept it is 100% inclusive and universal (Gal. 3:28)!
So, please take this personally! In fact, it doesn’t get any more personal!
How do YOU answer the very same question that Jesus asked His disciples: Who do YOU say I am? (Matt. 16:15)
– If this post blessed you please like and share!
Ref:
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 51-52.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis%27s_trilemma
http://merecslewis.blogspot.com/2010/11/deciding-about-jesus-liar-lunatic-or.html
I heard this saying attributed to either Chip Ingram or Greg Laurie:
“Christians are like TEA BAGS; you don’t know what they’re made of until you put them in hot water.”
Isn’t that about the truth!
Is the heat being turned up in your life?
This is where “the rubber meets the road,” right? Anyone can act nice when everything is going their way, but what seeps out when things aren’t? What comes out of that teabag?
Something you may never have thought of is the fact that teabags are useless without hot water, aren’t they? It’s actually IN the hot water that teabag finds their purpose and usefulness.
Try to remember this the next time you find yourself in proverbial hot water. Pray for me as I pray for you.
If this blessed you, please Like & Share!
Ref: https://www.facebook.com/moodyradio/posts/848812451813491
ttps://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1944-a-woman-is-like-a-tea-bag-you-never-know
You are rich. You live in America, which means:
You knew all that.
I’m not here to give you a guilt trip over your stuff. Who am I to talk? I’ve watched “Hoarders” and thought… how close am I to that?! I’m also not here to tell you to sell all your stuff and give it to charity (but you gotta admit: that would be pretty epic).
I’m just trying to get you to see your stuff for what it is: stuff.
Even though you have all those things, and even though (by the world’s standards) you are rich, if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have diddly-squat.
WITHOUT JESUS – you are completely bankrupt. WITHOUT YESHUA you are as broke as a joke.
Jesus said, “apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The world’s wealth indicators could be lost in an instant: one fire, one flood, or one thief. If your happiness and sense of accomplishment were tied to those objects, then – there it goes.
If you lose all your stuff and even if you lose your health, but you HAVE JESUS, then – you are rich beyond compare:
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? – Rom. 8:32 (also note Rev. 3:21!)
Real wealth is knowing the LORD and being known by Him (1 Cor. 8:3). Real riches are only found in Him (Matt. 6:19-24).
– If this post blessed you please like and share!
Ref:
One of the reasons I left Los Angeles was the traffic. It is unreal. I knew sitting in traffic like that was going to slowly drive me bonkers. So, it’s no surprise that a new study found that LA is the world’s most traffic-clogged city:
“Drivers in the region spent 104 hours each driving in congestion during peak travel periods last year. That topped second-place Moscow at 91 hours and third-place New York at 89, according to a traffic scorecard compiled by Inrix, a transportation analytics firm.”
While you may not find yourself spending 104 hours in traffic this year, it may feel like it. So, what are you going to do with all that wasted time?
Here are just a few ways to make that time count!
I’m pretty sure this is not what the Holy Spirit had in mind, but man, does it seem appropriate: what was meant for evil, God can use for good (Gen.50:20). Am I calling traffic evil? Yes. Yes, I am. Use it for good!
Oh, and by the way – those who bemoan living in little ole West Virginia, here is another fun fact this study revealed:
“Of 240 U.S. cities studied by Inrix, drivers in Parkersburg, W.Va., spent the least about of time stuck in traffic during peak hours at three hours per year.”
So, there.
Ref:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-traffic-los-angeles-20170220-story.html