|
| Have you ever had two things happen at the same time and you know it was a God thing?  Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. *grins*
Well, I was reading a bit from the late Adrian Rodgers this morning entitled "The Stars Cannot be Counted." He talked about the first so called astronomer named Hipparchus who numbered the stars out there at 1022. Then another man came along years later named Ptolemy and said the previous guy was wrong, there was 1056. Then came Galileo who invented the first crude telescope, turned it to the heavens, and looked beyond those stars to other stars, more stars, and even more stars. Millions, billions, and hundreds of billions... We still can't see them all. Bro. Rodgers ended by saying that Job says the earth is floating in space, Isaiah says it is a globe, and Jeremiah says you can't count the number of stars.
Okay, here's the good part... My Bible (though I was not reading in Job) was left open by me last night in Job. So I started reading Job 38 (where is was opened to) and then got to verse 31 where God says to Job, "Can you direct the movement of the stars - binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion?" God was saying to Job, that I AM. My God knows the stars by name, by position, and exact measurement. He holds them in place.
One of my favorite songs is "Redeemer." The song has a part where it talks about our God putting in place the stars and setting a boundary for the sea to stop at. How beautiful is that song! Wow did Job 38 really tie into what I had been reading and thinking about. Let us not forget the God that binds our universe together, through His Son Jesus, hears even the smallest cry from His children, knows every hurt, and knows every need. What a BIG God we serve. Why should we fear when He said for all ages that "I AM...." Amen!
| | |
| ~Good evening Xanga land!  What a wonderful and blessed Lord's day... A verse of scripture really popped out at me this morning as I was studying the Word. Though I think (and know) I've heard it a thousand times, it was in the New Amplified Version in my devotional lesson book. I liked the way it sounds. God asks us to take notice and heed His warnings as we all need to continually apply this to our individual lives... We all make mistakes whether they be really big or really small don't we? We must forgive others as God forgives us... Be blessed. "If any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also." Galatians 6:1 AMP | | |
| "Sleep"To: My dear friend this July evening From: Jason Blessed Creator,
Thou hast promised Thy beloved sleep;
Give me restoring rest needed for tomorrow's toil.
If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil.
Let Thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of His holy presence.
May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death,
the bed I approach remind me of the grave,
the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to Thy presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand,
knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender. ...
I retire this night in full assurance of one day awaking with Thee.
All glory for this precious hope,
for the gospel of grace,
for Thine unspeakable gift of Jesus,
for the fellowship of the Trinity.
Withhold not Thy mercies in the night season;
They hand never wearies,
They power needs no repose,
Thine eyes never sleeps.
Help me when I helpless lie. ...
when my conscience accuses me of sin,
when my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts,
when my eyes are held awake by personal anxieties.
Show Thyself to me as the God of all grace, love, and power. ...
Permit me to commit myself to Thee awake or asleep. From "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritian Prayers and Devotions"
Taken from "Decision" Magazine, Special Commorative Issue
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association c.2007 | | |
| Will it be Heaven or Hell?I recently heard a sermon on the Great White Throne Judgement and it was very moving. I'm glad I'll be skipping out on that one after my time here on earth is finished. It does though really make me wonder why someone would choose to stand in that terminal, but "fair" judgement from God, which will be based only on one's own works. It does show God's love and fairness even admist someone's rejection of Him in life. God will unite the person's spirit with an eternal body, and God will look at all the good and bad that a person has ever done before rendering the only verdict He can give. It will be eternal separation from God (a.k.a. hell). No one in that particular judgement will measure up because no one (no matter how many good works they did in life) can cover their own sins. They will have a body because the Bible says that "worms will devour them." You've got to have something tangible to exist in a state of realness for that to happen (so those in hell just won't be ghostly spirits floating around). Hell will be as real for them as today is real for us. The sad fact is that there is no need to go there! With salvation and Grace though, all who come to believe are covered (cleansed) and recused from it. AMEN!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are several quotes that I want to add to this post. Just some "food for thought," so enjoy! "Lost people are not going to come running to you. You have to go looking for them. ...Who will tell them about Jesus if we don't? Ronnie Wilson "The pains of hell will be retribution and utterly just - they will involve evildoers being paid back for the wrongs they have done, which means that each person in hell will know that whatever he or she is suffering is exactly what he or she deserves." Mark R. Talbot "The best investments are those that are safe and permanent; if we are wise, we will spend our time preparing for that which lasts forever. What is life but preparation for eternity? Erwin Lutzer
________________________________________________________________________________________________
And finally, some pics that I had in my camera. Who says an "old dog" can't learn new tricks! I decided that uploading photos can't be too hard, so last night, I did just that. Ta da! The first is of my new plants (which I have to try hard to remember to give a drink). *clue: look at the front steps and the two hanging pots* :) Since I have no shrubbery (yet:), I decided that I needed to use my very "green thumb" to give my house a little color. And, the second photo is of my dog Gracie. Isn't she sweet? :) I don't remember what that object was that was shadowing her. A mystery...  
| | |
| Today's ChristianityI ran across this profound statement made by Billy Graham in the latest issue of Decision magazine. I couldn't resist posting it, as I've personally seen firsthand the apathy that exists in way too many of today's church's across America and in Christians themselves. Believers should never get comfortable in this world (a.k.a. complacent and apathetic), because when Christ is not the focus of our daily lives, there is something terribly wrong somewhere. Christians all to easily forget the "reason" God created us and placed us here. We are Americans. We are the most blessed nation that the world has ever seen, yet our frenetic pace, obligations, and material possessions are stripping us slowly of our time with the Heavenly Creator. This is happening slowly but very deliberately. As our country and world fails in many ways, we as Christians can have personal revival and keep a burning heart for Christ. Just because everybody else seems to be "falling away" doesn't give us the right to lessen our desires and convictions. Christian joy is the only real joy and it can be contagious. God can work through us to revive and restore. Pray... AMEN!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As God looks down from heaven and sees present-day Christianity in America, He must be grieved. Thousands of Christians have left their first love; others are neither hot nor cold. As God said to the church at Laodicea, He would say to the church of America today, "You say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17) Billy Graham - Decision, May 2007 | | |
|
