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Showing posts from October, 2009

Ezekiel 31-36 He that has an ear let him hear

But is hearing enough? Ezekiel 33:31 warns us of the "hearers only". They come before the preachers/messengers and sit before them as God's people. They hear words and do not do them. They come to be entertained with good sounding words. With their mouth they show much love ( "Amen!"), but with their hearts they pursue their own gain...but when the messenger has passed, they will know that it really was a prophet among them. James 1:22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

EZEKIEL 36:23-27 - The Proposed Plan

Ezekiel 36:23-27 (New International Version) 23 I will show the holiness of my great name , which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. 24 ' 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 (2)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean ; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 (1) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And (3) I will put my Spirit in you and (4)move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." The Salvation Process 1.A heart to receive 2.Water for Cleansing 3.God's indwelling Spirit for power (for the) 4.Keeping of His laws

Psalm 84-86: Faithfulness-- will it still spring forth?

Psalm 84-86 (NKJV) Psalm 85:11 " Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven." (NIV) Psalm 85:11 " Truth shall spring from the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven" (NKJV) Righteousness is accounted for without a doubt- God has that covered. But what of faithfulness? Where in the earth can God count on that to spring forth, especially from an earth which seems to resound with more and more evil everyday? I remember a passage I read recently where God was questioning if he will still find the faithful on the earth when he returns. ( Luke 18:8 )

2 kings 11-15: Stay close to the king

"Station yourselves around the king...stay close to the king wherever he goes"- 2 Kings 11:8 (NIV) Murder, revenge, and treachery -- what a combo for a best seller. In this episode an entire royal family is wiped out when Athalia, Ahaziah's mother, is forced to endure the death of her son. Everyone is killed, except one. One of the litle babies is hidden away in the temple with his nurse and 7 years pass before he is heard from again. What better place to hide than in the temple of the Lord? Just as David proclaimed, the Lord is his hiding place.

Beyond the veil: Leviticus 16-18

Leviticus 16 : God was not playing! Aaron's sons just died because they offered the wrong thing to God and God decides this is a good time to let Aaron know some things about the innermost part of the tabernacle- the most holy place. Now the first thing that drew my attention was the fact that God spoke, not to Aaron, but to Moses, who had to relay the message to Aaron. Aaron was a minister in the house of the Lord, as well as Moses' brother, but he was subject to the Word of the Lord that came through Moses. Sound familiar?

Let's set BOTH our hearts AND minds on things above!

Colossians 3 starts with two commands. First, they need to set their hearts on things above. Second, they need to set their minds on things above. Upon reading these scriptures, I was reminded of the constant struggle between our wills that Paul explains in  Romans 7:14-25 . Both the heart and the mind are part of our carnal  natures. Not of the Spirit! God's Spirit within us wills as God desires. I've seen the definition of heart as our moral core. With that said, is it enough to have the mind set and not the heart? We hear much too often the statement, "God knows my heart." But can that be enough? With a heart aimed at God, can we purpose to obey God with our minds? Or on the contrary, can we have our minds set on living holy, but allow our hearts to remain distant from our Lord?

"Remember my chains."

Today was a typical Sunday. We woke up, got the kids and ourselves ready for church, grabbed a quick bite to eat as we stumbled out the door, and comfortably, we got in our car on our way to worship. We fellowshiped with fellow believers and "mystery seekers", we sang, we listened, blah blah blah...typical! It wasn't until reading our scripture reading for today that it hit me like a brick! We've forgotten the chains! Paul in his epistle to the Colossians encourages them in the last chapter to devote themselves to prayer, to be watchful, and thankful. He reminds them to act in wisdom when dealing with unbelievers and to truly live out God's love in front of them. He goes on to give some hellos and last instructions and he doesn't sign it with "Sincerely" or "See ya later!" He signs with a statement that quickens the spirit and compels, "Remember my chains." ( Col 4:18 ) Awesome! How often do we remember not just Paul's...

One Faith. One Message.

One Faith. 1. About God We Believe in the one ever-living, eternal God: infinite in power, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; and possessing absolute, indivisible deity. This one true God has revealed Himself as Father; through His Son, in redemptiom; and as the Holy Spirit, by emanation. 2. About Jesus Christ The one true God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, took upon himself the form of man, and, as the son of man, was born of a virgin named Mary. As Paul says, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" 1Timothy 3:16 (KJV) "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" John 1:11 (KJV). The one true God was manifest in the flesh, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself..." 2 Corinthians 5:19 (KJV) We believe that, ...

10/17/09 Luke 19-20: He will meet us where we are

Luke 19-20 (NKJV) My thoughts: The story of Zacchaeus is the story of salvation in a nutshell. Zacchaeus seeks the Lord, and his seeking get's God's attention. This is resounded in the scripture that says " draw near to God and he will draw near to you" ( James 4:8 ). My attention peaked when I read Jesus' response to Zacchaeus' effort -- "Jesus Came to the place". It reminds us that Jesus will meet us halfway, if you will, when we make the effort of coming to him. Not only did Jesus come to where he was, he then invited Zacchaeus to come where Jesus stood. When he says to Zacchaeus that this day is salvation come to his house it was both literal and spiritual. Jesus, whose name means, Jehovah our salvation, was going to stay at Zaccheaus's house. His staying at his house is also reminiscent of the passage that says , " Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come into him, and will ...

Come to Me: Answering the Call to salvation

" Come  to  Me , all  you  who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus is calling. He invites you to start all over.He wants to change the way you think, and revive you with fresh perspective!  As Christians, our salvation is an ongoing process. It is a process in which our salvation is worked out constantly as we die daily. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he died daily. "Dying daily" means to make a conscious effort with help from the Holy Spirit to discontinue patterns and characteristics of your old way of life. To live out your proclamation that Jesus is your Lord is to do as Galatians 2:20 says, to live with Christ living in you by your faith in Him. Accepting Jesus as your Saviour is not a feeling but accepting the reality that He lives in you and acting like it! Up until now, you've been a great distance from God because of your sin, your wrong-doing and wrong thinking. God desires that we lead a life of...

Who is Kendra?

About Kendra I thought & thought about what I would write about myself that I want you readers out there to know! But, I always end up with scattered thoughts and ramblings! Sooo , I figured I'd make it easier on myself and for you to read by simply answering the questions I usually wonder about when I read some of your blogs! Fair enough right? Where are you from? I was born in Williamsburg, VA and raised in Yorktown and Newport News, VA. How'd you end up in Panama City, FL? I'm an Air Force wife and Panama City is our second base. Before here, we were stationed at RAF Lakenheath in England for 3 years. We loved it and want to go back! Being in England, sparked our interest in global travelling. It was truly an experience that we took for granted in so many ways! Do you have a family? Yep! Sure do! And they're all mine! Moo-hahaha! I've been married to the desire of my heart, Andrew, for almost 6 years. We met in high school, became really goo...