ONE MESSAGE. ONE FAITH.

Ephesians 5:6-7, 11 KJV Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.  image from thomsondata.blogspot.com Are we allowing ourselves to be deceived by vain words? Is the person we are being deceived by none other than ourselves? What have we convinced ourselves is ok? And according to what standards are these convictions? Time is too far spent for toeing the line between worldliness and godliness.  It is the season, if there ever was one, that our no is no and our yes is yes. With fear and trembling is how we are to work out our own salvation; with fear and trembling, or in other words, extra-carefulness. We can not afford to take chances with so great and precious as this salvation. What lines have you grown comfortable with toeing or even crossing? Spend...

1 John 4:16-18 King James Version (KJV) 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Arms open Unhidden Vulnerable Humble Stretched out Bridging the gap These are the words that come to mind when I think of the cross. The cross is the greatest picture of love. How can we then, being partakers of love so undeserved, pick and choose who should receive this love? Even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Am I so much higher than  my brother and sister that I can not humbly love, as Christ loves, without condition? Our love should be with open arms, with nothing hidden. The bible refers to this...

Psalms 62:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 KJV Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work. Our Father wants us to remember that he sees and and hears all. He is the master of the universe and nothing happens without his knowledge of it. He is aware of your every move and circumstance and he is all powerful and full of mercy. He is doing a work that is larger than you can even comprehend. Your life is in good hands. Trust- He knows what he is doing. As for God his way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is tried. He is a sheild to all those who put his trust in Him. Trust- He knows wha...

* Printable version below Knock! Knock! Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 Who's there?  I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6). What do you want? I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) In me is life, and this life is the light of men (John 1:4). As many as receive me, to them I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name (John 1:12).  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18  He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath n...

Deuteronomy 28 details the blessings that would overtake the keepers of the law that the  Lord gives to his children. Interestingly enough out of 68 verses in this chapter only 15 of them are given to the blessings. The rest are the burdensome curses that would overtake the rebel to the law- the one who would dare to disobey. I'm sure you can see where I am going with this- It is easy to get caught up in the blessings that are the benefit of obedience. As you trudge through the ongoing list of curses, it begins to weigh on you. There is a sense of this gloom as it is read through and listened to. The instinctual response is to avoid this heaviness. Exactly. God wants the curses to be so foreboding that this side, the negatives, of the chapter is avoided. He has taken great pains to establish such terrible reward for disobedience because,  really he wants his children to reap the rewards of obedience. He so greatly wants to bless. His delight is in the blessing. He...

"...And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. " ( Isaiah 9:6) As the angels sang glory to God in the highest, the lyrics to their chorus included "peace on earth, good will to men." With the birth of the savior into the world, the prince of peace introduced himself to humanity. In the Hebrew, the word for peace, Shalom , indicates more than what we generally attribute peace to be. It is more than just a quietness or an absence of confusion. Peace represents wholeness and completion. So when the angels sang of peace on earth, they were telling us that with Jesus comes wholeness and completion. Immanuel, God with us, ushered in peace personified, manifested as one of his own creation. When we truly find Jesus, we find a peace that is beyond natural understanding. It is a peace that the world can not comprehend, yet is available to all. This is why he came -in the humblest of beginnings- to give us p...

Much of Isaiah 53 is written in past tense. For example Surely he took up our pain      and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,      stricken by him, and afflicted. 5  But he was pierced  for our transgressions,      he was crushed  for our iniquities; the punishment  that brought us peace  was on him,      and by his wounds  we are healed. 6  We all, like sheep, have gone astray,      each of us has turned to our own way; and the  Lord   has laid on him      the iniquity  of us all. It's like it happened before it happened, for, this prophecy was given thousands of years before the manifestation of Jesus Christ on earth.  Isn't that amazing? The book of Revelations refers to "the lamb slain before the foundation of the world". This means, the plan was already performed in the r...