ONE MESSAGE. ONE FAITH.

image from www.davidmbn.com In prayer this morning  I was humbled as I marveled at  the turning of God's attention to me the minute I called his name. The fact that I can call on his name and he respond- for I can sense the wafting in of the ever-presence of God- astounds me.  It overwhelmed me to recognize his loving kindness. I relate to David when he poses the question, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" The song that declares "OH! how he loves us" reverberates in my thoughts and I double over smitten by the undeserved affection and attention the Lord gives me. Again, in David's words, " these thoughts are too wonderful for me." But it did not begin there. Before the the presence of God was able to overtake me I was overtaken by the pursuit of HEBEL. You know, the HEBEL that Solomon writes about in Ecclesiastes 2:1. I said [ amar] in my heart [ leb] , “Come now [ yalak] , I will test [ nacah] you with mirth[ simchah ]; ther...

Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in  safe ty.- Leviticus 25:18 Safety. Protection from harm. Salvation. The action or process of bringing someone or something into safety. I am amazed at how bent out of shape believers and non-believers alike can get on the laws and principles of God. As soon as it creates a ripple in the comfort level, God's law is diluted or reasoned way altogether. It is given the description of legalistic or archaic to justify it's perceived irrelevance.  The Word of God is sometimes treated like a candy bowl, in which only the ones we like are unwrapped and savored. The rest get left behind. My heart breaks at the realization that many of the immoral issues we face in this age is due to diluting the validity and relevance of the Word of God.  For example, the stop sign is inconvenient until it's your safety on the line. When you do ...

Luke 3:7-14 NLT   When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, ...Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?   8  Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.... 10  The crowds asked, “What should we do?” 11  John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” 12  Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13  He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.” 14  “What should we do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.” True repentance is more than a inside-the-heart feeling. It's an action of turning away from old ...

The  stinging fiery whips across that naked back were mine to bear. The thorns pressed in, goring holes into a tender scalp, were meant for me. The shame of nakedness for all to see- that was for me. Perhaps He gazed deep beyond the crowd, no longer hearing the taunts and jeers. Maybe he peered into the depth of time and witnessed you- he witnessed me- believing, at a bed side, at an altar, on a bus stop- and experiencing the rapture of salvation only his sacrifice of life could bring. He trudged on. The heavy cross, across strained shoulders and back, barely held up by legs quivering from the weight above  and demand of the unforgiving ground below; that was meant for me. The nails- hammered and jammed- splitting flesh from flesh in merciless blow after blow- in hands and feet, was meant for me. He took the punishment for Every sin- I'm talking EVERY sin - for Every one. No exclusions. Every. ONE. He did that all for  you. He did that all for me. -Chantel ...

Psalm 19:13 Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. What does it take to be upright?  According to this verse there are several factors: 1. One must be a servant of the Lord. Notice the psalmist  says "thy servant". Who is "thy" referring to here? The Lord. When we are the Lord's servant, in other words he is our master, that gives him the authority over to keep us back from things. 2. We must be in submission to the master- for him to keep us back, we have to allow him to do so. The psalmist is asking the master, the Lord, to keep him back, thereby allowing and permitting the Lord to govern. 3. One must deny sin's  dominion in their heart. We are no longer slaves to sin. Sin should not have dominion over us. To be presumptuous is to have an irreverent disregard to boundaries and rules. To walk in sin presumptuously is to declare J...

"It seems that many of us today are spiritually settling."  Satan has convinced us that the voice of God is enough. Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and could still hear and recognize God's voice. Genesis 3:8 Yes, they heard God's voice. What they were suddenly robbed of was the presence of God. The presence of God is where there is fullness of joy and pleasures evermore. Psalm 16:11 But we have settled. We have become OK with half joy and fleeting pleasures. We have convinced ourselves that as long as we hear God's voice we are okay. But the scriptures in 2 Timothy 3:5 warn us of this way of thinking. Good idea, but what did God say? " They tried to use a natural solution for a spiritual problem.  They gave up their liberty to be in God's holy presence." In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve chose self gratification over obedience and suddenly felt uncovered. They were naked all along before they disobeyed their Fathe...

from "alookintomymind.wordpress.com" Romans 6:15-16, 18, 20-23 NLT Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. image from the web Is your lifestyle propelling you to life or death?...

I wanted to share something I read and shared years ago: Bind the Word to your heart Do you notice how easy it is to get a hard heart? God's value system is so often in direct contrast to the values of our world. God knows that our hearts will be pulled in directions away from Him. He also knows that when we go with that pull we will find our hearts hardening. We will become aware of a nagging sense of dissatisfaction and impatience with life and with those around us. He cautions us... "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3: 12 & 13). Many times we don't even notice the hard crust that settles around our heart. We compromise in "little" things and think it won't matter. Yet for the believer, there is inner frustration when we allow things ...