Never Enough Money

Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.
-- Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)

More of You, Lord, More of You!
Grateful

Eternity in The Hearts Of Men, Yet...

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
-- Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Whatever Is Has Already Been

Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
-- Ecclesiastes 3:15 (NIV)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Having Nothing Yet Possessing Everything

What joys are discovered in these precious *paradoxes found in God's Holy Word:

(9b) ...dying, and yet we live on;
beaten, and yet not killed;
(10a) sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
poor, yet making many rich;
having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
-- 2 Corinthians 6:9b-10a (NIV)

* Paradox = a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is likely true.

Holiness unto The LORD!
Grateful

Looking For Enjoyment?

Reading through the Old Testament, these words just jumped off the page at me:

...for without God... who can... find enjoyment?
-- From Ecclesiasties 2:25 (NIV)

Lord, I want Your Joy to be my Strength!
Grateful

"Who Am I?"

When I was a child, our family liked to play board games at the kitchen table. Our favorite was a game called "SORRY." We also had a couple of Bible trivia games -- one called "What Am I" and the other called "Who Am I?"

In Job 38, God answered Job with some "Who Am I" questions. Here's a sample of the things God quizzed Job on:

(36) Who endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind?
(37) Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?
-- Job 38:37-37 (NIV)

Holiness Unto The Lord!
Grateful

Answers Out Of The Storm

If you are presently in a life-storm, yes if you are barely surviving a confusing season of life where God seems to be silent, maybe even absent, take heart, for while the wind is blowing, the rain is pouring, the lightning is striking, and the thunder is booming, you just might be about to get an answer from the Lord.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.
-- Job 38:1b (NIV)

Note that while God answered Job out of the storm, the confusing season of life he was barely surviving, God also had some questions for Job as well. If you are bold, I invite you to read Job 38 in its entirety.

Click here: Praise You In This Storm Casting Crowns

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

The Meaning Of Wisdom According To God

God told us, "Wisdom means that you respect Me, the Lord, and turn from sin." -- Job 28:28 (CEV)

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

The Pleasing Aroma of Christ

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
-- Matthew 3:17 (NKJV)

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
-- 2 Corinthians 2:15 (NIV)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

God Is Not Oblivious Concerning Our Children

God is not indifferent, uncaring, or oblivious to what's going on in the lives of our children. (Let us as parents) entrust them back into God's care.
-- Brian, Daily Audio Bible Host

Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.
-- Proverbs 22:6 (New Life Version)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

God's Seal Of Ownership

(21) God establishes us, together with you, in a relationship with Christ. He has also anointed us. (22) In addition, He has put his seal of ownership on us and has given us the Spirit as His guarantee.
-- 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (GWT)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

God-Given Holiness

Lord, let these words from Your Holy Word characterize our daily lives:

We have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity...
-- 2 Corinthians 1:12 (GWT)

Click here: Find Us Faithful w/ Lyrics - YouTube

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Rock Solid Perspective. Abandoned To God.

This short film is powerful for gaining rock solid perspective on the things that really matter most in life. Yes, we get to see through the eyes of real people who claim the God of Grace as their strong foundation even though their world seems to be caving in all around them:

Click here: This Was Grace - Short File/YouTube

I waited and waited and waited for God.
At last He looked; finally He listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn't slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.
-- Psalm 40:1-3 (MSG)

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

-- God's Words in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (MSG)

Click here: Your Grace Is Enough by Matt Maher - YouTube

Do we believe God's Grace is enough?
Have we entered the mystery?
Have we abandoned ourselves to the God of Grace? Will we?
Grateful

"I'll Have A New Body!"

As we grow older, do we realize often enough that one day we will have heavenly bodies that will not decay?

I will forever remember a favorite song often sung in the little Free Grace Church where I was raised. The quartet special began with these wonderful words:

On That Resurrection Morning
When All The Dead In Christ Shall Rise,
I'll Have A New Body!
I'll have A New Life!

Click here: Cathedral Quartet - I'll Have A New Body - YouTube

I'm guessing the songwriter had been reading these wonderful verses from 1 Corinthians 15 in God's Holy Word before writing the life-filled lyrics. I invite you to read all the way from verse 35 to verse 58. It will be well worth your time:

(35) But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?” (36) You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first. (37) What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have. (38) God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form. (39) Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have still another.

(40) There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’t all have the same splendor, neither do earthly bodies. (41) The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star. (42) That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay. (43) When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong. (44) It is planted as a physical body. It comes back to life as a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, so there is also a spiritual body.

(45) This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (46) The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. (47)The first man was made from the dust of the earth. He came from the earth. The second man came from heaven. (48) The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven. (49) As we have worn the likeness of the man who was made from the dust of the earth, we will also wear the likeness of the man who came from heaven. (50)Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What decays cannot inherit what doesn’t decay.

(51) I’m telling you a mystery. Not all of us will die, but we will all be changed. (52) It will happen in an instant, in a split second at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will come back to life. They will be changed so that they can live forever. (53) This body that decays must be changed into a body that cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live forever. (54) When this body that decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture will come true: “Death is turned into victory! (55) Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” (56) Sin gives death its sting, and God’s standards give sin its power. (57) Thank God that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(58) So, then, brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation of your faith. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 (GWT)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

You Are Worth Much More...

(6) Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one sparrow is forgotten by God. (7) Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows! -- Luke 12:6-7 (GNT)

Click: His Eye Is On The Sparrow - Crystal Lewis - YouTube

We Are Precious In His Sight!
Grateful

Go On Sinning? God Forbid!

Reverend Kim Mclean, singer, songwriter, and preacher along with her ministry sidekick, Devon Oday, will be with our ladies soon on their yearly SHE RETREAT. Kim and Devon will also stay over for our Sunday Services to lead us in Worship of our God and Kim will also share God's Word. I borrowed this post from Kim's blog. Great message indeed.

The Rules by Kim McLean

There is a verse in the Bible that is hard to believe. I John 3:9. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he CANNOT go on sinning because he has been born of God.”

How is this possible? It IS possible, because when we are born of God we begin to take on God’s nature – which is love. To be “born of God” is to make a choice to live by God’s law – which is love. This happens by faith in God, in Jesus Christ. It happens day by day, choice by choice. We believe by faith, we say in our heart, “Thy will be done,” and we become by grace what God is by nature.

This is the Christian message. It’s about life. Being fully alive, reaching our greatest potential as human beings in God’s beautiful world. What a picture!! Consider Colossians 3:12-14. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” And consider Galatians 5:22 where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are described by Paul as our new natural inclinations.

Some people seem to think that Christianity is full of rules. Yes, it is about rules, but it is the most natural thing in the world to abide by them:
Rule #1: Love God. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do for yourself.
Rule #2: Love one another. I’m talking about family and friends. Not so hard, right?
Rule #3: Love your enemies. Put forgiveness into the world, into the universe.

Now abides faith hope and love – but the greatest of these is LOVE.

If we are born of God? We Cannot Go On Sinning....
God Forgive. God Forbid.
Grateful

God's Mercies Begin Afresh Each Morning

(22) The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. (23) Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. (24) I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!” (25) The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him.
-- Lamentations 3:22-25 (NLT)

If you haven't watched the miracle of an early morning sunrise lately, here's one from Youtube. Enjoy and remember God's mercies begin afresh each morning.

Click here: Serendipity Sunrise Rodanthe, NC - YouTube

Let's rejoice in today and be glad in it!
Grateful

The Temptation of Isolation

The temptation of isolation is deadly wrong. -- President George W. Bush in 10th Anniversary Speech after 9/11 attacks

We really do need each other.
-- Rueben Welch

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
-- Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

Never Forget

On this 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and rural Pennsylvania in the USA, these words of the Lord's concerning His children echo in my heart and mind:

(14)But Zion [Jerusalem, her people as seen in captivity] said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. (15) [And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. (16) Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me.
-- Isaiah 49:14-16 (AMP)

(14) Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us;
the Lord has forgotten us.”
(15) “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
(16) See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.
-- Isaiah 49:14-16 (NLT)

Father God, You will never forget your children. You gave Your Son to be crucified to prove it. The proof You will never forget Your own is found in the nail-prints in His hands. Amen.

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Holiness Is What God Wants For Me

Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind — placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.
-- Oswald Chambers

(15) But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. (16) For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
-- 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NLT)

Click : Holiness Is What I Long For - Donnie McClurkin YouTube

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Absolutely Obey God. Completely Love God.

Last night I gently heard the voice of my Father God. What I sensed Him saying was too personal to share. I am totally humbled, because I had no other desire but to absolutely obey what I heard Him say.

We must exercise the greatest care to be utterly obedient to God. He sees all the battlefield all the time. It is only He who can put each of us in the place where our lives can count for the most.
-- "Praying" John Hyde

But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.
-- 1 John 2:5 (NLT)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Come Back... Stop Sinning.

(33) Don’t let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people. (34) Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 (GWT)

Let's Shout to the Lord in Holy Worship.
Let's not shake our fists in His face in sinful rebellion.

Click here: Darlene Zschech - Shout to the Lord - YouTube

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Childlike Wonder For Creator God

The 1806 English Nursery Rhyme is on my mind today:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
How I wonder what you are.

As children of the King of Kings, we cannot afford to lose childlike wonder for our Creator God. I was recently flooded with wonder as I reflected on this verse from God's Holy Word:

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:41 (GWT)

After the Nursery Rhyme and this wonder-filled New Testament verse, the song of worship, "God of Wonders", is now playing deep within my soul.

Click here: God of Wonders by Third Day - YouTube

In Name of the Wonderful One Who Loves You And Me. Amen.
Grateful

Take Up, Not Pick Out... Your Cross

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me.
-- Matthew 16:24 (NLT)

Lord, help me to remember, that while You have called me to take UP my cross, yes to pick UP my cross, I still don't get to pick OUT my cross. Help me to trust You totally with choosing the cross that you want me to carry. In Your Holy Name and for Your Glory, I pray. Amen.

Crucified With Christ,
Grateful

A True Labor of His Love & New Mercy

On this Labor Day in the U.S.A.
I know new mercy from Above,
Yes, my God is still refining me --
A true labor of His Love.

Click here: The Refiner's Fire w/ lyrics (Steve Green) - YouTube

No matter what I may lose, I choose The Refiner's Fire.

* Bonus Song Link (One of my all-time favorites):
Click here: New Mercy (Phillips, Craig & Dean) - YouTube

New Mercy,
Grateful

Job Somehow Maintained His Sarcasm?

In the midst of severe suffering and even while being preached at by his so-called friends, isn't it amazing that Job somehow maintained his sarcasm?

(1) Then Job replied to his friends, (2) “You certainly are wise people, and when you die, wisdom will die."
-- Job 12:1-2 (GWT)

Our Dearest Only Wise God, let us not be wise guys like Job's "comforters". In Jesus' name. Amen.
Grateful

The Last Enemy

The last enemy He will destroy is death.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:26 (GWT)

Now, that's Good News, heh?
Grateful

If Christ Hasn't Come Back To Life?

If Christ hasn’t come back to life, your faith is nonsense and sin still has you in its power.
-- 1 Corinthians 14:17 (GWT)

He's alive and I'm forgiven. Heaven's gates are open wide!
-- Don Francisco's Song from the Apostle Peter's Perspective

Click here: Don Francisco - He's Alive - YouTube

Grateful

Fleeting Shadows

We have only been around since yesterday, and we know nothing.
Our days on earth are only a fleeting shadow.
-- Job 8:9 (GWT)

Only one life 'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
-- Plaque that hung in my grandparents' home

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful