Friday, May 31, 2013

Cause Hope to Arise Within Me

"What can death do to me? I've already died. You cannot defeat defeat. You cannot break brokenness."  
-- E. Stanley Jones
 
Pray with me;

"Lord, take fear far from me. 

You have defeated my greatest and my last enemy, the devil and death itself. 

Cause Hope to arise within me. Resurrected Hope has a Name -- 'King Jesus'.

Occupy the Throne of my Soul. Be my Indwelling Inspiration always and forever and today. 

Amen and Amen."

You are Faithful and I am...
Grateful 

Thursday, May 30, 2013

As You Suffer for a Little While

1 Peter 5:10-11 (GWT)

10 God, who shows you His kindness and who has called you through Christ Jesus to His eternal glory, will restore you, strengthen you, make you strong, and support you as you suffer for a little while. 11 Power belongs to Him forever. Amen.
 
Grateful

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Foundation

Luke 6:46-48 (MSG) “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand!
All Other Ground is Sinking Sand!
Grateful

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Love

Corinthians 13:1-13 (NKJV)

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 

But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

Grateful

Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day in the U.S. of A. "Our Tribute"

"Our Tribute"

Surely, we know that freedom's not free...
We're blessed, because others did and still bleed...
Too often, too many seem to forget...
To express proper thanks, to everyone we call "Vet"...
So today is the Day, we remember afresh...
Our tribute is for those who've proven love best...
No greater friends in the world can ever be found...
Than all our dear loved ones who lay their lives down.

Grateful... indeed.
(Especially to Jesus, Our Greatest Freedom Friend Forever!)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Light Will Shine on the Road Ahead of You

Job 22:28 was sent to me by my mentor, James. Here it is from The New Living Translation of The Holy Bible:

"You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you."

Let's be encouraged. Because we belong exclusively to God, all of His promises are "YES" in Christ Jesus, His Son, and our Savior. 

Grateful

Saturday, May 25, 2013

The First Hummingbird Arrives

I believe one of God's most sophisticated creations is the hummingbird. Each year I get my hummer fueling stations filled with sweet water and hung in the trees, as I anxiously await their arrival to our residence.

The weather has been unseasonably cool this year, so the hummers have been taking their time moving up the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. But today at 6:30 p.m. the first hummingbird made his arrival. Yes, looks like my Ruby-throated, fine-feathered friends are back. It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. Indeed, it is.

If we give thanks for the tiniest blessings from God, I believe it's more likely that He will entrust us with the certain arrival of the largest blessings.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." -- James 1:17
Grateful

Friday, May 24, 2013

Feeling Overwhelmed? Remember the Joy!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by life? Well, you can drop the false guilt and exhale, because feeling overwhelmed is a very real part of being a human being. I've personally had moments throughout this week when it seemed the cares of the world and the details of my day would drown me in despair. But thanks be to God, I'm still above the flood.

When you feel overwhelmed what do you do? I don't know what you do, but I whisper the name of "JESUS" over and over and over again. Knowing JESUS will not abandon His own, causes my overwhelmed human feelings to experience the overflow of His Holy joy.

In fact, this verse has continuously held onto my heart moment-by-moment this week: Nehemiah 8:10b -- "...the joy you have in the Lord is your strength."

Let's remember that "the joy of our LORD is our strength!"
Grateful

Thursday, May 23, 2013

4 Directives for Living

* Live in harmony with one another. 
* Do not be proud. 
* Be willing to associate with people of low position.
Do not be conceited.

* Live in harmony with each other.
* Don’t be arrogant.
* Be friendly to humble people.
* Don’t think that you are smarter than you really are.

(Directives for Living from Romans 12:16.)
  
Grateful

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Romans 8:2 -- Holy Inheritance

Are we living in our inheritance?
 
Do we believe in a Grace that is amazing enough to change "a sinner" (someone belonging exclusively to the devil) into "a saint" (someone who belongs exclusively to The Lord)?
 
Romans 8:2 is powerful. "The standards of the Spirit, who gives life through Christ Jesus, have set you free from the standards of sin and death." (GWT)
 
Holiness Unto the LORD.
Grateful

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

We Mourn With Oklahoma

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
(Words of Jesus in Mathew 5)

Today, we mourn with the precious people of Oklahoma in the aftermath of the tornadoes experienced there yesterday. The death toll continues to rise as morning approaches in Oklahoma City. A local school was hit directly and as many as 25 are either dead or missing in that location alone.

Let's pray:

Lord, we call on You for mercy and grace for Oklahoma City.
There is no where else to turn.
You are God alone.

Lord, please comfort the weary and heal the brokenhearted.
They have no one else to help.
You are Life Itself.

In Jesus' name. Amen.
Grateful

Monday, May 20, 2013

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Pentecost: I Choose to Be Holy

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold
Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy

Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within


Grateful

 

Saturday, May 18, 2013

God is Not Mad at You

Please know that God is not mad "at" you but He is mad "about" you. He doesn't want you "trying" to impress Him. So just simply and passionately "trust" Him and "offer" to Him all of your life as an expression of your worship. He takes delight in you. After all, you do remember that He died for you. Right? Right.

Grateful

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Lord is Your Life

...and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 
-- Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV) 

Lord, You are my life.
Grateful 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Hearts Purified by Faith

Acts 15:8-9 (NKJV) So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 

Grateful

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

It Is Well. Is it?

Today, I preached the funeral of a spiritual giant in my life, Dr. Charles Thompson. What a celebration!

The highlight for me was at the graveside when a choir of 100 or so pastors sang "It Is Well With My Soul" 

After the hymn the undertaker cried and said, "That's the best singing I have ever heard in a cemetery." He even declared, "I know WHERE Rev. Thompson IS!"

The lesson? Live a life that even convinces your undertaker that you are in Heaven when you leave this planet!"

Grateful 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Faint Not!

These words from Mrs. Charles Cowman speak strength to my soul:
 
"I had fainted unless……!' (Psalm 27:13.)
 
"FAINT NOT!" HOW great is the temptation at this point! How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering. 
 
"I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. What shall I do? God tells me not to faint. But what can one do when he is fainting?" 
 
What do you do when you are about to faint physically? You cannot do anything. You cease from your own doings. In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one. You lean hard. You rest. You lie still and trust. 
 
It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction. God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away. But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God." 
 
Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: "I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust." 
 
This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust. 
 
And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction. Do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through. 
 
"God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings." 
 
"Stay firm and let thine heart take courage." (Psa. 27:14─After Osterwald.) 
 
Stay firm, He has not failed thee In all the past,
And will He go and leave thee To sink at last?
Nay, He said He will hide thee Beneath His wing;
And sweetly there in safety Thou mayest sing.
─Selected.
 
Grateful

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Question is...

"If I am in the habit of continually holding God's standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God's perfect law and indicate what I should do.  The question is, will I obey?"
-- Oswald Chambers
 
Let's Pray and Obey.
Grateful

Sunday, May 12, 2013

A Mother's Love

1 Corinthians 13:1 NKJV -- Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 

"A mother's love is second only to The Love of God." -- My Aunt Edith 

Grateful

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Fear My Name

Soaking in Malachi 4:2  (NKJV):
 
"But to you who fear My nameThe Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; And you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves."

To fear God's name is to love Him passionately and to take knowing Him seriously.

Grateful 

Friday, May 10, 2013

Brother Thompson: In His Presence

A dearly beloved saint, yes...
...one who belonged exclusively to God
...one who walked by faith
...one who walked humbly with His Lord, former Virginia Church of the Nazarene District Superintendent, Dr. Charles Thompson, is NOW in HIS PRESENCE.

Another reason to make Heaven my home.
Grateful 

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Ascension Thursday

Today marks 40 days after Easter, Ascension Thursday.

Acts 1:3-11 (GWT) -- After his death Jesus showed the apostles a lot of convincing evidence that he was alive. For 40 days he appeared to them and talked with them about the kingdom of God. Once, while he was meeting with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for what the Father had promised. Jesus said to them, “I’ve told you what the Father promises: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when the apostles came together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you’re going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus told them, “You don’t need to know about times or periods that the Father has determined by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses to testify about me in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he had said this, he was taken to heaven. A cloud hid him so that they could no longer see him. They were staring into the sky as he departed. Suddenly, two men in white clothes stood near them. They asked, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who was taken from you to heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

10 more days until we celebrate Pentecost.

Grateful

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How Do You See Yourself?

How do you see yourself?

This link is an eye-opener:

http://youtu.be/XpaOjMXyJGk#aid=P-2we97i42A

Yes, Jesus loves me/you... the Bible tells me/you so...
Grateful

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

No More Missed Opportunities

Today is my brother, Billy Joe's, birthday. I remember when he was born. I was just 5-years-old. I was delighted to have a baby brother but also somewhat jealous. Now, 47 years later, there is no jealously left. It all turned into love. Not only is he my precious brother, he is also my dear friend.

Is there a family member you haven't told how much you love lately? I encourage you to contact that person and to embrace four words that I am embracing as my own...

...NO MORE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES!

Grateful 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Real Human Dignity

"No peace is thinkable as long as the world remains divided into two groups:  those who give and those who receive.  Real human dignity is found in giving as well as receiving."
-- Henri Nouwen

If we desire to give, we must also be willing to receive and vice-versa.
Grateful
 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Let's Not Give God a Bad Reputation

Religion can give God a bad reputation because religion is about God from man’s perspective. Jesus doesn’t invite us to religion but to relationship. 
-- James Spruill

Abide (LIVE) in Me, Jesus, as I (LIVE) abide in You.
Because YOU are my LIFE!
Grateful

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Run to Win

Consider God's Word as recorded in 1 Corinthians 9:12, 24-25 (NLT) -- If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

Grateful

Friday, May 3, 2013

Come With Ears Wide Open

Isaiah 55:3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. (NLT)

How Great is Your Love, My God.
Grateful

Thursday, May 2, 2013

God's Unbroken Presence

"Obedience enables us to abide in His Love and gives us to the full experience of His unbroken presence."
-- Andrew Murray

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Beauty of Shyness

Shy people remind us of the mystery of life that cannot be simply explained or expressed.  They invite us to reverent and respectful friendships and to a wordless being together in love.
-- Henri Nouwen

Blessed are the meek.
Grateful