I beseech you

"I beseech you therefore . . . by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)
For those who would know God's will for their lives, these verses provide the definitive answer. The key is sacrifice, not conformity. It is paradoxical, but wonderfully true, that real living is dying--dying to the world and living unto Christ! This great theme is emphasized repeatedly throughout the New Testament

"And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:20)

 

A favorite old song of many senior citizens (of this writer, at least) is the sentimental "I'll be loving you--always" ballad written long ago by Irving Berlin. The sincerity of some who sing it may be questioned, but the many "always" promises of the Bible really mean it. Consider a few of these precious promises, for example.

 

The apostle Paul urges believers to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord"). And to the same Corinthian church he later wrote: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ".

 

Then there is that other tremendous promise in the same epistle: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work".

 

The greatest such promise is that in our text, when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself promised that "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." To me that is words of encouragement, to know that no matter what I might face in this life time, my Savior is right there with me. Like the David the Psalmist said whether I make my bed in hell or in heaven also shall my Father be, bottom line nothing can separate us from the Love of the Father,  Thank you so much, for loving us even when we were yet your enemies, thank you so much for doing for us that which we could not do ourselves.

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5)

 Christ, referring to the promise of Psalm 37:11: "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The word of God tells us in Zephaniah  to Seek ye the LORD all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.   Meekness is not weakness is made clear from the first use of the word in the Bible. "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth"  Moses was strong and courageous, but also deeply humble and self-sacrificing; a man of prayer and trust in the Word of God, willing to defend it at all costs. The Lord  defined meekness in terms of His own human character: "Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" A meek spirit enables a Christian to maintain composure in the face of opposition, to accept adversity without complaint; promotion without arrogance; demotion without resentment. It produces a peace which no trouble can disturb and which no prosperity can puff up.

Which Jesus do you serve

Yes your right this one is a repeat and it I will continue to repeat this till i know that each of us has answered that question.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

 The call to imitate God is a call to separate ourselves from the world though we may be in but not of it  (Ephesians 4:17-19) and how we have been made new (Ephesians 4:20-24) and then gave us specific ways to do that (Ephesians4:25-32).

Our call is to live with the same love that Christ has demonstrated.  Jesus laying down his life for us, was first of all an expression of his love for his Father. Jesus did it, not only because of his love for us, but because first of all he loved the Father and this was  the Father’s will. This ‘life of love’ is not to be something we do to make ourselves feel good or appear good, it is to come out of and be an expression of our love for God Himself.  When John says, “We love because he first loved us,” (1 John 4:19). The first thing we need to do in the Christian life is become utterly convinced of God’s love.

On Sunday they raise their hands to heaven and declare that it is Jesus that they serve.

Then why do we look so much like the world?

Did you know that the wheat and the tare, the world can't tell which is which and quite frankly neither can I. So I pose the question again, which Jesus do you serve?

My Savior bleed and suffered and died and rose again for a sinner like me. My Savior, was a friend to friendless, He remembers the forgotten ones among us, Which Jesus do you follow?

 Which Jesus do you serve?

Is it this picture of the American dream that you chase after? Is the prince of this world who you serve or did you miss that part when you decided you want fortune and power?

If Jesus was here would you walk right by him or cross over to the other side of the street? 

Would you even recognize him or have time to speak to him?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a white complexion Michael Angelo version of Jesus ,is that the Jesus you serve? My Savior was battered and bruised for my sins, did you miss that part? Sometimes I ponder do we really understand what the price he paid for us?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they understand and they know My Savior. So which Jesus do we serve. is it the one whom we pray to bless us with great wealth? Or the Jesus who said

blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness?

 So who do you serve? The one whose promises are like shifting sand?

Marine says it God , then country and the marine Corp, what comes first for you?

My Jesus would he be accepted in your churches today? All bloody and bruised with no shoes on his feet, would we want him sitting next to us?  He was not rich he didn't have a pillow to lay his head upon. Today my Jesus would look like a homeless man or perhaps we would see him as mentally insane.

He spent His time with criminals and those that are considered the least among us. Did you know he had a heart for the poor, so which place would  He come to eat Sabbath meal at your house or among those that were forgotten by society?

Its time we decide which Jesus do we serve but I'm not sure we understand what that means to be like Christ,

Jesus said to live like HIM, love like HIM but then does that mean we must be willing to die for HIM as he died for you and I???

Can we be Imitators of Christ? Can we live like our Savior?  Which one do you want to be ? I turned on the TV set today and heard a man preaching Jesus wants to make you rich and that he never intended for us to be poor.  Is that the Jesus your seeking??? Heard a pastor say that his Jesus says that we should never be sad. Yet my Jesus wept when heard his good friend was dead. So which Jesus do you serve?  I know that I want to be more like my Savior and less like me.  I want to be an imitator of my Savior what about you????

Psalms 107:20

 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction's. (PSALMS 107:20)

Many Christians have been taught that healing and miracles have ceased. They think such things only happened long ago. (Funny, that's what they thought in Jesus' day, too.) But since God's Word will never pass away, healing can never pass away! As we know that the Father's word will not change today and tomorrow its the same forever. 
 My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health
to all their flesh.
"But how can the Bible bring healing and health to all my flesh?" God's Word is full of life. But, just like medicine from a doctor, God's Word must be ingested to be effective. But if you faithfully take it, you'll find it's the best medicine. God's Word heals -- and it will endure forever. The case is
settled. Healing can never pass away. Will you believe God's Word? Or must you have Jesus touch you
(or you touch Him -- like Thomas), before you will believe? God is a Healer. He never changes. So healing will never cease.

What it means to be Christian

What it means to be Christian

Franklin Graham ask a question that I felt is one each of us should be asking.

Franklin start off by telling us about a  cab ride he had. " I was in a cab when I asked the driver about his faith. He replied that he was a Christian, and I asked him how he became one. I’ll never forget his reply: “Oh, I was born a Christian.” But those who belong to Christ know that it’s impossible to be born a Christian because we start out with a sin-infected nature, lost and separated from God.

People often use the term “Christian” as simply a category for describing someone’s cultural, religious, or family heritage. Other people believe that a person is a Christian because he or she attends church or was raised in a godly home. For still others, the term “Christian” is no more than a box to check off on an application or survey form.

So what is a Christian? Jesus said that His true followers are those who have been “born again” by the Spirit of God. When a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus came to talk with Jesus one night, he declared that God was with Jesus because of all the miraculous signs Jesus performed. Jesus had this penetrating response: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. … Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:3, 6).

The phrase “born again” in Scripture literally means “to be born from above”—a spiritual rebirth. A Christian is a man, woman, or child who has experienced a spiritual new birth through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That new birth is a gift of God, through Jesus Christ, given by the grace He freely offers to all.

Some believe you can be born into a faith. For example, a child born to Muslim parents is considered a Muslim by many people. A son or daughter born to a Jewish mother is typically considered to be a  Jew, and someone born into a Christian family is often assumed to be a Christian. No one, however, is ever automatically a Christian by birth. To be a Christian, you must make a conscious choice to turn from your sins—that’s repentance—and by faith believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who loved us, paid the price of our sins on Calvary’s cross, shed His blood and died, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day.

The Word  says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). The Bible also says that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). The moment we do so, the Holy Spirit makes us alive in Christ, imparting the gift of eternal life, and making us entirely new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

How do we tell if it’s real in our lives? The Bible says, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands, … the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4).

A Christian, then, is a person who is born again by the Spirit of God as he or she wholeheartedly trusts in Jesus Christ and seeks to follow Him in obedience. There is no other way to the Father, no other way to be a Christian, than through personal faith in the Son of God. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Hundreds of young people became Christians at each of our Rock the River evangelistic events in three major Canadian cities in August. As they heard the Gospel, the Holy Spirit convicted them of sin, and they repented. They turned in faith to Jesus Christ, were born again, and received new, resurrection life.

Please remember to pray for me as I preach the Gospel in Osaka, Japan, this month and in Eastern Europe later in the fall. Satan wants to take as many people to Hell with him as he can, but God wants all to repent and turn from their sin so they can enjoy eternity in Heaven with Him. The Bible says that God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

 Your faithful intercessory prayers make you a shareholder in the great work of evangelism and discipleship. This is all we do, because becoming a follower of Christ through the new birth is the most important step a person can make in this life, and for the life hereafter.

I’m sure there is someone you know—maybe a loved one or close friend—who has not experienced the new birth in Jesus Christ. I encourage you to continue in your prayer for that person and to ask the Lord for fresh opportunities to talk about what it means to be Christian. You might even share this letter with someone who needs to know."

After hearing about Bishop Eddie Long being accused of "inappropriate behavior"I felt the question needs to be posed by each of us to each of us as to what is a Christian?  If Christ came back what would he find you doing?  Would he find you in the jail ministering to the lost?  Would he find you at the hospital caring for the sick? Would he find you among the elderly caring and loving on them. Would he find you among the homeless and the fatherless?

Fancy cars, big houses, attractive women, jewelry and mega churches is that what being a Christian is all about? If you truly want to know what a follower of Christ entails, pick up your cross and follow him. For the road is rough but the path is straight and  the reward is eternal life. For there will be no more tears no more pain in the place Christ wants to lead us too.

Which denomination Would Christ Choose???

Which denomination Would Christ Choose???

In todays society, there are approximately 38000 Christian denominations in the world. All claiming to be Christian. Yet they are divided and contradict one another.  How is that possible when we are told by Christ that a house divided will not stand?  Yet among the so call Christian faiths there is  doctrine differences  that keep denominations from even fellowship together and in some parts of the world this Christian groups are willing and have been know to have caused bodily harm to one another, based on the fact they are not of the same denomination.

If we really want to please God, however, we must forsake what we want and practice what He wants.

Man's whole duty is to fear God and keep His commands. We should be determined to do God's will, not our own. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

  To follow Jesus one must deny himself. True religion does not consist of what pleases us. It is entirely a question of what pleases God. (Matthew 16:24)

Heavenly Father let our eyes and heart be on you, and not a denomination, for it was not a denomination that saved a sinner like me, but the precious blood of Christ.   Denominations have taken away from the real light of the world which is Yeshua (The Messiah/The Christ). Not the first Baptist Ebernizer Holy Light Evanglic Church of Christ(fake name)  One type of Christian one Messiah one faith.  I've heard the explanation that some Pastors and others give for why we have many denominations. Yet if I use that same excuse, to say that there should be many paths to Christ, I would be called a liar and false teacher.  Which would be true for there is only one way to Heaven and that is through Yeshua the son of Yahweh.  Yet we have thousands of denominations, because of men's ideologies. Each denomination is simply based on the ideologies of men, not the word of God. Christ did not preach denomination because he was a Jew and he knew whom he worshipped and where.  He did not create the Catholic faith, nor the Baptist, nor Methodist, nor Apostolic  or any other of man's self created denomination.   If there was a true denomination for believers to have followed it would have been the Messianic faith simple put (followers of the Messiah). Heaven want be divided off into denomination, it will only contain the truly faithful.

Surely Denominationalism do not differs from God's Plan?

Surely Denominationalism do not differs from God's Plan?

God's plan involves all of the body(the church).
Denominationalism changes God's plan by adding the concept of denominational affiliations - associations of local churches that contain some of the saved but not all of the saved - organizations that are more than just local churches, but less than the universal church. Denominations were unknown in the Bible. They constitute an addition, a change in God's plan. Most people can easily read their Bibles and see that this is so.

What difference does it make?

Any man is accursed if he preaches a gospel different from what is revealed in the New Testament. But denominationalism is different from the gospel. It is nowhere authorized in the gospel.

 Whoever does not abide in Jesus' doctrine does not have God. (2 John 9)
Is denominationalism part of Jesus' teaching? No! It is not revealed in His word. Therefore, those who practice this unauthorized change have not God!  (Rev. 22:18,19)

The church is part of God's eternal wisdom in the Bible (Eph. 3:10-11).
Denominations are not in the Bible, so they must have come from men. If we participate in them, we are followers of men, and of of God.
We must not lean on our human wisdom, but must trust in God to guide us. There are ways that seem right to men, but their end is death.  Human traditions and commands make our service to God vain or empty. Everything religiously which God did not plant will be rooted up. By whose command do denominations exist? Who planted them some of you might accuse such men as Peter, but he promoted simply a Messianic following, or maybe you would accuse Paul, he also promoted a following of the Messiah nothing more nothing less. For you see they already had a religion and that was Judaism. Since there is no where in God's written Word or any of his followers made any statement of creating a new denomination it can only mean one thing. Denominations were simply the ideologies of men,not based on God's word but the feelings and thoughts of men.. Are we then not in danger, for our worship and service must be  God first and foremost. Let every mouth confess that Christ is Lord, for we are all told every knee shall bow, yet many among you are bowing now to  a denomination that was sanctioned by  but by man.

Image if you will for a second to come home to a construction crew tearing up your living room, simply because your neighbor over heard you say you hated the floors in your house and wished they were removed. So the site boss explains to you that your neighbor hired them to come in and remove all your hard wood floors and put down carpet. Are you confused as to why your neighbor would take it upon themselves to do this without your permission???

So did you get it???

 You know what !!!

Did you get the memo???

Okay just in case you didn't here it is :)

MEMO FROM GOD:

Effective immediately, please be aware that there are changes you need
to make in your life. These changes need to be completed in order that I
may fulfill my promises to you to grant you peace, joy and happiness in
this life. I apologize for any inconvenience, but after all that I am doing, this seems very little to ask of you. I know, I already gave you the 10 Commandments. Keep them. But follow these guidelines, also.

1. QUIT WORRYING
Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you
forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for
you? Or do you just enjoy fretting over every little thing that comes
your way?

2. PUT IT ON THE LIST
Something needs done or taken care of. Put it on the list. No, not YOUR
list. Put it on MY to-do-list! . Let ME be the one to take care of the
problem. I can't help you until you turn it over to me. And although my
to-do-list is long, I am after all, God. I can take care of anything you
put into my hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take
care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

3. TRUST ME
Once you've given your burdens to me, quit trying to take them back.
Trust in me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs,
your problems and your trials. Problems with the kids? Put them on my
list. Problem with finances? Put it on my list. Problems with your
emotional roller coaster? For my sake, put it on my list. I want to help
you. All you have to do is ask.

4. LEAVE IT ALONE
Don't wake up one morning and say, "Well,! I'm feeling much stronger now,
I think I can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling
stronger now? It's simple. You gave me your burdens and I'm taking care
of them. I also renew your strength and cove! r you in my peace. Don't you
know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where
you started? Leave them with me and forget about them. Just let me do
my job.

5. TALK TO ME
I want you to forget a lot of things. Forget what was making you crazy.
Forget the worry and the fretting because you know I'm in control. But
there's one thing I pray you never forget. Please don't forget to talk to
me - OFTEN! I love you. I want to hear your voice. I want you to include
me in on the things going on in your life. I want to hear you talk about
your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with
me. I want to be your dearest friend.

6. HAVE FAITH
I see a lot of things from up here that you can'! t see from where you
are. Have faith in me that I know what I'm doing. Trust me, you wouldn't
want the view from my eyes. I will continue to care for you, watch over
you, and meet you! r needs. You only have to trust me. Although I have a
much bigger task than you, it seems as if you have so much trouble just
doing your simple part. How hard can trust be? 

"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:3)


Many theologians  believe this text indicated that, before the Flood, the Holy Spirit was directly dealing with people in judgment because of their increasing involvement with sin and rebellion against the Lord. God, through the Holy Spirit, was working earnestly in the antediluvians to enable them, before His written Word was available, to discern right and wrong, but their insistent rebellion would soon lead to such depravity that God would leave them altogether, and send the destroying, cleansing Flood.