Friday Music-Cody Carnes, Benjamin William Hastings – Take You At Your Word (Official...

What is your heart reflecting?

 As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. - Proverbs 27:19

Is your heart reflecting the godly values you claim to have or the values of the world? the only way we can live with godly values is through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside someone who has received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

So what are you reflecting??? Chew on that today.

Tom

Lord’s requirement

 Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God.

God has told us what He expects. We have no excuses. He gave us His instruction book the Bible. We can not claim ignorance, all we may claim in laziness because we chose not to read it, learn it, and do it. 

May we be obedient followers of Jesus!!!

Tom

God speaks!

 A couple good words I read this morning is a good reminder for us all…

John Piper: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2

There is no stronger, wiser, more attentive helper. 

Then shortly after I read that I read this: The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” - Psalm 32:8 

God speaks!!! We must listen! Have a blessed day!

Tom

Share Jesus!

 Several people commented on this when I posted it on Facebook yesterday so I wanted to share it with you today. As followers of Jesus we are to share the gospel with the lost. Let’s be about the business of our Lord. Feel free to copy and share the photo..

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #10

 Life will be easy after salvation.

Jesus tells us the exact opposite. He tells us because we follow Him we will face many troubles in life. He also reminds us that this side of heaven is not our home but we are strangers on this earth as we belong with Him in heaven! 

John 16:33

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

James 1:12

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Philippians 3:20

20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

So remember brothers and sisters....this is not our home and ww will have difficulties because we follow Jesus but what awaits us will overwhelm us and make our difficulties seem like nothing one day!

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #9

 Heaven is a real place!--

The bible is clear---Heaven is the home of those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for eternity.

Hebrews 11:16

16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

2 Peter 3:13

13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

1 Corinthians 2:9

9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

Philippians 3:20

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Many more verses could be shared but we can see here what God has done for those who follow Him!!! Praise the Lord for great things He has done for us out of His great love!

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #8

 Hell---may think Hell is not real or that God would not allow someone to go there. Both of these thoughts are false!

2 Thessalonians 1:9

9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Revelation 21:8

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Then here is a verse or two to show God does allow anyone who does not repent of sins and out faith in Jesus to go to hell.

Luke 12:5

5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Revelation 20:15

15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Take hell seriously!!! It is a real place!

Tom

Music Friday--Crowder, Dante Bowe - God Really Loves Us ft. Maverick City Music

Controversial things of the bible. #7

 You do not become an angel when you go to heaven!!!

So often I hear folks claim their loved one gained their wings or that they are now their angel watching over them from heaven. This is biblically incorrect.

Angels are ministering spirits of the Lord who serve Him. They have no souls and are not redeemed. Humans are made in the image of God, have souls, and came be redeemed from sin if we put our faith in Jesus. 

Genesis 1:27

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Hebrews 1:14

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Psalm 103:20

Bless the Lord, you His angels,

Who excel in strength, who do His word,

Heeding the voice of His word.

Again, you will not become an angel if you go to heaven, if you go to heaven it will because of your faith in Jesus and you will become a joint heir with Him, a child of God!

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #6

 Absolute Truth--many deny that there is an absolute Truth. God is absolute Truth! He made us, He gave us the rules, and He desires us to be obedient in righteousness and holiness. 

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 8:32

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

And who is the Truth??? God....Jesus!!!!

John 17:17

17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Numbers 23:19

“God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said, and will He not do?Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is pure;He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

If you want to know truth, know Jesus for God is absolute truth!!!

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #5

Clothing---how we are to dress.

Seems today we are confused on how to dress as men and women. God revealed some things to us.

 Deuteronomy 22:5

5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

Romans 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

As followers of Jesus we dress:

1. Modestly

2.With clothes made for our gender.

3. Not wasting money on costly clothing

4. Not conforming to the world but to god's standards----this is a big problem today as even Christians want to try and keep up with the world!!!

If one will just stop and think about how God would want you to dress and how Satan would want you to dress it is not hard to figure out!

Tom

Presence of God

 Worth the read and thinking intently on…I been reading a book on Prayer by Randy Alcorn in which he shared this story about God’s presence in our lives by the in dwelling of the Holy Sprit:  “I have seen evidence of God’s presence in the most unexpected places. During a trip to Nepal, a physical therapist gave my wife and me a tour of the Green Pastures Hospital, which specializes in leprosy rehabilitation. As we walked along an outdoor corridor, I noticed in a courtyard one of the ugliest human beings I have ever seen. Her hands were bandaged in gauze, she had deformed stumps where most people have feet, and her face showed the worst ravages of that cruel disease. Her nose had shrunken away so that, looking at her, I could see into her sinus cavity. Her eyes, mottled and covered with callus, let in no light; she was totally blind. scars covered patches of skin on her arms. 

We toured a unit of the hospital and returned along the same corridor. In the meantime this creature had crawled across the courtyard to the very edge of the walkway, pulling herself along the ground by planting her elbows and dragging her body like a wounded animal. I’m ashamed to say my first thought was, She’s a beggar and she wants money. My wife, who has worked among the down and out, had a much more holy reaction. Without hesitation she bent down to the woman and put her arms around her. The old woman rested her head against Janet’s shoulder and began singing a song in Napali, a tune that we all instantly recognized: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Dahnmaya is one of our most devoted church members, the physical therapist later told us. Most of our patients are Hindus, but we have a little Christian chapel here, and Dahnmaya comes every time the door opens. She’s a prayer warrior. She loves to greet and welcome every visitor who comes to Green Pastures, and no doubt she heard us talking as we walked along the corridor.

A few months later we heard that Dahnmaya had died. Close to my deskI have a photo that I snapped just as she was singing to Janet. Whenever I feel polluted by the beauty obsessed celebrity culture I live in—a culture in which people pay exorbitant sums to shorten their noses or plump up their breasts to achieve some impossible ideal of beauty while nine thousand people die each day from AIDS for lack of treatment and hospitals like Green Pastures scrape by on charity crumbs—I pull out this photo. I see two beautiful women: my wife, smiling sweetly, wearing a brightly colored Nepali outfit she had bought the day before, holding in her arms an old crone who would flunk any beauty test ever devised except the one that matters most. Out of that deformed, hollow shell of a body, the light of God’s presence shines out. The Holy Spirit found a home.

Hope this makes you do some thinking…it sure did me!

Tom

Friday Music--Ain't No Grave - Molly Skaggs | Acoustic

Turn it up and praise the Lord!!!

Controversial things of the bible #4.

 Baptism-

According to the scriptures salvation comes by faith alone in Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. Baptism is showing the world you are publicly showing you are a follower of Jesus. Jesus set the example and you should be baptized if possible.  However, the thief on the cross was never baptized but Jesus told Him He would be with Him in paradise!!!

Here are a few scriptures to consider:

Acts 8:12

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Galatians 3:26-27

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Luke 23:39-43

New King James Version

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, [a]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said [b]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Tom

Controversial things of the bible. #3

 Sexual sins.

The bible is clear on what is a sexual sin so I will show you some.

Homosexuality-

Leviticus 18:22

22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

Romans 1:26-27

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Adultery-

Hebrews 13:4

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]homosexuals, nor [b]sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Bestiality-

Leviticus 18:23

23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

Obviously God wants us to stay pure (virgins) until married to keep the marriage bed undefiled and not sin before Him as well.

Hebrews 13:4

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Multiple partners at one time in sex (orgies)-

Galatians 5:19-21

New King James Version

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

This is not everything about sexual sins but it is enough for us to get the point...God is clear and wants us to be pure in our sexual lives before Him. If you have sinned repent and follow Jesus for God will forgive!

Tom