My Life Here Is Temporary to Eternity- When Jesus Returns.

 

*******2022-

I stand by everything written last year on this same day. (Copied Below)

God is love, and many people will choose not to love God. Some believe that God is cruel, and that couldn't be further from the truth. God is ONLY cruel when you believe that this world is all there is- that there is nothing after this world. I can understand people believing God is cruel and downright evil if all there is in this existence we live in right now. There is simply too much horror in this world not to believe God is cruel if you are living here and now ONLY for the here and now.  We need to LIVE for heaven, for eternity, for the day our SAVIOR returns for us! We need to live for all of that RIGHT now, not when we are older or infirmed, but right this second! We are strangers in this world of horrors, knowing that this world is an awful place that we don't belong in. We are pilgrims seeking a BETTER world knowing the world we live in now is bitter, cruel, evil and something to be hated. Harsh words, but it's true. We catch GLIMPSES of love in this world. We have tiny windows into LOVE. We find joy for a moment and then it is torn from us as we witness (even if just in a news story) the brutality of this insidious existence. I'm NOT going to write about the horrors- YOU KNOW they exist and are lived by SO many people every single day of their lives!  I can say GOD IS LOVE because He has made this horror existence TEMPORARY to ETERNITY! TEMPORARY! TEMPORARY! This isn't all there is to be! There will be an END to ALL EVIL one day! That is a LOVING GOD. A hateful, cruel God would have it never, ever, ever, end and offer NO hope whatsoever.  We have HOPE. 

We are to place our TREASURES in heaven right now. When we place our treasures on earth they will be torn from us. When we place our hope in this world, it is horribly misplaced and leads us to despair! Only when we place our hope, our source of our happiness, our joy, our endurance, our love in HEAVEN do we not despair. Thousands of years ago men and women placed their hope in God and then they entered death's sleep with the expectation of a new world with God, and they will be rewarded with that new world, just as we will, and when we are- when our SAVIOR RETURNS FOR US. Hope for a better world to come! Our treasures in heaven with our Savior of hope!

We live now, and by the grace of our Lord, we do all we can to be witnesses of God's love, not our love, but His love. May God use all who choose to be used by Him, for His purposes now and always! All through His love!

All glory to GOD!

From 2021----

The Time of the Gentiles Fulfilled-

Luk 21:24 … Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

Historically Jerusalem was out of the control of the Jews for about 1900 or so  years. In 1948 they warred with those Gentiles in control, and won parts of Israel, but not Jerusalem. In 1967 they won Jerusalem. In 1980 they moved their government to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Jerusalem was effectively under the control of the Jewish people once again. 

1948 the sign of impending change in the status of Jerusalem- did people comprehend what was to come.

1967 a change took place.

1980 the change was complete.

Signs unfolding, signs fulfilled.

Jesus said this-- 

Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

We've had signs in the sun.

We've had signs in the moon.

We've had signs in the stars.

There have been distress of nations- with perplexity- the sea and waves roaring.

Men's heart fail them for fear- for the future.

We await for the powers of the heaven to be shaken… and then we will SEE the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory.

We are watching as these things are coming to pass…

We are looking up…

We are lifting up our heads…

Our redemption draws nigh!

We are close, so very close to our redemption.  

1980 -  41(42-2022) years ago. I was 17 years old in 1980. I'm 58(59-2022) years old and I'll be 59 (60-2023) years old this soon coming year- 2022(2023).  I don't know how long it will be but I know there are very few unfulfilled prophecies left except for those that will be very rapid ones lest everyone be wiped out of existence and there is no one left alive when our Savior returns.  The Mark of the Beast has not been given yet, after it is given to all that are going to accept it, then the plagues will come and at that time probation will have been closed, and the just who are deemed just will remain so- and the unjust will remain unjust, their chance to accept salvation closed. As the plagues begin some might recognize them for what they are and if they aren't Christ's the fear will be overwhelming for them. If they are Christ's, they will be praying and watching, living in the Holy Spirit. As a plague falls in one place, then another plague in another place, soon all the plagues- one after the other- will take place and such a horrific time of trouble that will be. You won't - let me emphasize this point- YOU WON'T be able to accept Jesus as the plagues appear, even if you recognize them for what they really are and you suddenly comprehend the truth of God's word and wish to have a change of heart. By that time it's TOO LATE. Just as in the days of Noah, the people watched Noah build the ark and then get on the ark and close the door with all those animals on board. They didn't try to get on that ark then, they weren't knocking on the door telling Noah they believe what he said and they want to be on the ark with them. Not a single person did that, not one. However, when the rains began, the torrential downpours such as never were known, as the water burst up from the ground itself, they suddenly wanted to be on that ark but it was TOO LATE. They screamed, they cried, they wanted to be saved! It was TOO LATE. It will be the same way as the plagues fall, people who wanted nothing to do with God when they could have called upon Him and been saved, will suddenly want God to save them.  

People don't want to imagine such a time.

People want to believe there will forever be enough time to accept the Lord as their Savior- they'll do it when they're ready. Or, when they get enough proof to believe, then they'll make the choice. 

People have to realize probation will RUN OUT! Time will RUN OUT! There is coming a cutoff point!  God's forbearance is LONG, but not endless.

We are watching, we are praying, please, Lord, please help us to be YOURS NOW AND ALWAYS! Please, Lord! Thank You for Your amazing LOVE! Thank You for Salvation! Thank You for Life Now and Everlasting!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!!

All praise, glory and honor to our GOD!

Are Your Heavenly Bags Packed?

 In the movie Ten Commandments we are given the false impression that Moses simply left the people and went to the mountain for 40 days. This is NOT what happened, in reality, and it’s important we understand this. The people of God made a covenant with God PRIOR to Moses’ ascension into the mountain for forty days and nights. The TEN COMMANDMENTS were given VERBALLY before they were ever written on tablets of stone, before Moses left for 40 days. The people HAD the ten commandments before they had the tablets.  So, while agreeing to obey God’s ten commandments before Moses left to be given a hard copy of them, the people KNEW very well what they were doing when they chose to BREAK those commandments while Moses was gone. They KNEW, they just didn’t want to keep waiting for Moses- he was taking TOO long, they thought he wasn’t coming back.  Sound familiar??? 

Too many today do NOT truly believe Jesus Christ is returning and they live day to day as if He isn’t REALLY returning. They live their lives NOT with their heavenly bags packed, but rather just going about their business with Jesus’ Return as something still far off. They believe they will be given plenty of TIME to get ready, to get packed, to be waiting for when His return is imminent and not some far off unrealized, supposed happening.  TRUTHFULLY, we do NOT live as if our Savior could return at any moment. We impose our conditions that must be met, NOT realizing that we may MISS all the signs because of our true LACK of faith, lack of belief in the realness of Christ’s return, the realness of a LIFE with Christ and not with all our earthly treasures we’ve surrounded ourselves with.

We can’t imagine our lives without all our THINGS our EARTHLY things. We say we would give them up in a heartbeat to exchange them for heavenly riches, but ONLY on the day we have visual confirmation we are getting a better deal, not now. We will cling to our earthly treasures LOATHED to do without because why deprive ourselves if we don’t have to? We make so many excuses for ourselves. We pat ourselves on the back and say ‘the Lord knows me’, but does He? OR have we so hidden ourselves beneath our earthly treasures that the Lord can’t even see us let alone know us.  WE want to deceive ourselves that we are the Lord’s and as such we won’t miss the signs of His second coming. But truly we have to realize that deception doesn’t discriminate. Deception will work on so many different levels.

If we shun ANY spiritual light given to us we endanger our spiritual lives. If we block out the spiritual truths that are a little too hard to hold on to, then we are guilty of rejecting truth. The people in Moses’ day were given deliverance in a miraculous manner and they STILL rejected truth in favor of their own self-serving.  Why would they hold fast and wait for forty whole days and nights for Moses, that was way too long for them to wait. Moses obviously was gone and wasn’t coming back, everything he’d said to them was void. That VOICE of GOD they heard and feared – asking Moses to step in for them to be a go between- was a lie too? How did they shrug off having HEARD for themselves the voice of GOD?  HOW?! They HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD! And still they turned their backs on Him as soon as waiting took too long.

Is it ANY WONDER at all that when ETERNITY is the ultimate end, that we as a race of human beings are having to WAIT an exceptionally long time in human reckoning? Moses was bringing the people just led out of captivity a new way of living life on earth and they couldn’t last 40 days. God is giving us – a people being led out of SIN EXISTENCE- into a new ETERNAL EVERLASTING SIN FREE LIFE- and we can’t seem to wait for Him either- not in the realty of waiting! Not in the reality of being willing to live our lives as HE would have us live them right now for Him in all things. 

We want OUR things, and our Savior is an afterthought to our lives not a forethought!  Do you wake up hoping today is the day Christ returns, or are you too busy waiting for those signs you HOPE you’ll see so you can truly get ready? Are you willing to WAIT IN CHRIST, or are you content to wait outside of Christ until He gets here, thinking you’ll belong to Him?  

What does it mean to belong to Christ in the reality of our day to day lives? That’s something we have to study the word of God for and figure out as individuals. But truly GOD has to be FIRST in all things in our lives, ALL THINGS, something we have not been brought up to believe. 

GOD HELP US ALL! PLEASE LORD GOD HELP US! We don’t want to be like those wayward children of disobedience who couldn’t wait, we don’t want to be so caught up in our present life that we have no real room for the life of eternity. 

Please let our Heavenly Home to come be FILLED with treasures we’ve LAID up there right now while we are on earth, because that’s where you’ve told us to lay up our treasures NOW in our present life. You want us to fill our Heavenly Home NOW with our PRESENT life, not waiting until we get there. Our mansions should be filled before we arrive, when Christ comes to take us all to heaven with Him at the last trumpet sound! If you want to know what treasures you need to be placing in heaven right now, they are SPIRITUAL, they are LOVE, they are of GOD, they are the SELFLESSNESS we reveal NOW while LOVING our God first and OTHERS before ourselves! The treasures are LIVING for CHRIST NOW, not waiting to live for Him when we are with Him, if you wait to live for Christ, then you are NOT living for Christ. We wait for HIS RETURN, as one waits for a LOVED ONE they cherish, a LOVED ONE THEY KNOW and KNOWS THEM! You won’t be getting newly acquainted to Christ when He returns, YOU WILL BE VERY well acquainted beforehand! You are NOT WAITING for a stranger, and if Christ seems like a stranger to you right now, then STOP everything you’re doing and start to get to know Him truly on a personal level! Get to know Your Savior, NOW.  

Your heavenly bags are packed if they are bags you've already placed in the mansion above and you're filling them with spiritual treasures!

May God help us all to be HIS, for HIM to know us and us to know HIM. ALL through His mercy and grace His love, now and forever! In HIS NAME, in the name of Jesus Christ! AMEN!!!!!!!)))

Wisdom of Man

 

Blessed Beyond Measure.

 I've always, for as long as I can remember had a fascination with the clouds, the sky. My mother would tell me often in the last few years of her life just how much she loved the clouds. We'd be driving to one appointment or another and she'd say, "Just look at those clouds, aren't they something?" I answered her that they were beautiful. And she'd proceed to tell me of her love of them. I come by it honestly. I wonder if a lot of  people have this same fascination, I imagine they do. There can be such beauty in the sky, in the clouds. The Maker of the heavens and earth, this is what comes to mind when I see His handiwork, His artistry for it could be no others. Looking at the wondrous living, vibrant canvas of the sky I have to bow my head and give thanks to my Creator. He made all these things for us. We get to see the beauty- as we live through life's many sorrows. We are touched with the hope of a future without sorrows. We can catch mere glimpses into glory, we are so blessed. 

Mountains were a fascination for Jerry and I both. He had such a great love of the mountains. We'd always hoped to one day return to the mountains, to a place where we could get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and just drive and drive, for miles and miles. When we lived in Virginia for those few years, we'd pause at overlooks and at rest areas with picnic pavilions where we'd have a little cookout. We'd watch the deer as they drew closer but still had enough wariness to stay away, but oh so close. We'd spend a whole day in the mountains. We'd go on hikes in the trails. One day we even buried a little time capsule on one of those mountains and now where it was buried is long gone from my memory- I bet Jerry still would have remembered. It was never meant to be uncovered, at least not by us.

God's goodness, His greatness, His glory, His promise for our future with him when He returns for us, we can know it all, we can believe it all, it is our hope and it's all around us. The hope we can find in the world- are all signposts towards our Savior.  I've been blessed with the generosity of a few loved ones, and my heart overflows with the love I know it comes from. I see our Lord in the hearts of others, and it's overwhelming. God has bless me, and I hope He richly blesses all who are His servants doing His will, His work in my life and the lives of others. 

All glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!!!!! 

Have a blessed Sabbath everyone!

******* (The following is from December 9, 2022) 

My God, the God I serve, the God I love, the God I worship- created the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

My God created the world I live on. 

My God created me.

The glory of God- the very heavens declare God's glory. We see His glory all around us if we'd but look and allow ourselves to comprehend His glory, His wonder, His righteousness!

(Excerpt- EJ Waggoner)

'The Heavens Reveal Righteousness. 

With the knowledge that that which the heavens declare is the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, we can easily follow the nineteenth psalm through.

Psa 19:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 

Psa 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 

Psa 19:3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 

Psa 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 

Psa 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 

Psa 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 

Psa 19:8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

Psa 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 

Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 

Psa 19:11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 

Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 

Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

It seems to the casual reader that there is a break in the continuity of this psalm. From talking about the heavens, the writer suddenly begins to speak of the perfection of the law of God, and its converting power. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Vs. 7. But there is no break at all. 

The law of God is the righteousness of God,

and the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,

and the heavens declare the gospel;

therefore it follows that the heavens reveal the righteousness of God.

"The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory." Ps. 97.6.

The glory of God is his goodness, because we are told that it is through sin that men come short of his glory.  Rom. 3:23. 

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Therefore we may know that whoever looks upon the heavens with reverence, seeing in them the power of the Creator, and will yield himself to that power, will be led to the saving righteousness of God.

Even the sun, moon, and stars, whose light is but a part of the glory of the Lord, will shine that glory into his soul.'

Except ye be converted, and become as little children

Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

He's got the whole world in His hands.

Give me oil in my lamp keep it burning.

Jesus loves the little children.

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

The B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me.

When the saints go marching in.

The wise man built his house upon the rocks.

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.

A trip down memory lane for me and some of you. Taking trips down memory lane can be pleasant, but they can also be very sad. I have a lot of good memories singing those songs listed above, I can remember teaching them to my kids when they were very little- then… here comes a sad memory… I stepped away from the narrow path and started down the broad one and God forgive me, I fear that in a lot of ways that affected my children.  See- good memories from those songs and then sad ones. My kids were instrumental in bringing me back to the narrow way though, through my sister taking them to church- not me. (Thank you, Elizabeth.)  I've written about it before and I'm writing about it again, and I will promise you right now as time goes on I'll write about it yet again. In the car, flipping through radio stations and my kids said, "STOP" They wanted to hear the song I was passing by- the song- 

 "You've Got Me and Jesus" By Stellar Kart. (Look it up- listen to it!)

Cue the tears, the joy, the anguish, the repentance, the sorrow, the happiness, the prodigal come home, the entire life beginning to change once more as the darkness turned back to light. 

I was so far down that dark path, that broad road I was entertaining thoughts that it didn't matter at all if you accepted Christ, as long as you had a good heart you were okay. See, I told you, I was way down that very broad way leading to eternal and everlasting darkness. No, my world hadn't been dark- most of the time- that broad road was filled with plenty of light, laughter, happiness but it was all deception. That's how the broad way gets us, it looks like the narrow way! It's all decked out in narrow way neon signs flashing at you constantly telling you that you're doing the right thing believing as you are. Those signs take whatever it is that will soothe you into a state of complete spiritual blindness- while all the time they are telling you that you have great spiritual light in your life! Deception.  This is why we are given so much truth (all of it we need) in God's word, so that we aren't deceived! 

Ah, when we were little and we sang those songs… did our hearts believe them as a reality as children, or were they just mere words to us? I remember singing them loudly with great passion and excitement, especially if there were hand movements too.  Jesus loves me this I know!   (I knew!) For the Bible tells me so!  (It did tell me! I read Bible stories for children) little ones to him belong! (I belonged to Him!) They are weak but He is strong! (I was soooo weak and He so strong!)    This is true today too, for I am ever a child of God's. The Bible is forever telling me so! As an adult without children's stories, but the adult comprehension of its truth, I am told by the Bible of Jesus' love for me!  I belong to Jesus! He wants me to belong to him! And I will always need His strength, because I will forever be too weak and in need of His salvation!   And, I want oil in my lamp to keep it burning! And I want to march in with the saints! And I want to have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart- to stay! I want my house built upon the rock - Jesus Christ! The Bible truly is the BOOK for me! I want my light to shine bright! And I am a Christian soldier in a very spiritual war with the cross of Jesus going on before me! I am a child and Jesus loves me and this thrills me so much right NOW as an ADULT.  So, like it or not, maybe we need to dust off those old children songs and start singing them for a while to remind us that we are still children of GOD and we will always be children of God and…. JESUS said- 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'  

Whose with me!  Jesus loves me this I know! For the Bible tells me so! Little ones to Him belong! They are weak but He is strong! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!!!!!!!!!!

 May God bless us all in this most holy Sabbath time as we worship and honor Him, giving him all the glory and thanksgiving on this the day He made holy and blessed, setting it aside for us to be with Him!   In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior! Amen!!!!!!!

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war! With the cross of Jesus, going on before! Christ the royal master! Leads against the foe! Forward into battle see His banner go! 

Read God's Word.

 I timed the following excerpt (after my rambling) just to see how long it took me to read it so when someone thinks something might be too long to read, often times it isn't, it just appears that way. 

We can choose not to study God's word, it's in everyone's power to choose how they spend their time. Let me ask you something though, is time ever wasted when it's spent in God's word? We are Christians, and as Christ followers He led us by example. He was constantly in the Word (the Old Testament) during His ministry on earth. His apostles were constantly in the Old Testament too bringing the new light on the truths as they unfolded in light of our Savior's appearance, ministry, life and death, and life again- bringing us the New Testament.

Ask yourself why you don't want to study God's word for yourself. What answers have you come up with? Do you suppose there is a great, powerful force that wants to keep an honest searcher for truth from the word of God? Just as all day long we *force* ourselves to do things we might not particularly like to do- but we do them because our health needs it or it's the right thing for us to do. I'm not going to list things here, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes simply forcing ourselves to get up out of bed is bothersome, but we do it because we know it's best for us regardless of how we feel about it.  If we took the Word of God and made it into something we have to do regardless of how we're feeling, what do you suppose would happen?  Do you think it'd become stale and boring, a chore, a bother, a chain about your neck?  It could become those things, Satan sure wants it to become all of those things.  But if we go before our God with an honest heart searching even a single verse from His word each day and truly reading and meditating upon it- not just reading it quickly and going on our merry way forgetting it. If we do this, we are recognizing that we are doing the WILL of God, and we aren't letting Satan have the upper hand over us- counting on our feelings of being too tired, too busy with other things, too not interested, too anything. 

I've blathered long enough, I do that all the time, but please take TWO minutes to read the following, please. 

*******(Excerpt - EJ Waggoner)

…Just as we live naturally by breathing, so we are to live spiritually by faith, and our whole life is to be spiritual. 

Faith is the breath of life to the Christian. So just as we naturally live from breath to breath, we are to live spiritually from faith to faith.

We can live but one breath at a time; so we can not live spiritually except by present faith. If we live a life of conscious dependence upon God, his righteousness will be ours, for we shall breathe it in continually. Faith gives us strength, for those who have exercised it "out of weakness were made strong." Heb. 11:34.

So of those who accept the revelation of God's righteousness "from faith to faith," it is said, "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." Ps. 84:7. 

Let us not forget that it is from the very words of the Bible that one is to learn. All the real help that any teacher can be to any one in the study of the Bible is to show him how to fix his mind more clearly upon the exact words of the sacred text. 

Therefore, first of all, read the text over many times. Do not do this hastily, but carefully,  paying particular attention to every statement. Do not waste one moment in speculating as to the possible meaning of the text. There is nothing worse than guessing the meaning of a text of Scripture, unless it is the acceptance of somebody else's guess. Nobody can know any more of the Bible than the Bible itself tells; and the Bible is just as ready to tell its story to one person as to another.

Question the text closely. Probe it again and again, always in a reverent, prayerful spirit, to make it reveal itself.  Do not be discouraged if you do not at once see all that there is in the text. Remember that it is the word of God,  and that it is infinite in its depth, and that you can never exhaust it. When you come across a difficult statement,  go back and consider it in connection with what precedes. Do not think that you can ever get at the full meaning of any text apart from its connection. By constant application to the words of the text, in order to be sure that you know exactly what it says, you will soon have them constantly in your mind; and it is then that you will begin to reap some of the rich fruits of Bible study; for at unexpected times new light will flash from them, and through them from other scriptures as you read.

*******

(Waggoner on Romans- God's Revelation to Man Nov. 14. 1895

God, Be Merciful to Me A Sinner!

 We have no righteousness of our own.

Sadly many are seeking to BECOME righteous, rather than accept God's righteousness.  We like to think we have a hand in our salvation. Right now, I sit here and know that  all the supposed 'good things' I do are meaningless, completely and utterly meaningless, unless… Yes, I said, unless.  Unless they are a revelation of Christ's righteousness.  Christ is the righteous One I am a filthy sinner dependent wholly upon His righteousness and I will remain a filthy sinner constantly dependent upon the righteousness of Christ until He clothes me in His righteousness upon His appearing. To forget that we are totally reliant upon Christ, and start to branch out testing the waters of our own righteousness, is dangerous, so very dangerous. To give ourselves pats on the back, thinking we are doing good, is dangerous. Puffing ourselves us starts out very small. Everyone can rightly agree that when a very arrogant, self-righteous person is being blatant about themselves that it's easy to spot the flaw in that. It's the tiny, hidden little bits of praise we place upon ourselves that start to form a secret belief we have a righteousness that is ours. It's so easy to take on praise for ourselves, people want us to accept their praise! People want us to say, thank you for this and that, for thinking well of the things I do. They want us to thank them for their praise and some even get a bit offended when you refuse their praise as if we are diminishing their goodness in even offering praise.  It's a very tangled, twisted web that is easy to get trapped inside of. We all like to feel there is something worthy in us, something good in us, that we do good things, helpful things. Satan is ever ready to give us all the praise we desire for every good thing WE do. 

We HAVE to give ALL the glory to GOD where it belongs. Any good thing I DO, should it be deemed good by anyone at all whatsoever, it comes by the glory of God! Any good thing in me has to be God in me or else… in seeps that sneaky self-righteousness, and the forgetting that ALL my righteousness' are filthy rags. 

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Filthy rags- that is all our righteousness can be.

We need Christ's righteousness.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The people in whose heart is God's law- will know righteousness.

Isa_51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law…

All God's commandments are righteousness.

Psa 119:172  My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. 

May God keep ever before us the Righteousness of Christ! May we know that it is God who is Righteous! May we in the face of all who would praise us, turn and give the glory to GOD. And if someone thinks we are being facetious towards them and their desire to praise us, let them. We aren't negating their praise for us, we are telling them that it is Christ in us our hope and glory who is using us, working through us to produce whatever good that comes from us! I would rather incite the irritation of anyone, than neglect to give the glory to God. Even writing this right now, I hear whispers of Satan telling me, aren't I the self-righteous one for even thinking I can give the glory to God and take none for myself. That I am glorifying myself by glorifying God.  Satan is our enemy, ever there to twist everything He can!  If I AM being self-righteous… and we are prone towards that, really, we are… I pray for forgiveness! And if my prayer for forgiveness is self-righteousness, I simply lay down at the foot of the cross and ask God to continuously, forever crucify the self in me in all its hidden and blatant ways whatever they may be! 

All glory to God!

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

To God be ALL the glory! 

God, be merciful to me a sinner!

I Want to Believe.

 

Faith- It is the work of God that we are to do- Believe. 

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Work - by definition- is - noun 1. activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. 2. a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do. Verb 1. be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.

Work is an activity, when we are told that God's work is that we believe on Jesus - we are being told that to believe is an activity, it's an action. It's something we do mentally, a task undertaken, we want to achieve the result of doing the work God would have us do.

For how many people is their Believing in Jesus Christ an activity, an action? 

I believe in a lot of things that don't require me to work at believing them. I believe that I am a woman, I believe that I am a cat owner, I believe that I live in Florida.  I believe all those things and I don't have to actively expend effort, it's not a task, that there is no result based on the outcome of those beliefs.  There is an active belief and a passive belief.

How many people choose the passive belief in Jesus rather than the active belief? 

The work of God is that we believe on Jesus, the reality of Jesus. When asked why you believe in Jesus how do you answer the question? 

The ones asking Jesus said this-

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 

They wanted to do the work of God, or so they said.

Prior to that, what was said-

Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 

Men and woman who had heard Jesus preach and perform miracles, were fed by him miraculously the day before. Then they sought him out and He tells them they aren't seeking Him because of the miracles, (because He is the Son of God, because He is the Messiah, because He can give them eternal life) they are seeing Him because they had their hungry bellies filled with food. They liked being physically fed, and I'm sure most of us can relate to liking to be fed when we are hungry. Jesus wanted them to seek Him for the eternal sustenance that He offered, a true spiritual meat that would give them food that would sustain their eternal lives. 

How many people today live the life of a Christ follower for the temporary sustenance? Because all our temporary sustenance can disappear in a heartbeat. This temporary life we have can end in an instant. All the support we rely upon can cease. Our health could fail us miserably. We could live the lives of Job - metaphorically speaking of course. But everything we touch could seem to fall apart. We could go from one disaster to the next. None of those things mean that our SAVIOR has stopped loving us! Jesus was telling those people they should live for their eternal life, a life found in HIM, a hope found in Him! Yet their minds didn't extend passed their bellies. They wanted a Messiah who would relieve their oppression by the Romans. They wanted a Messiah who would usher in peace in a chaotic existence. They did not want some man spouting words of everlasting life which meant he wasn't going to do anything about their temporary existence.

I'll be the first to admit, I pray for my temporary existence, we are told to ask of the Father and He who knows will hear our petitions. However! First and foremost we have to pray for God's will to be done and that no matter what we are called to endure (and we pray it's not the horrors of Job in the least or the worst) that we will do the WORK of GOD and BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST! 

It's not meant to be an easy life at all. We are to do the work of God and believe! Not do what we think is the work of God and expect an earthly reward for our efforts.

It is my prayer that God helps me to believe and to do the work of God, that I don't get caught up in the horrors of this life and let them drag me away from Him, that I believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation in Him no matter what. Please, Lord… please. 

The fate of the world was decided upon a lie.

 The fate of the world was decided upon a lie. 

Eve had facts- truths from God, and lies from the serpent, Satan. She knew God- her Creator- did not want her to eat from that one tree. Did God go into great detail telling her why she shouldn't eat of it? Was He supposed to convince her to listen to Him? He created her and all the things around her and gave her a single restriction.

I imagine in our world- that there have been countless parents who have told their children not to do something or it would harm them and the children went ahead and did it anyway- and it hurt them. Should the parent have been trusted and listened to? In an ideal world, always.

Satan used a lie to get Eve to sin.  Would she have sinned without Satan lying to her? I don't think so.

Now do you believe Satan's lie just like Eve? It's quite possible you do. Satan said - Gen_3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

And today millions and millions and millions of people believe that lie. They believe no one really dies. They believe they instantly live on after their heart stops beating and their lungs stop breathing. They believe they will in the future (and that their already passed loved ones) simply continue on in a new way of life. They believe they are transformed. But God did not say that in the day ye eat of the tree ye will be transformed, HE DID NOT SAY THAT.  Satan however said- you WON'T die, he has duped the majority of people into believing that lie. Sure, your body here stops existing, no one is disputing that aspect of death, but Satan stands by the old… you didn't really die, you just went to heaven. A lie. Satan would rather we believe that GOD lied than that he lied. He's twisted death to his advantage.

(People just don't want to think that they could be followers of Satan's lies. They think it impossible to be deceived by Satan simply because they believe in the Savior. Read Mark 1:24, demons are talking to Jesus- they KNOW who He is, they believe who He Is, that He is the Holy One of God. Demons BELIEVE! 

Mar 1:24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 

If demons believe in Jesus as the Holy One, how can we simply say we believe and think that's all there is to it all? Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Demons, like their father, lie all the time! Demons do not live for truth, but… they will put their lies so clever done right next to the truth so it's very hard to discern between the two.)

The Bible talks of a 'second death'.  (Be honest with yourself right now, did you know there are two deaths for humans?)

Rev_2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

If there is a first death and you die and are transformed into a being that goes to heaven does the second death mean you have a chance to die again?

Sounds really strange right? Doesn't make sense. Hasn't your so called fate been decided the first time around? 

You see what REALLY happens when we die is we don't transform and go on living with our brain actively cognizant and intact with all our memories and what not. We are thoughtless, unable to think any longer and our bodies decay in the grave. The breath of life that God gave to us upon our birth left our bodies and returned to God. The breath, the spirit that was breathed into every human being through the breath breathed into Adam, contains the essence of who we are, that breath that gave us our ability to live in a body with thoughts, is taken back to God and preserved. Some people find it easy to imagine having their heads (brains) frozen instantly upon death (cryogenics) and think when technology catches up that their brains will be thawed with all their thoughts intact. They have NO trouble at all believing in this as a viable possibility and yet people BULK at the idea of God preserving our spirit/breath in heaven, ready to reunite it with a body transformed by Him - remade from the dust, from the essence of who we were at death only perfectly - immortal. God MADE man!!!! God made man from the dust! Is there anything impossible for God!? Then why can't we accept that our thoughts PERISH after death? Why?) 

Psa_146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Our God who created all things, who created our minds in the first place, will use the same creative power to bring our minds back to life- along with new bodies and He'll do all this when He returns for us and calls us to meet Him in the air.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

The dead will RISE.  Not- those who died and already went on to live happy lives in heave will be given new bodies to go with their spirits that already went there. It doesn't say the dead in heaven will again receive their bodies. In fact, who would want to go from being in supposed spirit form without any restrictions of a body, to being put back into a body? Also, the THOUGHTS of the dead have perished, remember? If they are living on and thinking as so many people believe they are - not dead- then whose thoughts have perished? These are all logical questions that need to be asked.  

Back to the second death-  the Bible has this to say about the second death-

Rev_21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND DEATH.

All those who do NOT go to heaven with Christ WHEN He returns will face the second death. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

All the living WICKED are destroy by the BRIGHTNESS of Christ's coming! All dead wicked are already in their graves and like those who died in Christ, they've been SLEEPING the death of nothingness, knowing nothing. Now they are joined by the rest of the wicked in death- not transformed into spirits and sent to suffer endlessly. 

All these wicked dead WILL BE resurrected- here's when--

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Rev 20:5  But the REST OF THE DEAD lived NOT again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

After those who are with Christ have lived with Him in heaven a thousand years… then the WICKED dead are raised and then ultimately utterly destroyed completely- their SECOND death- the one that NO Christ follower wants to experience!

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

Do you understand why the LIE of not REALLY dying matters so much? It's the greatest deception of Satan. If we choose to believe that LIE we are just as Eve, being told that we won't surely die and are deceived by Satan. Once we are deceived by Satan in this way, there is no stopping Him from deceiving us in a multitude of other ways. It only takes one deception cherished deception to keep us from the truth. It only took one bit of a piece of fruit to bring sin to all mankind. So if you think God will overlook a cherished deception when you are presented with His truth, PLEASE think again! Please! 

Remember we told there will be people who think they are the Lord's but He won't know them!!  They'll think all the good they did was for the Lord, but their true master will be Satan.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

The power of a lie goes beyond our ability to fully understand.

A lie is deadly, it kills truth.

When you kill the truth because lies seem easier to accept, you are choosing to live your life in a lie.

Being a truth seeker means diligently searching to know truth.  

If something contrary to a set belief you hold appears in your life you don't ignore it, you study to know truth.

So, just how important is lying in the grand scheme of things? A simple little lie- there no such thing. In the grand scheme of things being a liar, or choosing to believe lies by ignoring truth is of an eternal-life deciding importance.

We live in a world where lying is part of our lives so when we are confronted with whether or not believing a lie is really harmless because it is hurting no one we often err on the side of it being 'not so bad'.  

If you believe something someone else is convinced is a lie and you have studied deeply and still believe that something, then you've done all you can do- you didn't simply accept what you believed- you did all you could possibly do to make sure you believed truth. 

I believe a lot of things that people do not believe, to them, I am believing a bunch of lies.  Now it's up to me to go before God and seek guidance and through prayer and study to decide if I am believing lies. If I don't do this I am accountable for choosing to believe what could very well be traditions of mankind and not God's truth at all. If after extensive study I still believe in things others call lies, then I have to hold fast to what God has convicted me to be truth. Others may continue to believe what I consider to be lies and they individually have to answer to God for their own beliefs- we all do. 

As much as we'd like to believe that believing lies won't hurt someone, they can, but WE ARE NOT the eternal JUDGE!  God alone knows whether or not someone has chosen purposefully to remain blind to truth, or whether they've opened their heart fully to Him and have been given all the light they personally need to be His.  

I may tell someone that what they believe is a lie and then that person has to make the decision to either -- through studying on their own, or asking me to explain my position, or asking others -- to look into their own beliefs, or they can choose to hold fast to their beliefs without questioning them at all. The choice is individual, eternal life will be decided individually.

We all stand alone before God answering to Him for all our decisions.

If you're convicted to tell someone they're believing lies, then tell them. If that results in absolutely no change, leave that to God. A seed planted now might not sprout for a long, long time- we don't know how God will work in other's lives. We should never batter anyone with our beliefs, an offer to expound on our beliefs should be given only once if convicted, not harped upon over and over. 

I write a daily (almost daily) study I call it, but it's possibly more of a blog, or just a plain old journal, who knows. I post it here and there, and send it to a few people etc, but I do this, KNOWING no one who comes across the posting or email HAS to read it, there is no force involved at all whatsoever. We have the option to ignore things people post/write- it's not battering unless someone is forced to listen, to read. 

Truth is something I pray I always seek, and I pray to never accept a single lie- from myself or others.  Perhaps part of our 'forgiving those who trespass against us' is about forgiving living surrounded by lies told to us as a part of society's way of life. 

God help us all.  Jesus is…

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus is THE TRUTH.

Satan is the father of lies.

If we can't comprehend the insidiousness of lying then Satan has deceived us into believing so.  God help us!

All in the name of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!!!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!

(Partially from Nov. 21, 2020 with revisions etc) 

Never Ashamed.

 Never be ashamed of God, of the Gospel of Christ- never!

Mar_8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Rom_1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom_5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom_9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Rom_10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

2Ti_1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God

2Ti_1:12  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

1Pe_4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

1Jn_2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Excerpt - EJ Waggoner--

'Ashamed of the gospel of Christ! 

Could there possibly be a worse case of the exaltation of self above God? 

For to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, is an evidence that the man who feels thus ashamed really thinks himself superior to God, and that it is a lowering of his dignity to be associated with the Lord.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far

  Let evening blush to own a star;

  He sheds the beams of light divine

  O'er this benighted soul of mine.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon

  Let midnight be ashamed of noon;

  'Twas midnight with my soul till he,

  Bright Morning Star, bade darkness flee."'

(11/20/2020)

*******

If I were to be ashamed of myself, it means I would be embarrassed, deeply humiliated by my own actions, or my own perceived shortcomings whether or not they are of a nature I could control. 

I have been deeply ashamed to be overweight throughout my entire life - some times more ashamed than others. I have been given reason to feel that shame by many others over the course of my life. Snide remarks from strangers, blatant verbal abuse by those I love, authority figures - Doctors and the like- using my weight to shame me (and I mean that sincerely. There is a great difference between a medical professional being genuinely concerned for your health due to weight, and wanting to shame a patient- thinking that is the affective treatment.) I have had people outright say, 'Wow, your butt is huge!' And, when you hear things like that, the shame you feel is overwhelming. That person didn't make that remark in order to give me a compliment. It was meant to shock  me and hurt me, and make me feel deep humiliation. Being overweight isn't the same for everyone. Some carry weight evenly distributed all over, while other have a focused concentration of that excess weight which makes them look even worse. A giant pear shaped person is subject to more ridicule than an apple shape.  Laugh if you need to at my description, but it's true. 

I'm talking about knowing what it means to feel shame towards oneself. It's something I know very, very well.  

Now, what do I know about feeling ashamed of another person? I have felt that towards other people during my life- ashamed of actions they committed that I wouldn't dream of doing simply because I'm an extreme introvert. I've been ashamed of others behavior. Go ahead shake your heads and tell me it's wrong to be ashamed of others. When someone close to you gets drunk and makes a public spectacle of themselves and you, feeling ashamed of that person's behavior may or may not be wrong I don't know. Is being ashamed of another really just saying their actions, their whatever is it I'm ashamed of is a REFLECTION on me, and therefore it's hurt me because others have viewed me in the light of their shameful behavior? I'm embarrassed by association? I'm humiliated by association? 

Shame towards ourselves and being ashamed of others…  when you know shame towards yourself are you less likely to be ashamed of others?

I don't know, what I do know is, that we are NOT TO BE ASHAMED OF CHRIST.  

Why would we be ashamed of Christ? What could cause us to be ashamed of our Savior? We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel of our Christ. Why should we be, it's the Gospel of Salvation! 

If we are ever in a situation where we feel humiliated by our Savior and His truth, we need to reevaluate our relationship with Him and quick!

When the apostle Peter denied Christ, he was ASHAMED to be associated with Him! He was fearful of being known to be associated with Christ. The deep remorse Peter felt over his denying Christ not once, but three times, was overwhelming. He didn't want to be associated with someone who had earned the intense disfavor of the church leadership, and was being put on trial for His life. He was afraid the association would mean that he too would be put to death! He was ashamed of Christ! Humiliated by his association with him in those moments of denying Him. Peter had claimed he'd NEVER deny Christ. In that boast he was saying he would NEVER be ashamed to be associated with Him. And yet, he was, much to his own horror and self-loathing.

I know what it's like to be ashamed of myself, in appearance and in actions. I know what it's like to be ashamed of others. I know what it's like to be encouraged to feel shame for myself, in appearance and actions. We need to feel shame for our sins, shame, remorse, regret, repentance. When we are ashamed of the sins we've committed we are recognizing the wrongness of them. 

When we are ashamed of others we are recognizing what we believe to be the wrongness in the thing we are ashamed of about them. If that thing we are ashamed of about them brings us shame only because it embarrasses us, and not because it's a sinful action, we need to look into our own hearts and question the validity of our shame towards them. 

In our Christian life we need to recognize any sign at all that we might have of feeling ashamed of our Savior. We need to be able to have CHRIST in ALL we do, in EVERY place we go, in ALL the actions we commit CHRIST should be with us! We cannot be ashamed of Him to be LORD OF OUR LIVES in ALL WAYS. 

I may feel shame over myself, right or wrong, but I hope and pray by the GRACE of GOD I am never ashamed of my SAVIOR! Not that I think I am better than the apostle Peter who denied Christ, no, no, no, I just hope and pray I'm never in a situation such as He was put in and if I ever am, that I seek forgiveness and repentance instantly such as he did. 

All through the love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!! Amen!

(11/20/2022)

A Heavenly City!

 

God has prepared for us a city. This is real. This isn't some fairy tale, some made up story, but a reality to all who make the choice to believe. The city-

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

((The CITY))

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 

Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 

Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

Rev 21:13  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 

Rev 21:14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

Rev 21:15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 

Rev 21:16  And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 

Rev 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 

Rev 21:18  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 

Rev 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 

Rev 21:20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 

Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 

Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 

Rev 21:26  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

God sanctifies us- He makes US holy- Christ in us makes us holy. Christ isn't ashamed to call us brothers!

God is not ashamed to be called our God!

God has prepared for us a city!

The love! The amazing love!  Our God isn't ashamed of us because we have been made holy by Christ in us, our hope. Our Savior isn't ashamed to call us brothers (sisters) because He has made us holy in Him and if He is in us we have no need to be something shameful to Him, we are His!

All glory to God, always! All praise to our Lord, our Savior now and forever!

Heb 2:11  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 

*******

(Excerpt- E.J. Waggoner)

Christ not Ashamed. 

Concerning Christ we read, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Heb. 2:11. "God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city." Heb. 11:16. 

Surely if the Lord is not ashamed to be called the brother of poor, weak, sinful mortals, man has no reason to be ashamed of him. 

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1. 

The Sabbath- Occupied With God.

 What makes a day special? Throughout our calendar year of 365 days (give or take a leap year) take a moment and count up the days that you hold special out of the year. Off the top of my head I'd say birthdays- we celebrate the day a person was born because it recognizes the length of time we've had with them and reminds of the various milestones of their lives. When I was, 16 years old, or the day I turned 18, 21, 30, 40, 50… We tally up our years and make the day that we were brought into this world a special day. Sure, you'll have plenty of naysayers, that's the way with most things. I remember my mother being a birthday naysayer, she could careless whether or not she received a card, gift or even a verbal 'Happy Birthday' or so she said and I have no reason to doubt her. There are others who just wish to forget the day because of bad associations with it- maybe growing up they were terrorized more than celebrated on that day, I don't know. Still others simply want to forget they've grown yet another year older, they kind of wish time would just stop and age would no longer take what's left of them, but that's a pipedream for sure. Celebrating our spouses, children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers and friends on their birthday make those days special too.  The other special days of the year could be considered the various holidays that we each personally keep. The country you live in may have made certain of those holidays special enough to warrant government recognition which might mean an extra work day off- or double time and a half pay if you do work, and school as well as many businesses choose to close their doors to for that special day. I can't leave out anniversaries and that includes all kinds of anniversaries and there are many- recognized days of specialness. You know I'm going somewhere with this- and you most likely know where that somewhere is if you know me well at all. 

Right now as I sit here writing this, I have entered Special time. The time I'm existing in is truly holy- and you don't get any more special than that! Holy time to recognize GOD- again, it doesn't get more special! Every Sabbath, from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is holy time- a time more special than any other that exists.  No birthday, no anniversary, no secular or religious holiday at all whatsoever will ever be more special than the Sabbath- not one. 

Imagine, you grow up in a small family, just you, your mother and father and for six days every week your father goes away to work. You can still call him, text him and such, but that isn't the same as that seventh day when your father comes home from work and is there with you. How special would you make that day of the week? Would you bog it down with the mundane, the chores, the problems - things that can be taken care of in other ways on other days? If you did that what would it reveal to your father? That his being there with you wasn't all that important. If you didn't show up at all, and just told your father you'd see him the next week, what then? And then soon you tell him after a month's gone by without seeing him - not to worry you'll see him soon. Again what would your father get out of such behavior? The idea that he's grown less and less important to you. Maybe you'll even tell your father that you can meet him on the sixth day, not the seventh, but your father tells you he can't be there on the sixth day- it must be the seventh. And then you tell your father, it's okay, you think of him all the time even if you don't see him at all. We have sappy movies that depict this sort of scenario in various ways, where some dramatic event - health scare, impending death, death of others or whatnot triggers a person so want to reconnect with those they've shunned over time- even if it's not through any dramatic family feuding, but simply preferring to be alone.  

You think I'm the one being overly dramatic and a bit off the deep end, that I have some screws very loose, and lots of bats in my belfry and that's okay- the great adversary planned things to be this way. Ah, more crazy talk. Yes, to a lot of people it is crazy.

My Heavenly Father, my Creator and Redeemer, my Holy Comforter wrote humanity a guidebook- using humans to put the words down. The Holy Book that came to be from the inspired compilation of many Holy Books is what we know as our Bibles. Our Bibles come in many versions- but there was once originals and it is to those we need to go to when any doubt and confusion arises over what's been written in the newer translated versions.  Too much work? Oh, that we were all inspired to learn Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin- so we could do proper comparisons for ourselves.  I digress as always…

The Word of God tells me the Sabbath from creation week and all the way to the world made new in the future that awaits us, that we will worship our Creators, Redeemers, the Holy Ones on the Sabbath.

Holy time, the most special of days because it was made to be so, this is a blessed gift given to us and the powers of this world have turned it into just another day - choosing to strip it of all holiness. Choosing to make it a chore to keep holy. Choosing to change it into something unrecognizable as important in any way. 

To keep the Sabbath holy, God asks that we stop working any job that isn't one connected to saving lives in some way. God asks us to keep from buying or selling anything on the Sabbath because to do so would mean others are being asked to work in a non-life saving manner. God asks that we focus our day around Him. He's here to visit with us in this holy time. 

Ask yourself… DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE WITH GOD FOR ETERNITY? If you answered yes, then reveal that desire.

Do you want to belong to God? Do you long for the day when all evil is gone and we are taken to heaven with Jesus Christ after He returns for us? Why? Why do you long for this? Because God is the love that sin has separated us from and to be reunited to love is the only way we will ever truly be the humans we were created to be. The Sabbath reminds us so starkly of all sin's ravages upon mankind and our need to have faith in the Creator of humanity, He will restore us to Him fully- the way to restoration has already been made possible. Unfortunately, many more people will choose to ignore restoration, preferring to do things their own way. 

Our God didn't tell us that ONLY a few will find the Way - for no reason.

I'm in holy time right now and in this holy time I need to seek the Lord with all my heart as on no other day (not that seeking should ever end) but this is the day the LORD set aside for us to be with HIM, there is no other day of the week set aside with Holiness in it. God is the one who made it holy, and blessed the day. God is the one that told us to remember it. God is the one who chose purposefully not to make all seven days holy in time. God wants us to remember Him and the holiness of Him in the Sabbath day. 

Lord, You want me to search for You with all my heart. Lord, You want me to seek for You as for hidden treasure.  While six days a week I occupy my life with so many other things, and I include You in those things, I do, on this seventh day I occupy my life with You, and You include me in the things YOU do. You WILL be found of me, You said so! And You told me to SEEK, let me seek You on this Sabbath day LORD, let me seek You knowing that my tiny bit of ability to seek you now is made towards the ultimate outcome of being with you forever and ever. This glimpse of eternity You allow us, let us breathe in Your holiness and set our faces towards You in all we do. Let us be aware of Your presence, my God! Oh that we could truly slip from our world into Yours on this day, leaving this world behind to be with You!  

I love You, LORD! Thank you for Your love! ?Thank You for holy time with You! Thank You for the Blessed, Holy Day, The Sabbath!

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD

The Thoughs of God's Heart Are To Us.

 Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the thoughts I think toward you saith the LORD.

The thoughts of God's heart are to all of us. God's thoughts towards us cannot be numbered. God's thoughts are not our thoughts- how could they be? God's thoughts are much higher than ours.. And yet… God thinks of us.  God KNOWS the thoughts HE thinks towards us. How amazing is that? Our God lets us know that He's thinking of us. I imagine some people reading this might be a little upset in knowing that God is thinking about us. 

Why upset? Because it's easy to instantly start letting our imaginations run wild so that we have our own thoughts about God's thoughts for us. 

We think stuff such as- 

If God is thinking about me then why is my life so filled with chaos? 

If God is thinking about me then why does it hurt to breathe?

If God is thinking about me then why can't I have a moment in my life without pain? 

If God is thinking about me then why do my thought torture me constantly?

Why if God has thoughts toward us all, does He allow so much evil to befall innocent children and helpless animals, and the fragile, vulnerable aged -all who are forced to rely upon others for their protection and instead they are abused so cruelly? How can our God think about us and witness our heartbreak over the death of loved ones, even tiny helpless babies about to be born yet are never allowed to take their first breath? 

We think those thoughts and so many more and the one common theme they all have is suffering.

We are creatures of suffering trying to live in a world of suffering to what end? We strive to minimize the suffering we experience and if our hearts are so inclined, we strive to ease the suffering of others. Yet, no matter how much we strive towards this end suffering never goes away. We put on smiles, we allow ourselves laughter, we try as we might to think our own thoughts of good and not of the millions of others- human beings just like we are in mind, in heart, in feeling- and all their suffering that we are so helpless to alleviate. We build up walls to allow only so much in, and so much out of our souls just to survive.

The world we live in is a sin filled world. It's an evil world with glimpses of wonder and beauty, joy and laughter, love and ecstasy. We grapple for these moments, and we settle for simple peace in its place when it's denied us. Simple peace is nothing to be snubbed. Simple peace is allowing yourself to let go of all that would overwhelm you without turning you into some heartless, feeling-less, unloving human being at the same time. Simple peace is coming to terms with our existence and…  this is the important part right here…  and knowing because our God THINKS about us and hasn't cast us off entirely, we have hope beyond this sin-filled world. 

I can have peace only because I know where the evil comes from and it's not from my God who is thinking about me. Evil destroys utterly without allowing hope, not even a glimmer of it. My God allows evil to have it's way but ONLY for now, ONLY because not to do so would alter His very being into evil. Love demands that sin be allowed it's horrors so that when sin is extinguished never more to ever rise again, it will have been something annihilated because to allow it to exist would mean the blotting out of love, all love, and every single thing that is good. The temporary existence of evil and all that entails is allowed so that ALL evil will have an end. 

Yes. God could have stamped out evil the moment it appeared in the heart of Lucifer, but in doing so it would be miniscule in comparison to a parent killing their child the instant the child showed a single tendency of any sin- any deliberate selfishness (and we all know how selfish a child- even a young one with full awareness of their selfishness- can be). I can't imagine that happening, because if that happened mankind would be long over because no human being can live without revealing sin, with the exception of those mentally incapable of doing so. If we can't condone such action- the stomping out of sinners who sin, how could the God of all creation do so without completely and utterly destroying not just all of mankind, but HIMSELF in the process?

Sin had to be allowed to run its evil course, the course it is still running as hard and fast as it can. There will however be an end to sin and this is the beauty and wonder, the majesty, the love of our God who thinks about us.

Jer_29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

We will have an expected end, and that end will be us reuniting with our Creator in an existence where evil is destroyed to never be able to prey upon any ever again.

It's hard for us to comprehend this as a full reality because we are so oppressed by Satan who only wants our destruction. Satan would much rather have us not believe in Jesus at all whatsoever and just live these lives of oppression - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically. 

The LORD thinks thoughts of peace towards us, not evil. Satan thinks only thoughts of evil towards us. 

May we dwell in the love of our LORD counting Him as our righteousness through our belief in Him to redeem us from all evil.

Psa 33:11  The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

I Look For A New World

 Jeremiah 29:11-14  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD

I can't get these verses out of my thoughts, and you know what? I don't want to. We live is such a chaotic world. The world as a whole is filled with strife- there are wars - some new, some old, some fought with modern weapons such as drones and others fought merely with machetes. There are rumors of wars- I haven't lived in a world without those rumors so they are often easy to dismissed as being a way of life, inconsequential in a lot of ways because they don't touch the little space of the world I happen to live in.  Nations are rising against nations, who doesn't read or hear the names of Russia and Ukraine and not know that right this very moment those two nations have risen up against each other in a very brutal war? Kingdom against kingdoms- these are the current ongoing wars as of 2022-Sept.  

Country      Type of conflict

Afghanistan civil war & terrorist insurgency

Burkina Faso terrorist insurgency

Colombia civil war/drug war

DR Congo terrorist insurgency

Ethiopia civil war

Iraq terrorist insurgency & political unrest

Mali civil war & terrorist insurgency

Mexico drug war

Mynamar  civil war

Nigeria terrorist insurgency

Russia    aggressor

Somalia     civil war

South Sudan ethnic violence

Sudan terrorist insurgency

Syria civil war

Ukraine   invasion 

Yemen civil war

(Web Source)

So many wars….  And famine, let's talk a moment about living in a world filled with hunger.  '2022: a year of unprecedented hunger  As many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night.' (Web Source) Over eight million people!!!!!    'Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen remain at the highest alert level, as they all have populations facing or projected to face starvation (Catastrophe, IPC Phase 5) or at risk of deterioration towards catastrophic conditions as they have already critical food insecurity'  (Web Source)

I've never lived in a world without famines existing. 

Earthquakes  -  January 2022- 

6.0−6.9      18

5.0−5.9      148

4.0−4.9      1,292 

(Worldwide)

February  2022- 

6.0−6.9      10

5.0−5.9      130

4.0−4.9      1,120  

(Worldwide) (Websource)

Go on, look it up for yourselves… there are constant earthquakes, they aren't unusual any more.

'Between the years 1973-2008, there was an average of 21 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States. This rate jumped to an average of 99 M3+ earthquakes per year in 2009?2013, and the rate continues to rise. In 2014, alone, there were 659 M3 and larger earthquakes . Most of these earthquakes are in the magnitude 3?4 range, large enough to have been felt by many people, yet small enough to rarely cause damage. There were reports of damage from some of the larger events, including the M5.6 Prague, Oklahoma earthquake and the M5.3 Trinidad, Colorado earthquake.

The increase in seismicity has been found to coincide with the injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells in several locations, including Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Ohio. Much of this wastewater is a byproduct of oil and gas production and is routinely disposed of by injection into wells specifically designed and approved for this purpose. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking”, does not appear to be linked to the increased rate of magnitude 3 and larger earthquakes.' (Web Source)

So many earthquakes and the above (two paragraphs) are just the United States. 

The world we live is quite horrific really if you let yourself think about it for awhile. Is there any wonder we've had books written, movies made about aliens from other worlds wanting to destroy us because they deem mankind not worth saving? You see this time and again, even in television shows, and comic books. The realization of humanity as an entire world that it's been one of dominance vs subservience, power and control over each other forever ought to tell us all something. There is NO amount of enlightenment, NO amount of progress, NO amount of technology, NO amount of time that will ever change this real life scenario as much as the majority of people might want it to be a world of peace- no dominance, no subservience.  All the just mentioned things only change the way we war with each other, not the fact that we war with each other. Truly this world leaves very little hope at all whatsoever in and of itself, it can't, it's impossible. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD

I have hope that doesn't exist in this world. Does this mean I don't care about this world? On the contrary, I care more about this world because I want everyone in this world to realize they too can have hope that doesn't exist in this world.  

'An expected end.'   We can find the LORD and He WILL be found of us!  

Go on think I'm looney tunes if you wants, you are welcome to do so and I'll still love you. If history has proven anything to me, it's that there is no hope for the world the way it is so filled with evil. Hope has to be found in a new world. 

Jesus spoke these words-  'Joh_8:23  And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.' 

Jesus said He is NOT OF THIS WORLD. 

2Pe_3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We look for a NEW heaven and NEW earth! This is where our hope is!  I have this hope, I have this faith in my GOD, in my SAVIOR, in my HOLY SPIRIT!  

Satan would have us doubt to our own destruction. Satan will keep ever before us an onslaught of despair. Satan will attack our faith from every single side!  What Satan cannot do is destroy the WORD of GOD. In that Word of God is all the truth we need to know, to believe in the face of any adversity! We must holdfast to our FAITH without wavering, knowing the truth -all that is written WILL come to pass!

Jeremiah 29:11-14  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD

 

I'm calling on you LORD, I'm praying to you LORD, hear me as I seek you, and find you with my whole heart. Thank YOU for letting me FIND YOU LORD! Thank you! All glory to you God, all God to you! In the name of JESUS all glory to you! Amen!

Sabbath

 Sabbath. What exactly is the Sabbath and why do I choose to keep the Sabbath? The LORD created the earth and all that is in it in six days. On that seventh day He created a day of worship, a day of rest, a day of holiness. Let's imagine if we can that creation week. I know it's a very big stretch of imagining because our brains simply can't fathom the reality of that week. Satan has so very many ploys in place that we've been bombarded with lies that skew our ability to imagine without the whispers of doubt over this theory and that theory intruding. For the sake of truth and that's what we all want, isn't it? For the sake of truth I'm going to say right now that I believe in the BIBLE. I believe in this incredible book filled with many books all inspired by the Holy Spirit, and even all the meetings that took place to put in place what we hold to be the Bible, they were led by God.  We were given access to a book of salvation and it's a book that many people have chosen to DIE for, literally giving their lives for this amazing message inside the Bible, salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Is the version I have of the Bible perfect linguistically through translations and such? It is…but ONLY when you're willing to take what is given and deeply study it out- using original language where needed. If I'd written that twenty five years ago people would think I'm crazy- but now we have the ability to search out so much right at our very fingertips. 

The Bible contains a literal six days of creation- not figurative. Six days. If you don't believe that, and don't want to study it out, then you might as well just stop reading this right now, there's absolutely no reason for you to read further. 

Six days- we know what six days means- it's all but one day in a week- our seven day week. Do we know exactly which day of the seven we are supposed to keep the Sabbath on? God gave us the means to know. When God saved the Israelites from Egyptian slavery He took them on a forty year walkabout.  I'll tell you right now no one packs quickly for a forty year journey- the sheer comprehension of food supplies that would be needed for even a single person for that sort of trip, well, no, not going to happen. Even today when people hike mountainous trails going from one end to another (Appalachians for example) they only pack so much food knowing they'll have to make stops at various points to resupply. They can't carry all the food & drink they'd need for that long of a hike. (Yes, I've read up on it, thought about the wonderous ability to actually do that sort of thing - then thought of the latrines or lack there of situation and I stopped thinking about it.)  

God brought them out of Egypt and then started them walking and soon the supplies they did bring with them were gone. So, what happened? God provided them food in the form of Manna. This manna was sustenance. And God provided it with a STIPULATION. Yes, I said a stipulation. He would feed them, they would not starve, they'd have plenty to eat in fact they were told to go out each morning and collect the manna laying on the ground, enough for that day and that day only. There would be no keeping leftovers for snacking on the next day. Each day provided enough manna for that day to keep every person satisfied and not hungry. Each day EXCEPT the seventh day Sabbath. On that day NO manna appeared for them to collect NONE. Were they supposed to go hungry one day a week? No. God instructed them that on the sixth day only they were to gather enough for two days. You might think if manna could be gathered for two days then maybe you could sneak a little extra during the week, maybe your tummy was rumbling during the night. So you tried. On the first day of the week you kept a little bit of the manna for a snack later on, and then you still had some leftover so you decided to keep it for the next morning. The next morning, the second day of the week, you woke up and that manna was rotten! Yet, none of the manna gathered on the sixth day of the week was rotten on the seventh day!  You experimented and tried this every day and each and every day but the Sabbath had the manna spoiled in the morning and unable to be eat. THIS was GOD'S way of reintroducing the people of Israel to His Holy Sabbath- they'd been captive for four hundred years and didn't quite know the ways of God any longer in very many forms. God was teaching them that the day - the seventh day of the week was the HOLY SABBATH DAY, a day He'd sanctified and blessed after all of creation was finished in six days- except for creating the Sabbath itself.  

The people entrusted with that seven day week schedule kept it and knew it, and comprehended the eternal aspect of the Sabbath being holy- set aside for man to reconnect with His creator on that seventh day- nothing else being as important as this. 

You see- when mankind separated themselves from God and realized a second later what an awful mistake that was, God revealed to mankind that all was not lost. There was a plan in place and down the line…way down the line… that plan would be fully realized and mankind would once more be united to God.  The mankind that would be reunited would be those who would CHOOSE to be. Not every human born would make this choice to be God's. Those who did make this choice had a very special day- the Sabbath- set aside for them to live in communion with their God in a way they couldn't any of the day of the week because no other day was blessed and sanctified by God but that seventh day Sabbath. This beautiful, beyond description, blessed Sabbath would be a teeny tiny foretaste of being reunited with God. Sabbath was a day for us to set EVERYTHING aside, but God and God's love for other. Lay down every single burden on this day, and though those burdens would still be there after the Sabbath for you to pick back up again- on the Sabbath you could just lay them down and worship God!

Now, I don't want to have any sort of debate on this at all whatsoever- I'm not the debating sort. There are plenty of sites out there where people just love debating and I'm sure there are plenty of Sabbath debating sites so - no- no debates for me please.

The questions I posed in the first whole sentence were this-- What exactly is the Sabbath and why do I choose to keep the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and per God's instructions to be kept from sundown to sundown (Sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday in our world today).  The Sabbath is a whole twenty-four hour period set aside as holy, and blessed- by GOD. The Sabbath is a time we are to do no work for money, and no work for chores and such around the house, we are to cease from all work (remember God didn't want the people even gathering manna on that day).   We are to live that twenty four hour period as children whose Heavenly Father is visiting with them and how amazing that is! We give worship through song, reading, listening, learning of God. We comprehend that we need to deny ourselves the focus we usually place on ourselves and refocus that focus on God, our Creator, on God, our Redeemer, on God the Holy Spirit Comforter. This day is a day of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual rest. We choose to purposefully set aside this WHOLE day and pursue God in realization in our lives, GOD FIRST, others next, and ourselves last- we realize this on this day more than any other- though our lives are supposed to be this way always. Too much of this world tries to take over us completely- working, earning a living, pleasure that we don't get because we might work all the other days or most of them during the week and want the weekend for self-pursuit. Too much of this world yells at us to attract our attention and keep it from God. The Sabbath attracts our attention TOWARDS GOD completely. 

As with anything, people try to corrupt true Sabbath keeping. Even Jesus had to set the people straight and remind them that the Sabbath was made for MAN not man for the Sabbath. Man didn't have to be overwhelmed with severe restrictions in order to keep the Sabbath Holy and have the blessing of the Sabbath be theirs. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, Jesus took the edge off hunger on the Sabbath, Jesus taught in synagogues on the Sabbath, Jesus kept the Sabbath PERFECTLY and was never accused of not worshipping on the seventh day- though He was accused of breaking the traditions man had placed on it, not God.

I could go on and on as you know and probably think I already have, but now to WHY DO I CHOOSE to keep the Sabbath…

Because the Sabbath is all I stated above and I love my God! I want to learn and listen and follow my God as He would have me do so. God's word tells me that the Sabbath is important enough to include in the ten Royal laws that were never abolished not one cross of the letter t or the dot on an I would be taken from the law ever….

Mat_5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Luk_16:17  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

If the Sabbath is even a tiny glimpse into eternity with my God I will do all I can to honor it through faith in my Savior as He would have me honor this day, yes, by His will, the entire day - it's been blessed and made holy by Him as no other day of the week. 

May God bless all who through faith in our Savior seek to keep the Sabbath as He would have us keep it, may His peace be with you all, and grace be upon you! All in the amazing love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!