Idols- Tear Them Down

 Hos 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 

The Lord told Hosea to love a sinful woman, strange? Very. Yet the reason why the Lord told Hosea this was because it mirrors the Love of God toward his backsliding people.

A wayward husband or wife-- who doesn't know about such things? Some know firsthand how it feels to be cheated on, others don't. Most people know someone who was cheated on. There are way too many divorces from this very thing for people not to know anyone at all who wasn't cheated on. Barring any personal experience with infidelity- either yourself, family members, relatives of any sort, friends, co-workers-- friends of friends … we have television, movies, and books that are filled with this sort of behavior. The truth is, you know about cheating even if you don't have experience with cheating.

Still, and I have to bring this up, right or wrong, many people live in relationships where they say it's fine to look (lust) upon others and find them arousing, as long as they don't touch (commit the physical act) of adultery. It's true, you hear about it all the time. Men will be men, women will be women, and it's all natural to do this, God made us this way, it's normal for human beings to lust after each other that's how the species keeps going, and so on.

When God told Hosea to find… no, that's not right, God told Hosea to go LOVE an adulteress He was telling Hosea to go LOVE a woman KNOWN to stray from her husband.  

God's people then and still right now, are prone to adultery - straying from HIM and taking other 'gods' into their lives that they shouldn't. 

The Book of Hosea tells of how Hosea's love of this adulteress and her continued cheating on him resulted in a very hard relationship. We are shown that Hosea's unrelenting love is just that- a love so deep it cannot be lost. 

Am I saying a person should stay with a cheating spouse? I'm saying if that person desires to stay because they truly love that spouse even though that spouse is unfaithful- well, that's a personal decision the person has to make and no other.

God chooses to stay with His people. God chooses to have a people upon a corrupt earth filled to the brim with mostly cheating people- people cheating on Him. God chooses to believe there will be an adulteress people who will cease their adulteress acts and love only Him, a faithful people.

In the parable of the prodigal son we know that the wayward son returning was more joyous than anything to the father! But, the wayward son was not joyous to the father while he was being wayward, it wasn't until he returned, leaving his wayward existence.

It is extremely hard living in a world so full of evil that only a few out of the many will truly belong to God. We live in a time where God has been altered to fit into a sinful existence. Changing God to suit a sinful life makes it all the more harder to recognize sinning because we no longer recognize the adultery for what it is, we've made what was once considered adultery (straying from God) into something acceptable. Satan has done his job very, very well.  We've erected false idols covered in the apparel of God and bow down to worship them fooling ourselves that we are worshiping God when we aren't. We don't recognize our adultery and this is why when our Lord returns He is going to tell many, many people that He doesn't know them. 

Look at the God you are worshiping very, very closely. Go to God's word and study it like never before! Get on your knees and pray like your life depends upon it because it does. Seek God with all your heart! Search for God with all your heart! God will be found if there is even a sliver of sincerity in our searching, our seeking!

Don't lie to yourself, don't blind yourself to truth, don't stop up your own ears to keep from hearing truth because it might mean destroying the beloved idols of your life. Those idols whatever they are- will gladly holdfast to you all the way to non-existence.

Hosea was told to love an adulteress as God loves his people- God loves his people and wants them to be true to Him, to turn away from the adultery in their hearts, the idols they cheat upon Him with. God wants us wayward people to return to a true love of Him.

God please help us do this, please! Bring our hearts back to the true love of Your love. God, give us all we need to tear down and rid ourselves of the idols in our lives- especially the idols we've decked in the garb of Your appearance. Don't let us fool ourselves any longer that we are worshiping you in truth if we are not! Create in us clean hearts! Renew in us right spirits! Take us back into Your fold, let us filthy, desperate, prodigals come home, show us the way back to You and let us walk in that way while all around us the world wallows in the filth of deception. Let us not be deceived, help us! Save us! We know You love us with an unwavering love, You sacrificed all because You loved us, love us still and always!  

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Yours is the glory, the praise, the honor now and forever! Amen!

Innumerable Company of Angels.

 Trapped. No way out. No help to be seen. Can you imagine how this must feel? Elisha's servant felt this way. Elisha and his servant were sleeping and when the servant woke up he went and spied out the land. To his dismay there were enemy horses and chariots all around the entire city surrounding them. With fear filling him to his very core he cried out to Elisha, asking what they were going to do.  Elisha wasn't fearful at all, why? Read the following… 

2Ki 6:15-17  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 

… FEAR NOT for they that be with US are MORE than they that be with THEM. 

Yet, the servant couldn't see ANYONE on their side, let alone MORE than those that were surrounding the city! Then Elisha PRAYED and asked the LORD to open the servants eyes so he could see.  When the young man's eyes were opened he did indeed see that the MOUNTAIN was full of horses and chariots of FIRE all around Elisha! What a vision to have, what a blessing to see the unseen.

We often feel alone, defeated, demoralized, despairing, ready to scream in frustration as we walk our Christian walk. We, like the servant of Elisha, have no clue what we are going to do in our awful, seemingly unsurmountable circumstances. We long to see the unseen army of angels on our side. We have to walk by faith, not by sight. We have to take God's word into our hearts. God's word is written for US, for our learning! We need to believe in God's word.  Elisha had an army of angels to protect him and his servant. We have angels to protect us as well! We have ministering spirits as we are those who are going to inherit salvation, and those ministering to us are angels, real angels.

Does this mean that in every situation we will be miraculously helped- that we won't go through awful times, horrific trials, nightmarish tribulations? NO! A very resounding NO, it doesn't mean this at all. It means that we have angels on our side and as God wills, and if we aren't meant to endure the trial, we will be given supernatural help. It means that most of our trials and tribulations are refining us in ways we can't comprehend, preparing us for God's kingdom as we hold fast to God in spite of Satan trying his hardest to rip our faith in God from us. We will do a lot of suffering now, but joy will come.

People often wonder how anyone would believe in God after they go through horrific situations, and that person of God will tell them that we live in a Satan ruled world, and God is in control of our eternal life and this is why. We understand that in this world there are going to be lots of nightmares, lots of them, but we also know that in the world to come there will be NONE, not a single nightmare. We know the world to come is for ETERNITY, while this world has an expiration date stamped on it. Knowing these truths, we know that angels are here to comfort us and see us through the trials, to keep us from the despair as they minister to us God's truth. 

May we belong to God when this world expires. May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be ours now and forever! Al through HIS LOVE!

AMEN!!!!!!!

*******

(Excerpt)

5. NUMBER OF THE ANGELS

The definite number of the holy angels is not given in the Scriptures, yet there are declarations from which we may form an idea of the vastness of this host of God. Jesus said: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" Matt. 26:53. 

John, as he had a view of heaven, the glory and majesty of God, and the vast host of angels worshiping before the throne, spoke of their great numbers thus: "And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands Of thousands." Rev. 5:11. 

Bengel, in his Gnomon, translates this, "Myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands." He adds the following excellent note: "A myriad consists of ten thousand; myriads, if only two of them are meant, make twenty thousand; a thousand taken twice, makes two thousands. But there are myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, i. e., the myriads are multiplied with each other, and, likewise, the thousands. In order to more easily conceive the meaning, it could be imagined thus: Here is a regiment consisting of ten thousand angels; then there would be ten thousand such regiments, and this not only once, but at least twice. In the same way are thousands to be taken thousand-fold; that is to say, if one counts a thousand angels to one body, then there are of such bodies of thousands (in the plural) at least two thousand bodies. The myriads make two hundred millions, and the thousands two million, a Vast throng!"

While this gives some idea of the greatness of the throng, it is by no means certain that the computation is nearly large enough. Instead of being simply two myriads, as the plural must contain, it may mean many more, which would enormously swell the aggregate. And all these were only those whom John saw worshiping around the throne at one time. We have no language in which to express the number of the heavenly family; we can have no conception of the number. The Bible declares that they are the messengers of God to carry out His will, and it is reasonable to believe that they are His messengers to other worlds. On a clear night view the stars, consider the millions in the milky way, and remember that each one is a sun, with a whole system of worlds revolving around it, and consider that the angels are God's messengers to all parts of His dominions, to all these countless worlds, and then we shall best be able to appreciate the words of Paul, that there is "an innumerable company of angels." Heb. 12:22.

Angels: Their Nature and Ministry

 (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)

Comfort One Another!

 Do you remember the day the Lord descended from heaven with a shout?

Do you remember the day the Lord shouted with the voice of the archangel?

What about this… Do you remember the day the Lord shouted with the trumpet of God? 

Do you remember the day that those who died believing in Christ rose from their graves?

Or maybe you remember…  the day when you, still living and believing in Christ were caught up together with them in the clouds?

Do you remember meeting the Lord in the air?

Do you remember being with the Lord forevermore?

You DON'T remember any of that do you, you CAN'T because none of it has happened yet.

We are told to COMFORT one another with those words above.

How can I comfort you with those words? I am told to comfort you with those words, BUT HOW?

To comfort someone means one thing for certain- they are in NEED of being comforted, they are in some sort of distress. There can be no greater distress than living in a world over run by sin and all the results of sin. We need the comfort of what? Of KNOWING that --

-- the LORD will descend from heaven one day and he'll do so with a shout! 

He's not going to descend from heaven in silence, in stealth mode, quietly behind the scenes.  Our LORD is going to SHOUT out His glorious return and everyone will know of His returning at once! You say that's impossible? It's far from impossible!  We who live in this world where if everyone in the entire world could be woken up at once- sure it might be in the middle of the night for some, but it's still a very real possibility. 

You can be sure if I wrote a story about aliens coming from outer space and wrote that at the moment of that ship's arrival everyone's cellphones sounded at once, everyone left their homes and pounded on their  neighbor's doors, not a single person was left to sleep through it- it didn't matter the time of day because this wondrous thing was occurring. Sirens were blaring everywhere, alarms going off as never before.   You could picture that couldn't you?  I can.  If at 3am in the morning an alien ship arrived in the United States and the majority of the United States people were sleeping, do you think they'd be sleeping for long? Not in our day and age of technology. Something as momentous as an alien ship coming to earth would be worth being woken up for, right? The news would travel so fast. Now couple that with a NOISE that alien ship blasted in such a way that it sent that very loud, earl splitting, wake up noise all over the world at the same time.

Science fiction allows for us to believe this could happen. 

There we are sitting in the movie theater, munching away on popcorn, eyes riveted to the huge theater screen and we see that alien ship arriving and the response of everyone seeing it happening.  Then we watch as the Aliens set off an alarm that is being heard around the entire earth. The scene cuts from the United States where people everywhere are running out of their houses, buildings, from wherever they happen to be to get out into the streets to see what's happening  to find out where is that noise coming from?!  Then the scene cuts to the United Kingdom where the same thing is taking place, and China, and Russia, and Israel, and Africa, and Australia, everywhere - but all those scenes are depicting people hearing that noise. We watch the movie and understand that these aliens possess powers and abilities far beyond ours that have the entire earth hearing their noise and them at once - night or day around the globe everyone is awakened to this noise.

Are you still with me? Hopefully you are. What I'm getting at here is we CAN believe that ALIENS could do something like that, but we let our mind get boggle-down at the thought of when Christ descends from heaven with a SHOUT, with the voice of the ARCHANGEL, with a TRUMPET sound that not everyone will be able to hear Him at the same time. FAITHLESS people! 

Our LORD is going to return with that LOUD SHOUT! Our LORD is going to return with a voice EVERYONE can hear! There will be such a loud noise when our LORD returns that everyone in the entire world will hear it! And I'm telling you RIGHT now, find comfort in that! No matter what your circumstances right now, no matter how awful, horrifically awful, painfully awful, devastatingly awful your life is in this moment or in future moments…  CHRIST IS GOING TO RETURN! This is our ONLY comfort! This is our ONLY HOPE! Don't put your hope anywhere else! There is NO comfort in this world. You can be given a world of hope one day only to have it all taken away the very next day! As long as your comfort and hope are tied up in this world you are setting yourself up to be perpetually in distress and unhappy.  I can ONLY comfort you with CHRIST'S RETURN, because that is the only surety of comfort we truly can have! When ALL ELSE around us completely crumbles away there is forever CHRIST'S RETURN! 

CHIRST will return and in such a manner EVERYONE WILL KNOW!

And when CHRIST returns, ALL those who have ever died in His love- from Adam and Eve, to the last person to die in His love a second before His return, will be RAISED UP TO MEET HIM IN THE AIR!  

Not everyone will be raised up ONLY those who are called 'the Dead In Christ' and, there is an 'AND'…. ONLY those who are alive in CHRIST will be caught up together in the clouds to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR and from that moment on we will EVER BE WITH THE LORD!

This is our HOPE, this is our COMFORT! I have NO other comfort to give anyone at all! None. I have the HOPE of our LORD returning for us and ushering in a NEW Life for all of us forever more. A LIFE without ANY of the millions and millions of heartaches and horrors of this sinful world!  

Don't you dare ask me WHEN Christ is going to return, because I DON'T KNOW.  What I DO know is that HE WILL RETURN and whether I'm DEAD IN CHRIST, or ALIVE IN CHRIST I will rise to meet HIM in the air and be with HIM forevermore! And forevermore is a lot longer than any number of years I will ever be given to live upon this earth. 

I long for HIM to return while I still live, but I know no matter what-- I will SEE my SAVIOR RETURN just as every other person that belongs to Him will see Him, we will ALL see HIM at the same time! Our God is a mighty GOD!  

FIND COMFORT in CHRIST, HE IS GOING TO RETURN!

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. 

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

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.'