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preacher31
THE FAIREST - Subscribe
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(from the Daily Bread) Scripture: Revelation 5:8-14 (New King James Version) Worthy Is the Lamb 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “ You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us[a] kings and priests to our God; And we[c] shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “ Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”[d] 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four[e] elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.[f] Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! —Revelation 5:12 Reflection: When I first became a Christian and started attending church at age 19, I immediately fell in love with singing the great hymns of the faith. My heart overflowed with joy and thanksgiving as we sang of God’s love for us in Christ. Soon one of my favorite hymns (from the late 1600s) became “Fairest Lord Jesus!” I love the simplicity of the melody and the awesomeness of the One exalted in these words: Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight, and all the twinkling starry host: Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer than all the angels heaven can boast. Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration now and forevermore be Thine! God’s Son, whom we sing about in this song, came to this earth, lived a perfect life, and gave Himself for us on the cross (Luke 23:33). He arose from the grave (Luke 24:6) and is now seated at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:3). One day we’ll join in worship with thousands upon thousands and say: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13). Maybe we’ll sing “Fairest Lord Jesus!” too. Until then, let’s allow Jesus to be “the fairest” above all in our personal lives by seeking wisdom from His Word and following in His ways. — Anne Cetas We can never praise Jesus too much. |
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preacher31
THE QUOTE OF THE MONTH 3/03/2010 08:42 - Subscribe
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The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu, swine flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' |
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preacher31
IN HIS PRESENCE 3/04/2010 04:37 - Subscribe
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Scripture: Hebrews 13:6 promises, "So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Reflection: I recently had a friend who was in deep need of comfort. His life was not going well and he was extremely depressed. I talked with him for awhile and prayed with him and assured him that I would keep him in my prayers. After I finished talking with him, I began to think and pray about his many problems. Through my prayers God made me realize that i was a having the same problem that my friend was having. That is, that we both suffer from an extreme case of anxiety. We are both anxious about our future. We don't know what we are going to face this coming year. The interesting thing is, I know one very important reason that why neither one of us should be anxious about the coming year. "GOD WILL NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER LEAVE US!" If we are children of God, as our Father, He will never leave us. I believe my friend and I are worried that we are going to face something we don't understand, and we are going have to face it alone. The Bible teaches us that GOD WILL NEVER FORSAKE US. It literally means that He will never abandon us. He will not give up on us. You see what my friend, you and I need to remember is WHEN THE DEVIL COMES AND KNOCKS AT YOUR HEART'S DOOR, YOU CAN SIMPLY SAY "JESUS, PLEASE GO ANSWER THE DOOR!" Prayer: Oh Lord You teach me, " Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer, and supplication in thanksgiving make your requests known to You. I DO SO NOW MY LORD. |
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preacher31
FOR I WAS HUNGRY 3/07/2010 09:21 - Subscribe
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Scripture: Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version) 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Reflection: I have a question for you today. Do you want to be close to God? In many of my Reflections, there has been a central theme, a central thought. That is "God is there for you" Now I'm asking you, Do you want to be close to God? If you do, and if its ok with you, I would like to tell you one of the ways you can be close to God. Jesus tells us. As a believer, when you do something, in God's name, for some one else, you are doing it for God, "you are close to God". When you feed the hungry (physically/spiritually), give a drink to the thirsty (physically/spiritually), invite a stranger in your home, give clothing to the poor, care for the sick (physically/spiritually), visit someone in prison (physically/spiritually), YOU ARE CLOSE TO GOD. "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love Where there is injury . . . pardon Where there is doubt . . . faith Where there is despair . . . hope Where there is darkness . . . light Where there is sadness . . . joy O, Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled . . . as to console To be understood . . . as to understand, To be loved . . . as to love For it is in giving . . . that we receive, It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life. |
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preacher31
EXPLAIN GOD 3/09/2010 06:28 - Subscribe
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THIS IS FABULOUS!!! It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista , CA . He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.' I wonder if any of us could have done as well? [ .... and he had such an assignment, in California , and someone published it, I guess miracles do happen ! ] EXPLANATION OF GOD: 'One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.' 'God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.' 'God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.' 'Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista ... At least there aren't any who come to our church.' 'Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God.. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.' 'His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.' 'You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.' 'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God! Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.' 'If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.' 'But....you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And...that's why I believe in God.' |