Praise You Lord

I want to write about praise and thanksgiving today.  I want to remind you that no matter the circumstances or situations you find yourself in today God is worthy of our thanks and praise.  If you have to give Him a sacrifice of praise today please do it.

Try to remember what He sacrificed for you, sending His only begotten Son to take your place, taking your shame and the cross that you should have been impaled on, a man who had no sin became sin that we could be set free from its bondage in our lives, a debt that we owed but could have never repaid.

Jesus knew that so He willingly gave up His life to buy our pardon, praise you Jesus and God, my heavenly Father!!

Do you realize that God inhabits the praise of His people?  The way I see it if you inhabit something, take a building for instance, that is empty and you walk into it you inhabit that building.  Well I think you can praise God in many ways, not just music you can worship and praise the Lord while working or just walking down the street.  There is one thing we need to remember, we need to worship God in spirit and in truth.

This is what Jesus told the woman in Samaria in John 4:21-24, “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”

Worship should be very sincere, from a heart of love and devotion.  I believe this kind of worship can only come through a born-again believer who has the Holy Spirit within them, one who knows the truth and has been set free by the truth and is truly thankful.  

Psalms 150:1-6 is a great Psalm, it speaks of what and why and with what we can use to praise God.  Please read verses 1-6:

“Praise the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!”

I was watching a documentary on persecution and what some Christians have to go through in other countries of the world and it was horrible.  They truly need your support and prayers.  I was thinking this is surely something we can thank and praise the Lord for, that we still live in a somewhat free nation.  I read years ago that the underground church would praise the Lord while singing without sound but they still praised and thanked the Lord.  So start praising and thanking Him in spirit and in truth because He inhabits it and loves it and the Lord is worthy.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

       

Deceitfully Wicked

This is what God’s Word says about the heart of man, read Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”   This is the condition of an un-regenerated heart because of the sin nature that we were born with.  

From birth we have had a bent towards sin and have loved to carry out its desires.  Mark 7:21-23 says this, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”  From birth our hearts have condemned us being full of deceit and wickedness and all kinds of sinful desires and we have truly been defiled from them.

Romans 1:20-21 says this about the heart, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  

  

Because of the condition of the heart, man became depraved and these things resulted because of it, read verses 22-32, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

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

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

It is no wonder if man is left to himself, he will end up destroying himself and others along the way.  Take King David for instance when he committed sin with Bathsheba; he broke up a marriage then tried to cover up his sin by having her husband killed, it took about a year before he really repented.  There are other examples of how our hearts deceive us in God’s Word, it is no wonder David said this in Psalms 51:5-11:

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,

And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear joy and gladness,

That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

David learned something we all need to learn, we all need a new clean heart, one that is soft and pliable not the stony heart we are born with.  I say this with David, “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.”  I pray this will take place each and every day.

I have said this Psalm on more than one occasion; I make it my prayer at times changing a few words and maybe adding a few words to make it more personal between me and the Lord.  Praying the scriptures is a very good thing, if you are not doing it try it you may like the results.  By the way the Lord is the only one that can create a new heart in man and it will only be done through a personal relationship with Him.  If you are ready to truly repent of your sins, which means to turn from them, and to ask Him to forgive you, then stop whatever you are doing and take some time with the Lord.  Ask Him to be the Lord and Savior of your life and to fill you with His peace, love and joy and give you a new heart.  When that takes place you will walk away rejoicing, then share it with others and start growing in your new found faith.  Question; what kind of heart do you have?  God bless you and yours and have a super day!!

Water Walking

If you were on the water in a boat at night and you saw a figure walking on the water towards you, how do you think you would respond?  I have never seen anyone walk on water but I am sure that would be a scary sight.  Just to be on a large body of water in a boat late at night with the wind howling and water pushing against and coming into the boat could make for a trying situation, then to see a figure walking towards you could cause great alarm to say nothing about how frightened you would probably be.  

Now let me tell you a true story that really happened in history many, many years ago when Jesus walked the earth, and the sea one time.  Some people may not have heard about this before, and even if some have, they might think it is just a story written for entertainment purposes but it is true and a part of history.  I think it was meant to be a faith builder but there was a problem and it wasn’t with Jesus but it was with Peter and his lack of faith.  Like many of us, we start out well and all excited in our Christian walk but as time goes on we get our eyes off the Lord and we start to falter in our faith and we end up sinking, and unless we realize what is happening, we may not fully recover from the fall.

We can learn a lesson from Peter on more than one occasion, but read what happened to Peter in Matthew 14:28-31, “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

Jesus is walking on the water toward the boat the disciples are in.  The disciples are fighting the waves and losing the battle and then they see Jesus, and not knowing who He was, become very frightened until Jesus reveals Himself to them and they are quite relieved.  Then Peter gets this great idea to walk on the water to Jesus, so Jesus says, “come.”  Peter is excited and he starts out well, walking on the water and everything is going fine.  Maybe he even said, “look at me I am walking on water,” to the other disciples, then everything goes wrong.  Like many of us are doing, and have done in the past, he got his eyes off Jesus and on the circumstances.  Maybe he said to himself, “what am I doing out here, I am going to drown,” and he started to sink and his excitement was replaced by fear.  So Peter did the best thing he could have done in the situation, he cried out to the Lord and the Lord did what He does best, He reached out and saved him.

Guess what?  Jesus is still reaching out to save people today and He is not willing that any be lost but that all will come to repentance.  God’s Word says this in John 3:17-18, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

God loves everyone so much that He willingly sent His only begotten Son Jesus into our sin filled lives. Read 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus loved His Father and us so much that He was willing to die a terrible death on the cross, meant for criminals, so that through His precious shed blood we could be reconciled to God, because there was no hope except that Jesus would become the precious Lamb of God, sacrificed on our behalf.  The price has been paid, now all you have to do is receive it through faith, asking Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and to forgive you of your sins through repentance.  

Will you trust Him today?  Just like Peter, in his weakest moment, Jesus reached out and saved him and if you are sincere, He will save you in your weakest moment also.  Something to think about and I hope you will make the right choice.  It would be a great encouragement to me to hear from anyone that may have received Jesus through any of my Tidbits or have been helped in any way.  Please let me know by leaving a comment.  Thanks and may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

The Vine

Jesus is the true vine and the believers are the branches and God the Father is Husbandman.  The only way to be a believer (born-again) is to believe that Jesus is God’s only beloved Son, that He was crucified, died and was buried and rose again (came back to life) on the third day, shedding His blood for the forgiveness of sins.  When Jesus asked Peter, “whom say ye that I am,” Peter said, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Then Jesus answered and said this in Matthew 16:17-19, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’”

Jesus, by dying on the cross, became the head of the church; the church that is only made up of born-again believers is the body of Christ.  You can ask people if they believe there is a God and many will say, “yes,” but they live like the evil one so it is not enough to ‘say’ you are a believer and then live in whatever way you want to live, no, there has to be a change in your life.  There has to be an inner change to bring about an outward change like it says in God’s Word.  

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Without the inner change that happens when Jesus comes into a person’s life in the form of the Holy Spirit at the time of rebirth, you will never have a true lasting change in your life because we can never accomplish this kind of change on our own.  This is not like a New Year’s resolution where a person decides to make a change in their appearance by working out or dieting or quitting drinking or smoking.  No, this is an inner change that only the Lord can bring about in a person’s life where the Lord changes your whole perspective and you see things differently and think and feel different.  There are people that think they have to change their lives to come to the Lord, but in my understanding, God draws to the humble and contrite heart, that He will not despise.  

God said this in Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’”  I think this relates to each of us before we become believers, though our sins have left a nasty stain that no one could remove with the finest soap available, Jesus can remove it with His blood that He willingly shed on the cross for our sins because there is cleansing power in the blood of Jesus because He loved us that much, praise His name!

If you want to be a part of the vine you will have to receive Jesus as your Savior by faith.  Come before the Lord with a humble and repentant heart and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to be the Lord of your life.  Repent means to turn from your sins and go in the opposite direction.  Don’t be in a hurry, tarry and let the Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy, then you can walk away rejoicing because of what the Lord has done in your life.  Then go share it with others and start growing in your new found faith.  Don’t forget when you become born-again, you become a branch that is connected to the vine, which is the Lord Jesus and He can help you bear much fruit.

I have given you something to think about, with the Lord’s help.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!

Fires of Hell

This is a warning to everyone, including the church.  I have seen what I would call the rapture twice in two separate dreams and I believe I have seen the fires of hell in another dream.  I believe this took place as a warning for not only me but also a warning for the church and everyone that hasn’t received Jesus as their personal Savior.

God’s Word says this in Matthew 7:21-29, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”   

All the things Jesus spoke about, I believe, are good works.  You can never be saved by them, but read what it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

God didn’t save us so that we could just think of ourselves but that we would serve others.  Jesus said He didn’t come to be served but to be the servant of all, I think we should want to do likewise.  

To get back to my dreams, I think these dreams took place to get my attention; not to scare me to death but believe me it scared me to see that someone I talked to face to face in a dream disappeared right in front of my eyes, with their clothes and all, and I was still there along with other people.  Then to see what I believe were the fires of Hell, and I was being drawn into it so close that it seemed that it was going to burn my arm, then seeming to get snatched from it, waking up just before I was devoured by it, it got my attention.  I wrote a Tidbit on this a while ago and while I was typing it I felt a peace like the Lord was telling me that He snatched me from that fire a long time ago.

I was shoveling snow yesterday and this thought came to mind; I was looking at this experience as a negative thing but I needed to look at it as a positive thing.  Now I see it differently, in a positive light.  I think it was God’s amazing grace and love to send a warning for all who need to take it seriously; who have either deceived themselves or have been deceived and who think they are born-again but are not, so that they can repent and turn from their wicked ways before it is too late.  Think about it, the Lord could come back any day!!

You can mock and laugh at this message, but think of what this says in Matthew 25:1-13, “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Being prepared for the Lord’s return is very important and is an individual decision and responsibility; no one can do it for you.  People may try to help by encouraging you and praying for you, but in the end the responsibility will rest on your shoulders.  My suggestion is not to take this Tidbit lightly, if this warning has convicted you in any way, act on it in whatever way you need to.  If it means forgiving someone I hope you will, or if it means to stop gossiping or complaining or being so negative that you hinder others stop it, or it may be you are compromising with the world, or maybe being to materialistic or greedy or maybe idolatry; whatever it may be repent and ask the Lord to forgive you, then back up your repentance by your actions.  

If on examination, you feel that you need to get your life right with the Lord ask the Lord to be your Lord and Savior and to forgive you and fill you with His peace, love and joy and make you a new creation in Him.  Don’t be in a hurry, spend some time in His presence and let Him have His way in your life.  Then start growing in Him, reading, praying, praising and thanking Him for what He has done and what He is going to do in your life, then share it with others.  Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!