Showing His Love, Sharing His Truths, Proclaiming His Promises

"But speaking the truth in love..."   Ephesians 4:15 

A brand new year with God always holds the promise for new things from Heaven into our lives!

God is so good!  No, really, He is so good! Everything about Him is good!  Every promise that He holds for us, every commandment that He gives to us, it's all for our good!

Everything He does is to bring His true goodness and the good things of His Kingdom into our lives!

He just wants us to tell people the real TRUTH about Him and what He has to offer others!

This we are to do in a spirit and attitude of love and compassion!

What better thing could anyone in this world wish for?  What better thing could anyone be given?

I was still getting used to the fact that it is November already!  Now it is Thanksgiving with the rest of the holiday season soon to follow.

Life in this world is a challenge, and as you listen to all that is spoken, all that is done; this world ('s system) seems a "mess"!

Thank God for His grace that brings blessing and peace in the midst of all of it!

And really, all of this season's fun and cheer come from the mighty acts of God and His love towards mankind!  Praise God!

'Tis also the season to enjoy rest from work, and special times with family and friends!

My plan for the holiday season, as far as our services go, is to spend less time on sermons and more time spent in thanksgiving, praise, celebration, and worship!  Yeah!!!

Also looking forward to the Christmas message this year!! Jesus: The Alpha & Omega!

HAPPY & BLESSED HOLIDAYS!!!

I wonder; will your tombstone be impressive?  Is that something important to you?

I have been enjoying some Divinely beautiful walking and hiking lately.  Actually, I didn't get out as much as I would have liked to this summer.

But now that the colors are changing - it is fabulous.  (Below is a pic from this weekend taken on my phone.  It was a high meadow at the Clear Creek Metro Park) 

Back to my first question.  I was walking yesterday at one of our local cemeteries. It is one of the most loveliest plots of land in the city!

I happened to take notice of the very large tombstones (memorial / family markers). I realized that many of the names upon these huge granites were families of renown in our fair city.

Standouts in life and standouts in death, a cut above the rest.  

Is this what Heaven will be like also?

Small shacks, large mansions.  I have heard people discuss this subject that would suggest such a thing. 

However, I tend to think NOT!  Unless, maybe, that is your heart's desire???

No, my friend, in Christ's Kingdom we are all God's children. All joint heirs with Christ. None are lowly, none are a-shamed, and of none is He ashamed!

Here on earth our stature is, for the most part, based upon our wit, our work, our abilities.  In Heaven it is all based upon His - The Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God - He is all in all!   To Him be all praise and glory! 

This week I have been observing and enjoying the proverbial "silver lining" in things.

After some gloomy days -- the sun is shining warm and bright TODAY!

Yesterday, I was home for lunch.  I sat down and turned on the TV.  "Lo and behold", a 1960's movie about the life of Christ! 

Wow - it's not all cussing and sin!  There are some bright spots! (And hopefully the movie was good! I didn't have time to watch it.)

Last night I had - not a good dream.  I was pulled over, while driving, for something very strange (in the dream).  "Great"!  "How am I going to deal with this"?

I woke up early this morning - still in a quandary about what I was going to do about this mishap.   I laid there for about an hour partially awake, until I realized... "IT WAS ONLY A DREAM!!!!!"

Not sure if that would qualify as a sliver lining outcome - but it sure was golden!

I am thankful for the redemptive work of God.  He turns things around and brings good even out of not-so-good circumstances and situations! 

Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Colossians 4:1-2

Well, for many, today concludes a full week of hard work!  Congratulations!

This scripture has a two-fold purpose. One: it is a directive to employers. Two: it is a faith confession for the worker.

“Lord, I thank You that my employer gives me that which is just and equal!”

The next verse tells us to continually thank God for its coming to pass. In fact, He says watch for it – EXPECT IT!

You shouldn’t be cheated in your wages, or in your duties, or in your position at work.

Sometimes, we must trust God with this!  And He, after all, is the God of promotion!

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. Psalm 75:6-7 (KJV)

We know from many Biblical examples and promises that God gives men skills, vision, wisdom, favor, promotion, raises, fruitfulness and increase. All of these are sent to prosper us in our earthly duties.

I saw a new term yesterday: “Funemployment”.   Now it is true that we should enjoy our jobs in different ways. Maybe, we need to find the joy of the Lord to do our jobs!  It’s the only one we currently have!

However, this term was referring to the many unemployed persons who are having a blast at it.

Either supported by mom and dad and enjoying the plethora of video games all day long, or someone who finds it more profitable to collect from the government and others than it is to seek a job.   Our prayer is, certainly, that they would be blessed with a spirit of giving, a job and productivity!

My prayer for you today is that which has been my daily prayer and confession over my wife for many years – “Lord, thank You for blessing my reader with your mercy, grace, and peace.  Thank You for blessing them with healing and Divine health in their body. Thank You Lord for giving them favor, wisdom, raises and promotions – in the name of Jesus”!

 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28

I have heard from several people that felt as if Sunday's message was especially for them. This is always a wonderful Divine happening that we so much appreciate.   It is a testimony to the fact that God Himself knows us on a daily basis. He loves us and cares enough for us to send help and encouragement our way.

Sometimes that help comes in the form of other people.  This is another wonderful value of being a part of a church congregation.  Really, this is a main theme that runs throughout the Bible.

We are His messengers!  And we can all be used in this way.  Send me Lord!!  Send others to me Lord.

Psalm 103:20-22

 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

Sunday I mentioned, in passing, something regarding the copying methods of the Bible.  Here is a piece that I ran across this morning in my studies.  It speaks of the "supernatural element" of the copying and transmission of the Bible:

7. Seventh Supernatural Element—Its Care and Copy.

1. No book in history has been copied as many times with as much care as has been the Word of God. The Talmud lists the following rules for copying the Old Testament:
1. The parchment had to be made from the skin of a clean animal, prepared by a Jew only, and was to be fastened by strings from clean animals.
2. Each column must have no less than forty-eight or more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be of no other color than black, and had to be prepared according to a special recipe.
4. No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an authentic copy before him, and he had to read and pronounce aloud each word before writing it.
5. He had to reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the Word of God, and had to wash his whole body before writing the sacred name Jehovah.
6. One mistake on a sheet condemned the sheet; if three mistakes were found on any page, the entire manuscript was condemned.
7. Every word and every letter was counted, and if a letter were omitted, an extra letter inserted, or if one letter touched another, the manuscript was condemned and destroyed at once.

The old rabbi gave the solemn warning to each young scribe: "Take heed how thou dost do thy work, for thy work is the work of heaven; lest thou drop or add a letter of a manuscript and so become a destroyer of the world!"

The scribe was also told that while he was writing if even a king would enter the room and speak with him, the scribe was to ignore him until he finished the page he was working on, lest he make a mistake. In fact, some texts were actually annotated—that is, each letter was individually counted. Thus in copying the Old Testament they would note that the letter aleph (first letter in the Hebrew alphabet) occurred 42,377 times, and so on.

According to Westcott and Hort, the points in which we cannot be sure of the original words are insignificant in proportion to the bulk of the whole, some 1/1000. Thus only one letter out of 1,580 in the Old Testament is open to question, and none of these uncertainties would change in the slightest any doctrinal teaching.

2. Today there are almost 5,000 ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. This perhaps does not seem like many, until one considers that:
1. Fifteen hundred years after Herodotus wrote his history there was only one copy in the entire world.
2. Twelve hundred years after Plato wrote his classic, there was only one manuscript.
3. Today there exist but a few manuscripts of Sophocles, Euripedes, Virgil, and Cicero.

8. Eighth Supernatural Element—Its Amazing Circulation. When David Hume said, "I see the twilight of Christianity and the Bible," he was much confused, for he could not tell the sunrise from the sunset!

1. Only one-half of one percent of all books published survive seven years. Eighty percent of all books are forgotten in one year. For example, let us imagine that during this year, 200 new books are published in America. Statistics show that by next year only forty of these 200 will remain. At the end of the seventh year, of the original 200, only one lonely book will survive.

What other ancient religious book can even remotely be compared to the Bible? Where could one go today to purchase a copy of Zen Vedas, or the Egyptian Book of the Dead? In fact, dozens of religions which once flourished have simply disappeared from the face of the earth without leaving the slightest trace. But the smallest child can walk into almost any bookstore in America and pick up a copy of the Word of God.

Nothing like Russian borscht, stuffed green peppers, homemade bread, American desserts, and old friends!

This is what Tia and I enjoyed Friday evening. We were invited over to Pastor Jim and Karen Britton's house, to visit with a couple of our Russian girl friends!

Olga Burkin (Andre's wife) took on a couple of extra jobs, back home, to pay for a trip over, to visit with Nadia Morosov (Serge's wife), who now lives in Massachusetts.  They had made the fifteen hour drive down on Thursday, for a visit in Springfield.

They both looked great, spoke super English, and can still cook, mighty fine!! 

I am always amazed at how the Lord has brought us "all together"!  What a fun time! But then again, that's the way I see it with all of our church friends and family!  Glory be to God!

There is just something especially "romantic" about a cool rainy day in early autumn!  I get a wonderful feeling about it.  A rejoicing in my heart! 

Maybe it's because I have had many wonderful life experiences around this time of the year.  Maybe it's because it is back-to-school time, and I don't have to go!  Maybe it is a natural feeling that we get as the Creator's children, over the phenomena of the changing of seasons and His masterful handiwork?  Does it affect you this way also?

I went out a bit ago for a second breakfast, of sorts. I stopped by Starbucks for a coffee.  I was in no hurry.  I was listening to a nice teaching tape, a very relaxing wait.  When I got up to the window, the gal said that it was "on them", because I had to wait too long.  I didn't think it was that long at all. I don't mind paying for things! And, it was only near one dollar.  None-the-less, even little things like that make you feel blessed!  I thought maybe I was on a roll, so I stopped by McDonald's... However, there they made me pay.

I leave you with this promise:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV)

The Message
"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."

The Living Bible
"My purpose is to give life in all its fullness."

The Amplified Bible
"I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

As I laid my head down last night, and prayed my bedtime prayers, "and your sleep shall be sweet...", I took a mental journey to some of the different places where I have lain my head.

One by one, I went, recalling each room and even the very bed slept in. How awesome!

Very soon, I found myself rejoicing greatly in all of the wonderful places where I have been blessed to visit.

I have to admit that I did not make it to every place before falling asleep.  That is to be continued!

Of course, one of the most memorable was a Russian night time.  We headed out very early that morning, in below zero temperatures, to the train station. Our first leg would be a two hour trip.

We arrived, still before the break of day. There was the strong smell of burning coal in the air, and the occasional eruption of a train's steam whistle. Very surreal!

On board this next train, we nestled in for a relaxing twelve hour train ride north into the frozen Russian landscape. Except for the occasional small village, all views out the window were snow and pines.

Once we arrived at our home of destination, we found that no one had been there for two weeks. Needless to say, it was a bit chilly. Except for a very small maintenance fire, in the small wood cooking stove, there was virtually no heat.

We went to bed that night with indoor temperatures in the 50's.  I was assigned a  fold-out cot with a body size groove right in the middle.  No rolling out of this one! And it was obvious, there would be no tossing and turning!  It was absolutely wonderful!

Waking up at dawn, it was time for a visit to the "restroom".  That would be out back!

I managed to grab someone's boots, headed out the first front door, into a pitch dark breezeway, stumbled over a cat anxious to get in, and out through the front porch.

I knew that I was "somewhere else" as I stepped outside.  Several feet of very crunchy snow, pines and birch trees intermixed, with the newly risen sun shimmering through everything. With your own breath frosting right in front of you, it was not at all hard to wake-up. The day had definitely begun.

There were only three houses out in this neck of the woods. I seemed to be greeted by a neighborhood dog's bark that echoed through the woods. I think that we were the only ones stirring.

Well, I finally made it out to the very cold "outhouse".  "Should I knock", I wondered?

Well, that was the beginning of my sweet sleep last night.  Only God can afford such things!