Hiding from sin? Hiding from ourselves? Turn to God!!

 Good morning all!  God is good all the time, all the time God is good!  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!

  Genesis  3: 8-9 "And they heard the sound of the LORD GOD walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD GOD among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD GOD called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?""

  This is all very interesting since God is omniscience and does not need to inquire where they are, yet HE does.  Why?  Because GOD is a loving and kind GOD and is not going to just accuse and be ugly to us.  GOD seeks to have all of us come to know HIM.

  God asked Adam where are you?  Just as He asks us where are we?  Not because He does not know, but because we need to know several things.  First, God is seeking us, but second we need to ask ourselves "Where am I?"  Oh, not where we are physically, but, WHERE AM I SPIRITUALLY?

  So often we hide, yes we hide from God;; from being uncomfortable in God's presence; but we hide.  We may hide in various ways, but yet we hide.  We are afraid to admit the truth - I have sinned and don't want to face the consequences!

  We don't need to hide.  Humans tend to hide to conceal their sin.  A criminal commits a crime and goes into hiding.  We as Christians commit a sin and don't want to admit or be confronted, so we hide.  What are you hiding from today?

   God has the best strategy. We have to wait on the LORD and HE will resolve the issue in HIS time and HIS way.  As I go through my study, different topics pop up and thank you for staying with me. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Living by the flesh? Romans 8:5

 Greetings to all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good!  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!!

  Today, in our world, the whole planet earth, people are living by the flesh.  Do we consult God on major decisions, OR, do we just go forth and justify our decision?

   Romans 8: 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

 A. W. Tozer was born in 1897 and died in 1963.  He was a Christian pastor, author, and mentor.  Here is a quote from him that is still relevant today:

 "We may as well face it: the whole level of spirituality among us is low.  We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentives to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone...{We} have imitated the world, sought popular favor, manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the LORD and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the Holy Ghost".

  God tells us to set our minds not on the flesh, but on the Spirit.  This means we are focused wholly on Christ, and not ourselves.  We work to follow Christ's agenda rather than our own agenda.

   If we live for the world, our eternal life will be lived in agony; whereas, if we live for Christ we will spend eternity with God.  So, dear friend, what is your choice?  Smoking or Non-smoking;  Heaven or Hell?  The choice is ours and we must not be afraid to share the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.

  Thank you for reading. Love you all

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

 Good morning all.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

   Dr. Stanley gave a great message this morning and I wanted to share parts of it that we all, at one time or another, tend to violate.

   He was talking about Christians and how we should react to one another and others outside the Christian circle.  With love, humility, and our countenance should reflect this.

  So often little things will upset us.  Like: Why is that car tailgating me? That just makes me mad, that idiot.   Well, yes, it may become a dangerous situation, BUT, we must maintain our integrity and not create a situation that was avoidable.

  If I could just speak to him/her I would give him/her a piece of my mind.  Hmmm!  Really?  Proverbs 13:3  "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life; but, he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction. KJV

  Proverbs 13:2  NIV  He who guard his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

Wow!  Does this hit home with you?  It does with me.  Once the words come out of the mouth there is no taking them back, no white out, no delete, it is there.  Oh, yes, I have said I am sorry and have been forgiven, but the words are still out there.  Just like cyberspace.  Once posted, it is there.

Then I want to move along with kind of a side bar to watching our tongue.  Romans 6:23   So often the first part of this scripture is quoted to "SCARE" people to the LORD.   FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH;  ----then we stop.  The rest of the scripture is so, so very important -- BUT, THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!!    

Fear is a factor that often motivates us, but we cannot be "scared" into Christianity.  It is a FREE and OPEN gift from GOD.  All one has to do is ask Jesus into their life.  We don't need a wordy 2 or 3 minute talk, just a simple,  plain, "Jesus, I believe in you and ask you to come into my life".  DONE!!

Often we get emails, facebook, or other media with a post that tries to "shame" you into believing in Jesus.  You will get a post about Jesus and then at the end it says: "if you are not ashamed of Jesus repost this".  Huh?  I know Jesus as my personal savior and nowhere does it say I lose my salvation if I don't repost this picture/article' or other type of media.

Just trivia for you.  The most common phrase in the Bible is "FEAR NOT", and it is in the Bible 365 times. Once for each day of the year.  So FEAR NOT my friends, Jesus is gathering the troops, saddling up, and getting ready to return TRIUMPHANTLY!  

Moving forward- God has a plan!

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  Now is a time to pray for all the hurricane victims on the East coast.  Two major storms back to back and then the 38 tornados at this count in Florida recking havoc in addition to the hurricane.  Over 3 million people without power.  

   Pray for the linemen, volunteers, and everyone that is joining the effort to help the victims of these mighty storms.  Also, pray for the families that are left homeless, stranded, or not knowing what has happened to their relatives.

   God is big and in control and we know not the reason why these things happen, but we have to continue on, helping one another in brotherly love.

   Psalm 37:23-24  23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;  24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

   Philippians 3:13-14  13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

   Scriptures to encourage us.  May your day be blessed and prosperous. Remember your knee-mail aka prayers for people in need. Thank you for reading today. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

 Johnny

Job? Again? When friends point finger!!

 Good moring all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!

  Oh, how often are our "friends" or "family" quick to point out what they perceive as misgivings or mistakes.  Eliphaz the Temanite told Job it was his piety and wickedness that put him in this situation. He said Job gave no water to the weary, food to the hungry, stripped men of their clothing, sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. 

   He goes on to say that is why these perils terrifies him.  At the end of his rant Job replied.

   In Job 26 Job replied to his friends asking: have you helped the powerless, helped the feeble, why do you utter such words and what spirit spoke from your mouth?

  Then in Job 29 he says God's intimate friendship blessed his house, his children were around me, he sat in the public square young men stepped aside and old men rose to their feet.   He goes on to say whoever heard him spoke well of him. He made the widow's heart sing, was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, father to the needy, cared for the stranger, and broke the fangs of the wicked.

   In saying all this Job was accused of things he had not done; he rebuffs them with his response.  This is real today.

   When we look at the elections that are forth coming.  Many are as Job's friends and see things in only their eyes, conjuring up partial truths or lies to be true and then expect us all to believe.

   We experience this in our own lives.  When someone accuses you of something, yet has no factual proof, only a partial piece of the story and creates the rest.

   We have to maintain our integrity in the LORD, use our knee-mail, stay in fervent prayer, and reverent to the Living God.

   All is not what it seems.  Why is that car speeding?  Either an idiot or an emergency - yet we do not know.  Take time to know and pray about our actions - go forward not in anger and control, but go forth in the spirit of the LORD.

   Thanks for taking my rant. I'll leave Job alone for a while.  If you have time to read it, it definitely is interesting and may cast some insight on the world today. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Job - How do friends respond?

 Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  Reading Job and his 3 "friend" who came to be with him.  The best they did was, at first, they were just silent and sat with Job.

  Then came the onslaught.  They are very good at pointing fingers and telling Job he must have done something wrong, something to anger God, he was not in God's will.

  Does this ever happen to you?  When a friend could come and just console you, sit with you, and be with you in support; then start taunting or pointing fingers at what they see as your iniquities?  

   Sometime a positive word would be helpful. But a constant barrage of finger pointing will wear on one and create anger and resentment.  This is what is happening to Job. His "friends" freely telling him he is wrong, he is not right with God, and on and on.

   WOW!  So often a soft word spoken in kindness will go a long way.  No, we are not perfect, but to be constantly told you are wrong, inferior, out of Gods will does nothing to help the situation.  Where, oh where is your compassion oh world.  Hate, anger, and control suffocates the planet.

   We, Christians, need to go into the world and share the joy and love of Jesus Christ and not be as Job's "friends".

   May your day be wonderful, bright, and may you say or do something to brighten someone's day.  Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny