I apologize for not being able to post. I can’t get my computer at home to connect with my blog homepage. I’m not sure what the problem is but I’m trying to figure it out. In the mean time, I’ll work on just email my posts to work and copy and paste them once I get there.
Say a prayer for me and to help get this problem fixed soon.
Leviticus 7:12-15 – 12 “‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. 13 Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. 14 They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the LORD; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. 15 The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.
The Jews were encouraged in one of their types of sacrifices to be thankful.
God gave us a gift to be able to reflect on how you would feel if you were in somebody else’s shoes. There is only one true God. However can put ourselves in the place of doing something for someone and then seeing how grateful they are. No one appreciates someone who is self centered or ungrateful.
We need always to reflect on our Lord during Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Enjoy your families. Don’t waste an opportunity to try and plant seeds where the door is open. In America we get caught up in the sale or success that follows, but our Lord just wants us to love and obey Him. If you love Him feed His sheep. John 21:15-17
2 Corinthians 3:5 – 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
I wrote on this a little bit a couple of weeks ago, but it’s so important. We can do nothing well without God. Anything good comes from the only One who is Good and that is God alone.
Luke 18:19 – 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
If we can know that only God is good and we are not competent in doing things without Him, why do we try to do it on our own?
We need to continue to become lesser and allow the Lord to become greater. The only way to know what He wants in our lives is to read and meditate on the Word.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Always looking to get a rapture verse on the screen.
It’s neat to know that we will be meeting our loved ones in the air and other believers at the time of the rapture.
Here are a couple of neat thoughts. We will hear that call on earth right before we are taken up? The dead are going to rise first. It’s the time all believers dead and just raptured from earth get their resurrected bodies. Will we be face to face right next to those we have lost and longed to see?
Obviously my biggest joy will be to see the Lord. These are interesting questions and only time will tell. I happen to believe it won’t be all that long into the future. We definitely need to keep our guard up and hearts receptive so He doesn’t come like a thief in the night to us.
Matthew 26:28- 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
He died for you. He died for all of us. There is a covenant.
The covenant is that we accept His death on the cross in the place of our own death. We now need to
repent of our sins and worldly ways. We need to make Him Lord. That means die to our own selfish life without Him.
When your name goes into the Lamb’s Book of Life, we’re now in a covenant. This is one covenant we
can’t afford to break or turn our backs on. Seek Him.
Hebrews 9:22 – 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
It’s amazing how many churches don’t want to refer to the blood of Jesus. The whole sacrifice procedure the Jews used to do and will do again was leading up to the ultimate sacrifice. The animals were only obedience and temporary. God’s blood is sufficient once and for all, forever.
No blood, no forgiveness of sins. There is power in the blood of Jesus.
James 4:8- 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This one scripture has a lot and in a way that only James can deliver it.
Come near to God and He will come near to you. That is completely true and anyone that has a relationship with God knows just how much. He’s right there. People are constantly putting a divide between themselves and the Lord, but that’s not His fault. The other thing people do is turn their backs to the Lord so they don’t have to see Him face to face when not living for Him.
Yet He is still their “IF” we want to turn around. I would like to use the word “WHEN” but that doesn’t always happen.
Which leads to wash your hands you sinners. No not literally wash them but clean up your act. How do we do that? By dying to ourselves and obeying God.
If we die to ourselves and obey God, we are now purifying our hearts. The only one pure is the Lord.
This leads us to our title double minded. What is double minded? It’s trying to have a mind for the Lord and at the same time a mind for our worldly desires and sinful life. Is that a problem?
1 John 2:15-16 – 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Yep, that’s a problem if you take the Word of God literal and seriously.
Our worldly thoughts drowned out God’s will for our lives. Out with the bad and in with the good needs to be one’s practice.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
When life is joyful, it’s good.
I’ve always told people, if you think you’re happy or if you think you’re unhappy, you’re right. That’s what you are. Nobody can make you be one or the other, you choose.
Now I’m not oblivious to the obvious. Our lives at times get turned upside down from close events near us. Still how we choose to perceive them is up to us. We must turn them over to the Lord and still be grateful for all that we have and all which He has done.
If you have Jesus as Lord, you should be happy. You have what you need. However, you still choose after that how you will view things.
God wants this for us. It is His will that we give thanks, pray to him continually and that we be joyful always.
You’re a creature that has been made with a free will. You don’t have to obey. You don’t have to love God. You don’t have to be happy. However, you won’t have the last say and its God’s will that you do choose correctly and seek Him so you may live in eternity with Him. For those who don’t, it’s a lake of fire according to His Word.
John 10:27 – 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
How do we know it’s His voice?
Anyone and I mean anyone can claim they have heard from God or Jesus.
So how do we know it’s Their voice?
If it matches up with the Word of God. That’s it. The Spirit doesn’t contradict Word, or you’re listening to the wrong spirit.
Romans 2:5-8 – 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
So many warnings to the ones He loves. We have to stay in the Bible because it is the Word of Life. We naturally are sinners and when we slip further away from the Word of God we become more self-seeking and stubborn.
We will give an accounting. That’s a positive for us to dwell on while we still have a chance to serve Him. We can’t take our eye off the prize. What would we be taking it off for?
All of us are one day older than we were yesterday. We are all one day closer to seeing the Lord face to face.
The proof is in the pudding that nothing earthly material is making the trip later when we leave.
We’re going to give an accounting for what we have done. We’re going to give an accounting for what we didn’t lift a finger to do.
Why are we ignoring that?
We all need to do our best while we still have time. Let’s all shoot for the words, “Well done good and faithful servant!”