Don't Get Bitter: Get Better!

Take a drink of Jesus today and feel refreshed,
You will notice the difference right away!
And you will be glad you did! ( to the tune of a 50's t.v. commercial!)
So don't delay, and please pray!
There's nothing on earth or heaven above !
You won' be disappointed, you won't get dis-jointed,
What I say, is as true today
As when the Earth was a piece of Clay!
Molded and shaped by a mind above,
and as beautiful and peaceful as a new morning dove!
So try a bottle of better today
and get rid of the bitter tomorrow!not !

Food is for the belly: And the belly is for food

     "My blood is indeed drink and my body is indeed meat!" These  are the words of our Lord to his followers that surely raised their eyebrows at this statement.    Hebrew law forbid the drinking of blood for the life was in the blood.  While Pagans practiced human sacrifice all around the Hebrews nation, it was an abomination to God.  It also must have seemed to the Jews like a sacrificial statement.  So no wonder it was a repelling statement for those of Jesus's followers and confusing as well.  But now on the other side of the cross, for us and those disciples who saw Christ hanging upon the cross with blood shed from his side it was revelation.
     " If you love me.....keep my word."  " You are truly my disciples if you keep my commands."  Man shall not live by bread alone....but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Christ allowed his body to be broken and his blood shed for all of us.
     As Christians, we must eat a daily diet of God's  word. It strengthens us and keeps us nearrer to him.  It is far to easy to slip into a secular frame of mind and begin to question again the Death of our Lord when all around us there is ample doubt cast our way of this very thing.   Correct belief lies at the very heart of everything we do.  Without it, there is no conviction, no motivation, no reason to do the things we do as Christians.  Take a look at the persecution many Christians now face in many of the world's Dictatorship countries.  Why are they being killed?  Just yesterday a list of leading countries was mentioned in the NY Times of the No. 1 countries where it is dangerous to be one. It is a war of thought and belief and power.
     Power comes from a victorious life in Christ  and those that see this who are not victorious either are enraged or changed, or blind.
     Eating and drinking the Lord is life.......and there is no fear for us when challenged to defend our belief.  For we stand at the Apex  of our time, perhaps the very last days of peace before a great falling away and the ushering in of an  Anti-Christ, then we shall  be seen for what we truly are.  
     

VICTORY

     Every day that you do the right thing is a day the Devil has no power over you.  Now for sure circumstances can overtake you in a moments notice, but what will you do while in that circumstance?   Joseph fled naked and away from Potiphar's wife, Moses fled deep into the desert after murdering a man and standing up for what was right.  Samson brought down the pillars of the coliseum while still blind avenging the betrayal of Delilah and her deceitful ways.  Job sat in ashes, while seeking an answer to the horrendous situation he was now in, all while his friends had left him because he had suddenly become destitute and sick.

     My wife's family turned us away after a 2000, mile trip all in order to help them.  We were told to do anything, "go live in the woods!, I was thrown out of my brother's house 1:00 am in the morning while I watched him curse and go steadily unbalanced and toss our belongings out of his house calling us "trash."  
   

 Jesus said, "In this world you shall have many  tribulations, but fear not I have overcome the world."
And so must we, but not in our own strength.  We trust in our LORD.  After all of this we drove another 2,000 miles back to our home state and stayed three days in a local hotel, not knowing what was next or where we would go.  But... by grace a friend opened  up an apartment ,paid our deposit for rent so we could have an address, so our daughter could get back in school, so we could finally rest and thank God for his intervention. Acquaintances did all of this, not our family.  Go figure!  Why these events happened to us I do not understand.  But I do know this. None of my family know what Christianity is or know Jesus.  So we were basically on enemy ground.  Now I don't hold to and " us and them" way of thinking but, their fruits betrayed what kingdom they were in.  So look up, for your own victory, especially in hard circumstances, and pray hard.   Jesus will answer quickly and surprise you!

What Sin? What God?

Pastor: Do you accept The Lord Jesus as Lord and savior of your life and repent of your sin?

Me: UUHHH!   I'm put on the spot and turning red.........Sin?  (I'm thirteen and I don't know what you mean?")

Pastor: Do you want to stand and say something for us regarding your acceptance of Jesus?

Me: UUHHH?  "(tongue tied...dont't know what to say so I clam up.)

Pastor: Tell us how you came to know the Lord!

Me:  UUHHH>>>>(Still red and now sweating alot...!) I have to go to the bathroom! excuse me...I leave...

Pastor:  Ned, tell us how you came to know the Lord....(.he goes on to the next kid..)


And that was my first intro to an Organized religious Christian Church and I never entered in to another Church again until I was 24 years old.  Can anyone relate?
     It's called proseletyzing and to those who have felt the embarassment of having to make some sort of statement under pressure....it's not fun.   Now I understand that faith comes by hearing the word preached but we were subjected to a dragging out of a confession without God in the MIx!

     Advance forward to the time I'm now 24, had some experiences, am lonely, far from home, and dirt poor and ask me now about God!  Now there is an entrance, there is a heart that is softened, opened for questioning and waiting to be filled with an answer.  Now I begin a journey of faith.............

     That journey is now 36 years in the making and still going.   I have had my answer, have experienced faith in God, had prayers answered and felt the weight of Sin.  This sin for me was never felt however, at the time of repentance like some others I have known. So the repentance was a hard thing to understantd at the time but over so many years, I now know the depths of separation and the gulf that was existing between me and Jesus Christ. You see God is a HOLY God and nothing can come close to him without sacrifice and his own atonement for our sin. It is our turning away from our own ways that he accepts. Sometimes it defys the mind and understanding.  But if you have ever been in the presence of God then like some in the Old Testament, they fell down like dead men....!   It is an experience that one will never forget.
     And so what I early equated sin with as being bad, or doing baaaaad! things was such a misunderstanding of what God calls sin.  And he obviously covered murdererous ragers  (like Paul) with his grace so I know that the magnitude of sin was of a greater consequence than I had ever imagined.

 S0 the little sinners prayer that was asked of me when I was an innocent 13 year old did nothing for me!......... But looking back on that and other experiences over the years up and until the revelation of Jesus Christ  "forming in me a new creation" I appreciate knowing the vast difference.

"Empty Shoes"

One of the things I remember growing up is my grandfather's empty shoes in the cellar.  He had an old cellar that I was captivated by as  nine year old boy.   Opening up the door a damp musty smell permeated my nose immediately and as I descended down the stairs on old rubber coated wooden stairs  they creaked and were "sticky" under my feet and made a "greeeech" noise . Upon getting to the bottom facing directly infront of me was an old cupboard with old fashioned ice chest hinges.  On the very bottom of the  cupboard were a line of shoes that looked to me like they were ancient.  They also smelled funny from being in the cellar.  I marveled not becuse they were old but rather my thoughts were that some day they would be "empty shoes" forever.  I did not relish that thought at all.  Death to me at that time was a foreign experience yet to be had.  My grandfather and I were close and so it gave me the creeps to think of that future time.
   Now scroll forward some 55 years later and I have seen death up close many times as I was in the healthcare field and it was just thrust upon me in inopportune times throughout my career.  
     As fast as death seemed to come sometimes, empty shoes came faster and I began to feel over time that this was a commonplace experience and so I got used to it.  But, I often thought of all those I had come to know over time  and wonder "where they were"  and if their soul was truly at rest. For me this was something of a fascination for me and concern of mine.  Because we bond to those we know throughout this life the holes people leave when they are gone don't really disappear.  And our hearts definitely feel it.  One should never get so used to death that we either don't think about it or we tend to think of it in rosy terms that may not be the case.
     Salvation as I have come to know it first hand is an importsnt consideration that I  have found that many people think of as an "extra" possibly  while even on their deathbed.  It definitely is not.  " For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God."  Romans, I think.  Therefore there will always be an atonement necessary for "all" of us, get that...a big ALL.  That is inclusive and leaves no one out.  It is a very personl experience to come to know the living God. And it is still a mystery to me that some would never come to know or accept the sacrifice of Jesus.  I know that I have longed to see more of an outpouring of God's Spirit in my time but I also think that Church gets in the way with too many traditions for the Holy Spirit to even enter into.  It takes a contemplative moment and a quiet time for those who gather to allow God's Holy Spirit to even draw close.  Some times Churches are too busy and to programed in our western ways to sense when the Holy Spirit draws near.
    And so I think there will be many empty shoes never to be filled again and I wonder where they all end up.

CAN YOU SEE HIM?

Who is like our God? Whose length of days cannot be numbered.  Who knows the end from the beginning. Whose heart is like that of a lion on the prowl.  Who can catch the Lord whose  feet are like a gazelle faster than a cheetah and the wind itself.  Unable to be seen.  Woe to him that inflames those around him whose justice is not justice but an uneven balance.  But blessed is the man whom the LORD chooses whose feet he catches.  HIs days will run over and his descendants  are without end.  /

The Light Of All Men

                                         
                           Thanks be to God for his  promises for all generations!   Merry Christmas