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For as long as I can remember this Psalm was one of my mother's favorites, and it has come to be one of my favorite passages. When I need a "little time" with God , and a little reassurance of His presence in my life. I turn to the Psalms. The Psalms are full of comfort and peace. They are also the place where King David left some of his notes and prayers to God. King David was a sinner of the highest magnitude, BUT, he also had God's ear, and God's favor. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, and actually had her husband sent into the heat of battle to be killed so he could marry her. He became convicted of his sin and David got on his knees and begged God for forgiveness. He admitted his sin, publicly, and David was forgiven by God. God elevated him to the status of one of Israel's greatest kings. God was also faithful to David's children. Read in 1 King, 2 Kings, 1 Cron., 2 Cron, and the Song of Solomon. Do you ever feel like your sins are so bad, so horrible that God could never forgive you for them. Well, forget that notion. God is all powerful, all seeing and always faithful. God doesn't want any of His children to be condemned in sin and be cast into the firey pit with Satan. God wants all of us to be heirs in His kingdom through His Son Jesus Christ! Paul also thought that he was the worst of sinners, yet all of his sins, and they were terrible sins, were forgiven and God elevated him to a place of honor. He filled him with the Holy Spirit through knowledge of His only Son Jesus. Remember that Paul was first a pious Jew, as were all of the deciples, and had been persecuting those who followed Jesus and His way of life. Paul was even present at the stoning of Stephen. He was trained in the traditions of the Pharasees. BUT, he was forgiven all of that and ended up being one of the strongest believers in the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and worked hard all the rest of his life to spread this Gospel to the world.
Romans 8 (KJV)
16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. . ."
John 3:16 (KJV)
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
While we were yet sinners God sent His only Son, Jesus to die for us!
Romans 5:8(KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-9
Galatians 3:26-28(KJV)
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus
Psalm 91 (KJV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
All of the Psalms are wonderful revelations of God and God's love and faithfulness to all of His children. God does not want us to be cast down and depressed. He wants us to be at peace. We can have that peace through a personal relationship with God. The best way for us to do that is by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and savior. When we are in Christ , we are counted as one of God's children. See the verses from Romans 8: 16, 17 above for the Biblical proof of this. I urge you to repent of your sins and sinful ways. Turn to God. Turn to Jesus to be your pathway to that salvation trhrough the forgiveness of your sins. Jesus knows you and knows your sins. They are what He went to the cross for. Jesus was beaten, spit on, mocked, and the hairs of his head and beard were pulled out. Imagine that suffering. Imagine all of that pain. Imagine the pain and humiliation of being nailed to a cross. Now believe that He went through all of that and went to the cross to die for you so your sins could be washed away by His blood. Jesus was the final and perfect Lamb, sacrificed for your sins!
Showing posts with label Healer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healer. Show all posts
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, October 4, 2010
A Continuation of our Study of Islam and the Muslim Faith
Once again I want to remind y'all that this is a Christian BLOG, but I have been doing a study on Islam and Muslims, and I want to pass on some of what I have been learning so I hope you will all bear with me! I hope you all had time to go to Genesis and do some reading especially in Genesis 11: 26 31. and continue along in Genesis to follow the story of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ishmael and Hagar. It is a very interesting study and a good read. I love the Bible and I love to study and read in it over and over. It seems like every time I go to it and read something I had read previously I find something new to apply to my present situation. It is an awesome book and once you start reading in it you will be drawn to it over and over.
Where I left off was with the animosity that is established between Ishmael and Isaac. It is a very complicated relationship and to fully understand it all you really should read it all for yourself in Genesis. My reason for even mentioning it is because Ishmael is the "father" of the Arabian race, and the Arabians are where Islam begins and Ishmael is also the connector between God and God's covenant and the basis of the Monotheistic beginnings of Islam and the Muslim people. The covenant connection, the enmity between the Hebrew people and Arab people and Monotheism is where we find Muhammed and his meditations that were the basis for the Koran. The enmity and the rest will be more important a bit further along in this discourse. So back to Muhammed. Muhammed was born sometime in the year 570 to 571 C.E. He was born into a family that was one of the leading tribes in Mecca (the Koerish) and he was to find sorrow on the day of his birth because his father had passed away just four days previously. The name Muhammed means "Highly Praised" and his full name is Muhammed ibn Abdullah, by traditional knowledge he is a "Hanif" and one of the direct line of descendants of Ishmael. He has become known as "The Seal of the Prophets" meaning that there may have been many prophets before him but none will come after him. Muhammed is a name that has been given to more male children than any other name in history. So strike one, he is born without a father, strike two his mother dies when he is six and he is taken in by his grandfather. Strike three his grandfather dies when he is nine. He is then taken in by an uncle (Abu Talib) who because of failing fortunes has to put him to work on the family farm tending his goats. Even though he is an orphan he is warmly accepted by his uncles family. Even then it is reported that "the angels were opening out young Muhammed's heart and filling it with light." To say that times were tough for young Muhammed in the world of sixth century Arabia would be an understatement. Descriptions of what it was like by contemporary historians, and later ones said that if they had to condense it down to just one word it would be "barbaric". Conditions for the life of a Nomad in the desert had never been serene or comfortable, there was constant heat and freezing temperatures at night, wind storms that could actually scrub the skin off your body, lack of water and the constant scarcity of material goods and material comforts. When you add to all of this the fact that the average Bedouin felt almost no obligation to anyone other than his immediate family and tribe, and was in a constant mood for a fight, which was exacerbated by the constant burning heat and was a brigand and thought that wars and fighting were a badge of male virility and bravery you can understand just how awful conditions were. Now stir this all up with a general breakdown of the magistrate of Mecca it made for chaos, brawling and bloodshed. Drunkenness and gambling were commonplace, dancing girls moving from tent to tent and again the blazing sun all inflamed the "sons of the desert", and made for a rough and tumble world of depravity that disgusted young Muhammed. What passed for religion was a mix of animistic, pantheistic, polytheism rife with beasties, sprites, powerful Jinns or Genies and demons. Personifications of all "the things that go bump in the night" in the desert. There is absolutely no evidence that it ever inspired any type of religious feeling or fervor and certainly would not inspire any form of moral conviction. The area that was Arabia was ripe for religious deliverance and most certainly ready for a "deliverer" and that man was Muhammed. He was feeling that the angels of God (Allah) were filling him with light and speaking to him (this underlines his character beautifully according to historians) and all around him was depravity, tribal fighting and bloodshed and of course the drunkenness and debauchery that disgusted him; what was a young man of upstanding character (and reportedly) a sweet and gentle disposition to do? It is also probable that his early trials and tribulations made him very sensitive to the trouble and suffering he saw all around him. It is said that he was always willing to reach out to others and offer help, especially to the poor and weak. It is reported that he had a strong sense of duty, honor, honesty and a commitment to truth. As he grew into manhood all of those traits inspired titles like "the true", "the upright" and "the trustworthy one". In spite of his concern for others and his commitment to help them he remained aloof and separate from them which seems a common trait for men of his ilk.He remained isolated in all of this chaos. He saw the lawlessness, the immorality and depravity, the constant fighting among the tribes, and the more he saw the more the disgust grew for the whole Arabic society of the time and the more he matured the more his meditations and thoughts turned inward. In 596 C.E.., at the age of 25 he turned his sights to the business of caravans and trade and went into business with a wealthy widow named Khadija. She was very impressed with his diligence and integrity, and soon her being impressed with him turned to affection, and soon that affection turned to love. Even though she was fifteen years his senior they were married. History reports that they had a very happy and satisfying relationship. He did have other wives later in life but Khadija was his comfort and solace in a world that turned to desolation in his eyes. No one seemed to believe in him and at times even he didn't believe in himself, but through it all Khadija stood by him and offered him the support he needed and bolstered his failing feelings of worth. It is reported by historians that Allah (God) worked through Khadija to comfort him and lighten his burdens. After his marriage to Khadija and before his actual ministry began there was a period of preparation, spiritual communion and meditation that lasted about fifteen years. His need for time away from the world made him turn to a cave that he was familiar with on the outskirts of Mecca on Mount Hira, a huge outcrop of rock that erupts out of the barren desert. In this cave Muhammed found the solitude he needed for his meditations. His visits became more and more frequent as time went on. He meditated on good and evil, on the barbarism he saw daily all around him, the superstitions and pantheism and the moral decay that was the accepted norm, and in his desperation he reached out to God (Allah) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Allah was worshipped in Mecca, but not as the supreme God but as a god amid a pantheon of gods, Jinns and demons. To Muhammed Allah (God) became the supreme provider, the God above all other gods. For Muhammed, Allah inspired real religious feelings and devotion in his heart. Allah being real, became the central focus for Muhammed, and was fearfully wonderful and as real as the universe He created. Muhammed felt that Allah was far more than his countrymen could have dreamed and even more than he could have dreamed. Allah's awesome majesty filled his mind, heart, soul and his cave. His Allah filled the whole universe that Allah Himself had ordained. This God, this Allah was not "just" a god or even a god above all other gods. This Allah was THE God, the One the only true God without rival, La ilaha Allah! Muhammed cried out from his cave to Allah; "there is no God but Allah!".
So, with that, I am going to stop for now, and pick up later today or maybe tomorrow. Remember that this is a Christian Blog and for me Christ is my connection to God, for it says in scripture, "none come to the Father but through Me." and I believe that Jesus is the only true Son of the living God, and to find salvation and forgiveness for my sins I must repent of my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and fill me with the Holy Spirit. It is by His blood that we are saved, Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly as the pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb, and the payment for my sins and actually for all of us and all of our sins. How awesome is that? If you are not a "born again" believer in Jesus Christ you can be, and all you have to do is pray what they call the "sinners prayer": Lord I am a sinner and I repent of my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and fill me with the Holy Spirit. Wash away all of my sinfulness. I believe that you are the only Son of the living God and it is only through You that I can have salvation. Lord enter my name into the "Book of Life". I thank You God, and I praise You. Amen.
Where I left off was with the animosity that is established between Ishmael and Isaac. It is a very complicated relationship and to fully understand it all you really should read it all for yourself in Genesis. My reason for even mentioning it is because Ishmael is the "father" of the Arabian race, and the Arabians are where Islam begins and Ishmael is also the connector between God and God's covenant and the basis of the Monotheistic beginnings of Islam and the Muslim people. The covenant connection, the enmity between the Hebrew people and Arab people and Monotheism is where we find Muhammed and his meditations that were the basis for the Koran. The enmity and the rest will be more important a bit further along in this discourse. So back to Muhammed. Muhammed was born sometime in the year 570 to 571 C.E. He was born into a family that was one of the leading tribes in Mecca (the Koerish) and he was to find sorrow on the day of his birth because his father had passed away just four days previously. The name Muhammed means "Highly Praised" and his full name is Muhammed ibn Abdullah, by traditional knowledge he is a "Hanif" and one of the direct line of descendants of Ishmael. He has become known as "The Seal of the Prophets" meaning that there may have been many prophets before him but none will come after him. Muhammed is a name that has been given to more male children than any other name in history. So strike one, he is born without a father, strike two his mother dies when he is six and he is taken in by his grandfather. Strike three his grandfather dies when he is nine. He is then taken in by an uncle (Abu Talib) who because of failing fortunes has to put him to work on the family farm tending his goats. Even though he is an orphan he is warmly accepted by his uncles family. Even then it is reported that "the angels were opening out young Muhammed's heart and filling it with light." To say that times were tough for young Muhammed in the world of sixth century Arabia would be an understatement. Descriptions of what it was like by contemporary historians, and later ones said that if they had to condense it down to just one word it would be "barbaric". Conditions for the life of a Nomad in the desert had never been serene or comfortable, there was constant heat and freezing temperatures at night, wind storms that could actually scrub the skin off your body, lack of water and the constant scarcity of material goods and material comforts. When you add to all of this the fact that the average Bedouin felt almost no obligation to anyone other than his immediate family and tribe, and was in a constant mood for a fight, which was exacerbated by the constant burning heat and was a brigand and thought that wars and fighting were a badge of male virility and bravery you can understand just how awful conditions were. Now stir this all up with a general breakdown of the magistrate of Mecca it made for chaos, brawling and bloodshed. Drunkenness and gambling were commonplace, dancing girls moving from tent to tent and again the blazing sun all inflamed the "sons of the desert", and made for a rough and tumble world of depravity that disgusted young Muhammed. What passed for religion was a mix of animistic, pantheistic, polytheism rife with beasties, sprites, powerful Jinns or Genies and demons. Personifications of all "the things that go bump in the night" in the desert. There is absolutely no evidence that it ever inspired any type of religious feeling or fervor and certainly would not inspire any form of moral conviction. The area that was Arabia was ripe for religious deliverance and most certainly ready for a "deliverer" and that man was Muhammed. He was feeling that the angels of God (Allah) were filling him with light and speaking to him (this underlines his character beautifully according to historians) and all around him was depravity, tribal fighting and bloodshed and of course the drunkenness and debauchery that disgusted him; what was a young man of upstanding character (and reportedly) a sweet and gentle disposition to do? It is also probable that his early trials and tribulations made him very sensitive to the trouble and suffering he saw all around him. It is said that he was always willing to reach out to others and offer help, especially to the poor and weak. It is reported that he had a strong sense of duty, honor, honesty and a commitment to truth. As he grew into manhood all of those traits inspired titles like "the true", "the upright" and "the trustworthy one". In spite of his concern for others and his commitment to help them he remained aloof and separate from them which seems a common trait for men of his ilk.He remained isolated in all of this chaos. He saw the lawlessness, the immorality and depravity, the constant fighting among the tribes, and the more he saw the more the disgust grew for the whole Arabic society of the time and the more he matured the more his meditations and thoughts turned inward. In 596 C.E.., at the age of 25 he turned his sights to the business of caravans and trade and went into business with a wealthy widow named Khadija. She was very impressed with his diligence and integrity, and soon her being impressed with him turned to affection, and soon that affection turned to love. Even though she was fifteen years his senior they were married. History reports that they had a very happy and satisfying relationship. He did have other wives later in life but Khadija was his comfort and solace in a world that turned to desolation in his eyes. No one seemed to believe in him and at times even he didn't believe in himself, but through it all Khadija stood by him and offered him the support he needed and bolstered his failing feelings of worth. It is reported by historians that Allah (God) worked through Khadija to comfort him and lighten his burdens. After his marriage to Khadija and before his actual ministry began there was a period of preparation, spiritual communion and meditation that lasted about fifteen years. His need for time away from the world made him turn to a cave that he was familiar with on the outskirts of Mecca on Mount Hira, a huge outcrop of rock that erupts out of the barren desert. In this cave Muhammed found the solitude he needed for his meditations. His visits became more and more frequent as time went on. He meditated on good and evil, on the barbarism he saw daily all around him, the superstitions and pantheism and the moral decay that was the accepted norm, and in his desperation he reached out to God (Allah) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Allah was worshipped in Mecca, but not as the supreme God but as a god amid a pantheon of gods, Jinns and demons. To Muhammed Allah (God) became the supreme provider, the God above all other gods. For Muhammed, Allah inspired real religious feelings and devotion in his heart. Allah being real, became the central focus for Muhammed, and was fearfully wonderful and as real as the universe He created. Muhammed felt that Allah was far more than his countrymen could have dreamed and even more than he could have dreamed. Allah's awesome majesty filled his mind, heart, soul and his cave. His Allah filled the whole universe that Allah Himself had ordained. This God, this Allah was not "just" a god or even a god above all other gods. This Allah was THE God, the One the only true God without rival, La ilaha Allah! Muhammed cried out from his cave to Allah; "there is no God but Allah!".
So, with that, I am going to stop for now, and pick up later today or maybe tomorrow. Remember that this is a Christian Blog and for me Christ is my connection to God, for it says in scripture, "none come to the Father but through Me." and I believe that Jesus is the only true Son of the living God, and to find salvation and forgiveness for my sins I must repent of my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and fill me with the Holy Spirit. It is by His blood that we are saved, Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly as the pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb, and the payment for my sins and actually for all of us and all of our sins. How awesome is that? If you are not a "born again" believer in Jesus Christ you can be, and all you have to do is pray what they call the "sinners prayer": Lord I am a sinner and I repent of my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and fill me with the Holy Spirit. Wash away all of my sinfulness. I believe that you are the only Son of the living God and it is only through You that I can have salvation. Lord enter my name into the "Book of Life". I thank You God, and I praise You. Amen.
Monday, August 2, 2010
August 2010
Well, here it is August and the weather here in Texas is as hot as ever. Actually it is hotter than I remember it being in a long time! The wonderful thing about this month is that we are having Homecoming and Revival at my church! That is the New Hope Baptist Church in Grapeland, Texas. August 8th is Homecoming and Brother Josh Mills will be bringing the word. There will be fellowship, fun, food and praise to the Lord of Lords. Hopefully we will have a lot of our older members and some new members coming to worship with us. We are also having our Revival week the 16th through the 19th and Brother Lamar Denby will be coming to preach the word. He is an awesome preacher and is truly filled with the Holy Spirit! I am looking forward to hearing him again. The Holy Spirit flows through the building and the prayer and praise raises the rafters! Awesome special music and awesome fellowship. The wonderful thing about being a Holy Ghost filled believer is getting together with other believers and feeling the renewal of the Spirit fill your heart and just blow you away! There is such joy at knowing Jesus and knowing that you will be with all of the saints and family believers that have gone on before when the time comes for you to shake off this mortal coil and then to be able to worship at the feet of the Savior! To know that by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior the old person, the old sins are washed away and you are made brand new! Washed clean by the blood of Jesus, praise God! AND there by able to take your place in heaven because your name is written in the Book of Life. That is one of the hardest, yet the easiest choices a person can make, to accept Jesus. You can believe in God, sit in a pew every Sunday, do good deeds and be a good person; but that will not mean you are "Saved"! That will not mean you will gain a place in heaven. You will not be numbered among the Saints UNLESS you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and confess Him to be the ONLY SON of the LIVING GOD! All a person needs to do is pray this simple prayer: Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am in need of your Saving Grace. Lord wash me clean, fill me with the Holy Spirit and come into my heart. I thank you Lord for sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross for me and that by His stripes I am healed and washed clean and made brand new. Then you must study His word. Pray often for those around you. The amazing thing is that as soon as the Lord fills you with the Holy Spirit the Word of God, the Bible will come alive for you. Each time you read a passage your understanding will increase, and the more you will realize that God is your ever present help and comforter! I praise God for all He has done for me and all He will continue to do.
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