God is With Me - Psalm 91

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!     

Thanksgiving & Fall Posting

Howdy y'all; I know it has been a while since I last wrote and for that I apologize. I was doing a study in the Muslim faith and the impact it is having in the world, and I want you all to know that all around the world Muslims are impacting life, laws and the way of life in England, Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. They are moving in to all of the countries in the European Union and are bringing court cases to the forefront for rulings on Sharia Law. They are trying to push for Muslim women to be forced to follow Sharia law and wear complete veils, and to be able to punish women if they break any of the rules put forth in the Koran! So far ALL of the countries have been successful in blocking their efforts, thank God! IF they are ever able to have their laws passed into national legal systems we are all one step closer to being attacked and killed because we are Jews, Christians or any other faith but Muslim (Islam). I urge you all to keep praying that all of their efforts to get Sharia Law into ANY country. Especially the United States, fail. We are in danger because we have a president (for a little while longer anyway) who is very supportive of the Muslim faith, and has even put them into positions of leadership in some of our Federal departments.
We have a lot to be thankful for as this year comes to a close! We are still very blessed even though we are heading for financial ruin as a country. God will continue to bless us and protect us, BUT it is our responsibility to keep OUR religion and our beliefs in God and Jesus Christ lifted up, and to keep reminding our senators and representatives that we need to keep our country ". . .under God,. . .". We are a christian nation even though it is not specifically entered into our Constitution and Bill of Rights. More than half of the framers and signers of the Constitution were ordained clergy! Many of their private letters and writings support the Christian faith and the importance of keeping it part of what we do in the world and in this country. See for yourselves if you feel so inclined. Google the writings of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock, George Washington and the other founding fathers and you will find out just how much they valued their Christian beliefs. Even Benjamin Franklin, who was a professed agnostic, still valued the "Golden Rule" and the Christian Faith. They did want to keep a separation between "church and state" ; BUT that was only because they wanted to guarantee that EVERYONE was able to worship as they pleased! Freedom of religion was the promise and yes, that goes for everyone; Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Bahia or whatever. The RIGHT guaranteed by our Constitution was to guarantee our worship as we pleased; but NOT to keep others from the practice of their faith or to demand that all signs of their religion be destroyed or removed from public view! Long ago I had a teacher who taught us that; "Our rights end where another one's right begins." What that means is that I do not have the right to infringe or prevent another person's rights and that they do not have the right to infringe upon or prevent their rights! Kind of a different way of saying; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Jesus Christ's greatest commandment was; "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind and spirit and to love your neighbor as yourself." we are all commanded to do so and the Ten Commandments are also a directive to Christian and Jew alike. One of the other things we should do is to continue to pray and to pray continuously as Paul directs us. Pray for our loved ones, pray for our country, pray for all of those we know who are not "Born Again", pray for our military, pray for every person who asks us to pray for them and also to pray for our enemies!
Now IF you are not "saved" or "Born Again" I ask you to pray this prayer; Dear Lord, Father God, I believe that Jesus Christ came to earth to be your representative and that He is your Son. And that He came to suffer and die and then be raised again for my salvation. Lord, I repent of all of my sins and I ask that you cleanse and purify me and my heart and take away my sinfulness and my sinful nature so that I may be more like Jesus, and be worthy to enter your kingdom when the time comes. Lord God, I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you God for your Son Jesus Christ, thank you for your forgiveness and you grace. I praise you and worship you! In the name of your precious Son Jesus I pray; Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer and REALLY mean it you are saved and you are "Born Again". PRAISE GOD!! I praise God and pray for His blessings on you and your life. If you have a Bible I suggest you start reading it every day. If you have been doing it, keep it up. I find that if I study a few verses in the Old Testament and a few verses in the New Testament every day you will find that you will be able to read it cover to cover in less than a year. God bless you all. In Jesus Name I pray! Amen.

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.

Muslims & Islam in America

I am a "Born Again" Christian and I have been doing a Bible study on the "End Times" and I have also been delving into the Muslim faith and how it is effecting life in these United States of America. The more I got into it the more concerned I became, and soon that concern escalated to alarm! I am NOT "Islamophobic", at least I do not think I am because my concern is based on the facts as they have unfolded to me over the time I have been doing my research. I think it would be a good idea to share some of what I have found out with any and all who might click on this site. This is a Christian website and I have been concentrating on Christianity and how one might become "Born Again" in the past here. Well anyway, let me say that there has been a lot of stuff in the press and on the TV news lately about Muslims, Islam and Mosques and where they should or should not be built and related subjects. We are also involved in a war with Muslims and our troops are on Muslim soil, but there has not been too much in the news or on TV about who and what Muslims are and what exactly is Islam about. Things like where did it come from, who started it, and what is some of it's history, laws and beliefs. I am by no means an "expert" on Islam, the Muslim faith or Muhammad, BUT I have been doing a lot of research as I have stated above, and I would like to share some of that with others who may have the same concerns that I have. So, to begin, I think it might be best to touch on some of the history and foundations of Islam. First of all, and this is significant, it is what is called a "Semitic" religion with some of the same roots as Judaism in that it traces it's foundation back to Abraham and for this we must go to the book of Genesis (I sincerely hope you will go to the Bible and read it for yourself) in the Old Testament and specifically chapter 11 and verses 26-31 where we find the "begots" and the begot we are interested in is that of Terah who begot Abram when he was 70 years old (who became Abraham a bit farther along). Terah was in the direct line of Shem, one of Noah's sons and where we get the "Semitic" roots. So Abraham was married to Sarai (who later became Sarah) and Terah takes Abram and his wife Sarai and grandson Lot and they left the land of Ur of the Chaldean's to go to the land of Canaan where they dwelt until Terah died at the ripe old age of two hundred and five (205) years old. The Lord spoke to Abram and said "Get out of your country to a land I will show you." Now this is where some of the animosity that the Muslim's have with the Jews because this is the land of "milk and honey" that was given to Abram forever and ever, and God promises to make of him a "great nation". Sarai was barren and could not bear Abram a son so she sets it up with one of her handmaidens, an Egyptian girl named Hagar to sort of pinch hit for her and go to bed with Abram so that he could have a son. This was kind of a standard operating procedure back then, that if a man's wife could not bear her husband a son one of her handmaidens could do it for her and the son, if there was one, would be his heir and inherit all he had in the way of animals, land etc. Well, Abram went in to her as Sarai wanted and her handmaiden, Hagar, did as she was told and slept with Abram. The result was a son who was named Ishmael. Now the problem was that the Lord had promised many things to Abram, and his son would inherit it all and would become a great nation and his offspring would be as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach, but it was to be the son of Abraham and Sarah that would be the rightful heir. Soon after (about 13 years later) Sarah did bear a son for Abraham who was named Isaac. This is where it gets very complicated. Sarah was jealous of Hagar and Ishmael and ordered Abraham to banish her from the tribe. Abraham didn't want to because he truly loved Ishmael, but he did as Sarah wanted and ordered them to leave. They wandered in the dessert for a long time and just as they were about to die from thirst and starvation God intervened again and promised that Hagar and Ishmael would be blessed and Ishmael too would become a great nation and have man y descendants. But the Lord proclaimed that there would be a great rift between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac which continues to this day (fighting between the Jewish people and the Muslim people). I am going to stop here for now, but I will continue this tomorrow. This is a wonderful story and I urge you to go to the Bible and read all of Genesis. Also remember that if you want Jesus in your life and want the forgiveness of sins and the salvation that goes along with that all you have to do is pray . Ask Jesus to come into your heart and ask for the Holy Spirit to cleanse away all sinfulness and He will. If you believe that Jesus was the ONLY Son of the living God and ernestly pray for forgiveness, you will be saved and you name will be inscribed into the "book of life", and once your name is there it can NEVER be removed. You will have the salvation offered to all believers. God bless you all and I look forward to our time tomorrow. PEACE!