1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 ~ For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish and exhort you in your faith,
that no one be moved by these afflictions. 

For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

11 Now may our God and Father himself,
and our Lord Jesus, 
direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, 
as we do for you,
so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

James, the Brother of Jesus. The man who ate dinner with Jesus. Bothered Jesus sibling style. Goaded Jesus in life recorded in His Word. Lived to Love Jesus. James said this Word of God - We ask Father God to give wisdom. The result is - He will.

We want to say to Jesus when we arrived at our Heavenly Home ~ "I stood for Your Great Love, Jesus."

Our standard is Jesus.
He is the one to look for. 
Would Jesus do this?
This is the frame of all reference.

And Easy to Remember.   

1 .Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Our standard agrees with God's Word. God's Word stands very firm. God does not need our belief for God to be God.

2. We want to be in daily relationship with God and read His Word. Expecting His Word to make a difference in your heart. Spiritual roots. Prayer. Small group Bible Study recorded in Book of Acts - encouragement.

3. Open mind to God and His Will. Not our established pride. 

Believing God would want to have a good plan for you. We ask God to be Open to Him. Give HIM time each day to let His truth soak in us and have truth established in our soul. More than emotion. To be like Jesus moving to Capernaum to be near the faithful.

3. Speak the Truth. God's way says follow Him.

4. Solely self or doing God's Will. He gets you out of trouble. He puts you on your path of His.

5. Do what is just and right in integrity. We put forth God's way and let Him decide the fate of the seed. God is sovereign.

6. This would please Jesus as His Child. Jesus called us His Beloved. When we trust God, His plan for for us is good.

7. Bring thoughts to Jesus. Pray constantly, casual conversational prayer, to be centered in Jesus, to please Jesus and in firm expectation that He is going to help.

8. Bitter, hurt, grudge envy and selfish ambition is not from God; creating a cold heart. Let it go. Avoid what isn't good for you. Like bad TV or fuzzy noise. Peace, loving, considerate, impartial and sincerity is from Jesus.  Do the Good Will God has for your life. Work in His Will.

9. Record the truth. Write this down. Not to be choked out by the concerns, glories and riches of life. Be still to know God.

10. Trust God when we don't understand.

Father God, we just ask would this please God. 

Asking Your blessings. Your forgiveness. Grace to others. God guide our nation, state, city. Our Church leaders. Our family. Our friends and loved ones. Help us best do Your will for our day and lives. Your mercies renew and repeat. Help our open minds see You at work, Father God.

Let us let go of distractions and trust in You, Father God.

Open our eyes each day to see Your blessings and remember the blessings. Let us live each day saying Give us this day. Knowing as we rest this evening - we did please You. In Jesus let Your Will be done. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

<><

Psalm 23 ~ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.


I'm not sure that I'm good about this, better as a adult,
however with these assurances,
we can put down our worries, cares and irritants and Let God have our lives.

We are so used to the pictures of young lambs scampering. With God, even the late seasons provide green pastures. I have a personal part to my life, right now, - God has seen a situation develop for thirty years, and God has helped me to rest - just as a I need to rest. Allowing goodness to happen and allowing me to see Father God is shaping the path. He has coaxed light to come from shadows and made a better and more clear path establishing facts. Honest conversation flows at home, with opportunities for forgiveness for decades of hurt. Conversations put off for nearly twenty years occur and are released to be spoken of.

What did God do with the times of unspokenness? Taking each day to make a path. Bloom where you are planted. My Great-aunt Eloise and Great-uncle Cary loved to make paths up the hills of their home. Making a path actually takes a lot of work. Hands and backs hurt. And eighty years later, the paths are still there. To be enjoyed today and spoken of.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Still the next paragraph in Matthew 12 has to do with an attitude of deliberate living and intentionality instead of carelessness.













Matthew 12

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”


My grandmother lived seeing her very small family grow up, in, around, and away. Sometimes she watched people make very unfortunate choices. I asked her what she thought about her son in his fifties. It was after a very vivid argument. He had moved home to be the one choosing to be taken care of. And impose an adult male way on the household. His belongings cluttered all rooms and hallways. My grandmother no longer had order in her own home. When confronted, the argument was loud, strident and made memories for a life time. He was not pulling his weight in painting, cleaning, laundry or attitude. I told her that perhaps she should give up praying for her son.

And she raised her eighty year old fist and held it high. She said, "I will never forget to Pray For My Son."

He had chosen the wrong works, attitude, conversations, and wanted to be an adult child without bothering to assist her. And my grandmother - decided to get assistance - and then when the areas were clean. After one amazing fight. She proceeded to do the best she could with what she had to work with. And Pray.

In her son's 70s, Joel Olsteen giving copies of "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren changed a soul to believe in Jesus Christ.

You can always pray. And choose to be like my grandmother - she would say her life was BLESSED. When she didn't mutter about being oppressed. However to be blessed, you have to be honest about your honest emotions. Or it's just old boot straps and not Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

who through faith
conquered kingdoms,
enforced justice,
obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword,
were made strong out of weakness,
became mighty in war,
put foreign armies to flight.
Women received back their dead by resurrection.


Praying for her son?
Got him to faith in Jesus Christ
conquered a kingdom sized severe dislike of Christians
Justice? He was adopted as a severely abused child and handicapped. I'm glad for his salvation - he was A LOT OF WORK.
Obtained promises? Oh yes, HE did.
Stopped the tremendous mountainous lion of a mouth? Yes, actually Salvation did that.
Escaped the edge of the sword - believe he did.
Strong out of weakness - My Dear Good God, my Grandmother Is Strong
Became a mighty prayer warrior
I've seen a fully grown man or two run from my eighty pound Grandmother.
Thank You, Jesus, Yes Grandmother did - receive her dead back by resurrection.


Father God, Give us the Day. We give You great thanks for Your Name and Glories. Help our words and life to have good fruit. Pleasing and acceptable in Your sight. Forgive us our sins and we ask assistance to forgive those who sin against us. Help us to have wisdom in our choices as well. We ask blessings for opportunities. Protect us and the ones we love when we allow what is unwise and unholy to dwell around us. We pray Jesus the Lord as a Protection, Joy, Love and Light. Surround us with those Doing Your Will and help us to bring the ones given to us back to You nourished and loved. In Jesus the Lord, we pray His Will and His blessings. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

<><

Psalm 1 ~ The Congregation of the Righteous

Psalm 140:13

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall dwell in your presence.

Psalm 126:6

He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.



Revelation 3
3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Imagine being the Disciple John in old, old age.

John arrived on Patmos after surviving an event recorded on papyrus fragments and also a complete history. This papyrus (interpreted by Victor of Capua) might very well have originally been written by Polycarp, the disciple to John.  According to Dr. Bob Thiel, of the Washington Post, these fragments are John's disciple Polycarp - recording the cruel boiling oil as an historical event from John to Polycarp as John's own account.

A Historian, lawyer and married to a Christian wife - Tertullian disliked mysticism and wrote this was fact that John was boiled in oil and unharmed by Emperor Domitian intended the death of a man worshiping Jesus as God. Tertullian's book is The Prescription of Heretics. The precise written event - John was banished to Patmos after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. Tertullian wrote the whole audience of the smaller games area than the Colosseum was converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. The smaller arena was used because, first, the dogs refused to attack John in the larger Colosseum.  Dogs were deemed less grand than lions. The smaller arena was packed for the second oil boiling event.  This event would have occurred in the late 1st century.

John's cave and the view were far from being an unpleasant place.

Polycarp and Tertullian wrote of John's grave as a fact containing John's body. They wrote of seeing a High Priest in the town near John's new grave. A High Priest was seen and both men did agree - John was indeed a High Priest. It would be more likely they had seen something of what Abraham encountered in Melchizedek. Or the people who awoke after the first Easter.

We recognize, without doubt, we are to follow Scripture. Yet we ignore our brains not to be stirred by what Tertullian wrote about in building the faith of the believers.

Faith stirs us to acts of Faith. We follow Jesus Christ the Lord and His Acts - not people. Scriptures give us examples of people, all show flaws and weaknesses. The majority of the Words are about God and His encouragement of His People.

Faith stirs us to acts of Faith. We follow Jesus Christ the Lord and His Acts - not people.

Communities of faith are called for. If we remain safely at home, not being buffed and rubbed, hassled and cajoled by the faithful, we surely are not growing. My dog was mistakenly injured by me as I trimmed his nails. I was advised by a physician to place his paw in Diatomaceous Earth. This product is put out to kill snails, it is made up of tiny flour like fossils. We are healed to be challenged, not condemned.


How does  Revelation 3 affect us today? For one, you'd think people would run from calling anything the name "Sardis." My grandmother lived near a Mississippi Lake Sardis and I had one near us in College Station, Texas.

Which is exactly why places are named Sardis, today. John wrote of the problems of the beginning the Church continuing to the end of the age. John wrote the Truth. Of course, of course and of course the Holy Spirit was teaching John from the lessons he would understand. Heaven is a glimpse we can comprehend - God is the Creator. So Revelation is True of God and taught to John by what God could teach John from  John understanding his soul to his brain. God does not change. We need God.

Genesis 15:6
And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Romans 4:3
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

This Salvation is only from God in Jesus Christ.

We must only depend on the Lord Jesus. No one escapes needing Jesus. Not one of us is righteous enough to raise our hands and say "I'm Good as the Gospel."

We want to be on God's upward path saying to God in prayer "I believe You Lord Father God and want the Promises given to me by Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me my sins. For the sake of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Help us, Father God, to live to stir others to understand how Loving You are. Please guide, lead and protect us to go further to please You in Love. Amen."


I am so blessed to be part of a community who believes Jesus is Lord. God's Word is written for us Today. God forgives sins and calls us to live in His Grace and offer back to Him belief, gratitude, prayer and our hearts. 

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

<><

Matthew 8:5-20 ~ He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.

Matthew 8:5-20

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 

10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.


14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 

17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”


Isaiah 4:2-6

2 In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.

3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.

6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

You have to love Matthew 8. Jesus realizes He has no adult home and chooses His dwelling. Jesus is saying He dwells where He has found faith. My heart finds such joy when we see Jesus making decisions we all make. When we see Jesus making choices we make today.

Maybe we see this as millenniums ago - The Word of God assures us millions of years is a day to God.

Bethlehem stables a hundred years ago.

God does amazing things. According to the Word of God - Genesis 7 destroyed the Garden of Eden - the Flood. So there is Exile.

And yet, several centuries later after the Flood, Abraham hears God and follows His Word. Jesus always sent out His disciples in pairs. And Sarah did laugh. So where was Abraham's ministry support? God sent Abraham support. And Abraham did recognize this support! We are told perhaps there was again a garden - a branch - beautiful and glorious. Abraham's pride and honor in surviving being a sojourner in life. In a mighty Holy Spirit event.

We find a restoration of man speaking with God.

Hebrews 7
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

The truth is people get very bothered by this High Priest Melchizedek. Yet the Scriptures repeat and repeat to comfort believers. David contemplated and wrote of this High Priest. Abraham found Melchizedek to be Comfort. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, the Teacher. God tells us about mystery beyond our knowledge:

1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.

What would Abraham have seen to have been so taken with this High Priest?

The disciple John saw this as well:

1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

Moses proclaimed with such a voice, we hear 3 Millenniums later:

Exodus 34:6
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness"

The brother of Jesus Christ gives great witness:

James 1:12
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Father God, so many things in life and in Scripture are beyond our comprehension. What gives comfort in the experience is knowing the ones You love are comforted. To be able to put our work of faith in the arms of Jesus who comforts. Lord Father God, when we are not comforted, come to us and uphold us again.

Mystery, Father God, would be why the Nativity Story is so complex. With the burden being put in Your great heart and will. Knowing the answer is Your willingness to experience our complexities. We see in simplicity, Jesus was put in the arms of Joseph, a man who knew in a dream to show comfort. God is Love.

Help us in our journey to do the Love and Work You give us to do. You give us the Words of Life Father God. We ask that Your Love surround us, heal and guide us in all goodness. Strengthen and encourage us in Your Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus the Lord. We will rest in You. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

<><

Romans 12 ~ Let Love be Genuine

Having a more genuine and fruitful Christmas

Father God, lead us to be the people with whom You dwell in Joy! Let our Light so shine for You that You indeed are Highly Pleased. Help us to be the people that You would shout for Joy over. We Love and adore You Lord Father God! Blessings of Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen!



Romans 12

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What kind of check list do we need for a meaningful Christmas? A Fruitful Christmas of Celebrating a Savior, Jesus the Lord, Who Chose to Come To Our Lives?

Let Love be Genuine.

Mercies of God. Putting God first. His framework is created to bless us.

Spiritual Worship. Plan on Church teaching you about overcoming the ruts we all fall into. Renewal in finding what is good, acceptable and perfect in God's eyes. We are so very blessed Jesus will fill our gaps. Jesus our Savior fulfills the Law for us. When we stick closely to law - we find ourselves squeezing and therefore finding the need to eliminate and rid ourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

Gifted Grace! When we are reminded God fulfills us we find we are humble. Not contrite, not subservient, now weirdly bent in false lack of appreciation, but blessed as forgiven and on an upward path of God. Rick Warren made an Awesome Point that we live in thanksgiving. Not for the horrid things life can present and traipse about as good - but we are in Gratitude that God is going to Help Us. In Gratitude - in Expectation -  there is a point to developing ourselves as a harbor for the Holy Spirit to want to dwell within us.

One Body in Christ, the "I Get Too" of going to Church to hear genuine Christianity of being individuals praising God with such genuineness to find what is dry and crumbling within us soar to rebirth and renewal. As the Advent Candle is lighted, we find our own Christ Light rejoicing.

Not the smile of a worldly Christmas - real cheerfulness. Holding fast to what is good - seeking the good. We are serving God when we seek His pleasure and seek to see the gifts He places exactly in our lives.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Rejoice in hope, be patient in troubles. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Pray constantly. Contribute. Seek to give hospitality. Bless people - all of them. Don't be haughty. Leave things you cannot accomplish to a very able God. Cast our cares upon Him - because - He Cares So Much For Us. Have Joy.

John 8:32
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

1 Peter 3:10-12
For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Which is interesting because the largest blessing in the Word of God asks God's face to shine upon us twice in the blessing!

Philippians 4:8-9
Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.


Isaiah 33
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
they will see a land that stretches afar.


Romans 4:1-25
3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

Father God, we desire to love life and see good days. Help our speech be good, seeking and pursuing peace. Please have Your eyes and Your face Shine upon us. Be with us as we practice these things. Guide us to be upright. Walk righteously with You. Speak uprightly. We want to dwell in Your heights and have You be our Fortress. Your goodness, mercy and Love are beauty. We look to You in Faith be counted as Righteous.

Father God, as we have faith and look to please You, please build our lives to have the reflection of Your pleasure. Let Your face shine upon our lives. In Jesus. God bless us we ask. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

<><

John 16:33 ~ Overcome

Love the dove in the photo. Sign of peace.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


Psalm 25      
Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
13 They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
18 Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
19 See how numerous are my enemies
and how fiercely they hate me!

20 Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, Lord, is in you.

22 Deliver Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!


John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world

What if we could build this board game for all decades of life?

There used to be a board game that was teaching the pitfalls of life. I promise you one of the photos was before John Belushi's fame, but the date at the door looked exactly like John Belushi at his rumpled tux worst. My cousin Anne Cable said they should have used young Jack Nicholson with a grin and the caption, "May I date your daughter(s)?" The game did have a door that you could shut!

Thank God He does over look our sins. Particularly the sins of youth.

Psalm 25:7
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

We should recapture the Board Game Biblically.
What will you pray for???

In our childhood, we need bullies. We get to bring home discussions to our dinner tables of kindness, humor and avoidance. Overcoming worries. Turning the other cheek sometimes means, move away from the bull.

We need princesses to learn about that. We need teachers who teach the need to PRAY the school year will end. We need our siblings to practice overcoming rudeness. We need the opportunity to learn fun in conversations and mercy.

We need homes calling us into parents' arms. We need Churches reinforcing the good values and stories of God that truly fill the Light of God within us. Wow! We had great Church at HopePointe reading a poem about filling what is dry and dust to become strong and filled with God. We had the best Christmas music. We had a message of being filled with God's Love to know His Hope.

We need married couples proclaiming durability in families.

We need time to see... stars and discuss aspirations. We need gratitude not to look down upon those not as fortunate. We need works of charity regardless our circumstances.

We need to Begin seeing through the negative to Claim the Positive. We get to. Each day try again. Building our lives to please Jesus. Help people to be their best to please God and please themselves. This is the best framework for the opportunity for happiness.

We truly need to understand the decade of life and know what happens during this time period.

Ahhh the golden teenage years. Mine were the best of times, the worst of times.

When our brains reach hormonal identity seeking.
Our abilities sometimes outstrip those of our parents.
When we, in our infinite wisdom, look to our piers to raise us. Buhwaaaa.
These years set a balance beam of us to carry us into adulthood. We are usually a little ungrateful to realize that we are comforted and cosseted by provision of goods and love by our parents.

Flesh has allure for the first time and we are so jaded not to realize, this is a time of great innocence still. Statistics say the majority of teens are abstinent. A statistic largely overlooked. Rejoice!

This is time of the Lie. Kids lie routinely about their experiences and are believed. We need an alert system to the kids listening to the other kids in middle school, junior high school and in the the beginning of high school.

Our kids have much greater freedoms, American parents are getting tired. Schools have a hard time finding volunteers.

We need to step to the plate and say - these are your most Fertile Years. For Pregnancy.
Wait - your Self-Esteem will rejoice to wait.
Don't even think sex - it's a skill. And bad sex is Very Memorable.
Don't put yourself in the position of guilt for life.


Twenties - have risks, rewards and opportunities
Outts school
Back of the line in employment, refrigerator art is not going to get you the praise. Where the heck is that window instead of the cube?
Not like Home
College Friends move all over the planet
Ambitions and abilities separate friends
Life realizes there is a pull to Patterns and Choices
Marriages cause separations of friends - who are you really seeing

The doors and the opportunities are open if we take them
Adventure to do what you have always wanted to do
This is your time now. Your house - your authority. Form who you are. What is righteous goodness feeding and encouraging a meaningful life to you?
Friends form in adult lives for life.
Families form to support each other - encouragement is required.
A great time to realize still sexual responsibility. Love making builds a family and creates boundaries of protection. Other - hurts.

Church is good in these generations.
A filled soul is - Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

A starved soul is - immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

We get to do the Work of Jesus. In all generations. We get to. Think about what decade you are in. Look at the opportunities and the opportunities for a solution. We are building a life to for our soul wrapped bodies to meet - the greatest Love of the universe - Father God who invites us through Jesus Christ - to tell Him what choices we have made to be the people we are.


When the song of the angels is stilled .
When the star in the sky is gone.
When the kinds and princes are home.
When the shepherds are back with their flock.
The work of Christ(mas) begins:

The find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

Alleluia! Unto us a child is born.
~Author Unknown


Pray together, God loves us to pray together. When two or more are gathered in prayer, God is in their midst! Matthew 18:20

Rick Warren said this praying together and being honest is the path to the genuine love God tells us of. God never said sit up straight. He said let Love be genuine.

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.


Oh Father God, help us to encourage others to know how much You love us.

Help our house - a word for family - and our soul - to be built up so well that this is a haven to see - like Christmas lights are. We give You our ideas, lives, each cell in our bodies to know and dwell there. Help our souls be a haven for You and Your delight.

Father God, I'm still so enamored with the true documentary of the wife and brother-in-law that changed hospitals and got lawyers to put Vitamin C in her husband to save him from dying of flu. We hope always to inspire love in each other and acts of love and mercy. Let us be this Light of Jesus.

Forgive us when we are wrong. Guide us Good Shepherd to be in Your plan and path. And let us always place our Love and Hope in You. Bless the prayer requests we have and have been asked to pray for.

Keep us as Your own forever. And not least, we pray for our nation and the people of our nation to let Your Light shine forth bravely. In Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves † 

<><