Merry Christmas🎄

Let's reminds ourselves. . . Who Jesus is. . .

and let us never. . .

Cease to be amazed. . .

As the cries of a newborn filled the air. . .

His heart beat next to Mary's - a human heart.

The LORD had come.

Every baby is a gift, but this One was the best gift of all.

Jesus Christ our Immanuel, God with us. . .

The Creator that possesses all glory and power. . .

Yet chose to enter our world. . .

As a little child. . .

To dwell with us and restore relationship with us.

Jesus, is the Word of God... available to all who seek Him. . .

Jesus the Holy One. . .

Brilliant in majesty and in authority. . .

Perfect without sin. . .

He gives us reason to hope. . .

Because He alone clothes us in divine righteousness.

 

I hope you enjoy watching the video. . . Blessing to you and yours this Holiday season.🎄🎁💗

 We lost an important member of our family...   

  

For sixteen years she has been a part of our life. 

            "Missy May 2007 - 2023" 

Her antics kept us amused and amazed. She was so full of life...everyday she enjoyed exploring with her nose to the ground smelling all she could take in. 

She loved everyone and wanted to be loved by everyone. The world truly was her oyster - because everyday she would find a pearl! 

 

Forever loved and forever missed - until we meet again. 

Romans 8:19-21 AMPC 

For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship]. For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty (to futility, condemned to frustration), not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it—[yet] with the hope That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

 

 

                                                          
   

Silly little ants...🐜

 I would like to share with you a comment that I read online from a person giving a response to an unbeliever on an open news blog:

 "Silly little ants, swarming around the foot of an ELEPHANT. You cannot demean OUR GOD. You’d better get to know Him. He owns it all, even the computer you are typing on…it’s all His. Silly little ants". 🐜🐜🐜

 So true, so many people are like silly little ants thinking they can defeat an elephant! 

I hope you enjoy reading this and pray that everyone has a very

 Blessed Resurrection Day!

CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

In desperation, the Philippian jailor cried, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul’s reply was simple: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts:16:31). The great apostle said nothing about baptism or sacraments, candles, incense, church attendance, reforming one’s life, or anything else being necessary or even helpful for salvation. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible makes it clear that there is nothing a sinner can do , much less must do , to pay the infinite penalty required by God’s justice. One can and need only believe in Christ, who paid the penalty in full: “It is finished” (John:19:30)!

Scripture could not be clearer: “To him that worketh not , but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly , his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans:4:5); “For by grace are ye saved, through faith... not of works , lest any man should boast” (Eph:2:8,9). To attempt to do anything for one’s salvation beyond believing “on the Lord Jesus Christ” is to deny that Christ paid the full penalty for sin on the cross and to reject God’s offer on that basis of forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift of His grace. Clearly, we can be saved only by faith in Christ

Suppose someone claims to be a “Christian,” believes in Christ as a historical person and the best of men, admires and seeks to follow Christ’s selfless example, is emotional about Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and regularly goes to church. Yet he thinks it doesn’t matter whether or not Christ was virgin-born, or whether He is God come as a man to die in full payment for our sins upon the cross, or whether He rose from the dead. Is such a person saved? Does he really “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”? Or does he admire and believe in “another Jesus...another spirit...another gospel” (2 Cor:11:3,4)? Does it really matter, or are we just “splitting hairs”?

Christ warned a group of Jews, “ye shall...die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come....if ye believe not that I am he ...[ he is in italics, added by the translators] (John:8:21,24). “I AM” is the name of God that He revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3:14) and that Christ clearly claims for Himself: “I and my Father are one” (John:10:30). Isaiah declared prophetically that the Messiah who would be born of a virgin (Isa:7:14) would be “The mighty God, The everlasting Father” (Is 9:6). Christ’s language is precise. He doesn’t tell the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I was.” He says, “Before Abraham was, I am ” (John:8:58). He is the self-existent One without beginning or end, “the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev:1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13).

So we have it from the lips of Christ himself that in order to be saved, one must believe that He is God come as a man through the promised virgin birth. Of course, that makes sense. No one but God could be our Savior. Repeatedly, Yahweh, the “God of Israel” (203 times from Ex 5:1 to Luke 1:68) declares that He is the only Savior (Isa:43:11; Hos:13:4, etc.). To be saved, one must believe that Christ is God. To deny this essential is to reject the gospel that saves. 

Consider your heart, the Bible tells us that it is deceitful and wicked. It is only by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith that one is given a new heart. A heart that the Holy Spirit can now teach and reveal His Truths! 

Obedience is not a “No;” it's His best “Yes!"

 John 13:17 “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

Obedience can be an intimidating word. Depending on our upbringing and other influences from our early life, it may invoke different emotions.

For some, it conjures up thoughts of harsh, and pointless rules that seemed overwhelming and unfair instead of life-giving and fulfilling.

For others, it may have been a lack of intimacy, a sense of feeling unloved, and never feeling good- enough or measuring up.

Yet for many of us, the word itself feels like a threat to our desire for independence and it goes against our need for self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

But the kind of obedience that our good, loving, God requires—

is neither legalistic nor lacking in affection.

Although it places needed boundaries and demands on us—as in, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (as we are instructed in Matt. 16:24)

You see, each bit of instruction He gives is born out of the tenderness of His heart toward us and His desire to steer us toward His best for our lives.

Obedience is not a “no;” it is actually His best “yes”.

His grace leads us to freedom, wholeness, and health. It opens us up to His blessings.

The irony of obedience is it may require real sacrifice from us, while somehow leading to blessings and incomparable provision.

You see -

   • It binds us while concurrently loosing us.

 

   • It holds us tightly while also letting us go.

 

   • It redirects us only to replenish and renew us.

 

   • It restrains us while simultaneously releasing us.

 

   • It limits us while also opening up possibility.

 

Without our intentional surrender to the Lord...we cannot experience the benefits that surrender brings.

We must intentionally pursue obedience.

If left to our flesh’s tendencies toward rebellion, we will live in a consistent state of resistance toward God and His ways.

But if we (literally) plan to obey, we put ourselves in position to purposefully hear what the Lord wants from us, it’s only then we will experience the supernatural joy of following Him.

To help you understand this concept...

If you ever experienced trying to get out the door in the morning for school or work while wrangling with toddlers or even teenagers, in order for this to happen... With everyone dressed and fed and in one piece, you know that this involves some planning, it takes a strategy. Otherwise its nothing but a recipe for chaos and frustration.

And as any mom knows – Nothing would get accomplished during your morning routine without a plan. Having a spur of the moment, flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants routine would invite nothing but mayhem.

Now let’s apply this same logic to something even more important than a mom’s sanity on a weekday morning.

So, remember that key I shared in my previous video. The key of surrendered obedience.

Because if you desire to use your key of surrender and obedience...what you need is a plan.

We aren’t haphazard with a lot of the things we think is important in life: our health, our retirement plan, our monthly calendar of appointments. 

We even enlist others to help us stay on track with some of those things—help we’re sometimes willing to pay for!

So, what about our commitment to being spiritually aligned with the God of the universe and with how He wants to direct our hearts?

If we don’t put an intentional resolve and strategic course of action for following Him in place, we’re basically leaving it up in the air, susceptible to the flighty whims of our circumstances and feelings. There’s simply too much eternal treasure at stake for that.

Psalm 105:4 “Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might]; Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.”