Tag Archives: Eternal Life

Assurance - Promise, Christian Living, Repentance, Salvation

Count On IT!

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These words are hanging with me this morning:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

This comes from I Peter chapter 1 and they were first written to Believers dispersed from their homeland to far away places and this Word of encouragement reached them:

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

What was life like for them far from home? Can you imagine?

What is your life like? Perhaps you are not far from home, but home is far from you? 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. Hold firmly today to the WORDs the LORD has already spoken to you.

What has He spoken to you? Has He said You are His and He is Yours? Has He said He will never leave You nor forsake You? Has He said He has plans for good for You?

Another verse came to mind so I looked for it. The one that says His Arm is not shortened that He cannot save.  It is found in Isaiah 59, verse 1. And verse 1 we so love!

Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

And it is true and we are grateful that it is true. But what about verse 2 and following? We don’t want to read those.

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

My point? I have good news and bad news!

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

What matters is which side of that WORD are we on?

Have our sins separated us or are we confident He will never leave us or forsake us?

His WORD is true and endures forever. His Word NEVER, NEVER, NEVER fails!

Count on it!

ABBA, I am grateful Your Word never fails, I am grateful Your Arm is not shortened and You are able to save; I am grateful that You saved the likes of me; I am grateful that You never leave me nor forsake me; I am grateful that my sins have been taken away by You LORD YESHUA and I am no longer separated from You; I am grateful that I have trusted You; thank You for giving me the gift of faith; I pray that anyone coming here who has not received Your gift of faith to them will receive that gift and use that gift to believe and receive Your gift of Salvation and Eternal Life found ONLY in Your One and Only Son JESUS the Christ, the Messiah and Savior of people. Thank You that Your Word endures forever; You are forever faithful to Your Word in grace and justice. Thank You. And, ABBA, I come this morning with others: Jamie, Pam, Carolyn, Terri, Kerri, and Others and I pray for strength for them; for healing and pain relief; for a blessed birthday celebration; for successful textbook, perfect surgery and recovery; for restoration and reconciliation; for repentance and forgiveness; for wisdom and direction; for open doors and closed doors; for safety and protection; for deliverance from bondage of many kinds; for profitable work; for grace and mercy; for the will to do right; for daily bread and household expenses; all of us fit in here somewhere, ABBA, and I trust You to help us all because You have given us Yourself, You will surely give us all things that pertain to living here and now. Thank You, ABBA. Thank You.

Kathie

Copy Paste Chew Again

Tools for Glory (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2010

Tools for Glory

Luke 18 New King James Version [source]

Luke 18:18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  What’s the first thing that catches your attention here?  For me it’s the ruler’s question.  What shall I DO to inherit eternal life?  That tells me right away that he was not looking for grace.  He was looking for a means to EARN his way into the Kingdom. Or maybe he thought he already had earned his way in and he was just planning on having a little fun with the itinerate preacher.  He began with a little flattery, referring to Jesus as Good Teacher.  And Jesus picked up on that right away and asked him a question.  19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.   So right there Jesus told the ruler, if you really believe I am good then you will believe I am God.  (Hmmm – what does this say about us when we doubt God’s goodness?)  And the ruler either missed what Jesus said or he ignored Him.  Knowing this, Jesus moved on.  20 You know the commandments:  ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’  ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” Can you believe it?  Do you think the poor boy really did not know?  Do you think he really thought he had kept the LAW of GOD perfectly?  Do you think he was smugly saying to Jesus, Hey man I got this covered?  And then Jesus applied the ‘rude awakening’.  22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And there it was – what the young man valued above all else – money.  If only he had valued Jesus above all else.  And so the question is did he have money or did his money have him? Was his money a tool in his hands or was he a slave in the clutches of his wealth?  We know the answer.  And why did he go away sorrowful?  In his heart of hearts did he know that his money had him?  Did he know that as long as his money had him, he would not have Eternal Life?  I wonder if he ever really enjoyed his money after this encounter with Jesus. And what does this say to you and me?  Is there anything I have; is there anything you have that instead of being a tool to use for His glory we are using it for our own glory?  Does this mean if I really want to enjoy my possessions, I have to ‘sell out’ to Jesus first?   Yeah, I think it does.

And I think there is a lot more to be said from this passage, but for this fine Monday morning, we shall close. 

Holy Spirit, it’s hard starting this morning; not that we have not already been speaking but private conversation is most often easier than public I think.  And I’m thinking I need some more private this morning but in this moment public is necessary, isn’t it?  ABBA, thank You for answered prayers.  And we pray for our IDOK Troops, You know their needs and You know we want them safe and whole and so we pray for their protection and safety in spirit, soul and body; and we pray at the appointed time they all come home safe and sound.  And with the entirety of those spoken here today and yet presenting each individually, for surely every name, and every member of every family and congregation are known to You and just what it is they need and it is for that we pray.  I ask You to tend to us today, ABBA; to each of our IDOKs and Readers, wherever they are and whatever crosses their lives today and this I ask in Jesus Name.  Amen and amen.

Kathie

Copy Paste Chew Again

The GREAT SHEPHERD (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010

The GREAT SHEPHERD

I am REALLY late sitting to write today; it’s scary how close it is to 4 o’clock and supper has not even been planned much less started.  How transparent shall I be??? I’m still in my PJs!  What have I been doing??? Reading – mostly. I am telling you if you think insecurity is not a problem for you, you would not be unlike me before Beth’s book.  But so far this I know, you are a rare, rare specimen of female flesh indeed if you have escaped the land of insecurity.  And I have learned for that matter, so are men – insecure, I mean. Really! So let me again encourage you to get it and read it. 

We have only one place in Scripture to go to see our Savior entitled the Great Shepherd. 

Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. [source]  Amen to that!  How is it that we do not have peace?  How could we miss it? How could we not walk in this peace that this so GREAT A SHEPHERD purchased for us with His very own Blood?  Lets zero in on some of these words in particular.

Everlasting covenant: That means He is not going to change His mind about it – about you, about me.  The GREAT SHEPHERD has the power to keep on loving you, keep on loving me when we mess up.  He even has the power to teach and train us to mess up less and less!

Make you complete: That means He is not going to leave us like He found us when He saved us.  He is going to keep working with us and in us until He COMPLETES us.  NOW that is GOOD NEWS!  

Well pleasing in His sight: Oh my goodness!  Do we get that? The GREAT SHEPHERD in us makes US well pleasing in ABBA’s sight! Well pleasing! Could there be anything, anywhere, any better than that? Heavenly Days! He is the GREAT SHEPHERD!  Not only does HE tend to us, delivers us from parasites, feeds us, waters us, died for us BUT HE AROSE FOR US. He defeated DEATH for us.  Though we may die, yet we will live!  News Flash! Our Eternal Life does not begin when we close our eyes here on this terrestrial ball and open them in Heaven!  Our Eternal Life began when we said, ‘Yes, Jesus, I will ‘marry’-covenant with You and let You be my Savior!’   So do we believe it?  Then let us get up from here and there and act like we do and it won’t be long till we will be FEELING it, not just knowing it!

Thank You, LORD, You are the GREAT SHEPHERD that lives forever and ever to make intercession for us and we are so grateful.  We are grateful that we can bring every thought, hope, dream, fear, need and want to You and You will tend to us.  You will feed, water and relieve of us guilt, shame, empower us to live victoriously and then when all that is done take us to live with You eternally. It’s more than we can take in but we accept and thank You.

And we come now praying for others; for each one listed here asking for Your best for them; asking for our IDOK Troops to be safe and sound in spirit, soul and body; asking that each IDOK and each Reader be able to hear You speak Your Word to them individually.  I ask for rest and restoration for them and for their greatest desire to be to love You and serve You and, ABBA, this I ask in the Name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Kathie