Wonder No More

John 6 

Do you ever wonder if JESUS would turn you away?
Do you ever wonder if He will forgive you?
Do you ever wonder if He will really, truly, save YOU?

Well, wonder no more!

37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will certainly not turn away. source 

Of course, there are a couple of conditions.

1. The Father must give you the invitation to come to Him. He does this by Holy Spirit convicting you of your sin and your need to repent to be forgiven and He confirms to you that JESUS is indeed the Messiah – Savior of the World, including YOU.
This chapter of John 6 makes it clear that it is the will of the Father for you, for all of us, to TRUST JESUS. I encourage you to read the chapter. A link is provided herein.

Condition 2 is that you accept His invitation and follow through by repenting of your sinful state and by trusting His Son, JESUS, forever and ever Amen. 

Are you convicted? Are you convinced? Then by all means say YES,  I Do before the invitation is withdrawn.

And then YOU will have to wonder — NO MORE.

There is much more in John 6 that I wondered about.  Like how did Andrew know a young lad had 5 loaves of barley bread and 2 fish?
Perhaps that’s silly or trivial but I did wonder — just being honest here.

59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. source

And I also wondered if people are still as put off today as they were when John 6 happened when JESUS told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life in them?
I wonder if this word picture He gave depicts how distasteful it is for people to confess they are hell-deserving sinners in need of The Only Savior?shutterstock_187826798
I wonder if He used these very words to bring reality to their very faces?
You see His very FLESH had to be torn to pieces and His very BLOOD spilled out for YOU and ME to be saved from the eternal death we were born into.
Do you remember some years ago songs from hymn books about the BLOOD of JESUS were removed?
Why? Because it was so distasteful. Some folks didn’t want to sing those words.

Do you ever wonder if there really is a Last Day?
Well, Yeshua spoke of the Last Day, three times in this one chapter.

There is a Last Day.

Should we not be asking people if they know if they will be raised up on that Last Day?
Do you know for sure YOU will be raised up at the Last Day?
I had to ask.
I can’t suggest you ask others and me not ask others, can I?

I am mindful that more than not my posts these days are somber; not easy reads, not funny, and not rose-colored, but neither are the days in which we live and neither is a future without JESUS.
Somebody has got to give the bad news AND the Greatest News EVER!  — it might as well be me!

Love, Kathie 

Super Bowl

At this typing the Super Bowl is nearly done. Perhaps the commercials have rivaled the game. I understand this year’s Half Time Show was considerably tamer than Janet Jackson of years passed and was it Beyoncé last year? I missed both of those. But I did see tonight’s. I’ll try to be wise and harmless here – made me sad and then I marveled at the Grace of GOD. His marvelous grace as He looks over planet earth and does not annihilate us. Oh what a gracious and slow to anger GOD He is!

The Budweiser commercials were indeed heart warming; just flat-out made you feel good. I suppose we should surmise from that if we drink their product it will make us feel good. And did you notice the caveat?   This was my Facebook response to their plea to us.

Cleaning the dishes, hearing Budweiser advise their consumers to drink responsibly and I thought has it ever occurred to them to produce, promote and distribute a product that alters the senses so much that they would release a warning to not imbibe too much all the while wanting to sell more and more so they make more money is the height of hypocrisy and irresponsibility.

So where am I going with all this? I’m not sure. Perhaps I’m just soap boxing this evening. And perhaps I am marveling at how corrupt we humans are and GOD keeps on loving us and keeps on giving us opportunities to change our minds and allow Him to change our lives for the better.

And behind the scenes of the Super Bowl was the Sex Trafficking. I do not have words that could even come close to delving low enough to depict the depravity, the perversion, the heinousness of the souls of those who operate and support this abominable business.  Here is an excerpt from an article; I hope you will use the link below and read the whole article:

Sex-trafficking has evolved into a lucrative business in the US and around the globe. The industry grosses $9.5 billion annually in the US, and an additional $32 billion worldwide. Trafficked women are constantly moved throughout the country so as to avoid drawing the attention of law enforcement officials.

Sadly, many of the women enslaved by the practice are children. Estimates project that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 underage sex workers currently active in the US. On the whole, these women do not enter into the profession willfully, but are lured and kidnapped by pimps and massive sex rings who enslave them in the practice.  via The Ugly Truth Behind The Super Bowl And Sex Trafficking | Elite Daily

The good news is there are organizations out there doing everything they can to rescue as many of these children/women as they can. One such organization is Shared Hope International. I hope you will check them out. Another organization is Pearl Alliance an arm of Messenger International (John and Lisa Bevere) . Let us all pray and seek ABBA for His direction as to what He wants us to do personally. Perhaps it is only to become informed and pray. Perhaps it is more. Let HIM tell us and let us be faithful.

Perhaps there are more Organizations out there working to rescue women and children from this damnable industry; if you know of others and would like for me to post them here, please let me know.

For now let me wrap this up. The Super Bowl has been over now for a while and it’s sleep time. I am grateful for a comfortable home, clean sheets, and a loving husband.  Others are not so fortunate. 

Thinking of them on this 34th day of 2014,

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

via Matthew 25 KJV;CJB – Then shall the kingdom of heaven be – Bible Gateway.

ABBA, I am listening for Your Voice and watching for Your Leading. I pray I will not fail to obey You and I pray You will encourage and provide every resource needed for those out there on the front lines working with You to rescue those enslaved. I pray for others to come alongside and help. I pray You will move me to help however You choose. And I pray for our Readers here, that they will receive Your encouragement, Your comfort, Your love and the many gifts and provisions You have for them and, ABBA, in YESHUA’s Mighty Name there are some close at heart that I am asking You to heal and there are others, again close to heart, that are suffering and I pray for Your Way of relief for them. Thank You for hearing and thank You for answering.

And we in agreement say Amen.

For me to personally pray with you, send me an email.

Kathie

Home-bound

It looks like snow but it’s not. It’s accumulated sleet. But we have enjoyed the results of it. Home-bound! It’s been fun.

front yard sleetHowever, in our fun we have remembered it has not been fun for those who could not get home. But as is often the case when trouble comes, people come to help. Like Chick-fil-a in Birmingham, Alabama. Click HERE and read.

But I began this post to talk about snow. And then I remembered snow – Scripture.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now,” says Adonai, “let’s talk this over together. Even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow; even if they are red as crimson, they will be like wool.

via Isaiah 1:17-19 KJV;CJB – Learn to do well; seek judgment, – Bible Gateway.

What an invitation! Come now, not tomorrow, but now, today, don’t wait, come says ABBA and let’s talk this over together. Whatever it is; however, it may look; however, ‘frozen’ it is, come and talk it over with Me, says ABBA.

The sleet that has covered our ground is deceptive to the eye – it looks like snow. It looks like something to scoop up, roll into a ball and have some fun. Things are not always as they seem to us; but ABBA knows and He is willing to listen, willing to make things right with us and for us. As I said, it is quite an invitation! So take Him up on it – whatever it is talk it over with Him on this 30th day of 2014.

Kathie

ABBA, thank You. Thank You that You have taken our sins away and made us white as snow. Thank You for calling to us and giving us such a grand and beyond description invitation to talk all things over with You. I pray that each of us will take You up on this glorious offer; let us not even think about turning You down – how foolish and hurtful to us that would be. Thank You for the good works that have been done during this ice storm; thank You for the safety even in hardship that You have given. Comfort and strengthen Your People and help us comfort and strengthen others with the comfort and strength You have given us in Your Son, our Savior Yeshua.

I’d be honored to pray personally with you; just sent me an email or leave a comment. Remember though, comments are public, don’t reveal private matters in the comment section.  Click HERE for email.

Armpits!

Armpits!

Ladies, thanks to today’s advertising media we can now have perfect armpits. I kid you not! Frankly, I do not remember the product that will deliver this beauty but I do recall the model. Her skin was flawless; even skin tone, smooth and velvety texture, and nary a hint of stubble! Her armpits!

Can you believe it?! Is it any wonder we are obsessed with how we look?

Perfect hair
Perfect face
Perfect body
Perfect armpits!

Yes! Ten years ago I could comfortably wear a size 2 jeans; today, some days, I can barely zip a size; well, you don’t need to know that!  🙂 What happened?

LIFE!

Something the advertising media misses conveying by a country mile! Real life. Real people with real lives – no airbrushing available!

It’s all about you don’t have enough. Not enough car. Not enough house. Not the right shampoo. Not the right clothes. Not the right mascara and your lips aren’t red enough or shiny enough either! Your cell phone cover is plain. Here, eat this hamburger and you’ll be sexy. Here, spend 15 minutes on our machine and you can work off that hamburger effortlessly. And it goes on and on endlessly – sitting on your comfortable, well-loved couch, you are told you need a new one; on your way to a party in your flattering best on a great hair day in your paid-for vehicle, you are told your clothes are inferior, your hair is flat and fly-away and your car is nothing less than an embarrassment!

And I am sick of feeding on their steady diet of dis-contentment!

Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

via Ps 139 KJV – O lord, thou hast searched me, and – Bible Gateway.

Isaiah 43:4 Because I regard you as valued and honored, and because I love you.  . . . 

via Isaiah 43:4 KJV;CJB – Since thou wast precious in my sight, – Bible Gateway.

Ladies, (Guys too) that is GOD talking! To you and me!!

Philippians 4:19 Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua.

via Philippians 4:19 KJV;CJB – But my God shall supply all your need – Bible Gateway.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

via Psalm 84:10-12 KJ21;CJB – For a day in Thy courts is better than – Bible Gateway.

Psalm 27:4 Just one thing have I asked of Adonai; only this will I seek: to live in the house of Adonai all the days of my life, to see the beauty of Adonai and visit in his temple.

via Psalm 27 KJV;CJB – The LORD is my light and my salvation; – Bible Gateway.

When this is true of me, the advertisers can digitally correct their models and paint their products any way they choose and I still won’t come up short! 🙂

I like this! on this 29th day of 2014,

Kathie

That’s Blunt!

The home of the righteous is a storehouse of treasure, but the earnings of the wicked bring trouble.

via Proverbs 15 KJV;CJB – A soft answer turneth away wrath: but – Bible Gateway.

The home of the righteous.

Is a home the same as a house?
I suppose for the context of the Text it is but the word is home and home does paint a different color on the walls of our mind, doesn’t it? The home is painted in shades of warmth, a glow that invites. And house could be shades of warmth but it might just as easily be cold and unfamiliar, but then the Text does say the home of the righteous. And that for sure would be colors of warmth, acceptance, love, comfort, peace, joy, and refuge, … . And such a home is what? A storehouse of treasure.

A storehouse.
1. a building in which things are stored; warehouse. 2. a repository or source of abundant supplies, as of facts or knowledge.  via storehouse – definition of storehouse by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

A source of abundant supplies.

The home of the righteous is a source of abundant supplies.

What is supplied abundantly in the home of the righteous?
Well, whatever it is it is a treasure; the LORD says so!

Treasure: 2. a thing or person that is highly prized or valued via treasure – definition of treasure by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

How much highly prizing and valuing is going on in our domiciles?
What are our treasures? Perhaps identifying our treasures will confirm to us whether our residences are homes or houses and whether they are righteous or wicked.

Righteous or wicked? That’s blunt!

This I know. Positionally, this home is righteous based solely on the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST imparted here by faith. In practice, this home needs some improvement and Proverbs 15:6 is helping!

Blessings my Friends on this 7th day of 2014.

Kathie