From Pity to Praise

All Things Will Fade Away

Life on earth is full of work; we need food, clothing, shelter, and education. Sometimes can’t distinguish between wants and needs.

God knows our needs, and He has promised to supply all of them. But the fact that is a lot of believers today have no time to worship and praise God. They are busy at work to meet their needs and material treasures. It’s very displeasing to God when our needs and wants in life become hinderance to our service to the Lord.

One day our worldly treasures, efforts, and sacrifices will end. Most people are too tired by the day of rest (Sabbath day) to spend time with God. They can’t make a small sacrifice to do what the God asks them to do.

1 John 2: 16-17 tells us, “For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but of this world. And the world is passing away, and the,use of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Many people sacrifice their lives fighting for a worldly cause, political, nationalist, or even personal. But, all these causes will not last forever.

“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” -1 Timothy 6:7.

Bible Verse List

Choose Life

Your Future, Your Choice

Do you really have a choice in what your future will be? Some people believe that fate or predestination, not personal choice, control their life. When they fail to reach certain goals, they simply shrug it off as inevitable. “It was never meant to be” they say.

Others become disillusioned when they see no way out of this oppressive and unjust world in which we live. They may have tried to make their lives better -on,y to see things like crime, natural disasters, and sickness wreck their plans time and time again. Why bother? They ask themselves.

It is true that circumstances in life can seriously affect our plans (Ecclesiastes 9:11). However, when it comes to your ultimate destiny, you have a very real choice. In fact, the Bible shows that your future depends on your choice. Consider this,

Moses, the leader of the ancient nation of Israel, told the people as they were about to enter the promised land, “I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the curse; and you must choose life so that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to His voice, and sticking by Him” -Deuteronomy 30: 15; 19, 20.

“I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the curse; and got must choose life“ -Deuteronomy 30:19.

God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and put before them the prospect of a free and happy life in the promised land. But all that would not come upon them automatically. To gain those blessings, the had to “choose life.” How? By loving God, by listening to His voice, by sticking to Him.

Today is no different, the choice is put before you, and how you choose will determine what your future will be. If you choose life, life everlasting on a paradise earth. If you choose death you will be cursed. It seems to be an easy choice.

But what is involved in choosing God?

Love is God’s primary attribute. “God is love.” For this reason, when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” -Matthew 22:37.

A real relationship with God must be based, not on fear or blind obedience, but on love. Why? Though, should we choose to love Him?

God’s love for mankind is like that of loving parents for their children. Though imperfect, loving parents instruct, encourage, support, and discipline their children they want them to be happy and to flourish. In turn they want their children to live them and take to heart what their parents have imparted to them for their good. Is it not reasonable that our perfect Heavenly Father expects us to show loving appreciation for all that He has done for us?

In the original language of the Bible, the word ‘listen’ often carries the sense of obedience. Is that not what we ran when we say to a child, Listen to your parents?” Then to listen to God’s voice implies learning and obeying what God says. Since we cannot hear God’s voice audibly, we listen to Him by reading and applying what is in His Word (1 John 5:3).

To show the importance of listening to God’s voice, on one occasion Jesus said, “Man must not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” -Matthew 4:4. As important as physical food is to us, taking in knowledge of God is, in fact, even more so. King Solomon explained that “Wisdom is protection just as money is protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner” – Ecclesiastes 7:12). Knowledge and wisdom from God can protect us today and help us to make the wise choice that leaf’s to everlasting life in the future.

When we recall Jesus’s illustration in which He said: “Narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it. Traveling on such a road, we would surely benefit from having and staying close to an expert guide if we wanted to reach our destination -everlasting life. There is good reason for you to stay close to God.

Every day, there are many things that we must do and many things that we would like to do. Such things can keep us so distracted that we have little or no time to consider what God wants us to do. That is why we need to be reminded to keep strict watch on how we walk not as unwise but as wise people, making the best use of our time, because the data are wicked ( Ephesians 5:15-16). We stay close to God by making our relationship with Him the most important thing in our life -Matthew 6:33.

There is nothing we can do to change our path, we can choose to secure a fine future for ourselves and our loved one’s. The Bible reveals that our Heavenly Father deep,y loves us and the He let us know what He would like to see us do.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” – Micah 6:8.

When you accept God’s invitation to walk with Him you will gain the eternal blessings He has in store for you. Do you choose life or death?

What Could I Use Less Of

What could you do less of?

I could use less overthinking. I know it’s ridiculous, but right around Christmas time. I overthink what I’m going to get as presents for loved ones. I tell myself this year I’m going to make it easy but, I get into the store walk down the gift set aisle, and think “They probably won’t like that.” Then I’m searching the store to find the perfect gift that I can’t find. Either because it’s too expensive or I second-guess myself.

While I love the lights and the concept of giving great gifts. I drive myself crazy overthinking every little thing, even down to the wrapping paper. Maybe it’s because I care too much or I just want everything perfect down to the last minute.

Worship God Even In The Storm

It’s easy to worship God when He’s blessing our lives, when things are going well, and when we’re all smiles. But when the bottom falls through and the storm hits, it can be a different story.

Whether your storm is a diagnosis that confirms your fears, or a physical or financial disaster that you can’t see a way out of, or something you never anticipated would happen, God is still in control. Scripture tells us He is good and cannot act apart from His nature. So, you can grow and flourish in a storm if you choose to worship God through it.

Here are a few ways to worship God -even in the storm:

1. Focus on Who God is, not on what He is or isn’t doing

When we focus on the facts of Who God is, worship flows. He is passionate, faithful, good, and upright (Psalm 25:6-8). There is no malice in Him” (Psalm 92:15). He is gentle toward those He loves (Psalm 18:35; Matthew 11:29). Those characteristics of God have nothing to do with our circumstances. That means regardless of what you think God is doing or not doing, He can be trusted. And He is worthy of worship.

All through the Psalms we see King David have a commitment to praise God through every one of His struggles.

Our feelings and fears can crowd out the facts of God’s Word, but focus on the facts of who God is, not our feelings. Focusing on the facts of God’s Word that tell you He will never leave or forsake you (Hebrew 13:5), and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). When we choose to keep our eyes on Who God is, we become less consumed with our plight and whether or not God’s meeting our expectations. When we know He is trustworthy we can say like Job: “Though He slays me, yet I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Even though I am in the storm, I will worship Him.

2 Praise Him for the opportunity to become more like His Son

Romans 8:28 tells us “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” People say that “everything will turn out alright in the end.” Yet the “good” that God causes to come about from “all things” (even our suffering ), is clarified so beautifully in Romans 8:29,

“For whom he foreknew, he also predestined, Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified those he also glorified.”

God allows us to endure suffering so that, through our surrender and worship, He can mold us and refine us into the perfect image of His Son.

God wants our eternal good, more than our earthly or temporal good. And our eternal good is whatever makes us more like Jesus. We don’t become more like Jesus through sunshine and happiness. We get to know Him as “We walk through the valley of the shadow of death” and “fear no evil” because “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). We become more like Jesus as we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily (the cross is a symbol of suffering.), and follow Him” (Luke 9:24). If you find yourself in a storm worship Him as the only Obe who can ultimately stop the storm, but also as the only One who can make you more like His Son through it.

3. Sing to Him daily

This one is a little more difficult when you’re in pain, emotionally or spiritually. Yet scripture exhorts: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18). In everything sing.

Anyone can praise God when life is going great, but it takes true surrender and pure worship to sing to Him in your pain and to lift up His name when you’re carrying heavy burdens. You can worship God even in the storm when you choose to sing.

4. Proclaim His goodness to others

There’s something about verbalizing the goodness of God that cements it in our heads and hearts. Even if you aren’t receiving it yet in your circumstances, tell others of the way He’s watching out for you, and calming your heart. As you speak of His love and faithfulness to others, that praise brings you into His presence, where there is “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

Testify to His goodness in hand-written letters, emails, or social media, but don’t write eternally long posts that elaborate on your trials and end the conversation with something like, “God is good, all the time.” proclaim God’s goodness more than your grievances. As you do that, you are showing others you worship God for Who He is, not because of what He had or had not done for you.

5. Look for new blessings each morning

Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 3 of his misery in the first 20 verses. Then he recalls what keeps him worshipping and waiting on God for his deliverance,

“It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not consumed because His compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I will hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him” -Lamentations 3:22-25

Scripture promises the mercies of God never come to an end; they are new every morning. Watch for them. Anticipate them. And praise God for them whether you actually see them or not. The sun rises, the birds sing, air continues to flow through your lungs, you heart continues to beat. There is always something to be grateful for and a myriad of reasons to worship Him. As you worship and anticipate His refreshment of your heart – you will find all you need. Jeremiah 29:13 promises: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me will all your heart.”

6. Praise Him for the ‘secret treasure’ of knowing Him better

Job, who endured the big storm of any of us will ever face (apart from what our Savior endured on the cross), came out of his intense suffering with a much deeper, more intimate knowledge of the sovereignty of God. His testimony before God restored his health and possessions was: “I know that You can do all things, and than no plan is impossible for You” (Job 42:2). Yet the true treasure of Job’s suffering was not the restoration and multiplication of all the possessions he had before , but the intimate knowledge he gained of his God, as he evidenced in his words in Job 42:5: “I have heard of You; by the hearing of the ear; but now my eyes see You.”

After Job’s suffering, he had experienced God intimately, and seen Him in a sense. That is something that rarely happens unless when we’ve walked with Him through the darkness of a storm. Perhaps that intimate knowledge of Him is the secret treasure God was referring to when He told Isaiah in 45:3, “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

Praise and worship Him, in the midst of your storms, for the treasured privilege to know Him in a way that few others do.

I Hate Bullies

There is nothing worse than a bully. I hate anyone who does harm emotionally, spiritually or physically to anyone.

Have anyone ever told you, you are unlovable, unworthy, stupid. It makes you feel exactly what the person is calling you. It’s harder when it’s child because they haven’t formed a foundation for who they are.

Satan is a bully. He’s good at telling us things to make us feel awful about ourselves. if you look for the word unloveable in Jesus language (Hebrew) you won’t find it because it doesn’t exist.

My entire childhood I was called some pretty negative things. And that made me call myself some pretty negative things. Maybe that’s why I hate bullies, maybe that’s why I try to lift people up instead of tear them down, because I know first hand how it feels.

Everyone is lovable, worthy, and everyone makes stupid mistakes, but that doesn’t make anyone stupid. Satan is pretty good at making anyone feel negative about themselves, either through our own thoughts, or through someone else he has his grips on.

One characteristic of all bullies male and female, is their love of oppression. They enjoy tormenting their target. Everyone faces bullies, whether it’s from pro-school to high school Or cyber bullying that’s going on today in manipulation.

The God of this world is Satan, and he loves to control our thought and actions. Psalm 22 tells both of king David’s struggle with his warring enemies and Jesus’s torment on the cross. It is an insightful look into the spiritual realm of darkness. The unseen forces that pressing and delight in our torment are well known in this world we live in.

If you’re living for Jesus, you know far too well how Satan can oppose you. He aims to stop anyone from obeying the Lord and fulfilling His desires on the earth.

Like any bully, Satan wants you to give in to him. You must stand your ground against him in the Lord’s strength or you will lose. When you call on the name of the Lord, you can receive the power to resist Satan, and he will flee.

Jesus is the finisher of our faith, if we submit to Him, His grace will not fail us.

The Positives

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

No matter where you look you can always find positive events going on in your life. It’s all about perspective.

I recently had total knee replacement surgery. Within a day I had a friend bring me a walker that had a seat on it. And a hot meal for my husband and I. Neighbors brought us home cooked meals for 3 weeks until I could get strong enough to cook.

About 6 months ago my vehicle took a dump on me, by the grace of God I was able to find a vehicle with low mileage and that was taken very good care of, within my price range with a week.

I have a wonderful husband, that is loving, and spoils me rotten. Who is also my very best friend.

Darkness Disappears In The Presence Of Light

That’s the way it is with darkness. It disappears in the presence of light. The only way to miss it is to close your eyes. Which is what most people do.

In John 1:5 it reads that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Those who walk with Jesus walk in the light of His presence. The light transforms their life because the blood of Jesus cleanse them from sin. Jesus life is the light of all.

The Apostle John physically walked, talked and touched Jesus in a way that we cannot. But those who walk in this light by obeying God leave the realm of darkness and begin to reflect God’s characteristics of goodness, righteousness, and truth. This fellowship with God produces a great inner joy despite the circumstances around them.

Sadly there are people who choose to close their eyes to God’s light. The darkness has blinded them to the truth. They love gloomy and obscurity because it allows them to them to stay hidden and not be exposed. Many people miss so much. They have no fellowship with God and refuse the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom. The result is them trying to make sense of a messed up world.

Light and darkness represent the difference between those who are God’s children and those who are not. The Christmas Season is a perfect time to reflect on these truths. Jesus, the Son of God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So, as you find yourself navigating through the short gloomy days of winter solstice keep your eyes open.

Jesus is really the Brightest Christmas Light Ever.

Wild Animals

Do you ever see wild animals?

I typically see Whitetail deer. I am next door to an orchard. Where the deer usually come to eat.

This picture was taken just the other day, in my driveway.

The Modern Day Remnant Church

What is a Remnant Church? According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary It’s s a portion of people left after a disaster, especially a disaster identified with divine judgment. Those who remain faithful to God despite suffering and who ultimately experience restoration.

As the persecution of the Bible believing church becomes more intense, there will be a greater manifestation of the “Remnant Church.“ By remnant. I am referring to the surviving vestige of the Body of Christ that remains true to biblical principles despite cultural opposition.

There is always a faithful remnant left during ties of apostasy and persecution. The prophet Elijah found that God, by His grace, always preserves a remnant that holds true to the faith. (See scriptures Kings 19; Romans 11:2-5).

The Remnant Church is not merely the so called “cultural warrior”churches that seem always to be battling for a cause. While this Canberra part of it, the gospel is much bigger than one social cause.

The remnant church will have faith and obedience to the Word of God that is practiced by humble, people-loving, community-serving members of churches who do not compromise the Word of God.

Here are a few characteristics of the modern day Remnant church.

It will become more entrenched in the Word the more the world oppresses it.

The more resistance it faces the Remnant Church becomes more resolute in its faith. This is similar to the way the muscles in our body get harder with resistance training. Instead of comprising the message, it may change its method of presenting the Gospel without watering down biblical ethics, values, and the message of the cross.

It will become vilified by society.

The Remnant Church used to be merely unpopular in the past, but now it has gotten to the point where it is hatred. Christian values are mocked continuously by shows like “The View,” “The late show with Steven Calvert, and more. It is now becoming popular to hate biblical truth seekers.

It will preach counter-cultural biblical messages

The pastors in the Remnant Church will continue to preach the Gospel of Christ. The preaching of the pure gospel always has vast implications related to human sexuality, the sanctity of human life, and the definition of marriage and family. The challenge would be for the church to continuously apply the Gospel to cultural issues in a wise, winsome way. The Remnant Church will remain faithful to preaching the gospel despite any possible backlash it may receive from attendees, as well as the public.

It will produce the most commuted Christians while making disciples.

It is a known fact that liberal, progressive, and comprising churches are shrinking while conservative evangelical churches grow in numbers. When a church is on the tip of the spear regarding biblical truth, it has more of a propensity of producing true disciples. This is because it takes great sacrifice to believe in Jesus amid hostile environments. Compromising churches produce wimpy believers, while the Remnant Church produces committed disciples. That’s all there is to it.

It will experience a greater presence and power of God than the non-remnant church.

The first century church was a hated minority but the Book of Acts illiterates God’s great power and presence that accompanied its ministry (Acts 3:5). The more difficult it is to confess the truth of the gospel, the more God shows off His stuff. Where sin abounds, grace does more abound (Romans 5:20).

It will become more visible and distinct as the culture becomes more decadent

I believe that in most organizations whether secular or religious there are about 25% of it’s members are the most committed to it’s vision and mission. They are the only ones willing to endure the most pain for God’s cause and the gospel. That also means that most of the people in an entity easily detach themselves when the going gets tough. The harder it becomes for the Church to practice biblical truth, the Remnant will become more evident.

It will be more excluded and separated from mainstream secular churches and denominations.

The more in-cool it becomes to be a biblical Remnant church, the more the so-called “cool” (compromising ) churches will distance themselves from the in-cool, remnant church.

Right now it is not easy for the average person to discern between remnant churches and the compromising church. Most people still lump them together. However as things begin to heat up in the world compromising pastors and churches will accommodate the culture and compromise biblical truths.

This will then cause a more apparent distinction between the remnant church and the mainstream church. The compromising pastors and churches will continue to do their best to distance themselves from the remnant pastors and churches publicly. This is what happened in Nazi Germany when the nationalistic churches separated from the confessing churches to avoid persecution and death.

The remnant church will change the world

Sometimes God allows difficult circumstances to weed out the uncommitted followers from commuted followers. We can see an example of this in Judges 7 with the account of Gideon’s army. When we look at the Old Testament during the days of Elijah and the early century church, and the confessing remnant church in Nazi Germany, we can conclude that the remnant church has what it takes to change the world. Only the remnant church has the conviction, the willingness to sacrifice, the devotion, the endurance, and message, and the power to change the world. The compromising church will enjoy it’s temporary popularity in the present time, but those who are wise and turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

The remnant church will endure while the compromising church will fade away.

God promises in Malachi 3:16-18 that He has written a book of remembrance for those who speak of Him and fear His name. The reward for them is that He will spare them as a man spares his son. The implications of this are vast. While spiritual children of the compromising church will probably become agnostic, the children of the remnant will carry the torch to Christ to the next generation. They will increase in strength and do more wondrous works (John 14:12). The remnant church goes from strength to strength with faith to faith, while the comprising church goes from strength to weakness, from faith to apostasy, and eventually into oblivion (Romans 1:17).

I believe this will become more evident through the year 2024. As the world grows darker, the light of God’s people will shine brighter.

May God help us all to remain faithful to the end.

What About Hell

The reality of hell and eternal punishment is not a popular topic, even among true believers. Part of the problem is that the nature of hell has been horribly distorted in our culture and portrayed as an experience that is far what we read in the New Testament.

I have unshakable and robust confidence in the inerrant truth of every word in the Bible that the matter of hell has already been settled. I believe as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16, that “all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

It is by God’s grace that I have come to understand, at least to some degree, the immeasurable magnitude and majesty of God’s holiness and beauty and authority and honor that is due to Him from all creatures, including you and me.

It is also by God’s grace that I have come to understand the immeasurable horror, ugliness, and self-centeredness of humanity’s sin and depravity and wickedness.

If hell strikes you are unreasonable or unfair or disproportionate, it can only be due to the fact that either you don’t believe the Bible is inspired or true, or you don’t believe that mankind is morally depraved and has committed treason in the cosmic and is deserving of eternal condemnation.

Contributing to the problem of hell there are numerous false beliefs that surround it.

Here are a few:

#1. Hell is a place to be united with unbelievers.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they will be united with their unbelieving friends and family for the biggest party of all time. When hell in fact is a place of utter isolation, loneliness, and deprivation,

#2. Hell is a place where Satan and his demons reign.

Hell is not a place where Satan and his demons exercise their authority to rule and reign. The fact is that hell is the place where Satan and his demons suffer eternal punishment. Satan and his demons are inmates in hell, not it’s warden or guards. In Matthew 25:41 is one clear statement to that effect:

“Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.“

#3. Satan and his demons will torment humans being in hell.

This is directly related to the previous false belief, there is a notion among many people that in hell Satan and his demons torment human beings who are also there. There is not one place in the Bible that suggests Satan and his demons afflict or torture human beings. They themselves are the object of God’s punishment,

There have been many books written by people who claim to have visited hell in which they describe a scene where demons are tormenting humans who have been consigned there. This should be the first indication to all careful, Bible-believing reader that such an experience is fabricated.

#4. There are people in hell who want to reconcile with God.

The misconception is that there are people in hell crying out for mercy who want to reconcile with God. There is nothing in scripture that indicates this is so. Instead, those in hell are eternally defiant of God and hate Him all the more with each passing moment.

#5. There are people in hell who don’t deserve to be there.

This is one of the more blasphemous notions about hell. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God’s justice is impeccable and He never consigns anyone to punishment in hell who does not fully deserve to suffer there.

#6. There are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven.

This notion that there are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven while they were still alive, but God wouldn’t let them. The fact is that God made it perfectly clear when He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…whoever comes to me I will never cast out… For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35, John 6:37, John 6:40).

#7. Hell holds people who will one day be released.

As much as we wish this false belief were true, it isn’t. The Bible does not teach universalism, the idea that everyone will eventually be saved and given eternal life in the new heaven and new earth is false.

As much as I wish my brother and a few other family members would end up in heaven. It cannot be so, the choices they made in their life will not lead them to heaven one day.

# 8. In hell, people will be rid of God.

The false belief that people in hell will be rid of God and will have no experience of him is not true. What is true is that they will have no experience of God’s loving and gracious presence, but they will most assuredly experience His justice and wrath. In fact in Revelation 14:10 we read that they will be tormented “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb,” John Piper said that this scripture is not saying that “those in hell have the priviof seeing what they enjoy, but that they have the remorse of seeing what they rejected.”

Hell should provoke anguish and urgency in all of us. I can not read the biblical portrayals of hell and eternal punishment or think about it without feeling a deep and unrelenting agony in my heart.

Hell should not be talked about without crying. It is a real place and real people are going there. This is not a subject for joking or being taken light-heartedly. It is an issue that should provoke anguish and an urgent commitment to share the gospel of Christ with those who remain in unbelief.

For true believers, God had shown us mercy and had poured out His wrath on Jesus in our place. The wrath and judgment that Jesus lovingly and willingly embraced and endured for us that deserve damnation. God owes us nothing but injustice. The fact that Hebhad given us mercy instead, and forgiveness instead of condemnation, ought to awaken in us the most heartfelt and passionate gratitude and praise.

Favorite Place Ever

Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?

The favorite place I’ve visited, has to be San Antonio Texas. I went there for a Veterans conference. I loved everything about it. The weather, the people, the river walk, the food, the history.

Even though I had meeting to go to. I sneaked away every chance I could to enjoy myself. Driving to Texas was no small task, but I was blessed with a chance to see some amazing places.