tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26710666649330615372024-02-18T23:23:33.685-08:00Pondering Knoll"I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways." Psalm 119:15Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-65243756865061107502019-06-09T21:03:00.000-07:002019-06-10T12:01:02.951-07:00Love Does No Harm<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #005300; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span>
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">"Love does no harm..." </span></i><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px;">-Romans 13:10a</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love should be expressed. Love, and the ability to express it with words, is
one of the greatest gifts God gave to humanity. All that is good, pure, and
wholesome in this world is born of love. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love should be shared. It may feel sacred and uncorrupted in the recesses of
your heart, but no one will ever see its beauty or share its value if you never
express it. Love was meant to be expressed.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love is kind. It will put the well-being of the one you love above your own.
Love does not seek its own.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love is patient. It will suffer long, even suffer alone, in order to see the
one you love come out on the other side as the victor. Love sees value where
others don't.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love forgives, even seventy times seven in one day. Love is merciful, full of
grace, so much so, it often times sees no fault. Love won't tear down and
destroy, but will build up and make whole.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love is unselfish. Love will not express itself to the harm of another, nor
will it withhold its expression to the harm of another. Love protects, it
strengthens, it cares, and it is without hypocrisy. Love produces light and
righteousness, not darkness and sin. Love truly does no harm to another.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love is varied--yes, there is an untouched love between a husband and wife, but
there is a different strength of love between a parent and child, an aunt or
uncle and nephew or niece, a grandparent and grandchild, between friends,
siblings, and even a friend who sticks closer than a brother, between a pastor
and his sheep, between brothers and sisters in Christ, or a teacher and
student.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Yet, there is a different depth of love between yourself and your Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. This love should be expressed to Him--weekly, daily, hourly.
He has expressed His love to you through His Word, the Bible, and will even
express His love to you, personally, through the Holy Spirit, in the quietness
of your heart. This love fulfills and satisfies, making the heart happy and
content. Love reverberated throughout the world when the Son of Man hung on
that dark cross for our sins. It was the purest expression of love this world
will ever see--Jesus was God's sole expression of love to humanity, and Jesus'
sacrifice of Himself was His sole expression of love to you. If He saved you,
and His love fills you, you have the responsibility, and joy, to share that
love with others. Love is courageous, never taking, but always giving, even
leading you to sacrifice your life for another.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love is beautiful, and is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a gift given to the
human heart--a touch of heaven graced in the shell of a human body. This light
of heaven should be expressed to warm the soul of another. In the midst of the
hate and chaos we find ourselves daily living in on earth, love is the only
thing that is truly pure--an expression of God Himself--that makes life worth
living for, makes all that is true, noble, and just worth fighting for, makes
joy and even despair worth feeling, makes pain worth enduring, and celebrations
worth sharing. All these things stem from the purity of love.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Whatever love is in your heart--express it--in your own way, with your own
words, no matter how short or how long, how eloquent or how simple, only, let
it come from your heart. Express what the Lord has written in your heart. Life
is fragile--so live it with no regrets, knowing that when you come to the end
of your life (whether it's today or a hundred years from now), you'll know
you've expressed all the love that was ever gifted to your heart to give to
others.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: left; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><br />
Love should always be expressed, time and time again, before this short life of
ours comes to an end and we no longer have the chance to express our love. Even
then, we who are safe in the saving arms of Jesus, live with the hope that one
day we will be with the ones we love, face to face with our Lord, the Creator
and Source of all our love </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Gothic"; margin: 0px;">❤</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-46633873723867158222017-06-14T19:24:00.002-07:002017-06-19T23:31:13.109-07:00The Beauty in Singleness<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Marriage is a good thing. I would never deny that. Singleness can also be a good thing. Many would deny that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I can testify that for a life lived in Christ, <i>there is an untouched beauty in singleness</i>. The core and embodiment of all your affection, your love, your emotions, your joy, your hopes, your future, your time, your mind, and your very heart, is the very person of the <i>living</i> Lord Jesus Christ. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">He is my everything, my absolute, my <i>all-in-all</i>. He is my friend, my companion, my comforter, my strong tower, my defender, my security, my go-to person, my listening ear, my One whom will never leave me nor forsake me. When I am weak, He is strong. When I fall, He picks me up. When I laugh, His joy flows around me. When I cry, His comfort surrounds and soothes me. When I am scared, He fills me with His peace that passes all human understanding. When I make a mistake, He doesn't look down on me and make me feel stupid, but He lovingly forgives me and raises me up our of a place of shame. When I do something that deserves punishment, He shows me mercy. He shows me grace over and over <i>and over </i>again. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When He chastises me, He does it so endearingly that I don't even recognize it as a chastisement until after the pain has passed and I am enveloped in His love.</span> He cares for me. He provides for me. He fulfills me. He makes me content. He exhorts, challenges, inspires, and encourages me constantly. What cuts my heart the most is that I know He loves me...unconditionally, even though I am the least deserving to receive such rich love as this. He holds an untouchable place in my heart of being my first love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666;"><i>"There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world--how she may please her husband." -1 Corinthians 7:34</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #e06666;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Oh, my dear sisters in Christ who long for marriage more than you do for Christ, there is so much love awaiting you, right at your fingertips, if you would just see and partake of the Lord's love for you, you would be full, even overflowing, with the purest and happiest love this world has to offer! Oh, how singleness is a beautiful season of life when your heart can be <i>undistractedly the Lord's.</i> The Lord said that there is a season for everything, a time for every purpose, and that "He has made everything beautiful in its time." Marriage will come, <i>and that will have an untouched beauty of its own</i>, but please don't miss out on the beauty of singleness while you wait for marriage. I believe that if, while you are unmarried, you care singularly about the things of the Lord, keeping both your body and spirit pure and holy for the Lord, it will be for your own joy, delight, peace, contentment, and quality of life. What a wonderful Father and protector He is to His daughters, and with what deep love does He care for us!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><i>“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...He has made everything beautiful in its time." </i></span></span><i style="color: #e06666; font-family: calibri;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11</span></i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is nothing shameful in being single. You belong to the Lord - He bought you at a high price, which means you are <i>very</i> precious to Him. He cares for you, He loves you, and He cherishes you more than you will ever comprehend, so if He is keeping you for Himself for now...trust Him...and enjoy this gift of being singularly His right now. Have you ever considered that He might desire to use your season of singleness for the furtherance of the Gospel, His glory, your happiness, and the building up of His beloved Church whom He laid down His life for? I don't know much about why the Lord does the things He does, but this I do know - He is more than trustworthy - and I utterly trust Him, and I know that you can trust Him, too, and be free to be happy in Him during this season of singleness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">"Many crowd the Savior's Kingdom,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few receive His Cross,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Many seek His consolation,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few will suffer loss</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For the dear sake of the Master,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Counting all but dross.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">"Many sit at Jesus' table,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few will fast with Him</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When the sorrow-cup of anguish</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Trembles to the brim,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few watch with Him in the garden</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Who have sung the hymn.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">"Many will confess His wisdom.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few embrace His shame,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Many, should He smile upon them,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Will His praise proclaim;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Then, if for a while He leave them,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">They desert His Name.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">"But the souls who love Him truly</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In woe or in sweet bliss,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">These will count their truest heart's blood</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Not their own, but His;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Savior, Thou Who thus hast loved me,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Give me love like this."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">-Amy Carmichael</span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-20858508794955721702015-04-13T23:53:00.000-07:002015-04-13T23:53:19.984-07:00Take Time To Be Holy<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Take time to be holy</b>, speak oft with thy Lord; Abide in Him always and feed on His Word. Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak; Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Take time to be holy</b>, the world rushed on; Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone, by looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Take time to be holy</b>, let Him be thy guide, and run not before Him, whatever be tide; In joy or in sorrow, still follow thy Lord, and looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Take time to be holy</b>, be calm in thy soul; Each thought and each motive beneath His control; Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love, thou soon shalt be lifted for service above.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">-William D. Longstaff</span></span></i></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-31974862294534401182014-12-22T03:04:00.001-08:002021-11-27T23:36:37.916-08:00In Loving Memory of Aubrey Andrews 1994-2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLVVtYLWQxs6qYKb2VjytamFoV5lXxEH5gouwoedTYn4AsMt9ryeKMWWy6I1mT_WAopcvi9tWZTd99YIUwwBO4xHcahKlGF1XfF7hyphenhyphenp6orYm8dfbphA3gELKDf3ojPU7PaIAtEGlB1qM/s1600/andrews+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLVVtYLWQxs6qYKb2VjytamFoV5lXxEH5gouwoedTYn4AsMt9ryeKMWWy6I1mT_WAopcvi9tWZTd99YIUwwBO4xHcahKlGF1XfF7hyphenhyphenp6orYm8dfbphA3gELKDf3ojPU7PaIAtEGlB1qM/s1600/andrews+-+Copy.jpg" height="299" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Aubrey
was a friend and sister in Christ to me. I first met Aubrey when she and Eddy started
coming to our church a few years ago. She was a fairly new Christian
and was eager to learn about the Bible and grow in her relationship with
the Lord. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She was a
beautiful young woman who was full of life.</span> She said the turning point in her life was when she believed
in and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. Even though she had a
difficult upbringing herself, she overcame it, and wanted nothing more
than to give her own son a better life. He was her absolute pride and
joy of life. She was a wonderful mother, and she loved children, loved to
learn, and was working towards the goal of being a Pediatrician. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction in her life and she was hopeful for
the future of herself and her little family she wanted to build with her
husband, Eddy. </span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like all of us, life
was not without it's trials for her. She had her difficulties
and faults, but from what I knew of her, she really did have the purest and most sincere desire to want
to try to become a better person and wife, and she strove to be that
person through her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. She prayed faithfully
for her husband and family. I remember once after a prayer meeting that
she started crying and was saying how incredibly happy she was to have
the Lord in her life and just how wonderful He was and how she couldn't
imagine how she ever lived her life before without Him. She said it
was when she drifted away from the Lord and stopped spending daily time
with Him in prayer and reading her Bible, that life really got difficult
and hard to bear. When she was close to the Lord, it was evident how
genuinely happy she was. She loved telling others about the Lord, and
when we did a Gospel outreach in Napa, she was the one who was the most
excited out of all of us to share the Gospel and her testimony with complete strangers,
and she was just beaming with joy afterwards because she got to share
her newfound faith with so many people that day. The Aubrey I knew was a
lovely young lady who was genuine, open, and honest.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Though
it has been a year since we have seen Aubrey, this was the Aubrey I was
honored to know while she was coming to our church. Though she has gone through some difficult trials this
past year, I know that now she and her baby are with the Lord,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">
where He will "wipe away every tear" (Rev 21:4). She is
at peace with the Lord now. She and her baby are by His side, and I'm
sure she must be full of inexpressible joy because she is finally face
to face with the One she put her faith in while here on earth. She is
home. Words cannot express the hurt and sorrow we feel at her passing,
but we take comfort in knowing that one day we will see her again. Thank
you for touching our lives with your sweet presence, Aubrey...I will
see you again.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><i>.</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">"Peace
I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." </span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">-Jesus <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(John 14:27)</span></span></i></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-42511288912083101542014-10-21T01:17:00.002-07:002017-06-19T18:21:49.679-07:00Lovely Day For A Hike<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: orange; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: orange; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-John Muir</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: orange; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: white;">. </span></span></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd6RBxjaFXuiSP0vFxxma4Ua3fNI2c3XFppOp-iQBF1sF9UR5fYovedL5dnibaaAcdBi-POspoZ1MxZeUIoOQpzerGg2BX2JtkukRZho5nOdYimXo6RAvgYAl0QPGM2wd04vooA29ocQ/s1600/IMG_7069+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd6RBxjaFXuiSP0vFxxma4Ua3fNI2c3XFppOp-iQBF1sF9UR5fYovedL5dnibaaAcdBi-POspoZ1MxZeUIoOQpzerGg2BX2JtkukRZho5nOdYimXo6RAvgYAl0QPGM2wd04vooA29ocQ/s1600/IMG_7069+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: white;">.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0twR1Q-4OHnwTiqLYnndmlyauh2v26YhnxWnaPiWFbsHO3ZgxP-HGAKPw7xoUMN6edMVbaSv4PLjQbtnsOgkDmhsQoBtPCdG-dsqqgGS4J4FdzUKHZJ_GMI10epFqs034YL5GZsDdyQ/s1600/IMG_7192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0twR1Q-4OHnwTiqLYnndmlyauh2v26YhnxWnaPiWFbsHO3ZgxP-HGAKPw7xoUMN6edMVbaSv4PLjQbtnsOgkDmhsQoBtPCdG-dsqqgGS4J4FdzUKHZJ_GMI10epFqs034YL5GZsDdyQ/s1600/IMG_7192.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;">.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaNPgKlQAUADa5tup_GNsbxJYPxLlC941Cvr3fcpxOWgitsotdLZmJqKdRBBcA5wGkw4pArw2sFTLFFOaNLLKUyYcpDKZiVe5PPxjr2I90it7Bmn8BcCWnFeR0YdtP8AbjbgmvVPXSuo/s1600/IMG_7104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaNPgKlQAUADa5tup_GNsbxJYPxLlC941Cvr3fcpxOWgitsotdLZmJqKdRBBcA5wGkw4pArw2sFTLFFOaNLLKUyYcpDKZiVe5PPxjr2I90it7Bmn8BcCWnFeR0YdtP8AbjbgmvVPXSuo/s1600/IMG_7104.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="color: white;">.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauvcE6V-BW79a6cNULtLloe_SKPzcgftKpe5kdvr-MkNCrUnP_EMVHe9oEilODTuPnfqVVugYbY-FDyhinnz55k1rZqjAq2sNx2BOTMjY5oYK3dXmmZ5qYiAyuLetRb2YZyfwWbPcw08/s1600/IMG_7116+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauvcE6V-BW79a6cNULtLloe_SKPzcgftKpe5kdvr-MkNCrUnP_EMVHe9oEilODTuPnfqVVugYbY-FDyhinnz55k1rZqjAq2sNx2BOTMjY5oYK3dXmmZ5qYiAyuLetRb2YZyfwWbPcw08/s1600/IMG_7116+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<i><span style="color: white;">.</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lv8YnRV2eK0MR5x5_45NUH3gX0FOhYOgJF2gv7ChFxljx_20UAd4ELFSg1h5GC0vp8qcjnCScBi1kznZpee9XNIf5T5E0rpnuEdjmP3waSBoITCWQ_jt9bX5YgR0LoUQ90qNfNxFwbE/s1600/IMG_7133+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lv8YnRV2eK0MR5x5_45NUH3gX0FOhYOgJF2gv7ChFxljx_20UAd4ELFSg1h5GC0vp8qcjnCScBi1kznZpee9XNIf5T5E0rpnuEdjmP3waSBoITCWQ_jt9bX5YgR0LoUQ90qNfNxFwbE/s1600/IMG_7133+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: white;">.</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_N5PRxYZzcKCJuBmkZVMjrWiNM_k9eG21tYDJ_QTQLERTm4i9bxwJpylKWFYXt3ECiDZqIrFI0y1-vHmDiMWtUJYgqmQseOcY2cekvwM4Ryflwow7HhP_htgjTgykxbAP1GcK3hv2J4/s1600/IMG_7224+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_N5PRxYZzcKCJuBmkZVMjrWiNM_k9eG21tYDJ_QTQLERTm4i9bxwJpylKWFYXt3ECiDZqIrFI0y1-vHmDiMWtUJYgqmQseOcY2cekvwM4Ryflwow7HhP_htgjTgykxbAP1GcK3hv2J4/s1600/IMG_7224+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;">.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZzrb-ZrVw84TkQ5TZANXPsE1MfrHXKYNuPTPQj831lEiWZkaHT-Nf5D-81NhDI2Mb2S5d2OAXQVAiiLlWpTYTzANmUvFy3UkRejufcdmYovl2MSS-sU87s-qqtMKvpQYbgT56c5syu4/s1600/IMG_7235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDZzrb-ZrVw84TkQ5TZANXPsE1MfrHXKYNuPTPQj831lEiWZkaHT-Nf5D-81NhDI2Mb2S5d2OAXQVAiiLlWpTYTzANmUvFy3UkRejufcdmYovl2MSS-sU87s-qqtMKvpQYbgT56c5syu4/s1600/IMG_7235.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">..</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">. .</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Shout joyfully to the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>, all the earth.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span class="text Ps-100-2" id="en-NASB-15511">Serve the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> with gladness;</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-2"><sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15511C" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15511C" title="See cross-reference C">C</a>)"></sup>Come before Him with joyful singing. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Know that <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15512D" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15512D" title="See cross-reference D">D</a>)"></sup>the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord </span>Himself is God;<br /><span class="text Ps-100-3">It is He who has <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15512E" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15512E" title="See cross-reference E">E</a>)"></sup>made us, and not we ourselves;</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-3">We are <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15512F" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15512F" title="See cross-reference F">F</a>)"></sup>His people and the sheep of His pasture.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="line" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span class="text Ps-100-4" id="en-NASB-15513">Enter His gates <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15513G" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15513G" title="See cross-reference G">G</a>)"></sup>with thanksgiving</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-4">And His courts with praise.</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-4">Give thanks to Him, <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15513H" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15513H" title="See cross-reference H">H</a>)"></sup>bless His name.</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-5" id="en-NASB-15514">For <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15514I" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15514I" title="See cross-reference I">I</a>)"></sup>the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> is good;</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-5"><sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15514J" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15514J" title="See cross-reference J">J</a>)"></sup>His lovingkindness is everlasting</span><br /><span class="text Ps-100-5">And His <sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NASB-15514K" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NASB-15514K" title="See cross-reference K">K</a>)"></sup>faithfulness to all generations."</span></span></span></div>
<div class="line" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><span class="text Ps-100-5"><i>-Psalm 100</i></span></span></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-28804585214331505132014-07-28T23:53:00.001-07:002017-06-19T18:22:13.296-07:00Be still and know that He is God<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We may never know why the Lord does the things He does, or why He allows certain things to happen, but one thing we can always be sure of: He is God. He will never change. He is in control. He is love. He is compassionate. He is faithful. He is kind. He is longsuffering. He is sympathetic. He is strong. He will uphold us. He will protect us. He will defend us. He is caring. He is peace. He is safe. He is the epitome and <i>very source</i> of love and sometimes we are the most keenly aware of it in the midst of a tragedy. There are moments in life when storms of darkness come in and enclose around us, and as scary as it may be, sometimes we just need to be still and know that He is God and rest in the knowledge and comfort of His embrace, knowing that somehow, in all the chaos, He is lovingly in control and has a distinct purpose and plan <i>for good</i> to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Today I got heartbreaking news that a dear sister in Christ has untreatable liver cancer. It is in times like these that I don't know what to say, except, please pray for her, and please pray for her family. This I do know: <i>She loves Jesus more than life itself and lovingly and cheerfully lives according to all His beautiful purposes.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #c27ba0;"><span style="color: white;">.</span> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Be still, and know that I am God"</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Psalm 46:10</span></span></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-20345047415642049142014-07-01T13:34:00.001-07:002014-07-01T13:38:53.966-07:00The Discipline of Heeding<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Matthew 10:27</span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white;">"At times God puts</span><span style="background-color: white;"> us thro</span><span style="background-color: white;">ugh the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him. "What I tell you in darkness" - watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason of the darkness, but listen and heed. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.</span><br /><span style="color: white;">.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">"After every time of darkness there comes a mixture of delight and humiliation (if there is delight only, I question whether we have heard God at all), delight in hearing God speak, but chiefly humiliation - What a long time I was in hearing that! How slow I have been in understanding that! And yet God has been saying it all these days and weeks. Now He gives you the gift of humiliation which brings the softness of heart that will always listen to God now.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white;">"We do not consciously disobey God, we simply do not heed Him. God has given us His commands; there they are, but we do not pay any attention to them, not because of willful disobedience but because we do not love and respect Him. "If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments." When once we realize that we have been "disrespecting" God all the time, we are covered with shame and humiliation because we have not heeded Him.</span><br /><span style="color: white;">.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">"Speak thou with us . . . but let not God speak with us." We show how little we love God by preferring to listen to His servants only. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we do not desire that God Himself should speak to us. Why are we so terrified lest God should speak to us? Because we know that if God does speak, either the thing must be done or we must tell God we will not obey Him. If it is only the servant's voice we hear, we feel it is not imperative, we can say, "Well, that is simply your own idea, though I don't deny it is probably God's truth."</span><br /><span style="color: white;">.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">"Am I putting God in the humiliating position of having treated me as a child of His whilst all the time I have been ignoring Him? When I do hear Him, the humiliation I have put on Him comes back on me - "Lord, why was I so dull and so obstinate?" This is always the result when once we do hear God. The real delight of hearing Him is tempered with shame in having been so long in hearing Him." </span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><em>-Oswald Chambers</em></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span> </div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-53874445216664741522014-06-21T21:44:00.002-07:002014-06-21T21:46:20.188-07:00How Do You Read Your Bible?<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The Book of God is a
store of manna for God's pilgrim children; and we ought to see to it
that the soul get not sick and loathe the manna. The great cause of
neglecting the Scriptures is not want of time, but want of heart, some
idol taking the place of Christ. Satan has been marvellously wise to
entice away God's people from the Scriptures. A child of God who
neglects the Scriptures cannot make it his business to please the Lord
of Glory; cannot make Him Lord of the conscience; ruler of the heart;
the joy, portion, and treasure of the soul.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: white;">. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"If the Word of Christ dwell in me richly, it will teach me to do everything and to look at everything <i>in relation to God</i>.
And remember this, if the Bible be used aright by anyone, it will be to
him the most pleasant book in the world. If I serve it well it will
serve me well. The children will say: 'What a lovely book the Bible is!'
And they will not want anything to please and interest them in
comparison with the Scriptures, when handled by one whose heart is full
of the love of God. Beloved, remember it is one thing to read the Bible,
choosing something that suits me (as is shamefully said), and another
thing to search it that I may become acquainted with God in Christ; that
I may be fashioned like unto Christ; that I may first of all please God
by my affections to Him; that I may find in Him my deepest joy; and
that He may find His banqueting-room in my heart. If I read the Bible
with this end in view, the Spirit of God will always make it to me
better than thousands of gold and silver, and sweeter than honey and the
honey-comb (Psa. xix. 10). But supposing I do not, then I turn the
Gospel of Christ into the law of Moses without knowing it, and, instead
of paths of pleasantness and peace, the Gospel of Christ becomes bands
of iron."</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #5133ab; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">-Robert C. Chapman, </span></span></span><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"Robert Cleaver Chapman of Barnstaple"</i></span></span></span> </i></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-49006973198647366702014-03-02T22:01:00.001-08:002014-09-30T15:24:10.918-07:00Rescue Shop Within a Yard of Hell<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><i>A plea written by missionary to China, India, and Africa, Mr. C.T. Studd, at the age of 55 before leaving for his last missionary journey to Africa, where he would eventually die in 1931 at the age of 70...</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0c343d;"> Christ's call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil's clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an almighty Army of God. <i>But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion</i>, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshiped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, clothes, silver croziers or gold watch-chain crosses, church steeples or richly embroidered altar clothes, but by <i>reckless sacrifice and heroism</i> in the foremost trenches.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> When in hand-to-hand conflict with the world and the devil, neat little biblical confectionery is like shooting lions with a pea-shooter; one needs a man who will let himself go and deliver blows right and left as hard as he can hit, trusting in the Holy Spirit. It's experience, not preaching, that hurts the devil and confounds the world, because unanswerable; the training is not that of the schools, but of the market; it's the hot, free heart and not the balanced head that knocks the devil out. Nothing but forked-lightning Christians will count. A lost reputation is the best degree for Christ's service.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I am more than ever determined that no ring nor limit shall be placed around us, other than that of our Lord Himself: "To the uttermost parts," "To every creature." I belong and will ever belong to "The Great God" party. I will have nought to do with "The Little God" party.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> The difficulty is to believe that He can deign to use such scallywags as us, but of course He wants <i>faith</i> and <i>fools</i> rather than talents and culture. All God wants is a heart; any old turnip will do for a head. So long as we are empty, all is well, for then He fills with the Holy Spirit.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> The fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost will change soft, sleek Christians into hot, lively heroes for Christ, who will advance and fight and die, but not mark time. Let us race to heaven; an accident means dashing into the arms of Jesus - such accidents are God's choicest blessings. Don't be a luggage train.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Fools would "cut" the devil, pretending they do not see him; others erect a tablet over his supposed grave. Be wise; don't cut nor bury him; kill him with the bayonet of evangelism.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Hugh Latimer was an inextinguishable candle; the devil lit him, and ever since has been kicking himself for his folly. Won't someone else tempt the devil to make a fool of himself again?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Nail the colors to the mast! This is the right thing to do, and, therefore, that is what we must do, and do it now. What colors? The colors of Christ, the work He has given us to do - the evangelization of all the unevangelized.<i> Christ wants not nibblers of the possible but grabbers of the impossible</i>, by faith in the omnipotence, fidelity and wisdom of the Almighty Savior who gave the command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are there lions and scorpions in our way? We will trample them under our feet! Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, "Be thou removed and cast into the sea," we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus, never surrender! Nail the colors to the mast!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Such as look to Jesus become grasshoppers in their own sight, but giants in the estimation of the devil.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> "Follow Me," says Jesus. "I will," we reply, yet somehow forget that Christ pleased not Himself, deliberately made Himself poor to save others and became the first foreign missionary. We all pray to be like Jesus, yet refuse to pay the price. How can Dives be like Jesus?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> The crumbs of Dives are not a dainty dish to set before King Jesus. Try "cake" for a change, and don't forget to put all you've got into it.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> "But what if C.T. dies?" This frequent and foolish question must have its answer. Here it is from C.T. himself: "We will all shout 'Hallelujah.' The world will have lost its biggest fool, and with one fool less to handicap Him, God will do greater wonders still. There shall be no funeral, no wreaths, crape, nor tears, not even the Dead March. Congratulations all around will take place. 'And I, if I be offered up, rejoice and congratulate you; do ye also rejoice and congratulate me.' - Phil. 2:17 and 18. The Wedding March, by special request. Our God will still be alive and nothing else matters. The first Heart of Africa Mission funeral will take place when God dies, but as that will not be until after eternity, cheer up all. Forward! Every man straight before him. Hallelujah! 'To die is gain.'"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Some wish to live within the sound</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Of Church or Chapel bell,</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> I want to run a Rescue Shop</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Within a yard of hell. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">-C.T. Studd</span></span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"C.T. Studd, Cricketer & Pioneer" by Norman Grubb</span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-47243984171870825252013-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:002013-12-17T11:57:28.370-08:00Makes You Feel Warm Inside :)<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OXjdBs70syY" width="480"></iframe></center>
<center>
</center>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ0Zo7crj9dqxxsWm8jLiBXospcXX_EjfVW4XGAlRq6Ht7Yhd3cpqcM5Eycs-DkVKd2p-zLgBCOoAgZ5uIBkIwu4h96YlvrziL0pu5pSJ-RGr_myoQ6if5NLn8Nu1EyUyWMD5qpg6huo0/s1600/Merry+Christmas+everyone.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ0Zo7crj9dqxxsWm8jLiBXospcXX_EjfVW4XGAlRq6Ht7Yhd3cpqcM5Eycs-DkVKd2p-zLgBCOoAgZ5uIBkIwu4h96YlvrziL0pu5pSJ-RGr_myoQ6if5NLn8Nu1EyUyWMD5qpg6huo0/s1600/Merry+Christmas+everyone.png" /></a></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-84271222494400844022013-11-13T23:09:00.000-08:002013-11-14T20:57:18.015-08:00Faith or Experience?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Galatians 2:20</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">"We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption...” (</span>1 Corinthians 1:30<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never </span><em style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">experience</em><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"> Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><i>-Oswald Chambers</i></span></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-54049278514426550942013-10-21T22:11:00.001-07:002013-10-21T22:15:54.245-07:00Primary Business<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZptXn9D8HCvFWddqhY1DHLhyIhLpNLXSzUxyIYJLeaT03wItLu8b0Vn3AmrDM8gVd0N-ycWnKBggNWidxxHiv1JrudaPouJ0Z6WGke-b0Lt0vbRMy3m7riod5OuEHAavVVlh_o3j-rQ/s1600/Sunrise-On-Flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZptXn9D8HCvFWddqhY1DHLhyIhLpNLXSzUxyIYJLeaT03wItLu8b0Vn3AmrDM8gVd0N-ycWnKBggNWidxxHiv1JrudaPouJ0Z6WGke-b0Lt0vbRMy3m7riod5OuEHAavVVlh_o3j-rQ/s400/Sunrise-On-Flowers.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #444444;">May 7, 1841. </span></b><span style="color: #666666;">"The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways, seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in a wrong spirit.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible. But I often spent a quarter of an hour to an hour on my knees struggling to pray while my mind wandered. Now I rarely have this problem. As my heart is nourished by the truth of the Word, I am brought into true fellowship with God. I speak to my Father and to my Friend (although I am unworthy) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It often astonishes me that I did not see the importance of meditation upon Scripture earlier in my Christian life. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time unless he eats, so it is with the inner man. What is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but <i>the Word of God</i> -- not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe. No, we must consider what we read, ponder over it, and apply it to our hearts.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we pray, we speak to God. This exercise of the soul can be best performed after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God. Through His Word, our Father speaks to us, encourages us, comforts us, instructs us, humbles us, and reproves us. We may profitably meditate, with God's blessing, although we are spiritually weak. The weaker we are, the more meditation we need to strengthen our inner man. Meditation on God's Word has given me the help and strength to pass peacefully through deep trials. What a difference there is when the soul is refreshed in fellowship with God early in the morning! Without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day can be overwhelming."</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i><b>-George Muller</b></i> </span><i><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">(The Autobiography of George Muller, pg. 138-140)</span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>"Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalm 143:8</i></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-14836436105278265402013-09-27T12:58:00.001-07:002014-04-22T19:19:02.870-07:00Gospel-Centered Thinking<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"I can see in the near future hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of people in my city of Sacramento, CA longing for God, his truth, his love, his gospel, and his mission.</b></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;"><b>I can see it.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's beautiful ... it's authentic ... it's bold ... it's real ... it's raw ... it's risky ... it's costly ... it's breathtaking. It's big ... it's humble ... it's ingloriously glorious ... it's more grand than the grand canyon.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I can see people voraciously content to live on a different course of life, and entirely unashamed of the gospel of Jesus.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b>Could you imagine a group of people standing together in clear, anthemic, powerful, truthful, and truth-filled praise to God just like warriors on a battlefield bursting forth in excitement because of victory over the enemy?</b> <br /><br /> They are not fools. They are not brainwashed. They are not mystics. They are not emotionalized energizer bunnies, mindlessly bouncing around others. They are not arrogant vikings. They are not disillusioned into loving princess bunnies on stages. They are not a clique of cool, hip, wealthy, poor, or anything else that is niche-centric. They are focused, clear, and confident in who they are, who God is, what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do. They are unswayed by tradition, culture, chaos, or comforts. They long to be made alive in Jesus instead of being made alive by music, concert, cool band, or motivational speech.<br /><br /><b>Could you also imagine that same group of people well beyond a Sunday gathering, on their knees, in quiet, and in their own homes praying fervently for</b> their neighbors, relatives, co-workers, their city, and the nations to know, believe, and follow the Christ of Christianity?<br /><br /><b>Could you also imagine that same group of people honestly, boldly, and courageously loving each other?</b> Could you also imagine them living not hypocritically but humbly? Could you imagine them covenanting with their spouses in word and deed, committed for the long haul of life, parenting, finances, and conviction of the gospel?<br /><br /><b>Could you imagine the young growing up in those households and maturing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus?</b> Could you imagine the steadfastness, clarity, and drive of the young trained by gospel-centered parents? Could you imagine the young men raised by the older, gospel-centered, wise men who are willing to give up their life for Jesus?<br /><br /><b>Could you also image that same group of people standing around a funeral of one of our own who was unashamed of the gospel</b>, and confidently grieve the loss but have deep seeded joy in knowing they are with God the Son Jesus as well as God the Father and God the Spirit?<br /><br /><b>Could you imagine that same group of people fervently studying scripture individually and corporately in order to</b> love the author of the book and love those who have yet to know about the book of the Bible?<br /><br /><b>Could you imagine that same group of people unconcerned and unashamed to speak of the gospel?</b> Speaking not in a weird, forced, or contrived way, but speaking sincerely out of love and rhythm of life. Speaking as if something is cooking in the heart ready to be served by the tongue to another.<br /><br /><b>Could you imagine that group of people unconcerned for the decor of a</b> building, society, or people and able to worship the Lord with their life and not just with their mouth?<br /><br /><b>Could you also imagine that same group of people unconcerned for publicity or glory?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b></b><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b>Could you imagine that same group of people becoming larger and larger because of one primary thing - the gospel?<br /><br /> We want to keep the primary thing the primary thing..."</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><b>-Pastor Nathan Gunter</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://teloschurch.com/" target="_blank">TelosChurch.com</a></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>How I long to see us all keep the primary thing - the Gospel - the primary focus of our lives.</i> My prayers, my hope, my heart, is to see the Church, once again, fall in love with the Gospel. How I long to see us love to hear it, love to read it, love to speak it, and love to live it. I long to see us never tire of hearing it, but always hungering to hear it just one more time. I long to see us not being able to contain it within ourselves, but being painfully compelled to <i>plead</i> with the lost to repent and believe in Christ. I long to see it radically transform lives, maintain lives, and drastically turn the lives of Christians upside down. I long to see it drive our prayers and even make us mourners, because our suffering will be the haunting thoughts of the millions of souls who will eternally suffer. Still yet, I long to see it drastically increase our happiness because it will ever draw us into a closer, life-reviving, eternal relationship with Christ. I just long to see souls saved. I long to see the very way we <i>think</i> be entirely Gospel-centered. How I long, how I yearn in my prayers, alongside my friends Nate & Abby, to see this in Sacramento.<i> Oh, to <b>Him</b> be all the glory in the Church forevermore.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Romans 1:16</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-47465597535188213762013-09-16T23:54:00.001-07:002013-10-07T13:02:25.962-07:00I have nothing to offer but Christ<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have nothing, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no love, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no joy, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no peace, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no patience, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no kindness, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no goodness, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no faithfulness, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no gentleness, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have no self-control, apart from Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have nothing to offer you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no love of my own to give you, for my love will grow cold.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no joy to brighten you with, for my own joy will fade into darkness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no peace to bring you, for my own peace will turn into war.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no patience to bear you with, for my own patience will collapse in its short-temper.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no kindness to bless you with, for my own kindness will become selfish.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no goodness to display for you, for my own goodness is self-righteousness and pride.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no faithfulness to promise you, for my own faithfulness, in time, will betray you.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no gentleness to comfort you with, for my own gentleness will eventually harden and fail you.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apart from Christ, I have no self-control, for my own self-control will be overtaken by lust.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My hands are empty. I am a sinner. Yes, I have been saved by God's grace through faith, but I am still a sinner <i>yet saved by His grace</i>. I have absolutely nothing to offer you except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you everything. <i>Take His everything.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you love. <i>Take His love.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you joy. <i>Take His joy.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you peace.<i> Take His peace.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you patience. <i>Take His patience.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you kindness. <i>Take His kindness.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you goodness. <i>Take His goodness.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you faithfulness. <i>Take His faithfulness.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you gentleness. <i>Take His gentleness.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christ is offering you self-control. <i>Take His self-control.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do not need me, need Christ. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do not follow me, follow Christ.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Do not lift me up, lift up Christ. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do not look at me, look at Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Together, let us need Him and Him alone! Together, let us follow Him and Him alone! Together, let us lift Him up and Him alone! Together, let us see Him and Him alone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Oh, to be found in Him.</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">that no flesh should glory in His presence. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.'"</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">1 Corinthians 1:27-31</span></i></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-30437795427434049302013-09-15T20:31:00.001-07:002013-09-16T23:56:06.178-07:00East to West<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in Your sea of forgetfulness</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The chains of yesterday surround me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I yearn for peace and rest</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I don't want to end up where You found me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know You've cast my sin as far as the east if from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been, come rising up in me again</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the arms of Your mercy I find rest</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From one scarred hand to the other</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been, come rising up in me again</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the arms of Your mercy I find rest</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From one scarred hand to the other</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your Word reveals</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You're holding on to me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't have to see the man I've been, come rising up in me again</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the arms of Your mercy I find rest</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From one scarred hand to the other</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From one scarred hand to the other</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>-Bernie Herms & John Mark Hall</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, SO FAR HAS HE REMOVED OUR TRANSGRESSIONS FROM US." </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Psalm 103:12</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-77074652579214701722013-09-03T18:37:00.000-07:002017-06-19T18:28:19.682-07:00Victory<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"It is much more difficult to live Christ than it is to learn Christ. It is much more difficult to hear Christ than it is to speak Christ. It is much more difficult to remember Christ than it is to forget Him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To live Christ is beyond any human being…it is impossible to encapsulate the vast goodness of His character in our weak, earthly bodies. We utterly fail, time and time again. We are literally brought to our knees by the sheer weight of the task at hand, if we are in any way attempting to be like Him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And although we may sustain our noble efforts at first, ultimately the house that is not built upon Christ will fall. The house that doesn't allow Christ to dwell deep within will collapse; the innermost room of that house, if not locked with the word of God, if not adorned with the beautiful characteristics of Christ, if not supported by the endurance of His strength, will fall. And if that house is to be tested, it must be tested beyond its limits, or else it is no test at all. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That being said, the strength of our “house” is determined by the strength of the storm to which it is being subjected. You may build yourself a castle, ironclad with the word of God, strengthened with His fortitude, and seemingly impervious to the naked eye, but if the storm to which it is being subjected knows how to rust iron, knows how to weaken the strongest of people, and knows how to penetrate to the deepest part of a person’s soul – this house too will fall. Our enemy is not a mindless, lifeless storm, and our test is not delivered from a foolish creature; Satan is capable of finding the cracks which will bring our house to ruin. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what is left for the hopeless, for the weak, for the strong, for the clever, for the wise? Our times are not in our hands. Our limits are set by God; by His word, by His grace, and by His command, are we saved. He provides escape when the test is too great to bear and prevents the ruin that so tauntingly hangs above our heads. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">All admiration goes to God. All glory goes to the One who is capable of fighting the battle, to the One who knows the tactics of the enemy and counters them, and to the One who owns the armor that protects the weakness of those who follow after Him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Humility brings us to our knees, and wisdom keeps us kneeling; there is no other stature that is more acquainted with victory."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-R. E. Harris, "The Nature of Victory"<i></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>In the midst of this spiritual warfare we are all fighting, I say a sorrowful yet hopeful AMEN. My hope, our hope, is <b>in Christ alone</b>. I am looking to Christ in each of my brothers and sisters, as that is where my hope and prayers lie: that HE will overcome in each of us and take the victory every day and in every battle.</i></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world...For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1 John 4:4; 5:4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-39599049292829766142013-06-10T21:05:00.000-07:002014-10-30T23:14:51.419-07:00I Stood a Mendicant of God<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>For those who know Steve Saint, (the son of Nate Saint, the missionary in Ecuador who, along with 4 other men - Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, & Roger Youderian, died for the sake of bringing the Gospel to lost souls in the farthest reaches of Ecuador), know that he recently had an accident that left him partially paralyzed from the neck down. In the wisdom of God's purpose for Steve Saint, He has been healing him and has miraculously given him the ability to walk again. To Him be all the glory. This story has touched the deepest part of my heart...</i></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FfPZ_bIRfmM?list=SP25AFFB5EA9F9B052" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"I stood, a mendicant of God, before His royal throne and begged Him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own. I took the gift from out His hand, but as I would depart I cried, 'But Lord, this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart. This is a strange and hurtful gift which Thou hast given me.' He said, 'My child, I give good gifts. I gave My best to thee.' I took it home. And though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore, as long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more. I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace: He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Thorn</i> <span style="font-size: x-small;">by Martha Snell Nicholson</span></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't pretend to think I understand suffering, because I know I've never truly suffered before. Why this is so, I'm not sure. More often than not, I have looked at my life and wondered why the Lord has been so good <i>to me</i>, of all people. Often times I've felt that, as with Job, the Lord has placed a hedge around me. This doesn't mean life hasn't been without trials and tribulations, because it has, but those are the very things that have drawn me in closer to the Lord, so I don't regret them at all. In terms of earthly possessions, my riches are not great at all, but in terms of heavenly possessions, my riches are overflowing in Christ! In terms of my earthly career being a success, I have nothing to speak of, but in terms of living this life for the Lord, it has been a long struggle to learn how to quietly deny my will and, instead, submit to<i> </i>the will of my gentle Master and loving Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, and willingly follow His lead wherever He takes me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Suffering, however, has never been a part of that. I have not known suffering. Suffering is one of those mysteries to me. People speak of the Trinity, or the Church, or eternity as a mystery, and although there may be an element of the unknown with those things, I can fully embrace them in faith because of the One I KNOW, the Lord Jesus Christ, but why is it that most people, even some Christians, consider suffering that has fallen upon a person to be equal to a curse? Would the Lord really give a curse to one of His children? To me, the mystery in suffering is when a follower of Christ considers the awful pain that has fallen upon them as ultimately being a <i>good </i>thing. It is a mystery to me when they have lost so much, and yet claim to have gained infinitely more. All of this goes against <i>everything</i> that comes naturally to a human. The mystery lies in the fact that the very things we deem as bad, God deems as good and necessary, because He USES those very things to not only bring His servants intimately closer to Himself, but to also accomplish His beautiful work through us. That is a place I long to be in, no matter what the cost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6580BXLUbgIBZQJMyAlGgpf14r8DpPNlFKflOuvFdhcUFIzkGQGN2ygRNLkboQRwXsS5fswMfoXhvnvkOAEmhRKwbV4PMbgF18OwShdgVZYtH4Hvai9BAImTgc3hs5zfzPr3hDmph86c/s1600/David+Rachel+and+Baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6580BXLUbgIBZQJMyAlGgpf14r8DpPNlFKflOuvFdhcUFIzkGQGN2ygRNLkboQRwXsS5fswMfoXhvnvkOAEmhRKwbV4PMbgF18OwShdgVZYtH4Hvai9BAImTgc3hs5zfzPr3hDmph86c/s400/David+Rachel+and+Baby.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've only begun to truly grasp this by seeing a living example of it through a friend and brother in Christ, David Hanson, (read his story <a href="http://rivervalleyfellowship.org/updatesondavid.php" target="_blank">here</a>), and his lovely wife, Rachel. David survived a 50+ ft fall accident, and against all odds, he has been progressing since. Shortly after his fall, Rachel found out that they would be having their first child, and now they have a beautiful little baby girl! I've never seen a person go through so much suffering as David has. You might think it would make him an angry and bitter person towards God, but he has been the most extreme opposite of that. One day Rachel noted about David, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"He's seemed real happy the last few days, smiling a lot," and she </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">asked him, "Would you be content if you were in this condition the rest of your life and God chose not to give you any more healing?" and he answered "Yes" without hesitation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiExvszM-0NACjSOnOUsfZ-aPD_sfAv24iBftUk73cgHPUGcbbqo0IAEzD2D8eT-TT9c-H5SIjLlaXO9csfMIrj7I7ZBFlOw_c2AdXAddy3UEyHnRYBQMrHbS9j0mNAjSFa6gPPk3AlE/s1600/cuddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiExvszM-0NACjSOnOUsfZ-aPD_sfAv24iBftUk73cgHPUGcbbqo0IAEzD2D8eT-TT9c-H5SIjLlaXO9csfMIrj7I7ZBFlOw_c2AdXAddy3UEyHnRYBQMrHbS9j0mNAjSFa6gPPk3AlE/s320/cuddle.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've often wondered how that is possible for a person who has gone through what he has gone through to say that? It is so out of this world, there is no other explanation than that God Himself is dwelling in David's heart, which I already know is true, but have been freshly <i>in awe of</i> lately. I have no doubt that David is knowing God right now in a beautiful, wonderful, intimate way that he has never known God before, and in a way that most of us have never known God. Something that was so horrible, God has used for so much good, that David is even willing to live like this for the rest of his life. Not only that, Rachel is not a person who is defined by sorrow for her injured husband, but joy is what defines her! Joy for the deep and <i>ever-growing</i> love she has for her husband, joy for the overwhelming love she has for her little baby girl, and joy for the love of Christ she is sweetly abiding in. In the midst of this tragic accident, both David and Rachel's joy is<i> full</i>, which has challenged and humbled me more than I know how to say. It is LOVE that they dwell on, because it is Christ's LOVE that they abide in; not doubt, not anger, not bitterness, not resentment, not questioning, but the very love of God. It is the "joy of the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess 1:6) that fills them.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love...These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John 15:9, 11</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This made me realize that the degree of my happiness shouldn't rest on whether or not things go my way or if I get to live out the "ideal life" or not, but whether or not Christ is my absolute center where all my affections, all my love, and all my sight is set on His lovely face. David has taught us that we should not live in fear of what suffering may come upon us, but instead, live life fearlessly for Christ, holding back nothing, and giving our absolute all to Him who first gave us life!!! The more I thought about it, the more I realized it really doesn't matter if the unknown of suffering is a mystery to me or not, because my faith is not in the unknown, but in the One whom I KNOW...and I trust Him. Should suffering come upon me, and I expect it will, I'm not sure how I'll deal with it, but I know this: I serve a <i>loving</i> Father who has showed nothing but kindness, goodness, and faithfulness to me for as long as I have lived, and if He should allow suffering to come upon me, I'm not afraid of it, but I'm open to it, because I know His loving character and I peacefully rest in His promise, <span style="color: #073763;">"all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Ro 8:28)</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I guess, in the end, we're all beggars of God, aren't we? For those who don't know Christ, they beg for mercy and forgiveness, and for those who do know Christ, we beg for daily spiritual bread and fountains of living water. The ironic thing, though, is that I think many followers of Christ have forgotten who we really are in Christ and how much access to God has already been given to us through Christ - we don't need to beg, we've only to ask in the name of Christ, and, according to His Word, God has said He will give to us<span style="color: #073763;">!</span> Though we live in a sinful, dark, and evil world, I know that God will work all things together for good <i>for His beloved children</i>, because He loves us with a love that is so far beyond what even our furthest dreams could imagine is possible. Of all Christians who has suffered, no one stands out in my mind more than the Apostle Paul, and yet, he is the one who proclaimed: "To live is Christ, and to die is gain!" I think Paul told us to imitate him because he merely imitated Christ, and he wants us to experience <i>even a little</i> of what Christ experienced, lest we forget that Christ suffered more than the whole of us, just for the sake of all of us.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Romans 8:16-18</i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-6316195587812211782013-05-09T01:02:00.000-07:002013-05-25T10:46:33.971-07:00Did You Think to Pray?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the name of Christ our Savior, d</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">id you sue for loving favor, a</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">s a shield today?</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="chorus" style="background-color: white;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>O how praying rests the weary!</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Prayer will change the night to day;</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>So when life seems dark and dreary,</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><u>Don’t forget to pray</u></i></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you met with great temptation, d</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">id you think to pray?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By His dying love and merit, d</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">id you claim the Holy Spirit, a</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">s your guide and stay?</span></div>
<div class="chorus" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When your heart was filled with anger, d</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">id you think to pray?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Did you plead for grace, my brother, t</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">hat you might forgive another, w</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ho had crossed your way?</span></div>
<div class="chorus" style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When sore trials came upon you, d</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">id you think to pray?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When your soul was bowed in sorrow, B</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">alm of Gilead did you borrow, a</span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">t the gates of day?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>O how praying rests the weary! </i></span><i style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Prayer will change the night to day; </i></div>
<div>
<i style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So when life seems dark and dreary, <b>d</b></i><i style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>on’t forget to pray!</b></i><br />
<i style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></i>
<i style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">by Mary Kidder</i><br />
<i style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithXuvvySLf0PAAHw4qasOJPdY_dxO5fW-n2hk9uSuu5aq51W0-P7IXtOyvLeoj60KPe8i9WkGTtuDIvphD8BTPh0AwH-yB1J3oLpVd-Sdhx6nwgei6lnM4ecH8mIw_KLZDQm0ZIHFszc/s1600/Stumpy+Meadows+Lake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithXuvvySLf0PAAHw4qasOJPdY_dxO5fW-n2hk9uSuu5aq51W0-P7IXtOyvLeoj60KPe8i9WkGTtuDIvphD8BTPh0AwH-yB1J3oLpVd-Sdhx6nwgei6lnM4ecH8mIw_KLZDQm0ZIHFszc/s400/Stumpy+Meadows+Lake.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-52280345246634789722013-02-25T22:43:00.001-08:002013-02-25T22:46:30.504-08:00A song in my heart!<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="color: #ea9999;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>One Day</u></span></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #ea9999;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Wilbur Chapman, 1908</i></span></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #ea9999;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One day when heaven was filled with His praises,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day when sin was as black as could be,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin--</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dwelt among men, my example is He!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away;</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He's coming--<b><u>O glorious day!</u></b></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Suffering anguish, despised and rejected;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away;</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He's coming--<b><u>O glorious day!</u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day they left Him alone in the garden,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day He rested, from suffering free;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Angels came down over His tomb to keep vigil;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away;</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He's coming--<b><u>O glorious day!</u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day the stone rolled away from the door;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then He arose, over death He had conquered;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now is ascended, my Lord evermore.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away;</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He's coming--<b><u>O glorious day!</u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One day the skies with His glory will shine;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b><u>Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away;</u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b><u>Rising, He justified freely forever: One day He's coming--O glorious day!</u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b><u><br /></u></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Arial, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh, rest your hope <b>fully</b> upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ!!! Such a g</span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">lorious day that I sing and yearn for!!! :)</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-87600922347890175142013-02-21T23:44:00.002-08:002017-06-19T22:32:07.464-07:00Real Faith<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of the most influential people the Lord has used in my life is </i><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">George <span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Müller</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. I don't think I've ever read a more condensed, clear, wise, and encouraging summarization of this man's life of faith than in this article, "Real Faith," written in 1872. He wrote it later in life, after all his years of experience of living by faith and walking with the Lord, which makes it that much more precious to me. As George </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Müller</span></span></i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">'s wish would be - to God, </span><b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">and God alone</b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, be all the glory!</span></i></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Hebrews 11:1,3</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><i style="font-style: italic;">First: What is faith?</i> In the simplest manner in which I am able to express it, I answer: Faith is the assurance that the thing which God has said in His Word is true, and that God will act according to what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's Word, this confidence, is faith.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No impressions are to be taken in connection with faith. Impressions have neither one thing nor the other to do with faith. Faith has to do with the Word of God. It is not impressions, strong or weak, which will make any difference. We have to do with the written Word and not ourselves or our impressions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Probabilities are not to be taken into account.</i> Many people are willing to believe regarding those things that seem probable to them. Faith has nothing to do with probabilities. The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail. A great many of God's children are cast down and lament their want of faith. They write to me and say that they have no impressions, no feeling, they see no probability that the things they wish will come to pass. Appearances are not to be taken into account. The question is--whether God has spoken it in His Word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And now, my beloved friends, you are in great need to ask yourselves whether you are in the habit of thus confiding, in your inmost soul, in what God has said, and whether you are in earnest in seeking to find whether the thing you want is in accordance with what He has said in His Word.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Secondly: How faith may be increased.</i> God delights to increase the faith of His children. Our faith, which is feeble at first, is developed and strengthened more and more by use. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand as a means. I say--and say it deliberately--trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith. I get letters from so many of God's dear children who say: "Dear Brother Muller: I'm writing this because I am so weak and feeble in faith." Just so surely as we ask to have our faith strengthened, we must feel a willingness to take from God's hand the means for strengthening it. We must allow Him to educate us through trials and bereavements and troubles. It is through trials that faith is exercised and developed more and more. God affectionately permits difficulties, that He may develop unceasingly that which He is willing to do for us, and to this end we should not shrink, but if He gives us sorrow and hindrances and losses and afflictions, we should take them out of His hands as evidences of His love and care for us in developing more and more that faith which He is seeking to strengthen in us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Church of God is not aroused to see God as the beautiful and lovable One He is, and hence the littleness of blessedness. Oh, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, seek to learn for yourselves, for I cannot tell you the blessedness! In the darkest moments I am able to confide in Him, for I know what a beautiful and kind and lovable Being He is, and, if it be the will of God to put us in the furnace, let Him do it, that so we may acquaint ourselves with Him as He will reveal Himself, and that we may know Him better. We come then to the conclusion that God is a lovable Being, and we are satisfied with Him, and say: "It is my Father, let Him do as He pleases."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When I first began to allow God to deal with me, relying on Him, taking Him at His word, and set out fifty years ago simply relying on Him for myself, family, taxes, travelling expenses and every other need, I rested on the simple promises I found in the sixth chapter of Matthew. I believed the Word, I rested on it and practiced it. I took God at His Word. A stranger, a foreigner in England, I knew seven languages and might have used them perhaps as a means of remunerative employment, but I had consecrated myself to labor for the Lord, I put my reliance in the God who has promised, and He has acted according to His Word. I've lacked nothing--<i>nothing</i>. I have had my trials and difficulties, and my purse empty, but my receipts have aggregated. I have received thousands and thousands of dollars, while the work has gone on these fifty-one years. Then, with regard to my pastoral work; for the past fifty-one years I have had great difficulties, great trials and perplexities. There will always be difficulties, always trials. But God has sustained me out of them, and the work has gone on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, this is not, as some have said, because I am a man of great mental power, or endowed with energy and perseverance--these are not the reasons. <i>It is because I have confided in God</i>; because I have sought God, and He has cared for the Institution, which, under His direction, has one hundred schools, with masters and mistresses, and other departments of which I have told you before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I do not carry the burden. And now in my sixty-seventh year, I have physical strength and mental vigor for as much work as when I was a young man in the university, studying and preparing Latin orations. I am just as vigorous as at that time. How comes this? Because in the last half-century of labor I've been able with the simplicity of a child, to rely upon God. I have had my trials, but I have laid hold upon God, and so it has come to pass that I have been sustained. It is not only permission, but positive command that He gives, to cast the burdens upon Him. Oh, let us do it! My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, <i>Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee</i>. Day by day I do it. This morning sixty matters in connection with the church of which I am pastor, I brought before the Lord, and thus it is, day by day I do it, and year by year; ten years, thirty years, forty years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Do not, however, expect to obtain full faith at once. All such things as jumping into full exercise of faith in such things I discountenance. I do not believe in it. <i>I do not believe in it, I do not believe in it, I do not believe in it, and I wish you plainly to understand I do not believe in it</i>. All such things go on in a natural way. The little I did obtain I did not obtain all at once. All this I say particularly, because letters come to me full of questions from those who seek to have their faith strengthened. Begin over again, staying your soul in the Word of God, and you will have an increase of your faith as you exercise it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One thing more. Some say, "Oh, I shall never have the gift of faith Mr. Muller has got." This is a mistake--it is the greatest error--there is not a particle of truth in it. My faith is the same kind of faith that all God's children have had. It is the same kind that Simon Peter has, and all Christians may obtain the like faith. My faith is their faith, though there may be more of it because my faith has been a little more developed by exercise than theirs; but their faith is precisely the faith I exercise, only, with regard to degree, mine may be more strongly exercised.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, my beloved brothers and sisters, begin in a little way. At first, I was able to trust the Lord for ten dollars, then for a hundred dollars, then for a thousand dollars, and now, with the greatest ease, I could trust Him for a million dollars, if there was occasion. But first, I should quietly, carefully, deliberately examine and see whether what I was trusting for, was something in accordance with His promises in His written Word."</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">-George </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Müller</span></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Taken from the booklet, "An Hour With George Mu</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">ller," by Charles R. Parsons, 1872</span></span></i></div>
</div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-53441206343272990802013-02-14T14:17:00.001-08:002013-05-30T15:08:49.257-07:00LOVE<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I</b> don't think any word could more perfectly summarize the message of the Holy Bible than <i>love</i>. Nor could any word better describe who the living God is to me than <i>love</i>. Love is truly the strongest bond on earth and in heaven.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2 Corinthians 5:14-15</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>A</b> few months ago I read an article by a pastor who listed some of the "one another" verses in the New Testament as a reason for the importance of being part of a local church. Although I would agree with him, I saw so much more in it than just that. I was utterly humbled to my knees at realizing that the enormity of the Father's love for us is the reason why He wants us to have an enormity of love for one another. It led me to think of things going on in the Church today; of why so many believers are living in the slums of the world's mediocrity, or why so many are going astray from the Lord, and I became convinced that the ultimate solution to our problems lies in this verse:</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.'" Mark 12:30-31.</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>T</b>here is absolutely nothing mediocre about love! Our love is merely an imitation of the love with which we are loved by God, and I think most of the time we don't even realize this. I think it is possible to fall from love, because when we fall from love, we are falling, as sinners, from the glory of God, which is encapsulated with love. Even when unbelievers love, their love is a reflection of our Creator's love, because "He has put eternity in their hearts" Ec 3:11. Apart from God, love does not exist. So then, of all peoples on earth, it should be the Church who shows forth God's love the most. We should be the least judgmental, the most forgiving, the most gracious, the least back-biting, the most kind, the least quarrelsome, the most long-suffering, the least boastful, the most humble, the least selfish, the most giving, the least arrogant, the least envious, the most gentle, and absolutely the most loving. These things will merely be the fruit of the strong bond of love between you and our precious Lord Jesus Christ, for <span style="color: #cc0000;">"the fruit of the Spirit is love"</span> Ga 5:22.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>T</b>here is a time and place for everything, which is why I think there are so many important "one another" verses, but nothing outweighs them more than loving one another, for I've found that love is the foundation of them all; <span style="color: #cc0000;">"Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."</span> 1 Cor 13:13. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If love is sincerely your center, it is unique in that it makes the faults of others just simply melt away.</span><b style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">No wonder, then, why Paul said, </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Let all that you do be done with love"</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> 1 Co 16:14, and, </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us" </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Eph 5:2. When you become </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"rooted and grounded in love"</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Eph 3:17, you'll discover the fullness of living life in Christ! It is then, that we can declare with Paul and Timothy that "the love of Christ compels us" to live no longer for ourselves but for Christ! Instead of doing everything backwards in the Christian life, instead we will be driven <i>first </i>by His love to <b>want</b> to do the things that please Him most. His love will compel us to hate sin more and more and love holiness more and more! His love will compel us to love the brotherhood! His love will compel us to tell others about the good news of His great love! We will find that the things we do, as Christians, is done not because we think we "have" to do it, but because we are so driven by His love that nothing could ever possibly hold us back from living our absolute all for Christ. </span><i style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oh, how the sweet, sweet love of Jesus overflows in me!</i><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></em><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>S</b>o...go fall in the love of Christ today before you do anything else! May we love in the Church the most, so to God <span style="color: #cc0000;">"be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever"</span> Eph 3:21. Oh, may the love of Christ <em><b>compel</b> </em>us to do all these things toward one another!</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Have fervent love for one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: normal;">1 Pe 4:8)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pray for one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jas 5:16)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Have
peace with one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Mr 9:50)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be kindly affectionate to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ro 12:10)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Jo 3:11)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have compassion for one another <span style="font-size: x-small;"> (</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 3:8)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forgive one another <span style="font-size: x-small;"> (</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Col 3:13)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through love serve one another <span style="font-size: x-small;"> (</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ga 5:13)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><b style="color: #cc0000;"> </b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2 Jo 1:5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greet one another with a holy kiss <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2 Cor 13:12)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be like-minded toward one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ro 15:5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be kind to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eph 4:32)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another as I have loved you</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 17px;">Jn 15:12)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Break bread together with one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Cor 11:33, 23-34)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edify one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Th 5:11)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bear with one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Col 3:13)</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abound in love to one another </span><b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Th 3:12)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bear with one another in love <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eph 4:2)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greet one another with a holy kiss <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ro 16:16)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t bite and devour one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ga 5:15)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Have love for one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jn 13:35)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Confess your trespasses to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jas 5:16)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Give preference to one another in honor </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ro 12:10)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t envy one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ga 5:26)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another fervently </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 1:22)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speak to one another in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual songs <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eph 5:19)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have fellowship with one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Jo 1:7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Receive one another, just as Christ also received us <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ro 15:7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another</span><b style="color: #cc0000;"> </b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 17px;">Jn 15:17)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forgive one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eph 4:32)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greet one another with a kiss of love <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 5:14)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exhort one another daily <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Heb 3:13)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Jo 4:11)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Don’t judge one another</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ro 14:13)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be hospitable to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 4:9)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t lie to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Col 3:9)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Th 4:9)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t provoke one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ga 5:26)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Be of the same mind toward one another</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ro 12:16)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t speak evil of one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jas 4:11)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Jo 4:7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greet one another with a holy kiss <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Cor 16:20)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Submit to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eph 5:21)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Admonish one another</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Ro 15:14)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Love one another </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jn 13:34)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stimulate one another to love and good deeds <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Heb 10:24)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be submissive to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 5:5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teach and admonish one another in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual songs <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Col 3:16)</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love one another </span><b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Jo 3:23)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t grumble against one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Jas 5:9)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have the same care for one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Cor 12:25)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Wash one another’s feet</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Jn 13:14)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Owe no one anything except to love one another</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> <b> </b> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Ro 13:8)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bear one another’s burdens <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ga 6:2)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comfort one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Th 4:18)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Minister your gift to one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Pe 4:10)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Encourage one another to not forsake assembling together</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Heb 10:25)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'"</b></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">1 Peter 4:8</span></span></div>
</div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-81771690084378363642013-02-07T19:49:00.000-08:002014-11-12T23:45:43.054-08:00Discipled to Christ<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Let us see that to be the Lord's disciple it cannot be based upon your own strength, it has to come from Him. He is the One who calls and He is the One who will work it out. It does not depend upon yourself. Do not think because you have an iron will you can be His disciple; do not assume because you have natural love you can be His disciple; do not think because you understand you can therefore be His disciple. If you try to be a follower by relying upon yourself you will completely fail. If you try to be absolute with the Lord in and of yourself, let me tell you that you cannot. It is impossible. With man this is utterly impossible. Nevertheless, you need not be afraid. The Lord knows you. The Lord does not expect you to be His disciple on your own basis. For hear again the gracious words of the Lord: 'Fear not, I am with you; I will do it; you are but clay in My hand.'</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGND0m4I8AAMm-02F6Pem5C07t4EErC8wwYM83M7SB2X8vrEvERVGyg7_zjCln6bArdLojDZXbz4C185KVzR1xFNXQ69kd6MXG59THWYy_pWEhPJxIqi_4kx_s8Nxth1qPG0xClxdfbA/s1600/Fishingonlake.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGND0m4I8AAMm-02F6Pem5C07t4EErC8wwYM83M7SB2X8vrEvERVGyg7_zjCln6bArdLojDZXbz4C185KVzR1xFNXQ69kd6MXG59THWYy_pWEhPJxIqi_4kx_s8Nxth1qPG0xClxdfbA/s320/Fishingonlake.bmp" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"...The skill of the Master is shown in transforming the dullest and the most worthless into the wisest and the worthiest. All which is needed of the disciple is a full committal and willingness to learn. And so we see that Peter left everything and followed the Lord. And by such action this discipleship was sealed at last, and from that day onward we find Peter in the school of Christ--full time, totally committed, and following the Master.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<i>O Lord, show Yourself to us, show us Your glory. Make us to see You and hear You that we may respond to You as we ought. Reveal Yourself to us in all Your beauty, greatness and loveliness that we may be completely abandoned to You. So fill our hearts with Your love, Lord, that we may be constrained to rise up and follow You.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<i>We do desire that Your image shall be seen through us as Your disciples. Yet Lord, evermore tell us that it does not depend upon ourselves to be a good disciple, but that it depends upon You. May we learn to entrust ourselves into Your hands and let You mold and shape us to be a new vessel for Your glory. We ask that as You do call us, let none of us escape; even so, we cannot escape, for You have attracted us.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Lord, You know our hearts. Search us. Do not let this day pass by without something very real being done by Your Spirit in each one of us. To those who have not heard Your call, make us hear; to those who are hesitating, make us see You in all Your glory; to those who are afraid and feel unworthy -- oh, overcome us by Your worthiness and by Your strength and obtain in us disciples for Yourself.</span></i><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Stephen Kaung, <i>Discipled to Christ, </i>1976</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me, </b>[for]<b> whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple, </b>[because] <b>you did not choose Me, but I chose you that you should go and bear fruit, </b>[and so] <b>become fishers of men.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Mt 16:24; Lu 14:27; Jn 15:16; Mr 1:17</span></div>
<br />Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-64565101104163333142013-01-10T14:11:00.001-08:002013-01-10T14:16:11.029-08:00The Power and Simplicity of the Gospel<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #40464b; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 13px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Are you afraid that preaching the gospel will not win souls? Are you despondent as to success in God’s way? Is this why you pine for clever oratory? Is this why you must have music, and architecture, and flowers and millinery? After all, is it by might and power, and not by the Spirit of God? It is even so in the opinion of many.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm0-OKzxFTTV2JsNqycUPMPinNvfn5pQcMfRiy8bPAvDEqitoiOQgbd1iX9dxgpnHSBBWa0jNtT4NhFb_DtAw3DHgqrBjSJvMF9AyrzEZ0RcaFTdyVyIPEeb1wXTOPJF0tHgYKUqY5tU/s1600/Spurgeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><strike><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm0-OKzxFTTV2JsNqycUPMPinNvfn5pQcMfRiy8bPAvDEqitoiOQgbd1iX9dxgpnHSBBWa0jNtT4NhFb_DtAw3DHgqrBjSJvMF9AyrzEZ0RcaFTdyVyIPEeb1wXTOPJF0tHgYKUqY5tU/s400/Spurgeon.jpg" width="400" /></strike></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brethren beloved, there are many things which I might allow to other worshippers which I have denied myself in conducting the worship of this congregation. I have long worked out before your very eyes the experiment of the unaided attractiveness of the gospel of Jesus. Our service is severely plain. No man ever comes hither to gratify his eye with art, or his ear with music. I have set before you, these many years, nothing but Christ crucified, and the simplicity of the gospel; yet where will you find such a crowd as this gathered together this morning? Where will you find such a multitude as this meeting Sabbath after Sabbath, for five-and-thirty years? I have shown you nothing but the cross, the cross without flowers of oratory, the cross without diamonds of ecclesiastical rank, the cross without the buttress of boastful science. It is abundantly sufficient to attract men first to itself, and afterwards to eternal life!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #40464b; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 13px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this house we have proved successfully, these many years, this great truth, that the gospel plainly preached will gain an audience, convert sinners, and build up and sustain a church. We beseech the people of God to mark that there is no need to try doubtful expedients and questionable methods. God will save by the gospel still: only let it be the gospel in its purity. This grand old sword will cleave a man’s chine, and split a rock in halves.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #40464b; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 13px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How is it that it does so little of its old conquering work? I will tell you. Do you see the scabbard of artistic work, so wonderfully elaborated? Full many keep the sword in this scabbard, and therefore its edge never gets to its work. Pull off that scabbard. Fling that fine sheath to Hades, and then see how, in the Lord’s hands, that glorious two-handed sword will mow down fields of men as mowers level the grass with their scythes.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #40464b; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 13px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is no need to go down to Egypt for help. To invite the devil to help Christ is shameful. Please God, we shall see prosperity yet, when the church of God is resolved never to seek it except in God’s own way."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #40464b; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 13px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>-C.H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1888</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>"Remember those...who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hebrews 13:7-8</span></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-42510459143200070852013-01-04T23:58:00.001-08:002013-01-05T00:01:03.479-08:00May Children Find Joy This Year<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">When it comes to ministering to children, my heart could not be more aligned than it is with George Muller:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm_nAaIwBgR2MChHJCH83lLQ3xNz89NuiMoDCHVaY2G3WMAEMo5QcKcg6FhgkPD2yU8acvNo0czc-kUfG6PO5maQrTTHCDTKS-zu6-fl7SgKLuA0aZSB717-dy1R5YUjsVsOA84QkUx0/s1600/Harriscolorize-Copy_zpsfead1d02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm_nAaIwBgR2MChHJCH83lLQ3xNz89NuiMoDCHVaY2G3WMAEMo5QcKcg6FhgkPD2yU8acvNo0czc-kUfG6PO5maQrTTHCDTKS-zu6-fl7SgKLuA0aZSB717-dy1R5YUjsVsOA84QkUx0/s320/Harriscolorize-Copy_zpsfead1d02.jpg" width="249" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>"It appears to me that believers generally have expected far too little present fruit from their labors among children. They hope that the Lord will some day confirm their instruction and answer the prayers which they offer up on the children's behalf. The Bible assures us that in everything we do for the Lord, including bringing up children in the fear of the Lord, our labor is not in vain. We have to guard against thinking that it does not matter whether we see present fruit or not. On the contrary, we should give the Lord no rest until we see fruit. Therefore, in persevering yet submissive prayer, we should make our requests known to God. I am now looking for many more children to be converted."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To that end, this is my prayer for 2013. I've been trying to reach children in a difficult neighborhood the past year with very little success, and I am now convinced it was because I lacked in consistent, persevering, earnest prayer; all in guidance on <i>how</i> to reach them, for the Holy Spirit to go ahead of us and prepare their little hearts, and for His blessing upon our labors in reaching them. I am greatly encouraged to give the Lord no rest, through prayer, until we see fruit. May the children surrounding you, no matter what country you live in, find heavenly joy in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ this year. May they grow in their love and understanding of Him, and may they encourage us in their awe inspiring faith and simplicity. God's little missionaries are all around us just waiting for the opportunity to shine for Him :) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Oh, may 2013 be a <b>happy year in Him</b> for children around the world!</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagmoEt2nPInOOUZ6GLz60suPQRv5CCFoeITlTOlcdKt3f2G44D6cz1iuvAoXAgKecF3_-NmjvGfxgM0o7Sz7b8gitQekdKQuiyck6V9ZyfkPuBqZS8SoTBBOlSnVZrfWdE8IvqpMtcCw/s1600/Childshands.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiagmoEt2nPInOOUZ6GLz60suPQRv5CCFoeITlTOlcdKt3f2G44D6cz1iuvAoXAgKecF3_-NmjvGfxgM0o7Sz7b8gitQekdKQuiyck6V9ZyfkPuBqZS8SoTBBOlSnVZrfWdE8IvqpMtcCw/s400/Childshands.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671066664933061537.post-51003643198401143462012-12-27T01:27:00.000-08:002019-01-05T11:14:04.896-08:00Don't Forget Our Liberty<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Galatians 5:1</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We, who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, are a chosen generation that is blessed above all other people on earth. Blessed, not in temporal possessions, but in spiritual life, which is imparted to every aspect of life. We have been given the gift of God, Jesus Christ, who has given us salvation. Through salvation we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not lead us again to the bondage of the letter that kills, but <b>the Spirit gives life</b>. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is <b>liberty</b>. How is it, then, that many believers, who have the Spirit, have forgotten this liberty we have in Christ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2 Corinthians 3:17</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How easily we, as followers of Christ, condemn the Pharisees for their harsh and unforgiving treatment towards God's children. There was no liberty for the disciples of the Pharisees, but only heavy burdens, hard to bear, laid upon their shoulders, so that any joy or love for God was drained out of them. No wonder, then, why it was such a salvation when Jesus came to "proclaim liberty to the captives" Isa 61:1. Jesus not only liberates the souls of His disciples from eternal death, but He also gives liberty to each of His disciples to <b>live </b>life in Him! When you strip a believer of his liberty in Christ, you strip the very life he was granted to partake of in Christ from him. It was not given to us to bind heavy burdens upon our fellow believers, but it was given to us to only turn people to Christ so they could become <b>His disciple</b>, where He, as their Master, invites them to partake of the liberty and joy of His light burden:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Matthew 11:28-30</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is no greater joy on earth to me than my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that, I should make it clear that I am not a disciple of any man or woman, nor will I ever be, because <b>I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.</b> It is something more than just a title given to me the moment I forsook all, took up my cross, and followed Him; <b>it is a way of life</b>; a training that will not end until the moment I am face to face with Christ my Savior.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The liberty I enjoy in Christ is indescribable. I fellowship with Him all day long. Decisions I am faced with multiple times a day, I bring to Him and ask what He would desire me to do. When I read Scripture that I don't understand, I bring it to Him and ask Him to explain it to me. When I am faced with a situation where I don't know what to do, I run to Him to find out what to do. I receive spiritual food and drink from Him daily. He is my Friend. He is my Father. He is my Master. I run to do what He asks me to do. I seek His advice. I do things that I think will please Him because I love Him. I don't do things that I think will not please Him because I love Him. I can't wait to be alone with Him and fellowship with Him. I get excited to know more about Him. I love taking any opportunity to simply know Him better. He comforts me when I am sad or hurt. When I am confused, He brings me to a verse that gives clarity. When I am scared, He settles a peace over me that I can't explain. When I am happy, His joy surrounds me. When I cry, He is there and listens to me. When I make a mistake, He rebukes me, but His love during the rebuke so vividly encompasses me, that I don't mind being rebuked. When I am ashamed, He lifts me up. When I feel worthless, He shows me His purpose in me. He treats me like a princess of God. When I am impatient, He asks me to just trust Him. He only reveals to me what is for my good. I trust Him with my life and don't live in fear. When I lose my temper, He reminds me of His own loving behavior on earth. He guides me where to go and what to say when I ask Him to. He provides my temporal needs. He only gives me what I can handle. When my heart is overwhelmed, He opens His arms and says "come to Me, Heather." He surrounds me all day and night long. <b><i>Jesus Christ is my Lord and my absolute everything.</i></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is what I have known in my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, though I know I have <i>so</i> much more to grow in Him, I do hope to know Him more and more sweetly as time goes on. I know it's not complicated; life in Christ is simple, and I am merely one of millions who have faithfully gone before us and have had the privilege of living in this extraordinary way under the gentle hand of our Master, Jesus Christ. With this in mind, I ask the question, what need have I for another person to "disciple" me when Jesus is discipling me every moment of every day? And please don't get me wrong, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I don’t say this because I somehow think I am a better or stronger Christian than others, on the contrary, it is because I know <i>how</i> flawed, fleshly, and weak in faith I am that I say this...only Christ can fill that void in me and I know how needy I am to have the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Discipler. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When it comes down to it, I think what I need</span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">now </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">more than ever</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is to </span><b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">know</b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the</span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"> living</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Christ and continually develop my relationship with Him in a loving Discipler/disciple relationship. Only Christ can give me life, another person cannot. Yes, another person can point me to Christ and help me grow in Christ, but why pull tiny cup-fulls from the stream down the mountain when I can pull bucket-fulls straight from the powerful source of water that Christ is in heaven?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..."</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;">Matthew 28:19-20</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Besides the joy of my relationship with Jesus, I have no greater joy than bringing other people to the feet of Jesus so they too can have the liberty of what I have of being a blessed disciple of Jesus! When I read Matthew 28:19-20, my heart is filled with a desire to go out, bring people to Jesus and show them the way to Him, so they could, on their own, forsake all, take up their cross, and then follow Jesus and also be discipled by Him. To me, this is what "making a disciple" is; to share the Gospel with someone, so when they accept Jesus as their Savior and follow Him, they <i>literally</i> become a disciple of Jesus. And after that person becomes a Christian, then together, as co-disciples of Jesus, we can go to the feet of Jesus and learn all the wondrous things there is to learn about Him! No matter how weak or strong, how poor or rich, how different from me, how different from what society accepts, how young, how old, how impatient, or how difficult, by the grace of God I will go together with them over and over again to the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. How I love learning from Jesus with my dear brothers and sisters in Christ through the Holy Spirit. I would <i>never</i> try to take away a believers liberty he has in Christ, when I know how vitally important and central it has been for my spiritual growth and happiness in Him!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I have found no restrictions, no oppression, no heavy burdens, no guilt, no rules, or no regulations in the Bible, that were given to Christians to place upon other Christians. There is liberty in Christ for every single disciple of Jesus <b>for the ultimate goal of serving God </b>through serving one another <b>in love</b> (Gal 5:13), and I never want to lose sight of that. If we <i>truly </i>want to further His Kingdom, shouldn't we stir up that liberty in each other and not suppress it!? I am convinced that nothing could bind a church in love, unity, and spiritual strength more than by stirring up our liberty in Christ in one another. Jesus' loving and good purpose in training us is to not only form us to be like Himself, but to ultimately draw us in closer to God every day until that day we will finally be face to face with Him in eternity. Oh, be set free and don't be cast down, for there is only life and liberty in Christ!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"you are complete in Him..."</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Colossians 2:10</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span>Heather Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04745178076902712909noreply@blogger.com