Have you ever felt as though your life is upside down and turned around? I know my life was that and a lot worse for approximately twenty eight years.
We think that our daily struggles here in America are great considering the economy and unemployment being so high, but to live in a nation where there is very little clean drinking water and medicine, and virtually no security for life or possessions as in many nations which are ruled by evil tyrants or dictators life would be a real struggle that most of us here in America could never imagine.
“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”
The following email message comes from a Brother in Christ.
***********************************
Mike Bell Mike Bellbellministry@yahoo.com
bellministry@yahoo.com
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:23)
One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution but, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry teaching young children.
It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans.
This is when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand.
The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be.
He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancees’s past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the Blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the Blood of Jesus on trial."
Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case! This should challenge us to realize that the Saving Blood of Jesus was first packaged in a Baby in a Manger!
The Degree of Your Obedience
WILL ALWAYS EQUAL
The Degree of Your Empowering
mike
***********************************
There is nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN ALL THE UNIVERSE - as awesome as the precious cleansing Blood of Christ Jesus.
Man can only believe in what he see, for what is seen is only temporary and that which is not seen is eternal. This is a hard thing to understand, man believes in gravity which is seen only through its effect on falling objects. We breathe in oxygen, yet oxygen is not seen and if the room that we are in lacks oxygen we quickly realize this as we struggle to breathe.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. True knowledge of spiritual things comes from accepting Jesus Christ as our LORD and SAVIOR and for greater growth in this spiritual knowledge we read the Holy Scriptures and with the help of the Holy Spirit we receive greater knowledge of a Sovereign God that would go to enormous limits to reach a harden heart.
God's promises are for real and if we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our LORD and SAVIOR we are cleansed by His precious Blood. Jesus says our sins are removed as far as the East is from the West and He promises to remember our sins no more.
The joy of knowing the truth of His great message of Salvation is beyond measure, for He sees us as a new creation in His eyes.
In other words, as with me, God will turn your life right side up and He can deliver you from the most difficult situations to experience true joy in your life even through troubling times.
Hallelujah, Thank You Jesus
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Common Sense In America? Yeah, Right!
I think we need to get back to teaching America's true history and what guided us to being called....
One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All.
The year is 1907, over one hundred years ago.
Here are Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.
But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...
There can be no divided allegiance here.
Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag...
We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language..
And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Every American citizen needs to read this!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Obama Admits He Is A Muslim
Evaluating the evidence that we find on YouTube and on the internet.
The Holy Koran is not holy. It is a book written by evil men and it is filled with evil lies and deceit. The really sad point here is, that Pres. Obama believes the lies that were taught to him from the Koran and this is what guides this man's beliefs.
Islam is about submission, it is not and it never will be about peace. A religion that teaches even their children to strap a bomb on their bodies to kill totally innocent people in the name of Allah is evil from the very core of it's existence.
For those of you who think I might be exaggerating the facts, take a look at these statistics, which speak loudly for themselves. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
This is a religion that wishes to rule the world by submission and most Americans were so blinded by the lies of the Democrats and the left leaning media that they would place a man in the White House that ascribes to this ideology.
I do believe however, Barack Obama was God chosen man for this office, Why? Seven times in the Book of Judges we are told how Israel leaders had turned their backs to the One True God seeking to fulfill their own desires rather than the desires that God wanted for His chosen people.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1
Israel leaders and the majority of the Israelites refused to turn away from their idol worshipping to worship the only One True God, thus God allowed these godless leaders 'free will,' who chose foolishly to fulfill their own desires rather then the desires God wanted for them. For this reason God allowed heathen nations to nearly destroy the nation of Israel that the people might understand the consequences of their sins and return to worshipping the One True God.
There is but only One God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and it is only the Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah who saves.
Jesus even wishes that the Muslim will turn away from this evil that they do, to accept Him as the LORD of lords and the KING of kings.
"I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. Jeremiah 17:13
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!”
Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
******************
Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets Amos 3:7
God is once again calling for a nation to turn back to Him, but America refuses to do so; thus for the consequences of our sins against God's WORD there is approaching a destruction of this nation unlike any that has ever been seen in all of man's history.
Whether you wish to believe this or not, it is only by God's loving GRACE that He has made a way that we may be saved from this destruction.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 1 Corinthians 1:178-19
The Holy Koran is not holy. It is a book written by evil men and it is filled with evil lies and deceit. The really sad point here is, that Pres. Obama believes the lies that were taught to him from the Koran and this is what guides this man's beliefs.
Islam is about submission, it is not and it never will be about peace. A religion that teaches even their children to strap a bomb on their bodies to kill totally innocent people in the name of Allah is evil from the very core of it's existence.
For those of you who think I might be exaggerating the facts, take a look at these statistics, which speak loudly for themselves. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
This is a religion that wishes to rule the world by submission and most Americans were so blinded by the lies of the Democrats and the left leaning media that they would place a man in the White House that ascribes to this ideology.
I do believe however, Barack Obama was God chosen man for this office, Why? Seven times in the Book of Judges we are told how Israel leaders had turned their backs to the One True God seeking to fulfill their own desires rather than the desires that God wanted for His chosen people.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1
Israel leaders and the majority of the Israelites refused to turn away from their idol worshipping to worship the only One True God, thus God allowed these godless leaders 'free will,' who chose foolishly to fulfill their own desires rather then the desires God wanted for them. For this reason God allowed heathen nations to nearly destroy the nation of Israel that the people might understand the consequences of their sins and return to worshipping the One True God.
There is but only One God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and it is only the Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah who saves.
Jesus even wishes that the Muslim will turn away from this evil that they do, to accept Him as the LORD of lords and the KING of kings.
"I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.”
This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. Jeremiah 17:13
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!”
Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
******************
Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets Amos 3:7
God is once again calling for a nation to turn back to Him, but America refuses to do so; thus for the consequences of our sins against God's WORD there is approaching a destruction of this nation unlike any that has ever been seen in all of man's history.
Whether you wish to believe this or not, it is only by God's loving GRACE that He has made a way that we may be saved from this destruction.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 1 Corinthians 1:178-19
Friday, January 14, 2011
Conservatism vs. Liberalism
Funny how this young lady's eyes and ears were finally opened to the truth.
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.
The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"
She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back,"That's a crazy idea. How would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off."
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently,
"Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between conservative and liberal or progressive or neo-con I'm all ears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll share it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
Well, I shared it to you; I hope and pray that you too will share this with others.
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.
The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"
She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back,"That's a crazy idea. How would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off."
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently,
"Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between conservative and liberal or progressive or neo-con I'm all ears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll share it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
Well, I shared it to you; I hope and pray that you too will share this with others.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A New Start
Are you happy with how everything is going for you or would you like a new start?
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and you can have a heart filled with joy and peace of mine within all situations.
God, I wish I had the smarts to speak the right words that would inspire others to seek that which is your desire for their lives.
I accepted Christ as my LORD and Savior at the age of 14 as I felt the Holy Spirit presence that night in a revival in Southern Indiana but the warm tingly experience only stayed with me for maybe two months or so. I was back to seeking only the things that the heart desires and for the next 28 years with an arrogant self-righteous and know it all attitude I would still acknowledge that I was a born again Christian when asked. But God knows the true heart and He says, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
In January of 1991 that warm tingly experience returned when I was on my knees pouring out my heart to God saying that I could not go on without Him. The desire to really know God was what got me started to reading the Bible, so I began reading the Bible for nearly an hour everyday with the aid of the Bible Pathway Ministry's guide through the Bible in one year which I completed in four months. I found out during this four months that within the Bible is the greatest love story, the greatest mystery, the greatest history and the greatest guide book on how we should live our lives in seeking to know the One True God. Sixty-six books all rolled into one amazing book and yet it is said that less the 2% of the Christians have ever read from Genesis 1:1 to Relation 22:21.
Not to change the subject, but the other night I heard a pastor on the radio saying, "There is no other religion that I know of that has a hymnal other than Christianity." He asked, “Do you know why that is? He answered himself saying, "It is because they have no true joy in their lives to sing about.”
I screamed out, “That’s right! Hallelujah, praise the LORD, thank You Jesus."
We just started a new year and like the beginning of every year there are millions who will say this year I am going to loose this extra weight, quit smoking or I am going to be a better husband, wife, father or maybe a better friend, but at last, most will fail by the end of the month in their attempt to be a better person.
Will, my challenge to you is for you to be that better person for the next thirty days by using the Bible Pathway Ministry guide (Which only uses the King James Version) along with the Bible. I use the New International Version NIV Bible, plus I listen to the NIV version on disc as I am reading or else it would take me three year to read through the Bible. I added the first reading below to get you started and you can fine each day’s devotional from the Bible Pathway Teachings link under Good News on the right side of my blog or go to the following website… biblepathway.org
You will have no one to blame but yourself if you hear Jesus speak these words on Judgment Day to those on His left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
++++++++++++++++++++++++
January 1
Introduction to Genesis
Read Genesis 1 – 3
Highlights:
You will be thrilled as you read the three inspiring chapters today, discovering: God said. . . . God saw. . . . God made, describing creation. Read what God did in six days (chap. 1). Seventh day blessed and sanctified (Gen. 2:1-3). A help meet. Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan and forfeit the Garden of Eden. SIN, punishment.
Creation, as recorded in Genesis, is the testimony of our Creator God who made man in His own image. Man was made distinctly different from any animal in that God breathed into him the breath of life (Gen. 2:7).
The Lord God took the man (Adam), and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (2:15). Man's responsibility was to obey the Word of God. Yet, God allowed man's love, loyalty, and obedience to be tested. In Eden, we are introduced to Satan, the one who came in the guise of the serpent (3;1). He is also called the dragon, that old serpent . . . the Devil (Rev. 20:2; Is. 14:12; Matt. 13:39; I Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:10). Satan did not reveal himself as the enemy of God or as a wicked deceiver intent on destroying every enjoyment of mankind (John 8:44). His intent was, and still is, to prevent man from obeying his Creator.
Adam and Eve were created to enjoy fellowship with God. However, He also gave them the right to choose either to be their own "god" and do what they wanted to do, or by faith to believe, without exception, that everything the Bible tells us to be or do is in our best interest. By choosing the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9), Adam and Eve had foolishly listed to Satan, rather than relying on the Word of God.
Just as Adam and Eve's fellowship with God was dependent upon their obedience to what He had said, our fellowship with Him is also dependent upon our obedience to His Word. If we are to receive His blessing, enjoy the life of God, and have it more abundantly, we must choose obedience to the Word of God — which is to obey the Lord himself (John 1:14).
Those who receive Christ as their personal Savior, receive a new spiritual life — God's nature. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). As the new Christian reads the Bible, indwelling Holy Spirit will guide you into all Truth (16:13; comp. 1:12-13).
Thought for Today:
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. . . . That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:19,21).
Christ Revealed: As Creator (Gen. 1:1; compare John 1:1-4,14; Col. 1:13-17; Heb. 11:3). As the Seed (Descendant) of the woman (Gen. 3:15; Is. 7:14; 9:6-7). God sent forth His Son, made of a woman (Gal. 4:4).
Optional Reading:
Matthew 1
Memory Verse for the Week: Luke 12:15
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and you can have a heart filled with joy and peace of mine within all situations.
God, I wish I had the smarts to speak the right words that would inspire others to seek that which is your desire for their lives.
I accepted Christ as my LORD and Savior at the age of 14 as I felt the Holy Spirit presence that night in a revival in Southern Indiana but the warm tingly experience only stayed with me for maybe two months or so. I was back to seeking only the things that the heart desires and for the next 28 years with an arrogant self-righteous and know it all attitude I would still acknowledge that I was a born again Christian when asked. But God knows the true heart and He says, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
In January of 1991 that warm tingly experience returned when I was on my knees pouring out my heart to God saying that I could not go on without Him. The desire to really know God was what got me started to reading the Bible, so I began reading the Bible for nearly an hour everyday with the aid of the Bible Pathway Ministry's guide through the Bible in one year which I completed in four months. I found out during this four months that within the Bible is the greatest love story, the greatest mystery, the greatest history and the greatest guide book on how we should live our lives in seeking to know the One True God. Sixty-six books all rolled into one amazing book and yet it is said that less the 2% of the Christians have ever read from Genesis 1:1 to Relation 22:21.
Not to change the subject, but the other night I heard a pastor on the radio saying, "There is no other religion that I know of that has a hymnal other than Christianity." He asked, “Do you know why that is? He answered himself saying, "It is because they have no true joy in their lives to sing about.”
I screamed out, “That’s right! Hallelujah, praise the LORD, thank You Jesus."
We just started a new year and like the beginning of every year there are millions who will say this year I am going to loose this extra weight, quit smoking or I am going to be a better husband, wife, father or maybe a better friend, but at last, most will fail by the end of the month in their attempt to be a better person.
Will, my challenge to you is for you to be that better person for the next thirty days by using the Bible Pathway Ministry guide (Which only uses the King James Version) along with the Bible. I use the New International Version NIV Bible, plus I listen to the NIV version on disc as I am reading or else it would take me three year to read through the Bible. I added the first reading below to get you started and you can fine each day’s devotional from the Bible Pathway Teachings link under Good News on the right side of my blog or go to the following website… biblepathway.org
You will have no one to blame but yourself if you hear Jesus speak these words on Judgment Day to those on His left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
++++++++++++++++++++++++
January 1
Introduction to Genesis
Read Genesis 1 – 3
Highlights:
You will be thrilled as you read the three inspiring chapters today, discovering: God said. . . . God saw. . . . God made, describing creation. Read what God did in six days (chap. 1). Seventh day blessed and sanctified (Gen. 2:1-3). A help meet. Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan and forfeit the Garden of Eden. SIN, punishment.
Creation, as recorded in Genesis, is the testimony of our Creator God who made man in His own image. Man was made distinctly different from any animal in that God breathed into him the breath of life (Gen. 2:7).
The Lord God took the man (Adam), and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (2:15). Man's responsibility was to obey the Word of God. Yet, God allowed man's love, loyalty, and obedience to be tested. In Eden, we are introduced to Satan, the one who came in the guise of the serpent (3;1). He is also called the dragon, that old serpent . . . the Devil (Rev. 20:2; Is. 14:12; Matt. 13:39; I Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:10). Satan did not reveal himself as the enemy of God or as a wicked deceiver intent on destroying every enjoyment of mankind (John 8:44). His intent was, and still is, to prevent man from obeying his Creator.
Adam and Eve were created to enjoy fellowship with God. However, He also gave them the right to choose either to be their own "god" and do what they wanted to do, or by faith to believe, without exception, that everything the Bible tells us to be or do is in our best interest. By choosing the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9), Adam and Eve had foolishly listed to Satan, rather than relying on the Word of God.
Just as Adam and Eve's fellowship with God was dependent upon their obedience to what He had said, our fellowship with Him is also dependent upon our obedience to His Word. If we are to receive His blessing, enjoy the life of God, and have it more abundantly, we must choose obedience to the Word of God — which is to obey the Lord himself (John 1:14).
Those who receive Christ as their personal Savior, receive a new spiritual life — God's nature. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). As the new Christian reads the Bible, indwelling Holy Spirit will guide you into all Truth (16:13; comp. 1:12-13).
Thought for Today:
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. . . . That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:19,21).
Christ Revealed: As Creator (Gen. 1:1; compare John 1:1-4,14; Col. 1:13-17; Heb. 11:3). As the Seed (Descendant) of the woman (Gen. 3:15; Is. 7:14; 9:6-7). God sent forth His Son, made of a woman (Gal. 4:4).
Optional Reading:
Matthew 1
Memory Verse for the Week: Luke 12:15
Sunday, January 2, 2011
United States History - 101
OUR TRUE HERITAGE
Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation. Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty, or give me death"; but in current textbooks, the context of these words is omitted.
Here is what he actually said: "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Consider the words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the front of his well-worn Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our creator." He was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role.
On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
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In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
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William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools, with over 125 million copies sold, until it was stopped in 1963.
President Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the Nation." Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free Institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. For all these extracts from the Bible, I make no apology."
Did you know, President Abraham Lincoln deeply fearing that the republic could collapse with the Civil War, turned to God for help? President Lincoln, in a proclamation on March 30, 1863, declared a day of prayer and fasting. “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men,” he wrote, “to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God … and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. … We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation ever has grown, but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In the original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the Scriptures: "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies, is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
*********
Most of what you read in this article has been erased from our textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about our country's Christian roots. You are encouraged to share this with others, so that the truth of our nation's history will be told.
Immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of Scripture for the people of this nation. Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty, or give me death"; but in current textbooks, the context of these words is omitted.
Here is what he actually said: "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here."
Consider the words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the front of his well-worn Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our creator." He was also the chairman of the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most important role.
On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
****************************************
In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools."
****************************************
William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools, with over 125 million copies sold, until it was stopped in 1963.
President Lincoln called him the "Schoolmaster of the Nation." Listen to these words of Mr. McGuffey: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free Institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. For all these extracts from the Bible, I make no apology."
Did you know, President Abraham Lincoln deeply fearing that the republic could collapse with the Civil War, turned to God for help? President Lincoln, in a proclamation on March 30, 1863, declared a day of prayer and fasting. “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men,” he wrote, “to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God … and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. … We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation ever has grown, but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in 1636. In the original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the Scriptures: "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies, is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
*********
Most of what you read in this article has been erased from our textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove the truth about our country's Christian roots. You are encouraged to share this with others, so that the truth of our nation's history will be told.