"Look how much love the Father has showered on us to accept us as His sons and daughters!" 1 John 3:1-
God uses many ways to show us how much He loves us. First, through nature; life alone is a demonstration of love. Then through His Word, Amos 3:7 says, "But the Lord does nothing without revealing His plans to His servants the prophets." Through the inspired writings of the prophets in the Bible, God has told us that no matter what our condition is, He is there to save us! We just need to trust and accept His promise. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take away your hearts of stone and give you hearts of compassion and obedience." Ezek. 36:26 But more than any gift of love that God could give us, it was His Son, Jesus Christ. "And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son whom I love." Matt. 3:17- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to come here and die, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life. God didn't send His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world. Those who believe in Him are no longer under condemnation, but those who do not believe in the Son of God cannot be healed and are condemned already because they don't believe. What condemns people is not the fact that they're in darkness but that they don't accept the light. People don't want to be told that their natures are evil, so they don't come to the light, because they're more comfortable with darkness than with light. But those who love the truth will come to the light to be changed, and it will be obvious that it is done by the power of God." John 3:16-21
Because of what Jesus, the Son of God, did for us, we have this hope that although our bodies may decay and die, through Jesus, we are offered eternal life at His second coming. Did He have to do that? No! Do we deserve it? No! We don't even appreciate it. But, when we stop and look, ponder and realize that the Almighty God of the universe came to earth to show His love for us, it WILL set us back; sit us down in awe, and we will say "Thank you, Lord for what you have done for me!"
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Heaven's Declare the Glory of God!
"The heavens declare God's glory and the skies reveal His handiwork. Day after day they speak to us, and night after night they reveal God's wisdom. They do not have to speak with words or sounds, yet their voice is heard everywhere, and their words reach the ends of the earth." Ps. 19:1-3
"All things in creation look to You for help, and at the proper time you provide them with the food they need. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Ps. 145:15,16
God is love; and the heaven's do declare of His glory and power and love. Everything in nature demonstrates how He bestows His love upon us, though we do not deserve it. Why do I say, "we do not deserve it?" We are the only creatures on this earth that are created with reason and not instinct alone. Yet, we don't acknowledge the Creator. Yeah, we say that we believe in God. We acknowledge Him by name and word; but, do we put our money where our mouth is? Do we live by His Word and His Word alone? No! We don't. In our selfishness, we want to be in control. Therefore, we reason to ourselves, that we know what is right. Yet everything else in this world that God has created looks to Him for help. "Look at the birds. They don't worry about tomorrow's harvest, nor are they concerned about the future. Why? Because your heavenly Father takes care of them and feeds them. Aren't you worth much more to Him than a bird?" Matt. 6:26 - Do we look to God for help? Do we trust that at the proper time, He will provide us with all our needs? He is the source of life, of wisdom and of joy. If we trust in Him to meet our daily needs, we will find peace.
You may ask, "Then why do I have to work so hard?" God ordained trials and difficulties for our own good. If we just sat here waiting in gluttony for God to fulfill all our desires, we would self destruct. We would be lazy, selfish, and lack in compassion and love. Therefore, when we go through trials, our faith muscles are developed and we come to realize that God does provide. We realize how we are all part of this wonderful plan to love and serve, not only our Creator, but those around us; just like everything in nature is placed to serve others. Let's place our trust in God. Let it not be just a few words on the dollar bill. Let it happen in our own lives. We will live all the better for it. Be blessed!
"All things in creation look to You for help, and at the proper time you provide them with the food they need. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." Ps. 145:15,16
God is love; and the heaven's do declare of His glory and power and love. Everything in nature demonstrates how He bestows His love upon us, though we do not deserve it. Why do I say, "we do not deserve it?" We are the only creatures on this earth that are created with reason and not instinct alone. Yet, we don't acknowledge the Creator. Yeah, we say that we believe in God. We acknowledge Him by name and word; but, do we put our money where our mouth is? Do we live by His Word and His Word alone? No! We don't. In our selfishness, we want to be in control. Therefore, we reason to ourselves, that we know what is right. Yet everything else in this world that God has created looks to Him for help. "Look at the birds. They don't worry about tomorrow's harvest, nor are they concerned about the future. Why? Because your heavenly Father takes care of them and feeds them. Aren't you worth much more to Him than a bird?" Matt. 6:26 - Do we look to God for help? Do we trust that at the proper time, He will provide us with all our needs? He is the source of life, of wisdom and of joy. If we trust in Him to meet our daily needs, we will find peace.
You may ask, "Then why do I have to work so hard?" God ordained trials and difficulties for our own good. If we just sat here waiting in gluttony for God to fulfill all our desires, we would self destruct. We would be lazy, selfish, and lack in compassion and love. Therefore, when we go through trials, our faith muscles are developed and we come to realize that God does provide. We realize how we are all part of this wonderful plan to love and serve, not only our Creator, but those around us; just like everything in nature is placed to serve others. Let's place our trust in God. Let it not be just a few words on the dollar bill. Let it happen in our own lives. We will live all the better for it. Be blessed!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
In the beginning God...
Today is the beginning of my "blogging career!" Therefore, I chose for a title, "In the beginning God..." For the past two years, I have been posting Bible verses in facebook so that those of you who don't have time to read God's Word can get a glimpse of what He has to say. I hope that my postings have been an encouragement to you, my reader. I also hope they prompted you to delve into this wonderful work of divine inspiration. Sometimes I wanted to extend my comments but facebook, with its 300 digit limit, would not allow me the space. Hence, I decided to blog...
Beginnings. Everything and everyone has one. There is nothing in this God-given earth that had no beginning. The Bible tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1
Why is it so hard for us to believe that? Why do we prefer to believe that we come from a single cell, and that monkies are our cousins? Can't we just accept that we are "wonderfully made" by our Creator God?
The answer is in three small but powerful letters: SIN. Sin is selfishness. Sin is pride and arrogance. Sin is also self-righteousness; not accepting that goodness and love only come from God, for "God is love." 1 John 4:8
According to the Bible, "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4 - The Clear Word, (paraphrase Bible that I quote from), says that "Everyone who breaks God's law sins, because sin is law-breaking." Which law are we talking about? It's the law of living. Everything God has created is under God's law of love; His law for living. Just like the law of breathing; we can't hold our breath for an extended period of time, just because we want to, and expect to continue living.
When God created this beautiful earth, we were given a responsibility: "Then God and His Son blessed them and said, "We have given you the capability to produce beings in our image. So be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and manage it for us. We have put the two of you in charge of the fish, the birds and all the animals that walk the earth." Gen. 1:28 Our responsibility is to care for this world, which includes ourselves AND each other. That's where God's greatest law is extended to mankind: "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind," Jesus said, 'This is the first and most important commandment. And the next one is just like it. You should love and value your neighbor as much as you love and value yourself. You see, the entire law rests on both these principles because they're interrelated; you can't separate them.'" Matt 22:37-40
To love is to serve. God made us to serve each other. That is the way we can extend our lives. When we are selfish, we look to only serve ourselves, which is against the law of living, for we all have to depend on God and on each other. You see? We need God and we need each other.
Be blessed with His Word.
Beginnings. Everything and everyone has one. There is nothing in this God-given earth that had no beginning. The Bible tells us that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1
Why is it so hard for us to believe that? Why do we prefer to believe that we come from a single cell, and that monkies are our cousins? Can't we just accept that we are "wonderfully made" by our Creator God?
The answer is in three small but powerful letters: SIN. Sin is selfishness. Sin is pride and arrogance. Sin is also self-righteousness; not accepting that goodness and love only come from God, for "God is love." 1 John 4:8
According to the Bible, "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4 - The Clear Word, (paraphrase Bible that I quote from), says that "Everyone who breaks God's law sins, because sin is law-breaking." Which law are we talking about? It's the law of living. Everything God has created is under God's law of love; His law for living. Just like the law of breathing; we can't hold our breath for an extended period of time, just because we want to, and expect to continue living.
When God created this beautiful earth, we were given a responsibility: "Then God and His Son blessed them and said, "We have given you the capability to produce beings in our image. So be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and manage it for us. We have put the two of you in charge of the fish, the birds and all the animals that walk the earth." Gen. 1:28 Our responsibility is to care for this world, which includes ourselves AND each other. That's where God's greatest law is extended to mankind: "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind," Jesus said, 'This is the first and most important commandment. And the next one is just like it. You should love and value your neighbor as much as you love and value yourself. You see, the entire law rests on both these principles because they're interrelated; you can't separate them.'" Matt 22:37-40
To love is to serve. God made us to serve each other. That is the way we can extend our lives. When we are selfish, we look to only serve ourselves, which is against the law of living, for we all have to depend on God and on each other. You see? We need God and we need each other.
Be blessed with His Word.
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