You Are Cordially Invited To A Birthday Celebration.
Guest of Honor: JESUS CHRIST
Date: December 25th
Time: When you're ready, ( please don't be late, though; or you'll miss out on all the fun!!! )
Place: In your Heart...He'll meet you there ( you'll hear Him knock )
Attire: Come as you are...grubbies are okay. He'll be washing our clothes anyway. He said something about new white robes and crowns for everyone who stays till the last.
Tickets: Admission is free. He's already paid for everyone..( He says you would not have been able to afford it...it cost Him everything he had! )
Refreshments: New wine, bread and a far-out drink He calls living water, followed by a supper that promises to be out of this world!!!
Gift Suggestions: Your Heart. He's one of those people who already has everything else. He's very generous in return though; just wait until you see what He has for you.
Entertainment: Joy, Peace, Truth, Light, Life, Love, Real Happiness, Communion with God, Forgiveness, Miracles, Healing, Power, Eternity in Paradise, and much more! ( All rated "G" so bring your family and friends )
R.S.V.P. Very important! He must know ahead so he can reserve a spot for you at the table. Also He's keeping a list of His friends for future reference. He calls it the ( "Lambs Book Of Life" )
Party Being given By His Kids ( That's Us ) Hope To See You There!!! __________________________________
, MAY THE GOD OF HOPE FILL YOU WITH ALL JOY AND PEACE AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, SO THAT YOU MAY OVER-FLOW WITH HOPE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Amen. ( ROMANS 15:13 *NIV )
Apostle Paul Ministries, P O Box 55996, Hayward, CA 94545 ~~THE FIRST CHRISTMAS~~
Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ..God is with usâ. Matthew 1:23 NLT View in context
...Love to all my dear friends on this Thanksgiving Day and my our dear Savior and Lord put a hedge of protection around all of you and hold you close throughout the coming years until the time of His Glorious Returm and what a day that will be!!!! Love & Hugs~~~Godslittlekitty in Chicago (Annemarie)~~~
THE GREATEST... GOD---the Lord of Love SO LOVED---The Greatest Degree THE WORLD---The Greatest Company THAT HE GAVE---The Greatest Act HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON---The Greatest Gift THAT WHOSOEVER---The Greatest Choice BELIEVES---The Greatest Simplicity IN HIM---The Greatest Attraction SHOULD NOT PERISH---The Greatest Promise BUT---The Greatest Difference HAVE---The Greatest Certainty ETERNAL LIFE---The Greatest Possesion John 3:16
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name! For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 (AMP) Father, I come before you with rejoicing and singing! You are good and your love is without end! Thank you for your bountiful blessings and for this wonderful friend! I ask that you bless them in a special way this day and that they may see your hand at work in their lives. May their heart be light and their joy complete as they consider your beauty and grace. May they be thankful in all things and know that you will work all for their good because they love you and you love them! Father, thank you for the awesome plans that you have for them and for the doors you are opening for them even now. Thank you for the blessing that this dear friend has been to me! Surround them with your presence in such a way that they actually feel it blanketed about them and show them your glory as they seek your face. May your will continue to be done in theirs and their familyâs lives. Amen.
I praise God for you! Have a Happy Thanksgiving and may each day hold many blessings for you and your loved ones!
From one pumpkin to another!!!!!!!
A woman was asked by a coworker, 'What is it like to be a Christian?'
The coworker replied, 'It is like being a pumpkin.' God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.'
This was passed on to me by another pumpkin. Now it's your turn to pass it to other pumpkins.
I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch.
__________________________________________________
Dearest Friend,
God has truly blessed me with your acquaintence. I pray for you as often as possible as I do the others in the body of Christ. Praise His Holy Name high above all the Heavens and the earth for He is awesome, good, righteous, faithful, and His loving kindness gives us glory to share with Him according to His name. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, are You, Lord Almighty, I just want to shout it and sing it out. Thank You Lord, for Jesus and for my wonderful Christian friends.
Father, God, You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet, sweet song. You are so good to me. You heal my broken heart. You are my Father in Heaven. I will wait for You, Lord. I will wait for you guidance. Please give me patience to wait and listen to the peace within me. Please help all my friends find this inner peace and strength also. You are the song within me Lord. and I will praise Your Holy Name forever. You are my Jesus who loves me and You poured out all your blood for me. Thank You Lord. Thank You Jesus. You are beautuful and so are all your people, my friends. Lift them all up Lord. Let them feel Your Spirit inside them. Let them feel your love today and always. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
WAIT ON THE LORD; BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART; WAIT, I SAY, ON THE LORD. ( PSALM 27:14 *NKJV )
As we all know, there are times in this life when we become discouraged, and feel like giving up on a person, place or thing. Then that causes us to lose confidence in ourselves. Therefore when you are facing such a situation do not give up, but turn to: HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US. ( EPHESIANS 3:20 ) For it is important that you: DO NOT CAST AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE WHICH HAS GREAT REWARD. ( HEBREWS 10:35 )
So do not give up or become discouraged! Instead ask for God's help and wait on His timing, and if it still doesn't happen, know that He has something or someone even better planned for you! For you may: BE CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY THING, THAT HE WHO HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL COMPLETE IT UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. ( PHILIPPIANS 1:6 )
Therefore: TO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY JESUS CHRIST TO ALL GENERATIONS, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. ( EPHESIANS 3:21 )
Apostle Paul Ministries, P O Box 55996, Hayward, CA 94545
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Galatians 5:16, 22 Every good thing God wants to do in your life today comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. Everything: the fruit of the Spirit, the understanding of Godâs Word, love of worship, strength in a trial, grace to forgive, compassion for the lost, comfort in heartache, boldness in witnessing, power in ministry-all of these are yours when the Spirit is in control. However, when you resist the Holy Spirit, grieving and quenching Him, you forfeit His filling and all of the good things that God wants to give you.
The Spiritâs filling is a moment-by-moment process. Every day, ask Him to fill you again with His power. How do you do that?
Step one: recognize your need to be filled. Let God begin to grow within your heart the desire for more of His fullness in your life. He wants to give that to you if you first recognize your need.
Step two: confess all known sin. Get a piece of paper, get by yourself, and ask God to reveal your sin to you. You have to get serious about taking hindrances out of the way. Tell Him, âIâm listening, God. âSearch me and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!â Show me my sin, God, so I can get right before You.â And then ask Him to cleanse and forgive you.
Step three: Now, when youâve done those two fairly difficult things, youâre ready to do the easy part: ask God to fill you. Yield yourself completely to His purposes.
Hereâs a prayer I pray in some way almost every single day. When I donât, I wish I had. Pray with me today . . .
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. I canât fix yesterday, and tomorrow seems a long way off. Today, Lord: Cleanse my heart from the fleshly residue of yesterdayâs fallen humanity. Today, Lord: Scrub my thoughts and motives till they shine with singularity-wanting Your glory alone. Today, Lord: Wash me and I will be whiter than snow, purposed afresh to follow Your footsteps. Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. The tasks ahead are too much. If I must go alone, I cannot go at all. Today, Lord: Iâm not smart enough to know what is best, and not strong enough to choose what is righteous. Today, Lord: My wife, my family, my friends, my church, my ministry . . . I am not sufficient for these things, and I know it. Today, Lord: Or else what unfolds in the hours ahead will fade into the abyss of worthless, wasted time.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit right now. Come, make these 24 hours all Youâve created them to be. Now, Lord: You know how to âgive good giftsâ and I am so thankful to be called Your child. Now, Lord: By faith, I receive the Presence Youâve promised, and delight to know that Your Word is true. Now, Lord: You are filling my life with peace and purpose and freeing my soul to sing. Amen.
How to Embrace Jesus without Religion Whitney Hopler Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Rick James' new book, Jesus without Religion: What Did He Say? What Did He Do? Whatâs the Point?, (InterVarsity Press, 2007).
The veneer of religion can sometimes distort our view of Jesus. Underneath all the religious traditions, what was He really like? What can we learn about Jesus when we strip away the veneer and look at the unvarnished truth about Him?
Hereâs some of what you can learn when you embrace Jesus without religion:
Jesus didnât come to a Christmas card world. Despite the sanitized images of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph we often see during the Christmas season, Jesus actually entered a fallen world in a dirty stable and began living a gritty life. Understand that Jesus decided to trade the glories of heaven for the struggles of our world, and that His life here was not comfortable in any way. Know that very few of our Christmas traditions have their roots in the Gospels. Rather than focusing just on holiday traditions (like decorating Christmas trees or baking gingerbread cookies), devote plenty of time to meditating on the wonderful implications of Jesusâ decision to visit Earth.
Itâs okay for Jesus to shock you. Jesus meant to jolt people out of the status quo and inspire them to turn to Him for complete transformation. Donât make the mistake of thinking that Jesus just wants to be nice to you, no matter how many benign images you see of Him in religious traditions. Realize that He wants to change you. Expect that the radical grace Jesus offers will sometimes shock you because He loves everyone without conditions. Ask Him to help you stop judging other people and start seeing them as He does so you can love them, too.
Jesus reveals your cravings. Jesus isnât just a distant religious figure. He knows you better than you even know yourself, and He has a unique way of making you think about whatâs most important to you. As you pray, let His voice drown out all the noise of distractions in your life and help you focus on your true motivations. What do you really want, and why? Is it what God wants for you? If not, are you willing to lay it down so you can pursue what God wants? Do you trust that God knows whatâs best for you? Ask Jesus to change your heart so you want for yourself what He wants for you.
Jesus didnât speak in sound bites. Rather than simplifying Jesusâ messages as religion sometimes tries to do, realize that thereâs a purpose behind the fact that Jesusâ messages arenât always easy to understand. By speaking in parables, Jesus allowed people who are truly seeking God to unlock the meaning while keeping it hidden from those who arenât yet ready to hear it.
Jesus is much more than a great leader or wise teacher. Instead of including Jesus in the list of the worldâs great religious leaders (along with Mohammed, Buddha, and others), recognize that He is much more than just a great leader or wise teacher. Remember that Jesus claimed to be God, and take Him seriously. Never compare Jesus to religious figures who were merely human, because He is altogether different.
Jesus didnât come to put on a show. Even though religion sometimes aims to feed peopleâs appetites for the sensational, Jesus Himself never tried to do that. He could easily have performed any kind of miracle just for the sake of showing off, but He refrained unless there was a specific purpose for granting a miracle. Understand that Jesus wants you to look beyond a desire for miracles to the One who is behind them. Expect that Jesus will sometimes choose to perform a miracle to encourage faith in those who are humble, but that He doesnât intend for miracles to become substitutes for deeper faith.
Evil is a reality, and a relationship with Jesus gives you the power to fight it. No matter how much we may focus on inspiration through our religious traditions, we canât ignore the reality that evil exists. Never become so sophisticated in your religious traditions that you forget the simple truth that you need to fight evil in our fallen world. Ask God to give you the courage you need to use your authority as a Christian to engage in spiritual warfare whenever necessary.
Jesus doesnât want to just heal you; He wants to know if you really want to get well. Although religious rituals often present healing as a matter of magically receiving an answer to prayer, understand that thereâs more to it. Jesus is not a divine vending machine who simply grants or denies requests; He wants to change you in the process. Before asking Jesus to heal you (physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually), first ask yourself if you truly want to get well â" no matter what it costs to do so. For example, if you want to be healed of an addiction to alcohol, are you truly willing to make the sacrifices youâll need to make to start living a healthy lifestyle? Rather than expecting Jesus to magically heal you without any effort on your part, decide to cooperate with Him in the process.
Jesus can seem foolish. Despite religionâs attempts to explain Jesus, He is beyond human comprehension. Sometimes His wisdom will seem foolish to us because we canât understand it from our perspective. Donât worry about not being able to explain Jesusâ ways. Instead, let His mystery draw you closer to Him to constantly learn more and more. Jesus isnât bound by the limitations of our culture. Recognize that, while religious traditions often vary across cultures, Jesus is the same for people from all cultures at all times in history. Donât make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is like our cultural images of Christians (for example, Jesus isnât a Republican who lives in the suburbs with a large family). Take off your cultural glasses so you can see Jesus more clearly.
Jesus isnât to blame for Christiansâ hypocrisy. While Jesus grieves the way His followers have sometimes failed to represent Him faithfully, Heâs not at fault for it. Look beyond the mistakes of imperfect human beings to the perfection of Jesus Himself, who always stands ready to forgive and help people grow. Donât use the sins of Christians as an excuse for spiritual lethargy. Know that weâre all accountable to God for our own choices.
Jesusâ Crucifixion and Resurrection stand at the center of all time. Although religious traditions have made stories about Jesusâ Crucifixion and Resurrection seem familiar to you, donât take them for granted, thinking that you donât have anything new to learn from them. Give those events your fresh attention on a regular basis. Realize that they form the climax of all of history because of what they accomplished â" the salvation of the world.
Jesus doesnât just promise redemption; He actually delivers it. No religious practice (no matter how promising) has the power to give you the ultimate need of every person â" redemption. But Jesus can and will redeem you if you place your trust in Him. Donât waste your time trying to gain redemption from religion. Instead, turn to Jesus Himself for what you need.
Adapted from Jesus without Religion: What Did He Say? What Did He Do? Whatâs the Point?, copyright 2007 by Rick James. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com. Rick James is a campus missionary for Campus Crusade for Christ and the publisher of CruPress. He is the author of Postcards from Corinth: A Study in Discipleship. Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/11554085/
Because of Him, I Can Face Tomorrow
The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. Lamentations 3:25 NLT
He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. HIS faithful promises are your armor and protection. Psalm 91:4 NLT
THEN JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES, "IF ANYONE WOULD
COME AFTER ME, HE MUST DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE
UP HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME."
( MATTHEW 16:24 *NIV )
We all have crosses to bear in this life. Perhaps your cross
may seen like a heavy one, however if you look around you will
find others with a much bigger one than yourself.
Therefore when your "cross" seems to heavy remember
that God is there helping you carry it. After all God has said,
"NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE
YOU." ( HEBREWS 13:5 )
So put your faith in God, and remember that Jesus said,
"DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN
GOD; TRUST ALSO IN ME. ( JOHN 14:1 ) Then let the
wings of faith uphold you, uphold you indeed!
The Wings Of Faith
May the wings of faith uphold you
When your cross is hard to bear,
As temptations surround you,
And no one seems to care.
May the wings of faith surround you
And shield you from the pain
When sorrows overcome you
And teardrops fall like rain.
May you know that God is with you
In times of deep despair.
May the spirit, who's within you,
Confirm that He is there!
May the valley of the shadow
Provide angels unaware...
May the wings of faith uphold you
When your cross is hard to bear.
Poet, Clay Harrison
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:19 NLT
DO NOT FEAR, FOR I AM WITH YOU; DO NOT BE
DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I WILL STRENGTHEN
YOU AND HELP YOU; I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH MY
RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND.
( ISAIAH 41:10 *NIV )
There are times when we my feel very far from our Heavenly
Father. Times when we may even wonder if He even knows
we exist. So today we will take a look at just how well God
knows each and every one of His Children, and how very
important we all are to Him!
Let us begin with the words of King David: O LORD, YOU
HAVE SEARCHED ME AND KNOW ME. YOU KNOW
WHEN I SIT AND WHEN I RISE; YOU PERCEIVE MY
THOUGHTS FROM AFAR. ( PSALM 139:1 & 2 *NIV )
So we may not want others to know us very well, but God
already knows everything about us. For: EVEN THE VERY
HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED.
( MATTHEW 10:30 )
YOU DISCERN MY GOING OUT AND MY LYING DOWN;
YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH ALL MY WAYS. (PSALM 139:3)
For it is also written: DOES HE NOT SEE MY WAYS AND
COUNT MY EVERY STEP? ( JOB 31:4 ) And even:
BEFORE A WORD IS ON MY TONGUE YOU KNOW IT
COMPLETELY, O LORD. ( PSALM 139:4 )
The Apostle Paul wrote, NOTHING IN ALL CREATION IS
HIDDEN FROM GOD'S SIGHT. EVERYTHING IS
UNCOVERED AND LAID BARE BEFORE THE EYES OF
HIM. ( HEBREWS 4:13 )
It is also written, FOR YOU CREATED MY INMOST
BEING; YOU KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER'S
WOMB. ( PSALM 139:13 ) MY FRAME WAS NOT HIDDEN
FROM YOU WHEN I WAS MADE IN THE SECRET PLACE
. YOUR EYES SAW MY UNFORMED BODY. ALL THE
DAYS ORDAINED FOR ME WERE WRITTEN IN YOUR
BOOK BEFORE ONE OF THEM CAME TO BE.
( PSALM 139:15 & 16 )
Now you know how intimately God knows you, and you
may know Him intimately as well by reading His Letter To
You! ( The Bible )
Have a wonderful week dear friend, and know that God Loves
You Dearly, for you are His Child and He smiles every time
He thinks about You!
