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Psalm 34

I will extol the LORD at all times; his          praise will
always be on my lips. My soul   will boast  in the
LORD; let the  afflicted hear and rejoice.  Glorify the
LORD  with me; let us exalt his  name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered
me from all my fears. Those who look to him are
radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he
saved him out of all his troubles.   The angel of the
LORD  encamps around those who fear him, and he
delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;  blessed is the
man who takes refuge in
him.  Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear
him lack nothing. The
lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek
the LORD lack no good
thing.   

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the
fear of the LORD.   Whoever
of you loves life and desires to see many good days,  
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do
good;  seek peace and
pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his
ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the LORD is against  those who do evil, to
cut off the memory of them
from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he
delivers them from all their
troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted  and
saves those who are
crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many
troubles,  but the LORD
delivers him from them all;  he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be
broken.   Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the
righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be
condemned who takes refuge  in him.
The LORD is my shepherd; I
shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures: he leadeth me
beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's
sake.

Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art
with me; thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine
enemies: thou anointest my
head with oil; my cup runneth
over.

Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of
my life: and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23



What are you doing here, Elijah?


Elijah had just finished defeating  450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.  He had
stood face to face with King Ahab and challenged him to a showdown.  Elijah knew that the
Lord was the only true God and he had proven it by calling fire down from heaven to consume
the sacrifice.  He then had all the false prophets put to death.  He was one of the mightiest
prophets of God to ever walk the earth.

After he had defeated the false prophets, he prayed to the Lord God Almighty and brought an
end to a three year drought, a drought he had brought upon the land by praying with faith to the
Lord.  

But after the confrontation, Ahab told Jezebel about what had happened.  Jezebel hadn’t been
there to see the power of God.  She had only heard that Elijah had defied Ahab, and in doing so
had defied her.  She was furious!  She swore an oath that she would have him killed within the
next 24 hours.

When Elijah heard that Jezebel had ordered his death, Elijah turned tail and ran.  He had
enough faith in God to call fire down from heaven.  He had enough faith in God to end a three
year drought.  But when Jezebel threatened his life he was terrified.

He was so distraught that he sat down under a broom tree and decided that life wasn’t worth
living.  He was sure that he was the only servant of the Lord left in the land.  He asked God to
end his life, but God wasn’t quite through with him yet.  

Elijah kept on running and hiding for the next forty days.  He fled to the mountain of God,
where he hid in a cave.

The Lord spoke to him in the cave;  “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah told the Lord that even though he had been faithful, the Israelites had turned their backs
on the Lord and had killed all the true prophets, and now they were planning on killing Elijah,
too.

The Lord told Elijah to go outside, because the Lord was going to pass by.  First there was such
a violent wind that the rocks were shattering.  Then there was an earthquake.  Immediately
after the earthquake came a fire.  But God wasn’t in any of them.   Then came a still, small
voice, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

God told Elijah to go back  and anoint Jehu as king and Elisha as prophet.  He assured Elijah
that he still had the power to deliver his people.  God had seven thousand faithful people that
Elijah didn’t even know about.

……………………………….......................................

Aren’t we like Elijah sometimes?  We have seen God do mighty things in the past.  We have
had great faith to see great things accomplished.  But the devil knows us very well, and he
knows how to push our buttons.  He will threaten us with our greatest fear.  Like Peter when
he went to Jesus on the water, we take our eyes off of the Lord and look in dismay at what it is
that terrifies us.

We  need to remember that God is still on the throne.  The one who formed the universe,
parted the sea, fed the 5,000, and raised the dead is the one who hears our prayers.

Don’t worry about the Jezebels in your life.  Look to God.

MY TESTIMONY


I wasn't always a Christian.  I wasn't saved until I was 44 years old.  I smoked
dope.  I drank like a fish.  I chased women.  I did it all. Eventually I began to
realize how empty and worthless my life had become.  All of the things I
thought would be all fun and freedom had turned out to be all misery and
bondage.

I began to seek God.  I prayed day and night, but It seemed my prayers were
going nowhere.  I had been close to God when I was 14.  That had lasted about a
week.  I had decided that I wanted to party instead.  Now that I wanted..., needed
God, it seemed like he didn't want me.  I grew desperate. I thought that I had
walked in sin so long that God had become disgusted with me and didn't want
me as his child.  At one point I was driving down the road and passed a church.  
There was a sign that read, "Where can I go and meet with God? Inquire within".
 I pulled into the church parking lot, got out and ran to the door.  Then I  fell on
my face crying.  The church door was locked and it seemed heaven was too.

A couple of days later I found myself in a Christian book store, still praying
silently....still seeking.  I prayed,  "Lord, if there is no hope for me.... If I've
gone too far and can't be saved, take me out of the world now.  I can do no good
for anyone without you. But if there is hope... If you will take me back...
PLEASE... Let me know...give me some kind of sign".

At that moment I saw a bible on the shelf with a book mark in it.  It somehow
seemed strange to me that a new bible would have a bookmark marking a page
in the middle of the bible.  I wondered why that certain page was marked. I
opened the bible to where it was marked and this was what it said.

Isaiah 54:7-10 "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I
will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD
your Redeemer.  "To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the
waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be
angry with you, never to rebuke you again.  Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor
my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you."


Since that day God has poured out his love on me in a way that is so wonderful
I can't put it into words.   


Jeremiah 29:12-14 "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I
will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart.  I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back
from captivity."

Revelation 3:15-16

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.   

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor
hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So,
because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—
I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

--------------------------------------------

Many sermons have been preached about the
church at Laodicea. It is obvious that God doesn't
want us to be lukewarm in our relationship with
him. Every Christian should strive for a strong,
vibrant walk with God, through his Son, Jesus
Christ.

It is easy to see why it is better to be “on fire” for
God than to be lukewarm.  But take a close look
at verse 15. Jesus said , “…you are neither hot
nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other!”
Have you ever noticed that Jesus would rather
have us to be “cold” than "lukewarm"? On first
glance one would think that it would be better to
be lukewarm than to be cold. But that’s not what
he said. He said, “I wish you were either one or
the other!”

When you are “Hot” for God you are filled with a
zeal to do his will. You want to “make his praise
glorious.” You want to tell people about our great
God and the wonderful promises he has made for
his people. His love and his power are evident in
your life.

Some people will see and long for what you have.
Your joy will be obvious to them. They will
notice that your life has been transformed. They
will, “see your good deeds and praise your Father
in heaven."   Other people, who have been blinded
by Satan may just think you are some religious
fanatic, but it will still be obvious that you are
different. You don’t delight in sin.

If you are “cold” towards God, like a huge
portion of the world is, you will take no thought
of him. You may not even believe that God exist.
You will live your life according to the standard
of this world. You will judge yourself as good or
bad by comparing yourself to other people. When
people observe you they will take no thought of
God or his kingdom.

But if you are lukewarm, you will tell people
that you are a Christian. You will probably
attend church, maybe even faithfully. You may
have the little fish on your car, wear a cross
around your neck or have some other outward
indication that you are a Christian. But you
won’t have Christ in your heart, not really. You
will probably think that you are a Christian, but
your life won’t show it. You will be a “Sunday
Christian”, singing the songs on Sunday
morning and living like the rest of the world as
soon as you walk out the door.

The really sad part is that the world is watching
you. If you are lukewarm they will notice. But,
being blinded by Satan, They will not
understand what they see. If you say you are a
Christian they will believe you. They will take
note of your hypocrisy and the reputation of God
will suffer. When you show “the fruit of the
sinful nature” in your life, they will see it.
They may respond with the old adage we have
heard so often, “If that’s how a Christian acts, I
want no part of it.”

Jesus was clear on this subject. There is no
middle of the road when it comes to serving the
Lord. You are either on one side or the other. As
he says in Matthew 12:30 , “He who is not with
me is against me, and he who does not gather
with me, scatters.” Indeed, there is no room for
complacency in the kingdom of God. In the book
of Zephaniah God tells us through his prophet,
“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish all those who are complacent, who are
like wine left on its dregs, who think the Lord
will do nothing, either good or bad.”

And again, in James 4:17 he says; “Anyone,
then, who knows the Good he ought to do and
doesn't do it, sins.” God makes it abundantly
clear that we can’t coast into heaven.

So, how is it with your soul today? I know that
it sounds hard to “live the life” and “walk the
walk”, but the good news is that we don’t have to
do it by our own power! No! If we are truly Gods
children then we have the awesome power of the
Holy Spirit working in us and through us. If it
were up to us to do this on our own everyone
would fail. No human is able to live a good and
holy life apart from God. If you feel that you are
missing the mark when it comes to holiness, I
urge you to spend some “quality time” with God.
Tell him your fears, your short-comings, your
sins and your concerns.   You won’t shock him.
He is waiting... Longing to hear from you. Do
you feel too weak to live this life. So what!
Remember what he told his disciples in Acts 1:8;
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you…”

He has promised and he will deliver! All we have
to do is to trust in him to help us,, and we will
be able.
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The Word?  What Word?

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made.

Have you ever wondered what 'word' ?
Why and how the reference "Word" ???

In the KJV we read: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.

and , yes we know Jesus is God..... but why "Word" ????
Where does the Name: "Word" come from??  

In the original Hebrew Gen1:1 reads like this:

אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץאֱלֹהִיםבְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא , .




Directly translated:
בְּרֵאשִׁית... In the beginning
בָּרָא created
אֱלֹהִים God
אֵת........ ???
הַשָּׁמַיִם the heaven
וְאֵת and
הָאָרֶץ the earth......

This word אֵת does not get translated....

These two letters are the first and last letters of the Hebrew
alphabet... alepf and tav


1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.



Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.

We know that the NT is translated from Greek, and their first and
last letters are Alpha and Omega,,,, Jesus , being a Jew, would
have said : I am the Aleph and the Tav.... I am whom is mentioned
in Genesis 1:1... I am that Word: אֵת The untranslatable Word.....
Because אֵת can not be translated.... His Name is untranslatable,



In the year 1265, Kubla Kahn ruled China, most of India and the greater portion of the Asian continent.  He was one of
the most powerful men on the face of the earth.  In that same year, two Italian men named Nicolo and Matio Polo, the
father and uncle of Marco Polo (yes he was a real person, not just a pool game) took a journey to China.  They traveled
that great distance to Eastern Europe, through Asia and into China where they met the great Khan.  They told Kubla
Kahn about Jesus Christ.  They told him about the death of Christ.  They told him about the crucifixion of Christ, His
sacrifice for our sin, His offer of forgiveness.  They told Kahn about how Jesus Christ is the hope of the world, how He
offers eternal life to all who believe.  The Holy Spirit was working in the heart and mind of Kubla Kahn in what we call
prevenient grace.  In that moment he was ready to become a Christian.

Kubla Kahn thought, I would like all of my leaders, all of my officials, all of my officers to become Christians.  I want my
people to be Christians.  I want you two men to go back to Italy and bring 100 missionaries here.  I want then to tell all of
my people about Jesus Christ.  So Nicolo and Matio returned to Italy in 1269.  They talked to the church leaders, who were
not very impressed.  They were not willing to send 100 missionaries, but agreed to send two.  So, in the year 1271, Nicolo
and Matio Polo, with the 17-year-old Marco Polo, left for China again and they took two missionaries with them.  When
they were halfway there, the two missionaries were so wearied of the journey, they turned around and went back to Italy.  
It was 30 years later when missionaries finally arrived in China.  By that time, Kubla Kahn was dead.  It was too little.  It
was too late.  The door was closed.  The opportunity would never come again.

How can we possibly know what would have happened if the church of Jesus Christ had been faithful in that moment?



Is there something God is calling you to do?



Ezekiel 22:30.

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall   and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I
would not have to destroy it, but I found none.




Jeremiah 1:6-10.

6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak;  I am only a child."  

7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I
command you.

8 Do not be afraid  of them, for I am with you  and will rescue  you," declares the LORD.

9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched

my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth.  

10 See, today I appoint you over nations  and kingdoms to uproot  and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and
to plant."
“A new command I
give you: Love one
another. As I have
loved you, so you
must love one
another.  By this
all men will know
that you are my
disciples, if you
love one another.”

- John 13:34-35


                                          HOW CAN A COMPASSIONATE GOD SEND PEOPLE TO HELL?

God has given us a choice.  We can choose him or reject him.  He will let us decide.  If we choose
him, he has given us directions on how to find him.  Read your bible and you will find the way.

If we reject him he will honor our decision.  Some may say, "Why doesn't he just save everybody if
he's omnipotent?"  Well, like I said, he has given us free will to decide whether we want him or not.  
Suppose there was a homeless woman living under a bridge.  I tell her that I will marry her and she
can live with me.  Otherwise she will freeze this winter.  She has the choice of whether to take me
up on my offer or reject it.  If she rejects it she may freeze to death.  Would it make sense to say
that if I really loved her I would tie her up, drag her into my house, rape her, and force her to
marry me?  God isn't into forced submission either.

But back to our choice to choose or reject God....  If we decide to reject God he will honor that
choice.  I have seen several atheists post that they don't want any part of God.  Well, if you don't
want any part of God he will honor your request.

God is the source of all love.  He is the source of joy, peace, hope, light, happiness, and compassion.  
If you say you don't want any part of God he will let you have what you have asked for.  He will give
you a place where there is no love, no joy, no peace, no hope, no light, no happiness, and no compassion.

God's glory fills the universe, so in order to give you what you choose, he had to make a special place
for you; A place where he is not. When you make a room dark you don't fill it with darkness.  You just
remove the light and it becomes dark.  God didn't make hell a place of eternal hopelessness.  He just
removed himself from it.  When the source of hope was removed it became hopeless.  When the source
of joy was removed it became a place of despair.  When the source of love was removed it became a
place of hatred.

You will not be alone.  Many people and even some angels have made the same choice.  So you will be
surrounded by demons and people who have no love, no hope, no joy, and no compassion for you.  It will
not be a pleasant place.  The bible says "all good things come from the Lord".  If you choose to reject
God you will have no good thing.

He has set before you life and death.  Choose life.