The Eternal Love.

The Eternal Love it is!! We need to remember that the Love that we desire, that we yern for, can come from only one place. That place is from the Lord of Lords, the Alpha & the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Godhead Three, the King of Kings, and most importantly the Daddy of All Daddys!!! We can only get the love we desire by embracing the Word of the Lord and developing a relationship with our Papa! So as you read this Psalm, think of His arms wrapped around us and His loving embrace!! Praise Him daily for this relationship that we can have with Him because of His love and the Love His Son had for us, by taking upon our sins and our iniquities as He was slain upon the Cross!! Thank You Jesus, Thank You Oh God for this Eternal Love!! Amen!

Psalms 118:1-29 (GNB)
(1)  Give thanks to the LORD, because he is good, and his love is eternal.
(2)  Let the people of Israel say, "His love is eternal."
(3)  Let the priests of God say, "His love is eternal."
(4)  Let all who worship him say, "His love is eternal."
(5)  In my distress I called to the LORD; he answered me and set me free.
(6)  The LORD is with me, I will not be afraid; what can anyone do to me?
(7)  It is the LORD who helps me, and I will see my enemies defeated.
(8)  It is better to trust in the LORD than to depend on people.
(9)  It is better to trust in the LORD than to depend on human leaders.
(10)  Many enemies were around me; but I destroyed them by the power of the LORD!
(11)  They were around me on every side; but I destroyed them by the power of the LORD!
(12)  They swarmed around me like bees, but they burned out as quickly as a brush fire; by the power of the LORD I destroyed them.
(13)  I was fiercely attacked and was being defeated, but the LORD helped me.
(14)  The LORD makes me powerful and strong; he has saved me.
(15)  Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God's people: "The LORD's mighty power has done it!
(16)  His power has brought us victory--- his mighty power in battle!"
(17)  I will not die; instead, I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
(18)  He has punished me severely, but he has not let me die.
(19)  Open to me the gates of the Temple; I will go in and give thanks to the LORD!
(20)  This is the gate of the LORD; only the righteous can come in.
(21)  I praise you, LORD, because you heard me, because you have given me victory.
(22)  The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.
(23)  This was done by the LORD; what a wonderful sight it is!
(24)  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
(25)  Save us, LORD, save us! Give us success, O LORD!
(26)  May God bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD! From the Temple of the LORD we bless you.
(27)  The LORD is God; he has been good to us. With branches in your hands, start the festival and march around the altar.
(28)  You are my God, and I give you thanks; I will proclaim your greatness.
(29)  Give thanks to the LORD, because he is good, and his love is eternal.

Let's Please the World in a Godly Way.

We as believers need to spread the Good word. In fact we are commanded to by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, to do the works that He has and even greater works. So what are we waiting for? We need to go out of our box, the four walls of the church and take that Good word that we have faith in and spread it to the those who are being held captive by the darkness and by the wrath of the unrighteous ruler. So take the below scriptures and believe in them and have faith that Our Lord is with you always, no matter what!! Amen!

Romans 15:1-21 (GNB)
(1)  We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves.
(2)  Instead, we should all please other believers for their own good, in order to build them up in the faith.
(3)  For Christ did not please himself. Instead, as the scripture says, "The insults which are hurled at you have fallen on me."
(4)  Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.
(5)  And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus,
(6)  so that all of you together may praise with one voice the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(7)  Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.
(8)  For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true,
(9)  and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, "And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you."
(10)  Again it says, "Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!"
(11)  And again, "Praise the Lord, all Gentiles; praise him, all peoples!"
(12)  And again, Isaiah says, "A descendant of Jesse will appear; he will come to rule the Gentiles, and they will put their hope in him."
(13)  May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(14)  My friends: I myself feel sure that you are full of goodness, that you have all knowledge, and that you are able to teach one another.
(15)  But in this letter I have been quite bold about certain subjects of which I have reminded you. I have been bold because of the privilege God has given me
(16)  of being a servant of Christ Jesus to work for the Gentiles. I serve like a priest in preaching the Good News from God, in order that the Gentiles may be an offering acceptable to God, dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit.
(17)  In union with Christ Jesus, then, I can be proud of my service for God.
(18)  I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds,
(19)  by the power of miracles and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. And so, in traveling all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have proclaimed fully the Good News about Christ.
(20)  My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.
(21)  As the scripture says, "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."

Plant the seed.

So we should plant the seed that God has blessed us with. We as Christians have been given an opportunity to have a huge ministry for our Lord! How, your a not preacher or a minister, you say. Easy, as you go out in your daily endeavors, take the seed God has planted in you, and plant it every where you go! All you have to do is act as God wants you to. As people who see you day in and day out at work, the stores, the park, etc. you can be planting a seed in them by just being a good example of Christ. Show love, mercy, and joy. Let those blessings that God has given unto you be used to spread the gift of knowledge to everlasting life. Let the people see through you the eyes of Christ and the relationship that you have with him. By doing this you have started to sow that seed into their hearts and have showed them what they are longing for, a relationship that they need!! Thank You Lord God for these wonderful and awesome blessings and gifts you have blessed us with, and bless us more to be able to use them! Amen!!

2 Corinthians 9:5-15 (GNB)
(5)  So I thought it was necessary to urge these believers to go to you ahead of me and get ready in advance the gift you promised to make. Then it will be ready when I arrive, and it will show that you give because you want to, not because you have to.
(6)  Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop.
(7)  You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly.
(8)  And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.
(9)  As the scripture says, "He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever."
(10)  And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.
(11)  He will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times, so that many will thank God for your gifts which they receive from us.
(12)  For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God's people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.
(13)  And because of the proof which this service of yours brings, many will give glory to God for your loyalty to the gospel of Christ, which you profess, and for your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.
(14)  And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.
(15)  Let us thank God for his priceless gift!

Wow and wow.

I am taking advantage of my devotional again today. I have been extremely busy at work, thus the reasoning for not having much posted lately. So bare with me again please.

I say Wow and wow for the title, because, I am a man who has and would have responded to this differently before I read it. Now I can see that God has an ever forgiving heart and while somethings are not good for our bodies He will take care of us till that conviction of the Spirit to quit things, like smoking, comes upon us and He will always love us without judgment or ridicule!! Thank You Lord for that unending Love and Mercy!! Amen!!

Rylisms (James Ryle)
Holy Smokes!
"Happy is the man that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth." (Romans 14:22)

There may be a few raised eyebrows among our more impassioned brethren when I tell you that each Wednesday morning, from 8:30 to 10:00am, I gather with a small group of Christian men for hearty Bible study and a fine cigar. We call our group Holy Smokes. I can tell you that over the past couple of years we have witnessed the Lord do many wonderful things in our gatherings.

Now, before one is too quick to pronounce their disapproval, perhaps a fair reading of G. K. Chesterson's thoughts would be helpful.

"It is true that tobacco," he writes, "though not an intoxicant, is in some sense a drug: but so is tea. It is true that tobacco, taken out of season and reason, spoils your appetite: but so do sweets. It is true that it is a luxury, a mere keen and passing titillation or pungency: but so are peppers and salt and mustard and a hundred other blameless gifts. It is true that it ends in smoke: but so do all the worldly powers and pleasures. It is true that it falls into ashes: but so do we. There is nothing immoral about smoking a cigar. To regard smoking as immoral shows not merely a lack of clear thinking but a lack of clear standards. Lumping the wrong things together as evils blurs the real lines between right and wrong and leads to chaos. It also leads to legal and practical confusion." (The Power of the Expert, June 22, 1914).

In the fourteenth chapter of Romans, which I encourage you to read for yourself, the apostle Paul presents a compelling case for keeping a clear conscience in matters of faith and conduct; showing how easy it is for us to condemn one another for things which are in fact indifferent — things like eating meat, or not; drinking wine, or not; worshiping on one day, rather than another, and so on.

Paul concludes with this wise and liberating counsel, "If your conscience is clear in the matters of choice that you decide, then be at peace as you do what you have decided to do; but don't impose your opinions upon others. And always act in love toward another, especially if they are of a different mind about these things."
While there are certainly clear guidelines in Scripture about some things — such as adultery, stealing, lying, killing; to name but a few — there yet are many things left in somewhat of a gray zone. It is a matter of personal conscience acting with faith toward God, and love toward others, that we are to make our choices regarding such things.

For this band of brothers, a puff on a fine cigar as we turn the pages of scripture is time well spent. Holy Smokes!

Taken from the Devotional authored by James Ryle, titled Rylisms.