We Are Sanctified By The Blood Of Jesus

All Saints Sunday; Revelation 7:2-8; Revelation 22:18-19; KJV; all who believe that Jesus died for their sins are sanctified by his blood.

Death Has Been Conquered

1 Peter 1:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:50-55; John 14:1-3; John 14:17; As the flowers fade so do we; but, in Christ we will be revived and live for all eternity in the presence of God.

What Is Good And What Is Not

Col 2:6-9; John 14:6; KJV; How are we to tell if what the world tells us is good is truly good and what is not good. Listen to the Word!! 

I AM

Trinity Sunday; John 8:48-59 KJV; Jesus was before Abraham. How is that?

Memorial Day 2025

John 15:12-13 KJV; Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Keep Us From Straying

6th Sunday of Easter; John 16:23-33 KJV; Keeping us from deserting Jesus as the disciples did in Jesus' last hours.

Peace Be With You

John 20:19-31 KJV; 2nd Sunday of Easter; Do not fear. Let the peace of God which surpasses all understanding fill you

Praise Him On Sunday Execute Him On Friday

Palm/Passion Sunday John 12:12-19 KJV; As we sing praises to the Lord today; we will still be the reason for His death on Friday.

Love Is The Fulfillment Of The Law

1 John 3:11; Romans 13:7-10; KJV; pretending sin is not sin is not loving. We can love one another without enabling sin.

Saints By The Grace Of God

1 John 3:1-3; 1 John 1:8; Heb 2:9-11; Rom 4:7; KJV; All Saints Sunday; We are not saints because of our good works. We are only saints because of God's gracious love.

No Longer Lost And Condemned

John 8:31-36 KJV; Reformation Sunday; Believe the Word who is Jesus the Christ and you will be free from the bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil.

God So Loves The World

John 3:1-17 KJV; Trinity Sunday; God loves you so much that He was willing to suffer and die for you.

The Word Is Truth

John 17:11-19 KJV; 7th Sunday of Easter; The Word Is Truth; Listen to it; Read it; Study it.

Caring For Others

John 15:9-17 KJV; 6th Sunday of Easter; Caring for others at the expense of even others.

Wisdom To Follow The Good Shepherd

John 10:11-18 KJV; 4th Sunday of Easter; The Good Shepherd seeks you. Follow him and beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.

Love Is More Than A Word

1 John 3:16-24 KJV; 4th Sun of Easter; Love is about being and doing. It is not just a word to say to appease others.

Rejoice And Be Glad

Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

                                                      Rev 19:6b-8 KJV

We have a lot to rejoice in. St. John was exiled on Patmos for his faith; but, he did not give up hope. St. Paul spent a great deal of time in prison and even on his way to his death; he did not give up hope. The many saints before us never gave up hope. In faith that they have been washed by the blood of the lamb; they looked to the day when they would be reconciled to God our Father and our Lord Jesus the Christ in the very home that Christ has prepared for us.

Life can be pretty confusing and tough at times. In those times we remember that today will pass and tomorrow will come whether we are here in this world or in the Kingdom prepared for us. For all who believe in Jesus and his gifts of forgiveness and salvation for us, life will go on. It is eternal.

By the blood of Jesus we have been cleansed and reconciled to God and to one another even now. So, rejoice and be glad and give God the glory! Give God the glory in all that you say and think and do. Whatever you do, do it as if to the Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Power Of The Holy Spirit

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"  (John 7:37-39 KJV)

There are times when I become fully aware that someone I know does not understand who this Holy Spirit is as I assumed they knew. It saddens me that there are so many who do not have an inkling of the power of the Holy Spirit that abides in and with all who believe. If they did, I believe that they would not be so quick to judge those who do believe.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, does abide in all who believe opening our eyes, and our hearts, and our minds to a greater understanding of God's love and will for all people. This Spirit of Christ, that abides in you and me connects and unites us in a way that is not humanly possible. 

Today is Pentecost Sunday. It is the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as Jesus promised. It is considered the birthday of the church as on that day the disciples were given the power by the Holy Spirit to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people. No matter in what language the disciples spoke to that great assembly; the hearers heard and understood it and many came to believe. Rivers of living water flowed forth by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" 

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."           (Acts 2:1-8, 38-41)

I am sure that Peter spoke with many more words than are recorded in Acts. The words he spoke were living words that gave hope to the people in that the Savior who had been promised had come. The prophecies had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All who believe will receive eternal life.

Neglect not and do not minimize the power of the Holy Spirit. With the coming of the Holy Spirit the church on earth was born over 2000 years ago. 

Do not underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit that abides in and with all who believe.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Fiery Plagues

Rev 9:13-21 KJV

The sixth trumpet sounds and what is this army that God sends that it would have no impact on the hearts of humankind? John sees a powerful image of hundreds of thousands of mounted troops to destroy one third of mankind by three plagues of fire that come out of the mouths of the horses. What a fearsome site that would be! 

Now, most people have a little fear of fire or at least a little respect of it. Once burned by fire, it would be wise to learn from that lesson and play games with fire. We change the way we do things so that we do not get burned again. But everyone learns. Not everyone in John's vision learned. The plagues of fire that God sends do not change the hearts or minds of any of those who were not believers before the great army of mounted riders came. Those who are not killed still cannot comprehend that God is Almighty; that He is God, and He alone is to be worshiped. They do not repent. They continue to worship demons and all sorts of false man-made idols. They do not repent of any of the things they have been doing to disrespect and sin against God or humankind. 

May God open our hearts and minds so that we can comprehend that once burned we ought to quit playing around so we do not get burned. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Sweet And Bitter

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

                                                                  (Rev 10:1-3, 8-11 KJV)

Prophecy is often a "bitter pill" to swallow. We don't like to hear that we need to make changes in our lives. We usually don't care to hear that there are consequences to everything we do. Sometimes, those consequences are good. Sometimes, they are not. A lot depends on whom or what we choose to serve.

John is told by this mighty angel eat the little scroll. He eats. The scroll tastes as sweet as honey; but, it turned his stomach sour. He has swallowed the words and it is sweet to taste; yet, bitter to stomach. It sounds good and it is good; but, with the words that were delivered to John on the scroll will come many anxious and troubling times. Events and times that will be very difficult to stomach.

John must go out and prophesy with the words that he has swallowed about peoples, nations, languages and kings. It may well be that to those who believe in the Son of God and anxiously wait for the mystery of God to be accomplished that the word is sweet; yet, a very "bitter pill" to those who reject the Lord. It will not be easy for John. With the sweet word of the Lord will come much persecution from the world to all who love Him.

May God help us to hear the word and receive it no matter what kind of changes it asks us to make in our lives.

God's Peace - Pr. J