Rejoice And Praise Him

Psalm 67

A New Day; A New Year, With Peace

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

                                                                        (2 Cor 5:17-19 KJV)

May God bless this new year richly for each and everyone of us!  I believe that he will. The old has gone away so let us not cling to our old ways.  This year let there be reconciliation with God and with one another for all people. Let there be peace.

The last two years have seen an influx of crime; of hate, in this country. It is time to stop living in the darkness and relish the good things that God has provided us with. Such an old saying; but, "Take time to smell the roses!"

In Christ we have been forgiven our sins so why do we continue, in so many cases, to willfully sin?  Just, why!! As Christ has forgiven us, let us forgive one another and live in peace!

May God help each and every one of us to strive to live reconciled to one another in peace in the coming years. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Submit One To Another

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

                                                                                                               (Eph 5:21-28 KJV)

St. Paul admonished husbands and wives to submit to one another. What does this mean?

It means even as the Lord Jesus gave himself up for the sake of humanity we are to give our own pitiful and self-serving desires up for the sake of the person we have committed to live and love forever; for the sake of our marriages.

If we could but love as Christ loves the world would be in excellent shape. We are sinners; but, that does not mean that we should not try with all of our beings to love and support each other.  As people, born again into the Body of Christ, the Spirit of Christ dwells within us and reminds us when we are about to do something that will cause physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual damage to our spouses. It also empowers us, as hard as it may seem, to say no. I love him or her too much. I have committed myself to that person in the eyes of God and will put their needs before my own desires for the sake of out marriage; for the sake of the whole family of God. 

The love that God has imparted to us through Jesus Christ empowers us to do what is right for others, for ourselves; for our marriages. When we do what is right; when we submit to one another, as the Spirit guides us, our lives will know a much greater amount of both love and peace. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Alone: A Good Or Bad Thing

"But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed."  (Luke 5:15-16 KJV)

Is being alone a good or a bad thing? It can be either.

Scripture tells us that it is good that people should support one another. We should not be without fellowship. We should not isolate ourselves from others but live and serve the Lord and one another together.

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." (Eccl 4:9-10)

And then we have St. Paul telling us that it would be better not to marry so we can better serve the Lord. Yet, if we can not restrain ourselves then it is better to marry. 

"I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." (1 Cor 7:8-9)

Paul may not have been devoted to a wife. Yet, he was not alone. He served the Lord in fellowship with other followers and above all God was with him.

So shall we live alone or must we, as so many people seem to think, live in some type of committed relationship with another? 

It is good to have someone to share life with. But, in search of that special person be very careful that you are not stepping into a lonely state of being even while you are not physically alone. The loneliness that is sometimes experienced even while you are with someone can be far worse than being alone. 

Despite what some people have conjured up in their minds and promoted, no where in scripture do we find that Jesus himself was in any type of committed relationship with any one individual other than his Father in heaven. For sure, he surrounded himself with people as he served them. He surrounded himself with those he was teaching. Those are good things. But, he would also often withdraw himself from the community in order to talk one on one with his Father, our Father in heaven. "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed." (Luke 5:16)

Whether we commit to spend our lives with someone is entirely our choice. May that choice be one based on mutual love and a mutual desire to serve God and all whom God has created. 

It would; however, be very unwise to put any one person before the Lord your God. It is most beneficial to do as Jesus did and withdraw from others at least for short periods of time every day and spend time in prayer; in communication, with our Father in heaven. 

He will be there for you always and He will guide you in His ways. Seek His presence and spend intentional time with Him daily for He loves you as no other can.  

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Do What Is Right; Live In Peace

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

                                                                                        (1 Pet 3:8-12 KJV)

Do what is right and live in peace!  Rioters and looters have committed unimaginable harm to people they don't even know over the last few months. There can be no doubt about that! It must stop!

My question this morning is what can we do to help make the world a better place to live in. How about do what is right so that we might live in more relative peace? We know that in this world there will never be total peace. People will have strong and differing opinions. But, as individuals we could at least attempt to be courteous and seek peace.  As individuals we could at least attempt to stop verbally assaulting people (swearing and screaming at others) and physically threatening others when we don't like what is said. We can actually voice our opinion without being bullies.

May God help us to be kind; to do what is right; and to live in peace!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Prayer of Faith

"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 

                                                                               (James 5:13-16 KJV)

God hears our prayers and the prayers of faith are answered. Sometimes the answer is not as we would expect them. Sometimes there's a but of upside down stuff going on before we get to see God's good response to the prayer. 

I spend many hours a week in prayer. The devil likes to come in and steal some of my time with God. Sometimes, things like my alarm not going off will cause me to lose some of this precious time with God. Sometimes, others will have a need or a crisis. Without prayer though; these crises cannot be handled well. Things get a little chaotic when I don't have the time with God. I can do nothing without Him. The most powerful answer to any crisis begins with prayer.

If there is a need; pray. If someone is sick; pray. If someone has wandered away from the flock and is lost; pray. The prayers of faith are powerful and effective. Let us pray and sing praises always to God who is Almighty; to God our Father who listens and answers.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Saved By Grace Through Faith

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast." Eph 2:8-9

Often we cling to sins that we may have committed years ago. That's not to say we keep repeating them. But, sometimes, no matter how hard we try to forget them, we do not. The devil keeps reminding us of our past acts against God and against humanity. And... we continue to live in our guilt. 

There is nothing we can do to undo those sins of our past. We cannot "fix" them by the works of our hands. Our sins cannot be cancelled out by anything good we might think we do. Just about when we might think we're balancing the scales the devil will rear his ugly head and remind us of yet another sin that we need to atone for. It's a never ending cycle. Do not fall for the devil's tricks. Do not fall for his lies. You have been saved by God's grace through faith. Do not throw that precious gift away.

It is time to quit living in the past; carrying and living with the sins of your past. Your sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. There is only one way that you can be saved from your past and your present sins. By the grace of God you are saved through faith. Salvation is not something that you can earn. Salvation is a gift from God. Have faith that this gift is for you. Receive it! Live in this truth and tell the devil to depart in the name of Jesus Christ for your sins are forgiven.

God's Peace - Pr.