The Church and the church

Reading from Ephesians 3:9-21 KJV - the Church of Jesus Christ is eternal. It will never end.

Children's Keepers?

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Love

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

                                                                                                (Eph 3:14-21 KJV)

To God be the glory!  He has does such marvelous things out of his great love for us!

Again, I remind you that it is not out of the fear of hell that we worship the Lord. It is out of love for him because of his great love for us.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  We love him, because he first loved us."  (John 4:18-19)

To choose to be baptized just in case that there might really be a hell and you're afraid that you might end up there if God is real then you are merely hedging your bet. That is not faith. That is not love. Love comes from being in a relationship with God. It comes from knowing that he loves you and you wanting to return even a portion of that love. 

If you were in a car accident and someone saved your life would you not care deeply for that person?  Well, God has sent his Son to die to save us from our own sinful selves. It would seem to me that we ought to love him for that act of love and compassion. We worship him not because we are afraid of the possibility of hell; but, because we love him so much that we desire, with all of our hearts, to be in a relationship with him for all of eternity. We want to know God and to know the love of Christ, which passeth all knowledge, that we might be filled with the fulness of God.

For his great love for us we glorify and magnify his Holy Name.  

God's Peace - Pr. J.

To Know The Love Of Christ

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:17-19 KJV)

What a prayer! What a blessing to know the love of God; to be filled with his love! To be filled with the fulness of God is to know contentment; to know peace. May God bless you with the indwelling Christ so that you might be rooted and grounded in love.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Eph 4:7)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

To Know The Love Of Christ

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Eph 3:14-21 KJV

God grant that we should know how deep His love is for us that we might be filled with the fulness of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

His Love Endures Forever

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (Deut 7:9 KJV)

To a thousand generations; he keeps the promises of his covenant. How awesome is that! Those promises that he made thousands of years ago to have mercy on us and to save those who love Him the Lord keeps. 

The covenant He made through the blood of Jesus were not meant just for the people of that generation; but, to you and me and to our children and to their children. His love for His children will endure forever.   

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

                                                                                            (Rom 8:35-39)

Do not neglect to tell the generations; your children and their children that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus; not any troubles and especially not time, because His love for them endures forever.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Fear Not: The Kingdom Is At Hand

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3 KJV)

Yesterday, I attended the memorial service for a very lovely and faithful woman. She was quite elderly. Her hope lay in the promise to be received into the heavenly Kingdom as she passed through the gateway called death. 

She is indeed dead to this world. But, in Christ, death has no power over us. All who believe that our Lord Jesus died so that we might be reconciled to God our Father for all of eternity have this hope.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8:38-39) 

As we look for that day when we see God face to face with our own eyes, let us also remember that God is with us now as well. There is no sense in waiting to be reconciled to Him, to be in a relationship with him. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is at hand today! 

As I listened to the sermon yesterday, my mind wandered to the life of Brother Lawrence and his endeavors to practice the presence of God in his daily life. We lie and cheat ourselves when we look to those mansions Jesus spoke about as a gift after death for good works we think that we may have done here on earth. We cheat ourselves out of the Kingdom both now and for all eternity.

We walk in Christ Jesus only by faith in the one who died for us; today, tomorrow, and for all eternity.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Love As The Good Shepherd Loves

"I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14-15 KJV)

What greater love can there possibly be than to willingly lay down your life for another? That is exactly what Jesus did. He died that all who believe in him would have eternal life.

The very sad thing is that this kind of love seems to be unfathomable to so many today. They do not know Jesus nor do they have his kind of love even for their family; even for their own children. Vengeance seems to be the norm for even the slightest infractions even among people who pretend to love one another. This narcissistic kind of attitude and behavior just drives everyone involved deeper into darkness. 

There is a way out of the darkness. Follow the good shepherd on a better path. Turn aside from the anger that envelopes you and do what is right; do the loving thing.

Take care that you do not persecute anyone for our Father in heaven loves them and watches over them. 

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt 18:6)

Love one another as the good shepherd loves you!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Pray Without Ceasing!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess 5:16-18 NRSV

There is so much to be thankful for. The reasons to rejoice never end because "we know that all things work together for good for those who love God." (Rom 8:28) Yet, we know that there are those whom we love who do not love God; who do not know the Lord, and so we pray without ceasing. We pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that they may be strengthened in their inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, as they are being rooted and grounded in love. We pray that they may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Eph 3:16-19)

Because we love even those who do not love or know God, we will never stop praying for them. We will joyfully give thanks for we know that God hears our prayers and answers, according to His good will.

God's Peace - Pr. J