-Comment by "Christian" (in article entitled The New Language by Christopher West about Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body)
"As with any theology or talk of the things of God, one can only grasp the Truth if he/she is asking for the grace of the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the mind, heart and spirit of God. God is infinite; we are limited. Anyone who is expressing an opinion without having sincerely prayed and with all humility-acknowledging their own limitedness- is speaking intellectually and emotionally, hence the comments that are expressed with anger and contempt for the things of God. If our perspectives are rooted in pride this means we want to be God. We prefer to be full of ourselves rather than let Him fill us with His love and Truth. It cannot be both ways. We have to empty ourselves and make room for His Holy Spirit to lead and show us the way. The question is do we even want to do that? Sex is God's idea. The world would have people think God is so weird and against it. The world has taken something beautiful and distorted it in the name of psychology and a false understanding of what human persons truly need. People who think they are free because they can do whatever they want with their bodies are not free at all. They are enslaved. To be sexually free is to be liberated from being constantly obsessed with the thought that sex is needed no matter how much love, dignity, commitment and union are absent. Once again to believe this we need God to lend us His light to see; otherwise we are perceiving things at a serious disadvantage. Our bodies are not our own. They will one day perish and so it matters very much to God what we do with them. Unfortunately people are living on this earth like they will never leave. It is time to wake up and look to things eternal and sow seeds from now that will bring us back to God who is Holy and wishes that not one soul should perish. It is the Church's role to tell of us of the plan of salvation and how we are to live. Everyone is in the plan but sadly not everyone accepts the plan. God respects that freewill but because He loves us He will keep reminding us (through the Church) of the Truth even if people are refusing it. The bottom line is are people truly seeking the Truth? Do people want the Truth? There are those who are praying and asking and those who are not. There are those that love the world and live for counterfeit pleasure and those that know they have tasted something that nothing and no one in this world can give except our one true God and His perfect plan for our bodies now and forever."
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Birds and the Bees
Thursday, December 25, 2008
His Birth and Our New Birth
- Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name 'Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us'"(Matthew 1:23).
His Birth in History. 'That Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside.
Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of — He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate — God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord's birth was an advent — the appearance of God in human form.
His Birth in Me. 'My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you …' (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a 'Bethlehem' for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth.
'You must be born again' (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that 'Christ is formed' in me. And once 'Christ is formed' in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.
God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ."
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Internal Exchange
"...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." -Matthew 28:20 NASB
Jesus is here within us. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to have an internal exchange with the Lord of all Creation!
IMPORTANT: 1) Believe!; 2) love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength; 3) acknowledge His Holy presence without "quenching" His Spirit; 4) stay true to His Love; 6) listen and obey.
Jesus is the Greatest Teacher. Follow Him...
I love you.
-Daddy
"...God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. -Colossians 1:27 NASB
"Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." -1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 NASB
"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." -Ephesians 4:30 NASB
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Surviving the Storm
"Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!' He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, 'What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!' -Matthew 8:23-27 NIV
I just read an article about a surge in the popularity of survivalist websites and the hoarding of provisions. The signs of the "end of the age" that Jesus spoke about long ago seem to be appearing with greater frequency and intensity over the last several years. Regardless, how does He want us to live and prepare?
Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be "born again" before we are able to see or enter the Kingdom of God. Have you experienced true spiritual death and rebirth? Invite Christ into your life. He will destroy all your preconceptions of what "is", and replace them all with Him...He is Truth, Light, Life and Love unbound! REMEMBER THIS: All the money, food, clothing, shelter and provisions in the world mean absolutely nothing without Jesus Christ in our hearts. His INDWELLING LOVE AND PEACE is more precious than ANYTHING we will ever possess in this world!
Pray for strength, perseverance and discernment every day. If you fall into sin, confess immediately and turn to the Lord for help and forgiveness. Remember always to call upon the Name of Jesus...He will lead you through every storm!
I love you.
-Daddy
"Then He said to them, 'Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.'" Luke 12:15 NASB
Friday, October 17, 2008
Serenity Now
'"In your anger do not sin.' Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." –Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV
When things go wrong and you are upset, do not act out in anger. Resolve to change your frame of mind right now. Call upon the Lord for peace, guidance and strength. Learn from Him. The Answer is closer than you think.
"The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." -Psalm 145:18 NASB
Lay down your burdens at the Cross. The past is behind you. Ask for healing and forgiveness now, resolve to change, and believe. He will make you whole again. When you ask for His help you are the patient...so be patient! Healing takes time.
Have faith and hope now. Love His Way (Agape) into the future.
I love you.
-Daddy
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NIV
"Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 'Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.'" -John 5:14 NASB
"In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent." - Psalms 4:4 NIV
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Give Thanks!
"O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting." -1 Chronicles 16:34 NASB
Give thanks! No matter your situation or condition, He is with you and He Loves you. The love and peace in your heart is the barometer: He is in you and you are in Him. This is the blessing.
Take this moment to call upon His Holy Name and be Here in this Now oned with Him.
I love you,
-Daddy
"Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Colossians 1:24-27 NIV
"...strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." -Colossians 1:11-14 NASB
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." -Ephesians 1:18-21 NASB
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Commission of the Call
by Oswalt Chambers
"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake." Colossians 1:24
"We make calls out of our own spiritual consecration, but when we get right with God He brushes all these aside, and rivets us with a pain that is terrific to one thing we never dreamed of, and for one radiant flashing moment we see what He is after, and we say - "Here am I, send me."
This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.
I wonder what kind of finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you, and you have been like a marble and escaped? You are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you, the wine would have been remarkably bitter. To be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially in His service. We have to be adjusted into God before we can be broken bread in His hands. Keep right with God and let Him do what He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children."
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Grace: Available to All Who Believe
-from David Jeremiah's Captured by Grace (page 36)
"...to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." -Romans 3:22-23
"Key word: all. That is one immense three-letter word, for it measures the width of God's grace and the height of His love. God's net is as large as the number of people who are willing to fall into its safety. No one is outside the scope of His grace. There are no distinctions within the nation of the sinful, no pecking order within the league of the elect.
There are indeed degrees of sin. A jaywalker receives a lighter sentence than a murderer. But all of that is earthly reckoning - nit-picking by the standard of heaven. Because a millionth of a molecule of sin contaminates a soul, all are found guilty. And because grace cleanses us from sin just as absolutely, we find ourselves standing at the throne of grace without any human ranks or measurements. We are equally pure and clean before God. You and the apostle Paul will stand together, equally rightious in God's sight. The Father will look upon each of you and see only the purity of His own Son."
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Monday, September 8, 2008
Everything Is Gonna Be Alright...Right?
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." -John 16:33 NASB
Mommy and I have been having more troubles than usual these last few weeks. Our financial situation is not going well, Mommy has been having bad "morning" (all day and night) sickness and allergies, and I have been having a difficult time coping with several things.
I want to be a good provider and give you, Mommy and the new baby everything..to be able to offer you wonderful experiences and opportunities that will last a lifetime. When you finally read this, I hope and pray that you are living your dreams. If you are in the midst of difficulty, remember to call on Jesus each day in prayer, wait upon Him, and know that He will help you to overcome all obstacles in due time. Have faith.
You are such a bright shining light in my life. When I come home from work you always greet me with a big smile, a running hug, or a funny conversation. You make me so happy!
I love you.
-Daddy
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." -Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The New Covenant
Hebrews 8-10 NIV
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.'" First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Firsts and Lasts
A few firsts taking place in your life today that will last:
1) Your first day of school at the same Catholic grade school that your Mommy, her Mommy and her Mommy's Mommy all attended.
2) Your first soccer practice. This is the first organized sport in which you will participate! Somehow, I was selected to be the head coach...Also, a first for me.
And last, but not least...
3) Mommy and I are going to tell you today that, at last, you are going to have your first new baby brother or sister early next year. You are so kind and loving to children, and we know you will be a wonderful big brother!
The Everlasting Lord has showered His Grace and Mercy and Love upon us from the very first. Remember to always honor Him first for as long as you last.
I love you.
-Daddy
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me." -Isaiah 44:6 NASB
"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last." -Isaiah 48:12 NASB
"But many who are first will be last; and the last, first." -Matthew 19:30 NASB
"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.'" -Mark 9:35 NIV
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." -Revelation 22:13 NIV
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Word
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." -John 1:1-5 NASB
Let the Word always be your guide. The precepts, promises, plans, character and attributes of the Lord are revealed in Scripture. He reveals Himself to and through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or Israel, culminating in His own appearance in human form in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Word Made Flesh.
The Word touches our heart and mind and soul differently each time we read. The Holy Spirit is able to teach, scold, reprove, remake, mold, enlighten, lighten, love, assist, prod, and speak directly to us through the Holy Scriptures.
Read a chapter each day to start. Begin with the verses above in the Gospel of John...Pray and reflect about what you have read. How might you apply what you have read in your own life? Be open to the instruction of the Holy Spirit.
I love you.
-Daddy
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB
"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." -Hebrews 4:12-13 NASB
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Isaiah 40
"Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.
"Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the LORD'S hand
Double for all her sins."
A voice is calling,
"Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Call out."
Then he answered, "What shall I call out?"
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear
Say to the cities of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
As for the idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To prepare an idol that will not totter.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the storm carries them away like stubble.
"To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
-Isaiah 40 NASB
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Walk By Faith
by Jeremy Camp
Will I believe you when you say
Your hand will guide my every way?
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day?
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me.
Help me to rid my endless fears.
You've been so faithful for all my years.
With the one breath You make me move.
Your grace covers all I do.
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me.
Well I'm broken
But I still see Your face.
Well You've spoken
Pouring Your words of grace.
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me.
Well hallelujah, hallelu.
Well hallelujah, hallelu.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Good Shepherd
"Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes." -Isaiah 40:11 NASB
Safety, forgiveness, love and eternal life is what Jesus Christ promises to all who believe in Him. He is the Good Shepherd who leads His flock homeward. Hear His gentle urgings as He calls you to The Path by The Way. Listen for His voice. He calls us each by name. Will you follow?
We, as believers, are all connected by the power of the Spirit in Jesus our Lord, who leads us into union with Himself. If you stray and are lost, call upon His Holy Name in faith and He will rescue you. Trust in Him. Ask for discernment. Never lose hope.
I love you.
-Daddy
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." -Luke 15:4-7 NIV
"'I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.' Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, 'I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.'" -John 10:1-16 NASB
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Lion of Judah
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." -Genesis 49:9-10 NIV
Fear the awesome power of the Lord. Tremble at the sound of His voice! Have you heard the deep rumble of the lion's roar? Even from behind steel bars it strikes fear into all who hear. Never mock Him. Never test Him. Obey, love and pray always.
Jesus Christ is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He will put all enemies under His feet. He has been given power by The Father over all the heavens and the earth. His throne is in heaven and the earth is his footstool. We must strive to be humble and loyal stewards of His Kingdom until His return in all power, glory and majesty.
I love you.
-Daddy
"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe." -Proverbs 29:25 KJV
"The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the LORD, for He will pluck my feet out of the net." -Psalm 25:14-15 NASB
"Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'" -Revelation 5:5 NIV
"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name." -Revelation 3:12 NASB
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." -1 Corinthians 15:20-28 NIV
"The LORD says to my Lord:
'Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'
The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.'
Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.
The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
'You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.'
The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head."
-Psalm 110 NASB
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Look Within
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" -1 Corinthians 3:16 NASB
Look within...Did you know the Lord is with us always? The core of your being is filled with the fullness of the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ resides within you. Deep within you have been purified by your baptism in Jesus Christ with hope eternal. Impurities gather without and try to seep in, but your core cannot be touched.
Look within and see with the eyes of a child how your Lord, Maker and Redeemer has prepared a special place for you to be with Him.
I love you.
-Daddy
"And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." -Acts 13:52 NASB
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
My Advice
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" -Romans 11:33 NASB
The Creator creates us, recreates us, and creates through us. Even if you deny Him or try to resist Him, you are still unwittingly working for Him and His Kingdom. His Ways are infinitely beyond our comprehension and understanding.
Lead by the One who knows All, you will never need to need again.
I love you.
-Daddy
"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding." -Job 37:5 NIV
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." -Colossians 1:15-17 NASB
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22 NASB