Stacks Image 2034_9

Lord of all creation - I come to You now in the name of this Jesus I have heard about.  I was born into a sinful world and have lived in ignorance and rebellion to Your truth.  Jesus, I accept You as God manifested in the flesh, born as an offering for my sins.  Born to pay the price I am unable to pay - the price required for restored fellowship with my Creator.

I am sorry for all my sins and turn away from them. Please forgive me and make me a vessel fit for Your use.  I release any bitterness or unforgiveness in my heart and ask You to deal with those situations.  I believe You were born of a virgin, died on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and are now sitting at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for me.

You are now Lord of my life.

JESUS IS COMING SOON! HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION?

Confess Jesus before men and He will confess you before the Father.
Take me home now please.

Stacks Image 28
  • Stacks Image 2053
  • Stacks Image 2054
  • Stacks Image 2055
  • Stacks Image 2056
  • Stacks Image 2057
Stacks Image 1856
mar 29

what's so good about this friday


today is the day that most of christianity celebrates or remembers in some way as “good friday.”  it is the day we remember as the day when Jesus was nailed to that old rugged cross about which we sing — there to bleed and die for “the sins of the world.”  what's so GOOD about such a day as that?”

the answer is that it this day is not good because of what was done TO Jesus, but we see this day as good because of what He willingly, deliberately and lovingly ALLOWED to be done — what He gave Himself to as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

the depravity of mankind, the nature of man to sin, is at both the most unpopular of the christian doctrines and also the most empirically verifiable.  we have within us a basic sense of our desperate condition.  we are aware, or are often reminded, that we are not quite what we were intended to be.  something went wrong, something we want to see made right, but somehow find ourselves incapable of restoring.

the unbeliever will often insist sin and the fall of man are myths invented by superstitious people while a pagan in a remote jungle somewhere will feel the need to sacrifice a chicken on a makeshift altar.  which man is closer to understanding the truth about his own true nature?  one might agree that the pagan boy, however primitively, understood something the other did not.  there is a need in our lives for atonement.  there is a need for sacrifice.

when scriptures speak of Christ as the Lamb of God, it is easy to see the symbolism practiced by jews for centuries, portraying the ultimate sacrifice to be made by God Himself.  it is easy to move through the text with an instantaneous recognition: the lamb is Christ.  and that Lamb gave Himself for us on Good Friday.

when john describes his vision of heaven in the book of revelation, the Lamb is found in the center of a singing multitude.  “then i saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.” rev. 5:6  this same Lamb who bore my sins, forever bears the scars of my atonement, even as He stands... alive forevermore, in heaven.

as the Lamb, Christ has met, fulfilled and satisfied a need we could not.  He has become the sacrifice we could not give.  He is the Lamb who was slain so that we could bow and sing in the presence of God.  there is a hymn that declares the glory of Christ, the only one who is worthy:

behold the Lamb of God
into the sacred flood
of Thy most precious blood
my soul i cast
wash me and make me clean within
and keep me pure from every sin
till this life be past


behold the Lamb of God!  the Lion of the tribe of judah, the Cornerstone, the Shepherd, our Advocate has bowed to death and overcome.  the slain Lamb stands.  that's what makes this friday so GOOD!


--
unknown

To get on list to receive email dailies direct, send request to lindajenni@ministryofprayer.org
Stacks Image 2014
Stacks Image 2017
Stacks Image 1508

who's holding who


"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." john 10:27-28

so i ask again - who's holding who?  i think of a toddler learning walk.  if they just hold onto the father's finger, they might take a step or two, let go, and fall to the ground.  no, we need the Father holding our hand, so when we stumble, He can then keep us from falling.

it's the same way with salvation.  our salvation is not dependent of our strength or cognitive abilities as we grow in grace and truth.  God holds us up with His strong hand.  and when we stumble (which we will), He will keep us from falling.  it's our love of, desire for, and belief in the Father that makes the child in us think we need to hold onto Him with all our might, when in reality our security lies in holding Him in our hearts, not the strength of our feeble hands (or our deeds).

it's one thing to stumble, and quite another thing to fall; to fall away from salvation.  i know many believe in OSAS - once saved, always saved, but i cannot.  i believe it is a precarious way to live, thinking it doesn't really matter how good or bad i live, salvation is always secured.  the word tells me, "do not be deceived.  neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 cor 6:9-10

"and such were some of you.  but you were washed, but you were sanctified." 1 cor 6:11  these were all the sins we were washed clean from in our repentance.  why would we want to wallow in them still?  but scripture warns, "'a dog returns to his own vomit,' and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.'" 2 pet 2:22

heaven forbid!  the Father "predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." rom 8:29  that conformation is to begin now and will be completed in the day of our transformation, be it by death or rapture.  we are only conceived and not yet fully born.  we are in utero or gestation, so to speak.  fully born means we shall be like Him.  now we are all only in the process of "being saved."  "he who endures to the end will be saved." mark 13:13

"it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1 john 3:2  he goes on to say, "and everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 john 3:3  so no more wallowing in sin.  push down on sin as we pull up by grace.  i think of a stanza from a poem i love:  "be docile to thine unseen Guide, love Him as He loves thee; time and obedience are enough, and thou a saint shall be."

i remember a scene i once saw in a superman movie.  lois had somehow ended up falling in mid-air.  fearful, superman suddenly showed up, catching her in her fall.  he said, "don't worry, i've got you."  she looked around at only air surrounding them both and said, "who's got you?"

Jesus is kinda like our superman; our supernatural man, and He doesn't need anything to hold Him.  He holds everything else.  "being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power" heb 1:3  believe when He tells us, "I and My Father are one." john 10:30

Jesus wants to be your Superman too.  He wants to hold you in His loving arms and eventually receive you among His radiant, adoring bride.  if anyone reading this does not know the "peace and security" that knowing gives, i beseech you in the name of Jesus, ask Him now to hold you as He does all else.  i promise you, it is a peace and security one cannot find in the world.  so, who's holding who - and who's holding you?

Stacks Image 2129
Stacks Image 2174
Stacks Image 2180
Stacks Image 2176
"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:3

Stacks Image 2182
Time is ticking away…
Stacks Image 2193

VISITOR COUNT

39,970