So, church tomorrow! God, let it be an awesome service!
Does anybody want to read through Psalms 20-63 with me this week? =D
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
9 things to Never Forget!
Nine things for ALL of us to remember for the rest of our lives!
1) God would suffer none to be lost, but He would have every one of us saved!
2) The story of the Prodigal Son!
3) Your rightiousness is like a heap of dirty rags, but God's righteousness is what really saves!
4) Nothing ever grows on the top of the mountian, only in the valley!
5) You CAN'T see God's next move, but you CAN believe Him for jumping in and saving the day, every time!
6) He's an on time God, Yes He Is!
7) Do you know how many times pure gold is put through the fire for purification?
8) David failed over and over, he was a murderer, an adulterer, and a man after God's own heart!
9) Devil: "CHECKMATE!" God: "Oh no, I don't think so!"
1b)God didn't make hell for us, it was made for the devil and all his followers. God intended for all of man to recieve heaven, it is by our own choice that salvation is either lost or gained to us! We obtain it by following God's doctrine, and we lose it by straying from God and His word, the Bible.
2b)The story of the Prodigal Son really tells us a lot about God; the father (or God) gave all of his one son's inheritance to him when the son demanded that he would go and live life his way. The father was hurt terribly, but let his son go. The son continued to party and gamble all of his money away, and ended up a servant to a farmer, in a foreign country. He had no food or money and had to lower himself to eating with the pigs just to live. He said to himself, I have sinned, and my fathers servants had bread enough and more, let me return to my fathers house, that I may be a servant there. So he did. The father, meanwhile, had been watching each day, and saw his son far off down the road. He ran to his son, threw his arms around his neck, kissed him and was full of joy! The father gave his own ring to his son, and had a coat brought, ordering a very special party with all their best animals for the meal. He would hear absolutely nothing of his boy becoming a servant, but rather placed him above all others in the household, even the eldest son. You see, this is how God treats us, even after we've turned away from Him, He still rejoices every time we come back!
3b) We aren't saved because we are good people, we are saved because God is perfect, and righteous, and He saves us! So forget feeling unworthy because the truth is, every single one of us is unworthy, but God pays no mind to that. He knows we will fall, but He is the One to pick us up, and the One to save us!
4b) Our lives can be compared to the mountain and the valley. Times of plenty, good times, happy times, those times are the mountaintop; trials and tests, bad times, times where we can feel like God has abandoned us, like we are alone, these are the bottom of the valley. Now, it is a fact, that things don't grow on the mountain, all the plants and flowers grow in the lower parts of the valley. Even the strong alpine trees stop growing so far up. This is a spiritual illustration: we would love to always be on the top of the mountain, but the truth is, we need to be in the valley sometimes so we can grow and become stronger! God knows this, and He will never put you through anything that He knows you can't handle, so just have faith!
5b) We really can't see into the future, or into God's hand for that matter. Life is like a game of cards for us, because we only see what we are given and not the cards of our partners, or opponents. But you know what? God made a promise to His people that He would never leave us, and never forsake us, so don't even bother worrying because He's gonna pull you out of the mess you're in and lead you up the mountain!
6b) The song goes: "He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be right there on time, He's an on time God, Yes He Is!" And it's so true, just like the song, you go ask the people of Israel, when God parted the Red Sea while their opressors were right behind them. And the 5,000 that Jesus fed on just a couple of loaves of bread and a basket of fish!
7b) Gold is really nothing very pretty right out of the earth. It's full of dirt and impurities and imperfections. How is it made into such a fine, precious substance? It's put straight through the fire! And so are we! We will go through times that we feel like we're never coming out of. We're going to feel the heat and pressure so bad we're gonna question ourselves, and sometimes even God. But the point is, that when you come out, you will just shine! You'll be pure and absolutely brilliant, catching ahold of God's glory, like gold catches rays of light, and spreading it all around you! There will be nothing more precious or beautiful than God's heaven-bound children after they've been put through the fire on earth!
8b) David was a huge faith-believer ever since he was a little kid. I mean, we're talking about a boy who faced the Giant Goliath with nothing but a slingshot and a couple of rocks! But he was a real sinner, like us, and he wasn't very good at all sometimes. He even peeped on a bathing woman, a married one at that! And while her husband was off fighting king David's war, David brought her in and actually got her pregnant! To cover them both up, he had her husband brought in from the battlefield to sleep with her. When the husband refused, and slept on David's steps to protect his king, David had no other choice than to send him off to certain death and marry Bathsheba himself. We think, "God would never love such a sinner, let alone bless him!" But this is so untrue, because David knew his own sin, and he even had to pay the price of his firstborn son's life (the son born out of his affair with the soldier's wife, Bathsehba). He was human, we all are, and he messed up Big Time Very Often! But still, he was broken hearted each time he thought on how he'd sinned. He begged God's mercy every day, and openly admitted that he was a sinner, but he was a sorry sinner. His courts were conspiring his death for years, and Saul chased him all over trying to kill him, but God's hand of protection never left him because of David's broken heart and persistance in calling out to his Saviour. Because David was truly sorry for everything that he did wrong, God forgave him, over and over, without end. We can expect this and more of our own relationship with God, so long as we repent and actually mean it in our hearts. Nobody else can repent for you, so don't ever pass up that chance to do it!
9b) When the Devil looks at you in the middle of your trials and says "Checkmate! I've got you trapped now! You aren't coming out this time!" God steps right in and reminds that liar of who He is and says right back, "Oh no, you see this person? This is my child, and I'm not done yet!" God will never, ever put you in a real checkmate situation. Don't stop hoping, don't stop believing, don't let your faith die, because God's going to step in to defend you when you're in the middle of all that mess!
1) God would suffer none to be lost, but He would have every one of us saved!
2) The story of the Prodigal Son!
3) Your rightiousness is like a heap of dirty rags, but God's righteousness is what really saves!
4) Nothing ever grows on the top of the mountian, only in the valley!
5) You CAN'T see God's next move, but you CAN believe Him for jumping in and saving the day, every time!
6) He's an on time God, Yes He Is!
7) Do you know how many times pure gold is put through the fire for purification?
8) David failed over and over, he was a murderer, an adulterer, and a man after God's own heart!
9) Devil: "CHECKMATE!" God: "Oh no, I don't think so!"
1b)God didn't make hell for us, it was made for the devil and all his followers. God intended for all of man to recieve heaven, it is by our own choice that salvation is either lost or gained to us! We obtain it by following God's doctrine, and we lose it by straying from God and His word, the Bible.
2b)The story of the Prodigal Son really tells us a lot about God; the father (or God) gave all of his one son's inheritance to him when the son demanded that he would go and live life his way. The father was hurt terribly, but let his son go. The son continued to party and gamble all of his money away, and ended up a servant to a farmer, in a foreign country. He had no food or money and had to lower himself to eating with the pigs just to live. He said to himself, I have sinned, and my fathers servants had bread enough and more, let me return to my fathers house, that I may be a servant there. So he did. The father, meanwhile, had been watching each day, and saw his son far off down the road. He ran to his son, threw his arms around his neck, kissed him and was full of joy! The father gave his own ring to his son, and had a coat brought, ordering a very special party with all their best animals for the meal. He would hear absolutely nothing of his boy becoming a servant, but rather placed him above all others in the household, even the eldest son. You see, this is how God treats us, even after we've turned away from Him, He still rejoices every time we come back!
3b) We aren't saved because we are good people, we are saved because God is perfect, and righteous, and He saves us! So forget feeling unworthy because the truth is, every single one of us is unworthy, but God pays no mind to that. He knows we will fall, but He is the One to pick us up, and the One to save us!
4b) Our lives can be compared to the mountain and the valley. Times of plenty, good times, happy times, those times are the mountaintop; trials and tests, bad times, times where we can feel like God has abandoned us, like we are alone, these are the bottom of the valley. Now, it is a fact, that things don't grow on the mountain, all the plants and flowers grow in the lower parts of the valley. Even the strong alpine trees stop growing so far up. This is a spiritual illustration: we would love to always be on the top of the mountain, but the truth is, we need to be in the valley sometimes so we can grow and become stronger! God knows this, and He will never put you through anything that He knows you can't handle, so just have faith!
5b) We really can't see into the future, or into God's hand for that matter. Life is like a game of cards for us, because we only see what we are given and not the cards of our partners, or opponents. But you know what? God made a promise to His people that He would never leave us, and never forsake us, so don't even bother worrying because He's gonna pull you out of the mess you're in and lead you up the mountain!
6b) The song goes: "He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be right there on time, He's an on time God, Yes He Is!" And it's so true, just like the song, you go ask the people of Israel, when God parted the Red Sea while their opressors were right behind them. And the 5,000 that Jesus fed on just a couple of loaves of bread and a basket of fish!
7b) Gold is really nothing very pretty right out of the earth. It's full of dirt and impurities and imperfections. How is it made into such a fine, precious substance? It's put straight through the fire! And so are we! We will go through times that we feel like we're never coming out of. We're going to feel the heat and pressure so bad we're gonna question ourselves, and sometimes even God. But the point is, that when you come out, you will just shine! You'll be pure and absolutely brilliant, catching ahold of God's glory, like gold catches rays of light, and spreading it all around you! There will be nothing more precious or beautiful than God's heaven-bound children after they've been put through the fire on earth!
8b) David was a huge faith-believer ever since he was a little kid. I mean, we're talking about a boy who faced the Giant Goliath with nothing but a slingshot and a couple of rocks! But he was a real sinner, like us, and he wasn't very good at all sometimes. He even peeped on a bathing woman, a married one at that! And while her husband was off fighting king David's war, David brought her in and actually got her pregnant! To cover them both up, he had her husband brought in from the battlefield to sleep with her. When the husband refused, and slept on David's steps to protect his king, David had no other choice than to send him off to certain death and marry Bathsheba himself. We think, "God would never love such a sinner, let alone bless him!" But this is so untrue, because David knew his own sin, and he even had to pay the price of his firstborn son's life (the son born out of his affair with the soldier's wife, Bathsehba). He was human, we all are, and he messed up Big Time Very Often! But still, he was broken hearted each time he thought on how he'd sinned. He begged God's mercy every day, and openly admitted that he was a sinner, but he was a sorry sinner. His courts were conspiring his death for years, and Saul chased him all over trying to kill him, but God's hand of protection never left him because of David's broken heart and persistance in calling out to his Saviour. Because David was truly sorry for everything that he did wrong, God forgave him, over and over, without end. We can expect this and more of our own relationship with God, so long as we repent and actually mean it in our hearts. Nobody else can repent for you, so don't ever pass up that chance to do it!
9b) When the Devil looks at you in the middle of your trials and says "Checkmate! I've got you trapped now! You aren't coming out this time!" God steps right in and reminds that liar of who He is and says right back, "Oh no, you see this person? This is my child, and I'm not done yet!" God will never, ever put you in a real checkmate situation. Don't stop hoping, don't stop believing, don't let your faith die, because God's going to step in to defend you when you're in the middle of all that mess!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A Pentecostal Girl in Today's World...
This is, in part, a step to fulfilling God's call for His people to teach His word; in part for reaching out to other Apostolic Pentecostals for support, and largely in the hopes that even just one soul will find strength, encouragement, or enlightenment in their walk with the Lord.
I will do my absolute best to explain and simplify everything, because I know that not all of the world was raised in a Christian-belief atmosphere, much of it even to the point that the most basic of our teachings are completely unknown.
A Pentecostal Girl in Today's World...
Something that, as those of us who are know, is very hard to be in the 21st century.
So what is a Pentecostal, just exactly?
The answer is found in the book of Acts:
I will do my absolute best to explain and simplify everything, because I know that not all of the world was raised in a Christian-belief atmosphere, much of it even to the point that the most basic of our teachings are completely unknown.
A Pentecostal Girl in Today's World...
Something that, as those of us who are know, is very hard to be in the 21st century.
So what is a Pentecostal, just exactly?
The answer is found in the book of Acts:
And when the day of pentecost was fully come, they [the apostles] 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 whrere they were sitting.
And 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.
ACTS 2:1-4 King James Version
So basically, this tells us that on the day of Pentecost (our namesake), all the apostles and Jesus' followers were gathered in the upper room Jesus had told them to wait in after His death and resurrection. There, they were praying and trying to find God and the promise that had been mysteriously made to them. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the entire place was filled with a loud sound, like strong wind, and God's spirit came to them on earth. This is called the Holy Ghost, a necessary part of salvation. The men lost control of themselves, and began to speak in languages they did not know. In foreign languages, each one fluently speaking about the greatness of God.
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?
ACTS 2:6-7 KJV
Some background on this verse: It was tax time in the land, and people came from far and wide to Jerusalem to pay their dues, enter into the marketplace, and so on and so forth. So there was a very diverse crowd here, speaking many different languages, coming from many different cultures and religions. The noise the apostles made was so loud, that the people in the streets stopped to hear, and ended up seeing these foreign Galilaeans. And every one of them could hear someone gathered in the upper room speaking his own language, and crying out all of God's great works. The crowd couldn't figure out how these foreign men, who were clearly uneducated, could speak in all these languages as if they'd been born in that nation.
Pentecostals are those who follow these verses of scripture. Sometimes tha name changes, or the church organizations are different, but the truth is that we are all pentecostals, whoever revolves their salvation on repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. What is virtually our creed can be found a few lines later:
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 recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost.
ACTS 2:38 KJV
---There are a lot of arguments over baptizing in the name of "Jesus Christ" versus the name of "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit." First, we have to understand that the second option lists three names. For those who use these titles for baptism believe that each one is a different being, thus making three Gods (this is called a Trinitarian Godhead.) However, we are clearly told in the Ten Commandments from God to Moses and all the people, "Thou shalt have no other God before me." So God says there is only one. There are several places where the Bible does say "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit," but look at it this way: Your father is a father, and also a son, and perhaps a brother, or uncle. So you could ask the name of the father, brother and uncle for example, and it would be your father's one name. There isn't a different him for each title, they all name one person. So, the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit is likewise one being with one name: Jesus Christ.
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