Jesus Christ

Are ye doers of God’s Word?

Over half-way...

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The scripture says Christians should be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. Are you a doer of the Word?

What does it profit a man if he hears the Word and do not apply it to his life? Nought.

How can you be a true follower of God, if you do not do what His Word says?  “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” No. (Matthew 7:16 NIV).

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror” (James 1:19-23).

Fellow believers, the Word of God is not superfluous. It comes to us in the right dosage, and we should apply it to our lives. If we don’t. Luke 12:47 tells us what will happen: “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.”

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Give Jesus the wheel at the start of your journey

Give Jesus the wheel at the start of your journey. He will bring you safely to your destination. Do not wait until you are in difficulty before you surrender to Him. It may be too late.

God wants us to trust Him with the wheel. He said if we trust Him, He will keep us safe. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

When God is in control of the wheel, we have nothing to fear. He knows the road on which we travel. He knows when to stop, when to turn and when to detour from the difficulty which lies ahead. Simply put, God wants us to put Him at the center of our lives. He wants us to use Him as our first choice and not as a last resort, as we so often do.

When God is at the center of our lives, His words challenge the “status quo.” Things are no longer the same, and we find that many of the bad decisions we used to make start to diminish. The scripture says: “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creäture: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Webster Bible Translation)

Sadly enough, many of us refuse to change. We want to keep “things the way they were,” on one hand, and Jesus on the other. But Scripture says: No one can serve two masters, so we press the pause button, and place God in the back seat, and continue life as usual.

It is only when we are face with great difficulty that we are willing to put God back in charge. And that is usually when we have no other way out, (“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” Psalm 118:22, Webster Bible Translation) so we throw our hands in the air and say: “Jesus, take the wheel. Take it from my hands, because I can’t do this on my own.”

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How to cross the Jordan River in your life

The Children of Israel Crossing the Jordan (il...

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Every one of us, at some point or another, goes through difficult times in our life. It’s like you have come to the Jordan River but cannot cross, because the river has overflows its banks. And all you can do is gaze yonder and imagine what life is like on the other side.

From your vantage point, you can see the lush green grass and the blooming flowers, fruits hanging from trees, cattle grazing, and men working, and women and children playing. Life is good on the other side, you thought to yourself. If only I could get yonder, my life would be better.

But did you ever stop and think that your stumbling block could have been a test from God? Sometimes it is not meant for you to overcome the adversary, until you are fully ready for the challenges ahead. You may have too many baggage that is weighting you down, or you may not be ready, physically, spiritually and mentally for the rough journey through the thorns and thistles. For “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the jungle of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5)

Still, you crossing the Jordan may not be in God’s plan. Moses did not cross. God gave him a glimpse of the promised land but that was it.  God told Moses to: “Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see” (Deuteronomy 3:27-28)

Whatever your situation, whether a den of hungry lions or a fiery furnace; or a swelling Jordan, God can deliver you. He is always there with an outstretched hand courting and begging you to cast your cares upon Him. He says in His words: “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6)

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Happy Thanksgiving America

The First Thanksgiving, painted by Jean Leon G...

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Giving Thanks

by Author Unknown

Giving Thanks
For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman’s hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the “Land of the Free” –
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

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Religion: I Thank Thee O God

“I Thank Thee” is a beautiful Thanksgiving prayer. This Christian poem was originally written by Jane Crewdson (1860) as a prayer of thankfulness to God for all things in life, both the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet.

I Thank Thee

O Thou whose bounty fills my cup,
With every blessing meet!
I give Thee thanks for every drop—
The bitter and the sweet.

I praise Thee for the desert road,
And for the riverside;
For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,
And all Thy grace denied.

I thank Thee for both smile and frown,
And for the gain and loss;
I praise Thee for the future crown
And for the present cross.

I thank Thee for both wings of love
Which stirred my worldly nest;
And for the stormy clouds which drove
Me, trembling, to Thy breast.

I bless Thee for the glad increase,
And for the waning joy;
And for this strange, this settled peace
Which nothing can destroy.

–Jane Crewdson (1860)

Psalm 95:1-6

1O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

6O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

Psalm 100

1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

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