Psalm 100

 Happy Sunday!

"Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."(Psalm 100:3 Amplified).

I'm sure we memorized Psalm 100 in Sunday School.  It's just five verses, and shorter than some of our Easter speeches. LOL!  It's full of instructions for life.  Someone once made an acronym for the word, Bible: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Verse 1 tells us how to come before the Lord, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands."(KJV).  Throughout history it was customary to come before a King  happily.  In some realms you could be killed for looking sad in the presence of the King.  Nehemiah 2:1-3 says, "In the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, some wine was brought to the king. I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never before been SAD when I was with him, but now I was SAD.  So the king asked me, “Are you sick? Why do you look sad? I think your heart is full of sadness.”  Then I was very AFRAID. But even though I was afraid, I said to the king, “May the king live forever! I am sad because the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and the gates of that city have been destroyed by fire.”(Easy-to-Read Version).  Thankfully, it worked out well for Nehemiah.   But we must remember to come before our Lord and King with joy.  Verse 2 says, "Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence."(Message).

How can we come before the Lord with joy?  Great question!  I'm so glad you asked.  Verse 3 says, "Acknowledge that the Lord is God.  He made us and we belong to him; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture."(ISV).  This translation made me think of how some parents would say, "I brought you into this world, and I will take you out".  Now I don't ever remember my mother saying that, but we knew that she could take us out with a quickness.  Acknowledging who God is, is the first step to coming before Him joyfully.  Like sheep rely on their shepherd to care for them, and protect them, we can confidently come before God happily, and joyfully knowing all of our needs will be met.(Psalm 23).

Verses 4 and 5 say, "Go through his open gates with great thanksgiving; enter his courts with praise. Give THANKS to him and bless his name. For the Lord is ALWAYS GOOD. He is ALWAYS LOVING and KIND, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation."(Living Bible).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

RSVP

 Happy Sunday!

"And the seventy returned again with JOY, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through THY NAME.  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and NOTHING shall by any means HURT you.  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather REJOICE, because your names are WRITTEN in heaven."(Mark 10:17-20 KJV).

My cousin Sonya and I still chuckle about the guest list at her wedding reception.  I was instructed to only allow those to enter that were on the list.  How was I to know that her boss did not RSVP?  I was not letting him in!  Somehow he got a hold of the Bride, or maybe she saw him about to be kicked out to the venue. LOL!  If he were to see me today, he'd likely recall that interaction.  Jesus sent out 70 additional disciples  and gave them clear instructions too.  "When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, HEAL anyone who is sick, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is right on your doorstep!"(Luke 10:-9 Message).  They were amazed at the power and authority they had when using the name of Jesus.  We are also given the authority to use that Name. 

BUT Jesus told them not to rejoice over demons being cast out out, and people being healed, but to rejoice that their names were written in Heaven.  Rejoice that you have an RSVP.  Cartoons always portray St. Peter at the pearly gates with the book looking for your name.  It may be funny, but it's not accurate.  Numerous testimonies of those that have died and come back to life, tell of either going up or down.  Not going up, then down.  GOD knows those that are His.  Jesus even told the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar.  Their eternal destination was determined before the event.(Luke 16:20-25).

Have you RSVP'd?  Is your name written in Heaven?  Romans 10:8-11 says, "It is the secret of faith, which is the burden of our preaching, and it says, in effect, “If you openly admit by your own mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord, and if you believe in your own heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” For it is believing in the heart that makes a man righteous before God, and it is stating his belief by his own mouth that confirms his salvation. And the scripture says: ‘Whoever believes on him will not be put to shame’."(Phillips).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Sharing the Good News

Happy Sunday!

"Yes, “everyone who trusts in the Lord will be saved.”  But before people can pray to the Lord for HELP, they must believe in him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must HEAR about him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must TELL them. And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent.  As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”(Romans 10:13-15 Easy-to-Read Version).

Have you ever caught yourself smiling when you heard good news?  Sure you have!  Joy is contagious. Hearing about positive events, blessings and good outcomes brings joy to the hearer.  We are instructed to rejoice with others when they experience good things, and warned against rejoicing when our enemies fall.  Proverbs 24:17-18 says, "Don’t be happy when your enemy has troubles. Don’t be glad when they fall. The Lord will see this, and he might be upset with you and decide not to punish your enemy."(Easy-to-Read Version). OUCH! 

The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important good news we can share.  During the Christmas Season there will be opportunities to share the Good News.  Look for every opportunity to share the Good News. To make it easier, as children we were taught to use the Wordless Book to share the Good News.  We made them in Vacation Bible School out of colorful felt.  The cover was green. The First page was black, and we memorized Romans 3:23 to represent this page - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"(KJV).  The second page was red.  We used 1 John 1:7 for this page - "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."(KJV).  The third page was white, and we memorized Psalm 51:7 - "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."(KJV).  The next page was gold or yellow to represent the streets in Heaven, and we used - John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."(KJV).  The green cover also served as the last page.  We used 2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." to represent the next steps after receiving Jesus. 

My mother-in-law, Minnie Pruitt used to say, "The Bible was so simple a child can understand it, and a fool would have no reason to err".  I thought it was a scripture, but haven't been able to find it.  But the important thing to remember is it's easy to understand, and easy to share.  Five scriptures to introduce someone to the greatest news that they will ever hear.  Luke 2:8-13 says, "That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord. They were badly frightened, but the angel reassured them.  “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you the most JOYFUL News ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem!  How will you recognize him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger!”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God:"(Living Bible).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Jesus Is Lord

 Happy Sunday!

"He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross."(Colossians 1:18-20 Message).

Don't miss this!  Please read that passage again!  ALL the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe are fixed and fit together in Jesus.  1 John 3:8 says, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."(KJV).  The Devil is behind every broken and dislocated thing.  He's a liar, a thief, and a murderer.(John 10:10).  He wants to wipe you out, BUT God has another idea.  His plan is for you to thrive even in the midst of chaos.

In order for you to thrive in the midst of chaos, you have to know that you know that you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  The whole world wants to be saved from sickness, poverty, and destruction BUT few want Jesus to be LORD of their lives.  The word lord is defined as "someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler".  A master or ruler, and even an influencer can get people to do what they may not want to do.  Jesus never forces us to do anything, but he lovingly and patiently knocks.  Revelation 3:20 says. “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me."(Living Bible).

"Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high, and has given him the name beyond all names, so that at the name of Jesus “every knee shall bow”, whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth. And that is why, in the end, “every tongue shall confess” that Jesus Christ” is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father."(Philippians 2:5-11 Phillips).

Love and prayers, Cynthia