You Must Choose

Happy Sunday!  

Happy New Year!

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can OBEY it."

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a CHOICE between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will LIVE and MULTIPLY, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy."

“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to LISTEN, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy."

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you LOVE and OBEY the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”(Deuteronomy 30:11-20 NLT).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Great JOY

Happy Sunday!

Merry Christmas!

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."(Matthew 2:10 KJV).

Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden, saw one son kill the other son, and experienced sadness and death.  These are things that no parent, and definitely no Loving God wants to see their child go through.  BUT God had a plan.  Genesis 3:14-15 says, "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."(KJV).  It took 42 Generations, but Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a criminals death, and rose again from the dead!  This is the Gospel, the Good News, that brings us great joy!

Isaac Watts wrote, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing."

Knowing that Jesus has come, and will soon come again should bring us great joy!  There's Hope!  We don't have to wait for joy in the sweet by and by!  We can have joy, healing, prosperity and wholeness in the nasty now and now!  We can enjoy what Adam and Eve forfeited; Heaven on Earth!

How can we have Heaven on Earth?  Great Question!  I'm so glad you asked!  Jesus said, "If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."(John 15:7 Amplified).  The NLT version says it like this, "But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!"  Don't miss this!  The Words we hear and the Words we speak will determine the kind of life we ENJOY! 

"For a man’s words depend on what fills his heart. A good man gives out good—from the goodness stored in his heart; a bad man gives out evil—from his store of evil. I tell you that men will have to answer at the day of judgment for every careless WORD they utter—for it is your words that will acquit you, and your words that will condemn you.”(Matthew 12:35-37 Phillips).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Be KIND Like God

 Happy Sunday!

"Don’t you see how wonderfully KIND, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his KINDNESS is intended to turn you from your sin?"(Romans 2:4 NLT).

The Apostle Paul encourages us in Ephesians 4:32, "And be ye KIND one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."(KJV).  What does it mean to be kind?  The Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines it as, "Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature; benevolent; benignant".   Such a beautiful definition!

God is KIND, and he wants us to follow his example.  Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance."(Amplified).

One of my personal Christmas traditions is listening to James Brown's Soulful Christmas album!  Don't laugh!  No one can beg Santa Claus to go straight to the Ghetto like James Brown!  One song is entitled, "Sweet Little Baby Boy".  In his own unique way James Brown reminds us of the greatest kindness anyone has ever shown us!  God leads by example!  Romans 5:6-8 says, "Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."(Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Get Acquainted

 Happy Sunday!

"Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at PEACE: thereby GOOD shall come unto thee.

Receive, I pray thee, the LAW from his mouth, and lay up his words IN thine heart.

If thou RETURN to the Almighty, thou shalt be BUILT UP, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

Yea, the Almighty shall be thy DEFENSE, and thou shalt have PLENTY of silver.

For then shalt thou have thy DELIGHT in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall HEAR thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

Thou shalt also DECREE a thing, and it shall be ESTABLISHED unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

When men are cast down, then THOU shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person."(Job 22:21-29 KJV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Every Detail

 Happy Sunday!

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."(Psalm 37:23 NLT).

God cares about every detail of our lives!  Don't miss this!  Our enemy wants us to think that no one cares, and nobody knows what we are dealing with!  BUT that's a lie!  God has already said, "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."(Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).

Whose report will you believe?  Proverbs 3:7-8 says, "Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have HEALING for your body and STRENGTH for your bones."(NLT).  Philippians 4:19 says, "My God will supply ALL that you need from his glorious resources in Christ Jesus."(Phillips).  Psalm 84:11 says, "For the Eternal God is a sun and a shield. The Eternal grants favor and glory; He doesn’t deny ANY good thing to those who live with Integrity."(Voice).

Psalm 115:14 says, "The Lord shall INCREASE you more and more, you and your children."(KJV).  1 Peter 2:24 says, "He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds YOU ARE HEALED."(NLT).  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are ALIVE and REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we EVER BE with the Lord."(KJV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia