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 Happy Sunday!

I hope that you had a great week since the last Happy Sunday message.  Life is not without challenges, but you are equipped to handle it ALL!  God has given us, "all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:"(2 Peter 1:3, KJV).  The Living Bible says it like this, 'For as you KNOW him BETTER, he will give you, through his great power, EVERYTHING you NEED for living a truly GOOD LIFE: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us!"(2 Peter 1:3, TLB).  It's just what the Psalmist said, "Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!"(Psalm 23, TLB).

As we continue to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ", we will get better and better at handling life's challenges. (2 Peter 3:18, KJV).   Think about the Apostle Peter.  He was hot-headed, impulsive, denied the Lord three times and even cut a man's ear off with a sword. (John 18:10).  BUT after receiving he Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost he preached The Gospel to a massive crowd and 3000 believed and were baptized! (Acts 2:41).  What a transformation!

This is how he encouraged the Believer's later in his life.

"Summing up: BE agreeable, BE sympathetic, BE loving, BE compassionate, BE humble. That goes for ALL of you, no exceptions. NO retaliation. NO sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life

    and SEE the day fill up with GOOD,

Here’s what you do:

    Say nothing evil or hurtful.

Snub evil and cultivate good.

    run after peace for all you’re worth.

God LOOKS on all this with APPROVAL,

    listening and RESPONDING well to what he’s asked.

BUT he turns his back

    on those who do evil things."(1 Peter 3:8-12, Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Right Reward

 Happy Sunday!

"The Lord says: CURSED is the man who puts his TRUST in mortal MAN and turns his heart away from God.  He is like a stunted shrub in the desert, with NO HOPE for the future; he lives on the salt-encrusted plains in the barren wilderness; good times PASS HIM by forever.

But BLESSED is the man who TRUSTS in the Lord and has made the Lord his HOPE and CONFIDENCE.  He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with its roots reaching DEEP into the water—a tree not bothered by the heat NOR WORRIED by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it goes right on producing all its luscious fruit.

The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is!  Only the LORD knows! He searches ALL hearts and examines deepest motives so he can GIVE to each person his right REWARD, according to his DEEDS—how he has lived."(Jeremiah 17:5-10 Living Bible).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

The LAST DAYS

 Happy Sunday!

"Don’t be NAIVE. There are difficult times ahead. As THE END approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and ALLERGIC to GOD. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. STAY CLEAR of these people."

"These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were REJECTS from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax."

"You’ve been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, troubles, sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it. Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They’re as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse."

"But don’t let it FAZE you. Stick with what you LEARNED and BELIEVED, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written WORD of God for showing you the WAY to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us TRUTH, exposing our rebellion, CORRECTING our mistakes, TRAINING us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."(2 Timothy 3:1-17 Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Reasons

 Happy Resurrection Sunday!

"[But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The REASON the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to UNDO (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].”(1 John 3:8 AMPC).

I’m always interested in the reason behind things.  For instance, while traveling I frequently look up information about city names and street names.  While speaking with a customer recently their address intrigued me.  I couldn’t wait to look up the street name and learn why!  The street name is Elsie Faye Heggins if you are curious like me!

At Christmastime, people will sing and say that, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”!  Yes, He definitely is, but what is the reason for his coming?  I’m so glad you asked!  Adam and Eve got us all tangled up and Jesus came to fix it!  Romans 5:15 says, “But God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace that people received from God was much greater. Many received God’s gift of life by the grace of this other man, Jesus Christ.”(ERV).

This is the GOOD NEWS!  We are not doomed by what Adam did!  We have the opportunity to accept what Jesus did for us and live LIFE ABUNDANTLY.  John 10:10 says, “The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with JOY and abundance.”(Voice).

Colossians 2:10-15 says, “YOU have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with AUTHORITY over every other power.  When you came to Christ, he set you FREE from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. For in baptism, you see how your old, evil nature DIED with him and was buried with him; and then you came up out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the VERY life of Christ, for he FORGAVE all your sins, and BLOTTED out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by NAILING it to Christ’s CROSS.”(TLB).

Love and prayers, Cynthia