I Love the Lord!

  I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. II believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I.I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 116: 1-19

Have a blessed day in Jesus, Friends. Thanks for coming by!

This is the Day the Lord Has Made

 A few minutes ago, I posted my blog for today. But as I sit here thinking on my day ahead, I realize that I just have to give God glory and praise. 

There is a song that comes from Psalm 118:24. And it says: This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Truly, this is the day that the Lord has made for my husband and myself! Because we moved to another state about 2 years ago and it has not been without a good deal of hardship all this time. Not only for leaving the loved ones that we did, but cleaning out our home, selling it, and then the move itself. But then there has been living in cramped quarters and trying to find a new home that we can afford.

I have certainly been on an emotional roller coaster through it all. However, I know that God has been with me as well, and I am forever grateful to him!

Today however, in this journey that he has had us on, is a different day. The drawing of all we have been through, rolled into it.

We are finally closing on the house we are purchasing! Praise Jesus! 

I know that the Lord makes every day for us all to enjoy. But knowing that he knew what would take place today long before we did, just makes it ever more special. 

It is our day. Our day to really rejoice in the Lord. For he is good and his mercy endurth forever! 

Amen, and Amen!

Jesus Loves You!

 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises  with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:2-18

Hello, Friends. Thanks for stopping over. Have a blessed day. Remember that Jesus loves you!

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So!

 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; Psalm 107:1-2

Psalm 103:1-19

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases; Who redeemed thy life from destruction; who crowned thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies Who satisficed thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitied his children, so the Lord pitied them that fear him. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourished. For the wind passed over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. he Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom rules over all.

Hello Friends. As I end here for today, that hymn from my younger adult days came into my mind. "Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh on Me." We all need to have God's Spirit fall afresh on us each day as we go about the business of living for Him. Life sometimes is struggle enough and without Him, I cannot even begin to imagine what people do without Him.

May God's Spirit guide and bless us today, as we seek His face!

Into Every LIfe a Little Rain Must Fall

  O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; Psalm 63:1

Here in Florida, where I live, it has been raining almost all night and it is still coming down out there. During the night, there were even thunderstorms part of the time, though they have ceased. At least for now.

It truly is not a dry and thirsty land here right now. But I think back to the times when my soul felt like it was dry and thirsty. Times when I was away from my Creator and my flesh was not longing for him. Those times when I even had no interest in knowing what God thought of me.

But in 1841, Longfellow penned these words, "Into each life a little rain must fall." And it is said that he meant that everyone will experience difficulty and heartache at some point."  into our lives a little rain must fall - Google Search

My experiences in life, sure have proved both of those, both God's word, and his statement. As I am sure that it is true of your life as well. Life is just not easy. We go through the cycles of not enough rain in life to too much rain. Our souls become parched at times, and then drenched at other times.

Why does God let that happen? Maybe he has something he needs to teach me. When the drought doesn't doesn't bring me to him, the rain does because he might then allow me to go through a sickness or a financial problem that will turn my attention back to him.

 My soul becomes dry, empty and barren as that of a desert. And so then sometimes, to get my attention, he must turn on the flood waters as he did in Noah's day to try and get my attention.

Water of course, can be cleansing. It can feel good to us. It can wipe away the dry dirt that wants to otherwise cling to our soul. 

But too much, can over take and drown us, if we aren't careful.

I think that is why seeking God, is the answer. If we do that to the best of our ability, our soul neither has to be dry and stagnant, or flooded with too much heartache.

However, in either situation, he is always there for us. When we sincerely seek him. Because he loves us. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. I will still be online for a short time and will continue with a short post on days that I can, until further notice. God bless!

(Last note. As I sign off of this now, the rain has stopped, the sun is out and the birds are singing. Isn't God good!)

 

Dark Valley Days

"Yea, though I walk through the walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I death I shall fear no evil...."

Have you ever felt that way? Felt like you have or are or maybe even will go through the valley of the shadow of death. Or maybe the shadows of life, even. Those shadows that are out there. Waiting to grab our time, our money, our family. Or even our lives.

David of the Bible must have felt that way a lot because he was the one that wrote that in the 23rd Psalm. He had done much wrong in his life and was eventually chased by his enemies.

But God loved David. Despite his sin. He had loved him and had even called him "a man after his own heart." How revealing is that? To think that as bad as he was, God loved him enough and David's identity became what it was through God.

The thing was, in that scripture above (Psalm 23:4) he went on to say, "....I shall fear no evil for thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."

Whatever emotions he was feeling in those days he was being chased, became the comfort of his God, who loved him enough to say that he was a man after his own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

But this verse is just one of six. Look at what else he says that God will do: God is his shepherd so David does not want. God will lead him to green pastures. God will lead him beside still waters. God will restore his soul and lead him to righteousness for his names sake. God would prepare a table before him in the presence of his enemies. God will anoint his head with oil and his cup would run over.

God, God, God will do these things. 

God was taking care of the needs of the man that had sinned plenty against him in his life. Because he loved him. Just as he loves every one of his believers. Even in our darkest valley days.

Can we even imagine that God would prepare for each of us, a table in the midst of our enemies? And yet he did for David. Why would he not for us as well?  I think that is amazing love for us.

David didn't stop with verse 5. He went on to say something even more amazing and wonderful.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Just think. Our days of feeling like the walls are closing in on us. The days when we feel like death is taunting us with evil, whether its through our problems, or final death itself is approaching, there is no fear in that one day, all of that will pass and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever! 

What greater goodness and mercy is there from God, then that?!

Thanks for coming by, Friends. Til next time, stay blessed

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength: Nehemiah 8:10

 Hello Friends. Have you ever wondered what God is doing in your life, and why you go through the hard things that you do? 

In some ways, that is what has been going on in my life the past few days. Not that I haven't had hard times before, And my life these days, and its trouble have been nothing in comparison to some that I have been through at other times. I guess the difference is partly due to the fact that I am older now and for those that are older, life can be harder then ever because our health can get in our way.

And so that is where I am at. My heath is not as good at it used to be. And it takes a bit longer to get through the ups and downs of life. 

I know that God is working on my life though. It has been more and more evident in the last 2 or 3 years then I think ever before. Despite what I am feeling physically. 

One of my favorite verses in the bible is Psalm 30:5, because it promises that no matter what we are going through, we can have joy in the Lord.

I don't think God has been angry with me. And I haven't spent much time during this time, in tears. Although, I have cried out to him a couple of times for strength and help. Because life as it has been, will not last forever. In fact, he has answered those cries and given me what I have needed, as he has continued working for my greater good.

That scripture reminds me of how the friends and family of Jesus felt when he was hanging on the cross. He had taken the anger of God along with the sin of the world on himself. And but for a moment in time, he suffered for it. And so did they because they didn't  understand that the moment would not last forever. And their joy would return Eater morning when he burst out of that now empty tomb.

Believe me. I am not comparing my suffering with theirs. Mine is just a mini-spec compared to those that had actually walked with Jesus in person. 

But I think maybe the joy can be the same. Or if not, at least it can be measured in our own individual experience. If that makes sense.

However, the fact is, I am back on course, and ready once again to take on the challenges of the week and weeks ahead with the coming move that I mentioned the other day, and it is with great joy that I know that my God lives and he will see me to the end of it.

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. Psalms 98:1.

That is my song for today, because my joy has returned this morning.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. I pray your joy lifts you up in Jesus, as no other can! 

Sidestepping Harold Camping for a Time

Hello Friends. I have a website today to offer you to take a look at, if you would choose to do so, on your own. I don't know how much I am going to be able to post for a few days, as we are getting ready to move into another area very soon, and are busy with all that entails. Once we leave here, we will not have the internet at the new place for a short time, but I will be back online as soon as possible.

The site I am leaving with you today is a history of Harold Camping by someone that actually knew him so far as I can tell. W. Robert Godfrey gives us a look into Camping's involvement into a Christian Reformed Church in Almeda, California and how he ended up leaving there, and came upon his own biblical beliefs. 

At a later time, I will try to get back to it, with my own thoughts. Because the more I read, the more I believe he was a false prophet, but believed his own beliefs as well that did not line completely up with God's word.:

To read about his history, go to:        The_End_of_the_World_According_to_Harold_Camping.pdf

In the meantime, I will try to post a scripture or a short post each day during for the next few days until we do get moved, and until I can get back at this series. Thanks for your patience.

Take care and stay blessed!

May 22 and Beyond/The Aftermath (part five)

 Camping admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anybody could know the time of the Rapture or the end of the world, in stark contrast to his previously staunch position on the subject.^[19] In March 2012, he stated that his attempt to predict a date was "sinful", and that his critics had been right in emphasizing the words of Matthew 24:36: "of that day and hour knoweth no man". He added that he was now searching the Bible "even more fervently...not to find dates, but to be more faithful in [his] understanding."^[20] After the failure of Camping's prophecies, Family Radio suffered a significant loss of assets, staff and revenue.^[21]  Harold Camping - Wikipedia

Finally, Harold Camping admitting the truth? Well, we hope so, at any rate.

But what did he do when his May 21st prediction failed to usher in the Rapture of Jesus Christ? Take a look at what the CSM had to say:

As crestfallen followers of a California preacher who foresaw the world's end strained to find meaning in their lives, Harold Camping revised his apocalyptic prophecy, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21. 

Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before global cataclysm struck the planet, said Monday that he felt so terrible when his doomsday message did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions — some of it from donations made by followers — on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 recreational vehicles plastered with the Judgment Day message.

My notes: I am sure he and others had reason to get away from the press and whoever else might be knocking on his door to get answers to the questions on their minds. He had some explaining to do. No doubt he was embarrassed. So just how would he explain this. It's not like he just had a small congregation he needed to address. He had people all over the world that was following him. 

On down in that same article, it goes on to say that he had made a special appearance before the press at the Oakland headquarters of the media empire Monday evening, apologized for not having the dates "worked out as accurately as I could have." Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, the light dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a spiritual judgement, which places the entire world under Christ's judgement, he said. The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God's judgement and salvation were completed on Saturday, there is no sense in continuing to warn people about it, so his network would now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on October 21."

My notes: That's it! The reason that the Rapture did not happen on May 21! It was a spiritual rapture, not the physical one. The physical one would happen on October 21! 

A convenient way of getting out of the embarrassment, or did he really believe it? 

I really think that he believed it, because come October 21, he would be going through this all over again. What was it like that day? What more would he say? 

At this point, I don't know. Maybe we will find out, as we continue on. In the meantime, there will be much more to learn from these and other printed sources and from some of the people that knew Camping the best. 

One question I still have, was he a false prophet or just a man that really wanted to preach that people needed to repent so that they could be caught up into heaven when judgement came to the earth? I pretty much know the answer to that in my own mind. What about you? What do you think?

And then there is a couple other questions. He sure didn't learn from his embarrassing mistakes on May 21 or even his prior predictions. Did he ever learn from them, or did he take his beliefs to his grave with him.

Thanks for coming by. Til next time, God bless your new week!

May 22 and Beyond/The Aftermath (part four)

"God left all the churches in 1988, leaving satan to rule those institutions"

The above statement was reportedly made by Harold Camping. Did he really say it? Take a look at the following website and judge for yourself. 

Harold Camping predicts the end of the world. Again. - CSMonitor.com

While I do not agree with their theology (Christian Science Monitor) and had just stumbled upon their own articles about Harold Camping's end time predictions, I found it interesting, especially about that statement that he was reported to have made about God leaving the church. So I went looking for other resources not only for that particular one but any other of his beliefs that do not line up with the Bible and/or are just plain ridiculous

I found that Wikipedia has some interesting research on it. 

Camping taught that all churches have become apostate and thus must be abandoned. He encouraged personal Bible study and listening to his Family Radio broadcasts.^[42][43]

Departing from the doctrine of eternal torment for the unsaved in a place called Hell, Camping taught annihilationism: that life will end and existence will cease for the unsaved soul.^[41]

• Departing from scriptural doctrines stating that no one can know the time of Christ's second coming, Camping taught (until 2011) that the exact time of the Rapture would be revealed sometime near the end of the world (as per the Daniel 12:9–13 prophecy).

The following came from Harold Camping, radio evangelist who predicted 2011 doomsday, dies at 92 - The Washington Post

A civil engineer by training, Mr. Camping was a self-taught and self-described Bible scholar who developed his end-of-world prophecies through complex mathematical calculations and, he said, “clues sprinkled throughout the Bible.”

“It is going to happen,” he told NPR in early May 2011. “There is no Plan B.”

This statement came from Doomsday minister Harold Camping dead at 92

Each weeknight, Camping would transmit his own biblical interpretations in a quivery monotone, clutching a worn Bible as he took listeners' calls. He first predicted the world would end on Sept. 6, 1994 and when it did not, Camping said it was off because of a mathematical error. Followers later said he was referring to the end of "the church age," a time human beings in Christian churches could be saved. Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their belongings, and those who had fewer would cope, Camping said.

I found this statement interesting:

"We're not in the business of financial advice," he said. "We're in the business of telling people there's someone who you can maybe talk to, maybe pray to, and that's God."

But he also said that he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.

"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"

My notes: So there we have some of the things reported that Camping believed. I guess since he said that God left the church, that we are to only do our own bible study according to what he says? Ahhh, sorry. I don't think so. I am especially appalled at the audacity of all of that. Admittedly, there are all too many so called churches where God isn't, and was not ever in them in the first place.  However, on the flip side, there are many all over the world where he can be found. And if we get right down to it, the church isn't in a church building. The church is the body of Christ as believers as a whole. A church building is where we go to learn about God and the bible. And many 'church buildings' teach that. And many don't teach anything that is truth, or teach very little truth, if that makes any sense. 

Plus, what about the Holy Spirit? Jesus-when he was ready to go back to his Father after had risen from the grave, said he was going away to his Father, but that the Comforter would come to teach them.

So, as far as Camping believed, he (the Holy Spirit) must have left the church in 1988 as well? Because, the Holy Spirt is part of the Godhead. You don't have one without the other two.

And that about the radio station not being in the business of giving financial advice. I find that a bit ludacris because billions of dollars went into that station to help finance it. If they weren't exactly asking for money, the people giving it were truly getting the message that they wanted and maybe should be giving to this ministry? And in the mean time, they were being bled dry, so it seems. 

What else can we know about this man Harold Camping? There is more. And some of it comes from the people that knew him best. So come back tomorrow, and I will continue on with what and who he was. 

Thanks for coming today. Have a blessed day!