Joy is Our Eternal Home

                                                                            

 What will heaven be like?

The late Rev. Billly Graham explained heaven this way:

Heaven for the Christian will be a place of glorious life that will never end. Joy inexpressible, limitless peace, pure love, beauty beyond description—that’s what heaven is. Greatest of all will be the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, with who Loved ones who have known and loved the Lord will be there. Revelation 21:2 says, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Mr. Graham has written: “Heaven will be a place in which its inhabitants will be freed from the fears and insecurities that plague and haunt us in the present life. No energy crisis there … Free from the economic and financial pressures that burden us down here. Free from the fear of personal and physical harm … No fear of personal failure … Our relationship with Him will be intimate and direct. I’m looking forward to that glorious day of going to heaven.

“Heaven will be what we have always longed for. It will be the new social order that men dream of. All the things that have made earth unlovely and tragic will be absent in heaven. There will be no night, no death, no disease, no sorrow, no tears, no ignorance, no disappointment, no war. It will be filled with happiness, worship, love, and perfection.

Heaven will be a place to challenge the creative genius of the unfettered mind of redeemed man.” Revelation 21:4 says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

However, the Bible makes clear that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way …” (John 14:6). Jesus paid for our sins through His death on the cross. God offers us the free gift of friendship with Him in this life and eternal life in heaven when we die if we will but turn from sin and trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved …” (Acts 16:30).

Wow! And I would add that it will be even more grand than his description. I imagine that upon his death, he took in the most beautiful place than what he thought it could be. And getting to spend it with his loved ones as well as with Jesus?  To me that is imaginable. The Joy of heaven is waiting there for those of us that have asked Jesus to forgive us our sin, to ask him to come into our hearts and asked him to be the Lord of our life. That is what pure joy is. For us. Because just remember folks. This life on earth is not our final home. We are just passing through. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed weekend. I will be b ack on Monday!

  

What is Joy?

Joy: A feeling of great pleasure and happiness

That is what the dictionary says that joy is. But what about the Bible?

Joy is a state of mind that can be experienced by both Christians and non-Christians alike. It’s a feeling of happiness, contentment, and well-being. The Bible also defines joy as a gift from God.

I ran across the following scripture this week:

 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

Think about it, Friends.

Isn't that the real meaning of Joy in the lives of us that have been saved under the power of God?

I believe so.

It is truly a gift of God who sent his Son Jesus, that we can grab on to that power and confess and believe who he is and why he left heaven to die a bloody disgraceful death that we can one day live forever with him.

That is what joy is to me.

I hope it is for you as well.

Thanks for coming by today.

 

Joy

 

Are you the kind of person whose joy permeates your life? Or do you frequently scowl too often? So much so that others see your unhappiness. 

God wants us to be joyful. And I am going to study the reasons for that in the next few days. Because what happens when I am going through a hard time. A time when life is not really all that joyful. I plan to start looking at that starting March 9th, so please come back for that study.

But for today's post, did you know what the word joy can mean for all of us.

Joy

J is for Jesus

O is for others

Y is for yourself

J is for Jesus. Putting Him first in your life

O is for others, including family, friends and others that God has put in your life. Maybe those that you minister to or help.

You is putting you last. However, I think the O and the Y sort of ranks the same because if we don't sometimes put ourselves first, how can we be a good parent, friend, etc. 

God does want us to be joyful. He wants us to be happy. If we go around being grumpy all the time, those people around us that aren't Christians would look at us might feel that if that is what a Christian is, why be a Christian?

 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Psalms 32:11

Thanks for coming by, Friends. Have a blessed night.

God Knows Even When We Don't

Parts of our family have been going on trials for what seems like forever. One thing after another. It seems like they never end. One thing gets resolved and another one starts. 

Our only hope though is knowing that God knows why he is allowing these things, and when they will be resolved.

To question his absolute faithfulness is unfathomable to me. Although sometimes its hard not to do. But, I see what God said to Job in this passage:

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.

15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.

16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,

20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?

22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;

26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?

28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?

36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,

38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. Job 38:1-41

Where were we indeed when God did all of these things. And who are we to question him for allowing things to enter our lives that we do not want. He knows from beginning to end, how our lives will go. Through the good and the not so good, and in time, we will know too.

Thanks for coming by this evening, Friends. May your night be blessed!

Shifting the Blame

"He did it mom!"  he said. "No, I didn't, you did!" she

 yelled back.

If you are a parent, or grandparent or just lived around children for any length of time, you have heard them blaming each other for something they have done and wanted to shift the blame onto someone else.

But of course, this is not just a problem with our kids.

Have you ever known anyone that blames everyone else for everything bad that has happened to them?

Maybe you have done that. 

Maybe I have. 

The thing is, we have all done it at one time or another. 

And of course, it has its roots in the beginning of the world when Adam and Eve blamed each other in the garden.

Genesis 3:11-13

It did not go well with God for them to blame each other.

Nor does it go well with Him when we do it today. 

When we mess up however, remember that we need to confess our sin to Him. And then we should tell the person we are sorry that we blamed them for something they didn't do. God will forgive us. And hopefully the other person will too.

That's God's way.

Isn't it?

Thanks for coming by today, Friends.

God bless you!

Is God Male or Female?

There have been people that have decided that God is female. It begs to wonder if they have even studied the Bible to be able to know the truth about it. I like what gotquestions.org has to say about it. Please read on:

In examining Scripture, two facts become clear. First, God is a Spirit and does not possess human characteristics or limitations. Second, all the evidence contained in Scripture agrees that God revealed Himself to mankind in a male form. To begin, God’s true nature needs to be understood. God is a Person, obviously, because God exhibits all the characteristics of personhood: God has a mind, a will, an intellect, and emotions. God communicates and He has relationships, and God’s personal actions are evidenced throughout Scripture.

As John 4:24 states, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Since God is a spiritual being, He does not possess physical human characteristics. However, sometimes figurative language used in Scripture assigns human characteristics to God in order to make it possible for man to understand God. This assignment of human characteristics to describe God is called “anthropomorphism.” Anthropomorphism is simply a means for God (a spiritual being) to communicate truth about His nature to humanity, physical beings. Since humanity is physical, we are limited in our understanding of those things beyond the physical realm; therefore, anthropomorphism in Scripture helps us to understand who God is.

Some of the difficulty comes in examining the fact that humanity is created in God’s image. Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Both man and woman are created in the image of God, in that they are greater than all the other creations as they, like God, have a mind, will, intellect, emotions, and moral capacity. Animals do not possess a moral capacity and do not possess an immaterial component like humanity does. The image of God is the spiritual component that humanity alone possesses. God created humanity to have a relationship with Him. Humanity is the only creation designed for that purpose.

That said, man and woman are only patterned after the image of God—they are not tiny “copies” of God. The fact that there are men and women does not require God to have male and female features. Remember, being made in the image of God has nothing to do with physical characteristics.

We know that God is a spiritual being and does not possess physical characteristics. This does not limit, however, how God may choose to reveal Himself to humanity. Scripture contains all the revelation God gave to humanity about Himself, and so it is the only objective source of information about God. In looking at what Scripture tells us, there are several observations of evidence about the form in which God revealed Himself to humanity.

Scripture contains approximately 170 references to God as the “Father.” By necessity, one cannot be a father unless one is male. If God had chosen to be revealed to man in a female form, then the word “mother” would have occurred in these places, not “father.” In the Old and New Testaments, masculine pronouns are used over and over again in reference to God.

Jesus Christ referred to God as the Father several times and in other cases used masculine pronouns in reference to God. In the Gospels alone, Christ uses the term “Father” in direct reference to God nearly 160 times. Of particular interest is Christ’s statement in John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.” Obviously, Jesus Christ came in the form of a human man to die on the cross as payment for the sins of the world. Like God the Father, Jesus was revealed to humanity in a male form. Scripture records numerous other instances where Christ utilized masculine nouns and pronouns in reference to God.

The New Testament Epistles (from Acts to Revelation) also contain nearly 900 verses where the word theos—a masculine noun in the Greek—is used in direct reference to God. In countless references to God in Scripture, there is clearly a consistent pattern of His being referred to with masculine titles, nouns, and pronouns. While God is not a man, He chose a masculine form in order to reveal Himself to humanity. Likewise, Jesus Christ, who is constantly referred to with masculine titles, nouns, and pronouns, took a male form while He walked on the earth. The prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament refer to both God and Jesus Christ with masculine names and titles. God chose to be revealed in this form in order for man to more easily grasp who He is. While God makes allowances in order to help us understand Him, it is important to not try to “force God into a box,” so to speak, by placing limitations on Him that are not appropriate to His nature.

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That explains it very well, I believe. We only need to look to His Word to know the answer to that question. 

But as we know, many people don't believe the Bible and just make up their own ideas. 

They would rather believe a lie for the truth.

And so would the devil.

But I tell you, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what the truth is. 

Thanks for coming by Friends, Have a blessed night.

God: Male or Female

 You may have heard it before: God is a woman.

Have any women actually claimed to be God?

The answer to that is: Yes. 

Amy Carlson Stroud claimed to be Mother God

Emily Thomas Lochten claimed to be an Egyptian God

Nirmala Srivastava was a gruru and self-proclaimed incantation of the Holy Ghost and more.

Just to name a few. 

And of course there are many men that claimed to be God as well.

But the real question for this study is"

Is God male or female?

Some women and yes even some men would claim God is a woman.

Some men believe God to be a man.

So, what is the answer?

It's a compelling question, because the Bible states that God is male. But since he/she is a spirit, a  spirit has neither identity. 

Or is that false?

And on the other hand, the Bible claims that it is the Inspired Word of God. So if he claims to have the characteristic of male, where does that leave a woman as a God?

I plan to answer that question on Feb.25 so I hope you will come back for that post. 

Thanks for coming by!

Be blessed of God!