Remember Me

I remember you
I remember that you have forgiven my sin
I remember that you freed me from the bondage of sin and death
I remember that I am one with you in your death so I no longer have to walk in sin
I remember the Promise of Life that you have given
Life is in the blood and sustained by that blood
Your blood is cleansing
Your blood is a peacemaker
I remember my love for my brethren through laying down my life

There is something in the calling to remember. Lest we should forget and doubt. Have you forgotten that you were cleansed? Have you forgotten that He died for you? Have you forgotten to love your brethren? Have we heeded the admonishment  to discern the body, as the apostle Paul says, to discriminate against ourselves and think of others first? As Paul talks about to the Corinthians, we should remember the Lord not just in the form in which He broke the bread and passed the cup, but most importantly in what manner. He did not think of himself first and passed them to his brethren first. The Corinthians had made their meal "first come first served". Not Christ's manner at all. 

 Luke 13:²⁹ They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

(Matt 26:27-28, Mark 14:23-24, 1 Cor 10:16, 1 Cor 11:17-34 )

ישוע Ἰησοῦς Iesus ...Jesus

ישוע  Ἰησοῦς  Iesus ...Jesus

 John 19:19-20    " And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin."
Twelve years ago I heard that it was necessary to call the Lord by his Hebrew name( most groups do not agree on the spelling themselves), so I started speaking the Hebrew terms, not wanting to speak His name in vain. Deception had caught me. Thankfully He showed me the error.
God is not a respecter of language, which is an earthly thing. Even the Lord himself spoke Aramaic to his Father ( "Abba" "Eli Eli lema  sabachthani" )!
It is not the "proper" language that a person has to speak to know the Lord, but we must know the Lord Himself...

Despondency to Surety

Wherefore alone I was left to tumble about in the slough of despondency

Unable to lift my self by reason of great burden of sin on me

Along came Help whose name also was Support,

Who drew me out and set my feet on Stability

He pointed the way to a Heavenly Path,

That is straight and for my feet surety

No man, no me, can separate from Peace He has for me

Unforsaken, merciful, gracious always to be

Our God is full of compassion, abundant in mercy, ready to pardon if one would just believe.  Don't wait for another time.  Now is the time! Not only does He forgive our sin and not give us the just punishment for it, but He calls us blameless as if we didn't do it.  There is no "your forgiven BUT..." The old saying "I forgive you but I can't forget what you did" is not how He is.  He puts our sin as far as the east is from the west.

God's forgiveness is perfect. Never like a contract with small print hidden at the bottom of the page ready to snare you. His son Jesus' sacrifice was received once and for all and will never be revoked. If we sin after receiving Him, we go to Him and know we will be accepted and continue to be forgiven and loved. He is perfect even when we are not.  We can never have righteousness in ourselves, but can be clothed in His...

What Faith!

Here we are faced with a seemingly impossible situation, living the life of a Christian. We prepare ourselves  heavily with our weapons. We surround ourselves with rules and regulations(Don't do this, don't do that), words of affirmation("I will not sin, I will not sin, I will not sin"), and in example, censoring our own usage of the internet with apps to block the more terrible websites. Things that we think will keep us from sinning. David even had another person heap a weight of armor onto his being thinking surely this unproven young man couldn't go into battle without it. They are the ones in our lives that try to make us doubt that the power and the Name of Jesus Christ can save such a weak one.  We know the battle is already won because he proclaimed it so. In Ephesians 6:10-18 it talks about our armor, the  armor of God. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, prayer and the word of God(Greek for "word" is rhema, that which is uttered or poured forth). We can hold the truth but not speak it, believe in what is right but not do it, desire peace but not accept it, keep our faith to ourselves, and our salvation for a future date, and only ask for temporal things. But we won't be able to stand when the enemy throws his javelin. If we stand there trusting in the heavy armor OR our shield of unbelief we will not stand.  David poured forth the name of the Lord fully assured of the salvation of his people by their God. Not in arrogance, but knowing his God. Believing his God. And throwing that stone in a victory already declared.

I Am Clay

I am clay
Perfectly molded for Thee
I am flint
Thou makest me strong to face the foe
I am light
Reflecting Thy glory
I am an instrument
Fitted for Thy hand
I am a stone
Perfectly placed to support Thine own
I am clay

The Beauty of the Assembly

The assembly of saints is not solely for us individually to receive, for the Lord said it is better to give than receive. And the sole purpose of assembling is not to worship God also. But the beauty of the assembly is the intertwining of the edification of all TO the Glory of God. When we are gathered together the members of the body are edified AND God is worshipped. For in the laying down of each self for the others, He is lifted up. Our human body parts are not for themselves but are for the benefit of the whole. When they all gloriously work together then it is the whole that is seen. We don't look at a person and say "there's John's ear, John's eyes, John's hands, John's feet, John's mouth etc. We would say "there is John". When we as a body are seen, the one seeing should be able to say "there is Christ".

 

Psalm 22:22, 25  35:18  40:9, 10  107:32  149:1,  Romans  chap 12, 1Corinthians chap 12 - chap 14,   Ephesians 5:18-21, Colossians 3:12-17

A Prayer

O Lord, if only the Jews would grasp for YOU and not just for an earthly piece of land! For "he that puts his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain" . O Lord, it is your Son Jesus Christ who is our promised reward along with a new heaven and new earth, one in which righteousness reigns. Your people struggle and war for something that is passing away. They are no different than the other men of this world grasping for control in Iraq, Ukraine, Nigeria, Syria, and the Palestinians whom they fight! Glorify your name in them and turn their eyes to You in whom they will find an end of all struggling.