He Is My Destiny

Waiting to meet a friend for lunch, I enjoyed a blast from the past; all the way back to about 1960, as Vince Gill’s voice crooned throughout the restaurant, “I’ve been cheated, been mistreated.  When will I be loved?  I’ve been put down, I’ve been pushed ’round.  When will I be loved?”

In those days I was just a child, glued to a black and white TV screen as the Everly Brothers performed their big hit on American Bandstand.  How could I know the sad truth that echoes behind those lyrics?  The sad truth that has probably been one reason the song has endured over the years; recorded and/or performed not only by Vince Gill, but also by Linda Ronstadt and a host of other artists.

The sad truth that life is hard had not yet become a reality to me.  Little did I know that I would soon grow to understand all too well the feeling of being cheated or mistreated; a feeling with which almost everyone can relate.  How could I know that the burning question in the broken hearts of mankind is indeed: “When will I be loved?”

King David certainly understood such pain. In Psalm 55, he moaned…

“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me…

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—then I could bear it; 
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—then I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.”

Pondering the significance of the song while driving home from lunch, I was talking to the Lord about how we usually handle such things.  Immediately I heard the lyrics of another familiar song in my spirit; “You’re looking for love in all the wrong places.”  Another sad truth!  Books could be written—and have been, I’m sure—chronicling the mistakes people have made while searching for a love to fill the void of hurt and despair that was left behind by violations of trust and broken confidences.

Once again, we can look to King David…

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit
the righteous to be moved…You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.  Are they not in your book?  Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me … For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Psalm 55:22, 56:8-11, 57:10).

When we encounter the love of God, the same love that David experienced, we too will praise Him, and we can then sing another enduring song from the 60s…

“I will follow Him, follow him wherever he may go

There isn’t an ocean too deep

A mountain so high it can keep me away

I must follow him

Ever since he touched my hand I knew

That near Him I always must be

And nothing can keep Him from me

He is my destiny.”

== Written by: Barbara Parker (Standing In Faith Ministries) ==

I hope you were blessed. May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you. Feel free to share and leave your comments. We would love to hear from you.

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Ontological Dependence

Can I ever appreciate metaphysical studies
On the very nature of being and existing,
Without consideration of God my Creator,
When I’m an extension of His breathing?

Did He not breathe life into Adam’s lungs?
Without Him, I can do nothing meaningful;
Doesn’t practical application of The Word
Teach me to live peacefully with life full?

I don’t require divine power to sit idly by,
Since God acts when I chose to share my gifts.
He provided direction and correction, when I…
Cleansed my mindset with His Paradigm shift.

Under the sacred unction of The Holy Spirit,
I have access to the Counselor and Comforter.
He is never repelled by my human weaknesses;
He anoints my hands as Providential Supporter.

I’m Stepping out in faith with my resolve-
Desiring to be in sync with God and His flow.
Until heaven is brought down to bear on Earth,
How can I be satisfied with the ‘status quo’?

Author Notes: Loosely based on:
Gen 2:7; Luke 4:18; Acts 2,10:34-48;
1 Cor 12:1-11; Eph 5:18-20

Ontology: The metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence.

Learn more about Joseph and His poetry at: http://amzn.to/1ffo9YZ 
By Joseph J. Breunig 3rd, © 2014, All rights reserved.

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Don't Tell Them Jesus Loves Them

Oh suffering soul, crying out for love

In a world that seldom cares;

See the hungry heart longing to be filled

Much more than our prayers,

And a young girl sells herself on Seventh Avenue

And you hear her crying out for help,

"My God, what will we do?"

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

Till you're ready to love them too,

Till your heart breaks from the sorrow

And the pain they're going through

With a life full of compassion

May we do what we must do,

Don't tell them Jesus loves them

Till you're ready to love them too

Oh, the desperate man

Are we reaching for the souls

That are sinking down in sin?

Oh, cry for the child

We've lost our passion for the lost

And there are billions left to win

And another forty thousand children starve to death today,

Would we risk all we have to see which of them say:

Why have we waited so long to show them Jesus lives

To share salvation's song?

Why have our hearts become so proud that we fail to see

To love them is to love God?

And a young girl sells herself on Seventh Avenue

Hear her crying out for help,

"What will we do?"

*** Song Lyrics by Steve Camp ***

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Dead To Sin

Text: Romans 6:1-2 

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2)

Notice three things about this question: Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? First, notice that the question is logical. This is a very good question. If your gospel does not arouse this question in somebody's mind, there is likely something wrong with it, for it is the kind of question that ought to be asked at this point. There is something about the grace of God that immediately raises this issue. If sin is so completely taken care of by the forgiveness of Christ, then we don't really need to worry about sins, do we? They are not going to separate us from Christ, so why not keep on doing them? It is a perfectly logical question.

But, second, notice that even our very nature would have us raise this question. It is not only logical, but it is also natural. That is because sin is fun, isn't it? We like to do it. Otherwise we wouldn't keep on doing it, we would not get involved in it. We know sins are bad for us, but we like to do them. Otherwise we would not. Therefore, any kind of a suggestion that tells us we can escape the penalty for our sin and still enjoy the action arouses a considerable degree of interest in us.

We must understand that Paul is talking about a lifestyle of sin, not just a single act or two of failure. He is talking about Christians who go on absolutely unchanged in their lifestyle from what they were before they were Christians. The word for go on sinning is in the present continuous tense. It means the action keeps on happening. Paul is talking about a habitual practice. Can we go on living this way?

Finally, notice that this question is put in such a way as to sound rightly motivated and even pious. Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? This suggests that our motivation for sinning is not just our own satisfaction — we are doing it so that grace may increase. God loves to show His grace. Therefore, if we go on sinning, He will have all the more opportunity. This question is not asked by a complete pagan, but by someone who seems intent on the glory of God. Having said that, we come now to the answer, the positive answer of Paul.

Paul immediately reacts with a very positive statement, bluntly put: By no means! We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? This does not mean that sin is dead in me. It doesn't mean that I have reached the place where I cannot sin. Neither does Paul mean by this that we are dying to sin; that we are gradually changing and growing, and there will come a time when we will sort of outgrow all this evil. It doesn't mean that at all.

Again, we must face clearly the statement the apostle makes. He puts it in a once for all way: We died to sin. It is impossible for your lifestyle to continue unchanged when you become a Christian. It is simply impossible, because a change has occurred deep in the human spirit. And those who protest, and say they can go on living this way, are simply revealing that there has been no change in their spirit, there has been no break with Adam. They are still in the same condition.

Copyright 2014 / Ray Stedman Ministries / www.raystedman.org

I hope you are blessed. Feel free to share and leave your comments. May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you and your family. God bless!

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Welcome To October!

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Month!!!

Ensnared in woes, shrouded in doubts,

With broken heart and waning blows,

Remember all the Lord did say

To comfort you and bring you close;

To heal your sores and calm your storm,

To grant you all the things you need;

Gaze to the swallows in the sky,

Invoke the thoughts of how they feed

And tell if God can’t grant you peace

To give your soul its needed rest.

The One who gave life to dry bones

Can’t He salvage from life’s unrest?

If September brought you to your knees,

I guess it’s time to seek the Lord;

Lay all your burdens at His feet,

Depend on Him, believe His word.

October holds a bright new start,

With faith you soon will soar again;

Obey the Lord, walk in His ways,

You toils this month won’t be in vain.

=== Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ===

Best of wishes to you all and God bless! Regards.


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The Wonder Of Our God

Growing up, we lived near the families of two of my dad’s brothers and I was close to a couple of cousins who were about my age. As my younger siblings began arriving, so did younger cousins—all of whom we considered the “little kids.” It’s amazing how distant five or six years seem during our formative years, and how such age differences shrink into insignificance as adults.

Crystal was one of the little kids, so after my family moved away when I was seventeen we lost touch for many years. About five years ago Crystal started calling occasionally and we’d talk awhile, but still didn’t know one another well. Eventually though, we discovered that we are both passionate about God in a way that many others in our extended family are not; and a spiritual bond began to form.

The last few years have been very difficult for Crystal, with catastrophic illnesses plaguing her husband that have left him permanently disabled; a multitude of other cascading problems; and, in just the last year, she lost both parents as well as two of other close family members. Sinking into a place of deep despair, she continued crying out to God and, as always, He has been faithful. I share the background of Crystal’s difficulties to illustrate the wonder of the sufficiency of our Lord, even in the midst of our most desperate times. In her words…

I was walking the puppies, and out near the edge of our mowed lawn is the wilder part where the more natural grasses grow up to a height of about 18 inches.

It’s early spring and the wildflowers have just started to bloom here and there. Over the years, as I’ve taken photos of our flowers, I’ve found that some of my very favorites are the tiny wild flowers. At first glance, looking down at them from about five feet above, they don’t look all that impressive. But when I bend down and focus on the tiny blooms, some not more than an inch across, I am amazed to see the glorious details of the little petals and stamens, complete with pollen.

This day, walking near the edge of the lawn, I noticed a lone grouping of three fronds of one of these little Missouri wildflowers. It was white and delicate with little yellow stamens.

I wondered, “Will this little flower survive without anyone but the good Lord up above watering it and caring for it?” I also pondered the question, “What good will this little flower be?  If I hadn’t just happened to walk out here, nobody would even have enjoyed its beauty.”

Just then, a huge black-and-yellow-striped bumblebee, about an inch long and a half-inch wide, buzzed in and landed on the tiny wildflower. This is the kind of bumblebee I used to see growing up in Northern California where we used to love to catch them in the lupine bushes in quart glass Mason jars because we always liked to hear them “sing” as they buzzed.

It was always fun to find one that had lots of pollen dots on its back legs, gathered and distributed along its travels. I’ve since learned that many flowers don’t pollinate unless a bee comes along to do it for them.

So, here was this little lone wildflower and I watched, mesmerized, as the big bumblebee adeptly and carefully visited each and every little open petal.

I felt ashamed that I had so quickly judged the seemingly insignificant wildflower. I wasn’t the only one to enjoy its beauty—I was but one of many, including the Good Lord up above, the angels, and all the other birds and bees flying about.

Suddenly I didn’t feel like such a lone wildflower living out in the wilderness. The Spirit spoke to me and said that I am never alone, but that God Himself always makes plans to visit me and deposit within me bits of Himself, where they can stay forever, producing His life. Then, as I am filled with Him, I can be like the bumblebee and spread the beauty of His love to other flowers (people) I come in contact with.

May we all decide now to be like industrious little bumblebees, pollinating with His life all the wildflowers and cultivated flowers with whom the LORD allows us to interact.  We do this by sharing His light; by walking in His light. We do this by not reacting badly, even when others do so. We do this when we shine with His glory because we have been swimming in it ourselves, and it just exudes out of us effortlessly.

What wonderful details and symmetry God has placed on our little blue planet!

So today, praise Him, especially if you identify with being a lone little wildflower living out in the wilderness because… “He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

== Written by: Barbara Parker (Standing In Faith Ministries) ==

I hope you were blessed. May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you and your family. Feel free to share, leave your comments and reactions. We would love to hear from you.

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One There Is Above All Others

One there is above all others,
Well deserves the name of Friend;
His is love beyond a brother's,
Costly, free, and knows no end:
They who once His kindness prove,
Find it everlasting love.

Which of all our friends, to save us,
Could or would have shed his blood?
But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in Him to God:
This was boundless love indeed,
Jesus is a Friend in need.

When He lived on earth abased,
"Friend of sinners" was His name;
Now above all glories raised,
He rejoices in the same;
Still He calls them brethren, friends,
And to all their wants attends.

O, for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love;
We, alas! forget too often
What a Friend we have above;
But when home our souls are brought,
We shall love Thee as we ought.

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