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2 Timothy 1:6-7, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
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2 Timothy 1:6-7, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
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Welcome
Exploring the Gospel in plain talk. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus, the Anointed One, in everyday English. Seeking Him with commentaries, Bible studies, and humor. Finding Him in His word. We have articles for everyone! In the process of exploring the scriptures, the Lord showed me that we all need to be renewed in our minds every single day. With that in mind, I have written articles that reflect my own journey with the Lord on a daily basis. Please come with me. You will most likely find favorite scriptures of your own here. If you have favorites and they are not here, please email me. I will try to get to them as soon as I can. Thank you for visiting and enjoy yourself! 2 Timothy 4:2-5, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."
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My First Love© 07/22/04Do you remember when you first fell in love? I do or at least what I thought was love at the time. I was in Junior High School (Middle School). What the attraction was, I am not certain, only that he was someone I wanted to know better. We dated for a while. During the summer after I graduated from high school, something changed and I wasn't quite as enamored anymore. It wasn't anything he did or didn't do, it was just that my feelings had changed somehow, other people and activities intruded. It simply wasn't the same anymore. If you are a born again Christian, do you remember when you first asked Jesus into your life? I remember that quite clearly. My world changed dramatically. Everything looked brighter, felt cleaner and safer. When reading the Bible, I could see things I never saw before. Love was in the air. I had the warm and fuzzy feeling and that I was loved so much. I was constantly wanting to pray and be at church. Now there was a mystery to me. Where were all the people? We went to church every time the doors were open but most folks only showed up on Sunday morning. In our case, we were going to a church that served mostly college students who apparently were too busy to be there on Wednesday nights and Sunday evenings. I just could not understand that. What was more important than going to church and being fed in the Word of God? Ah, but then things changed. I began to be busy at a job the Lord provided. Worries and situations developed. I don't really even remember what they were now. Although I was still praying and reading the Word of God, we didn't go to church as much. Sometimes, it was because we simply could not get there. Then it was easier not to go out at night. It was easier not to get up early to find our way to church on Sunday morning. After all, there are preachers on TV, right? We can get fed in the Word of God that way. Click here for the rest of My First Love Back To The BasicsIt's time for the church of the Lord God to get it's act together and get back to the basics of the teachings of Jesus.© 02/15/02Roughly six months before I became a Christian, there was a record playing (Wow! 33 and a third. Black record. Have no idea the name of it.) by Loretta Lynn that talked about the night Jesus was in the garden and then on the cross the next day. It went no further. That record, which I now know the Lord placed in my life, made me cry out to the Him asking why it happened. Why did they kill Him? You see, I had heard the story many times but had not really HEARD what happened afterwards. So many folks celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter and have no idea what they mean. My crying out to the Lord that day led me to a ministry in Mississippi six months later, although I did not know it at the time. The day I gave my heart to Jesus, it was a total surprise to me. The memories of that day and a number of them after are with me to this day. Take the time to remember your own testimony now. How long has it been since you thought of that time?
But since then, things have changed, life goes on. New revelations from Bible studies, prayer time, and teaching and preaching from pastors and preachers often replace things we learned at the beginning. Sometimes our zeal wavers a bit because of bills, kids, jobs, and time stealers (you fill in the blank for that). The worries and cares of the day, week, month take over. Time for prayer becomes shorter and shorter, sometimes disappearing altogether. Going to church, once an anticipated event, becomes more and more difficult to accomplish until one day, that too stops due to the necessity of having just one day to 'sleep in' or you can't miss that golf game that starts promptly at 9a.m. on Sunday.
At some point it comes to mind to question your priorities but that also gets put on the back burner when someone comes in with a scraped knee or elbow. Coming back to the question might take days, weeks or months, if at all. You feel you have 'grown in the Lord' to the point that you no longer have to act like a beginner. There are things you know now that change how you thought before. Yet there is 'something' missing. Not really sure what it might be but you know there is SOMETHING, if only you could put your finger on it. Have you been there?
Click here for the rest of Back To The Basics Reader's Favorite ArticleDoes God Care?© 07/08/05Recently, I started a study on that very question. It seems to me that even the faith giants ask this at one time or another. Isn't it in your heart at those times of pressure or maybe you just wonder about it sometimes because it doesn't really look like it? To answer the question quickly...Yes, He does care very much about all aspects of our lives. Yet, so much of the time, we ourselves get in His way with our bad choices and intent need to "fix it" ourselves when...if only, we would look to God for the solutions. Perhaps we should sit back and think about this a moment. I have no idea how many times I have gone ahead of God, how often have my blessings gone astray because I didn't wait one more hour, one more day. How can we know the answer to that? I wasn't patient enough to wait on God to deal with the situation. Something hit me just a day or so ago. Someone I knew, who had many health problems and emotional difficulties, committed suicide. In the note left for others to find, the person mentioned that they had tried for months for Social Security Disability which would fix many of the financial problems also looming over the person's head. The person was in dispair, the hope was gone from life. Worries and cares for all sorts of things became too large to handle. Any light, any positive thoughts were gone. The spirit died even before the body through hopelessness. They committed suicide. The day after the death, the letter came that said they received the needed funds. If only the person had waited ONE MORE DAY. How often do we give up our faith moments, hours or days before our blessing is about to show up? God wants us to be steadfast in our faith walk, our love and pursuit of Him, not giving up until we see the results in our spirits, having peace about all things. Is that too much for God to ask of us? NO! He is our Creator. He, through Jesus, is our Savior and Lord, if we will surrender our lives to Him. We should honor Him even if He does absolutely nothing else for us at all. Click here for the rest of Does God Care?
Proof that Christians have a sense of humor, Mark Lowry is one of my favorite comedians. For my Husband's Christian Articles, Stop by a Peculiar Place.
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