Prayers going up.
On Sat Jan 1st, 2011 12:21 AM CST Amanda Webster-Sibal wrote:
>Terrible weather in Mississippi right now. I mean TERRIBLE!! Tornado warnings right now in my city. Sirens are going off all over the place. Please pray.
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>Sent from my iPhone
Dear Brother/Sister in Christ,Please go to this link to access the video.
Terrible weather in Mississippi right now. I mean TERRIBLE!! Tornado warnings right now in my city. Sirens are going off all over the place. Please pray.
Sent from my iPhone
Test of Our Spirituality
In John 21: 15-17, before the crucifixion Peter had denied the Lord three times. This was the culmination of three and a half disappointing years that he had been with the Lord, during which he had proved himself proud, self-assertive and, prayer less. Yet the Lord, when about to entrust Peter with the feeding of His sheep, made no reference to any of these weaknesses. He did not even challenge him to be humble and prayerful in the future and to witness boldly, facing persecution if need be for the sake of his Lord. No, He did not ask any such questions, although these are indeed the qualifications we should look for in a spiritual man, and especially in one who is to be a leader among God's people.
The Lord Jesus knew that one simple question would be sufficient. If that question found a true response, everything else would automatically follow. "Lovest thou Me more than everything and everyone else?" Love for Christ is the real test of any man's spirituality.
The test of genuine spirituality in God's sight is one thing and one only: the extent of your love for Him. Ultimately that is something between you and your Lord alone. He puts the question: "Lovest thou me?" and it is for you to find the answer.
When Isaac loved Rebekah (Genesis 24:67) what he looked for in return was not her service but her love. In just the same way, what the Lord is expecting from us primarily is not our service but our love. Where there is true love, service will flow spontaneously.
In company with Abraham's servant Rebekah made a 600 mile journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan (Genesis 24: 61-67). What do you suppose they talked about together during that journey? If she really loved Isaac, surely Rebekah would have been enquiring about him all along the way. She would have put endless questions concerning Isaac to her companion and guide. With just such a hunger a believer who really loves the Lord Jesus will read the Bible. Day by day he will invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to him more and yet more of the beauty of his Lord.
May the Lord show us afresh that the measure of our love for Him is the real measure of our spirituality. And lest we deceive ourselves, let us remember the yardstick that He Himself provided. The proof of our love is simply our obedience (John 14: 15,21,23,24).
In the last book of Bible this solemn truth is confirmed. There the Lord rebukes the church at Ephesus because it had lost sight of the first things (Rev 2: 1-5). In other respects it was a remarkable church. The Christians there had labored with patience, they had hated evil, they had exposed false apostles, and they had persevered and endured for the sake of the Name. Heart and soul they were in the Lord's work and nothing had made them give up. Yet, in spite of all this the Lord had something against them. It constituted so serious a lack as to threaten their very existence as a testimony for Him. They had fallen, He told them, and if they did not repent, He would withdraw from them His anointing, the sign of His approval of their testimony. What was this serious lack? It was just this that they had grown cold in their love for their Lord. They had not lost their first love for Him; they had just left it behind and moved elsewhere. They had become so busy with their meetings and retreats and conventions (if we may so speak) and other forms of Christian activity that they had lost sight of the One for whom all these other things existed. Clearly this shows that the Lord cares more for the devotion of our hearts towards Him than for all our activity. The Devil, knowing this, will do his utmost to get us so involved in Christian engagement of one kind and another that we find no time to spend with our blessed Lord and thus let slip our personal devotedness to Him.
Jesus warned us that in the last days sin would so abound in the world that many would become cold in their love to Him (Matt 24:12). We are living in those days now. Among the vast majority of the professed followers of the Lord the spiritual temperature is below freezing point. Unless we ourselves are constantly watchful, we shall find that frigid atmosphere penetrating inside us as well. My brothers and sisters in Christ, even if you lose everything else, do not let go this one thing - your love for your Lord.
Remember
Only one life, will soon be past,
Only what is done, for Christ will last.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Love & Prayers,
Michael J. Knight.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-C-T-S/
What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.
Let your love for Him increase more in the New Year.
An End of Ourselves
It is not the size of a work that impresses God. The world looks for size and numbers. But God is looking for works of faith - even if they be the size of mustard seeds.
And so, when God brings us to an end of ourselves, hedging us in on every side and shattering our hopes, let us take heart! He is preparing us for greater usefulness by bringing us first to the place of impotence. He's equipping us to produce Isaacs.
This was how Jesus prepared His apostles for His service. What do you think was the purpose of His training them for three and a half years? They were not being coached to write scholarly theses that would earn each of them a doctorate in theology. That's how some people today feel they can be equipped to serve the Lord. But Jesus didn't train His apostles for that. None of the twelve disciples (except perhaps Judas Iscariot!) would have qualified for a basic theological degree (by our standards), even if they had tried. Jesus trained them to learn one lesson primarily - that, without Him they could do nothing (John 15:5). And, I tell you, a man who has learned that lesson is worth more a hundred theological professors who haven't learnt that lesson.
Total dependence upon God is the mark of the true servant of God. It was true even of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, as the Servant of Jehovah. In a prophetic reference to Him in Isaiah 42:1, God says, "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold." He does not stand in His own strength; He is upheld by God. Because Christ emptied Himself thus, God put His Spirit upon Him, as the next verse says (Isa. 42:2). Indeed, it is only on those who have come to an end of themselves and who have emptied themselves of self-confidence and self-sufficiency that God pours out His Spirit.
Look at some of the remarkable statements that Jesus made, which clearly show how emptied of self He was: "The Son can do nothing of Himself" (John 5:19). "I can of Mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30). "I do nothing of myself" (John 8:28). "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father Who sent Me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49). "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself" (John 14:10).
Amazing! The perfect, sinless Son of God lived by faith. Emptied of all dependence upon His own self, He depended entirely on His Father. It is thus that God calls us to live too.
When we are self-sufficient, we try to use God to help us serve Him. But when we are emptied, God can use us.
So let's put an end to ourselves this year and begin a new life in God in the coming New Year.
Remember
Only one life, will soon be past,
Only what is done, for Christ will last.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Love & Prayers,
Michael J. Knight.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-C-T-S/
What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.
I cant see these on my phone.
On Fri Dec 31st, 2010 4:16 PM CST Hunto wrote:
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SHELLEY
Moderator
Awake4HisReturn@yahoogroups.com
CO-OWNER
The_Glitter_Room@yahoogroups.com
OWNER
I hope that everyone has a great new year and that things are better for them in the upcoming year than they have been in the past.May God bless each and everyone! please say a prayer for my mom shes in the hospital and not sure whats wrong they are doing alot of test to see if they can figure it out.I would appriciate it if everyone would keep her in their thoughts and prayers.thank you very much! Happy New Year! :-)
Shelley Cartwright (glitter4jesus@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article.
(Email address has not been verified.)
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Personal message:
Millions gather worldwide to ring in new year - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101231/ap_on_re_us/new_year_s_eve
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Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/
You can also send images to your friends! Go to Hunto.com!
… Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
You [God] will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
… this is where I want to be, before I start to pray; at peace with God…
...… Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
"Prayer is where the action is." John Wesley
| Amen love u, Shirley La Fave   --- On Fri, 12/31/10, Wanda Ward <angelina56p47@yahoo.com> wrote:
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