I have a confession and question. I was not raised in a church that preached about the Holy Spirit very much. In fact, other than knowing it was part of the Godhead, I had no clue as to Who He is and how important He is in a Christian's life. I thought the Pentacostals had the answer but it felt wrong in my Spirit. Try as I might, I could never speak in tongues unless I chose to speak in gibberish. I prayed and prayed and never did get the ability. Now, I could (and can) repeat word(s) over and over again until they no longer sound like words and they claimed that was the Holy Spirit loosening my tongue but I knew I had done it on purpose. The main reason, I have to admit, is to shut them up. They hounded me relentlessly about this and I just wanted whatever gift God chose to give me. I have 2 problems with speaking in tongues. One is if I do receive that gift, it MUST be 100% given by the Spirit and 0% me. I will not "learn" to speak in tongues. Second, I want to KNOW what I am saying in prayer. How do I know that I'm not cursing Him in another KNOWN language by accident? I revere God so much and He is so holy and sacred that I can't even knowingly say the name of false "gods." King David did the same thing and I am so grateful I made that decision before I found out David did the same oath. I'm not boasting, just giving Him the glory that I made a personal and private vow without knowing others had as well. It validated it for me. I knew that oath was from MY heart and not stealing the idea from someone I have so much respect for. I LOVE David. He was a sinner, a wretch lke me but highly favored by God Almighty. How much hope that gives us!
God gives us what we need, when we need it and He is always on time. While I get it wrong at times, I'm definitely learning to discern His still, small voice and how He guides me in my walk with my Savior. While it only happened one time, I am 99.9% sure I either audibly heard God's voice and if not His, then the voice of an angel. It meant business, the message was crystal clear and I believed it. So much so that I got up and did what I was told to do. It was so real, NOT in my head, that I thought it came from MY David. I know it wasn't him because he wouldn't have used the same words. I even heard my name. I was told to get out of my bed and walk (I knew it didn't matter if it was 3 feet or 3 miles) so long as I walked when I could barely walk to the bathroom. I was severely depressed, weighed 90 lbs at most and that was my "last chance." I was told if I didn't walk that day, I would die in that bed. It could have been that day or a month but I truly believe I would have died. In 2 weeks, I could walk as far as I wanted, gained 20 pounds and my life was changing and others were asking me what I did. When I told them, they all said that's exactly what they thought. There's more believers than we know.
However, when I was 6 I had an incident. I was skating in front of the store next to my grandma's house. It was smooth and safe. My friend and I didn't like going up the sidewalk cos we always fell. I was also what others called the sweetest, lovingest child they knew. If I hurt someone's feelings, I'd cry for days. I had a tender heart and for me to be mean was just so out of character. Suddenly, I grabbed my friend and literally screamed at her and drug her by the arm up the sidewalk and told her we were going to skate down that sidewalk.
All I remember thinking is why am I doing this? What is wrong with me and why am I being so horrible to her! I wanted to stop but couldn't. I finally got her loose from hanging on to a pole and we hadn't gotten but maybe 2 feet, 3 at the very most, away when a drunk driver hit my mother's car and in less than 3 seconds, had smashed (and totaled) the car underneath the area where we were skating. Had we not moved exactly when we did, in the exact direction, we would have been killed. There's no doubt about it. The only word I can think to say sounds flip but think "pancake" and that would be us. The noise was deafening and yet I could hear my family wailing and screeching. They were on their knees, thinking we were dead. I couldn't get her to hear me and I had no way to get to her so she could see we were okay. The neighbor lady was kind enough to take me into the street safely and I didn't have a clue what the fuss was about. I had nary a clue. I wasn't scared or even awed. I just felt awful about being so mean.
Later that night, my mom and g'ma talked to me, asking if I had any questions and asked me what happened and why had I broken her rule about not going to the top of the sidewalk as I was a pretty obedient child but that day, I was NOT nice or obedient. I just asked for forgiveness for it. I don't remember what they told me but I heard the word God and miracle a whole lot for a while. I was 6 but i remember it like it was yesterday. I had been "saved" for at least a year (in my heart anyway) and i knew something had happened, I just didn't know what.
My question is, was this the work of the Holy Spirit? If so, why did I sin and why was I so mean? If we'd gone the other way, we'd still have been in the path of the car. We're talking 2-3 seconds at the most. I learned a lot that day that I need today. Never underestimate the power of a child. They change the world.
God bless. I just wanted to tell you that story. TY for listening.
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
BIBLE TRIVIA QUESTION
Just because I want my blog to be a Gospel-teaching, Bible-preaching and Godly fun place to come, (let's not leave off how incredibly brilliant and creative I am, hahaha), I might just post something off-the-wall. I pray you enjoy and you can feel free to post the answer or make a comment on my blog, answer it and do nothing, or answer on Google but if so, until after Jan 1, I will probably miss it. If you don't enjoy these things, let me know and I'll consider discontinuing it but doubt I will as you are free to ignore and for the sake of those who do enjoy it, everyone wins. Please correct me if I make a Biblical error ASAP! God bless and enjoy!
Is the following saying(s) actually found in the Word of God?
(a) God helps those who help themselves
(b) The age of "accountability" is approximately 12
(c) The wise men visited the Christ Child at the time of His Birth
(d) People are inherently "good" in their hearts
(e) No more than 2 of every single animal on earth entered the Ark
I really want to hear your answers or maybe it only needs one for all. How well do you know your Bible? God bless you!
Is the following saying(s) actually found in the Word of God?
(a) God helps those who help themselves
(b) The age of "accountability" is approximately 12
(c) The wise men visited the Christ Child at the time of His Birth
(d) People are inherently "good" in their hearts
(e) No more than 2 of every single animal on earth entered the Ark
I really want to hear your answers or maybe it only needs one for all. How well do you know your Bible? God bless you!
NOT boasting but I made this and so can you for free. Google or search for free meme generator and I think it's the 3rd one down that is so easy and you can use your own pics or there's to make your own memes. If you do, PLEASE email them to me so I can show others your talents and creativity. They're gifts from God so don't keep them hidden but show them to the world while giving Him the glory!
First Corinthians 15:1-11
John 3:16-17
Ephesians 2:8-9
Acts 8:37 (Jesus Christ is Lord stated, if not it's a false Bible)
"I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME." YES, JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN. IT OFFENDS MANY BUT NOT GOING TO LIE TO YOU!
NEW WRETCHED VIDEO - ENJOY!
I just LOVE this man's videos. He is so funny, sound doctrine, and Godly. Rare combination so when you find one, hold on tight! Enjoy and God bless you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR AND THE BEST GIFT TO GIVE IS THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION!
First Corinthians 15:1-11
WHY I BELIEVE WE SHOULD ALWAYS TEACH CHILDREN (AND ADULTS) BIBLICAL TRUTHS
It's that time of the year, we celebrate the birth of our Lord God and Messiah (Savior) Christ Jesus. There's many movies on (both secular and Spiritual) that tell the story of the Nativity and no matter which movie I watch, both sides tell a very different version of the one from the Holy Bible. I love the one told by Luke as it's the one with the most information and know that to be truth.
We've all seen Nativity scenes either plastic or live ones at churches and many we set out in our homes but they are all full of Biblical errors. The biggest one is that the wise men did not come to see the Christ child at His birth but rather when He was around 2 years of age. So seeing the magi with their gifts of gold, frankinsense (sp) and myrrh is an error. Yes, they brought the gifts but not at His birth. In fact, we know very little about the conception, birth and the life of our young Messiah because the authors of the Bible did not feel they were inspired by the Spirit or were not relevant to the ministry and message of Christ Jesus. I can only speculate but He probably had a fairly normal childhood. The only thing about His youth we do know is that He was fully aware of His Deity by age 12. The next age we encounter Him is when He began His ministry at the age of 30 and until His death at 33. Where we got santa claus for Christmas is a little confusing but I get the idea of maybe why but today, it's too secular, commercial and meaningless for me to desire to celebrate it in any traditional way. I'm going to throw out a personal opinion here about maybe why we were never told His date of birth...it's not important. It doesn't matter to God if we acknowledge it or not. We're not blessed if we do, cursed if we don't. Oh, and I'm not one who is dogmatic on Christmas is pagan, therefore NO true Christian should celebrate it. We are FREE in Christ. All things are lawful to us, just not all things are profitable. If you are sinning by how you celebrate December 25th, the Holy Spirit is going to convict you. If you aren't convicted, either you're not saved OR you are not sinning. I know people who seem to worship their Christmas tree. It has to be absolutely perfect with every gorgeous, expensive ornament perfectly placed and it is the CENTER of the celebration. Even the ornaments are secular. No Nativity scenes, no stars or angels, nothing that points to Christ. Everything we say, do, feel and think should point to Him. That's the Christian life. Going shopping is not Spiritual but if you leave God at home, you leave grace, mercy, compassion, etc. home too and turn into another tired shopper, impatient and wish everyone would let you go to the head of the line. You complain and gripe about prices or if they don't have your brand. Bring Him along, you bring the other. Try it knowingly and see what a difference it makes and just how often you do leave Him at home. Oh, it's not Spiritual, we all have to shop. Yep, we do but we are the ones who can show the way to Him. The world is blind to it. Just think about that for a bit. This is no Christmas debate. Right or wrong in your eyes, follow your conscious. Like Jesus Christ told Peter when he asked what was going to happen to John at His ascension...basically, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, PETER.
My last example, but certainly not the only other one, is the story of the flood. We all heard about the Ark, flood, dove and rainbow but what we remember most (and plenty of kids' songs say it), we remember the animals. They came on in pairs! Two by two; male and female. We see pics with all the happy animals with their heads sticking out the "window" (which makes NO sense at all since there couldn't have been any windows on the ark) and there's the sun and rainbow, our beautiful and first physical covenant with God Almighty. Also, this is just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and not necessarily Biblically sound and is definitely not doctrine or teaching. I'm just to fix what we broke by believing the lies we were told by many when raising our kids who are now today's problems (or some are but it's in a large part our own fault. Feel free to agree/disagree and feedback, ideas, etc.are most welcome. That's what fellowship is for and one of the intentions of this blog...to make us think and unlearn the lies.
This is a difficult story in truth and rather than just mentioning it, rather than teach Biblical untruths, maybe we shouldn't be teaching the story of the flood to young children. Why do I feel this way? It's because only the "unclean" animals came on in pairs but the "clean" animals came in by 7s. Now we can assume it's for sacrifice, possibly food although I think at that time we were still vegetarians, or maybe it was to repopulate clean animals faster. Any, all or none may be the answer. However, we must teach our children the Bible is 100% truth. How can we then make that claim that the Bible is true once they find out we lied to them? It's a sweet, awesome story when told like this but it was a horrible event in our history. All but 8 people perished. It must have been like living in literal hell for God to destroy almost everybody He created. Maybe our misleading pretty little stories we told our kids hurt the Bible's credibility later in life. Do you remember when you learned the truth about Santa? You were disappointed and maybe felt lied to and manipulated, kinda foolish to believe in an all-powerful, all knowing, ever present being? Do those characteristics sound like Someone else we KNOW to be real? Is us teaching our kids santa is real, even with the very best of intentions, causing them to doubt our all knowing, ever present, all powerful God? Our adversary is smart, slick and evil. While God works things to the good, bad or evil, only satan works all things for evil when he can. I never cared that santa is an anagram for satan either.
The fact is, do a bit of research on where the idea of Santa originated. It's a beautiful, loving story that shows the true message of Christ Jesus. In short (research it for yourself), a very rich man named Nicolaus used all of his inheritance to help those in need and at Christmas, he made sure every child had a toy. He was just a man. He loving, generous and Godly man. What is wrong with telling our children that that's who the "real" santa was and that we Godly parents carry on his legacy of love to all we can. They can "play or pretend" santa is coming but the best mystery and gift is the love he showed.
Teach our children the truth of the Bible! Maybe more will stay in the faith when they know they were taught the truth and not pretty stories. God bless and Merry Christmas!
We've all seen Nativity scenes either plastic or live ones at churches and many we set out in our homes but they are all full of Biblical errors. The biggest one is that the wise men did not come to see the Christ child at His birth but rather when He was around 2 years of age. So seeing the magi with their gifts of gold, frankinsense (sp) and myrrh is an error. Yes, they brought the gifts but not at His birth. In fact, we know very little about the conception, birth and the life of our young Messiah because the authors of the Bible did not feel they were inspired by the Spirit or were not relevant to the ministry and message of Christ Jesus. I can only speculate but He probably had a fairly normal childhood. The only thing about His youth we do know is that He was fully aware of His Deity by age 12. The next age we encounter Him is when He began His ministry at the age of 30 and until His death at 33. Where we got santa claus for Christmas is a little confusing but I get the idea of maybe why but today, it's too secular, commercial and meaningless for me to desire to celebrate it in any traditional way. I'm going to throw out a personal opinion here about maybe why we were never told His date of birth...it's not important. It doesn't matter to God if we acknowledge it or not. We're not blessed if we do, cursed if we don't. Oh, and I'm not one who is dogmatic on Christmas is pagan, therefore NO true Christian should celebrate it. We are FREE in Christ. All things are lawful to us, just not all things are profitable. If you are sinning by how you celebrate December 25th, the Holy Spirit is going to convict you. If you aren't convicted, either you're not saved OR you are not sinning. I know people who seem to worship their Christmas tree. It has to be absolutely perfect with every gorgeous, expensive ornament perfectly placed and it is the CENTER of the celebration. Even the ornaments are secular. No Nativity scenes, no stars or angels, nothing that points to Christ. Everything we say, do, feel and think should point to Him. That's the Christian life. Going shopping is not Spiritual but if you leave God at home, you leave grace, mercy, compassion, etc. home too and turn into another tired shopper, impatient and wish everyone would let you go to the head of the line. You complain and gripe about prices or if they don't have your brand. Bring Him along, you bring the other. Try it knowingly and see what a difference it makes and just how often you do leave Him at home. Oh, it's not Spiritual, we all have to shop. Yep, we do but we are the ones who can show the way to Him. The world is blind to it. Just think about that for a bit. This is no Christmas debate. Right or wrong in your eyes, follow your conscious. Like Jesus Christ told Peter when he asked what was going to happen to John at His ascension...basically, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, PETER.
My last example, but certainly not the only other one, is the story of the flood. We all heard about the Ark, flood, dove and rainbow but what we remember most (and plenty of kids' songs say it), we remember the animals. They came on in pairs! Two by two; male and female. We see pics with all the happy animals with their heads sticking out the "window" (which makes NO sense at all since there couldn't have been any windows on the ark) and there's the sun and rainbow, our beautiful and first physical covenant with God Almighty. Also, this is just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and not necessarily Biblically sound and is definitely not doctrine or teaching. I'm just to fix what we broke by believing the lies we were told by many when raising our kids who are now today's problems (or some are but it's in a large part our own fault. Feel free to agree/disagree and feedback, ideas, etc.are most welcome. That's what fellowship is for and one of the intentions of this blog...to make us think and unlearn the lies.
This is a difficult story in truth and rather than just mentioning it, rather than teach Biblical untruths, maybe we shouldn't be teaching the story of the flood to young children. Why do I feel this way? It's because only the "unclean" animals came on in pairs but the "clean" animals came in by 7s. Now we can assume it's for sacrifice, possibly food although I think at that time we were still vegetarians, or maybe it was to repopulate clean animals faster. Any, all or none may be the answer. However, we must teach our children the Bible is 100% truth. How can we then make that claim that the Bible is true once they find out we lied to them? It's a sweet, awesome story when told like this but it was a horrible event in our history. All but 8 people perished. It must have been like living in literal hell for God to destroy almost everybody He created. Maybe our misleading pretty little stories we told our kids hurt the Bible's credibility later in life. Do you remember when you learned the truth about Santa? You were disappointed and maybe felt lied to and manipulated, kinda foolish to believe in an all-powerful, all knowing, ever present being? Do those characteristics sound like Someone else we KNOW to be real? Is us teaching our kids santa is real, even with the very best of intentions, causing them to doubt our all knowing, ever present, all powerful God? Our adversary is smart, slick and evil. While God works things to the good, bad or evil, only satan works all things for evil when he can. I never cared that santa is an anagram for satan either.
The fact is, do a bit of research on where the idea of Santa originated. It's a beautiful, loving story that shows the true message of Christ Jesus. In short (research it for yourself), a very rich man named Nicolaus used all of his inheritance to help those in need and at Christmas, he made sure every child had a toy. He was just a man. He loving, generous and Godly man. What is wrong with telling our children that that's who the "real" santa was and that we Godly parents carry on his legacy of love to all we can. They can "play or pretend" santa is coming but the best mystery and gift is the love he showed.
Teach our children the truth of the Bible! Maybe more will stay in the faith when they know they were taught the truth and not pretty stories. God bless and Merry Christmas!
CROSSWALK SLIDESHOW - WHAT SHOULD WE GIVE JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS BIRTHDAY?
I usually enjoy most of what the Christian website and newsletters by "Crosswalk" although in my PERSONAL opinion, I think they miss the mark at times. By the way, when I capitalize words, it's for emphasis unless I tell you I'm screaming at you and sometimes I am. They do NOT water down, add or take away from, or compromise God's Word and the TRUE and only Gospel of Salvation that I've seen. They're humans and no website, pastor, etc. is 100% right. It also doesn't make us a false prophet if we have a theory or opinion on what the Bible is saying even if it's wrong so long as we do not ever preach/teach them as TRUTH. The most important message we MUST get 100% right is the Gospel of Salvation as told in First Corinthians 15:1-11. It's grace alone; faith alone; Christ alone. I will include a link at the bottom for you to read the article for yourself.
Now, there's nothing that's overtly unScriptural about what they say. It's a 3 part of series on 3 gifts we can give Jesus for His birthday and as today is the first day, I only have one gift and that is "TIME."
That sounds like a great gift and definitely one we should make a vow to do from now on. We desperately need to devote more time to God by helping the needy, helping scared and young women who find themselves to be with child and feel their only way out is to have an abortion. We can devote 9 months of our lives to support her and the father (if he wants) to get through this and if they choose adoption, we can help them find the right family. We can take them in because there's always room, just get creative and it's not for a lifetime. After all, isn't being a Christian all about sacrificing? It's so EASY to give what you have and doesn't hurt you or change YOUR life in any way except maybe some resentment, judgmental thoughts and words/actions; but you don't have to "give up" your bed or a day off of work you planned to spend being a couch potato and you won't miss a meal. You are blessed with plenty and you're not sacrificing anything of value to yourself. Sacrifice is about YOU having to go without so others don't.
Sacrificing to God is giving up something that negatively affects you. Maybe you don't have an extra bed if their family kicks them out so you either have to let them sleep on your couch or give up your den, man cave, sewing room for a few months so they won't be out on the streets is sacrificing. Maybe you barely make it from check to check and food is stretched thin. Use a day or two a week as a day to fast and pray, that way they wouldn't feel as if they were taking away from you. Whatever you do, you don't tell them this is not your normal routine.
This is just an example of giving God our "time" and also a way of saving an unborn child's life. Will He accept that gift and will it please Him? Unless it done with either self-righteous intentions "Hey, look at what I"M doing" or coldness and resentment, I believe that's His message. Do you believe we are required to tithe 10%? Why? Oh, because God will return it 7-fold. He will give you ALL your money back plus a whole lot of interest. In many cases, 7 x more than you gave. Well, our laws call that criminal and usury. God doesn't commit sins. He's also not your banker. SHOULD you support the Church? That's a no-brainer. Of course we should but you're to give cheerfully and with a pure heart, giving without expectations of getting anything back. Hire a stock broker or accountant if you want to make money. I don't want God to be my financial adviser, I want Him to be my GOD. He rewards me financially but never dependent on when, if or how much money I gave. He sure does seem to rain down blessings though. I hate to be greedy but His blessings, I want Him to flood me with them. I want as much as He will give me and I don't see how it's possible for Him to bless me more than He already does. I need to be corrected too and far too often.
So, does the Bible tell us to give Him our time? Well, the concept is definitely there but no direct commandment to do so. There's too many situations where some people have no way possible to give Him a lot of their time as far as volunteering, going out to help others because they may be one of the people who needs "time" from a Christian. Sickness, physical/mental disabilities, where you live, what is needed and abilities play a big role. Now, we CAN give Him our time by being a prayer warrior, studying His Word, sharing the Gospel online if you can't get out much, if there's a good, Bible teaching, Gospel preaching, uncompromising House of Worship you're blessed to have found, you can attend church and get involved. Believe me, God will bless you immensely but again, that's not what He asks for.
I imagine one of the 3 gifts will be money. It's great to give $$$ but be wise as a serpent on who you give your money to as far as ministries are concerned. If you are blessed (unlike me) to have a home church, your money should go to supporting their ministry first and foremost. If not, soon enough you won't have that awesome church to attend.
"For wherever the treasure is, so is the heart." "You can't serve God and mammon (money) at the same time. You either love the one and hate the other or love the other and hate the one." (Loosely translated from the Holy Bible)
Not sure what the 3rd one will be but it could be our talent, and I'm lost. So many things are running through my mind and I pray it's the ONLY gift He specifically tells us to give Him. It's not time, talent, money, stuff, rides, sweeping the sanctuary floor or any of that, although they are good things to strive to do for Him. We are told by His infallible word that He wants us to give Him our bodies as a living sacrifice. He wants us to repent and believe so we can be with Him when this "life" is over. Until we do this in truth and spirit, believe it with everything you have, all that time, money, sacrifices mean NOTHING. They're like filthy rags to our Holy God.
Our Eternal Citizenship
For we live in this world but we are not OF this world!
HEBREW WORD OF THE DAY
Let me get my creativity juices flowing and see if I can make this humorous. Gonna be hard but have some faith, Brenda. First, today's word is...
HARD evidence that crime doesn't pay
TRUE STORY...
A man decided to rob a bank. First mistake. Second, he decided to rob his OWN bank. The biggest one was, he wrote the hold up "note" on the back of his own deposit slip, complete with name, address, etc. The police beat him home.
Evidence that CRIME DOESN'T PAY, especially when you leave this kind of tell-all "evidence" behind. No one ever said criminals are smart!
God bless and Shalom
SHARING SOME GOOD, CLEAN LAUGHTER TODAY. CUTEST VIDEO EVER!
Our fur babies and other animals are gifts of God. They help us in so many ways and they even WORK. This is just adorable and praising Him for giving us this incredible healing gift...laughter. God bless and love you all in Christ Jesus.
He's around here somewhere 🐭 👀 pic.twitter.com/UTeOIJMQ7h
— FemaleTexts (@TheFemale_Texts) December 9, 2017
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