Monday, August 17, 2009

Jesus loves me

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! He who died,
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! loves me still,
When I'm very weak and ill;
From His shining throne on high,
Comes to watch me where I lie.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! He will stay,
Close beside me all the way;
He's prepared a home for me,
And some day His face I'll see.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Taylor Swift - Love Story

We were both young, when I first saw you
I close my eyes and the flashback starts
I’m standing there, on a balcony of summer air

I see the lights, see the party, the ball gowns
I see you make your way through the crowd
You say hello, little did I know…

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said “stay away from Juliet”
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don’t go…
And I said…

Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess,
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes

So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet, because we’re dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while
Oh, Ohhh

Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said “stay away from Juliet”
But you were everything to me
I was begging you, please don’t go…
And I said

Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone
I’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is run
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes

Romeo save me, they’re trying to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it’s real
Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of this mess
It’s a love story, baby, just say yes
Oh, Ohhh…

I got tired of waiting
Wondering if you were ever coming around
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town
And I said

Romeo save me, I’ve been feeling so alone
I keep waiting, for you but you never come
Is this in my head, I don’t know what to think
He kneels to the ground and pulled out a ring and said

Marry me Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone
I love you, and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad-you’ll pick the white dress
It’s a love story, baby just say…yes…
Oh, Ohhh… Oh, Oh, Ohhh…
We were both young when I first saw you.

Jason Marz - I'm Yours

Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
Now I'm trying to get back
Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
And nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some

I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours

Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love
Listen to the music of the moment babay sing with me
I love peace for melody
And It's our God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love loved

So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours

Scooch on over closer dear
And i will nibble your ear

I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
But my breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a new face and laughed
I guess what I'm be saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue

But I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure

Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours
Please don't, please don't, please don't
There's no need to complicate
Cause our time is short
This oh this this is out fate, I'm yours!

Authorization

Do you allow yourself to feel good? Do you allow yourself to live a full and happy life? Or do you make things difficult for yourself through a lot of self-criticism, negativity, destructive and compulsive behaviors?Whatever the forces in your past that have driven your eating habits, you DO have the power to change. Make a decision today, right now, to stop abusing yourself.

Give yourself authorization to be OK. Ask God to help. And begin to live the rich, healthy life you deserve. No single approach to weight loss works for everyone. We urge you to consult with your physician before making any significant changes in your eating habits or physical activities to ensure that what you propose for yourself is nutritionally sound, safe, and healthy.

Pearls before Swine - goals for next summer


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August 17, 2009 Sharing God’s Word

TODAY'S ENCOURAGING WORD

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through... Instead, be very glad-for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering...

-- 1 Peter 4:12-13

SPIRITUAL UGLINESS

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

-- Matthew 23:27

"Beauty is only skin deep" seems to be the modern secular equivalent of this "woe" in Matthew 23. The corresponding Old Testament statement is probably this: "As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion" (Proverbs 11:22). This principle has lasted for millennia simply because it is easily observed in all cultures. Our Lord's application to the scribes and Pharisees was particularly pointed: "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matthew 23:28). God is not interested in the "pretty outside" but in what's on the inside. "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Hypocrisy and iniquity are the two attributes of "uncleanness" identified by Christ. The core of hypocrisy is the intent to deceive others, either with actions or words. And the core of the biblical teaching about deception is the false teacher--those who look like and talk like God's people, "but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). Iniquity is the biblical term for "without law." Such a person has no desire to submit to authority, and is both willing to do evil and is dangerous to be around. Cain murdered Abel, the Bible insists, "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12).

Such a condition should never plague us. Jesus "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).

PRAYER; BLESSING FOR THE HOME

Peace be to this house
And to all who dwell in it.
Peace be to them that enter
And to them that depart.

Forward to your family and friends!

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God Bless You!

August 7, 2009 Sharing God’s Word

TODAY'S ENCOURAGING WORD

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

-- 1 Peter 5:6

THE WISDOM OF GOD

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

-- 1 Kings 3:28

Although God's wisdom is expounded in depth in the Scriptures, there are only seven times that the specific phrase "the wisdom of God" is used as such. The above text is indicating that God's wisdom can actually be manifested in men through divine inspiration. The Persian king recognized this also in Ezra. "And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges . . . all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not" (Ezra 7:25). The wisdom of God thus is always consistent with the laws of God--that is, with the Scriptures.

The first New Testament reference is from Christ. "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles" (Luke 11:49). Here the Lord is applying a scriptural principle from 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, in effect calling the Scriptures themselves "the wisdom of God."

Then Paul three times uses the same phrase: "In the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God." Human wisdom can never, by itself, discover God, but this very fact is bound up in the divine wisdom, revealed only through the Word of God. "We preach . . . Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." That is, through both the written word and the living Word, we can proclaim true wisdom. "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery . . . which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23-24; 2:7).

Finally, with God's wisdom manifested through chosen men of God, we also can preach true wisdom in Christ, "to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10).

PRAYER OF HOPE

O Lord, in Whom is our hope, remove far from us, we pray Thee, empty hopes and presumptuous confidence. Make our hearts so right with Thy most holy and loving heart, that hoping in Thee we may do good; until that day when faith and hope shall be abolished by sight and possession, and love shall be all in all.

Forward to your family and friends!

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God Bless You!

August 6, 2009 Sharing God’s Word

TODAY'S ENCOURAGING WORD

The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

-- Lamentations 3:25

THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.


-- 1 John 4:14

This unique title of the Lord Jesus Christ assures us that when the Father sent His Son away from the glories of heaven down to a world lost in sin, it was not just to be the Messiah of the Jews, or to assume David's throne as King of Israel, or to punish the wicked Gentile nations.

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).

In fact, this special title is used only one other time in the Bible, and it was used by Samaritans rather than Jews when they came to know Jesus as He ministered among them for two days. These people were mostly of Gentile background with a mixture of Israeli blood who had become adherents of a quasi-Jewish religion that was also part pagan.

But they were actually looking for a Savior, and their testimony after meeting Jesus was: "Now we believe . . . and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42). They perceived that He had come to bring salvation to lost sinners in every nation, not just to Israel or Samaria. As He said later, "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:47).

And so He commanded His disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations" (Luke 24:47). He became to the Father "the propitiation . . . for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2), when He offered up His life as a sacrifice for sins, then died and rose again. We who have believed on Him as our personal Savior are now to be His witnesses "in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

PRAYER; WEDDING BLESSINGS

May your love grow like a beautiful tree, sending roots deep and branches high, with new beauty every season of your life together.

May you dare to dream dreams not yet dreamt.

May you find constant reward and challenge as you pursue the ongoing adventure of learning who you are and where you want to go.

May you always have a special sense of your mission in life together, and may you never tire of the endless possibilities of exploring your shared existence.

Forward to your family and friends!

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God Bless You!

August 4, 2009 Sharing God’s Word

TODAY'S ENCOURAGING WORD

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?...

-- Isaiah 43:19

THE LAKE OF FIRE

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

-- Revelation 20:15

Some people may not believe in hell, but God makes it clear that all "the fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Revelation 21:8).

Actually, Jesus Christ said more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. To the unsaved, He will say: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).

The lake of fire is not here on the earth. The beast and the false prophet are to be cast into the lake of fire before the binding of Satan for a thousand years; then the present earth itself is to be removed, and finally Satan will be "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10; see also 19:20; 20:2, 7, 10-11). Thus the lake of fire is in existence both before and after the removal of the present earth, and will continue to exist forever.

Many argue that the lake of fire is symbolic and should not be taken literally. If so, the reality must be so indescribable that it can only be symbolized by an eternal lake of fire. Perhaps it is some distant star, since stars are essentially lakes of fire, and those "that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" are to be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

Rather than questioning the reality of hell, which is the just destiny of all who reject or ignore the free gift of salvation provided by the infinite love and sacrificial suffering of God Himself in Christ on their behalf, men and women should come to Christ in faith and "be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9).

PRAYER FOR THOSE SEEKING MEANING

O God,
source of life and grace,
bless all who are seeking
the meaning of life.
Endow them with courage
to risk the unknown.
Bless them with wonder
to be still and rejoice.
Anoint them with wisdom
to understand the potential
of their dreams.
Blessed is your name,
now and evermore. Amen.

Forward to your family and friends!

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ceptxj@gmail.com and indicate to be added or removed.

God Bless You!

Pearls before Swine - TENURED PROFESSOR?!



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