April 13th, 2012
A wolf does not usually go after an entire flock of sheep…nor will any other beast of prey. They will try and key in on one particular potential victim, try to draw it away from the herd and then pounce.
It is this way with so many. In a world where we have so much noise, distraction, social networking and mobility, folks are more isolated than ever. We have so much more to do with our busy lives, yet hardly not a moment of peace! It is uncanny. It is almost as if there is a trap laid for us, at any moment, and many get caught up.
You and I have been through this kind of thing, at one time or another. We would be in a crowd of people and still feel rejection; less than the others there and like that sheep who suddenly got lost in the thicket, while our heads were down on the ground, grazing on or living life.
Christians feel this way, as well as anyone else. I know people who go to larger churches, so they could get lost in the crowd and maybe no one will speak to them. The majority of American churches have 60 or less in attendance, and still there are folks isolated there, as well.
So, we know this happens. The question is, what do we do about it – both for ourselves and others. We need to know how to combat this when the enemy lies to us and tells us that no one cares for or loves us. Once we have mastered that, we then help someone else. To start that process, I sought out Psalm 91:2 after much meditation last night. Here are two verses in context, below. They contain a 50 cal. gun against despair which we can fire right now, as I, briefly break it out in part:
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Tags: alone, conquer, declare, fear, fortress, God, hiding place, isolation, loneliness, love, psalm 91:2, refuge, rejection, trust, victory Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on COMBAT ISOLATION & LONELINESS WITH THE WORD!
April 11th, 2012
The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!!
Rev. 19:7-9 states:
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ “ And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of “The Bridegroom Comes!” When the shouts were heard she would run out to meet him and they would share each others love in the wedding chamber then proceed to a banquet that would last for up to seven days. He would then take her to her new home. The one caveat is the timing of the grooms return to her. For he could never return until the home he built met the approval of the his father. Jesus used this wedding ceremony imagery often in His Parables. Some of the passages where it is used can be found in Matthew 24-25, Rev. 19 and in
John 14:1-3. In John He stated:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
I love the Scripture because it is so revealing about God and His amazing plans for those who love Him! The Wedding Ceremony takes place in Heaven after He has come from heaven with a shout
1Thess. 4:13-18;
1Cor. 15:51-57. After the Church has gone up to meet with Christ we stand before Him in judgment to receive the reward that He has promised to all believers. This is not a judgment of condemnation, because the church is never condemned, but rather a judgment of obedience. God has called us all to be His ambassadors on this earth and as such we are rewarded for our acts of obedience,
1 Cor. 3:9-15;
Rom. 14:10;
2 Cor. 5:10.
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