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Facing the spiritual battle
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Jul 5, 2009 10:15 pm
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Finally, dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to pray for us. Pray first that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. Pray, too, that we will be saved from wicked and evil people, for not everyone believes in the Lord. But the Lord is faithful; he will make you strong and guard you from the evil one.… May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God and the endurance that comes from Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 NLT
In order to be effective on the battlefield a soldier must be both well trained and properly equipped. The warrior must be alert for surprise attacks. So it is in our spiritual battle with Satan. Determined to destroy our faith by leading us into sin and discouragement, Satan attacks with blatant temptation and deceptive lies. The Bible teaches that the best weapons for this warfare are the Word of God and prayer.
The faith of the Thessalonian believers was being tried by persecution. Undoubtedly some of them were wavering, even failing, as the surrounding evil put them to the test. This was an important time for Paul to remind them that, no matter what happened, God's faithfulness would prevail over evil and strengthen them so that they could endure.
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My Tapestry
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Jul 5, 2009 6:33 pm
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As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us laid our lives, like the squares of a quilt in many piles.
An Angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life. But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.
I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.
Finally the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the scrutiny of truth. The others rose, each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been.
My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise. My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life, and laughter. But there had also been trials of illness, and death, and false accusations that took from me my world as I knew it. I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me. And now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.
I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. An awe-filled gasp filled the air.
I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes. Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image, the face of Christ.
Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, "Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you.
May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through.
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” -2 Corinthians 4:4
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Preaching
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Jul 5, 2009 11:28 am
467 Views
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Two elderly, excited Southern women were sitting together in the front pew of church listening to a fiery preacher.
When this preacher condemned the sin of stealing, these two ladies cried out at the tops of their lungs, "AMEN, BROTHER! "When the preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, "PREACH IT, REVEREND!"
And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, "RIGHT ON, BROTHER! TELL IT LIKE IT IS... AMEN!"
But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very quiet. One turned to the other and said, "He's quit preaching and now he's meddlin'."
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The Price Of Freedom
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Jul 5, 2009 11:05 am
420 Views
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“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” Luke 14:28.
July 4th anywhere in America! That is the day a nation celebrates its birth. It happens every Fourth of July. The beating of parade drums mingles with the roar of airplanes overhead, and the brilliant display of fireworks turns the sky into a veritable spectacle. After the noise has died down and the last miniature rocket has flared and faded, you may or may not sit down and ask yourself, “What is independence? How much did it cost?” The price depends upon who is buying it. How often we place a pitifully small price tag on life’s merchandise!
We speak casually of the freedom our forefathers purchased at a great cost, seldom stopping to consider its real price. And we speak even more casually of the freedom offered us through the plan of salvation. Sometimes we have to bring divine matters down to a very low denominator before we really understand them more than just theoretically. What did salvation cost in heaven? Simply this: God gave His Son to earth in order to prove His incomparable love for His creation. Such was the price paid in heaven, God gave Himself!
What was the price here on earth? God who is over all—holy, all-magnificent, all-glorious—was embodied in the form of man. He was hated, deserted, mocked, misunderstood, misjudged, and nailed to a cross between common thieves. Indeed, the price was humiliation!
What was the cost in light of eternity? When Jesus took our nature, He bound Himself to humanity by a tie that will last throughout eternity.
We now have a representative endued with our nature in the Godhead. And some glorious day we shall stand unique among all created beings, because God paid the price in order that we, freed from sin, might live with Him forever and ever! Oh, dear friend, what a grand and glorious day that will be!
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To link to this blog (Dundeal) use [blog Dundeal] in your messages.
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