Please turn off the music on the right bottom so you can listen to this video. I know too many people in my family that are basing their eternity on a decision. Some of these decisions are over 50 years old, yet there is no evidence of Christ or the gospel in their lives today. The gospel is sufficient!!
The greatest mission field on the face of the earth are Southern Baptist churches because so many of the people in there have no godliness about them, no passion for Christ, no desire to know His Word, but they are secure because one time they prayed a prayer and asked Jesus to come into their lives...they stay in church not because of Christ, but for entertainment...but it has nothing to do with God...-missionary Paul Washer of HeartCry Mission
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
God's Potent Word
Lately the Lord has been reminding me of the efficacy and power of His Word. The opening verses of Psalm 19 remind us that all creation bears witness that there is a God. It bears witness with our conscience as well as our mind. It speaks of the existence of God, but without words. Is that sufficient? We must be aware of what God demands of us. And that is the function of God's Law.
In Psalm 19, we read (beginning at verse 7):
"7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making the simple wise.8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure, giving light to the eyes.9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether,10 more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.11 And Your servant is warned by them; in keeping them there is great reward.12 Who can understand his errors? Oh make me pure from secret faults ;13 and keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins ; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
In Psalm 19, we read (beginning at verse 7):
"7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making the simple wise.8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure, giving light to the eyes.9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether,10 more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.11 And Your servant is warned by them; in keeping them there is great reward.12 Who can understand his errors? Oh make me pure from secret faults ;13 and keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins ; do not let them rule over me; then I shall be upright, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Postponed for Court!!
Well, we didn't make it through court today. The Women's Ministry is requesting more information on both of our children. They have both been abandoned to the orphanages for over 14 months, but alas, they still are wanting more information. Our son's parents have been deceased for almost three years. Our daughter's mother died over two years ago and her father did not show up today for court, so he is either too sick to come or has already passed. We are hoping someone else will show up on his behalf and our daughter's behalf to state what his condition is so we can proceed with a favorable court decision. I'm sad, but not discouraged today. We were praying and hoping for a successful court date today, but we are trusting the BIG picture of God that neither or us can see. We have no idea why these delays are His plan, but we trust His sovereignty!! It feels good to say that and not be wavering in your thoughts as you type as I have done so often. So, for that, Lord, I praise You for Your grace and mercy in my life, for the refining You have accomplished in me and for all that you plan to do to sanctify to Yourself. Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise YOU!!
We are postponed until April 1, 2008. Please join us in praying for that court date to be successful. That is also my Dad's birthday. Thank you.
We are postponed until April 1, 2008. Please join us in praying for that court date to be successful. That is also my Dad's birthday. Thank you.
Monday, March 17, 2008
PRAYER REQUEST
Please pray as tonight while we sleep the judge will decide the legality of our children. We are praying God has granted us favor with the judge and the children will from this day forward legally be ours. They have been ours in our hearts from the beginning. We are prayfully hoping to receive a call first thing in the morning with congratulations on our two newest members of the family. Thank you for your prayers. Below is a description of the wonderful, powerful, holy God we serve.
"The Sovereign Lord"
"God is sovereign Lord and King, and exerciseth a dominion over the whole world, both heaven and earth. This is so clear, that nothing is more spoken of in Scripture. The very name, "LORD," imports it.
Stephen Charnock
"The Sovereign Lord"
"God is sovereign Lord and King, and exerciseth a dominion over the whole world, both heaven and earth. This is so clear, that nothing is more spoken of in Scripture. The very name, "LORD," imports it.
Stephen Charnock
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Smooth and Rough Places Alike
"The heart of true religion is to glorify God by patient endurance and to praise him for his gracious deliverances. It is to live one's life, through smooth and rough places alike, in sustained obedience and thanksgiving for mercy received. It is to seek and find one's deepest joy, not in spiritual lotus-eating, but in discovering through each successive storm and conflict the mighty adequacy of Christ to save. It is the sure knowledge that God's way is best, both for our own welfare and for his glory. No problems of providence will shake the faith of the one who has truly learned this."
... J.I. Packer in Hot Tub Religion
... J.I. Packer in Hot Tub Religion
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Adoption Greater than the Universe- John Piper
Is God calling you to adopt? Please listen carefully and consider what Scripture has to say to us. Please turn off the music down on the right hand side to listen. Enjoy! I pray God would speak to your heart.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Spritual Adoption
I realize that while adoption is a very familiar concept in our family (since we are currently finishing the process of our two children), it may be an unfamiliar topic to many others. However, for believers we should love this topic.
The concept of adoption has been on my heart and mind on and off my whole life. I've resolved that adoption should not be something whisper about. It is something I want our children to embrace and really not have to think about. I want them to be proud of their adoption and not feel different or left to feel awkward. I want them to have a deep sense of belonging in and to our family by the One who has ordained all things. My desire is for them to have a healthy sense of being a part of our family, truly belonging, not because of their own adoption, but in understanding adoption by God's grace they have become our children. I want adoption to be something we don't have to focus on. We may have to answer the following...as to why our skin is not the same color, why we don't have the same blood type, why our eyes are a different color. They are only different in the fact that they were not born to me, but alike in the fact that all of our children were ordained to us whether by birth or adoption by God. As I said, I don't want adoption to be our focus, because God has made them my own and my prayer is He will make them His own. I can only example and teach this to our children in understanding and reveling in my deep sense of belonging to my Heavenly Father! Adoption is God's heart and His design. Consider what J. I. Packer has to say about the doctrine of Adoption:
"Paul teaches that the gift of justification (i.e., present acceptance by God as the world's Judge) brings with it the status of sonship by adoption (i.e., permanent intimacy with God as one's heavenly Father, Gal. 3:26; 4:4-7). In Paul's world, adoption was ordinarily of young adult males of good character to become heirs and maintain the family name of the childless rich. Paul, however, proclaims God's gracious adoption of persons of bad character to become "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17).
Justification is the basic blessing, on which adoption is founded; adoption is the crowning blessing, to which justification clears the way. Adopted status belongs to all who receive Christ (John 1:12). The adopted status of believers means that in and through Christ God loves them as He loves His only-begotten Son and will share with them all the glory that is Christ's now (Rom. 8:17, 38-39). Here and now believers are under God's fatherly care and discipline (Matt. 6:26; Heb. 12:5-11) and are directed, especially by Jesus, to live their whole lives in light of the knowledge that God is their Father in heaven. They are to pray to Him as such (Matt. 6:5-13), imitate Him as such (Matt. 5:44-48; 6:12, 14-15; 18:21-35; Eph. 4:32-5:2), and trust Him as such (Matt. 6:25-34), thus expressing the filial instinct that the Holy Spirit has implanted in them (Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:6).
Adoption and regeneration accompany each other as two aspects of the salvation that Christ brings (John 1:12-13), but they are to be distinguished. Adoption is the bestowal of a relationship, while regeneration is the transformation of our moral nature. Yet the link is evident; God wants His children, whom He loves, to bear His character, and takes action accordingly. "
I find it interesting and telling that God calls us His children/His son/His daughter.However, God does make it clear how we have come to be His children and that avenue is adoption. He primarily calls us "HIS children". God makes it no secret that we have been adopted, it just isn't the focus. We are no longer strangers or enemies of God, we have been made His very own.
This of course, is a facet of Biblical truth that has become very noticeable to me because I am an adoptive mom to a son and daughter from Ethiopia. I/we will not call our children or refer to them as "our adopted children". We will not introduce them as such, because they ARE our children. We have set our affection upon them and they are entitled to everything that a biological child would be entitled to. The fact that they are adopted merely sets the stage for our relationship, it doesn't define it or weaken it.
I pray that you would rejoice in your adoption to God as His son or daughter by His goodness and choice.
The concept of adoption has been on my heart and mind on and off my whole life. I've resolved that adoption should not be something whisper about. It is something I want our children to embrace and really not have to think about. I want them to be proud of their adoption and not feel different or left to feel awkward. I want them to have a deep sense of belonging in and to our family by the One who has ordained all things. My desire is for them to have a healthy sense of being a part of our family, truly belonging, not because of their own adoption, but in understanding adoption by God's grace they have become our children. I want adoption to be something we don't have to focus on. We may have to answer the following...as to why our skin is not the same color, why we don't have the same blood type, why our eyes are a different color. They are only different in the fact that they were not born to me, but alike in the fact that all of our children were ordained to us whether by birth or adoption by God. As I said, I don't want adoption to be our focus, because God has made them my own and my prayer is He will make them His own. I can only example and teach this to our children in understanding and reveling in my deep sense of belonging to my Heavenly Father! Adoption is God's heart and His design. Consider what J. I. Packer has to say about the doctrine of Adoption:
"Paul teaches that the gift of justification (i.e., present acceptance by God as the world's Judge) brings with it the status of sonship by adoption (i.e., permanent intimacy with God as one's heavenly Father, Gal. 3:26; 4:4-7). In Paul's world, adoption was ordinarily of young adult males of good character to become heirs and maintain the family name of the childless rich. Paul, however, proclaims God's gracious adoption of persons of bad character to become "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17).
Justification is the basic blessing, on which adoption is founded; adoption is the crowning blessing, to which justification clears the way. Adopted status belongs to all who receive Christ (John 1:12). The adopted status of believers means that in and through Christ God loves them as He loves His only-begotten Son and will share with them all the glory that is Christ's now (Rom. 8:17, 38-39). Here and now believers are under God's fatherly care and discipline (Matt. 6:26; Heb. 12:5-11) and are directed, especially by Jesus, to live their whole lives in light of the knowledge that God is their Father in heaven. They are to pray to Him as such (Matt. 6:5-13), imitate Him as such (Matt. 5:44-48; 6:12, 14-15; 18:21-35; Eph. 4:32-5:2), and trust Him as such (Matt. 6:25-34), thus expressing the filial instinct that the Holy Spirit has implanted in them (Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:6).
Adoption and regeneration accompany each other as two aspects of the salvation that Christ brings (John 1:12-13), but they are to be distinguished. Adoption is the bestowal of a relationship, while regeneration is the transformation of our moral nature. Yet the link is evident; God wants His children, whom He loves, to bear His character, and takes action accordingly. "
I find it interesting and telling that God calls us His children/His son/His daughter.However, God does make it clear how we have come to be His children and that avenue is adoption. He primarily calls us "HIS children". God makes it no secret that we have been adopted, it just isn't the focus. We are no longer strangers or enemies of God, we have been made His very own.
This of course, is a facet of Biblical truth that has become very noticeable to me because I am an adoptive mom to a son and daughter from Ethiopia. I/we will not call our children or refer to them as "our adopted children". We will not introduce them as such, because they ARE our children. We have set our affection upon them and they are entitled to everything that a biological child would be entitled to. The fact that they are adopted merely sets the stage for our relationship, it doesn't define it or weaken it.
I pray that you would rejoice in your adoption to God as His son or daughter by His goodness and choice.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
ALL SUFFICIENT GRACE
God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good word and work.”
2 Corinthians 9:8
All-sufficiency in all things! Believer! Surely you are “thoroughly furnished!” Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, “full, flowing, ever flowing, over flowing.” Mark these three ALL’S in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace. “All grace!”—”all-sufficiency!” in “all things!” and these to “abound.” Oh! precious thought! My need cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution—”Out of that fullness all we too may receive, and grace for grace!”
My soul, do you not love to dwell on that all-abounding grace? Your own insufficiency in everything, met with an “all-sufficiency in all things!” Grace in all circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all the varied phases of the Christian’s being. Grace in sunshine and storm—in health and in sickness—in life and in death. Grace for the old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer. Grace for duty, and grace in duty—grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand, grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit—grace to have prosperity sanctified—grace to say, through tears, “Your will be done!”
*John McDuff “The Faithful Promiser”
2 Corinthians 9:8
All-sufficiency in all things! Believer! Surely you are “thoroughly furnished!” Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, “full, flowing, ever flowing, over flowing.” Mark these three ALL’S in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace. “All grace!”—”all-sufficiency!” in “all things!” and these to “abound.” Oh! precious thought! My need cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution—”Out of that fullness all we too may receive, and grace for grace!”
My soul, do you not love to dwell on that all-abounding grace? Your own insufficiency in everything, met with an “all-sufficiency in all things!” Grace in all circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all the varied phases of the Christian’s being. Grace in sunshine and storm—in health and in sickness—in life and in death. Grace for the old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer. Grace for duty, and grace in duty—grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand, grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit—grace to have prosperity sanctified—grace to say, through tears, “Your will be done!”
*John McDuff “The Faithful Promiser”
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Isaiah 64:4
For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.
When circumstances arise in which you feel that something must be done, for safety or for service, wait for the Lord, and He will work for you. First, pray, seek His counsel, submit to His wisdom and power. Second, if He says to be still, then leave it all in His hands, trusting His supernatural involvement in the situation. I don't mean laziness or shirking of duty. I mean that when you are most prepared, most capable, most primed for battle, and think that most hangs on you, He may say, "Stay home, be quiet, pray, and watch Me act." Third, if the Lord says, "Prepare, train, work, fight, argue, struggle," even then maintain that humble reliance on the Lord. Have a spirit of expectancy that, though your labors are shabby, the final issue is the Lord's, and He loves to work for people who wait for him.
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
When circumstances arise in which you feel that something must be done, for safety or for service, wait for the Lord, and He will work for you. First, pray, seek His counsel, submit to His wisdom and power. Second, if He says to be still, then leave it all in His hands, trusting His supernatural involvement in the situation. I don't mean laziness or shirking of duty. I mean that when you are most prepared, most capable, most primed for battle, and think that most hangs on you, He may say, "Stay home, be quiet, pray, and watch Me act." Third, if the Lord says, "Prepare, train, work, fight, argue, struggle," even then maintain that humble reliance on the Lord. Have a spirit of expectancy that, though your labors are shabby, the final issue is the Lord's, and He loves to work for people who wait for him.
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
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