High Point

It is generally accepted that Romans 8 is the high point in the Bible.

As one reads about the low point ~~ the challenges facing a believer in Romans 7:13-25, despair takes hold in verses 23 & 24 ~~ but then comes verse 25a ~~ and with it the introduction into the highest spiritual mountain peak of the Bible ~~ chapter 8 of Paul's epistle to the Romans ~~ and to us.

¹³ Has then what is good [the Law] become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good [the Law], so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 

¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 

¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 

¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 

¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 

²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 

²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 

²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 
² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 
³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 
⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 
⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
 ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 
⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 

¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 

¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 

¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 

²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 

²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 

²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 

²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 

²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to Hispurpose. 
²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 
³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 
³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 
³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 
³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 
³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 
³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

From BibleGateway

A precious

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly!

gift from God to brighten any day!! A lovely symbol of the Resurrection!!

1 Corinthians 15:35-56

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. ...
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Spurgeon on Unbelief

One of the reasons I so enjoy reading Charles H. Spurgeon is that he is able to say in a few sentences what I would want to say and would take paragraphs to articulate. While reading from "Finding Peace in Life's Storms" (1997 Whitaker House) - based on Col. 1:27, I was blessed to find the following:

"The Bible does not praise unbelief nor present motives or reasons for cultivating it. Experience has not proven that unbelief gives strength for life's battles or wisdom for life's complexities. Unbelief is a close relative of gullibility. Unlike true faith, unbelief has a tendency toward being led by the nose by any falsehood. Unbelief yields no consolation for the present, and its outlook for the future is by no means comforting. We find no hint in the Bible of a sublime land in the clouds where people who praise their own intellectual ability will eternally baffle themselves and others. We read no prophecy in Scripture of a celestial hall of science where skeptics may weave new deceptions and forge new objections to the revelation of God. There is a place for the unbelieving, but it is not heaven." (Italics mine)

As Al would say, that puts the fodder down where the calf can eat it.

Thank you C.H.S. and thank you, Almighty God.

Our Glorious Purpose

This passage is from the March 2010 Tabletalk (Ligonier Ministries) and is by Rev. Fred Klett in an article entitled "From Jerusalem, to All Nations, and Back Again":

"It is easy to get bogged down in mundane and parochial concerns. Dull details of the daily grind constantly scream for our attention. We must not lose sight of the glorious purpose for which we have been called: the restoration of all creation. Our witness, our prayer, our service to bind up the wounds of the suffering in the name of Jesus are all part of something spectacular and wonderful, something the prophets longed to look into (1 Peter 1:10). May God renew our zeal for His work in our own neighborhoods and for His worldwide missionary enterprise. May He revive us to pray and work in faith toward both Jews and Gentiles being restored to blessing. Messiah Jesus is still at work advancing the Father's kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. The second volume of the book of Acts is still being written. Let us recommit ourselves to this gospel enterprise, from Jerusalem, to all nations -- and then back again."

We live in exciting times, working with Messiah Jesus to advance the Father's Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are a part of the second volume of Acts!! Glory! Glory! and Amen.

Praise God

The Lord brought to my mind these words this morning:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

I was thanking Him for my three little pooches, my remote car starter (yes, I thank Him for that a lot!), safety in the rain on the road to the groomer and just because...

I couldn't remember the second line correctly so I checked it out when I got home and discovered that those words are the last stanza in a much longer hymn written by Puritan, Thomas Ken (1637-1711). In typical Puritan fashion it has 11 verses (when sung, I bet that all 11 were sung, not just 1, 3, 5...heh).

The Lord has a sense of humor. If I had known the first verse of the hymn, I might have been singing something else...heh

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

You can check out the other verses here. The tune is unfamiliar to me, but it refreshes my mind since I am over-familiar with the tune with which I usually sing it.

Because of all the rain this spring, summer, fall, tonight again! the leaves are just amazing colors!! In this picture you can see the bright red of a fire bush; just to the right, the copper color of what I call the "penny" tree (the leaves are a round shape & look like copper pennies in the fall); and the brilliant yellow of the maple tree. The Lord is so good to give us such a dazzling delight to the eyes as we head into the days of winter.

new piano

Our church has as a new piano!! Left to right (back row) Mark Morgan, elder; John Patti, pastor; Will Swisher, elder; Al Watson, visitor.

Left to right (front row) Lorrin Watson, visitor and Chair of the WFAA, Inc.; Brenda Swisher, our church pianist. This is an electric piano which has lots of capabilities and beautiful sound. It replaces our old upright which was terminally out of tune! We were blessed to purchase the piano from some cousins of the pastor's wife who are believers and love the Lord. How precious the Lord's provision is!!!

looking to the future

Just to make you work a bit ~~ a Rod.

And ~~ Praise.

Praise to the Lord

Praise Him

songs for Sunday

from a fellow Pennsylvanian, Philip Bliss, 1838 - 1876. Man of Sorrows or Hallelujah, What A Savior! And I Will Sing of My Redeemer and Jesus Loves Even Me.

the Rock

Psalm 95
1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

3 For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.

words of encouragement from Paul 4

I separated out each verse, in order to allow for a savoring contemplation of the incredible, "unbelievable" truths articulated in each of them. It is just breathtaking...

Romans 8

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written:

“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

comfort

Psalm 94

12 Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD,
And teach out of Your law,

13 That You may give him rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For the LORD will not cast off His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.

15 But judgment will return to righteousness,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

17 Unless the LORD had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.

18 If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.

19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul."

What a blessing to trust and rest in the Lord.

words of encouragement from Paul 3

Romans 8
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

These. Three. Verses. Are. Breathtaking.

words of encouragement from Paul 2

Romans 8
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

words of encouragement from Paul 1

Romans 8
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance."

think on these things

This is such exciting good news for believers!

Romans 6
5 If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.
10 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

God's mysterious ways

God Moves in Mysterious Ways by William Cowper (1731-1800), a British poet.

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smilling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Some further verses in Esther to check out:

Esther 5:2, 6:1, 6:2, 6:4, 8:17, 9:2.

back to conversations

While believers are on the same spiritual wave length through the work of the Holy Spirit, it is true that there are topics of conversation that are interest to both believers and unbelievers ~ great literature, music, history, to name a few. However, there are also many topics which, while of interest to both believers and unbelievers, find them on opposite sides of the fence. For example, abortion, creation, justice to name another few.
While conversation with unbelievers on topics of mutual interest can be stimulating, ultimately, as believers, we should take every opportunity to share the gospel with them, this being the most important topic in all time and eternity.

Romans 10
13 For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.***
14 How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

16 "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

*** Romans 10
9 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart ones believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

13 For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

hard, but safe

"Jesus showed us that confronting the world with TRUTH will never be easy, but that HE never changes and will be with us in ALL circumstances [both now and through all] eternity."

Matthew 5
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 28
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

koinonia

As Christians, we share a very special fellowship with other believers as well as with God and His Son.

koinonia ~ This is a Greek word that occurs 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia's primary meaning is "fellowship, sharing in common, communion". The first occurance of koinonia is Acts 2:42, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Christian fellowship is a key aspect of the Christian life. Believers in Christ are to come together in love, faith, and encouragement. That is the essence of koinonia. Got Questions Ministry

1 John 1
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life ~
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us ~
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."
Bible Gateway