Gratefulness

In the past year and more, Aunty Dorothy has been teaching us the Characters of Attentiveness, Obedience, Truthfulness, Gratefulness, and Generosity. I would like to share some of what she taught us.

Thou hast given so much to us. Give one thing more, A grateful heart. Amen - George Herbert 1593 – 1683.

“The more I realize how indebted I am to God and deserving nothing but eternal judgement the grateful I am to Him.”

1) The servant of God is nothing in Himself, he is merely someone so totally surrendered to God and His will that the All-powerful God can use Him to do great wonders.

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they sawhe was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in^[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

Exodus 3 – 4

Moses was not a mighty man of God, he was a man of a might GOD! In himself, he had unbelief, a speech problem, and thought himself terribly unsuited for the task of bringing the people out of Egypt. “Who am I” Moses saw himself as who he was, a mere man. However, he at first failed to see what God was trying to tell him – that it was not Moses who will be bringing the people out of Egypt, but God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It would not be out of Moses’ ability, or rather disability, but instead, God’s power working through him, that Moses was only a vessel, an instrument of God.

In Chp 4, we see Moses worried that the people would not believe him, his word, or his divine mission, he was looking to himself. Pestering God with questions of our unworthiness is not legitimate, since God knows that we are nothing but wretched human beings and cannot do anything in ourselves. Rather, we are His instrument, His ministers, and the power and ability to do the work of God never comes from us but from Him! It is not by the works of the flesh, but of faith!

Moses' Excuses	God's Answers
Who am I? (3:11)	Certainly I will be with thee. (3:12)
What shall I say unto them? (3:13)	I AM hath sent me unto you. (3:14)
They will not believe me. (4:1)	What is that in thine hand? (4:2)
I am not eloquent. (4:10)	I will teach thee what thou shalt say. (4:11-12; 14-15)

 (This chart was taken from AOP, SOS's Bible Curriculum 1002)

God doesn't need you to serve Him, it is only to your blessing that you choose too. Too often we think that we serve should God with our talents, and with our abilities, and with our ability – but it is not so – we have to surrender our will, die to our talents and goals, and submit our ability to the will of God. Moses himself tried to save Israel, to accomplish God’s will by murdering the Egyptian. God had to bring him through the “wilderness experience”. The wilderness seems like the school God uses to train the men who will be great for him – Abraham, Isaac, Moses, and many others, including Paul the apostle. God brought him to be nothing, then God used him.

If God wills, he can use a donkey. He often chose to use people that other people will not choose. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways higher than our ways. (Isa 55)

Why Uzzah Died

2 Samuel 6:7  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. 

David had a heart that sought YHWH and wanted to bring the presence of YHWH into Jerusalem. His motive was right, but his attempt failed for three reasons, namely,

1) David did not use the God-instructed method of moving the ark, that is, that the ark was to be borne on the shoulders of four anointed priests of the sons of Aaron, but instead (probably ignorantly), he used the Philistine's method of transporting it, in a cart drawn by cows. God's ways are better than man's ways, and the Philistines got away with it because they were ignorant, and were not God's people, but God required His people to whom He had revealed His law to follow His ordinances. David, as a king, was required by YHWH (Deut 17) to copy out the entire Law of Moses, to learn it and know it.

2) The Ark of the Covenant carried the very holy presence of God. The box was nothing special, but because God's presence dwelt in it, it must be treated with reverential fear. God Himself was probably not revered by the people in the way He should be, owing to years of backsliding as a nation, and the irreverent, apostate priesthood as shown in Eli and his sons. David perhaps did not realize just how much God was, is, and is to be feared and how holy and pure He is.

David had not only failed to fully follow God’s commands and to realize the severity of God’s holiness, but he failed to instruct the men transporting it and impart to them the right principles and attitudes with regard to it. Uzzah was the son of Aminadab, and the ark of the covenant had been in his father’s house for quite a time. Uzzah had good intentions, to keep the Ark from falling. However, proper preparation of heart, mind, and body, were needed for such an important task. This was a hard lesson David learned. The next time, he with utmost care and precision, in most reverent of fears, followed God’s way of bringing the ark in Jerusalem.

Vanity

“ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

 The word "vanity" means "in vain" - in a state of uselessness, purposeless, to have no meaning, to be be in a state of "naught and the ability to not be able to do anything more than "naught", to not be able to produce anything. The vanity of life, of culture, of power, of money, of everything tangible is related by Solomon, the man who had everything he could ever want. Yet in the end he said - yes, it was all vanity, vanity, and more vanity. It all was meaningless. It has no more purpose than and produces no more results than an attempt to grasp and catch the wind - the wind comes and goes, the sun rises and sets - neither you nor I can do anything about it nor affect it in any way. All that life had to offer, for Solomon, who had, all that life had to offer, to him is was worthless.Vi

Hallowed Be Thy Name

יהוה
By Ps. Lee Shaw Ming


This Name was not meant to be forgotten!
Did you know that the Heavenly Father has a name? The surprising truth is that the Name of the Creator, יהוה is found 6,823 times in the original Hebrew Old Testament or Tanakh, more frequent than any other word, yet it was translated away and concealed by translators (translated to ‘LORD’, some translations like ASV 1901 uses Jehovah) who believed it was too holy to use. However, many names of the gods of the heathens were transliterated and preserved in the Old Testament (eg. Baal, Dagon, Moloch, Molech, Meni, etc …). Bear in mind that although translations of the original God-inspired Scriptures into many languages help to bring the word of God to the whole world, yet the translations and translators themselves are not considered God-inspired in the level of the original authors and Scriptures. 


How important is it to know and to use the correct name?
Scripture leaves no doubt as to the importance of our Heavenly Father’s Name!
Note: The Hebrew letters for the Heavenly Father’s name יהוה (YHWH) known as the Tetragrammaton and transliterated as YHWH (generally pronounced as 'Yahweh', 'Jehovah' or 'Yehovah'), have been used throughout the original Old Testament in Hebrew. The Hebrew word יהושע (Elohim) has been translated into the English word 'God'. The Hebrew word 'Elohim' means 'Mighty One' or 'Most High'. 


Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know it? (Proverbs 30:4)


The following Scripture references speak for themselves...


I am יהוה (YHWH) that is My name: and My honour will I not give to another (name), neither My praise to graven images (Isaiah 42:8)


Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to His name: extol Him that rides upon the heavens by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him (Psalm 68:4)


You shall not take the name of יהוה (YHWH) your Elohim in vain, for יהוה will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain (Exodus 20: 7, This is the Third Commandment.)


Thy Name O YHWH, endureth forever; Thy memorial, O YHWH, throughout all generations (Psalm 135:13)


I will take the names of the Baalim out of her mouth and they shall no more be remembered by their name (Hosea 2:17 . 'Baalim' is the plural of Baal. Baalim = Lords)


I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto Thee (Psalm 22:22 . cf. Hebrews 2:12)


And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of יהוה (YHWH) shall be saved (Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32)


Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is יהוה (Jer 16:21)


who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams…, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal (Jer 23:27)


And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities (Isaiah 64:7: 7)


And from the New Testament...
I have manifested (revealed) Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world…John 17:26 And I have declared unto them Thy Name and will declare it (John 17:6)


'Hallowed be Thy Name' Matthew 6:9
• The Hebrew Name of the Messiah, יהושע, Yeshua is the only Name by which He was known to His disciples. 


What is His name and what is His Son's Name, if thou canst tell? (Proverbs 30:4)
• The name יהושע (Yeshua) literally means “יהוה (YHWH) is salvation”.


John 5:43 I am come in My Father's Name and ye receive Me not, if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive…John 12:13 Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of יהושע…John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My Name I will do it.


...for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12)


And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am יהושע (Yeshua), whom you are persecuting (Acts 26:14-16)


He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name (Rev 3:12)


Editor: Let us remember the name of our God and remember that He is the God of Israel, knowing that the Jewish nation is still the Israel of God. For יהוה hates divorce (Mal 2:16) hence 'God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew' (Rom 11:2) and 'But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people' (Rom 10:21) and continue to do so till this day.


More information and a longer article, found at: http://thekingdompeople.blogspot.com/

YHWH is God

"And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (1 Kings 18:39)"

Having seen the manifestation of the one true God, by the prophet Elijah, in a dramatic turn of events, above and beyond all reason and worthless human effort, the people were suddenly struck with the reality of YHWH. Their idols, the works of their own hands, having failed them, were proved useless and powerless beyond measure. All hope is Baal was in vain. Their faith in Baal was devastated.

Then YHWH showed Himself to them. In an act of uncontestable sovereignty and power He poured out His fire from heaven and consumed all the sacrifice on the altar. This was unrivaled, unequaled, totally sovereign power. The water-soaked altar made no difference. YHWH had proved Himself, again to His stubborn and contrary people who needed constant reminders. The God of their Fathers, who had to deal with their problematic ancestors and their constant regression, out of His great love for His people, revealed  a small portion of His awesomeness and might to His people. Why should He? For His name’s sake, for His glory, and because of His unreasonably immense love for His people. He had to stoop down, and show a little of His power, enough to instill into His people the reverence and fear for Him.

What could they do? YHWH was supreme, sovereign, and all mighty. With a start, they realized what they had done. They had turned to false gods and worthless idols. With a start, they had a revelation of YHWH. In a moment, YHWH’s reality slapped them in the face. What could they do but cry out, “YHWH, he is God; YHWH he is God!”

It was for most part of their lives that they had called Baal “lord” and “god”, but today they knew WHO was God, and God alone, YHWH. They knew how to call on Him, to acknowledge Him and to declare Him, YHWH, as THE GOD.

God’s Loving Care and Human Suffering by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God’s Loving Care and Human Suffering by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(Harvest Festival, Berlin) October 4, 1931

TEXT: “Your steadfast love is better than life”(Ps 63:3)

Two and a half millennia have passed since that ancient Jewish saint, far from Jerusalem and his homeland, devoured by misery in body and soul, surrounded by mockers and enemies of his God, pondered the strange and wonderful ways God had led him. It was no easy, peaceful meditation. It was a struggle for God and God’s faithfulness. The pillars of life had crumbled away. Where his hand thought it had found firm support it reached into an empty nothingness. “God, where are you? God, who am I? My life falls crashing down into the bottomless abyss. God, I am afraid, where has Your goodness gone? And yet, You are my God, and Your goodness is better than life,” That is one of the words that does not let you go once you have understood it, a word that seems to shine gently, but is inwardly hard, a word of passion engendered where two worlds clash, that is, a word from the world of the Bible and not from our own.

The words of this text, “Your goodness is better than life”: it is the exultant cry of the wretched and abandoned, of the weary and overburdened; the cry of longing uttered by the sick and the oppressed; the song of praise among the unemployed and the hungry in the great cities; the prayer of thanksgiving by the tax collectors and prostitutes, by sinners known and unknown. Well, is that really their shout of joy? No, it is not, not in our world, at any rate not in our age. It is the shout of joy for the peculiar world of the Bible, which frightens and angers us with its strangeness, at least as far as we still listen to its message and have not become insensitive to the reality of the Bible. Or perhaps the verse does not seem so particularly remarkable after all. Perhaps we think that it is perfectly self-evident. These things have become part of the life of a Christian. If that is how we think, we shall have to discover what the psalmist is really saying here and whether it is really so obvious.

At some point in our psalmist’s life something quite decisive happened: God came into his life. From that moment his life was changed. I don’t mean that he suddenly became very good and pious – it may well be that he was that before God came. But now none other than God had come and had drawn near to him. What made his life remarkable was simply that God was always there with him and he could no longer get away from God. It completely tore his life apart. We so often hear and say that religion makes people happy and harmonious and peaceful and content. Maybe that’s true of religion; but it is not true of God and dealings with humankind. It is utterly wrong. That is what the psalmist discovered. Something had burst open inside of him. He felt as if he were split in two. A struggle flared up within him, which every day became more heated and more terrible. He experienced hour by hour how his old beliefs were being torn out of his inner being. He struggled desperately to hold on to them; but God, standing ever before him, had taken them from him and would never give them back. And the more he loses, the more firmly and eagerly he grabs at what is left; but the more firmly he holds to what he has, the harder must God strike to break it free and the most it hurts when it is torn away. And the breathless struggle goes on, with God the victor and the person defeated; he no longer knows where it all will lead to an he sees that he is lost; he does not know whether he hates or loves the One who has forced his way so violently into his life and destroyed his peace. He struggles for every inch and in despair yields to the weapons of God. And his position would not be quite so hopeless if it not were for the fact that God’s weapons are so strange and wonderful, that they cast down and lift up, that they wound and yet heal, that they kill and yet bring life; God speaks; “If you want my mercy, then let me gain victory over you; if you want my life, then let me hate and destroy that which is evil in you; if you want my goodness, then let me take your life.” And now it has come to the final struggle. Everything has been surrendered up and only one thing has been left to the person, which he is determined to hold on to: his life. Still God will not call a halt, but storms this last citadel of all. And so the battle rages on for the last thing which he has; the individual defends himself like a mad person. God cannot want this; God is not cruel; God is good and kind. And yet the answer comes back: “If you want my goodness, then give me the last thing that you have, give me your life. Now choose!”

Such heights terrify us; it is as if someone le us to the limits of the world and as if we looked down into an abyss and he said, “Now jump!” We feel as if we had been torn apart. How can we choose between God’s goodness and our life? What is our life? Everything we see, touch, hear, taste, feel; everything which surrounds us, which we possess, which we are used to, which we love. What is God’s goodness? In any case everything which we cannot see, cannot touch, cannot comprehend, and indeed cannot believe; something which we do not possess; something quite improbable, something outside this world, standing above and behind all events, and yet which speaks to us so directly. Who would venture to make a free choice here? It is God who gains the victory, and it seems so humanly impossible that we should now hear from the psalmist’s lips the words: “God, You are my God. Your goodness is better than life.”

Some of you will now be indignant and you will begin to object: What sort of exaggerated and wild talk is this? You can’t talk about the goodness of God in that way. That I’m in good health, that I’ve still got food and drink to share with my family, that I’ve got work and a house, that’s what God’s goodness means to me and that’s what I should thank God for. But I neither know nor understand anything of this struggle with God’s goodness.

My friends, today is harvest festival and a very proper time for us to reflect seriously about what God’s goodness means to us. Unmoved by the bitter worries and unrest of our time, nature goes about its work in the world. It produces food for the people of the earth. When it withholds its gifts; millions die; when it bestows them lavishly humankind flourishes. No persons have control over it an when they are confronted by its power, they grow silent and are reminded of God who has power over nature. Today we celebrate the harvest festival in particular circumstances and with specific thoughts in mind. The harvest has not brought us what we hoped what we hoped for. This has already caused us great sorrow. But on top of this comes one of the worst plagues which can ever be inflicted on a people, and which is now spreading across the world, unemployment. We must be prepared for the fact that this winter seven million people in Germany will find no work, which means hunger for fifteen to twenty million people next winter. Another twelve million or more in England, twenty or more in America, while at this moment sixteen million are starving in China and situation is not much better in India. These are the cold statistics behind which stands a terrible reality. Should we overlook these millions of people when we celebrate our harvest festival in church? We dare not. Rather we want to measure our Christian thinking and intentions by how well we respond to these facts.

When we sit down this evening to a full table and say grace and thank God for God’s goodness, we shall not be able to avoid a strange feeling of uneasiness. It will seem incomprehensible to us that we should be the ones to receive such gifts and we will be overwhelmed by such thoughts and will think that we have not in any way deserved these gifts more than our hungry brothers and sisters in our town. What if, precisely at the moment when we are thanking God for God’s goodness toward us, there is a ring at the door, as so often happens these days, and we find someone standing there who also would like to thank God for some small gift, but to whom such a gift has been denied and who is starving with starving children and who will go to bed in bitterness? What becomes of our grace in such moments? Will we really feel like saying that God is merciful to us and angry with them, or the fact that we still have something to eat proves that we have won a special favor in God’s sight, that God feeds the favorite children and lets the unworthy go hungry? May the merciful God protect us from the temptation of such gratitude. May God lead us to a true understanding of God’s goodness. Don’t we see that the gifts of God’s goodness become a curse for us if we have such thoughts about them and act in such a way; if we look upon ourselves as models of virtue, instead of growing humble as we look at the incomprehensibility of God and the worry and anxiety our wealth creates in us and if we thank God only for God’s goodness to us instead of becoming conscious of the immeasurable responsibility which is laid upon us by God’s goodness? If we want to understand God’s goodness in God’s gifts, then we must think of them as a responsibility we bear for our brothers and sisters. Let none say: God has blessed us with money and possessions and then live as if they and their God were alone in the world. For the time will come when they realize that they have been worshipping the idols of their good fortune and selfishness. Possessions are not God’s blessing and goodness, but the opportunities of service which God entrusts to us.

This has already brought us some distance along the way toward understanding what God’s goodness is. Whoever has tasks laid upon them by God see themselves set between two worlds:”If you want my goodness to stay with you, then serve your neighbors, for in them God comes to you”; such people see in their neighbors the material and spiritual need for which they are now called to account. And now the struggle is played out of which the psalmist speaks. “If you want my mercy, then give your neighbor a share of your possessions. If you want my love, then give your neighbor your soul. If you want my goodness then stake your life for your neighbor. And if you don’t do all this, then that which was God’s goodness to you, the gifts which God showered on your body and soul, will turn into a curse on you.”
Which of us would care to say that we had done all this, that in our thoughts and particularly our actions we had really understood that God’s goodness leads us into a struggle, that it is not something which we receive and then simply possess, so that we live on, somewhat happier, somewhat richer, but essentially unaltered. But how miserably we enter on this struggle; with so little passion and with so much fear, weakness, trembling, and sadness; and how little does it really take hold of the roots of our being. Yet we shall not understand this struggle at all until we understand how radical and basic it is. “Your goodness is better than life” does not just mean better than your house, than your food, than your work, than your reputation, than your honor, than your physical, artistic, and spiritual pleasures, than your wife or husband or children, but it means more than all that; it means that it is better than the one thing you still have when you have lost everything, better than your life. Which of us has already come to know that God’s goodness leads us into a conflict, which involves the physical side of our life, and not only that but also our work, our honor, and even our family? Who would allow themselves to be drawn into such a conflict and who would see in such a conflict God’s goodness? And above all, who sees that we have not grasped the meaning of God’s goodness until the conflict goes much deeper and seizes hold of our life and reaches out beyond even that?...

But now comes the greatest wonder the world has ever known. In the very place we have fallen away from God, where we have become dead and unreceptive to God, in our guilt, God’s goodness searches us out, and is revealed to us again as the eternal promise of God, in Jesus Christ, which far surpasses all guilt and all life. Only the person who, in the darkness of guilt, of unfaithfulness, of enmity towards God, has felt himself or herself touched by the love which never ceases, which forgives everything and which points beyond all misery to the world of God, only such a person really knows what God’s goodness means.

But of course we are not lifted out of life. Our task still remains with us and we are continually asked by God: “What is my love worth to you?” But the more deeply we recognize what God’s goodness is, the more lively our answer will be, and again we shall be led by God’s goodness to assume our responsibility and will be brought to God again through our acknowledged guilt. When will the time come that, at least in the Christian community, the world of our psalmist will break in, and in happiness or in misery, in hunger or in sickness, in fear or trouble, in sadness or guilt, in good or bad harvest we can make a truly joyful thanksgiving:

And though they take our life,
Goods, honor, children, wife,
Yet is their profit small;
These things shall vanish all;
The City of God remaineth!

O God, You goodness is better than life – Amen. [NRS, pp. 125-32]

The Greatest Commandment

See Part 3 and then click on the link there but to Part 4

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Meet faithful2christ95 on youtube! This channel has been faithfully uploading new scripture songs. PS 150 is my favorite of the whole lot! Do check them out and listen. Scripture was meant to be sung, especially psalms!

The reality of the Holy Spirit

Oh, I don’t know.

I feel divided. Split in two.

The world of the Bible seems to clash with the world I see and feel.

The world I know.

Life has become surreal. Like I know deep inside there is a greater reality than that which I see.

And it’s scary

What’s happening to me?

When I eat, I don’t even want to  taste the food anymore.

It almosts turns dry in my mouth.

My stomach cannot take food.

It is as if I can’t eat anymore.

What is happening to me?

It is as if my life means nothing to me anymore.

That somehow inside of me I know that

Everything I see, taste, touch, feel, and smell,

Doesn’t appeal to me.

There’s a greater reality –

Of God

Of YHWH

Inside of me.

To live = Christ

To die = gain

Do I really mean that?

Am I really willing to leave everything and everyone behind?

To follow a cross?

To follow a blood-stained pathway?

To leave my family,

To leave all my friends at church?

To leave this safe and secure home,

To leave this tangible world and all my treasures in it?

Am I really willing to die that the presence of God may come into this nation?

Or am I imagining something.

God help me.

I feel my spirit is stronger now.

It needs to be stronger still.

The world of the Bible,

The realm of God’s Holy Spirit,

It’s scary.

I don’t know what it’s like.

I have never seen it.

I have never seen an angel or a demon.

I have never seen death.

It takes great faith to believe in what I cannot see.

I have never seen Yeshua

I have never seen YHWH

Yet in my Spirit I have a deep assurance that I know Him,

At least a little of Him –

But more and more every day

How can I know Someone,

Whom I have never seen?

His Words, the only thing tangible,

Are being embedded into my heart.

Again Intangible

How do I die for Someone,

And believe in the work of that great Someone,

That I have never touched, or heard, with my senses.

My Spirit has, but physically, in my mind and soul I cannot imagine.

I do not want to imagine,

Or worship a God of my imagination.

I want to KNOW Him.

I want to known YHWH

What is heaven like?

What is it?

What is God like?

More than the physical.

Yet I often get distracted by the physical

Not truly knowing the spiritual reality.

Is it so, that when I am defeated and imprisoned physically,

That in my spirit, I have the victory, and am seated high in the heavens by YHWH’s side?

And that I have the greatest liberty?

It is so.

It is so indeed – that when I am hungry physically,

Sick physically,

Weak physically,

Suffering physically,

Tormented physically,

That the greater reality is that I am strong,

That I am fed by Christ,

That I am free,

That I have peace in spite of physical turmoil outside,

That I have joy in spite of sorrow outside?

That spiritual reality is a greater reality.

That is faith.

The substantiation of the Spiritual things God has promised,

The realization of things we do not see

TO know the things we do not see, are greater than the things we see.

God I need faith.

Only you can give me faith.

Only you can give me that life abundant.

Because though my physical body dies,

I live on by Your life

And to see that of those who may be physically living,

Some are spiritually dead.

Spiritually condemned

It’s not the life outside,

In the body,

That counts.

But the eternal,

Everlasting,

Abundant,

Spiritual life,

Inside.
In my spirit.

That is what counts, that is what matter.

What is that spiritual reality?

The reality I reach out to hold,

And cannot hold

That I want to touch,

And cannot touch,

That I want to see,

And cannot see?

And yet,

In spite of all that,

I know,

I just know,

I just believe,

And trust,

And depend on the faithfulness of God.

The faithfulness of God,

Which I cannot see,

Will hold me.

So even if I don’t see physically,

I must have to know that it simply is.

That is simply has already happened,

Though I do not see.

Flesh and blood can be destroyed and pass away.

But the eternal things of God,

The treasure I lay up in heaven,

The Spiritual gold,

The Spiritual silver,

And the Spiritual precious stones,

These are a great reality,

In me,

In God.

The Spiritual life begins now.

Now, on earth.

Belief, Faith begins now.

To lose the things that are known,

To receive the things unknown.

To lose the wisdom of the world,

And take on the “foolishness” of God,

God I need You,

Ever so much,

Ever so much more than I needed You before.

Thoughts – I can’t trust them.

I can’t trust my heart.

I can’t trust what I feel,

I can’t trust the tangible

For no sooner do I reach out and grab it,

And place my weight on it,

It gives way,

For it is sinking sand.

Yet on the Rock,

Christ,

The solid rock,

The only solid foundation,

Do I build my faith

Though I cannot see it,

I know,

I believe,

I KNOW,

It is there,

And underneath me,

Are everlasting arms,

So that I cannot fall

Never

Every thing I see,

I must one day leave behind,

And commit my soul into the One who made it.

God holds me in the palm of His hand

No matter what happens,

He is here with me,

To hold me and lead me,

Deeper in love with Him,

Further on the narrow way,

Like I am walking on the waves  of water

So that when the storms without roar,

Churn fiercely,

And trouble me,

I will not fear,

But I will walk on the Word of Christ,

Who said,
“Come.”

By Margeret E. Barber

Margaret_E._Barber

If the path I travel

Lead me to the cross,

If the way Thou chooset

Lead to pain and loss,

Let the compensation

Daily, hourly, be

Shadowless communion,

Blessed Lord, with Thee.

M.E. Barber was a missionary to China around the turn of the century. Though not much is known of her personally, having read the following, I think you will agree, she had quite a walk with the Lord.

The value of allowing the Lord to have His way with regard to discipline was a great asset to her. If I recall correctly, she would say, “I kiss the hand that smites me.” Indicating, not only that had she learned to accept the correction that came from the Lord she walked with, but she even embraced it.

The following relays the intimacy she maintained with her Savior! A student she had been discipling came to her with what he though was valuable information. He had received word the owners of some buildings she was leasing for ministry were going to terminate the aggreement. The student felt he had some very timely advice. Yet! Upon informing her, she insisted there was no need to look for other accommodations. Though given formal notice by the owners to vacate, she did nothing. As it turned out, the plans the owners had for the new occupants fell through, and only a short time before the end of the lease, she was asked to stay.

When querried as to why no plans were made, even after receiving notice to vacate, she answered, “The Lord had given the buildings in answer to prayer. And since He had not told her otherwise (to make alternative plans), she knew the buildings would be available.”

To the question, “What prevents us hearing the Lord?” she responded, “Whenever there is a problem hearing from the Lord it is because we are holding on to other things that are more dear to us than the Lord.”

And last: It was in response to the prayers that ascended from M.E. Barber and Dora Yu, that the Lord brought revival on Foochow. One of those who came to the Lord in the revival was a man you have probably heard of: Watchman Nee.

For more on the life of Ms. Barber, visit Living Stream

, or The Church in Cleveland (Biographies section). A small paperback biography is also available through The Chicage Bibles & Books. (This short biography is quoted from 

http://www.wellofoath.com/home.asp?pg=Bios&toc=Margaret+E.+Barber)

Prevailing in Prayer by Charles Finney

http://www.gospeltruth.net/1868_75Independent/740305_prev_pray.htm

An Answer to the Comment by Mr. Gormley

No, I don't believe salvation is a very simple thing at all. It's so vast. God is so vast and unsearchable and past finding. So wise. We can spend our whole lifetime searching out His knowledge and greatness, isn't it! No man can claim perfect theology, because that is to claim we know God perfectly, which is to claim we are as clever as God, and put ourselves in the place of God, which was Satan's sin. No, I don't know everything. But God is teaching me,  through His word, and I must listen and live it out.

Yes, I agree that salvation is often underrated and not understood! People think salvation is so easy, that just by saying the sinners prayer we can be saved. Far from it! Those who are think we can be saved by just saying a sinner's prayer are so wrong. Salvation is deep and it is a mystery, which now is being revealed to us by God's Word to His saints. God's grace is costly.

I quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing....[45]


Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.[45-46]


Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin....


Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[47]


Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.


Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.


Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


On two separate occasions Peter received the call, “Follow me.” It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mark 1.17; John 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word. The second occasion is when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call is: “Follow me.” Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter's confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God....[48]


This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. It was the grace of Christ himself, now prevailing upon the disciple to leave all and follow him, now working in him that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy, now inviting Peter to the supreme fellowship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied, and thereby forgiving him all his sins. In the life of Peter grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace which costs.[49]


As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, this realization of the costliness of grace gradually faded. The world was Christianized, and grace became its common property. It was to be had at low cost.[49]"

Sacraments cannot save us, man cannot save us, rituals cannot save us. It is God alone who will save us, and he is saving us every day. He is working in His saints, perfect and cleansing them, sanctifying and redeeming them, as they learn to "die daily". We are saved not by what we do, but by what Christ did. Sacraments are "good" in themselves, practiced, like the law but without true spiritual life and depth in us we are dead, we have no life of Christ in us.

The church is not an institute, it is the body of Christ, the body of believers, and Christ is the very head and center.

Discipleship is no convenient thing. It is hard, it is costly, it costs us our lives which must end at the place of the cross. Only Yahshua HaMashiach can save us. Only God can save us. We cannot save ourselves. God tries and tests the hearts, He sees beyond the outward appearance. He jugdges the motives and intentions of the heart.  The eternal, abundant, life from God begins now, not just in eternity. It begins at the place of the cross.

Yahshua alone is the way. There is no other way.

Yahshua alone is the truth. THere is no other truth but what is found IN Him. He is truth, and there is no lie in Him.

Yahshua is life, and in Him we find life, because we can die with Him and live again, ressurected, in that wonderful eternal life of God.

It begins with Faith, faith grows. Faith is not easy. Faith requires of us. God will give us that faith. If we are faithful in little, He will make us faithful in much. We can only reap what we sow into our lives, so what we sow must be the gold, silver, and precious stones, which go into the fire and come out unscathed, the wood, hay, and straw will perish. If we sow godliness and truth, that is what we reap. If we sow ungodliness and lies, that is what we reap, in the vengeance of eternal fire.