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Achieving Enlightenment?

keffo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:10:38 +0000

And so monday the 23rd November 2009 came. Me and Ingerid and John had agreed on this day for our sa

Spiritual Choice or Sacrifice

ServantBoy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:26:55 +0000

Mark 8:34-38
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

As the pressure from the Pharisees mounted on Jesus to make the world doubt him, he traveled from place to place sharing the gospel because he knew his time was short and there were many who need saving. He dint fight back with the Pharisees because he knew how futile it was to try and change the mind of the hard hearted who had no space for a messiah in their lives. Today’s passage is one that most of us have heard but don’t enjoy much because these are not words of encouragement to the world. Instead, they are words of caution and only a genuine follower of Christ would see the sweetness of what the Lord was saying.

I am the sort of person most people might think of as nice whereas in reality I had some serious issues with sin. I still have areas of difficulty and not to turn back to my old ways is very hard. If there has been change, it was only because the Lord has enabled it in me. However, the big issue is that sometimes, we feel like God would understand if in our humanness we faltered a tiny bit. Unfortunately, that is Satan tripping us into our old selves and we need to always stand guard. To be able to witness real change, we need to hand over the reins of our life to God. When we do so, we will look foolish and ‘uncool’ to the world and might face persecution for it but we will be giving God glory. Are you willing to be shameless to the world for God to transform you and gain victory over sin or do you want to gain the world and loose eternity with God?

In His Loving Service,
Vineet

Nut Cracker in the Woods

Mensagem para o infinito e ao além.Message to the infinite and beyond.

Redação — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:42:45 +0000

Envie uma mensagem especial que vai durar para sempre.O SentForever transmite sua mensagem pessoal no espaço profundo. Depois que a mensagem começa a viagem, que continuará pelo resto da eternidade. O custo de mensagem padrão de cerca de 15 dólares, o que inclui um Certificado de Transmissão de ser enviado para o receptor da sua mensagem.
clique aqui para conhecer toda a linha

Send a special message that will last forever
SentForever transmits your personal message into deep space. Once your message starts travelling, it will continue for the rest of eternity. Our standard message costs about 15 US dollars, which includes a Certificate of Transmission being posted to the receiver of your message.
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4 Carat Diamond Engagement Ring - The Eternity Promised By A Stone

jamescglenn1234 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:57:26 +0000

How does one promise eternity? To whom should you promise this? After a long wait for that right woman to come along and for a long time you have spent time with her, you have finally come to realize that you don’t want to let her go. So a promise needs to be sealed.

A 4 carat diamond engagement ring will be a perfect ring for your woman you want to marry and it will be the most valuable gift that you can give her. This can be a promise of what you can endure for her and the things you have in store for her.

Not only that, the 4 carat stone in the ring that you are about to give will hold the promise that she will hold dearly to her heart. And the expensive value of the engagement ring will make it her value the vow that you have.

Now when you choose the right diamond engagement ring, you can think of her and try to associate the ring with her as you look at the different styles one by one. Knowing what she likes should not be hard for you anymore anyway.

Also this diamond engagement ring will be a very big ring because of the size and the weight but then the band so a simple band will do. But there are 4 carat rings there that are cut in a shape that will make it appear smaller to make it simple,

Although you can still add more elegance to the 4 carat diamond engagement ring. Platinum bands will make the stone very nice to look at with a few stones at the band, like that of Jessica Simpson’s engagement ring. Simple but elegant.

This diamond engagement ring is made more interesting when it has color or when it is cut in a different shape. But then again the most ideal would be the colorless type of the ring because it will project the elegance of the 4 carat diamond so also consider that.

Choosing the style of the engagement ring for your bride to be is one thing that you need to think about and the use of best judgment will make it really special and makes the upcoming wedding really more exciting. After all, the fact that you want to give a 4 carat diamond engagement ring to the one you love is already a proof that the wedding you have in store for her and the lifetime you promise her is something far more than what she expects it to be.

"At least he's in a better place"

Bill Moore — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:47:56 +0000

These are words often repeated after death has ended the physical suffering and mental anguish of someone who has endured much for an all-too-long period of time. Loved ones, having witnessed horrific suffering, feel relief that the ordeal is finally over for their parent or sibling or friend or whomever. “Well, at least she’s in a better place.”

That may be true, and then again, it may not be. As one who has presided over many funerals and graveside services, I neither preach someone into heaven nor into hell. I believe in the reality of both, but the eternal Judge determines that deceased person’s fate.

We must not be glib about eternity. Our loved one may be in a better place, but he is in the presence of God only because he is God’s child, having turned from his sin and believed on the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. The person in that better place than this fallen world is there only because Christ bore his sin upon the cross, taking the wrath of the thrice-holy God for the repentant one’s sin and pronouncing the believer righteous.

For our sake he [God the Father] made him [God the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

Otherwise, that loved one will languish in hell for eternity, separated from God and from all hope. This reality, though pooh-poohed by atheists and “Christian” liberals alike, will not fade away like a bad dream simply because one believes it unthinkable that a loving God, if indeed there is a God, would cast anyone into hell. Jesus himself spoke without ambiguity.

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41, ESV).

A better place? I sincerely hope so, but it isn’t so just because we wish it. May our loved ones know the only One who will receive them unto that better place, in his presence, for eternity.

Thy Will be done.

polyestherkim — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:32:07 +0000

4 Carat Diamond Engagement Ring - The Eternity Promised By A Stone

jaydcaswell1234 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:23:07 +0000

Global Solution

ServantBoy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:17:59 +0000

Mark 7:25b-30
A woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

I wonder if I would have the wisdom of the Syrophoenician woman when Jesus speaks to me in parables because I consider myself very dumb when I read passages like this one selected above. This lady came to Jesus in pain and had a desperate need for Jesus’ miraculous touch on her daughter who was demon possessed. However, she was not Jew and Jesus was there to save the lost sheep of Israel. Would she have any place before a foreign God whose objectives seemed different? In times of desperation, do we seek anything that will give us a solution to our problems?

What Jesus asked her was whether it was right for him to turn his attention to the gentiles before he was done with the Jews and her response showed him that she knew Jesus was here to save sinners, not just a race of people. She must’ve noticed it in the sarcastic language Jesus used to describe gentiles or in his manner of speaking but her answer was apt. I often feel like a servant before Jesus, my Lord, whose crumbs I am not fit to take. In Christ, we have victory from the dominion of sin and suffering because through his death and resurrection, we have the hope of eternity. We all have needs and I know today the Lord speaks to me as clearly as he speaks to you that he wants for us to put our faith in him and know that he will answer our pleas in an amazing way!

In His Loving Service,
Vineet

Man Made Beauty or A Concrete Jungle?

On the way of quitting to smoke

heaintthroughwithmeyet — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:30:50 +0000

I found the greatest thing ever, some of you might already know it, if not check out this link

this stuff works. I still can’t believe it, but I started to use it on Friday and today I am down to only smoking at work. And I will quit that too.

They sell it in different flavors and in different nicotine levels like real cigarettes. I wasn’t aware I smoke the NO nicotine one until I read the package from those cartridges. And I was amazed that I liked it even without nicotine. There is nothing in it like tar or all the other thousands of chemicals that are in real cigarettes.

You can smoke it anywhere, cause it isnt smoke, it is vapor and it doesnt smell. IT doesnt give you a bad taste and it has no aftertaste. It is just grrrrrrrrrreat!
Check it out

But it does give you the kick, it gives you the smoke which is a water based vapor. It is great.
I checked out different companies who sell it, and this one is by far the best. The price is good and you get a whole bunch of stuff with it.

Just thought let everyone know in case you are trying to quit or know someone who would like to, it really works.

blu Starter Kit

Exalted!

JD Collier — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:58:15 +0000

a teaching rhyme by Jerry Collier

. . . you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Rom 8:15 NIV

Sovereign, Invisible,
Infinite, Immortal,
Unchanging, Eternal;

Exalted, Pre-eminent,
Transcending, Magnificent,
Almighty, Omnipotent;

In Glory, Resplendent,
In Wisdom, Omniscient,
His Being, All Sufficient;

. . . But His children call Him Dad!

Amongst the ruins. 2 AM.

Free Fairytale — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:59:11 +0000

It’s one of these nights I need to talk about him. Again.
I’m sorry.
But you know what, I’m sick of this…planet. This world. I can’t stand another minute of being here and now. My dreams. That’s what’s ruined me.
Why did I have to be so over-natural?
Why did I have to dream…?
As I’ve stated before (see: When Did My Heart Go Missing) I’ve been having really weird dreams. Alive dreams. With him. What is he?
I came to the conclusion that he is my “soulmate”.
If that’s what I can call it.
God…it’s hard.
I know I will never be happy with normality.
All my relationships are ruined because of me looking for him in every breath, in every single moment. I miss him.
And there’s no way I can find him.
I’ve tried everything there is to communicate.
But no.
Seems that even my only talent, to search into people’s minds has shrunk with time. I want to do that again.
Sometime.
People around the world move objects with their minds, hypnotize, make things happen…. Generaly… Supernatural things. [I'm tired.]
[Can't be coherent.]
Why can’t I find my gift again?
Why did I have to overthink it?
Now I’ve lost him.
And I’m more alone than I ever was in my entire life.
Because a part of my soul is missing.
Dammit.
Drama queen all over again.
Don’t mind me.
I’ll go to sleep.
Nothing makes sense.
Nothing is worth it when I’m awake. Sleeping should be my only option. And maybe someday death. If I find the courage.
That I won’t.
Because I’m too curious for what’s gonna happen.
And because I love.
People. Around me.
I wouldn’t do that to them, right…?

Sleep.
Goodnight.

-Free…?

Sermon: I Believe in The Life Everlasting

Chuck Warnock — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:29:57 +0000

I Believe in the Life Everlasting

John 6:53-68 NIV

⁵³Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?⁶²What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”

⁶⁶From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

The Last Line of the Apostles’ Creed

We’re almost there! Today we look at the last line of The Apostles’ Creed — I believe in the life everlasting. And so the Creed that began with Creation — I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth — now ends without an end. We affirm our belief today that this life is not all there is, that there is a life that extends beyond our ability to see or know completely and that is the life everlasting.

You will remember that last week we spoke about the resurrection of the body. We discovered that we are not disembodied spirits — that’s Greek or Roman thought, not Christian theology — but rather we are given new bodies, changed bodies, spiritual bodies unlike anything we can imagine.

Some scholars speculate that this line of the Creed was added at a later date, and that is entirely possible. The reason it was added, some think, is because in both Greek and Latin the word for “resuscitatation” and “resurrection” are the same. But there is a big difference in the two ideas.

Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was resuscitated. Jesus brought him back from the dead — and he really was dead and everybody knew it. But Lazarus died again. So, perhaps some of Jesus’s followers were confused at the idea of the resurrection of the body. It’s great to be raised from the dead, but were they going to die again?

This last phrase clarifies and expands on the phrase we looked at last week — “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” So, not only are we going to be raised from the dead, we aren’t going to die again. That’s the whole point of “resurrection” — resurrection is the defeat of death and the triumph of life, and this phrase in the Creed affirms that the resurrection life in Christ goes on forever — everlastingly.

But what of this life everlasting? The renowned skeptic and atheist, Bertrand Russell, said that the worst thing he could think of was an eternity that did not end because it would be incredibly boring. I must agree with Russell in the sense that I do not look forward to eternity either if it’s going to be boring. Fortunately, the life everlasting is not boring. Let’s take a look at what we can find out about it from the passage we read today, and from others as well.

The Life Everlasting Is Given by Jesus and Sustained by God

Jesus is teaching at the synagogue in Capernaum, the city he went to after he was rejected in his hometown, Nazareth. There is some support for the ancient belief that Simon Peter’s house was in Capernaum, and that Jesus stayed there while in the city. In Capernaum the ruins of a 4th century synagogue were found about 1900. But, it was almost 100 years later that archaeologists discovered that the 4th century synagogue had been built upon the foundation of a much older structure from the 1st century. That foundation was most likely the foundation of the synagogue in which Jesus delivered this “Bread of Life” message.

This is very early in Jesus’s ministry, and his references to eating his flesh and drinking his blood are totally lost on the disciples. His hearers still don’t get it even when he says –

“This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”

They do understand the reference to manna in the desert. This of course was the way God provided, the way God sustained the lives of the people of Israel during the 40-years they spent wandering from the captivity of Egypt to the promise of the land of Canaan.

You know the story — because they are nomads, pilgrims, they cannot stop to plant and harvest. God provides from them each day an amount of manna which was sufficient for that day’s provision. On the day before the Sabbath, God provides two days’ worth so they do not have to do the work of gathering on the Sabbath.

Now flash forward to the New Testament, to Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. We call it The Lord’s Prayer, and in it Jesus tells us to pray for God to “give us this day our daily bread.” Just as God had sustained Israel in the desert one day at a time, Jesus reminds us to pray that God will do the same for us.

And, that daily sustaining comes from God, both now and in eternity. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and God sustains us in eternity through the work of Christ on our behalf. In other words, the life everlasting is a life provided by Jesus and sustained by God. The life everlasting is similar to God’s provision for Israel, but something greater and more lasting than the manna. After all, those who ate the manna all died. Those who partake of the life of Christ all live.

The Life Everlasting Is a Difficult Idea

Some of those who heard Jesus had real problems with what he was saying, and John says “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” They turned back to what? To their old beliefs, to their old way of life, to their old ideas and old fears.

They turned back because they could not believe that anything greater than the Exodus experience could ever happen to the people of God.
They turned back because they could not believe in life that goes on forever. After all the first century was a difficult time. Life was hard, conditions were rough, mortality was high, hope was in short supply. This business of another life, a life eternal, a life everlasting was too mystical for them.
They turned back because they missed the real work of God.

And, here’s where we need to spend some time. Here’s what most of us have heard and believe:

God created and loves us, and God has a wonderful plan for our lives.
Sin has separated us from God.
God sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the dead to bring us salvation.
Trusting in Jesus is the way to gain eternal life.

Basically, what I have just outlined for you is “The Four Spiritual Laws” or the plan of salvation, as it was called years ago. And, that’s what we believe. That’s what I believed when as a 6-year old Primary boy I gave my life to Jesus. That’s probably what you believed, too, when you accepted Christ and became a Christian.

And, there’s nothing wrong with that. But there is a more complete way to look at what God is doing, and why we have or need eternal life.

First, eternal life isn’t an after-thought, as in, “Oh, now I’m saved, and so I guess part of the deal is I get eternal life.” Eternal life is the main thought.

The only problem with the Four Spiritual Laws approach is its like looking through a microscope at a tiny part of the universe. You can see that part really well, but you really should be looking through a telescope to get the big picture. Here’s the telescope view of what God is doing and why we need and want life everlasting:

God did create us, but God also created the world, the universe, the Garden of Eden, all the plants, animals, the earth, the sky, the oceans, the fish, the air, all living things, and us — human beings. So, we are part of and one of God’s creations.
Everything is going along just fine in this new world that God has created. So well, that God sees everything God has made and says after each and every creative act — “That’s good.”
And when God creates humankind, Adam and Eve, we are the high point, the culmination of creation. We are uniquely made in the image of God, and God breathes into us the breath of life. The word for breath and spirit in Hebrew are the same, so in essence God breathes the Holy Spirit into us this new creation we know as mankind. So far so good.
God places Adam and Eve in a lush, wonderful fully-stocked garden. They have to do a little caretaking, but basically all their needs are met, including companionship with God. Everyday, God meets them in the garden.
Until one day, Adam and Eve don’t show up to walk with God. God goes seeking for them, finds them hiding because they are ashamed at their nakedness. God knows what has happened, but God leads Adam to confess that he has sinned, he has disobeyed God. Adam confesses that he sought to be god himself, rather than obey God. Of course, Adam tries to lay the whole business off on Eve, but God is having none of it.
So, everything God has done is messed up. The Garden of Eden is now off-limits to Adam and Eve. They whole deal is thrown off track because of the sin of disobedience to God.
So, God sets about reconciling creation back to God. God calls people to help accomplish this task. God calls Noah to save enough of creation so God can begin again. God calls Abraham to be the father of a great nation. God calls Moses to lead God’s people out of bondage in Egypt. God calls David to be king of Israel, and on and on.
God also calls prophets so God’s voice is always heard, even when the people disobey.
Then God sends Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, Immanuel, God-with-us to reconcile creation.
Jesus lives, dies, God raises him from the dead, Jesus ascends back to heaven, and sends the Holy Spirit.
Jesus calls followers to help proclaim God’s new creation, the new people of God, the new Kingdom of God. Jesus teaches the disciples to pray “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
God is clearly reconciling creation back to God.
And then, God plans for all of creation to be back in fellowship with God — to be in God’s presence as Adam and Eve were in God’s presence in the Garden of Eden.
So, we get a glimpse of eternity in several passages of scripture, and one of the more interesting is in Revelation.

“So, what’s the difference in the Four Spiritual Laws, and this?” you ask.

Just this — the Four Spiritual Laws approach focuses the microscope on us — God loves us, our sin is the problem, God sent Jesus for us, God will save us. And that’s true.

But, a better perspective is the telescope view — Here’s what God is doing. God is creating, reconciling, and redeeming. God is at work on the whole of creation, not just us. God is putting everything to rights again.

Jesus says in the Book of Revelation, ” Behold I am making all things new.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Behold, I am making all new things.” No, Jesus is making all things — all of creation — new again. Just as it was in the Garden, just as God intended.

Our own personal salvation is a microscopic part of God’s greater plan to fix everything that went wrong. And we find ourselves being invited to get fixed, and get in on what God is doing for all of creation.

So, I’ve said all of that to say that eternal life doesn’t start when we die. Eternal life started when God created the world. We did not exist before our birth, but when we make our appearance on God’s stage, that is when eternal life begins.

The Life Everlasting Isn’t Just About Time

But, the life everlasting, eternal life, isn’t just about time. We tend to think that eternal life is just about life going on forever. But it’s more than that.

Eternal life is about life with God. In Revelation 21:22, John says, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” In other words, God is right in the middle of his people.

And, this is the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth. This is creation made again into what it is supposed to be. But this time, we’re not in a Garden, we’re in a city, a gigantic, three-dimensional city that sings!

And, in the words of the Isaac Watts’s Amazing Grace –

When we’ve been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days, to sing God’s praise,

Than when we’d first begun.

No, everlasting life isn’t about time, it’s about life with God. It is everlasting because God sustains it. It is everlasting because the giver is The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End. It is everlasting because His Kingdom shall know no end. It is everlasting because there is no place else to go, and nothing else to do. When you’re in the presence of God, there is no other place to be.

And so we sing with the saints who have gone before us –

Come and go with me to that land,

come and go with me to that land,

Come and go with me to that land where I’m bound.

No more crying in that land,

no more crying in that land,

no more crying in that land where I’m bound.

Come and go with me to that land,

come and go with me to that land,

Come and go with me to that land where I’m bound.

Christ The Only Saviour

lemarvin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:58:14 +0000

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

How Shall We Escape?

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?“Hebrews 2:3

The salvation which God freely offers to all mankind is not a thing to be trifled with. Our acceptance or rejection of His mercy has eternal ramifications. The words of Hebrews 2:3 propose to us a question of unspeakable weight and consequence. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?

It is a fatal mistake to make light of Christ and salvation. If the sinner could but once see himself as God sees him, if he could see his sin and misery, he would be brought to value a Saviour, just as a hungry man values food and a thirsty man values water. While sin is made light of, Christ and salvation will be made light of. When sin is perceived an intolerable burden, then the sinner must have Christ or die.

Do not suppose that eternity is distant in time. Many neglect salvation because they believe they have plenty of time. Most people intend to repent someday. “The sinner of today resolves to be a saint tomorrow.” This is as much true of older people as of youth. They are always purposing, but never following through. 2 Corinthians 6:2 addresses this issue. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “To-day is important because every day that is spent in indecision or in rejection of Christ strengthens in your heart the cord of rebellion that holds you away from Christ.”(Louis Albert Banks)

God has shown that he is unwilling that sinners perish. He takes no pleasure in their death. “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11 God is long-suffering and gives men a sufficient and fair opportunity to repent. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

God, in his dealings with men, makes them sensible of their helplessness and unworthiness before He appears in His mercy and love to them. He sets before them the strongest motives for turning to Him and waits upon them with great patience and long-suffering. At the same time, He declares that if they do not come to repentance in this life, they shall surely perish in the judgment of ungodly men. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Hebrews 9:27. The impenitent will be left wholly without excuse. They have been warned.

God is continually speaking to men in His word, in His providence, and by His Spirit. By His judgments He is warning them of their sins; by the disappointments and trials of life He is proclaiming the uncertainty and unsatisfying nature of all creature comforts; by the graves which are opening around them He is reminding them how short their time is; by the mercies which He scatters in their path He is encouraging them to look to Him for favour. Every sentence in the Bible is a voice from heaven to them.

By a written and preached Gospel He is constantly telling them of the design of their creation; that they were placed here to prepare for eternity; that His eye is constantly upon them; that He will presently call them to an awful account; that endless ages of happiness or misery depend on their present conduct; that they have ruined themselves by sin, and are under condemnation to eternal death; that His Son has descended from heaven to redeem them, and stands ready to receive them. He pleads with them with eloquence enough to melt a rock. He warns, He threatens, He remonstrates. Every chapter, every sermon, is the voice of God in their ears. His Spirit seconds all these calls and often fills them with anxious thought. In this manner He cries after them from day to day,—from year to year. But they make light of it. (Edward Griffin)

The Suffering Servant

Consider deeply what it cost the Son of God to procure your salvation. Isaiah 53 foretells the sacrifice and crucifixion of the coming Messiah:”He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

In this passage, Christ is portrayed as the Suffering Servant. His death on the Cross is the greatest example of undeserved suffering, ever. Christ suffered and died for you personally. He suffered physically and He suffered spiritually. By His death upon the Cross He suffered the punishment, and endured the wrath of God, due for all the sins of all our race.

He gathered up, as it were, into a heap, and bore on His own head all the sins and offenses that have ever been committed, or ever will be committed, in the world, from the beginning to the end of time, and then, of His own accord, took upon Himself the punishment due for them all, sustained and underwent the righteous anger and indignation of Almighty God which they had all collectively incurred; and in so doing restored to us (to all at least who are partakers of the benefits of His Sacrifice) that peace of mind which, so long as we were under God’s wrath, we never could have enjoyed. (Michael Ward Blagg)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

There is a height and depth, a breadth and length in God’s love that passes knowledge. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 His is the most extraordinary love. The death of His Son demonstrates to us the unfathomable nature of that love. God is intent on our salvation.

I will end this post with one last quote:

Salvation! What is it? It is a deliverance from sin in its guilt, power, and penal consequences. It is a deliverance from Satan, his authority, power, and dominion. It is a deliverance from the wrath of God, and the bestowment of his best and richest blessing. Salvation is a restoration to the image of God, the smile of God, and the presence of God—or, a restoration to holiness, happiness, and safety. Salvation is for man—for sinners—for sinners as sinners. No qualification is required, no conditions are made, for the gospel says to all, and to each one that it addresses, ” Come, and be saved. Come, and be saved.” Salvation is in Christ, and by Christ alone. It is God’s greatest blessing, and man’s highest privilege. To say that a man is saved, and saved by Christ Jesus, is to say that he is blessed indeed— blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Salvation is By Christ Alone. No one can save but Jesus, for he alone could make a satisfactory atonement for our sin—he alone could produce the righteousness necessary to justify our souls—he alone can exert the power needful to raise us from a death in sin, rescue us from Satan’s power, and conduct us safe to glory. No one has authority to save but Jesus. He is given to save. Given under heaven, among men, being intended for fallen man, not fallen angels. There is no other name or person, whereby we must be saved, but Jesus only. He saves such as we are. He saves freely, by grace and not by works. He saves eternally, not for a time, but for ever. Any one may be saved by Christ, but no one can be saved without Christ. His blood can cleanse any conscience. His righteousness can justify any person. His power will reach any case. If therefore any one is not saved, it is because he has not heard of Jesus, or hearing has refused to come to him for life. Rills from the Rock of Ages
By James Smith

Why would anyone want to make light of this wonderful salvation in Jesus Christ?

Top Photo courtesy of Delphine

The 1st Time Traveler: a gOd-clOck histOry Of the universe

gamesmoon — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:53:43 +0000

m00n plat00n

Copyright © 2009 Steve Games First serial rights released to WordPress. Photos, graphics, contents and characters may not be replicated for use outside SWordPress or commercial use in the open market or on other websites without express permission of the author. All rights reserved

The 1st Time Traveler: a gOd-clOck histOry Of the universe

History Of The Universe With A Local Emphasis On Earth

I’ve been doing a little research over the past few decades and came up with this timeline, for any interested in their cosmic heritage.

Using Earth-based nomenclature, I resort to the terms God, Big Bang and Evolution for simplification. I have my own names for them unburdened by cultural biases and more accurately attuned, but let’s not get complicated.

The Constant is my term for what would scientifically be referred to as the quantum foam from which all energy and matter differentiate and arise.

I use the term Time Traveling only as a means to convey the fact that God can, once omnipotent, be anywhere Thee wants to be.

To compare the scale of time for this story, units we can relate to such as seconds, minutes and hours will be used instead on such esoteric units as trillionths of a nanosecond. The whole story will be told in a 12-hour period, from Noon to Midnight.

Here, then, is a brief History Of The Universe.

Noon: 12:00:00

The collapse of a previous universe* (see 11:59:58) reduces space to a superheated pinpoint.