God's Tug

Faith and Comfort  March 23, 2011

For we walk by faith, not by sight. II Cor. 5:7 NIV

⁸ For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

I Thessalonians 3:8 NIV ©2011

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 NIV, ©2011

Ok, remember how upset I was yesterday about losing the gold cross and chain my mother gave me? I was emailing a friend today and was about to write something to her when I realized the lesson in losing the chain. No, not that I’m a dumb ox. ;~D I can accept its loss because it’s just a physical representation of my faith. And, if that is as strong as my faith is, then it’s not very strong. God/Jesus is much stronger than that. My faith in my God comes not from a beautiful gold cross that my mother gave me, but deep inside me – from my heart and spirit. I especially love the last few verses of Romans 8, since Paul suffered so much in his life and still, his faith in Jesus was so strong, he never gave up. Am I going through a difficult time in my life right now? Yes, but so are many others. Look at the people who have been devastated by earthquakes and tsunamis. Am I going to lie down moaning about my problems? No, because I have faith God will take care of me. I’m doing all I can to solve what’s going on in my life with the help of medical professionals, by looking for work, praying, reading my Bible and doing this blog, which keeps me in positive thinking.  Hear this satan! I’m clinging to the foot of the Cross and it doesn’t have to be one that’s around my neck for me to have faith I in Jesus. So just scram! Yes, I’m kicking that bum to the curb! So, for today and every day I wake up, I will put on God’s whole armor. Not to self: see Ephesians 6:10-18, especially verse 11 – “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (KJV)  

Michelle Rose

Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T. Carnell,  McAlester, OK

“Creating a Fail-Safe System”  

”As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house.  It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night.  Just then, a woman met him— she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him.  Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town.  She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said, "I've got all the makings for a feast—today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid…”

– Proverbs 7:6-14(MSG)

A man phoned his wife from the office and said that he and some of his office buddies were going on a weekend fishing trip.  The truth was that he was having an affair with his secretary and used this as an excuse.  "Be sure to pack my new pajamas," he told his wife.

When he returned on Sunday night he complained to her, "Why didn't you pack my new pajamas like I asked you to?" 

"I did!" his wife said with a glare.  "I put them in your tackle box!"  Oops!

Have you ever been set up to fail?  That no matter how hard you tried to complete a task given to you there was no possible way for you to succeed—that failure was inevitable. 

That is the way I feel about this passage.  Everything was in place—the traps were set—she fixed her hair, put on her best perfume, dressed as seductively as possible.  All that was needed for her to succeed was for a willing participant to take the bait. 

But look at the very last line: "I've got all the makings for a feast—today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid…”  It is here that I find where this seduction carries its greatest weight. Ignore all the outward appearance—the sights and smells—it is in the fact that she gives this encounter a holy anointing, and once he accepts that premise there is no way he will be able to withstand her advances. 

As we read Scripture we find that deception has continued to plague mankind from the beginning. Scripture reveals that deception always works in harmony with man’s desire for what they want or what they think they need!  This is perhaps Satan’s greatest achievement, turning wants into needs! 

Jesus, when responding to the disciples question about His Second Coming and the End of the Age, warned them repeatedly about deception. He indicated that deception would be a serious problem in the last days and that many people would fall. So great would be the deception that He warned us about it ahead of time. Lets see what Jesus says.

For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. … and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. (Matthew 24:5, 11).

For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time (Matthew 24:24-25).

What fascinates me about these statements, or perhaps better said discourages me, is not why people are deceived…but how!  How can people not see, hear, smell the deceptions coming from these false prophets?  The answer is simple—their leader knows how to set us up!  He knows what buttons to push—words to say—visuals to put before us—emotions to tap into.  He knows that we can easily be set up to fail.

The remedy?  Do not let Christ out of your sight!  Keep Him as near as possible.  If you need a fail-safe system there is only One that has been proven to pass every test He has taken. 

Good Things

by      Everett Christian,  McAlester, OK    

 
GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
 
(The Lord said) 4 "I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
      until your hair is white with age.
   I made you, and I will care for you.
      I will carry you along and save you."
- Isaiah 46:4(New Living Translation).
 
 
 
GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
 
(Jesus said) 14 "You are my friends if you do what I command."
- John 15:14(New Living Translation).
 
 
 
A QUOTE
 
Acquire enough wisdom to be humble.
- Charlie Hedges -
 
 
 
THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
 
Good, better, best - never let it rest until the good is better and the better best.
- From Reminesce Magazine -
 
I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice.
- Age 24 -
 
Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of our life.
- From Reminisce Magazine -
 
 
 
NOTES
 
Today has been cloudy to partly cloudy. High temperature was 78 degrees. Low temperature this morning was 63 degrees. I had lunch with Bill. I went to the post office. Then I went by Charley's house to feed his beautiful blue eyed Siamese cat and pick up his newspapers. His cat was friendly to me. I took a nap in early afternoon. Emmy was on the bed with me. Later I went to Country Mart store for a few needed items. I sat out in the back yard with the cats for a little while around 5:30 p.m.
The picture tonight is Smokey.
 
The cats are fine. Little Girl in her usual place but Rascal has gone back outside. The others are all accounted for.
 
At 9:40 p.m. skies are fair with a temperature of 74 degrees. I will see you next time.
 
In Christian Love, Everett.

God's Tug

More important than gold   March 22, 2011

 ¹⁰ Choose my instruction rather than silver and knowledge rather than pure gold.       Proverbs 8:10 (New Living Translation)

Well, I opened my big mouth the other day about God’s love being more important

than material possessions and today I lost the gold cross that my mother gave me. To say that I was upset was putting it mildly. It’s not the fact that I lost it, per se, but the fact that people are not honest enough to return something they’ve found that’s obviously someone else’s. But, after searching for the cross, I couldn’t find it. Then, I let out a few very un-Christian-like words (God forgive me) and left a message with the secretary in radiology about it. I’ll call her tomorrow to see if she is allowed to get in touch with the patients who were in the x-ray room after I was. If not, I’ll just accept the loss of my gold cross. Ok, so maybe God wasn’t doing this to teach me a lesson, but it was because of my own carelessness – or the fact that with this condition I’ve had for the last 6 months, my mind isn’t working like it usually is. All I know is that my neck feels a bit “naked,” without my cross that’s been on it for many years, but my God, my Saviour Jesus still loves me the same. I searched for just the right verse for tonight’s God’s Tug and the verse from Proverbs appeared to be it. One good thing from being at the medical center for several hours is that I will be getting a referral for a neurologist for a second opinion.

Blessings,

Michelle Rose  

Daily Jewel

by  Pastor  J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK  

“When a Kiss is not a Kiss”  

“She took hold of him and kissed him…” – Proverbs 7:13

 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. – Matthew 26:47-49

'Twas not my lips you kissed but my soul ~Judy Garland

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”  ~Albert Einstein

Do you remember your first kiss?  Not the peck on the cheek that you received from parent, an aunt or uncle or grandparent, or even that quick little “stolen” kiss in first grade.  I am talking about the kind of kiss that left your whole body tingling and left you wondering what just happened to you.  That kind of kiss is what makes life worth the living.  I well remember my first real kiss…actually it is best that we not go there.

Like so many other words in our vocabulary the word kiss can be used to denote a number of things.  There is the “kiss of death,” indicating something is about to come to a tragic end.  We say, “kiss it goodbye,” denoting something is about to come to a conclusion.  There is the “kiss of peace,” used by the church for centuries to circulate among the faithful a sense of communion.  And then there is the greeting kiss. 

The “Greeting” kiss is a ritual or social gesture to indicate friendship, perform a greeting, (the equivalent of a hand-shake) to confer congratulations, to comfort someone, to show respect, or to indicate romantic interest.

This greeting is very common in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Latin America.  It is not as common in English-speaking Canada and the United States, Asia and Northern Europe. 

In a greeting kiss, both persons lean forward and either lightly touch cheek with cheek or lip with cheek. Generally the gesture is repeated with the other cheek, or more, alternating cheeks. Depending on country and situation, the number of kisses is usually one, two, three or four. Hand-shaking or hugging may also take place.

When Judas approached Jesus, by applying what was common to his culture (the greeting kiss) he intended to greet the Lord as a friend.  A gesture to show everyone there Jesus was his friend. That may have been his intention but his heart and loyalty had been far removed.  His greeting resulted in nothing more than a ceremony—a passionless action.

It makes me wonder if many approach their relationship with Jesus in the same fashion.  They consider themselves to be a friend of the Lord—all of the appearances are there.  But if ones heart is not into it then all their actions, words, and even worship constitutes nothing more than just action and does nothing to glorify God.  Jesus said the same to the Pharisees:

 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” – Matthew 15:8, 9

Of the quotes I mentioned above I really like the one from Albert Einstein and he is absolutely right.  Given the proper context our relationship with Jesus deserves our full and complete attention—that our heart not be divided.  If our heart is not into the relationship then our words, actions and worship is meaningless.   

Solomon was saying—don’t let the appearances deceive you.  The woman’s kiss was nothing more than a gesture, a heartless and self-serving greeting.  Do not let your relationship with Christ become the same.