"Only One Life" (With Thankfulness Scriptures) - Inspirational Weekend

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16

The above verse is what we should be most thankful about, not only at Thanksgiving, but every day of the year.   Jesus died and suffered a cruel death so that we might gain eternal life, if we but put our faith, trust, and hope in Him.....believe He is the Savior and that He took our place at Calvary to pay our sin debt in full.   Just Believe.      This does not mean mere head knowledge, or only an intellectual belief.  You must  believe with all of your heart, soul, mind, and every fiber of your being that He is the Savior, the only way to God the Father, the only way to heaven.  

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."   -  John 14:6

One must put Jesus FIRST in their life, above anything and above anyone.   If you truly are saved, you will have such love for the good Lord and such gratitude for all He has done for you, that you will be totally surrendered to Him and to His will, not your will.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful."  -  Colossians 3:16

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."             -            1 Thessalonians 5:18

"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever."  -  1 Chronicles 16:34

There are many other verses in the Bible that remind us of how thankful and grateful we should be to the good Lord for all of His grace and tender mercies.  We should make it our aim to draw ever closer to Him and to fellowship with Him often.  You cannot have a close relationship with anyone unless you communicate with them regularly.  Pray often and read your Bible daily.  That is the only way to develop a close, personal, intimate, ongoing love relationship with God through His Son Jesus.

Some time ago on this blog I posted a portion of a famous poem by C.T. Studd and provided a link to where readers could view the entire poem.   Now here is the entire poem below.  It is titled, "Only One Life, 'Twill Soon Be Past."

Two little lines I heard one day, traveling along life's busy way;

Bringing conviction to my heart, and from my mind would not depart;

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, soon will its fleeting hours be done;

Then, in "that day" my Lord to meet, and stand before His Judgment seat;

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice,

Bidding me selfish aims to leave, and to God's holy will to cleave;

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its clay I must fulfill,

Living for self or in His will;

Only one life, 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,  when satan would a victory score;  when self would seek to have its way,

Then help me Lord with joy to say; 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, in joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;

Faithful and true what e'er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;

Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, and from the world now let me turn, living for Thee, and Thee alone, bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne,

Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, 

"Thy will be done. And when at last I'll hear the call, I know I'll say "'twas worth it all."  

Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Extra Stanza:

Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

And when I am dying how happy I'll be, if the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

Only one life, It will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."    -  Matthew 6:33

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  -  Philippians 1:21

"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth  the will of God abideth forever."  -  1 John 2:17

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend - and life !!

"Life Can Only Be Understood Backwards" (With Charles Spurgeon Sermon) - Inspirational Weekend

My photograph above could simply symbolize a beautiful day at the beach.  It could also mean a walk with Jesus, if you remember the poem "Footprints In The Sand" which was made popular many years ago.  The most touching verse of that poem was Jesus saying, "When you saw only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that I carried you."

This article will be about how, with Jesus' help, we can lead a victorious life.  First, we must be born again.  We must have been truly converted and have put our faith and hope in Christ as the Savior and to believe with all of our heart that His death at Calvary....His shed blood there.... can wash our sins away if we have true faith in Him and believe in His resurrection.

One must also sincerely repent of his sins and not continue to live a sinful life.  One needs to pray for forgiveness and surrender his life to Jesus.

Romans 10:9,10, 13 tells us:  "(9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (13)  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Salvation is not a big list of do's and don'ts or works to be performed.  Salvation is by faith.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast."  -  Ephesians 2:8-9

What originally inspired me to write today was a quote I ran across by a Danish poet, theologian, and religious author that lived from 1813 to 1855.  His name was Soren Kierkegaard and he is quoted as saying,  "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

How true !  I have quite a few years on me now (I am a great grandmother!)  I can look back on many years ago, before I was born again, and see how emotional I was:  quick to anger, self-centered, self-willed, and not really understanding what life was all about.  So I regret the person I was during those past years, but now that the Lord has touched my heart and taught me to live for His will, I can understand more now what life is all about (it is all about Him).  I do not live in the past, but I have learned from past mistakes.   I am now free to  "live life forwards", as Kierkegaard said. 

Back to modern times, Philip Yancey has said something that is great food for thought:  "I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse."

"The heart of the Christian faith is found at the intersection of our brokenness and God's goodness, mercy, and love."  - Tripp Prince

Faith.  

The Christian who has a victorious life is one that is rooted and grounded in faith.  You can live victoriously !  You can triumph over this wicked world!    If you live for Jesus, you have no need to fear anything.  

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."   -  Jesus at John 14:27

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God."  -  1 John 5:4-5

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."                   -   Romans 8:37

So how do we live victoriously?  How do we gain faith?

Read your Bible daily; it is God's love letter to us; His instruction manual for us to follow.  When you pour over God's Holy Word, it is like God speaking to you.   The Word has life and power!  It can draw you to God, and you begin to learn about His attributes and your love and appreciation for Jesus will grow.   Your faith will also grow.

Pray more than once a day.   Pray with importunity and with a heart totally focused on the good Lord.  You cannot come to know anyone intimately unless you communicate with them.   Tell God all of your fears, all of your worries, and ask Him for guidance in daily living.   Talk to Him as if you were talking to a beloved Father,  for that He is.   The more you pray, the more your faith will grow.  Especially as you see your prayers being answered.

But remember, in your prayers and in your Bible reading you must take time to listen to what the Lord says.   Pause and be silent and see if you do not "hear" His still, small voice whisper words of encouragement and love to your heart.   It is the Holy Spirit working to guide you and encourage you when you most need it.  He may send you a reminder of a certain Scripture which will manifest itself when you are in prayer.

Following is a short 4 minute audio video by J.R. Miller concerning the secret to victorious living.

And following is a 45 minute video sermon by Charles Spurgeon on "The Victory of Faith".   I pray that you will take the time to listen to the full, inspiring sermon.

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend...... and life !

"Forget The Past" - Inspirational Weekend

The above driftwood reminds me of some people (and the way I used to be).   People can be carried along by the waves of the world ... sin and emptiness and purposelessness.   And before they realize it they end up stranded on the beach of ruin, burnt by life and parched and thirsty for meaning.  They are stranded with their baggage with no where to go, no where to turn.   One of the worst kinds of baggage is to be living in the past, and unable to forget the past hurts and disappointments and unfair treatment by others.  

Chances are, if you replay over and over in your mind past hurts, that you have not forgiven others of their sins against you.  This is serious because Matthew 6:15 says, "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  I recently made a blog post on forgiveness here .  You need to truly forgive those who have hurt you, slandered you, lied about you, or damaged you in any way.  Put them in the hands of God.   Then God will be able to heal you by His Holy Spirit and take the hurt and pain from your mind and soul.   Once you take everything to God in prayer, and surrender your hurts to His capable hands, a peace will come over you that only He can give.    

"Hurting people hurt people."  -  Unknown

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, "  - Philippians 3:13

In the above Scripture, the apostle Paul stressed "one thing I do", as if he gave that top priority...to forget the past - leaving it behind him as done and settled.  Paul kept his mind on "those things which are before"......his ministry and the future hope of eternity with Christ in heaven.  He wished to obtain "the prize", the crown of victory in heaven after he ran his race here on the earth.  When we look forward, as Paul did, we see everything to cheer us and spur us on to good works, as well as the joys of heaven and being with Jesus.   When we look backwards, we see everything to dishearten us and bring us down, especially if we dwell on past sins and hurts.   One who constantly dwells on the past, though he may be a true Christian, is often a recluse and he will be melancholy and depressed.  On the other hand, looking to the past he may consider all he has done and the difficulties he has surmounted and perhaps will become self-complacent and self-satisfied.  He will trust his past victories over difficulties and hurts, and become proud.   

"God has nothing to say to the self-righteous."  D. L. Moody

Granted, sometimes it is good to look back and learn from our mistakes in the past.  The past can teach us valuable lessons at times.   God can use past experiences - even the really bad ones - to transform us and mold us to become the kind of person He wants us to be. We grow and mature as we face trials and heartaches and learn to take it all to the Lord in prayer.   But generally speaking, it is better to let go of your past and live in the present, but with the future in view.

Luke 9:62 says, "And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

To put one's hand to a plow is a proverbial expression to signify undertaking any business.   In order to complete his work, the plowman must look onward and be intent on what he is doing, and not to be looking back with regret that he even began to plow in the first place.   So it is with a follower of Jesus Christ.....we must follow Him with our whole heart and not be influenced by the world and its sinful lusts.   And not to have a morbid fixation on what happened to us in the past.  You can make yourself ill with depression dwelling on unpleasant things.   Morbid things and thoughts are from the devil trying to tear you down and make you ineffectual as a Christian.   We do not want to be unfit for the kingdom of God.   One way to combat these negative thought patterns is to be constantly in prayer and in the Word of God.   If you truly know Jesus in your heart, and have a close, personal, and intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will keep your mind on spiritual things and be a lot happier.  

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new."

Note that the above verse says, "old things are past away.....all things are become new".   If you are a true believer, you are a new creation.   Forget the hurt and badness of the past.   You have a new and renewed mind (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23) and need to be thinking about the present and what God's will for you might be; as well as the wonderful hope in the future of being with Jesus in heaven.   I am reminded of Philippians 4:8 which follows:

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;  If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Think about good things, which will be all the more easier when you are often in prayer and often in the Word of God.   

We are living in the last days; the Rapture of the Church  (true believers) could happen at any time.  We need to be busy in the Lord's work until then.   That means to share the Gospel with lost souls.  All Christians are ministers in that sense.

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."   -   Jesus at Matthew 28:19-20   (KJV)


Romans 12:1-2 informs us: (1) "I beseech you therefore, brethren,  by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."    - Jesus at Matthew 6:33



Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend..... and life !