A Time of Trouble.

The prophet Habakkuk was given visions of Jerusalem falling by the Babylonians and also the great day of God when he returns to save his people. 

Of the last days of Jerusalem and also the earth, Habakkuk says,

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; 
even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; 
even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

Is it possible to rejoice in the midst of famine? Can you rejoice when there is no food for humans or animals? Yes, because we can rejoice in knowing who the Lord is and be joyful we will be saved in his kingdom.

How can we do this in a time of great trouble?  The next verse explains how.

"The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights."    Habakkuk 3:17-19

God gives us the strength. He will make our way as sure as a deer's way in the forest. Sure-footed means: not likely to stumble, slip or fall. Have you ever seen a deer running through the forest? I have, and it amazes me how they leap through the dense underbrush of brush and fallen trees and yet do not fall. They don't look down while they run - they look ahead to where they are going. This is a good analogy for us. Don't look down - look up to Jesus and you won't fall.

This time of trouble will take place just before Jesus returns.

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book."
 Daniel 12:1

Fly Away From Here.

There are a lot of songs and poems written with words describing a burning heart; but I never actually feel it physically until tonight.

I was listening to a song by Sarah McLachlan. It is called, "In the Arms of An Angel."

I was half-way through the song when I started to think about my grandson who died 4 years ago. I realized the words fit him and his life perfectly; and also his death.

As I listened to the end of the song I felt my heart burning within my chest.

After a few seconds of this, I said to God, "Lord, take this burden from my heart. It is too much for me. Take this burden of Craig's death." Immediately, the burning left. I was crying, but the grief abated.

I remembered the verse that says, "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."  Psalm 55:22

I've noticed lately that when I say, "God, take this burden," he takes it. He is stronger than I am and he can carry what I cannot.

I looked up the song online and found that Sarah McLachlan had written it about Jonathan Melvoin, the keyboard artist with the Smashing Pumpkins. He had died of an overdose. Craig died from drinking too much and sleeping with his face down on a plush sofa. He suffocated.

No wonder the song moved me. There is deep pain and yet comfort from God in the lyrics. There is one other thing. The day Craig died, when I went to the house where he lay and the police wouldn't let us in, I saw in my mind's eye that an angel was standing beside him as he died. He wasn't alone; God was with him and took him from a life of pain to a life forever with Himself.



Here are the lyrics to, "In the Arms of An Angel."

Sarah Mclachlan – Angel Lyrics

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance,
For a break that would make it okay.

There's always some reason
To feel not good enough,
And it's hard, at the end of the day.

I need some distraction,
Oh, beautiful release.
Memories seep from my veins.

And maybe empty,
Oh, and weightless, and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight.

In the arms of the angel,
Fly away from here,
From this dark, cold hotel room,
And the endlessness that you fear.
You are pulled from the wreckage,
Of your silent reverie.
You're in the arms of the angel,
May you find some comfort here.

So tired of the straight line,
And everywhere you turn,
There's vultures and thieves at your back.

The storm keeps on twisting.
Keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack.

It don't make no difference,
Escape one last time.
It's easier to believe in this sweet madness,
Oh, this glorious sadness,
That brings me to my knees.

In the arms of the angel,
Fly away from here,
From this dark, cold hotel room,
And the endlessness that you fear.
You are pulled from the wreckage,
Of your silent reverie.
You're in the arms of the angel,
May you find some comfort here.

You're in the arms of the angel,
May you find some comfort here.

Songwriters: CUNNIFF, JILL/GLASER, GABRIELLE/SCHELLENBACH, KATHERINE A

Angel lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

CAT STEVENS - "Morning Has Broken"

Fake Christianity.

God said this about Israel, who were the believers in Isaiah's day.

"Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God.

They ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?'

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. 

Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? 

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

And is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"
Isaiah 58:2-7

God hates it when people who say they are believers in Him act wickedly.

"Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly."

 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 
So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. 
Your hands are covered with blood." 

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. 

Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. 

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Isaiah 1:13-18

"I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen."

 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Amos 5:21-24

Many Christians misrepresent God.

It is sad that so many Christians misrepresent God, especially prominent Christians who are on the news, radio and television. These are the Christians the world looks at and then what do they think of God?

God hates they way these people act as much as the world does. 

Jesus said, " On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"  Matthew 7:22

God With Us.

I know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are with me always but this video makes this come alive. It is very moving.





"For I hold you by your right hand--I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you."  Isaiah 41:13

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  Deuteronomy 31:8

"And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Today is the Day.

Photo by:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AntanO

The Apostle Paul writes:

"God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

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

For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation."

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 & 6:2

Today is the day of salvation.

Today, while you hear God's voice, come to him. You will never regret it. I've been a Christian from age 19-64 and I can tell you coming to God is the best thing you will ever do in your life. It is an interesting and fantastic journey, one you can't imagine until you have begun it.

The Birds of the Air.

So Jesus was saying, "What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”  Luke 13:18,19

In the spring I watch the birds from my balcony. They wing their way back and forth from the large tree a few feet away from my apartment building. They bring food back to their nests and I can hear the little ones chirping.

In the winter, every evening, dozens of birds fly back home into the same tree. They chatter away for awhile before going to sleep. I don't know why, but this always makes me smile. I guess because I know it is wonderful to have a home to sleep in. 

Jesus said, "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"  Matthew 6:26

I have read hundreds of stories of how God has provided food for those who have none. If we are homeless, penniless with no food, I know God will take care of us if we ask Him. 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."  Matthew 10:29-31

When you see a bird, remember God loves them and is with them. Then think of how much God must love you - a child of his in a broken world. He loves you - I know it because he loves me and I am a mess! lol  

Speaking to the Dead.

Written by Dwight L. Moody (abridged)

I want to say right here, that I think in this day a great many children of God are turning aside and committing a grievous sin. I don’t know as they think it is a sin, but if we examine the Scriptures, I am sure we will find that it is a great sin.

We are told that the Comforter is sent into the world to “guide us into all truth,” and if He is sent for that purpose, do we need any other guide? Need we hide in the darkness, consulting with mediums, who profess to call up the spirits of the dead?

Do you know what the Word of God pronounces against that fearful sin? I believe it is one of the greatest sins we have to contend with at the present day. It is dishonoring to the Holy Spirit for me to go and summon up the dead and confer with them, even if it were possible.

I would like you to notice the 10th chapter of 1st Chronicles, and 13th verse: “So Saul died for his transgression which he had committed against the Lord, even against the Word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.” God slew him for this very sin.

Of the two sins that are brought against Saul here, one is that he would not listen to the Word of God, and the second is that he consulted a familiar spirit. He was snared by this great evil, and sinned against God. Saul fell right here, and there are a great many of God’s professed children to-day who think there is no harm in consulting a medium who pretends to call up some of the departed to inquire of them. But how dishonoring it is to God who has sent the Holy Spirit into this world to guide us “into all truth.”

There is not a thing that I need to know, there is not a thing that is important for me to know; there is not a thing that I ought to know but the Spirit of God will reveal it to me through the Word of God, and if I turn my back upon the Holy Spirit, I am dishonoring the Spirit of God, and I am committing a grievous sin.

You know we read in Luke, where that rich man in the other world wanted to have some one sent to his father’s house to warn his five brothers, Christ said They have Moses and the prophets, and if they will not hear them, they will not hear one though he rose from the dead. Moses and the prophets, the part of the Bible then completed, that is enough.

But a great many people now want something besides the Word of God, and are turning aside to these false lights There is another passage which reads, “And when they shall say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter: Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?” What is that but table-rapping, and cabinet-hiding? If it was a message from God, do you think you would have to go into a dark room and put out all the lights? In secret my Master taught nothing. God is not in that movement, and what we want, as children of God, is to keep ourselves from this evil.  And then notice, the verse following, quoted so often out of its connection. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

 It is folly for a man or woman to think that they can get through this evil world without the light of God’s Word and the guidance of the Divine Spirit. God sent Him to guide us through this great journey, and if we seek to work independent of Him, we shall stumble into the deep darkness of eternity’s night. But bear in mind the Words of the Spirit of God; if you want to be guided, you must study the Word; because the Word is the light of the Spirit. 

In the 14th chapter of John and 26th verse, we read: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Again in John xvi, 13: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.

The Holy Spirit in Us.

Photograph: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freska_u_kaloti_krstionice,_manastir_%C5%BDi%C4%8Da,_Srbija.jpg

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Romans 8:26-27

I love this verse because sometimes if I am feeling overwhelmed I remember it and ask the Holy Spirit to complete my prayers. 

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" 

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:35,38,39

I remember when my husband was very ill in the hospital. He had forgotten who he was, where he was and who I was. He had forgotten everything and everyone. But he said as he was laying there thinking he did remember Jesus and God. He felt peace of mind because he knew God was with him. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Love Fulfills the Law.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22,23

Excerpt from the book, "Secret Power," by Dwight L. Moody

The fruit of the Spirit, as you find it in Galatians, begins with love.

There are nine graces spoken of in the sixth chapter, and of the nine different graces Paul puts love at the head of the list; love is the first thing—the first in that precious cluster of fruit. Some one has put it in this way: that all the other eight can be put in the word love.

Joy is love exulting; peace is love in repose; long suffering is love on trial;
gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action;
faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love at school; and temperance is love in training.

So it is love all the way; love at the top; love at the bottom, and all the way along down these graces; and if we only just brought forth the fruit of the Spirit, what a world we would have; there would be no need of any policemen; a man could leave his overcoat around without some one stealing it; men would not have any desire to do evil.

Says Paul, “Against such there is no law;” you don’t need any law. A man who is full of the Spirit don’t need to be put under law; don’t need any policemen to watch him. We could dismiss all our policemen; the lawyers would have to give up practicing law, and the courts would not have any business.

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:30,31

Thirsty for An Answer.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, BUY and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live...

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown,

for an everlasting sign,

that will endure forever.”  Isaiah 55