Forgive Others

 

Patsy York 

For if you forgive men their trespasses,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But, if you do not forgive men their trespasses,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)

Words of Jesus.

These verses appear at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. In that prayer Jesus, modeled for his disciples, asks God to “… forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Some translations say “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The message Jesus gives us here is the importance of forgiving. One synonym for forgive is excuse; another one is over look. In finances, when a bill is forgiven it is canceled.^1.

When God forgives one of His children of a sin, He never thinks of that issue again. I believe it would be very nice if people could emulate Him and forget the error when someone in their life messes up and they express their sorrow.

 When God forgives one of His children of a sin, He never thinks of that issue again. I believe it would be very nice if people could emulate Him and forget the error when someone in their life messes up and they express their sorrow.

The graphic at the top of this post graced one of the tables at our church's Easter breakfast.  I took pictures of several of them to use here on my blog.

1. New World Dictionary Webster’s

He Has Risen!

 

Jeff Jacobs

something 

I usually don't post on Sundays. However, I felt the need to share something with all of you!

God has been good to us and I want to thank Him for all He has done for our family. 

Blessed Easter to all!

Witnessing God’s Love

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For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Psalm 86:5 (ESV)

A Prayer of David

David’s prayer speaks of God’s goodness and His capacity to forgive His children when they transgress His Word and His direction.

When God hears us pray to Him, recognizing that we have sinned, He forgives us and chooses to forget. When God forgets those sins, He never brings them up to His children ever again.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving-David has received God’s forgiveness and truly believes that God has been good to him and has forgiven David for his sin.

abounding in steadfast love- David has witnessed God’s love many times over.

Likewise, God forgives us our sins, even those that we have forgotten. His love for us is as strong for us today as it was when we asked Him into our hearts.

Father God: We thank You for your undying, wonderful, love for each of us. We thank You for our salvation, so rich and free. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. AMEN

God’s Love, Poured Out

 

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Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

Words of Paul written to the believers in Rome.

Paul has just told the Roman believers that hope is the by-product of character. We receive this thing called hope because God envelops us with His love. This out-pouring of His love comes to His people during difficult times. Paul calls these times tribulation.

Today, we have tribulation going on everywhere we look. Senseless killings, unexplained accidents, earthquake upon earthquake, we might wonder why these things are becoming so prevalent.

Mark 13:8 tells us “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles These are the beginnings of sorrows.” (NKJV)

One would wonder “Where is our hope?” Our hope is in the LORD. We know certain events are out of our control, and yet, we know in our hearts that God is in control and loves us through his Holy Spirit.

We Became His

 

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When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was a time of love; so I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God.    Ezekiel 16:8 (NKJV)

God speaks to Jerusalem about His love for the city.

God speaks of covering Jerusalem’s nakedness. The city had nothing to cause God to be attracted to it. However, during the eras of David and Solomon, God made this city one of beauty. Every one knew of it.

God chose to make a covenant with the city, in doing this, the city of Jerusalem became His.

As I initially typed this post, the thought came to me that when we ask Jesus into our hearts, do we not make a covenant with Him that we belong to Him and that He is in control of our lives?

Do we understand what surrendering our hearts to Jesus truly means? God loves us and wants us to follow Him in ALL we do.

Someone was delivering an appliance to our home. He insulted me. Then, as he walked past me he took the Lord’s Name in vain. My response was, “He’s listening.” That man and his partner chose not to complete the tasks they were to do. I had to call the company where we purchased the product and register a complaint. I did not like to have to do this but Hubby felt it needed to be done. As I see it the delivery men did not honor a contract between us and the appliance store. Only God knows for sure.

Rest in the LORD

 

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Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

                                                        Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)

A Psalm of David

David advises his readers to rest in the LORD. What does this mean to those of us reading this in 2023 A. D.? Can we do this, given our society’s ways of living?

I believe we can. However, I know we have to try in order to achieve rest in Him. People may have to give up certain practices and attitudes in order to be able to fully rest in the LORD.

Sometimes, we run ahead of the Lord. In order to rest in Him we must learn to wait patiently for Him. In order to do this we must commit (give) ourselves to Him and to follow Him and His instructions as best we can.

David also tells us, Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. We are not to envy anyone who seems to get ahead in this world. We may be happy for them but we are not to wish any thing bad on them.

I recently read that we must not fret about what we don’t have but give thanks for the things God has provided for us. I, personally, find this helps me as I sometimes deal with depression.

HE IS WITH US (and Blog Break)

 

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Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.” Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14 (NRSV)

Do we understand the significance of the angel’s message? This message refers to a prophecy of Isaiah some 4oo years earlier. God is with us!

Even today, we see evidence of God’s presence in our world. The end of November 2017, I received a prayer request from my best friend. Her husband’s nephew had called and asked her to pray for his new-born granddaughter. The baby was born with three heart abnormalities.

The medical team waited for almost a week before performing surgery. In the meantime, several of us were praying. I requested prayer from one of my social media friends and from an online social media prayer group. This family needed to see God’s working in this circumstance. On the day I prepared this. My friend texted me a picture of the baby being held by her 3-year-old sister. She seems to have no tubes for breathing or feeding or heart monitor leads. We believed that this baby will go home very soon. God was with them throughout this past year.

UPDATE: In the fall of 2022, my friend and her husband along with their younger daughter journeyed out west and visited this nephew and his family. The little girl told my friend’s husband that she has a zipper on her chest. He told her that he has a zipper as well. The child is doing very well.

In the early part of our nation, there were people who believed that God created the world and chose to stand back and see what we would do. However, this is not the way the modern theologians teach. Those of us who have witnessed His workings know that God chooses to stand beside us in the good times and in the not-so-good times and guides us through those less than good times.

As we continue in our walk with God, let us learn to seek God in our lives and let Him lead us through the difficult times of our lives.

May this thought continue as we approach the upcoming New Year.

I am going to take a blog break until Tuesday, January 3, 2023. There are some things I need to get done here at home and also finish a bit of Christmas shopping,

SHINE

 

jesus.net

This is an updated version of a post from a previous year.

It is God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NRSV)

We have often heard we are to show Jesus to those we meet. Also, we hear we are the only Bible some people read. What can we do when we try to incorporate these thoughts into our personas?

At my Tuesday morning prayer group, I shared a reading entitled “Shine”, from an Advent devotional book Pauses for Advent Words of Wonder by Trevor Howard. Our Sunday school class is studying it.

A dear friend of mine responded that she always tries to smile when she meets people in the stores and in passing. I discovered I am also trying to smile more than I have in the past.

I believe there is something else that would help us shine for Jesus. We can try to speak in well-modulated tones of voice when we answer someone else. (Here again, I point three fingers back at myself.)

One habit I have developed is to tell everyone who waits on me or helps me by holding a door open for me to be blessed. Just today, I told a Salvation Army bell ringer to be blessed after I heard him wish a Merry Christmas to everyone who came by his station, whether they donated to the kettle or not. That touched my heart.

One way we can do this is to think before we speak or act. Even taking a deep breath before we begin to speak might give us time to think about how we want to respond to what we hear and time to send up a sentence prayer to God to guide us in what He wants us to say and how He wants us to say it.

Lord God: Thank You for Your guidance and instruction as we learn Your ways to shine for You in this fallen world. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen

A Gift of God’s Grace

 

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, and godly lives in this present age.

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

When we turn over our hearts and lives to Jesus, He gives us His Father’s grace to guide us through our lives. We receive salvation and so much more.

We receive the strength to stand against the worldly ungodliness that, from time to time, we have to face. Yes, as I read this scripture believers can say “No” to the worldly things.

The grace of God teaches us that we can manage in this world when we trust in the Holy Spirit to utilize self-control through Him and live lives pleasing to God before our neighbors and those we see where we do business.

I believe it is important that each follower of Jesus must strive to get closer to God and model our beliefs to those around us. However, I do not say this is easy to do. We have to rely on the Holy
Spirit to guide us through the roadblocks that life throws in our way.

A God-Given Spirit

 

Open Bible free images

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

Words of Paul to his spiritual son Timothy.

Paul encourages Timothy to not be ashamed of speaking about God or about his (Paul’s) imprisonment.

God empowers His people to stand for Him and His Word. He still empowers us, His followers, to stand firm in the face of what the world throws at us.

A church I was a part of had a guiding document that included the guiding thought that the church’s calling is to approach the world and change it. Instead, we see the world entering the church and changing it. My present church’s denomination historically has been counter-cultural in its beliefs. Slowly, the world has seen to have crept in and tried to destroy the beliefs and practices we have held dear. Author Charles Colson wrote in some of his books that the colleges of the east coast we founded by churches and originally taught Christian values. Even at the time of his writing, the values, once held dear to the institutions were becoming blurred.

There was a gospel song I heard several years ago that summed up what we must do, it’s title-” The Basics of life”. One line said it all, “Let’s get back to the Basics of life. "We need to do just that!

   

Through His Guidance

 

                                                                                 Pinterest

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined to the

purpose of Him who works all things to the counsel of His will.

Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV)

In Jesus, we have received a gift from God, a gift determined by the LORD’s aim for us. God works all things in accordance to His will.

Our heavenly Father knows what He plans for each of His children. We learn His purpose for our lives through the experiences we have as we grow in Him, the spiritual gifts He gives us and through His guidance through our days.

Over the years, I have taken at least three Spiritual Gifts surveys. The results have guided me as I walk with Jesus. Some people find that those gifts change over time. Some of mine went from strong gifts that I could use and to waiting gifts that I could use if I could develop them.

Have you done a Spiritual Gifts survey?

Purpose in Season

 

Warner Sallman

To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose on earth.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

God creates our live and gives us many epochs in each life He creates. As a person goes through life, he or she might go through certain stages.

As young adults, we study, we work, date, maybe marry.

As young marrieds, we work, provide for our families and care for our homes.

As parents, we care for, provide for and rear children.

As Empty Nesters, we rediscover favorite pastimes. and even learn new skills.

As Caregivers, we spend time caring for or helping older family members.

As Senior Citizens, we may volunteer for church or civic positions.

Each of these seasons have a purpose. God gives His children duties and tasks to perform. Each ‘season’ has a beginning and an end.

Since two weeks before the COVID lock down, I have had several health issues. It seems like one after another. I sincerely need to pray about finding God’s purpose about how He wants me to spend my days in this season I find myself.

Sometimes, all we can do is seek the LORD’s guidance and follow His leading.

Are any of you going through times like this?

God’s Purpose

 

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” Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father glorify Your Name." John 12:27-28a (NKJV)

Here Jesus speaks to God from His humanity. His soul is troubled. He knows what lays ahead for Him, yet He fears the separation from His Father that He has to endure.

Jesus Christ knew God had led Him to this point in His ministry. He asks the question if he should ask God to save Him from that hour.

However, Jesus realized and stated that what He was about to go through was God’s plan and purpose.

Our God has plans and purposes for each of us. In researching God’s purpose for our lives, we begin to see His plan unfold for each of us.

1. Keep in touch with God through prayer.

2. Study His Word (Read the Bible)

3. Apply what you read to our hearts.

I have had a terrible time getting onto the internet this afternoon. I spent almost an hour and five phone calls to my carrier. I had to go pick up some things at the dry cleaners. I was online when I returned. We had supper and I could not get back online again. I had to switch browsers in order to get this posted. I also had to get a new password. I believe there is a message in this. At the moment, I am unsure what that message is.

Husband knows to not ask any questions or cross my path when things like this happen. I get very upset.

A Gentle and Quiet Spirit

 

                                                                                      i.pinimg.com

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging your hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV)

Words of the Apostle Peter to those who were dispersed into five regions of Asia Minor.

His words speak of the inner beauty of the believers of Christ. Per his thought, the inner person is what God sees and deems as our true selves.

I am concerned that our world has worshiped youthfulness, forgetting that people age. Madison Avenue (the advertising industry) has caused us to forget the fact that we are aging. Several of my lady friends have aged gracefully. I have a picture of one of them and her husband in our living room.

Now, please do not misunderstand, there are things we might need to do to our skin. However, there are things we need to do to keep our inner self presentable before God.

#Reading God’s Word

# Applying what it says to our heart

# Living out His Word to others

# Seeking His guidance through prayer

Father God, Please help each one of us to be gentle and humble as we go through our days. In Christ’s Name, I pray. Amen

Pledges

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 I gave this message at church this past Sunday.  I didn't realize that some of this information was new to some of the adults. 

Children’s Moments Message

September 25, 2022

I have been thinking about promises lately, sometimes we call them pledges. A pledge is a sincere promise we make. We make one to our nation’s flag, another one to the Bible, and one to the Christian flag.

In all three pledges, we promise to be loyal to each of these.

Pledge to the American flag

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which is stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mediaistockphoto.com

Pledge to the Bible

I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word. A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It’s words I will hide in my heart, that I might not sin against God. ⁽¹⁾

node01flagstat.net

Pledge to the Christian flag

I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands, one Savior, crucified, risen again, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe. ⁽²⁾

We have those items in our sanctuary here at Cross Roads. I discovered something I did not know about the Christian flag. I knew there is a cross in a blue section, and the rest of the flag is white. Here’s what I learned:

#The shade of red in the Cross reminds us of Jesus’ blood that He shed because He took our sins away.

#The blue reminds us of the water of baptism. It also reminds us of Jesus’ loyalty to God.

#The white reminds us of Jesus’ purity. He was without sin until He went to the Cross for us. ⁽³⁾

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^1.http://www.ccabrazil.org/uploads /4/3/5/9/4359809/christian_flag__bible_pledges.pdf

2. IBID.

3. http://en.wikiepedia.org/Christian _Flag#:-text=The Christian Flag was first to arrive for the event/

Bear with one Another in Love

 

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I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3(NKJV)

Words of Paul written to Ephesian believers.

walk worthy of the calling

He encouraged them to live in a way that reflected God to others. He goes into detail as to how that would look. As we read those words, they can also apply to us who live in the 21^st Century.

with all lowliness and gentleness,

As believers in Christ, we must abandon all thought of ourselves as being better than others. We must also respond to each other with tenderness, no matter how others treat us.

bearing with one another in love,

Believers must accept those around us in love and be available for others as we can be. I sometimes find this difficult to do given the mindset of those in the world.

endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit

Paul’s purpose in his ministry was to introduce people to Jesus Christ and then to educate them in the ways of Christ. His goal was to unify those converted to the faith.

in the bond of peace.

Paul tells his readers, then and now that all we should do must have peace as its ultimate aim. I have had times when someone in the business world has been almost rude in response to a question I asked. In one instance, the woman could have explained their position better than she did.

Do you find it difficult to bear  certain people in your life?

God Keeps Promises

 

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                                         Therefore know that the LORD your God, 

                                               He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant 

                                               and mercy for a thousand generations with those who 

                                               love Him and keep His commandments. 

                                                                                        Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV)

Words of Moses to those Israelites who did not know of God’s attributes and goodness. (These pilgrims were 60 years old and younger.)^[1] Deuteronomy means “retelling”

In this passage, Moses tells them that God is faithful not to just them and their parents but to those who love Him and keep His commandments for a thousand generations.

Moses states that God will keep His promises (covenants) and mercies for a very long time. (When I was a teenager, a youth group advisor said a generation was usually, on average, 26 years.)

There is a condition in this thought. The people must love God and keep His commandments. I once heard that if we break one of the Ten Commandments, we have broken them all. While this statement sounds harsh, I understand it. I believe it may have a domino effect.

It is the duty of God’s children to model Christlike behavior, to exemplify how He wants us to live our lives before others, and to speak loving words on His behalf.

Yes, we all fall short of these goals. When we fail, we need to seek His forgiveness and start over again. His grace and mercy allow us to do this.

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[1] Jeremiah Study Bible, David Jeremiah, Worthy, Hatchette Book Group, Study Note page 238.

We Must be Faithful

 

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This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him,

We shall also live with Him.

If we endure,

We shall also reign with Him.

If we deny Him,

He will deny us.

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful;

He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV)

Paul wrote these words to Timothy. This was his last letter he would write. Paul knew he would die.

Paul gives words of encouragement to Timothy to stay close to God. These words are especially important to followers of Christ today. We see people who followed Christ in their youth go their own ways and get tripped up by the enemy. We have at least two generations that seem to have denied Christ. We must endure for His sake. We must not deny Him. God is faithful; we must be faithful to Him.

Each of us must re-dedicate our lives to live for Jesus, to stand for what He has taught us.

Faith-Our Lifeline

 

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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised

is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV)

When a person gives his heart to Jesus, he or she becomes a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). God has forgiven that person for his or her sins. This is basic to the Christian belief.

Each new Christian goes through a time when all things are new and bright. However, certain issues enter the new Christians’ life that can cause them to fall away.

The writer of Hebrews tells us we are to hold fast to that which we experienced when we first met Jesus. We are not to waffle in our beliefs or “sit on the fence” about our faith. We are in the world but not of the world. We have a life-line that we can hold onto when we are faced with issues the world puts in our path.

We can hold fast to our beliefs and our salvation because we have the promises of God.

                              

Being Faithful

 

cloudfront.net

His Lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant: you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21 (NKJV)

The disciples asked about the end times and the Rapture. Jesus told them several parables that relate to the end times and His return. One was about being faithful with what we have.

A wealthy man prepares to travel a great distance from home. He leaves three of his household servant in charge of some talents (money). After a lengthy absence, the wealthy man returns. Two of the servants had made the talents work for them, doubling the amount each was given. They were praised and rewarded for their efforts. Their master said they were faithful. The third servant did nothing with what he was given. The master took away the gifts and gave them to the other two servants.

Do we see many people being faithful to the LORD or even to each other in our world today? Are we as faithful to God as we were when we first gave our hearts to Him? This is something I have to deal with often.

We all want to hear God tell us that we were faithful over what He has given us.