I Did It. . .

I am on twitter. One of the ladies I have had contact with @LinkedIn invited me to join Twitter. I wasn't sure about this; So I help off. In my email today was a reminder. This lady was waiting for me to join. It took me a while to get my account set up. Lunchtime came and I was in the middle of this process. If you would like to follow me  add my twitter user name to your list. @quietspiritcll

I hope this will be a good experience for me.

Conversation with a Friend

Bing image

Today, I am being interviewed by Marja Meijers over a her blog   sacredsabbath

She asks me some neat questions. Feel free to go over and read.

Grace Upon Us

Central Baptist Church, Little Rock Arkansas.

 ”

With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and much grace was upon them all."

Acts 4:33 (NIV)

God lavished His grace upon the apostles. In doing this He gave them strength to tell others about His Kingdom. These men didn't stay in their own clique and talk to each other about Jesus. They went out places that hadn't heard of Him and taught the people of His love.

Churches send missionaries to people who need the Lord. Some of these groups send emissaries to foreign lands either for a lengthy period or for short terms-say a week or so. Our church has sent people on mission trips to areas of our nation ravaged by hurricanes. Some groups have gone to impoverished areas of Appalachia. More recently the missions committee has focused on people’s needs here in our community.

Whenever a denomination has an annual conference or even a general conference, the delegates spend time one day doing outreach to distressed areas in that community, painting, building a ramp, or working with children at a community center.

People who follow the LORD perform these tasks as a testimony of God in their lives. No matter where these deeds are done, the message is, ‘God loves you.’ They are able to do these acts because of their receiving God’s love in their lives.

Now, a lot of us may not be able to go to a distant land or to a distressed area of our nation. We may have some health issues that interfere with our ability to build a ramp or install a bathroom, or build a porch but we can support those who go either by financial donations or by committing to pray for them. We might want to find a way to assist children at-risk of continuing destructive behavior.

When I originally wrote this,I sat here in my living room two days after the tragedy that has us praying for families in Newtown, Connecticut. I wonder if the outcome for the young children and the adults at that school would have been better, had someone taken the time to share the love of Christ with the one who caused this disaster.

Listen to a modern song about grace. Your Grace is Enough

Grace Poured Out

Grace being poured out on God''s people(Bing.com)

-

“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”1 Timothy 1:13-14 (NIV)

We see the grace of God at work in Paul’s life as he reflects on his past. 

 “Even though . . .” In spite of the fact.

“ . . . I was once a blasphemer” blasphemy is “insulting, cursing, lacking reverence for God, claiming deity.”^ A perfect example of lacking reverence for God is the words John Lennon spoke when he compared the Beatles to Jesus Christ.

“. . . a persecutor . . . ” Saul went from town to town dragged people from their homes and imprisoned them or worse.  (Acts 8:3)

“. . . a violent man. . . ” Everywhere Saul went he arranged for believers in Christ to be either imprisoned or killed. In the beginning of his journeys to tell others about Jesus Christ, people feared him.

“I was shown mercy . . . “God did for Paul what He does for each of us—He extended mercy, forgiveness for Paul’s enmity to His followers.

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly” Our Lord didn't give Paul grace sparingly. He lavished grace on Paul and he still inundates us with His unending love today.

“ . . .along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” God instilled Paul with faith and His love. This passage magnifies the expression, “God empowers those He calls.” We have written evidence that God does this for those who invite Him into their hearts and lives.

Grace Abounds

Bing graphics 

               “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

               “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you are ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 (MSG)

               I love the news I hear in this verse. Can you imagine God making ALL grace come to us?  He’s God; He’s sovereign. What I receive in these two translations is that:

“God is able. . .” He can grant us peace, make us safe, and use us because—

“ . . to make all grace . . .” all grace-grace for all things not matter how small or large our need.

“. . . abound to you . . .” God’s grace is in abundance. His storehouse of grace is vast and is available to us whenever we need to access it. This grace is so evident that we can feel it, see it, or sometimes taste it.       

“. . . in all things . . .” God grants us grace for each task we do, whatever the size or importance.

“. . . at all times . . .” whenever we need His grace. God doesn’t keep office hours-if we need him in the wee hours of the morning, He’s there.

“. . . having all you need . . .” When we have God and His grace we don’t need anything else. This grace is ours whatever our situation.

“. . . you will abound. . . . .” When we are in the Lord’s Will, we will overcome issues that would enter our lives and plague us.

“. . . in every good work.” God guides us in each task He sends our way. It is our task to go into His presence, present our requests and wait for God to shower us with His grace.

Grace Yields Kindness

Idle hearts.com

“From the fullness of his grace we have 

received one kindness after another.

 John 1:16 (NIV)

               God sheds His kindness upon us, His children, out of His grace. He loves His followers so much that He provides ALL their needs. As an exercise take sheet of paper and list the things in your life that you have. Take a second sheet; divide this page into two columns. Head the left-hand column with “Necessities”. Head the other side, “Luxuries”. Transfer each item from your first sheet onto the second sheet according to whether it is a necessity or not.

               When we categorize our things like this we find we have more possessions that could be considered luxuries. For our 20^th anniversary, we bought a brand new car. I felt so blessed, I promised the Lord, I would use it for Him. You see, this was the first brand new car we had bought. I wanted to thank Him for the gift.

               God is good to His children. He answers prayer from His storehouse of grace. He rewards those children for their obedience.

 for your further enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ob0Jiyq8s

His Grace Keeps Us

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions

 and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great

God and Savior, Jesus Christ . . . .” Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

               God’s grace for us gives us the strength to say, “No”, to the ways of the world. We try to not do things just because everyone else is doing it. His grace keeps us from falling into sinful habits. He teaches us to live a life of self-control.

               When we follow Christ, those who spend time with us know what we stand for. They know from being around us that we will pray for others, will go out of our way to give help to someone in need. They watch us as we get into our cars on Sundays as we head for church. They listen as we talk and take note of the words we don’t use.

               We are able to live as we do because we await Jesus’ return to earth.

the contaminated.co