David's Song of Praise is Our Song...

David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.

He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent people you save me. “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his canopy around him the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of breath from his nostrils. “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop ; with my God I can scale a wall. “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord?  And who is the Rock except our God? 

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield; your help has made me great. You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

“I pursued my enemies and crushed them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them completely, and they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them to the Lord, but he did not answer. I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

“You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.

“The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”

Gifts of the Spirit...1 COR 12: 7-11

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 

How to use your gifts in the place where you are? 

Most people think that their special gifts are what they can do in this world as in what they are talented at as in physically and mentally capable of.  But, those kinds of 'talent's are only of man's appreciation in a fallen world, they are not the spiritual gifts given by God. If you had only to rely on man's idea of talents, you either are or will be disappointed. Why/How?

The best athlete runs out of youth/energy, the top CEO is expendable, beauty fades and the most 'talented' symphonic musician gets old and tired. Even the scientist is outwitted by new theories. But, God's gifts are always full of love, grace and power, they never get misplaced or made redundant and they never get old or tired. And, best of all, they can be used anywhere as in any place.

Whatever you do now, use your gifts and you will do much for His Kingdom!

Declare the Works of the Lord!

2 Timothy 4:1-5

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Psalm 118:16-18 ~ Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good
The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I will not die, but live, And declare of the works of the LORD. 

We Proclaim to You the Eternal Life ~ 1 John 1:2

The Crucifixion of Christ

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children". Luke 23:26-28.














Why did Jesus say to those women not to weep for Him? First, in those times, women were hired to mourn. Yes, Jews had their or mourning women, who were hired to assist in mourning; by using mournful gestures, tones, and songs, see Jeremiah 9:17. Yet, public mourning was not allowed for persons that were executed as criminals. Was Jesus saying to them don't bother as if a waste?

In Matthew Henry's commentary, we come to understand why Jesus, the Lamb of God, was led as a lamb to the slaughter, to the sacrifice. Though many reproached and reviled him, some pitied him. But the death of Christ was His victory and triumph over His enemies: it was our deliverance, the purchase of eternal life for us.

Therefore, weep not for Him, but let us weep for our own sins, and the sins of our children, which caused His death; and weep for fear of the miseries we shall bring upon ourselves, if we slight His love, and reject his grace. God delivered Him up to such sufferings as these, because He was made a sacrifice for sin. The bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus should make us stand in awe of the justice of God.

We are Witnesses of these Things!

But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him". Acts 5:29-32.

And though they suffered for His Name...they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ ~ Acts 5:42.

YES, We are witnesses of Jesus Christ! How can we witness to others effectively today? We should show our devotion! How? By being devoted to Jesus Christ, and sharing our devotion and we should want to and show our devotion even more every day; we should run after Jesus like a child after a pretty balloon that is floating in the breeze rising up to heaven... He is our everything!


Be Blessed on this Resurrection Sunday!

Poured out like a Drink Offering...Preach the Word!

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing" 2 Tim 4:7.

You know, a lot of people in the world try to overcome this world by doing spectacular things or feats in order to feel good about who they are and are not; showing who they are (what they are capable of) and are not. That is why we see a huge desire to organize or be part of or participate in extreme 'dangerous' challenges/events/goals: marathons, climbs (mountains or careers), obstacle endurance courses, intellectual and physical championship competitions, striving for top academic honors, and  all kinds of intense studies/explorations, research/therapies and even by elections. 

In some way they are all 'runmageddons' toward a finish line that is just that...Finished. Sure it can give one a sense of accomplishment, thrill, elation, wonder/awe, power, prestige, and promise of a next time. Then there are the celebrations that come after and interviews and books or television appearances but those too come to a close and people move on to the next. 

Isn't it our greatest joy to find our names written in the book of life; and well maybe that is what drives people to do what they do here and now. That by doing something spectacular they get to have their names written in the book of life. And, well I cannot disagree but whose book are we talking about. And, I can even say that there is nothing wrong with such things as long as we give all glory, honor and praise to Jesus Christ for it is He who gets us to run the race and finish, 'faithful til the end'. For Greater is He who is in us than he who is just in the world ~1 John 4:4. That is what it means to be poured out like a drink offering.

God has an upcoming event, His finale - Armageddon. This is the day that He set aside to put an end to competing human kingdoms and governments and to install His Kingdom. Are you ready? It's pretty simple to prepare for His Coming; repent and believe! Read the Bible, the Word of God; it's all there. Our Greatest Joy is to Have our Names Written in the Book of Life ~ Luke 10:20.