The words of Jesus

Mark 5: 35-36

³⁵While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

³⁶As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, "Be not afraid, only believe."

I'm reminded of Reepicheep's words from Narnia :) "We have nothing if not belief."

Here, Jairus faced the impossible. His daughter was sick and now he had lost everything that meant anything to him. The world told him not to bother anymore. It was over. With Jesus, however, there lay hope.

When the world tells us it's over (and it often does), when life's troubles come our way, when we find ourselves losing courage, when it seems like there is no hope whatsoever, remember the words of Jesus "Be not afraid, only believe."

He always comes through for us. We are to only stand our ground.

Take a listen...

Just posted up the set from last week... click here

and Jason's teaching on Grace... just click here

Get refreshed on last week when you get a chance, I even made it easier for you by giving you the links, so no excuses :)

later

Traders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqQueZwIuzk&feature=player_embedded

watch this!!!!!!

It's only 2 min.s 24 seconds!!!

~~~~

are you a trader?

not a traitor...

a trader!

7x70

I’ve been living in this house here
Since the day that I was born
These walls have seen me happy
But most of all they’ve seen me torn
They’ve heard the screaming matches
That made a family fall apart
They’ve had a front row seat
To the breaking of my heart

7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way
7 times 70 times
There’s healing in the air tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around

I remember running down the hallway
Playing hide-and-seek
I didn’t know that I was searching
For someone to notice me
I felt alone and undiscovered
And old enough to understand
Just when I’m s’posed to be learning to love you
Let me doubt again

7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way
7 times 70 times
There’s healing in the air tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around

I lost count of the ways you let me down
But no matter how many times you weren’t around
I’m all right now

God picked up my heart and helped me through
And shined a light on the one thing left to do
And that’s forgive you
I forgive you

7 times 70 times
If that’s the cost I’ll pay the price
7 times 70 times
I’ll do what it takes to make it right
I thought the pain was here to stay
But forgiveness made a way

7 times 70 times
There’s healing in this house tonight
I’m reaching up to pull it down
Gonna wrap it all around
Yeah
I’m gonna wrap it all around

I’ve been living in this house here
Since the day that I was born

Heard this at a wedding and really burn my heart, what God's love is to us.

Amazing Love

I'm forgiven, because You were forsaken 

I'm accepted, You were condemned 

I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me 

Because you died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be? 

That You my king would die for me? 

Amazing love, I know it's true 

And It's my joy to honor You 

In all I do, I honor You

This song has really been on my heart today.

I was trying to think back to the moment when I was saved. And that thought of how unworthy I am of Christ's sacrifice struck me. How can the Father,  the creator of the universe, the one and only holy and righteous God, even think about sending His only Son to die for me?

Leave the past, Don't be last

Philippians 3:13-14 (not whole verse)

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ"

My fortune cookie from last night :)  

Justin Thomas©

The One and Only True God Speaks To Us.

“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.” - Isaiah 55:11

How great it is it that God can speak to us! Through everything he continually speaks to us. He's a living God who continually cares about us. It's something iv'e been thinking about lately,how our God truly loves us.How He speaks to us through many instances in our lives to show us the right way and conforms our minds to him. Thank God he speaks to us and helps us discern right from wrong. It's something that continually humbles me, it continually reminds me how we would be nothing without him continually speaking to us throughout our lives. He's Amazing.

Make War

Be not afraid, only believe.

-        Jesus

Mark 5:36

God's Patience

In Jonah 4, Jonah was depressed to the point of wanting to be killed, when God gave Nineveh another chance.  He turned into kind of a brat, and questioned God's judgment.  Yet God was 
patient with him, and soothingly restored him.


I was thinking of how sometimes it's so easy to be impatient with God, when circumstances
around us annoy or anger us.  It causes to have sparks of ingratitude and ignorant 
questioning of God's sovereignty.  Yet God looks at us like He does Jonah, as a foolish
little child, who needs just to be comforted and restored.  You hear people, who question how God could wipe out whole nations, and send plagues  and this and that.  The truth is, God gives chances, again and again, even after people hurt him over and over.  God's patience is abundant.  It's the reason we're not consumed by our sin.  Instead of being easily driven to anger, God sees through our surface level emotions, and comforts and restores us on an intimate level.  

Life.

I know I'm sorta late with this but I'll write this anyways...
So these past couple of weeks God has really showed me how , thankful and grateful i'm supposed to be with my life. Let me give you some examples.

Recently my parents told my brothers and I that one person that we knew which was young and just settling down with his family died from a heartache...around a week ago... I was walking on the street from home and a bus was coming REALLY fast. & I didn't even see it coming...  but thank God someone yelled at me and told me and the I stopped and the bus stop too... 10 feet away............ last week at echo while we were playing sports volleyball, and basketball, i chose to play basketball with a couple of guys and i was going up for a layup and the floor was slippery cause of the rain... and I fell right on my back and i couldn't breathe right for like the next 2 minutes and i really thought i was going to step into eternity, even though my back , shoulders legs, and arms are still hurting... I THANK GOD THAT I have one more breath and heartbeat.

James 4:14-Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

But the thing I'm amazed about... is how I love my life so dearly, but i'm a sinner destined to go to hell and the wages of sin is death... yet, GOD loved me so much, to send his only begotten son to take my place and suffer and die GIVE UP his life... people didn't take his life... but he layed it down for us... i find that amazing...that he would love me that much.. come on now.. how many of you will give up your OWN LIFE FOR SOMEONE , to get beaten so harshly that your face would disfigure so no one could figure out who you are... to get humiliated in front of everyone you know... to get despised and rejected by men ? 

i know you won't... but GOD will.. he did for you and me.  

Fearless

These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing

2 Corinthians 4:17 CEV

What about the tragic changes God permits? When children are sexually abused or the sick lose their dignity...do such moments serve a purpose? What makes no sense in this life will make perfect sense in the next. I have proof: you in the womb.

Some prenatal features went unused before birth. You grew a nose but didn't breathe. Eyes developed, but could you see? Your tongue, toenails, and crop of hair served no function in your mother's belly. But aren't you glad you have them now?

Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary. Holocausts. Martyrdom. Monsoons. If we assume this world exists just for pregrave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so. But what if this earth is the womb? Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come?

-Max Lucado

Mark 4: 36-41

Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They became much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

When Jesus was on the water with His disciples, keep in mind that other boats were with Him on the water. Who knows who the people were on these other boats. Some were probably those who believed in Him and some just along for the ride for whatever reason. When this storm arose they were all at Jesus' mercy. But what was Jesus doing? He was sleeping peacefully. Yes Jesus needed sleep. So many came to Him with all kinds of need and Jesus always gave of Himself. He needed to rest too. But was He sleeping because He didn't care about the storm or the people? Of course not. It is because He knows. His knowledge and power made Him aware that they would all be more than fine and sadly even though these men had been with Him all this time, they still lacked faith. Aren't we often like this?

Despite God's sovereign hand in our lives, aren't we quick to doubt at the first sign of trouble? Do we really think that the very God who created the universe and everything within it cannot handle the details our lives? After all this time of walking with Him (I've been walking with the Lord for 13 yrs now) do we still find ourselves asking "Who is this that even the wind and waves obey Him?" Hasn't He proven Himself to us enough times. Don't we know that He will never fail us? His track record is unmatched and perfect. He is able to quiet the storms and bring "a great calm." He is able to bring us to it and carry us through it. He fights for us and when He is with us, there is no doubt that you will come through victorious. It is a matter of how we perceive things and our level of faith. The disciples had much to learn. Often, so do we. But He is loving and more than patient with us. Thank God for that :)

Another Jesus, Another Spirit, Another Gospel

Jesus asked Peter the most important question that ever been asked in the universe. He asked, "Who do you say I am?" Many religions and groups claim they know and believe In Jesus but that doesn't mean they are referring to the same Jesus of the bible. For Example:

• Mormons believe Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer. That is not the Jesus of the Bible.
• Jehovah Witnesses believe Jesus was Michael the Archangel. That is not in the Bible!
• Muslims believe Jesus was just a prophet. That is definitely not what the Bible teaches.
• Bahai teaches Jesus was simply a messenger.

Notice how none of these Cults and Religions teach what the Bible says, that Jesus is God in human flesh. The devil always attacks the Person and Work of Christ so their are a lot of counterfeits out their. One way to have discernment and to know the real from the counterfeit is simply to know the real very well. This is how you discern between a fake dollar bill and a real one, by knowing how the real dollar bill is you can easily detect the counterfeit. That is why I believe every Christian should be an expert in Christology. We are not only commanded by God to Share our Faith but also to Defend it and it's because we the Church haven't done our Job in defending the faith that now we see great uprising in the Cults. WHERE ARE THE APOLOGISTS!?!?

2 Corinthians 11:4-"For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him]."