Hello Guys and Gals!
I have been pondering the question of what does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Matthew 16:24-27 reads,
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ``If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
But what does this truly mean? I have been thinking about it and this is the conclusion I have come to!
Will you be in such stress during prayer that you sweat blood?
Will you be willing to have one you love dearly betray you completely?
Will you be willing to have the rest of the people who should be supporting you in your time of need turn their backs upon you and abandon you?
Will you be willing to stand before a court where they are lying to bring charges against you and not say a word in your defense?
Will you be willing to be whipped and scoured?
Will you be willing to be beaten so badly that you are no longer recognized as a man?
Will you be willing to carry your cross through a crowd of people who are beating and spitting on you as you pass, cursing you through it all?
Will you be willing to be stripped naked and nailed to that cross with spikes piercing your wrists and feet?
Will you be willing to hang from that cross, being made a curse, having to life your body with your arms and legs in order to take a breath?
Will you be willing to hang there, naked and bleeding, before your own mother and loved ones?
Will you be willing to be ridiculed by those who are being tortured similarly as you are?
Will you be willing to speak the truth even during all this so that you can say to someone that you love them and forgive them?
Will you be willing to have your side pierced with a spear to prove that you are truly dead?
Will you be willing to have people hate you, even after you are dead, because of the truth you speak?
Will you be willing to do all of this just so that you can speak the truth of God's love to those who are lost?
This is what it means to take up your cross and follow after Jesus! I do not know if you will face any of the above things I have listed, or if you will face some newly devised torture in the minds of those that hate Jesus Christ. But I do know that you will face something of the sort if you are to truly take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ!
Pretty scary stuff huh? But do you not also know that Jesus has already done this for us? Do you not also know that He will be there with us as we go through what we are to go through? Do you not also know that great will be your reward in Heaven?
Lord Jesus Christ, I will take up my cross and follow You no matter what I have to face!
May God, the Lord of all creation, bless you all this day!
27 September 2011
21 September 2011
Israel as a Nation
Hello Guys and Gals!
This is a history of the re-establishment of Israel that I put together as a response to a debate I was having and I thought I'd share it here!
The re-establishment of Israel as a nation has been a promise of God for many centuries now! Here take a look at what Isaiah 66:7-17 says:
7 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. 8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. 9 "Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD. "Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? " says your God. 10 "Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, 11 That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom." 12 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. 13 "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem." 14 Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, And your bones will flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants, But He will be indignant toward His enemies. 15 For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many. 17 "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice, Will come to an end altogether," declares the LORD.
Not only does this passage call for the Israel Nation being born in one day, but also that God will be indignant toward His enemies and punish them with His fury!
UN Resolution 181:
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 formalized British policy preferring the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people! The Ottoman Empire ended by the end of World War I! Britain who ruled the area sent Sir Herbert Samuel to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish State. In 1937, the British recommended dividing the country into 2 separate states; one Jewish and one Arab. This plan was accepted by leaders of the Jewish movement but flatly rejected by the Arabs. The Arabs did not want to recognize Israel or give Israelis a homeland at all. Their top priority was the destruction of Israel and not obtaining a National State for their people.
In May 1948, President Harry Truman announced his support for UN Resolution 181. Un Resolution was the partition plan to divide the land between Jews and Arabs. This was seen by Israel as the beginning of the United States support of Israel and Israel and the USA have been strong allies up until the Obama Administration! Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948!
On May 15, 1948, one day after its independence, Israel was attacked in what is known as the Arab-Israeli War. The fighting continued until January 1949. In this war Israel was invaded by 6 Arab armies. Egypt, Iraq, Arab Legion of Trans Jordan were all part of the armies invading Jerusalem. So Israel occupied the Western Section of Jerusalem and Jordan occupied the Eastern Section of Jerusalem, which included the Old City and most religious shrines. Even though the UN had committed itself to protect Jerusalem as an internationalized city, they didn’t lift a finger to protect them against the Arab invasion. It was the Israel defense forces that held back the attack of those Arab armies. During this Arab invasion, they expelled Jews who had lived in the Old City for generations and destroyed 50 synagogues and many study halls including the one where the Talmud was studied. So from 1948 – 1967, Jews were banned from the heart of Jerusalem and could not approach the Western Wall.
We also have the fact that Jordan occupied the West Bank, and many still do, which is a portion of the previous Palestine. Yet there is no Palestinian outcry of Jordan’s occupation.
In 1964, in Cairo, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was born. The stated goal of the PLO in their charter states “The destruction of the State of Israel through the arms struggle and replacing it with an independent Palestinian State between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean!”
In 1967, Egypt had joined forces with Jordan and Syria, and received significant military support from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and Algeria. In June 1967 was the Six Day War. Israel had ousted the Jordan occupation of the land and seized the Gaza Strip, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Jerusalem. Israel even gave back the Sinai Peninsula in an attempt to keep the peace.
Yom Kippur War:
In 1973, we have the Yom Kippur War which was fought by a coalition led by Egypt and Syria against Israel. It was Egypt and Syria who started this war when their forced crossed the cease fire line and the Golan Heights. They attacked during Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days of the year for Israel, in an attempt to catch Israel off guard. 180 Israeli tanks faced an onslaught of 1400 Syrian tanks. Along the Suez Canal, 436 Israelis were attacked by 80,000 Egyptians. Their strategy was simple: remove Israel from the map! The US, under President Nixon, after an appeal from Golda Meier, stepped in to help Israel and replaced all they had lost under the Arab aggression.
This created tension and led to an oil embargo against the US. Peace talks continued for 6 years until the Camp David Accords of 1979 in which Israel, in an attempt to reach lasting peace, agreed to rezone and reallocate the Holy Land.
Yet instead of peace, Israel keeps a vigilant eye over their land against state sponsored terrorism and nuclear threat from the nations surrounding it.
Israel liberated the Old City of Jerusalem only after it was attacked and today Jerusalem is a different Jerusalem that is an open city to everyone. The only way Jerusalem stays protected for all faiths is under a free, democratic Israeli leadership. If Jerusalem were to be re-divided and half given to the administration of the Palestinian Authority, then religious freedom under that rule would come to an end!
Some of my references include:
The video of the History of Israel: http://web.gbtv.com/shared/flash/mediaplayer/v4.2/R11/MP4.jsp?calendar_event_id=187-13903&content_id=19290175&media_id=&view_key=&media_type=video&source=GBTV&sponsor=GBTV&clickOrigin=&affiliateId=
GBTV Glenn Beck Show air date of 9/13/2011: http://web.gbtv.com/shared/flash/mediaplayer/v4.2/R11/MP4.jsp?calendar_event_id=187-13521&content_id=18834543&media_id=&view_key=&media_type=video&source=GBTV&sponsor=GBTV&clickOrigin=&affiliateId=
Please note that you may need a subscription to view these resources but it is only $9.95 per month.
May God bless you all this day!
This is a history of the re-establishment of Israel that I put together as a response to a debate I was having and I thought I'd share it here!
The re-establishment of Israel as a nation has been a promise of God for many centuries now! Here take a look at what Isaiah 66:7-17 says:
7 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. 8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. 9 "Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD. "Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? " says your God. 10 "Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, 11 That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom." 12 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. 13 "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem." 14 Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, And your bones will flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants, But He will be indignant toward His enemies. 15 For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many. 17 "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the center, Who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice, Will come to an end altogether," declares the LORD.
Not only does this passage call for the Israel Nation being born in one day, but also that God will be indignant toward His enemies and punish them with His fury!
UN Resolution 181:
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 formalized British policy preferring the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people! The Ottoman Empire ended by the end of World War I! Britain who ruled the area sent Sir Herbert Samuel to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish State. In 1937, the British recommended dividing the country into 2 separate states; one Jewish and one Arab. This plan was accepted by leaders of the Jewish movement but flatly rejected by the Arabs. The Arabs did not want to recognize Israel or give Israelis a homeland at all. Their top priority was the destruction of Israel and not obtaining a National State for their people.
In May 1948, President Harry Truman announced his support for UN Resolution 181. Un Resolution was the partition plan to divide the land between Jews and Arabs. This was seen by Israel as the beginning of the United States support of Israel and Israel and the USA have been strong allies up until the Obama Administration! Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948!
On May 15, 1948, one day after its independence, Israel was attacked in what is known as the Arab-Israeli War. The fighting continued until January 1949. In this war Israel was invaded by 6 Arab armies. Egypt, Iraq, Arab Legion of Trans Jordan were all part of the armies invading Jerusalem. So Israel occupied the Western Section of Jerusalem and Jordan occupied the Eastern Section of Jerusalem, which included the Old City and most religious shrines. Even though the UN had committed itself to protect Jerusalem as an internationalized city, they didn’t lift a finger to protect them against the Arab invasion. It was the Israel defense forces that held back the attack of those Arab armies. During this Arab invasion, they expelled Jews who had lived in the Old City for generations and destroyed 50 synagogues and many study halls including the one where the Talmud was studied. So from 1948 – 1967, Jews were banned from the heart of Jerusalem and could not approach the Western Wall.
We also have the fact that Jordan occupied the West Bank, and many still do, which is a portion of the previous Palestine. Yet there is no Palestinian outcry of Jordan’s occupation.
In 1964, in Cairo, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was born. The stated goal of the PLO in their charter states “The destruction of the State of Israel through the arms struggle and replacing it with an independent Palestinian State between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean!”
In 1967, Egypt had joined forces with Jordan and Syria, and received significant military support from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, and Algeria. In June 1967 was the Six Day War. Israel had ousted the Jordan occupation of the land and seized the Gaza Strip, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Jerusalem. Israel even gave back the Sinai Peninsula in an attempt to keep the peace.
Yom Kippur War:
In 1973, we have the Yom Kippur War which was fought by a coalition led by Egypt and Syria against Israel. It was Egypt and Syria who started this war when their forced crossed the cease fire line and the Golan Heights. They attacked during Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days of the year for Israel, in an attempt to catch Israel off guard. 180 Israeli tanks faced an onslaught of 1400 Syrian tanks. Along the Suez Canal, 436 Israelis were attacked by 80,000 Egyptians. Their strategy was simple: remove Israel from the map! The US, under President Nixon, after an appeal from Golda Meier, stepped in to help Israel and replaced all they had lost under the Arab aggression.
This created tension and led to an oil embargo against the US. Peace talks continued for 6 years until the Camp David Accords of 1979 in which Israel, in an attempt to reach lasting peace, agreed to rezone and reallocate the Holy Land.
Yet instead of peace, Israel keeps a vigilant eye over their land against state sponsored terrorism and nuclear threat from the nations surrounding it.
Israel liberated the Old City of Jerusalem only after it was attacked and today Jerusalem is a different Jerusalem that is an open city to everyone. The only way Jerusalem stays protected for all faiths is under a free, democratic Israeli leadership. If Jerusalem were to be re-divided and half given to the administration of the Palestinian Authority, then religious freedom under that rule would come to an end!
Some of my references include:
The video of the History of Israel: http://web.gbtv.com/shared/flash/mediaplayer/v4.2/R11/MP4.jsp?calendar_event_id=187-13903&content_id=19290175&media_id=&view_key=&media_type=video&source=GBTV&sponsor=GBTV&clickOrigin=&affiliateId=
GBTV Glenn Beck Show air date of 9/13/2011: http://web.gbtv.com/shared/flash/mediaplayer/v4.2/R11/MP4.jsp?calendar_event_id=187-13521&content_id=18834543&media_id=&view_key=&media_type=video&source=GBTV&sponsor=GBTV&clickOrigin=&affiliateId=
Please note that you may need a subscription to view these resources but it is only $9.95 per month.
May God bless you all this day!
20 September 2011
Sexual Purity
Hello Guys and Gals!
I recently faced a challenge to my life that I truly did not think I would face to such a degree. The challenge was whether or not I would agree to have sex with someone who was interested in me before marriage!
Years ago I made the promise to God to not have sex with anyone other than my future wife and that would only happen AFTER I married her! I believe in sexual purity. True that I am not a virgin. True that I have gone to the extreme when I have had sex in my past, even taking drugs to enhance the sex so that I could FEEL it all the more! I indulged and I am ashamed of it! I never had real satisfaction from any of those sexual encounters. I never found fulfillment in my life from all those sexual conquests. And if you think you have gone as far as I have, I have a few friends who can tell you that you surely have not!
Let me tell you a truth: there is no fulfillment or satisfaction in sex before a true commitment in marriage with the blessing of God upon it! You will not find it! You will never find it until you seek God first and a Godly wife second!
This challenge was very tough on me because it has been years since I felt attractive in a woman's sight. It has been years since I faced this kind of challenge! And before that I always had the aide of drugs to help entice those I would desire to sleep with! Yes the drugs I used are sexual enhancement aids! And with all that, I found NO satisfaction whatsoever!
I implore each and every one of you to re-examine your life like I have done! I ask that if there is anything in your life that goes against God's laws, that you take it to Him and repent. This means you ask His forgiveness for it and turn away from it and go the other direction! Repent means to never want to do it again, even though the desire may still be there! Please do this, not for me, but for yourselves because you will find true joy and happiness if you do this! For true fulfillment and satisfaction, sexual and otherwise, can only be found in Godly relationships through God Himself!
May God bless you all this day!
I recently faced a challenge to my life that I truly did not think I would face to such a degree. The challenge was whether or not I would agree to have sex with someone who was interested in me before marriage!
Years ago I made the promise to God to not have sex with anyone other than my future wife and that would only happen AFTER I married her! I believe in sexual purity. True that I am not a virgin. True that I have gone to the extreme when I have had sex in my past, even taking drugs to enhance the sex so that I could FEEL it all the more! I indulged and I am ashamed of it! I never had real satisfaction from any of those sexual encounters. I never found fulfillment in my life from all those sexual conquests. And if you think you have gone as far as I have, I have a few friends who can tell you that you surely have not!
Let me tell you a truth: there is no fulfillment or satisfaction in sex before a true commitment in marriage with the blessing of God upon it! You will not find it! You will never find it until you seek God first and a Godly wife second!
This challenge was very tough on me because it has been years since I felt attractive in a woman's sight. It has been years since I faced this kind of challenge! And before that I always had the aide of drugs to help entice those I would desire to sleep with! Yes the drugs I used are sexual enhancement aids! And with all that, I found NO satisfaction whatsoever!
I implore each and every one of you to re-examine your life like I have done! I ask that if there is anything in your life that goes against God's laws, that you take it to Him and repent. This means you ask His forgiveness for it and turn away from it and go the other direction! Repent means to never want to do it again, even though the desire may still be there! Please do this, not for me, but for yourselves because you will find true joy and happiness if you do this! For true fulfillment and satisfaction, sexual and otherwise, can only be found in Godly relationships through God Himself!
May God bless you all this day!
11 September 2011
Remembering 9/11
Hello Guys and Gals,
This morning, as we remember those who were lost in that horrible attack 10 years ago, I think Psalm 18:4-15 is appropriate:
4 The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
We will have troubles and distress! Yet the Lord God Almighty loves us so much that He folds over the very heavens in his efforts to reach down to save us from these troubles and distresses! So great and awesome is the Lord God that He reaches through time and space, which cannot bar Him for He is the One who created them, in order to save us! In order to bring us comfort! In order that we can have peace in Him!
Today, as you remember, know that God is there with you this day and even that day!
Grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you all today!
This morning, as we remember those who were lost in that horrible attack 10 years ago, I think Psalm 18:4-15 is appropriate:
4 The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
We will have troubles and distress! Yet the Lord God Almighty loves us so much that He folds over the very heavens in his efforts to reach down to save us from these troubles and distresses! So great and awesome is the Lord God that He reaches through time and space, which cannot bar Him for He is the One who created them, in order to save us! In order to bring us comfort! In order that we can have peace in Him!
Today, as you remember, know that God is there with you this day and even that day!
Grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you all today!
02 September 2011
Where I've Been
Hello Guys and Gals!
I know I haven't written lately. Bear with me please. I have had a lot of things going on with moving into my new place, the sprained ankle, and many other things. I will resume soon!
God bless you all this day!
I know I haven't written lately. Bear with me please. I have had a lot of things going on with moving into my new place, the sprained ankle, and many other things. I will resume soon!
God bless you all this day!
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