News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

CREATOR , Who ?

CHRIST JESUS created ALL things and ALL people.

"All things were made by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made." Jn 1:3

"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him." 1 Corinthians 8:6

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things BY Jesus Christ.." Eph. 3:9

"For by HIM were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." Col. 1:16

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, BY WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE WORLDS.." Hebrews 1:1-2

JOHN 10:30 Jesus said, "I and the Father are ONE."

On the day of Pentecost Jesus sent the Holy Spirt to be our Comforter and convictor of sins. God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit are One and the Same.

The WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY defines the Holy Spirit as the spirit of God; specif., the third person of the Trinity. Thusly, we serve a Triune God, all One, and the same Person of the Godhead.
Blessings, Abishag
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN." 'Lord, open our eyes to see YOU for Who you truly are.'

SPECIAL MARKS OF JESUS' DIVINITY:

His Pre-existence (Christ Jesus, Eternal)--

Malachi 5:2 "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Jn. 1:1)

John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them , Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM."

John 17:5 " And now, O Father; glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee BEFORE the world was."

John 17:24 "Father I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me BEFORE the foundation of the world."

Hebrews 7:3 "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God: abideth a priest continually." [Melchizedek, Type of Christ]

Rev. 22:13 " I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

JESUS IS LORD! JESUS IS GOD! JESUS IS KING OF KINGS!
He is the Alpha and the Omega.

Blessings, Abishag <><
The Above Post: "CREATOR, Who?" - states in KJV the definition of FAITH as "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.".
However it seems more clear in the NASB ,Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the convition of things not seen." They both mean the same, of course. Thank you.

"He made the world and everything there is." Hebrews 1:2 ~

THERE are many arguments we could marshal to give evidence of the existence of God. There is scientific evidence pointing to God's existence. For example, whatever is in motion must be moved by another, for motion is the response of matter to power. In the world of matter there can be no power without life, and life pre-supposes a being from which emanates the power to move things, such as tides and the planets.

Or there is the argument that says nothing can be the cause of itself. It would be prior to itself if it caused itself to be, and this is an absurdity.

Then there is the law of life. We see objects that have no intellect, such as stars and planets, moving in a consistent pattern, cooperating ingeniously with one another. Hence, it is evident that they achieve their movements not by accident but by design.

Whatever lacks intelligence cannot move intelligently. An arrow would be useless without a bow and an archer.

What gives direction and purpose and design to inanimate objects: It is God. He is the underlying, motivating force of life. ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer For The Day:
Lord, I know that without Your power
my life would be useless. Prompt me,
by Your Holy Spirit, to glorify You in everything I do.

By: Billy Graham, Evangelist
Day by Day <><
Blessings, Abishag

OMNISCIENT ~

How Christ Learned Obedience --

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8)

THIS verse is a very difficult verse. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the omniscient God, perfect wisdom and complete truth. How would it be that one who knows all things would have to 'learn' anything? Even more particularly, how would He have to learn 'obedience'? He was always obedient to His heavenly Father. "I do always those things that please him," Christ said (John 8:29). He surely did not have to be chastised like a disobedient child in order to learn obedience, as the verse seems on the surface to be telling us.

He 'was' indeed a Son, and He was never disobedient, but He had to 'become obedient' through actual experience. He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). The "things which he suffered," as the innocent Lamb of God, are beyond all human understanding, and His willingness to obey His Father even in this ("nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done"--Luke 22:42) demonstrates the ultimate obedience.

There are many things which one can learn in theory, but which are only 'really' learned in practice. The Lord Jesus Christ knew all things by omniscience; nevertheless, He had to learn obedience by actual experience. "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,...to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10).

Once having passed this test, He had been "made perfect" as the succeeding verse assures us, and thus has become "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Hebrews 5:9). No act of obedience which he urges upon us can ever be as difficult as the things which He was willing to suffer to provide forgiveness and salvation for us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HMM
Days of Praise
Institute for CREATION Research
Blessings, Abishag <><

Excellent point. I had not considered it.

WHAT A NAME ! !

READ/ Hebrews 1:1-14

THE name 'Jesus' conveys different things to different people. Depending on the individual, it can mean an historical figure, a good teacher, a prophet, or a curse word. Yet to many throughout the world, that name is synonymous with "Lord and Savior."

What is it about that name? Why do some respond in praise and worship while others react in profanity and anger? The answer is that Jesus isn't simply a person; He's an issue. And our response to who He is determines not only our way of life, but also our eternal destiny.

The name of Jesus Christ represents all He is and all He does. Scripture identifies Him as the Son of God, equal to the Father in character and attributes; He is eternal, all-powerful, sovereign, and ever-present. The Bible also says He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Col. 1:16).

Jesus came to earth as the God-man for the purpose of saving mankind. Because He lived a perfect life, Christ is the only person in history who is qualified to pay the penalty for someone else's sin. He secured our forgiveness and offers us the gift of salvation on the basis of faith.

One day the Lord Jesus Christ will sit as mankind's ultimate, final judge. Those who have accepted His payment for their sins will live with Him forever.
~~~~~~~~
EARLY LIGHT/
Have you chosen to receive Christ's offer of salvation? A transformed life now and an eternal kingdom in heaven await all who call Him Savior and King. If you've never made the wise decision to accept His free gift, why not do so now? Then rejoice in the fact that Jesus will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.
~~~~~~~
Pastor Charles Stanley
In Touch Ministries <><
Blessings, Abishsag / JESUS IS LORD!

Creator of Wind and Calm ~

"But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Matthew 8:27)

~~~~WAVES large enough to cover a ship on a small lake in a short time could only have been generated by a tremendously powerful wind, and such a wind would require a mighty complex of forces in the atmosphere, triggered by the sun itself. Furthermore, even when the wind dies down, the waves will continue for a time. But suddenly both ceased at once, and "there was a great calm" (v.26). No known natural force could have produced such a phenomenon, yet there it was.

A man had simply spoken a word: "Peace, be still" (Mark 4:39). How could He control the sea? "The sea is his, and he made it" (Psalm 95:5)-that is how! And what about the stormy wind? God Himself "bringeth the wind out of his treasuries" (Psalm 135:7), even when need be, the "stormy wind fulfilling his word" (148:8).

God can use the storms of life to cause us to call on Him for deliverance. "For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof....Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still" (Psalm 107:25, 28-29).

What manner of man can do such things? Only the God/Man, Jesus Christ. He is the omnipotent, living Word, the "Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28). It is He by whom "were all things created," and it therefore follows that "by him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16-17). "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

If this eternal Word (who was "made flesh" and was now sleeping in a small boat on the Sea of Galilee) could speak the mighty cosmos into being, it is no great thing for Him to speak peace to a stormy sea or to bring rest to His loved ones in their times of turmoil and fear. ~
~~~~~~~~
ICR/HMM
Days of Praise
Blessings, Abishag <><

"Jesus saith...I am the way,
the truth, and the life..." JOHN 14:6

----WITH much of society a disappointment, young people have begun to search for answers on their own. Everywhere I travel, I find young people who are asking: What is truth? Who says so? What is right and what is wrong? Is there a final authority?

YES! There is an authority! There is a moral law! It has been exemplified in a real Person. There is a genuine Hero in whom you can believe, who will never let you down. His name is Jesus Christ. He was born into a world as jumbled and riddled with injustice as yours, but He changed it by changing people.
~~~
Prayer For The Day:
You, Lord Jesus, are the
Supreme Authority, Omnipotence, and Sovereign;
and my soul praises You!

Day by Day/Billy Graham

EINSTEIN'S GOD --

~~Psalm 19:1-6
-----
The heavens declare
the glory of God; and
the firmament shows
His handiwork.
--Psalm 19:1
----
WHEN the great physicist Albert Einstein was asked if he believed in God, he responded: "We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how... That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human beings toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws." Although Einstein marveled at the design he saw in nature, he did not believe in a personal Creator.

The psalmist shared Einstein's sense of awe about nature but took the next step and believed in the Designer behind the design: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Ps. 19:1). The wonder we feel as we behold our universe should serve as a road sign pointing to the One who created it. The Scriptures tell us, "All things were made through [Christ], and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3).

Are you struggling in your beliefs? Look up at the stars tonight. In the sky is crafted an amazing road sign pointing to the Designer behind the design.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God wrote His autograph
Upon the sky last night,
In the stars I never saw
A signature so bright !
___________________________________
CREATION'S DESIGN POINTS TO THE MASTER DESIGNER.

Our Daily Bread

--THE MEASURE
OF MERCY

Philippians 2:5-11

You were not
redeemed with
corruptible things,...
but with the precious
blood of Christ.
--1 Peter 1:18-19
~~~~~~
WHAT is the distance from God's throne of splendor down to the abyss of Calvary's cross? What is the measure of the Savior's love for us? In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he described Jesus' descent from the heights of glory to the depths of shame and agony and back again (2:5-11).

Christ is the eternal Creator and Lord of all existence, exalted infinitely above earth's foulness and decay. He is the source of life, with myriads of angels to sing His praises and do His bidding. Yet, motivated by love for our lost human race, "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (v.8). He came to our puny planet, was born in a cave-like barn with its smells and filth, and was placed as a helpless baby in a feeding trough.

When He grew to manhood, He endured homelessness (Matt. 8:20). Thirsty, He asked an adulteress for water (John 4:7-9). Weary, He fell asleep in a boat on a storm-tossed sea (Mark 4:37-38). Sinless, He was adored by the multitudes one day (Matt. 21:9), and then condemned as a criminal and died on a Roman cross in excruciating pain.

That's the distance from God's throne to Calvary! That's the measure of His mercy and grace!

O the love that drew salvation's plan!
O the grace that brought it down to man!
O the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary! + + +
_____________________________________________
GOD BROKE INTO HUMAN HISTORY
TO OFFER US THE ETERNAL GIFT OF SALVATION.

Our Daily Bread
Blessings, Abishag / JESUS IS LORD !

--THE LORD OF
OUR YEARS + + +

Psalm 90
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before the mountains
were brought forth,
or ever You had
formed the earth and
the world...You are
God. --Psalm 90:2

~~~When the 'Concise Oxford English Dictionary' announced in 2006 that the word 'time' was the most-often used noun in the English language, it didn't seem surprising. We live in a world where people are obsessed with using days, saving minutes, and trying to find more hours in the day. Although each of us has all the time that there is, few of us think we have enough.

Perhaps that's why Psalm 90 is such a treasured passage. It shifts the focus from our time-bound lives to our eternal God. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world...You are God" (v.2).

A stanza in Matthew Bridges' well-known hymn "Crown Him With Many Crowns" begins: "Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time." A potentate is a sovereign, a monarch, an anointed majesty--one who does not seek appointment or run for election.

God created time. He rules and transcends it. When we feel frustrated by the calendar or captured by the clock, a quiet reading of Psalm 90 reminds us that our days and years are in the hands of our eternal God.

As we humbly bow before Him, we see time from a new perspective.

Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime. ~~
________________________________________
WE MUST HAVE A RIGHT VIEW OF ETERNITY
TO KNOW THE REAL VALUE OF TIME.

Our Daily Bread
JESUS IS LORD! GO TELL SOMEBODY TODAY!
Blessings, Abishag <><
------

There is only one option: God!

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life." John 5:24

~~~~WHEN you rrecognize God as Creator, you will admire him. When you recognize his wisdom, you will learn from him. When you discover his strength, you will rely on him. But only when he saves you will you worship him.

It's a "before and after" scenario. Before your rescue, you could easily keep God at a distance..Sure he was important, but so was your career. Your status. Your salary.....

Then came the storm...the rage...the fight...the ripped moorings...Despair fell like a fog; your bearing were gone. In your heart, you knew there was no exit.

Turn to your career for help? Only if you want to hide from the storm...not escape it. Lean on your status for strength? A storm isn't impressed with your title...

Suddenly you are left with one option: GOD !
__________________
Max Lucado
In the Eye of the Storm ~
Blessings, Abishag +++ / JESUS IS LORD!

THE WONDER
OF NATURE

Job 36:26-33
---
I have heard of You
by the hearing of the
ear, but now my eye
sees You.
--Job 42:5 -

GROWING up around the woods and waters of Midwest America, I've been fascinated with natural wildlife native to our region. But on a recent trip to the California coast, I found myself staring in breathtaking wonder at snorting elephant seals, barking sea lions, and a forest of silent redwoods. I watched pelicans soar in formation, and I saw migrating whales spouting in the distance. Together they are just a sampling of the millions of species that make up the intricate balance of nature.

According to the Bible, the variety of the natural world is designed to do far more than inspire child-like wonder. The mysteries of nature can help us come to terms with a God who allows inexpressible, unexplainable pain and suffering.

We see this in the story of Job. While he was suffering, Job didn't know that God had such a high regard for him that he allowed Satan to test his faith with a series of losses.

What emerges is this unavoidable conclusion: A CREATOR who has the wisdom and power to design the wonders of nature is great enough to be trusted with pain and suffering that are beyond our ability to understand. In awe, Job proclaimed, "I know that You can do everything" (42:2).

We can trust that kind of God---no matter what.
---
It's good to worship God in nature
if it leads us to worship the God of nature. -
ODB/MDH

This has been posted on another "Creator" page, yet I will put it in this place as well:

Who is Jesus Christ?

A Challenge to Christians
By: Andrew A. Snelling, PhD

Jesus Christ Our Creator ---JESUS IS LORD!

<http://www.icr.org/article/3338/>

Blessings and thank you, Russ, Laura and Herb Allure!
Abishag <><

LEARNING
FROM THE
REDWOODS

Isaiah 65:17-66:2
---
AS the days of a
tree, so shall be the
days of My people.
--Isaiah 65:22 --
---
NORTH America's Pacific Coast Redwoods are some of the biggest trees in the world. The tallest on record, Hyperion, soars 379 feet into the air.

During a visit to California's Muir Woods National Park, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the enormity of those redwoods. Trees as tall as a 30-story building seemed to press me into the forest floor while drawing my thoughts upward.

The memory of what I felt at the base of some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world has left me with lingering thoughts about their origin. Those redwoods, like the family tree of our own humanity, are rooted in a Creator who is infinitely and eternally greater than His creation.

The prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of this God. In a vision that mingled the wonders of a Messianic kingdom with the promise of a new heaven and earth, he describes One who make the skies His throne and the earth His footstool (Isa 66:1).

Yet Isaiah saw something even more overwhelming. He saw a great God who wants His people to "be glad and rejoice forever in what I create" (65:18). In response, let's bow before Him in humble adoration (66:2).--

How glorious to think ahead
Of blessings yet to be,
Of help from God while life shall last--
The joys eternally!
------------
God's work of creating is done; our work of praising has only begun.
ODB/MDH

A Marvelous Thing~~

"The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes." (John 9:30)-

A "marvelous thing" in the Bible is something that generates awe or wonder. Sometimes it refers to a miracle, but more often to something very unexpected and remarkable.

But the most marvelous thing of all is that unbelievers still persist in their unbelief. In our text passage the Lord Jesus Christ had just performed one of His most amazing miracles of creation--making perfect eyes for a man with no eyes, blind from birth. As the man testified to the frustrated Pharisees: "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind" (John 9:32). Yet these religious intellectuals, so opinionated in their prejudices, refused to believe what they saw and heard. Similarly, "when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things (i.e., 'marvelous things') that he did, . . . they were sore displeased" (Matthew 21:15).

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. One of the saddest verses in the Bible is John 1:10: "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." And, "he came unto his own, and his own received him not" (v. 11). Even when He raised Lazarus from the dead, "the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus" (John 12:10-11).

Modern "intellectuals" are still the same, rejecting the overwhelming testimony of the created complexity in the cosmos to the fact of a personal Creator in favor of an impossible scenario of chance origin.

"Herein is a marvelous thing!" Such people "willingly are ignorant" and "without excuse" (2 Peter 3:5; Romans 1:20).
-- --
Days of Praise
ICR/HMM

Did Jesus Teach Recent Creation? -

by Henry Morris, Ph.D./ICR

Most everyone has been taught all through their school years that the earth, life, animals, and man have all been developing from primordial beginnings over billions of years of natural evolution. Many have tried to "baptize" this process, so to speak, by calling it "theistic" evolution or "progressive" creation saying that God may have used evolution as His process of creation.

Because of this ubiquitous indoctrination, even many evangelical Christians have felt they must conform to this evolutionary worldview, especially in relation to the so-called "deep time" that is so essential to evolutionism. One respected leader of the "Intelligent Design" movement, for example, recently wrote to me that he would prefer to believe in a "young earth," but that science had proved that the earth was very old, so he had to go with science. Two other leaders of this I.D. movement told me personally on two separate occasions that they could not even afford to listen to my arguments for a young earth because they were afraid they would be convinced and that this would halt their opportunities to speak to college groups and others about Intelligent Design.

So I have written this brief article to show once again that the Lord Jesus Himself believes in recent creation and the young earth. Assuming that a Christian is a person who believes in the deity and inerrant authority of Christ, it would seem that this fact should be sufficient to convince him.

What I will do here, therefore, is to list three key reasons for concluding that our Lord Jesus Christ believed and taught literal recent creation of all things essentially instantaneously by the omnipotent command of God, who "spake, and it was done" (Psalm 33:9).

The Bible nowhere allows for long ages.
One can search the Scriptures (see my book Biblical Creationism for proof) from beginning to end without finding even a hint of evolution or long ages. To Jesus, every "jot or one tittle" of Scripture was divinely inspired (Matthew 5:18) and He warned us severely against adding any other words to it (Revelation 22:18). The Bible, therefore, would certainly not leave the vital doctrine of creation open to human speculation.

The Bible explicitly states how and when creation took place.
Although many evangelicals have long equivocated as to the meaning of the "days" of creation, this type of ad hoc handling of Scripture is never justified in the context, and Christ Himself would never have interpreted them as indefinite ages of some kind. Not only is "day" (Hebrew, yom) defined in this context the first time it is used (Genesis 1:5), but the writer conclusively restricted its interpretation to the literal meaning by numbering the days ("first day," "second day," etc.) and by indicating their boundaries ("evening and morning"), both of which restrictions elsewhere in the Old Testament limit the meaning to literal days. The question seems to be even more firmly settled when God wrote with His own finger that "in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the [seventh] day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:11), thereby basing our calendar's seven-day week on this primeval creation week. Jesus referred to this divine example when He said that "The sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27) to meet our weekly need of rest from work.

The Lord Jesus recognized that men and women existed right from the beginning.
The current opinion is that the cosmos evolved about 16 billion years ago, the earth about 4.6 billion, primitive life perhaps two billion, and human life about one million years ago. The Lord Jesus, on the other hand (who was there, having Himself created all things—note John 1:1-3), taught that men and women were made essentially at the same time as the cosmos itself, when He said that "from the beginning God . . . made them male and female" (Mark 10:6). "The beginning" obviously was a reference to Genesis 1:1, and Christ was specifically citing Genesis 1:26.

On another occasion, speaking especially of Adam's son Abel, He referred to "the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world" (Luke 11:50-51), thereby acknowledging that Abel was the first prophet, martyred in the very first generation—not 4.6 billion years after the formation of the earth. Jesus also said that Satan, using Cain to slay Abel, "was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44).

Note also that the father of John the Baptist, prophesying when filled with the Holy Spirit, said that God's holy prophets had been predicting a coming Savior "since the world began" (Luke 1:70). Then the apostle Peter later preached that the second coming of Christ and the ultimate removal of the great Curse on the earth had even been events that "God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21). The apostle Paul wrote that evidence of God as Creator should have been "clearly seen" (by men, of course) ever since "the creation of the world."

There can be no reasonable doubt that Jesus was what evolutionists today (both theistic and atheistic) would call a "young-earth creationist." It would seem that this should settle the question for all true Christians, who should certainly—on the authority of Christ Himself—completely reject the notion of geologic ages.

But they don't! For one thing, not all who consider themselves Christians really believe the Bible, especially its unpopular teachings. Unfortunately, many who think they are Bible-believing Christians have become adept at "wresting" the Scriptures (note II Peter 3:17), even the recorded words of Jesus and the apostles, to make them conform to the scientism of evolutionary speculation. As noted above, there is not the slightest suggestion of millions and billions of years anywhere in the Bible when it is taken simply to mean what it says. That is why we "young-earth creationists" have to keep on reemphasizing the pervasive Bible teaching of just thousands of years of earth and cosmic history.

But what are we supposed to do when the Bible disagrees with the majority of scientists on such matters?

We are to believe the Bible—that's what! When the teachings of men conflict with the Word of God, it would be wise to go with God. --

Furthermore, there are now thousands of scientists (fully credentialed with post-graduate degrees from accredited universities) who have become convinced believers in recent creation. No doubt we are still a minority, but it is a growing minority. There are several hundred such scientists in the Creation Research Society, not to mention those on our ICR faculty as well as those associated with numerous other creationist organizations around the world.

There is also a rapidly growing body of scientific data that not only shows the impossibility of macroevolution but also much that repudiates the so-called evidences of "billions of years." Creationist geologists have been developing an abundance of evidence of global catastrophism instead of uniformitarianism in earth history—thus confirming the Biblical record of the great Flood as the major explanation for the fossil-bearing rocks in the earth's crust, instead of having to invent imaginary long ages of evolution to account for them.

It is possible now even to amass a list of dozens of worldwide natural processes (e.g., accumulation of salt in the sea) which, even on uniformist assumptions, will yield ages much too brief for evolution. Thus, even without referring to the Bible at all, it is possible to make an impressive case for recent creation. One cannot determine the exact age of the earth by science, of course, and these various processes may yield various values, but all prove too small for evolutionism to be possible.

With the supposed exception of radiometric dating, that is. The decay of uranium into lead, rubidium into strontium, and a few other such processes can be made to show extremely long ages, so radioactive decay processes have been considered by evolutionists to be firm proof of the billions of years.

But Christians need to remember that such calculations, like all the others, are based on the arbitrary assumption of uniformitarianism, which not only is unprovable but contrary to the Bible. The apostle Peter calls it "willing ignorance" (note II Peter 3:3-6) when this assumption ignores the world-changing impact of special creation of all things in the beginning and the worldwide geologic impact of the global Deluge in the days of Noah.

Furthermore, the forthcoming publications of the ICR/CRS RATE Initiative will show strong scientific evidence that even these radioactive decay processes really provide convincing arguments that the earth is thousands of years old—not billions!

Therefore, we plead once again with our Christian theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists, gap creationists, and intelligent design minimalists to come back to the Bible for their view of the world and its history. We should most certainly believe the words of our Lord Jesus Christ on this vital subject. "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord," He might well say, "and [believe] not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

*Dr. Henry Morris is Founder and President Emeritus of ICR.

Inspired Words
by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away" (Luke 21:33).
--
The doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration, wrongly considered antiquated by many modern neo-evangelicals, is actually essential to the Christian faith. "All Scripture [that is every word written down or inscribed] is given by inspiration [literally `breathed in'] of God," not man! (II Timothy 3:16).

We acknowledge, of course, that problems of transmission and translation exist, but these are relatively trivial in the entire context. We also acknowledge that the process of inspiration may have varied, but the end result is as if the entire Bible had been dictated and transcribed word by word.

This is the way Jesus Christ—the Creator, the Living Word, the Author of Scripture--viewed the Scriptures. "The scripture cannot be broken," He said (John 10:35). "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). "Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: . . . And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:25,27). The Bible therefore, every word of it, is divinely inspired, verbally without error, infallibly true, and of absolute authority in every area of our lives. The words of Christ who taught these truths are forever "settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89) and "shall not pass away."
--
It is mortally dangerous therefore "unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book" to "add unto these things" as the cultists do, or to "take away from the words of the book of this prophecy" as the liberals do (Revelation 22:18-19). Would it not be much better to say with the psalmist, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors" (Psalm 119:24)?

ICR/ HMM

-

Origin of the Races
December 21, 2010

"These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." (Genesis 10:32)

This is the concluding verse of the tenth chapter of Genesis, known as "The Table of Nations." It tells us that all the original nations of the world were formed from the descendants of Noah. The basis of this worldwide division was their dispersion at Babel (Genesis 11:9), "every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations" (Genesis 10:5; see also 10:20 and 10:31). Lest anyone think this list of original nations is simply folklore, he should remember that William F. Albright, probably the greatest archaeologist of the twentieth century, called it "an astonishingly accurate document." Many ethnologists still speak of Japhetic, Hamitic, and Semitic peoples and languages.

But what about the origin of races? One searches the Bible in vain for this information, for neither the word nor the concept of "race" appears in the Bible at all! There is no such thing as a race--except the human race! Skin color and other supposed racial characteristics are mere recombinations of innate genetic factors, originally created in Adam and Eve to permit development of different family characteristics as the human race was commanded to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1).

"Race" is strictly an evolutionary concept used by Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, and the other nineteenth-century evolutionists to rationalize their white racism. But from the beginning it was not so! "God that made the world and all things therein; . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:24, 26). "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?" (Malachi 2:10).
--
HMM/ICR

WONDER-

"Faith is the inborn capacity to see God behind everything, the wonder that keeps you an eternal child. Wonder is the very essence of life. Beware always of losing the wonder, and the first thing that stops wonder is religious conviction.

Whenever you give a trite testimony, the wonder is gone. The evidence of salvation is that the sense of wonder is developing.
--
--Oswald Chambers

GOD OF WONDERS By: Third Day

God of wonders , beyond our galaxy!

You Are Holy!

The universe declares your majesty!
Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth!
You are Holy! You are Holy!



Some of the photography is from the Science Channel / From inside the Milky Way .

--God You Reign! / Lincoln Brewster
YOU ARE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS!

Please watch the video as you listen to the words. All creation sings 'God You Reign'!
(There are some metal/steel guitars in case you need to be prepared for this.)

Forever and ever, God You Reign! The video (with Lyrics), is self-explanatory! Believe it!

-The Living Water
John 4:1-43

"Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
--(JOHN 4:14)

One of our world's greatest needs besides air is water. Without water there would be almost no food. Changes in our world over the centuries threaten the supply of water we depend on.

Devastating fires broke out on December 2, 2010 in the North of Israel. Some 40 people were killed, thousands of trees and other species were burned, and more than 15,000 people had to be evacuated. Some of you may know the terror of living through wildfires. In times like these, we feel how important water is not just for living, but also for surviving.

With water comes life; something even more than physical life is what Jesus offered the Samaritan woman then, and you and me today. She knew the importance of water, and when Jesus told her that He could give her living water which would leave her never thirsty, she wanted it.

The gift Jesus offers is far more than just water; it is the answer for our thirsty, searching souls. The living water is JESUS. Are you drinking up His endless goodness and mercy?
---
"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water."
--(Revelation 7:17)

--Haven Today

This youtube song is very pretty. It did not have a video. So please enjoy the words.
"You'll Never Thirst Again" ~~
<http://youtu.be/7tIGtmP4yBA>

Our Creator Provides All Our Needs and also Beautiful Nature!

-Go to the Ant
-Proverbs 6:6-8

"Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having no chief,
Officer or ruler,
Prepares her food in the summer
And gathers her provisions in the harvest."-

God is a masterful Creator. He has integrated many of His principles into the fabric of nature so that we can see His handiwork and learn of Him (Ps. 19:1-6). If you desire to acquire wisdom, do not neglect to look outdoors for His lessons.

Now, of course, the outdoors sometimes comes inside. If you've ever battled ants in your kitchen or pantry, wisdom probably isn't the first trait you would attribute to them—you probably would choose a description more like determination. But to the lazy person, God points out these tiny creatures as an example of wise living. Simply consider how many characteristics of the ant people would be smart to adopt: preparation, cooperation, perseverance, diligence, unity, and the list goes on. So interacting with righteous men isn't the only way to acquire wisdom. God also wants us to observe the lowly ant that He created to work in community.

There's much to learn from the created world. By directing attention to the birds, Jesus challenges His followers to consider the folly of anxiety (Matt. 6:26). Birds do not reap or gather grain but rather assume their food will be supplied as it always has been. The lesson in this observation of nature is that the Lord who provides for birds can be trusted to meet His people's needs as well.

Our quest for wisdom is to be rooted in Scripture and covered in prayer. But don't overlook the many lessons unfolding right outside the front door. Ask God for "eyes to see" (Mark 8:18). Then take every chance to grow in understanding so your capacity to live by His principles will be strengthened.

--In Touch / CREATOR KING/ Don Moen

- Heirs with Christ
-By: John D. Morris, Ph.D.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:16-17).

Modern-day humanists and unbelievers take great sport in belittling Christians, but despite their estimate, and even despite whatever humble view Christians may entertain of themselves, the fact remains that the Bible clearly declares believers to possess a position of preeminent standing and blessing.

Consider the wondrous fact that we as believers are "children of God." "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12). "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). We are His offspring, for "according to His abundant mercy [He] hath begotten us again" (I Peter 1:3). As His children, we even look like Him, in a spiritual sense, "partakers of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4), and His Fatherly love surrounds us.

Furthermore, we are the inheritors of all good things, just as a human child can expect to inherit from his or her human father. Christ is the Son of God, but He is also "the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). Our inheritance is nothing less than God Himself: all that He is and has is ours, and we will share it all with Christ, our elder brother. "The glory which thou [the Father] gavest me [Christ] I have given them [all believers]" (John 17:22).

This standing and privilege is ours, but we must not forget it is ours as a result of His doing, not our own worth, lest we become prideful. Nevertheless, it is ours. So let us believe it, accept it, and present it in such a way that others will want to share in it.

--ICR/JDM

-The Only True God
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (I Thessalonians 1:9).

There are “gods many, and lords many” (I Corinthians 8:5) in today’s world, just as there were in the ancient pagan world. In fact, the worship of many of these ancient deities is being revived in various dark corners of the so-called “New Age” movement today. Idol worship can also involve adulation of men and women—such as rock stars (witness the annual memorial service to Elvis Presley), professional athletes, and movie idols, not to mention the humanistic worship of such political/religious leaders as Lenin, Mao, Hitler, Khomeini, and an increasing assortment of gurus and false prophets.

There is, however, only one true God, the God who created all things. “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” (I Corinthians 8:6). The one thing all these false gods and false religions have in common is the denial of the true God and omnipotent Creator.

For such idolatry there is no legitimate excuse. “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one” (I Corinthians 8:4). A dead idol obviously can be of no use. The infallible test as to just who this “true” God may be is that His identity is confirmed as the only living God; therefore, He is the only true God. He died for our sins, yes, but now He lives forever as King of all His creation.

We, like the Thessalonians, should turn from all our idols “to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (vv.9,10). HMM

-A FULL LIFE

Deuteronomy 8:7-18
---
Of His fullness we
have all received,
and grace for grace.
--John 1:16

During the celebration of the Chinese New Year, it is customary to use certain words in print and conversation. One word is often used by itself. It is the word full, meaning "abundance of" and is used to wish someone material prosperity for the year ahead.

Moses told the Israelites about the wealth and prosperity in the land of Canaan before they entered it (Deut. 8:7-9). They would have everything they needed and more. But he warned them of the danger of forgetting that God, the One who had brought them out of Egypt and protected them along the way, had given them that abundance (v.11). Thus Moses commanded them, "you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth" (v.18).

"Wealth," of course, is not just material things. Everything you have is from God, our Creator. Our Lord Jesus told His disciples, "I have come that [you] may have life, and that [you] may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

We too may be tempted to forget that it's the Lord who has blessed us and has met our needs. Our lives will be full, abundant, and satisfying only when we are connected to Jesus Christ. ~~

You only are true Life,
To know You is to live
The more abundant life
That earth can never give.
---
-Never let the abundance of God's gifts
cause you to forget the Giver.

-ODB/CPH

-Knowing the Heart of God
-1 Corinthians 13:11-13-(Recommended Reading)

Most people long to be understood. We may have many acquaintances, but we all have a deep need to feel truly known by those we love most. This is because we were created in God's image--He also desires to be intimately understood and loved by us.

Just as you don't want to be known for only the superficial details of who you appear to be, it's not enough to know about the Lord. He wants us to learn how He thinks and feels, what's important to Him, and what His purposes are. Of course, it's impossible for man to completely know the mind of the Creator of the universe. In Isaiah 55:9, He tells us, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." The depth and breadth of His mind is so great we will never be able to fully grasp it in this lifetime.

However, we can better understand God's heart and character by seeking Him and learning day by day from His Word. If we genuinely desire to walk in His ways, we must first genuinely know Him. We come to know our friends better by sharing more experiences together. Similarly, we will also understand God better the longer we walk with Him and meditate on what He has revealed about Himself in the Bible.

God wants you to seek Him with all your heart, and He promises that when you do, you will find Him (Jer. 29:13). So, the next time you're feeling a need to be better understood, turn to the One who understands you and created you . Even more importantly, ask Him to help you know Him better.

--In Touch

--JESUS: Our Hope and Comfort ~

Jesus is presented with a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. Perhaps he stammered. Maybe he spoke with a lisp. Perhaps, because of his deafness, he never learned to articulate words properly.

Jesus, refusing to exploit the situation, took the man aside. He looked him in the face. Knowing it would be useless to talk, He explained what He was about to do through gestures. He spat and touched the man's tongue, telling him that whatever restricted his speech was about to be removed. He touched his ears. They, for the first time, were about to hear.

But before the man said a word or heard a sound, Jesus did something I never would have anticipated.

He sighed....

No doubt you've done your share of sighing.

If you have teenagers, you've probably sighed. If you've tried to resist temptation, you've probably sighed. If you've had your motives questioned or your best acts of love rejected, you have been forced to take a deep breath and let escape a painful sigh...

All these sighs come from the same anxiety; a recognition of pain that was never intended, or of hope deferred.

Man was not created to be separated from his Creator; hence he sighs, longing for home. The creation was never intended to be inhabited by evil; hence she signs, yearning for the Garden...

And when Jesus looked into the eyes of Satan's victim, the only appropriate thing to do was sigh. "It was never intended to be this way," the sigh said. "Your ears weren't made to be deaf, your tongue wasn't made to stumble." The imbalance of it all caused the Master to languish.

So, I found a place for the word sigh. You might think it strange, but I placed it beside the word comfort, for in an indirect way, God's pain is our comfort.

And in the agony of Jesus lies our hope. Had He not sighed, had He not felt the burden for what was not intended, we would be in a pitiful condition. Had He simply chalked it all up to the inevitable or washed His hands of the whole stinking mess, what hope would we have?

But He didn't. That holy sigh assures us that God still groans for His people. He groans for the day when all sighs will cease, when what was intended to be will be. ~~

-From: "God Came Near"
-By: Max Lucado ~

-JESUS' LAST WORDS ON THE CROSS
-By: Max Lucado

The hill is quiet now. Not still but quiet. For the first time all day there is no noise. The clamor began to subside when the darkness—that puzzling midday darkness—fell. Like water douses a fire, the shadows doused the ridicule. No more taunts. No more jokes. No more jesting. And, in time, no more mockers. One by one the onlookers turned and began the descent.

That is, all the onlookers except you and me. We did not leave. We came to learn. And so we lingered in the semidarkness and listened. We listened to the soldiers cursing, the passersby questioning, and the women weeping. But most of all, we listened to the trio of dying men groaning. Hoarse, guttural, thirsty groans. They groaned with each rolling of the head and each pivot of the legs.

But as the minutes became hours, these groans diminished. The three seemed dead. Were it not for the belabored breathing, you would have thought they were.

Then he screamed. As if someone had yanked his hair, the back of his head slammed against the sign that bore his name, and he screamed. Like a dagger cuts the curtain, his scream cut the dark. Standing as straight as the nails would permit, he cried as one calling for a lost friend, “Eloi!”

His voice was raspy, scratchy. Reflections of the torch flame danced in his wide eyes. “My God!”

Ignoring the volcano of erupting pain, he pushed upward until his shoulders were higher than his nailed hands. “Why have you forsaken me?”

The soldiers stared. The weeping of the women ceased. One of the Pharisees sneered sarcastically, “He’s calling Elijah.”

No one laughed.

He’d shouted a question to the heavens, and you half expected heaven to shout one in return.

And apparently it did. For the face of Jesus softened, and an afternoon dawn broke as he spoke a final time. “It is finished. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

As he gave his final breath, the earth gave a sudden stir. A rock rolled, and a soldier stumbled. Then, as suddenly as the silence was broken, the silence returned.

And now all is quiet. The mocking has ceased. There is no one to mock.

The soldiers are busy with the business of cleaning up the dead. Two men have come. Dressed well and meaning well, they are given the body of Jesus.

_________________________________
From He Chose the Nails: What God Did To Win Your Heart
-By: Max Lucado

-Did He Really Die?
-By: John D. Morris, Ph.D.

"And Pilate marvelled if He were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether He had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph" (Mark 15:44-45).

The absolute and total physical death of Christ is essential to the gospel. Certain liberals and detractors have for years tried to obscure or deny this vital teaching, claiming that Christ merely "swooned" on the cross and later revived in the tomb, then appeared to His followers who falsely claimed His resurrection.

But to the Christian, the death of Christ is not an option. The Bible teaches that sin had separated each man from God, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," being declared righteous only "through faith in His blood" (Romans 3:23,25) which was shed on the cross. "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22) of sin. There can be no Christianity without the real death of the real, sinless, Son of God.

It seems that the gospel writers, in recounting the events of the crucifixion, go to great lengths to make sure no one misunderstands. In Mark 15, for example, nearly 20 people are mentioned who no doubt would testify to His death. Consider the likely testimony of the Roman guards who had tortured Him to the point of death (vv.15-23), nailed Him on the cross (v.24), and watched Him die. The executioner (v.25) and the centurion (vv.39,44,45) were trained in killing. They knew how to recognize death. The thieves (v.27), the mocking passers-by (v.29), the chief priests and scribes (v.31), the grave keepers (v.46), all would have had no doubt. Pilate was convinced (vv.44-45) as were His many friends who watched (vv.40,41,47).

There can be no doubt Christ surely died, and He died "to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

--ICR/JDM

-Why Did Christ Die?
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3,4).

This passage is often considered the defining passage of the gospel, stating the great truth that Christ died for our sins, then was buried (thus stressing that His resurrection was a physical resurrection, not just spiritual), and then rose again. As such, it is interesting that verse 1 which introduces it (“I declare unto you the gospel”) contains the central mention of the more than 100 times the Greek word for “gospel” occurs in the New Testament.

However, it does not say why Christ died for our sins. It was not just to pay for our salvation and make us happy. There are, in fact, numerous references to His substitutionary death which do give us further insight into just why Christ died for us and our salvation.

For example, “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (II Corinthians 5:15). And consider Galatians 1:4 in which Paul tells us that Christ “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world.”

Peter’s testimony and explanation was that the Lord Jesus “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (I Peter 2:24). John said: “[God] loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (I John 4:10,11).

There are many other verses to the same affect. Christ did not die merely to save our souls, but to empower us to live in a way that would glorify God right here on Earth.

-ICR/HMM

-The Best Proved Fact in History!
-The Resurrection of Christ-

-The Best Proved Fact in History!

-Please be sure to read this lengthy article at your convenience!
This is from the Institute for Creation Research:
The Resurrection Of Christ (http://www.icr.org/ChristResurrection/)

-A NEW VIEW
OF CHANGE

-John 10:7-18
---
I am the good
shepherd; and
I know My sheep.
---
People hate change, or so I hear. But the change we generally resist is the kind that we think will make our situation worse rather than better. It's really not change in general that we hate; it's change that involves loss--physical, emotional, or psychological.

Change is both inevitable and necessary. If everything stays the same, no one is growing. But we have a Good Shepherd, Jesus, who guides us through change and leads us to a better place. Getting there may be difficult, as it was for the Israelites in reaching the Promised Land.

But we have the example of Jesus. In less than a week, He went from being the leader of many to being abandoned by all. Between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the Good Shepherd became the Passover Lamb. Because Christ willingly went through suffering, God elevated Him to the highest place (John 10:11; Phil 2:8-9).

Not all change is pleasant, but when we're being led to a better place by Someone who loves us unconditionally, we don't need to fear it. JESUS IS ALIVE! He is always with us. He conquered death, so that we might live with Him eternally. Praise His Holy Name!
----
Faith in Christ will keep us steady in the stormy sea of change.

"Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2) JESUS IS ALIVE RIGHT NOW! Keep your eyes on JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our faith!

--ODB/JAL
(Please be sure to take the time and read the post right before this one. "The Best Proved Fact in History! The Resurrection of Christ!" Have a blessed Easter, Resurrection Day!)
<http://youtu.be/1gKsPMR00_Y> Another beautiful song unto our Lord Jesus!/ JESUS WON IT ALL!!

-The Godhead
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

The term “Godhead” occurs three times in the King James translation. Each time it translates a slightly different Greek noun, all being slight modifications of the Greek word for “God” (theos, from which we derive such English words as “theology”). It essentially means the nature, or “structure” of God, as He has revealed Himself in His word.

The first occurrence is in Acts 17:29: “We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” Men have been guilty throughout the ages of trying to “model” the Godhead, but this leads quickly to idolatry, whether that model is a graven image of stone or a philosophical construct of the mind.

What man cannot do, however, God has done, in the very structure of His creation. “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). His tri-universe (space, matter, and time, with each component unique in definition and function, yet permeating and comprising the whole) perfectly “models” His tri-une nature (Father, Son, Holy Spirit—each distinct, yet each the whole).

This analogy can be carried much further, for this remarkable tri-unity pervades all reality. The tri-universe is not God (that would be pantheism), but it does clearly reflect and reveal the tri-une nature of His Godhead.

The last occurrence of the word is in our text. Although we cannot see the Godhead in its fullness, that fullness does dwell eternally in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that God is, is manifest in Him. “And ye are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10). -IC/HMM

-YOU'RE THE FATHER OF CREATION!
Glory to the King of kings, Jesus the Christ!

-It's All About JESUS!
-Psalm 141

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross...and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb.12:2)

We find it easy to look everywhere around Him, but not right at Jesus. The author of Hebrews addresses this issue when he writes, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." He knew we are like children with short attention spans who need to keep our spiritual eyes looking at the One who knows best.

From the beginning of humanity our story has been about sin, separation and death, while God's story has been about forgiveness, restoration and life. Though He has been fully committed to drawing us back into an intimate relationship with Him, we have remained distracted by sin. How does that change? We deliberately "look into His eyes," not beside, behind, above or below. Then, when God speaks, we will be listening.
---
It's amazing how our spiritual hearing improves as we sharpen our eyesight by reading God's Word!

--Haven Today

-ORDINARY
-VERSUS
-EXTRAORDINARY~

Romans 8:12-26
---
-You received the
Spirit of adoption by
whom we cry out,
"Abba, Father."
--Romans 8:15
----
For those who follow Jesus Christ, it is a mistake to view the remarkable as ordinary. Think about prayer for instance. At any moment we can talk to Creator God who spoke the universe into existence! Not only are we welcomed into His presence, but we are invited to enter boldly: "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

There is nothing ordinary about access to God--yet sometimes we take this privilege for granted. He is Almighty God, but He is also our Father who loves us and allows us to call on Him at any moment of any day.
Now that's extraordinary!

Our prayers ascend to heaven's throne
Regardless of the form we use;
Our Father always hears His own
Regardless of the words we choose.
----
-God is always available to hear
the prayers of His children. ~

--ODB/BC

-The Resurrection and the Origin of Life
-By: John D. Morris, Ph.D.
---
At Easter time we focus on the cardinal Christian doctrine of the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, Christianity is a sham. The truth that Jesus Christ rose from the dead sets Christianity apart from all religious systems.

Many of the world’s religions look back to the martyrdom of their leader/founder. None but Christianity look back to an empty tomb which once contained His body. Only in Christianity has the slain martyr risen from the grave.

Furthermore, in Christianity, Jesus Christ had specifically come to die, to pay the penalty of death which He did not owe. He had predicted His death, submitted to its brutality, and even dismissed His Spirit when all had been done. But He had also predicted His Resurrection, and after three days, replaced His Spirit back into His broken body, and it revived. Now, He ever lives and offers eternal life to those for whom He died.

In today’s secular religion of naturalistic evolution, no resurrection from the dead is possible. Only once, they say, did lifeless chemicals spring to life, eventually descending into us all. But even they recognize that the spontaneous generation of life is “impossible,” and has been disproved, yet they still believe it. It takes a Creator to have life.

In Christianity the Creator is identified as Jesus Christ. The very same One who died on the cross created life in the first place. Thus, only He had the power and authority to again take up His life.

The mighty Creator, perfect sacrifice, and risen Lord is recognized in Christianity as the very Son of God. He willingly set aside aspects of His glory, took upon Himself the form of created man, died to pay sinful man's death penalty, and won total victory over the sin and death which had temporarily twisted His “very good” creation.

Thus the resurrection sets Christianity apart from all non-Christian religions. The fact that the resurrected One is the Creator God Himself sets Christianity apart from pseudo-Christian cults which deny His deity. This conundrum often culminates in a climactic clash where the Christian is forced to choose between re-interpreting Genesis (based on man’s current interpretation of science), or re-examining proclamations of mainstream scientists (based on the plain teaching of Genesis).

There is perhaps no greater threat to the veracity of Scripture than the modern-day conventional science claims that the earth is billions of years old. Once a Christian caves into this notion, it forces him or her to radically transform the plain narrative of the creation week into esoteric poetry, myth, or fiction. The “slide down the slippery slope” is then set in motion as “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20) pull the Christian from faith in God’s inerrant Word to a sole reliance on man’s latest interpretation of science. In too many cases, it leads to a tragic abandonment of the Christian faith.

ICR remains unabashedly committed to revering Scripture as the final authority for truth. To the extent that God allows us to continue discovering scientific evidence that lines up with His Word, we will endeavor to provide faith-strengthening resources to equip God’s saints and bring glory to His name!
-------------
--JESUS IS LORD AND SAVIOR! He will soon return as King of kings and Lord of lord, to reclaim His Church (the body of Christ). If you do not know Him on a personal basis, please read the Gospel of JOHN in the New Testament Bible. Seek out a Bible believing Church to be taught the truth of God's Holy Word. Jesus loves you and wants you to live with Him eternally one day, maybe soon. ~~

-An Excruciating Truth
-John 19:16-42

"Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified..."
--(John 19:16)

IT was a time in history like many others; a seemingly innocent man falsely accused, condemned in a mock trial and convicted to death for His radical claims. He was tortured, whipped and thrust naked upon a cross with stakes piercing His arms and feet, then left to suffer one of the most excruciating and inhumane forms of death penalty the world has ever known. Hundreds watched. Many ridiculed Him. Some despaired.

The long, painful death wreaked havoc on His body, His muscles, His whole body, adding unimaginable distress on His wrists and feet. Eventually, He could no longer hold up from the pressure as He took His final breath. The sky darkened; the agony accelerated. His body collapsed. His heart stopped. And when there was no life left in Him--just to add a final misery--some thug grabbed a spear and pierced His ribs. Finally, the bloody, bruised corpse was removed from the tree and left in a tomb.

Jesus was dead. And it was the strangest bit of good news the world has ever known.

--Haven Today / "Arise, My Love"

-The Necessity of the Cross
-Colossians 2:13-15 (recommended reading)

What does the cross mean to you? Many people in the world today view it as a symbol of Christianity, but stop and think about what it represented in Christ's day. Nobody wore a miniature cross around the neck or displayed one in a place of worship. The cross was a torturous means of execution, and the mere thought of it was repulsive.

Yet believers throughout the ages have chosen this as the sign of their faith. In fact, to remove the cross from our teaching and theology would leave nothing but an empty, powerless religion. The subjects of death, blood, and sacrifice have become unpopular in many churches because they're unpleasant and uncomfortable topics. We'd prefer to hear about the love of God, not the suffering of Jesus.

But let me ask you this: How could anyone be saved if Christ had not been crucified? Some people think all you have to do to receive God's forgiveness is ask Him for it. But a sinner's request can never be the basis for His forgiveness. He would cease to be holy and just if no penalty was imposed for sin. According to Scripture, there can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22). Christ had to bear the punishment for our sin in order for God to grant us forgiveness.

Every time you see a cross, remember what it really was--an instrument of execution. Then thank Jesus that He was willing to be crucified so the Father could forgive you of sin. Though the scene of your redemption was horrendous, Christ turned the cross into a place of great triumph.

--In Touch

-The Broken Precedent
-John 19:31-42

"At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid."
--(John 19:41)

What those near Christ's execution didn't realize was that this death was hardly the end of the story. It certainly looked that way by human terms. Everyone knew that when a human heart stopped beating he was gone. He'd no longer talk, think or love. His soul might live somewhere; his memory would stay with those he left behind. But dead meant life was over.

This young man from Galilee was certainly dead. They'd seen Him murdered. A few friends stood close enough to watch the body dropped from the tree and carried to a grave. The next days' grief and fear must have paralyzed them. A few of them--women to be specific--pulled themselves together enough to go to the lifeless body to prepare it for proper burial.

Yet, that morning they got a hint that the story hadn't ended at all. If anything, it was now,-in an unexplainable way,-just beginning. Not just as a page to another chapter either, but to an entirely new reality. For these first witnesses and for us today, that meant hope had come to life!
---
Paul writes that if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, our faith is useless. How can Christ's resurrection affect your faith today?

--Haven Today / I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!(John 11:25)

-Where the Battle Is Won
-Matthew 26:36-56 (recommended reading)

If you want to experience victory in the conflicts you face, consider how Jesus fought and won His battles. The pivotal battle of His life was fought even before He arrived at the cross. Praying at Gethsemane , He wrestled with the knowledge that He would bear the terrible weight of sin and endure spiritual separation from the Father.

In His special place of prayer, Jesus got alone on His face before the Father and cried out. And when He left that garden, He walked out a victor over Satan, whose sway over mankind was about to be broken on the cross . Jesus would still drink the cup of suffering and separation, but He knew that in the end, He would triumph (Heb. 12:2). That's why He could face His opponents with courage and authority. When Jesus went to confront the arresting party, He was in full control of the situation, so much so that the Pharisees and soldiers "drew back and fell to the ground" (John 18:6). He allowed them to arrest Him, determined to do His Father's perfect will.

If you're in the habit of regularly spending time alone with God, you will come to know His heart and mind. Then, when you encounter major decisions with lifelong consequences, you'll be able to discern the guidance He offers through His Spirit.

When you fully surrender, you place the consequences of your decision into the hands of an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God who holds the past, present, and future. Even when you face staggering trials, you can do so with courage and power that will glorify God and shame the Enemy.

--In Touch
-------
-JESUS IS ALIVE! He conquered death by dying on the cross. If you haven't already invited Him to be Lord and Savior of your life, please do so now. Simply, repent of your sins, Confess that you have lived a selfish life away from God, believe that by Jesus dying on the cross, He has already paid your sin's debt! Now, confess Him as Lord of your life. And tell others of the decision you have made. (Romans 10:9-10)Go to a Bible believing Church and be sure to read your Bible, the Lord talks to us through His Word. If you cannot go out to a Chruch, watch a Christian Program on TV.
One of my favorites is <www.trbc.org> Thomas Road Baptist Church ~

-Ancient Times
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

"I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times" (Psalm 77:5).

The Bible provides for us a fascinating perspective on the passage of time. Three thousand years ago, the psalmist was reflecting on God's ways in even earlier times and was seeking to understand God's ways in his time. Each new generation seems to think that it is the "new wave," leading the world out of its past darkness into a new age of enlightenment.

There is need for scientific research, of course (in fact, this is implied in the "dominion mandate" of Genesis 1:26-28), but we need to keep in mind that true science is really "thinking God's thoughts after Him." The results of our scientific "discoveries" should always be to glorify the Creator and to draw men closer to Him, not lead them away from Him.

The same is true of history. We are merely the children of ancient patriarchs, and our moral natures are the same as theirs, all contaminated by inherent sinfulness and the need for divine salvation. God dealt with them as He does with us, so that every later generation needs to study and learn from the generations of ancient times and from God's inspired histories of them in the earliest books of the Bible -- especially Genesis, as well as Exodus, Job, and other ancient books. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

God is the same today as He was in Eden, on Mount Ararat, in Babel, and Canaan, and Sinai, and Calvary. "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:1-2). (HMM)

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
--(Hebrews 13:8)

-When God Engraved Your Name
----
A person doesn’t have to be a golf fan to empathize with Adam Scott. With four holes to go he had a four shot lead in the British Open. Four shots! Par the final quartet of holes and the trophy was his. Might as well have told him to chew gum. He could par these holes in his sleep. Everyone knew the tournament was his. A craftsman in a nearby workshop began sketching the name Adam Scott on the winner’s medal.

But disaster struck. Missed putts. Wayward shots. The next thing he knew, he was scrambling to make a ten-foot putt to force a playoff. He missed it. “Wow,” he mouthed, chin trembling.

The most poignant moment of the collapse might have been the camera shot of the engraver as he was given the news. He stopped his work and, gulp, erased Adam Scott’s name from the first place medal.

Viewers offered a collective groan.

Many Christians can relate. We fear the same will happen to us. We fear the fatal stumble, the ultimate collapse. Might we fall so utterly that God will erase our name?

-No, he won’t.

Jesus couldn’t be more emphatic. “And I shall give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages. [To all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed.] And no one is able to snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28 AMP).

Jesus promised a new life that cannot be forfeited or terminated. “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned: he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24 NIV).

Unlike the medal engraver, Jesus has an eternal perspective. He knew every step of your life before you took the first one. He saw the bogies and the birdies, the strong days and bad ones. He made His choice. When you said “yes” to him, he entered your name into the eternal populace of heaven. Your name is “engraved on the palms of his hands.” (Is.49:16 )

Finish well. But, if you stumble along the way, don’t worry, Jesus doesn’t use an eraser.
--Max Lucado

-JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! The Creator of all things visible and invisible. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever!
--(Hebrews 13:8)
---
--"God Ain't Finished With You Yet"

"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator." -Colossians 3:9-10

--I heard about a Sunday school teacher who was teaching a class of seventh grade boys. He was teaching on creation one morning, and there was one boy who was cutting up quite a bit. So the teacher finally became irritated with him and asked the boy, "Who made you?"

The boy replied, "God did!" And that teacher said, "Well, you sure aren't acting like it!" So the boy said, "Well, God ain't finished with me yet!"

While that's a funny story, there's quite a bit of truth in it, isn't there? If you and I are honest, neither of us lives perfect lives. That's because while God is working in us to renew us in His image, He's not done with us yet!

In Christ, you and I have put on our new self. The Scripture says that "Our old self was crucified with Christ" (Romans 6:6). This was done so that the sin in our lives might be nullified and we'd no longer have to live under sin's dominion.

But while we're no longer slaves to sin, we still have a remnant of our old sin nature that stays behind in our flesh. And because of that, we live in a lifelong struggle as God renews us every day.

There will come a day when we'll shed these earthly bodies and our struggle will be over. But until that day, remember that through every trial of sin, God ain't finished with you yet!

~While you are a new creation in Christ, sin is still a struggle. But remember the promise that, in Christ, God is renewing you into His image every day!

--Jack Graham

-Life--Light--Love
---
"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:3-5)

The apostle John, designated as "the other disciple, whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2), used the concept of agape love more than any other New Testament writer, even teaching that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Likewise, John tells us that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5), and he uses the concept of light (phos) more than any other writer.

In just the same way he uses the primary word for life (zoe) more than any other writer and discusses "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life" (1 John 1:1), identifying Christ as life and the Fountain of life.

Christ, of course, has existed "from the beginning" and is the Creator of physical life on earth (Colossians 1:16; Acts 17:28). But in a special way, He is "the life" (John 14:6), and, as we see in our text, "in Him was life," denoting salvation and eternal life based on His own atonement for sin.

Concerning light, Christ not only created physical light (Genesis 1:3) and later light sources (Genesis 1:14), but He is light, referring to revelation of the things of God to men, for His "life was the light of men."

But most of all, "God is love." The first time John mentions agape love, we are told that "God so loved the world," and that His free and undeserved love drove Him to give "his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "Herein is love . . . that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).
--ICR/JDM

-The Foundation of the Gospel

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) -

-The foundation of the gospel is God’s character and nature, a foundation laid right at the start of Scripture. Genesis 1 states most of God’s attributes implicitly or explicitly. For example:

(1) His freedom: "In the beginning God created" implies that, before the beginning of time, space, and man, only God was. No one was present to compel or instruct God to create; He did it of His own, un-influenced free will.

(2) His sovereignty, omnipotence, and rule: "God said . . . and it was so" (Genesis 1:9, 11, 24, etc.). We never find a verse that says "God said…and it failed." The entire universe obeys His commands.

(3) His omniscience: Before the universe was created, it existed only in His mind--He knows all things!

(4) His omnipresence: Since God created space and time, He is not bound by it.

(5) His transcendent holiness: Is there any being or substance with these attributes? Our God is far above and distinct from His creation!

(6) His goodness: "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good"--a comforting thought for children of this absolute, sovereign Monarch. Thus, Genesis 1 eminently displays the glory of God.

What does His nature have to do with the gospel? Consider that the only logical responses of created beings to this glorious God are to glorify Him as the God that He is and to give Him thanks for His goodness and creation. Our inborn failure to do this (Romans 1:21) earns us just punishment--the eternal wrath of the glorious God (Romans 1:18).

Only by hiding behind the sacrifice of the obedient Christ are rebels like us saved from the holy wrath of the transcendent Creator.
-ICR/ NTJ

-Judgment in the Fabric of the Universe

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2)

Why did God make the earth with a "deep"?

According to Scripture, God divided the deep--"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters" (Genesis 1:6). He then gathered the waters under the firmament in one placeGod --"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear" (Genesis 1:9). God flooded the land with these gathered waters as an act of judgment--"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life . . . were all the fountains of the great deep broken up" (Genesis 7:11). Thus, when God created our universe, He wove into its very fabric the means of judgment.

Is it right to connect these events consequentially? Yes, the apostle Peter did: "By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Peter 3:5-6). Thus, the New Testament testified to God's plan (from creation) to judge sin.

The "deep" attests not only to God's justice, but also to His mercy: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea" (Revelation 21:1). "No more sea" implies no more judgment. Thus, in the universe to come, God deliberately omits from its fabric the means of judgment.

Why? "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Christ has taken away our sin--and the reason for our judgment. What glorious truth!
--ICR/NTJ

-Stand Fast

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth . . . . For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:6, 9)

Many is the modern-day evangelical who has attempted to harmonize the plain sense of the Scriptures with big bang cosmogony, concepts of stellar evolution, and a uniformitarian framework for earth history. This exercise seldom results in a tempering of secular thought, but rather in a compromising reinterpretation of Scripture, making it say something it clearly does not say.

The Bible says that "the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Hebrews 11:3), that all things which now exist were simply called into existence at God's spoken command.

Creation was a true miracle. It was not (as some insist) merely a godly oversight of cosmic processes acting on eternal matter, nor was it the gradual appearance and disappearance of matter in a steady-state transformation. Only a poor regard for Scripture, coupled with an overly high regard for current stronomical theory, could interpret Hebrews 11:3 as the explosion of a tiny, super dense "cosmic egg" (that did not "appear," i.e., too small to see), itself the result of a "quantum fluctuation in a vacuum" in a big bang which produced the entire universe.

Rather, as implied in the formula, "Let there be . . . and there was" repeated many times in Genesis 1, and as described in our text and elsewhere, all things derive simply from His spoken word.

Our response should not be to disbelieve and twist, but to believe and praise.
"Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him" (Psalm 33:8).
--ICR/JDM

--Adopted by God~

"The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:16) NASB.

-WHEN we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, He also adopts us. Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. Here is how it happens. You come before the Judgment Seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of His justice He cannot dismiss your sin, but because of His love He cannot dismiss you. So, in an act which stunned the Heavens, He punished Himself on the Cross for your sins.

God's justice and love are equally honored. And you, God's creation, are forgiven. But the story doesn't end with God's forgiveness...

It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but He does more. He gives you His name.

--The Great House of God/ML/ MY REDEEMER LIVES!
<http://youtu.be/wH0Mc7zn4vc>
---------

--THE NAME~~
-[READ: Matthew 1:18-25]

~~WHAT is it about a name that makes it so special to us? I began thinking about this after talking to a teenager as we stood outside her church in Black River, Jamaica, one Sunday morning. She asked "Would you mention my name in 'Our Daily Bread?'" I asked her if she had a story to tell, and she said, "No, just mention my name."

As I thought about her request--and her name--I wondered why her parents named her "Joyeth." Seeing the happy nature of her personality led me to conclude that if their rationale was to urge her along toward "joy" in her life, they had succeeded.

Most parents have that choice when a new baby is coming. But one baby received His name in a far different way. It wasn't His parents' choice that led to His moniker, and His wasn't a name give to coax Him toward a personality trait. I'm speaking of the One whose name was provided by an angel who told His parents to "call His name Jesus" (Mathew 1:21). Why? "For He will save His people from their sins."

No wonder His is the name above all names (Philippians 2:9). It's a name that reveals His purpose--to provide salvation from the penalty of our sins. Jesus is indeed the Name worth mentioning. ~~~

-'The name above all other names
Is Jesus Christ the Lord;
He came to save us from our sins
So we could be restored.'
----
--JESUS: HIS NAME AND HIS MISSION ARE ONE AND THE SAME.~

--ODB/Devotional Collection-DB=/He's As Close as the Mention Of His Name / By: Janet Paschal
<http://youtu.be/zNueeXnwlN4>
-------------

---To the Praise of His Glory

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Theologians of great ability and unquestioned sincerity have argued the meaning of predestination for centuries. Since the question involves the eternal, inscrutable counsels of the infinite Creator, it is evidently impossible for finite humans to comprehend its full meaning. But we don’t have to understand it before we can rejoice in its truth. The Scriptures (especially our text) teach that the purpose of God’s predestinating work is that we might glorify Him and His amazing grace! We have been predestinated to become adopted sons of God, “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”

Then it is said that we have been predestinated to a great inheritance, in order “that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ” (v. 12). We have been “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” and, again, this is all “unto the praise of his glory” (vv. 13-14).

Note also that He has “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (v. 5). “We have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (v. 11). We have also been predestinated “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29)—predestinated unto eternal holiness, sonship, heirship, and Christlikeness! Surely such gifts are cause enough for us to praise eternally the glory of His grace.

That is, indeed, what we shall do in the ages to come. “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21). And since we are to be testifying to the praise of the glory of His grace throughout all ages, it behooves us to do so now as well.
--ICR/HMM
<http://youtu.be/Jbe7OruLk8I>
----------------

--THE LAST
-CHAPTER ~~

-Revelation 22:6-20
------
'Let your gentleness
be known to all men.
The Lord is at hand.'
---Philippians 4:5
------
-I HAVE a friend who reads the last chapter first when she starts a new thriller. "Takes the anxiety out of reading," she claims. So with Christians: Because we know the end of the story, we can be centers of peace in the midst of utter chaos, calm in the face of disaster.

The apostle Paul calls this attitude "moderation" in Philippians 4:5 (KJV). It's a term that implies "peace under pressure." It refers to the calm and deliberate strength with which we meet the disquieting circumstances of our days. Kingdoms may fall, friends may falter, churches may fold, oceans may rise, and mountains may crumble, but we can be at peace.

How do we maintain such composure? By remembering that "the Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:5); He is near. Our Lord is standing just outside the door ready to burst through and turn everything that's wrong right-side-up. Then this world and all its troubles will become the kingdom of our Lord, and "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab 2:14).

-Jesus said, "Surely I am coming quickly" (Rev. 22:20). Today could be the day! It's the very last thing He said in the very last chapter of His book!
------------
-No doctrine is more closely linked to practical daily living than that of the Lord's return./ 'You Are Here'~~

--ODB/DR
<http://youtu.be/FCYD6Kp1YSw>
--------

----The God to Whom We Pray
--Nehemiah 1

-What’s your view of the Lord? Do you see Him as the One who can handle all the challenges you bring before Him? Nehemiah knew God in this way.. Upon hearing about Jerusalem’s destruction, he mourned, fasted, and prayed for intervention. His supplication (Neh. 1:5-11) offers a glimpse of how he viewed the Almighty.

First, the Hebrew term 'Yahweh' refers to One who is absolute in faithfulness. Next, the title 'Elohim' indicates infinite power and sovereignty over the universe. Finally, 'Adonai' means “ruler over all.” Nehemiah was bringing his request before the throne with full confidence in God.

And the Lord answered his prayer in a powerful, dramatic way. As cupbearer in the palace, Nehemiah tasted food and drink first to protect King Artaxerxes from possible poisoning. For a servant in this position, to look sad was very risky (2:1), yet the terrible news disheartened him.

So the Lord worked a miracle: when the king asked what was troubling his cupbearer, Nehemiah expressed concern for the Jewish people. Instead of punishing him, Artaxerxes let him go to rebuild whathad been destroyed, and even supplied the materials! God handled what seemed like an overwhelming, impossible burden for Nehemiah, and He can do the same for us.

Having the right view of the Lord will allow us to approach Him with absolute confidence. And we know that He will hear and answer our prayers (Ps. 86:7). Remember that He is absolute in faithfulness and infinite in power. Our heavenly Father is the ruler over all.

--IN TOUCH

--Good, Very Good, and Not Good

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
---------
Six times during the creation week, God saw His handiwork and pronounced it “good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Finally, when it was all finished, He surveyed all He had just completed and judged it all to be 'very' good!

That is the way with God. And if He can make a flawless universe, we can be confident He knows what He is doing with us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). What God does must be, by definition, good! We can affirm, therefore, with confidence (even though it must often be by faith rather than sight) that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

There is, of course, an important scientific principle also established by this verse: Whenever we see anything in the world which is 'not' good (e.g., sin, suffering, death), we can know that such things constitute an intrusion into God’s perfect creation. They were not “created” as a part of the primeval creation, nor will God allow them to continue their intrusion forever. They all eventually must be eliminated when God makes His “new earth.”

In the meantime, this principle tells us that the great sedimentary rocks of the earth’s crust, containing as they do the fossilized remains of billions of dead animals, plants, and people, must have all been formed sometime after the end of creation week. At least most of them must therefore have been formed at the time of the great Flood (Genesis 6–9) when “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:6).

Because of sin, the 'present world' is groaning in pain (Romans 8:22), but the first world was all “very good.”
--ICR/ HMM -/ AWESOME GOD --Michael Smith
<http://youtu.be/3b1iwLIMmRQ>
---------------

--Jesus Christ, the Son of God
--Read | John 20:30-31
"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." (NIV)

In today's verses, John wants us to know that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (v. 31). But why is it so important that we believe He is God's Son?

The most obvious reason is because our salvation, and therefore our eternal destiny, depends upon our faith in this truth. But after salvation, Christ's divine identity should continue to affect us.

For one thing, knowing the Son leads to a deeper understanding of the Father. Since Jesus is both God and man, He is uniquely qualified to provide us with such insight. As we study His life, the aspects of God's character and ways that are difficult for our human minds to grasp come to life through Christ's teaching and example.

He also shows us who we can become. The Lord is committed to transforming each of His followers into the likeness of His Son. Though we won't reach perfection in this life or ever attain Christ's divine attributes, His character can be worked out in us as we yield to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our example for godly attitudes, words, and actions.

Another way Christ affects us is by inspiring our gratitude. He left the glories of heaven in order to become our Savior, and when we recognize that sacrifice, we are filled with thankfulness and praise.

Let Jesus motivate you to live in purity. He abides within every believer through His indwelling Holy Spirit. That means selfish and sinful thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions have no place in our lives. Be mindful that He is always with you, and let Him direct your choices and purify your life.

--IN TOUCH-/ WONDERFUL MERCIFUL SAVIOR~~ (SELAH)
<http://youtu.be/FekKpKgq86k>
------------

---A Man Worthy of Our Praise
--Read | Matthew 8:23-27

In today’s reading from Matthew 8, the men who traveled with Jesus on a stormy night asked something that ought to make us sit up and take notice: “What kind of a man is this . . . ?” (v. 27). We would do well to ponder that same question. Then we’ll begin to see the big picture of who Jesus is.

The Lord and His disciples were making their way across the Sea of Galilee to the region of the Gadarenes. Then a powerful storm hit—imagine a violent wind causing such turbulence that waves were covering the deck of their wooden boat (v. 24). Even the experienced seamen on board were certain that their death was imminent.

But Jesus was sleeping. He was resting quietly during a storm so frightening that the writer chose the Greek word 'seismos' to describe it. (Our phrase “seismic activity,” which is used of earthquakes, comes from the same root.) What kind of man is this who can sleep while the boat heaves and pitches? The answer is, the One who created the seas and knows how a storm brews and what energy causes a wave to stay in motion. That’s the kind of man—a divine Being cloaked in humanity, who rebuked the winds and sea so that they became perfectly calm.

Scripture indicates that both the air and the water were instantly stilled. Such is the power of Jesus, the Creator and Lord over the universe. All the Bible stories about Him add to the big picture that He is the only man worthy of glory, honor, and praise (Dan. 7:13-14; Rev. 5:12).

--IN TOUCH~~

--He Is…(and always will be, "I AM")

--BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And God said unto Moses, I AM that I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14

--DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you ever noticed that the title God chose to describe Himself is an incomplete sentence? Now, most people would finish that sentence, “I am… [something].” But not our Lord. He purposefully did not complete the sentence “I AM.” He is. He always will be. He is eternally Jehovah God!

Are you hungry? He is the Bread (of life). Are you in the dark? He is the Light (your Guide). Are you searching? He is the Truth (He can not lie). Are you lost? He is the Way. Are you in need? He is your Shepherd. Our Lord Jesus tells us, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

--ACTION POINT:
What are you looking to God to meet today? Trust Him right now to meet you there. Ask, seek, and knock and He will answer you. He awaits your call.

--Adrian Rogers= / YOUR GREAT NAME! I AM=JESUS (Read Colossians 1:15-20)
<http://youtu.be/1gbBrlAVm20>
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--THE HANDS OF JESUS~~
--Luke 24:36-53

--"When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet." (Luke 24:40)~

Think of how many times in Scripture our attention is drawn to Jesus' hands. Who knows how many people were touched by them? Jesus took Jairus' deceased daughter "by the hand and said, 'My child, get up!' Her spirit returned, and at once she stoop up." To the man with leprosy,"Jesus reached out his hand and touched" him. Instantly he was clean! There were many more that were not even written down (see John 21:25). The touch of Jesus is life changing.

Of all the word pictures that come to mind with regard to hands, we most humbly open ours to hear the great pronouncement of our Lord too us? "See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands" (Isaiah 49:16).
----
-The people in your world will see the fingerprints of Christ in your life. Reach out, in Jesus Name and pray for others. If the Lord leads, lay hands on them. ~~
---/ "HE TOUCHED ME!"
<http://youtu.be/5m--ptwd_iI>
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---Be Very Careful in the Day and Age In Which We Live!
--Do Not allow the teachings of this day, hinder your walk with the Lord.
--Remember, "The Fool Hath Said in his heart there is no God!"

---Foolish Characteristics

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)

--The book of Proverbs has much to say about those whom the writer calls fools. Actually, about ten different Hebrew words are used in Proverbs that translate as “fools,” “foolishness,” etc., and such words occur almost 100 times in that one book. Assuming the human writer was Solomon (the ultimate writer was, of course, the Holy Spirit), it is noteworthy that the reputedly wisest man of all time had more to say about fools than did anyone else. At the same time, he used the words “wise,” “wisdom,” etc., at least 125 times!

Our text uses both, contrasting the self-satisfied fool with the wise who listen to good advice. Such contrasts are abundant in Solomon’s proverbs, and we would do well to take them to heart. Note a few of these “pithy maxims,” as men have called them.

“The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall” (Proverbs 10:8).

“It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom” (Proverbs 10:23).

“A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident” (Proverbs 14:16).

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise” (Proverbs 17:28).

“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards” (Proverbs 29:11).

“The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools” (Proverbs 3:35).

There are many more, of course, but the wise reader will profit even from these. Indeed a wise person will “hearkeneth” unto good counsel and thus some day “inherit glory.”
--ICR/ HMM
[Our Lord Jesus does NOT force himself on anyone. He give us each the 'choice' whether to follow him, or the enemy of our souls, Satan. Whose side are you on?]
"Choose this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."
Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)] /OCEANS ('Where Feet May Fail / 'Hillsong United
<http://youtu.be/xoZE2RsthRg>
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--- Exodus Chapter 3
-Please read 'Moses and the Burning Bush'

--In this awesome amazing adventure, we read of Moses' encounter with Almighty God, Jehovah Elohim, = The God above all gods. Jehovah Shamma= our God who is present.
Jehovah Yahweh, YHWH= Our loving covenant keeping God.

It is in EXODUS that the Lord reveals Himself to Moses in the Burning Bush. Please read this inspiring true biblical story.

God calls to Moses through a burning bush, that would never burn up. Why? Because God is 'I AM'. He has always been. Never a beginning in 'our time', and never an ending. He always will be.

Moses felt inadequate to be used by God. He said, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" God assured Moses that He would be with him. But Moses still still questioned God. "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?'"

-God said, "I AM WHO I AM.' (v.14)

Listen to this awesome song by Sharon Wilbur and Danny Gokey, from Paul Wilbur's Ministry, 'Great I AM'.
<https://youtu.be/VcGMUMjfZ74>

--JESUS CHRIST OUR CREATOR~~

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
---- (Colossians 1:16)

---Before one can really know Jesus Christ as Savior or Lord, he must acknowledge Him as offended and rejected Creator, because He was our Creator first of all. This is such an important doctrine of the New Testament that it is remarkable how rarely it is emphasized in modern evangelicalism.

Creation by Jesus Christ is the doctrine with which John begins his great gospel of salvation: “In the beginning was the Word, . . .. All things were made by him; . . . and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:1, 3, 10). It is the foundational message of the book of Hebrews: “God.. . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The apostle Paul said that he had been called specifically to preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:8-9). When a person becomes a believer in Christ, receiving His very life by the new birth, he is said to be “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10).

In the final book of the Bible, Jesus Christ is called “the beginning of the creation of God” (3:14). But of all the biblical passages identifying Jesus Christ as Creator, the most definitive of all is our text for today. Everything in heaven and Earth was created by Him, and for Him! “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

--ICR/ HMM~~
[Friends, no matter what, do not ever call Jesus 'a great man.' He was Creator of the entire universe. The Bible interprets itself. If you have missed it in here, THEN READ IT AGAIN, asking the Holy Spirit to.. 'OPEN MY SPIRITUAL EYES, JESUS, I WANT TO SEE YOU!' When you ask in all sincerity He will reveal Himself to you. The Bible contains the Word of Life= JESUS! -(please read: Colossians 1:9-18/ The Preeminence of Christ~)]/GOD OF THE AGES-CHARLES BILLINGSLEY~~https://<www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnM3lc-LyzY>

--JESUS CHRIST IS CREATOR /-EXTREME MAKEOVER IS UNDERWAY!

--BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
--(Romans 8:30)

--DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
--Dr. Scofield, who edited the Scofield Bible, says that “predestination is the effective exercise of the will of God by which things before determined by Him are brought to pass.” That is, God says He is determined to do something and then He does it. God’s wisdom is sovereign.

What did God predestinate? That those whom God foreknew will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, who is the Firstborn.

God had one Son and He said, “I want more just like Him.” And so God is redeeming a whole race of people, so that all these people might be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus.

If you are saved, you are predestined to be like Jesus. When God foreknew that you would receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then He said, “It is settled. You will one day be like My Son.”


--ACTION POINT:
--Thank God for what He has done and is going to do, in shaping you into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
--Adrian Rogers~~
[Friend, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, (Romans 10:9-10), then you are SAVED! Don't be fooled by people, even the enemy of our soul, Satan, who will tell you differently. God has adopted you! You can not lose your salvation. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."-(Romans 3:23)~
When you sin, claim 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify (cleanse) us from all unrighteousness." ]
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAp8d6nf_yw>

--KNOW YOUR GOD!

--(Please Read: 2 Peter 1:12-21)

--THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AND EVEN WITHIN THE CHURCH, we find a wide variety of beliefs about the Lord. To avid confusion and deception, we need to recognize that His Word is without error and that it reveals the truth and we need to understand about our amazing Triune God, the Trinity.

**THE INERRANCY OF THE BIBLE. / Unless a person has a firm belief in this doctrine, all of his or her ideas about the Lord will be subjective. Scripture is God's thoughts written without error by men who were governed by the Holy Spirit. Fulfilled prophecy is proof that this book is never wrong (Isaiah 48:3).

**AN ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD. / The Lord is one divine being expressed in three persons--Father Son, and Holy Spirit. They are equal in every way, but their jobs differ. Think of the Father as the initiator, the Son as the implementer, and the Spirit as the energizer. All three were involved in creation as well as the plan of salvation.

The Son, who existed eternity past, came to earth by being born of a virgin. He is the God-man, having added humanity to His deity. He lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death for our sins, rose bodily from the grave, and ascended to the Father in heaven.

The Holy Spirit is our power source. He indwells every believer in Christ, transforming character, revealing truth, and enabling obedience to God.

-Our Creator wants us to know Him. Isn't that amazing? He invites us to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him. Every day we have the privilege of opening His Word and speaking with our loving God. He's waiting for you....

--IN TOUCH~/ JESUS SON OF GOD-(Altar of Praise)-Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockles
---
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGFuqR5ontM#t=27>
---

--TIME MARCHES ONWARD....Soon to be CHRISTMAS, the day we celebrate Jesus' Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!--

----WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT~~

---Fifty years ago 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' was first broadcast on American television. Some network executives thought it would be ignored, while others worried that quoting the Bible would offend viewers. Some wanted its creator, Charles Schulz, to omit the Christmas story but Schulz insisted it stay in. The program was an immediate success and has been rebroadcast every year since 1965.

When Charlie Brown, the frustrated director of the children's Christmas play, is discouraged by the commercial spirit of the holiday season, he asks if anyone can tell him the real meaning of Christmas. Linus recites Luke 2:8-14 including the words, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (vv.11-14 KJV).
Then Linus says, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

During this season filled with our own doubts and dreams, it's good to ponder afresh God's great love expressed in the familiar story of Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, and the angels who announced the Savior's birth.
--That's what Christmas is all about. ~~

--GOD BROKE INTO HUMAN HISTORY TO OFFER US THE GIFT OF SALVATION! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
/ Glory in the Highest= Chris Tomlin~
--ODB/DM/<https://youtu.be/oadNGjIdu0w>
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oadNGjIdu0w>

--RESPECT YOUR BODY/
(If you are a Christian, then your body now belongs to Jesus Christ. God is watching!)

--God has a high regard for your body. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul calls our body the “temple” of God. Be careful how you feed it, use it, and maintain it. You wouldn’t want anyone trashing your home; God doesn’t want anyone trashing His. After all, it is His, isn’t it? A little jogging and dieting to the glory of God wouldn’t hurt most of us.

Your body, in some form, will last forever. God will glorify your body. He will remove all weakness and disease. Isn’t that great news? Your pain will not last forever. Is your heart weak? It will be strong in Heaven.

Has cancer corrupted your system? There is no cancer in Heaven. For a season, your soul will be in Heaven while your body is in the grave.
But the seed buried in the earth will blossom in Heaven. And you will be like Jesus!

--From: When Christ Comes/ML

--JESUS, Our Creator, UNDERSTANDS ~~

--"Because he himself
suffered when he was
tempted, he is able to
help those who are being
tempted." -(Hebrews 2:18)~
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-JESUS LIVED ON THIS earth for 33 years and shared in our humanity. He was made like us, "Fully human in every way" (HEB 2:17), so He knows what it's like to live in a human body on this earth. He understands the struggles we face and comes alongside with understanding and encouragement.

"Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (text) The Lord could have avoided the Cross. Instead, He obeyed His Father. Through His death, He broke the power of Satan and freed us from our fear of death (vv.14-15).

In every temptation, Jesus walks beside us to give us courage, strength, and hope along the way. Always remember, 'Jesus is as close as the mention of His Name.'

---JESUS UNDERSTANDS. ~~
[To understand more about Jesus' life while on earth, read HEBREWS. Hebrews Chapter 3 / 'Jesus Our High Priest.' -Chapter 4 / 'The Believer's Rest.'- Chapter 5 / 'The Perfect High Priest.' -Chapter 7/ 'Melchizedek's Priesthood Like Christ's'- Chapter 8/ 'A Better Ministry'. Chapter 9/ 'The Old and the New'. Chapter 10/ 'One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient.'-'The Triumphs of Christ'/ Chapter 11.

'Jesus, the Example' / Chapter 12. 'The Unshaken Kingdom'/ Chapter 12:25-29. 'The Changeless Christ'.

--Benediction~~/ Hebrews 13:20-21)

~~"NOW the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. ~ (HEBREWS~ Chapter 13/ verses 20-21~~~~ / 'No Other Name'~ Hillsong~
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<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CqaW8aR1A>

---My Burden is Light

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest … for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28, 30

I’ve heard it said so many times that it’s hard to be a Christian. Where did you get that? You didn’t get it out of the Word of God. It’s not hard to be a Christian.

Listen, the Bible says that “the way of the transgressor is hard” (Proverbs 13:15), but it’s not hard to be a Christian. I’m having a wonderful time serving the Lord Jesus.

You say, “You mean there’s no suffering?” There’s suffering in this world whether you’re saved or lost. You’re not going to get out unbent, unbloodied, or unbowed. But I want to tell you, there is joy in the Lord Jesus Christ; and Jesus is the One who makes the sufferings of this life worth it all.

If you are struggling and straining today to “lead the Christian life.” then something is out of whack. Jesus said, “I will give you rest.” Come to Him right now in humility and lay down the heavy burden.~~

--Adrian Rogers~
[Jesus never said He would deliver us 'from' pain and trouble, BUT He did say 'I will carry you through it.' Keep your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. -/ SEE YOU AGAIN~ Charles Billingsley and Meredith Andrews ~
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<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PzbJVBIElo>

----JESUS IS GOD~~

--“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him . . . he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
----- (John 14:8-9)

Theologians have wrestled with the dual nature of the Lord Jesus since the beginning. On the one hand, there are those who deny or belittle His humanity, and on the other hand, there are those who deny His deity. Both natures are completely true: Jesus is fully human and fully God.

The prophets identified the coming Messiah as fully God. Isaiah 9:6 is the “naming” prophecy that specifies that the Messiah would be called “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 7:14 specifies that “the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Matthew quotes that passage and translates the Hebrew word Immanuel as “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

**The Scriptures abound with this teaching.

***He is called the only begotten (John 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:9).
***He is called the Son of God (John 3:18; 5:25; 9:35; 11:4).

***He is recognized as eternal (John 17:5, 24; Colossians 1:15; Micah 5:2).
***He has the power of life in Himself (Romans 1:4; John 10:17-18; Colossians 1:18; Acts 13:32-33).

**He is given the inheritance of God (Hebrews 1:2; 3:4, 6).
**He performed the works of God (John 10:36-38).
Even the demons and Satan recognize Christ as God (Luke 4:41; Matthew 4:3, 6).

---(ICR/HMM III)

-[Where some people often miss the truths in these 'God-inspired words' (2 Timothy 3:16), are when we try to figure them out. "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" -(Romans 11:33)

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts." -(ISAIAH 55:8,9)]

--OUR ROCK OF SALVATION~~ = JESUS CHRIST ~~

“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Here in the song of Moses, which God instructed him to write for the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land (note Deuteronomy 31:19), is the first of at least 40 references in the Bible to God as the Rock. There are four others just in this song. In verse 15, He is the “Rock of [Israel’s] salvation.” In verse 18, He is “the Rock that begat thee.” See also verses 30 and 31.

Note some of the other wonderful metaphors picturing God as our great foundation stone. He is “my strong rock” in Psalm 31:2 and “the rock that is higher than I” in Psalm 61:2. In Psalm 62:7, He is “the rock of my strength” and “the rock of my refuge” in Psalm 94:22. Isaiah calls Him “a great rock in a weary land” and “the rock whence ye are hewn” (Isaiah 32:2; 51:1).

During the wilderness wanderings, the Israelites were supplied continually with water from the rock, and the apostle Paul tells us “that spiritual Rock that followed them . . . was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). And, of course, Christ told His disciples that Peter’s confession of Himself as the “Son of the living God” was the Rock upon which He would build His church (Matthew 16:16, 18).

But to unbelievers He is “the stone which the builders rejected” (Matthew 21:42), “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word” (1 Peter 2:8). “Therefore,” said Jesus, “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
[**---ICR/HMM--**]//'In Your Presence' that's where I am strong...... In your presence, oh Lord my God. In Your presence that's where I belong, seeking your face, touching your grace....in the cleft of the Rock. [Jesus is the Rock of my (our) salvation.]/By: Paul Wilbur~~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkfczjtUASo>
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--IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME~~
-(Please Read/ Galatians 4:4-5)

In eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit planned and created heaven and earth. Yet even before Adam breathed his first breath, the Lord knew sin would enter the world, causing mankind to be separated from Him. However, a plan for our redemption was already in place, and in the fullness of time, the Son of God came as a baby and lived on the earth.

The Lord doesn’t do anything haphazardly. Every plan of His is predetermined and meticulously carried out at just the right time. And this truth doesn’t apply to just the big events in human history. Since He has a specific plan for every believer, He works to accomplish His goals in each Christian’s life. He ordained the day of our birth, has complete knowledge of what each day will hold, and knows how long we’ll live on this earth. And just as He did when Christ was born, God will, in the fullness of time, execute each part of His will for your life and mine.

However, although His plans for us are good, the only way we’ll see His purposes fulfilled in our life is by submitting to Him. He’s promised to work all things for our good when we love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). God is sovereign, He has everything under control. Don't look at the problems in this world. Look past the problems to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

-Are you letting the Lord have His way in your life? Even when the need seems urgent, a person with a spirit yielded to God waits patiently for the heavenly Father’s plans to unfold at just the right time. The One with complete knowledge and wisdom knows what He’s doing. Wait for the fullness of His time.~~
**--IN TOUCH~~**--'Desert Song' / Hillsong United~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J60LUhJhPBo>
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--WHY ARE WE HERE? TO GIVE GOD GLORY!

Jesus said, "I will be found by you if you look for Me with all your heart."
---(Please Read/ JEREMIAH 29:11-14)
--Soon the Lord will return for us, His Bride, (the Church people) to take us to reign with Him forever.[/b] We must make sure we are ready. He could come at any time.
"Be ye always ready to meet the Lord, for no one knows the day or hour the Son of God will return." --(Matthew 24:42)
-----
--Revelation 1:18 (NIV®)
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Sometimes when we watch the news it’s easy to forget that as Christ-followers we have the certainty that one day Jesus Christ will be proclaimed Lord of all the earth. All authority is His. And the only resolution, ultimately, to human conflict and suffering is a revelation of the Prince of Peace.

We’re not Jesus-followers just so we can show up on the weekends with other church folk to recite a creed or add a little bit of information to our doctrinal notebook. We are Jesus-followers so that we can worship and serve Jesus of Nazareth by sharing His message of freedom and deliverance in our homes, workplaces, communities, and around the world.

---PRAYER
"Heavenly Father, it is my privilege as an ambassador of Your Kingdom to share the Good News of Your Son, who is alive now and forever. May the name of Jesus be lifted up over all the earth, and may His disciples come forth from every nation. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen."

--Blessings,
--Pastor Allen Jackson
---Intend Ministries
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-----REVELATION SONG / KARI JOBE~~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZMBrGGmeE>
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--WHO IS THIS?

'Blessed is the king
who comes in the
name of the Lord!'
--(LUKE 19:38)~~
~~~~~~~~
IMAGINE standing shoulder to shoulder with onlookers by a dirt road. The woman behind you is on her tiptoes, trying to see who is coming. In the distance, you glimpse a man riding a donkey. As He approaches, people toss their coats onto the road. Suddenly, you hear a tree crack behind you. A man is cutting down palm branches, and people are spreading them out ahead of the donkey.

Jesus's followers zealously honored Him as He entered Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion. The multitude rejoiced and praised God for "all the miracles they had seen" (LUKE 19:37). Jesus's devotees surrounded Him, calling out, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the LORD!" (v.38). Their enthusiastic honor affected the people of Jerusalem. When Jesus finally arrived, "the whole city was stirred and asked, 'Who is this?'" (Matthew 21:10).

Today, people are still curious about Jesus. Although we can't pave His way with palm branches or shout praises to Him in person, we can still honor Him. We can discuss His remarkable works, assist people in need, patiently bear insults, and love each other deeply. Then we must be ready to answer the onlookers who ask, "Who is Jesus?"~~

-"Lord, may my life and my words express what I know about who You are. I want others to see You in me and to know You too. Lead, guide and direct my steps in Your path." amen~

----WE HONOR GOD'S NAME WHEN WE LIVE LIKE HIS CHILDREN. ~~
--ODB/JBS -/ JESUS CULTURE --/ "I WANT TO KNOW YOU" -
--(Sorry, no words on video. Turn up your speakers and worship Jesus.) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CONImFrARUg>
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----GOD'S GREAT CREATION~~~

--On a recent visit with some of our grandchildren, we enjoyed watching a web cam that focused on an eagle family in Florida. Every day we would check in on the mom, the dad, and the baby as they went about their daily routine in their nest high off the ground. Each day the parent birds would keep a constant, protective vigil over the eaglet, bringing it fish from a nearby river for nourishment.

-This little eagle family depicts for us one image the psalmist gave us of God's magnificent Creation in Psalm 104-an array of Creation images, of scenes from the work of God's creative hand.

-- We see the majesty of God's Creation as it relates to the Universe (VV. 2 thru 4).

-- We experience the Creation of the Earth itself--waters, mountains, valleys (VV. 5 thru 9).

-- We enjoy the glory of God's gift of animals, birds, and crops (VV. 10 thru 18).

-- We marvel at the cycles God created in our world--morning/night, darkness/light, work/rest (VV. 19 thru 23).

--What a glorious world God has fashioned with His hands for our enjoyment--and for His glory! "Praise the LORD, my soul!" (V.1). Each one of us can say, "Thank You, God, for all you have given us to appreciate and enjoy."

--THE BEAUTY OF CREATION REFLECTS THE BEAUTY OF OUR CREATOR.

[PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1, VERSES 13 thru 28= JESUS IS THE EXACT REPLICATION OF HIS FATHER. WE WORSHIP GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. THESE 3= ONE!]

--FATHER OF CREATION/ HILLSONG~~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtGRBcOC3Lw>
-----------

---QUESTIONING~~

"[Pilate] said to Him, "Are You the King
of the Jews?"
Jesus answered, "Do you say this of
your own accord, or did others say it
to you about Me?"
--(John 18:33-34)--

--WHY DO PEOPLE SUFFER? Why can't everyone go to heaven? Why should I go to church? Why is Daddy gone? "Why? Why? Why?", like three-year-olds asking relentless questions. Some we ask out of legitimate curiosity, but others escape our lips only because our faith is too weak to affirm the answers we already know. Fortunately, God welcomes our questions and, like a patient parent, answers every one--even if the answer is "wait and see."

John 18 is loaded with questions. While Peter avoided his with cowardly lies, Jesus replied with both answers and questions. Jesus didn't just want to refute His accusers; He wanted to force them to think about what they were doing and why.

God is a God of answers, but He's also a God of questions. To lead us to repentance, He asks why we do the things we do. He desires our queries as we study His Word and live it out. He wants us to ask not just what His Son did for us but also why. He does this knowing the answers we will find: "Because I love you"; "Because My Son died for you"; "So you will never die." "Why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things I say?" "Follow Me and you will live eternally."

We are encouraged by our Lord in Matthew Chapter 7: verses 7 thru 8, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." If we have questions, Jesus has answers. We can also ask our Pastor, Elders in the church, or maybe a close friend, who is also a Christian. We learn from each other. As we seek His face, He delights to grant us the desires of our heart. "You are loved with an everlasting love and underneath are His everlasting arms." ~~

--"Father, You know all. Grant peace to my questioning heart. Lead me in Your way everlasting. In Jesus Name, amen~ "
--Portals of Prayer~--"He'll Do Whatever It Takes" / Phillips, Craig and Dean ~-<https://youtu.be/90mE9PE7aUQ>
--------------

----SIX EVIDENCES OF A YOUNG EARTH
--[From: Answers In Genesis]

--"IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH." --[GENESIS 1 verse 1] --

Without millions and billions of years, evolutionary history completely falls apart. Here are just a few of many credible evidences from various branches of science that tell of a world much younger than evolutionists claim.

**Evidence 1 Geology: Radiocarbon in Diamonds

Far from proving evolution, carbon-14 dating actually provides some of the strongest evidence for creation and a young earth. Radiocarbon (carbon-14) cannot remain naturally in substances for millions of years because it decays relatively rapidly. For this reason, it can only be used to obtain “ages” in the range of tens of thousands of years.

Scientists from the RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) project examined diamonds that evolutionists consider to be 1–2 billion years old and related to the earth’s early history. Diamonds are the hardest known substance and extremely resistant to contamination through chemical exchange.

Yet the RATE scientists discovered significant detectable levels of radiocarbon in these diamonds, dating them at around 55,000 years—a far cry from the evolutionary billions!

**Evidence 2 Astronomy: Recession of the Moon

The gravitational pull of the moon creates a “tidal bulge” on earth that causes the moon to spiral outwards very slowly. Because of this effect, the moon would have been closer to the earth in the past. Based on gravitational forces and the current rate of recession, we can calculate how much the moon has moved away over time.

If the earth is only 6,000 years old, there’s no problem, because in that time the moon would have only moved about 800 feet (250 m). But most astronomy books teach that the moon is over four billion years old, which poses a major dilemma—less than 1.5 billion years ago the moon would have been touching the earth.

**Evidence 3 Geology: Earth’s Decaying Magnetic Field

Like other planets, the earth has a magnetic field that is decaying quite rapidly. We are now able to measure the rate at which the magnetic energy is being depleted and develop models to explain the data.

Secular scientists invented a “dynamo model” of the earth’s core to explain how the field could have lasted over such a long period of time, but this model fails to adequately explain the data for the rapid decay and the rapid reversals that it has undergone in the past. (It also cannot account for the magnetic fields of other planets, such as Neptune and Mercury.)

However, the creationist model (based on the Genesis Flood) effectively and simply explains the data in regard to the earth’s magnetic field, providing striking evidence that the earth is only thousands of years old—and not billions.

**Evidence 4 Biology: Dinosaur Soft Tissue

In recent years, there have been many findings of “wondrously preserved” biological materials in supposedly ancient rock layers and fossils. One such discovery that has left evolutionists scrambling is a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex femur with flexible connective tissue, branching blood vessels, and even intact cells!

According to evolutionists, these dinosaur tissues are more than 65 million years old, but laboratory studies have shown that there is no known way—and likely none possible—for biological material to last more than thousands of years.

Could it be that evolutionists are completely wrong about how recently these dinosaurs lived?

** Evidence 5 Anthropology: Human Population Growth

It’s amazing what basic mathematics can show us about the age of the earth. We can calculate the years of human existence with the population doubling every 150 years (a very conservative figure) to get an estimate of what the world’s population should be after any given period of time.

A biblical age of the earth (about 6,000 years) is consistent with the numbers yielded by such a calculation. In contrast, even a conservative evolutionary age of 50,000 years comes out to a staggering, impossibly high figure of 10 to the 99th power—greater than the number of atoms in the universe!

Clearly, the claim that humans have inhabited the earth for tens of thousands of years is absurd!

**Evidence 6 Geology: Tightly Folded Rock Strata

When solid rock is bent, it normally cracks and breaks. Rock can only bend without fracturing when it is softened by extreme heating (which causes re-crystalization) or when the sediments have not yet fully hardened.

There are numerous locations around the world (including the famous Grand Canyon) where we observe massive sections of strata that have been tightly folded, without evidence of the sediments being heated.

This is a major problem for evolutionists who believe these rock layers were laid down gradually over vast eons of time, forming the geologic record. However, it makes perfect sense to creationists who believe these layers were formed rapidly in the global, catastrophic Flood described in Genesis.

Does the age of the earth really matter?

While each of these evidences reveals reasons why the earth cannot be billions of years old, the real issue is not the age of the earth. Instead, the real issue is authority. God’s infallible Word must be our ultimate authority, not the unstable foundation of human reasoning. Are we trying to fit our interpretations of the world (e.g., evolution) into Scripture, or will we simply let God speak for Himself through His Word? --

If we can’t trust the first chapters of Genesis, why should we believe when Scripture says that faith in Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation? (Romans 10:9; Acts 4:12; John 14:6)

But when we take Scripture as written, it’s clear that the earth can’t be more than a few thousand years old—and from a biblical worldview, the scientific evidence agrees!

[THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST / COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1:13-20 - 2:9-15]

---CREATION AND THE NEW YEAR ~~

~~~“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
----- (Genesis 1:1)--

---It is appropriate for Christians to begin the New Year by referring back to the beginning of the very first year. The first verse of God’s Word is also its most important verse, since it is the foundation on which everything else is built. Even God’s great work of salvation is irrelevant and futile without His prior work of creation, for only the Creator of all things could ever become the Savior of all things.

If a person really believes Genesis 1:1, he or she should have no difficulty believing anything else in the Bible. The very first object of saving faith (Hebrews 10:39) is the fact of special creation by the word of God (Hebrews 11:3).

The verse is comprehensive and scientific, viewing space (“the heaven”) and matter (“the earth”) as functioning in a framework of time (“in the beginning”). This space/matter/time “continuum” (as scientists call it) has not existed eternally, nor is it still being created, both of which heresies are standard beliefs of all forms of evolutionary pantheism (including most of the world’s religions and philosophies, ancient or modern). It was created—and even completed in the past.

This foundation of all foundations is, clearly, the only sure foundation upon which one should build a life, or an organization, or anything. A firm renewal of one’s commitment to special creation, as literally recorded by divine revelation in the inerrant Word of God, is thus the proper way to begin a new year, or a new home, or a new career, or a new family, or any phase of a Christian life. This is the time to confess and forsake all doubts and trust God’s Word! In the beginning of the first year, God created all things. At the beginning of this year, we should resolve to believe and obey all things in His Word.

---ICR/ HMM
[Friends, it is of utmost importance that you know Him, Jesus Christ. The Deity of Jesus Christ is found in the first 5 verses of the Gospel of John Chapter 1 ]~~

""In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." --[John 1: verses 1-5]
---HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020 TO EVERYONE!
~~~~~~~~~~

--WHO IS IN CONTROL?-

~~"Be still and know that I am God." ~~
---(PSALM 46:10)

---"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam, ...There is a river whose streams make
glad the city of God. The holy dwelling places of the Most High."
---(Psalm 46:2 thru 4 / NASB)--

~~~We are living in troubled times today. Citizens complain about corruption in the government, and church members complain about too many rules or about unsympathetic ministers. Many religious [Christians], people seem to be in spiritual slumber. Some who once were strong in faith have yielded to secular pressure and given up their former stand on Bible principles.

Christians have friends who were once dear but now mock them. Many individuals are discouraged and confused, and they seem to be asking with Pilate, "What is truth?" The picture of the earth being removed and the mountains being carried into the sea (today's verse) looks all too real in a spiritual sense.

Is anyone in control? Yes, God is, and He always will be! When we are tempted to become fearful and succumb to doubt, let's remember Psalm 46 verse 10/ "Be still, and know that I am God." Many Scriptures encourage us to trust and not become fearful. Even though "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse" (2 Timothy 3:13), Jesus said, "Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:29). Men may be able to destroy our bodies, but they cannot touch our souls.

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:1-2). As Christians we will be tempted with fear, doubt, and discouragement. We will face debilitating and disturbing circumstances at times. Praise God, He is greater than any of these. and He is well able to keep us till the end. ~~

--'Beside Still Waters/DY~~
--"I Still Believe"--Jeremy Camp // <https://youtu.be/R4qPceadBMU>
[Note**It was posted that Jeremy Camp composed and sang this song right after his wife had died. He knows his wife is now with Jesus. Yet this sort of sad news takes time to accept. He is still singing and living for the Lord. 'Thank You, Lord Jesus, for carrying Jeremy and his family.' ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~