News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

-Our Best Friend Is Jesus
-John 15:9-17

Years ago the Sunday School teachers in my church would teach preschoolers a little chorus that included the line, "My best friend is Jesus." As those children grew into adulthood, they naturally put aside juvenile songs like this one. But sadly, they also frequently seemed to grow out of the idea of Jesus being a friend.

As believers learn more about God, they rightly elevate Him to be the Lord of their lives and acknowledge Him as sovereign ruler over all the earth. It is easier to think of One so high and mighty as Creator, Savior, and Lord than to "lower" Him to the position of Friend. But Jesus makes a point of telling His disciples that He is both a transcendent deity—the Son of God—and their companion (John 15:15).

The offer of friendship extends to modern disciples as well. Like the original twelve followers, we are privileged to say that Christ laid down His life for us in a supreme act of love and devotion (v. 13). What is more, His Spirit reveals the truth of Scripture to our hearts so that we can learn more about God and His ways. In other words, Jesus has made known to us the things He heard from His Father. A man doesn't tell secrets to slaves; he tells them to his friends (v. 15).

Teaching children to sing of their friendship with Jesus is a wise idea. But I wonder when some grown believers will learn to sing of that special relationship again? May we never become so religious, so pious, or so full of our own maturity that we will not say, "My best friend is Jesus Christ."

--In Touch

-The King of Love Comes In
-1 John 4:7-21

"Love is patient, love is kind...it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
-- (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Since God is love, we can put God in place of 'love' in 1 Corinthians 13. Doing so corrects my thinking that He is waiting to pounce on me. His love on the cross means He actually delights in us.

Jesus has taken all the punishment for the whole sinful world, and God's love never fails. These New Testament thoughts of God's love bring to mind an Old Testament Hebrew word, "hesed," meaning "steadfast" or "unfailing love." This love for a sinful people permeates the Old Testament and is personified in Jesus.

The first quality of love that our lives should show is patience. This is not grin-and-bear-it passivity. It's actively showing in our lives inward serenity whatever the provocation. This convicts me when I am irritable about not controlling things. Patience comes from the One who has shown such patience with me. Jesus loves you just like you are. When you invite Him to come into your life, by faith, He will help you to grow to be more like Himself.

Also, if the King of love rules in my heart, how can I persist in unkindness? At times do I feel free to dislike someone who is not well-disposed to me? Our King did not take that view of us before we turned to Him. Jesus teaches his disciples (followers), to love as He has loved us. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." JOHN 3:16
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The King of Love my Shepherd is
Whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever."
--(H. W. Baker 1821-77) ~~

--Haven Today

-All History Culminates in This One Person

BIBLE MEDITATION

"For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." Colossians 1:19

-DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Do you know why everything happens? It is to crown God's Son King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ is to have preeminence in all of history. All of history is culminating in this one thing.

Do you know why the world was created? Jesus. Do you know why the Holy Spirit ministers? Jesus. Do you know why there is going to be a final judgment? Because "every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:11).

Hitler and Hemingway will confess it. Buddha and Mohammad will confess it. None of us can change that fact--all of creation will acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

-ACTION POINT:

The angels proclaimed Him above Bethlehem's hills. The shepherds saw Him with hearts of adoration. Come and worship Him--Christ the Lord!/ AMAZING LOVE! MY KING DIED FOR ME/ AND YOU! THANKS BE TO GOD!

-Your Strategy for 2012

-BIBLE MEDITATION

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11

-DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Do you depend upon Jesus Christ? I mean totally depend upon Him? Here's the way you can tell--are you resting in Him today?

You see, when you are totally committed to Jesus Christ, you rest in Him. You realize that your every need is necessary for Him to supply.

Have you ever looked at a branch? It has no other source of life than the vine. If you asked that branch, "What's your secret for your healthy leaves and fruit?" the branch would answer, "My secret is that I'm resting in the vine."
"But what about your needs?" you ask.
"I know I have needs, but that's not my responsibility. My response is to rest in the vine's ability to provide. I don't produce the fruit. I just bear it."

-ACTION POINT:
Are you resting in the Lord today? Will you choose to "rest" in Him for the next 365?

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-GOD RUNS TOWARD YOU
-By: Max Lucado

Brighten your day by envisioning God running toward you.

When his patriarchs trusted, God blessed. When Peter preached or Paul wrote or Thomas believed, God smiled. But he never ran.

That verb was reserved for the story of the prodigal son. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 NKJV)

God runs when he sees the son coming home from the pig trough. When the addict steps out of the alley. When the teen walks away from the party. When the ladder-climbing executive pushes back from the desk, the spiritist turns from idols, the materialist from stuff, the atheist from disbelief, and the elitist from self-promotion…

When prodigals trudge up the path, God can’t sit still. Heaven’s throne room echoes with the sound of slapping sandals and pounding feet, and angels watch in silence as God embraces his child.

You turn toward God, and he runs toward you.

_________________________________
From Great Day Every Day: Navigating Life’s Challenges with Promise and Purpose
-By: Max Lucado

-Look Over Your Shoulder

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
-- (Hebrews 12:1-2)

In Matthew 14:28, Peter took Jesus at his word: “Lord, if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water.

Jesus said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.”

Storms prompt us to take unprecedented journeys. For a few historic steps and heart-stilling moments, Peter did the impossible. He defied gravity and nature; he walked on the water to Jesus!

But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Peter shifted his attention away from Jesus and toward the squall—and when he did, he sank like a brick in a pond.

Whether or not storms come, we cannot choose. But where we stare during a storm—that we can!

--Max Lucado

-Why Is there Suffering in the World?

-BIBLE MEDITATION

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:36

-DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

"If there is a God, and that God is a good God, then why is there suffering?"
"What kind of a God is it that has created evil?"

Ever heard those comments before? Ever made them yourself?

You're not alone. Many people have thought the same thing. But that's not straight thinking. Let me tell you the way it truly is.

God did not create evil. God created perfection. God made man perfectly free. The freedom He granted man meant that he had to be free to choose to love. Then in order to choose to love, we must be able to choose not to love. This freedom of choice gave rise to evil, for man's freedom meant he could make a wrong choice.

-ACTION POINT:

-Which kind of love do you want from others? A forced love or a free love? Which sounds better, "I love you" or "I have to love you"?

--Adrian Rogers

-The Creator of this entire universe, Jesus the Christ, made everything absolutely PERFECT! Sing praises to Him! JESUS LOVES YOU!

-The Center of It All
-Revelation 4:1-6

"...there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne." (Revelation 4:2-3)

When we enter a room, there is usually one thing that captures our attention. As John the Apostle enters the open door of heaven, what is it that catches his eye? He is "in the Spirit", there at the doorway, and behold! There is a throne and ONE who sat on it!

John is drawn to the brilliance and glory of God Almighty in all His splendor and wonder. Surrounding this glorious throne is layer after layer of worshippers. John describes the 24 elders, the four living creatures, the innumberable angelic host, and all the saints who've gone before us. What a crowd! Everyone in heaven views God as the center of it all; everyone is joyfully enraptured in Him.

Whenever I am discouraged, I read Revelation 4 and 5. What an encouragement this passage was to me during my years of imprisonment. I would imagine walking not through cell doors, but through the door of heaven, blown away by the majesty, glory and brilliance of God. Speechless, I would kneel with all creation to remember Who is at the center of it all.

--Haven Today Ministries/DM

-Sanctification Isn't Passive
-1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 -(recommended reading)

Did you know that God didn't save you just to keep you from hell and get you into heaven? His top priority while you are here on earth is to shape you into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). But at this stage of our sanctification, He doesn't do it all for us. We have a responsibility to cooperate with Him and actively participate in the process. Yet many Christians have a passive attitude about the life of faith. They tolerate sin and smooth it over with the age-old excuse, "Nobody's perfect!"

When you received Christ as your Savior, you took the first step in your walk with Him--a walk that will last the rest of your life. However, you also stepped into spiritual warfare with Satan. The Enemy may have lost your soul, but he's going to do everything he can to hinder, sidetrack, and discourage you. The last thing he wants is a saint who's on fire for the Lord and useful in the kingdom.

But many believers have abdicated their responsibility to live holy lives. In fact, some of them look and act just like the unbelieving world. Sexual immorality is one area of compromise that the apostle Paul addressed specifically, but in truth, we should abstain from anything that interferes with godliness.

Have you allowed something in your life that shouldn't be there? If so, you need to drop it now. You don't want a thread of sin to become a rope, then a chain, and finally a cable that traps you in a stronghold. Turn back to the Lord, and let your sanctification continue.

--In Touch

-Repent of your sin, then "Claim 1 John 1:9

-"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous (just) to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

-Your Hope At the End

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
--Revelation 21:4

I heard about a little boy who was reading a Superman comic book. Well, it was late one night and his mother had already told him to turn out the light and go to bed. But he just couldn’t stand it, so he reached over and read the very end of the book and he found out that Superman defeated the villain, got the girl, and everything was just fine.

So that little boy closed the book and said, “All right, Superman, you’re going to be okay. I’ve read the end of the book!” He didn’t have any trouble getting to sleep once he knew that because all of his anxiety was completely gone once he knew how the story ended.

As Christians, you can also read the end of our story and discover there’s no more sin, no more sorrow, no more hurt, and no more pain for the former things have passed away. And the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ as He destroys sin, suffering, and Satan, and claims our ultimate victory for us!

That’s the kind of confidence you can have in Jesus Christ. You can pray believing in a God of might and a God of majesty who reigns now from heaven, and will one day finish the story as the victor with the faithful at His side!

-IN CHRIST, YOU HAVE THE GUARANTEE OF VICTORY BECAUSE THE STORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN. SO LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH CONFIDENCE KNOWING THAT GOD WINS!

--KNOWING GOD INTIMATELY~~

“Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight…”
--- (Exodus 33:13)

There are two ways that you can know God: casually or intimately. You can know 'about' God, or you can 'know' God. To know about God is to know His works. To know God intimately is to know His way.

Moses asked to know God intimately. But most people know God on the first level. All they know are the works of God. They know what God does, but they don’t know the ways of God. Not everybody, even those who claim to be saved, knows God intimately. They don’t know who God is. How sad it will be in the resurrection to meet a God face to face that we have not known heart to heart.

As you go through your day, ask God to show you His ways and to reveal to you how they are in contrast to the way the world thinks. Talk to Jesus. He hears and answers sincere prayers, for His love, forgiveness and salvation. Tell Him you love Him. JESUS LOVES YOU! (John 3:16-21)
--Adrian Rogers-In Moments Like This (These) ~
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAhlIHCZw5A>
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--Dealing With Loneliness
--(Please Read/ Psalm 102:1-7)

Loneliness can be a lifelong challenge or a short-term event. The length of the experience is often determined by how we deal with it. Turning to the Lord can help us find our way through the dark cloud of isolation.

Admit lonely feelings. Being a Christian doesn’t disqualify us from sometimes having a sense of seclusion. In fact, many of David’s psalms speak of his longing for companionship. When we express our feelings to the Father and cry out for His touch, He will answer (Ps. 91:15). I often tell God that I need Him to wrap His arms around me. His response is just as real as if a human being walked in and hugged me.

Develop godly relationships. We should pray for friends who will point us toward the Lord whether we are in good times or bad. These are the loved ones who see our faults and like us anyway.

Be anchored in Scripture. When we cling to the Word during a lonely time, we will end up with a richer understanding of the Lord. Before I preached my first sermon, my mother gave me Joshua 1:9 as an anchor verse. She knew it would help me remember to be strong and courageous because God is with me always. That is still the verse I turn to when I need comfort.

-Occasionally we all will walk through the fog of loneliness. But God is the Light guiding us out again. If you are struggling with feelings of isolation, cry out to Him for help.
--IN TOUCH~
"Jesus loves you with an everlasting love and underneath are His everlasting arms."~~ Reach up to Him, and He will reach out for you.

--A KIND CRITIQUE ~~

--"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
--(John 1:17)--

---During a landscape painting class, the teacher, a highly experienced professional artist, assessed my first assignment. He stood silently in front of my painting, one hand cupping his chin. Here we go, I thought. He’s going to say it’s terrible.

But he didn’t.

He said he liked the color scheme and the feeling of openness. Then he mentioned that the trees in the distance could be lightened. A cluster of weeds needed softer edges. He had the authority to criticize my work based on the rules of perspective and color, yet his critique was truthful and kind.

Jesus, who was perfectly qualified to condemn people for their sin, didn’t use the Ten Commandments to crush a Samaritan woman He met at an ancient watering hole. He gently critiqued her life with just a handful of statements. The result was that she saw how her search for satisfaction had led her into sin. Building on this awareness, Jesus revealed Himself as the only source of eternal satisfaction (John 4:10-13).

The combination of grace and truth that Jesus used in this situation is what we experience in our relationship with Him (1:17). His grace prevents us from being overwhelmed by our sin, and His truth prevents us from thinking it isn’t a serious matter.

Will we invite Jesus to show us areas of our lives where we need to grow so we can become more like Him?

-"Jesus, thank You for freeing me from the consequences of sin. Help me to embrace Your correction and Your encouragement. Lead me in Your everlasting Way, Lord Jesus. Thank You for saving me and rescuing me from sin, self, the world, and the enemy of our soul, the devil. Help me, Lord Jesus to live for you and never be ashamed of all that you have done for me. I love You, my Lord, Saviour, Redeemer, and soon coming King above all kings, Lord Jesus Christ." amen~
--ODB/JBS

--HOW TO FIND PEACE~~
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace~
-[( ISAIAH 9:6 ~
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ) ]

--HOW TO FIND PEACE ~~
--"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."
---[Colossians 3:15]

[PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS 3:12–17]--

“What do you think about peace?” my friend asked as we ate lunch together. “Peace?” I said, puzzled. “I’m not sure—why do you ask?” He answered, “Well, as you jiggled your foot during the church service I wondered if you’re agitated about something. Have you considered the peace God gives to those who love Him?”

That day some years ago, I was a bit hurt by my friend’s question, but it started me on a journey. I began exploring the Bible to see how God’s people embraced this gift of well-being, of peace, even in the midst of hardship. As I read Paul’s letter to the Colossians, I prayed over the apostle’s command to let the peace of Christ rule in their hearts (Colossians 3:15).

Paul was writing to a church he’d never visited but had heard about from his friend Epaphras. He was concerned that as they encountered false teaching, they were losing the peace of Christ. But instead of admonishing them, Paul encouraged them to trust Jesus, who would give them assurance and hope (v. 15).

We all will encounter times when we can choose to embrace or refuse the rule of Christ’s peace in our hearts. As we turn to Him, asking Jesus to dwell in us, He will gently release us from the anxiety and cares that weigh us down. As we seek His peace, we trust that He will meet us with His love.

--ODB/ABP
REFLECT & PRAY
--[LORD Jesus, You give peace that passes all understanding. Help me embrace Your peace in every area of my life. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are the Prince of Peace and will give Your peace to those who ask, seek and knock. (Matthew 7:7,8) ]
--Song/ Better Than Life / Shane & Shane ~<https://youtu.be/UlWLvJB1Q58>
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