Christian Newsletter Online

 ⁹Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.

    ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine [is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught], do not receive him [do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him] into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement.

    ¹¹For he who wishes him success [who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed] is a partaker in his evil doings.2 John9: 9-11 (Amplified)

If men who want Godly wives would realize that what that woman wants most is a Godly husband they’d put God first in their lives. He will never hold his wife’s heart if he does not place God first.

God began a good work in you. 

We pray for one another like it says in Philippians 1.  We hope and pray with all our hearts that fellow Christians will have the work completed in them that God started.

Of course God is going to do everything to complete what He started.  God is perfect. He does all things good.  Look at what happened when He created the earth and all it contains.  He stepped back and saw that it was made good.

Man has a terrible habit of messing things up.

A man asked me to pray for him that God would help him correct things of his past.  The man asked me to pray from Philippians 1 verse 6 with him.  With all my heart I joined the man in prayer asking God to complete the work he had started in that man.

 I knew him quite well and I hoped he meant it this time when he said he wanted to correct some things of his past. 

I called a couple of pastors to agree with me in prayer because I was so excited about this.  My expectations were high.  The hopes were kicking in that possibly this man meant what he said to me.

I saw him about 36 hours after he prayed with me.  His talk was different now.  He had forgotten all about correcting the things of the past.  We actually spent some time taking a nice walk.  I hoped and prayed he was serious about wanting to make things right in his past.  During our walk we talked.  I found out during the walk that he had no intentions of correcting anything from his past.  His words were empty and false promises were made again. 

When I think about this I’m sorrowful because it made me feel how our God must grieve when someone just won’t do what they know is right.  They just won’t surrender to the Lord placing Him on the throne of their heart.  They give him lip service all the time.  They may even pray a lot and ask others to pray for them but their heart is so far from actually doing the right thing.

God finishes what He starts.  God doesn’t let any stones go unturned. 

If you said you were going to correct things of the past know that there is no time like the present.  Correct the things  you can correct. 

 ³Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

 ⁴Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Don’t You Think It’s Time You Just Told The Truth About Everything ?

That question makes me feel like saying the following things:

Who hasn’t felt like giving up before.  Are there people living on this earth who haven’t struggled when going through hard times?

Man, I’ve had times when I thought the tears wouldn’t quit flowing.  Times when I actually thought for at least a second that I was the only one going through pain. 

Isn’t that when people want to give up?  Don’t they feel like throwing in the towel when they feel beaten and as if there is no way out of the pain?

Maybe it feels good to write those feelings out to help grip the fact that many people feel like their back is against the wall.

God has  places in the Bible where He reminds us that we may feel beaten but we are not forsaken.  Look at 2 Corinthians Chapter 4:

¹Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

 ¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. ¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

 ¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20corinthians%204&version=NIV

While we walk on this earth there will be times when earthly life sort of slaps us in the face. 

People are not always kind. Things don’t always turn out the way we planned. We get our bodies & feelings hurt.  Our physical bodies may suffer due to an illness or due to an accident of some kind. 

While we live on this earth we will have times of disappointment.  We will feel beaten, bruised, and way may even feel like saying,

“What’s the use in trying any more?”  We may even have times when we feel as though we’ve lost heart. 

I know I’ve had times when I wanted to give up.  My heart has ached for my own personal reasons or because of seeing loved ones go through some problems. 

The good news is still there for us in God’s Holy Word.  We are instructed that we should not lose heart.  The King James Version says we should not faint. 

FAINT  NOT!  DO NOT LOSE HEART!

It does not matter how it’s said because to me it is God telling His people that they should not give up hope.

Of course the words in 2 Corinthians 4 remind us that we should look for the eternal things.  If our hope is all wrapped up in the temporary things we have no lasting hope. 

Fix  your eyes on Jesus.  He is Your Redeemer.  He is the One that gives us eternal hope for things to come.

We have a bright future.  We’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the Sun.  Our Redeemer Lives.

One of the finest things you will ever see is a proud person on their knees acknowledging their dependence on the Almighty.

Pray Without Ceasing!

Angela’s sister, Jessie, died a month ago.  I just found out a while ago.  Jessie played the organ and played with an unusual talent.  If you ever heard her play you’d know God must have given her that amazing gift.  Please think of Jessie’s family in your prayer time for though they believe Jessie is with Our Lord Jesus surely they miss knowing she isn’t here on earth any longer.