Which Cup will you drink?

In a moment,in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 

trumpet...

I Corinthians 15:52




I got knocked down the last week or two, but I'm not out. Preparing  for a craft show, running around helping people, and lack of taking good care of myself and suddenly I found myself nearly out of commission from a cold which turned into a sinus infection which turned into an asthma flare.  I shouldn't take good health for granted.

I did some thinking between blowing my nose and sleeping on the couch. Just why am I writing anyway? Does it even make a difference? Maybe just quit while I'm ahead.

This morning, though not better, I rethought that. Current events are downright depressing, if looked at from only a secular viewpoint. Current events through my life seemed to go along as they always had but not anymore. They are reaching a point of no return.

Without Jesus, without the Bible, how could I live with what I see happening on the news every day?
I would fall apart. How do people live without Jesus?

And so that is why I write. To tell people that there still is time to believe in Jesus before the things prophesied come quickly to pass.

Most if not all people who might read this already believe in Jesus. Great! But maybe, just maybe there might be one who does not? This blog is just a little thing, but if God could use it to reach one person it would be such an awesome privilege for me.

Because, if you don't know Jesus, let me tell you, things are about to get really bad on this earth. No matter who is elected America is in grave trouble. We can't deny it anymore. Nowhere is safe: not Europe, not America, not the Middle East. All the money in the world cannot fix the problems of hatred and man's inhumanity to man.

But there is really good news in spite of this bleak picture. Jesus came and made Himself available to do something about the tragic mess we are in.  2,000 years ago, He obliterated sin that ruins everything it touches. He paid for all the sins of all mankind, even the ones of those who don't believe in Him. Why? Because He was perfect love, and He made the perfect sacrifice.

We are out of human solutions. It is time to take the only one that works: the Divine one. It cost Him everything to give it to us, but He did it willingly because He loved us all so much.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. II Cor. 5:21

 Some may say that to believe the Bible is old-fashioned and doesn't keep up with modern science. I for one choose to believe it above what man's theories say. I believe it because it gives me hope for the future in heaven, a sense of destiny and especially it helps me today:

...to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.       I Thessalonians 1: 10

So dear friend reading this, wherever you are, why not take the cup of salvation the Lord is offering you? Then you too will not be looking for any kind of human way to fix the problems all over this earth. Instead you will look to Jesus, and in Him you will find all that your heart is longing for, all that you will ever need. Like the Psalmist so long ago, you can also say:

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 116: 13

After all, I would much rather have to drink from God's cup of salvation than the cup of wrath that will be poured out on the Christ rejecting world.

Two cups, two destinies. Which one will be yours?

If you are not sure if you have a home in heaven waiting for you, you can think something like this toward God in your heart: Father, I believe that Your Son Jesus came to earth to pay for man's sins and not just all men's, but my own ones too. I want to be with You in heaven so I believe in what He did for me that day, and that You raised Him from the dead. I take the gift of salvation and new life that He alone offers me. Amen.

The Most Lonely Moment

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” Galatians 3:13

"But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Galatians 4: 4-5

I was reading Matthew 26 this morning, feeling awe as I did so. It tells the story of Christ's time in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his ultimate betrayal by Judas. I have read this story many times before, but it touched me differently this morning. Here was Jesus, God, but also a man. He now knew that "His hour" had come. None of the rest of us in the human race can know what all that entailed, but we can be assured it was a horrifying thought for Him to realize the exact time drew near that He must be separated from His Father, and be abandoned alone to the tree.

He asked His three closest friends on earth to stay awake and watch with Him as He prayed for strength in the garden. If ever He felt vulnerable, it must have been then. Three times He asked, and three times they failed Him.

Incident #1
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (emphasis mine)

Jesus rebukes them by telling them to watch and pray. But somehow they did not or could not hear Him.

Incident #2
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

Can you imagine how lonely He must have felt at that moment? He knew that soon the sins of the whole world would be on His back and yet His closest three friends did not seem to care enough to stay awake for one hour!

Incident #3- the Final One
44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

There was no more time for rebuking or for staying awake, for now His betrayer had come for the express purpose of turning Jesus over to the authorities. His closest friends: Peter, James and John could not stay awake with Him during the one hour when He was the loneliest Man in the world. I curiously noted that Jesus said to Judas, His betrayer,

50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?”

He called Judas "friend!" His closest friends fell asleep when He desired their prayers and now the one who pretended to be a follower turns Him in to the authorities, yet Jesus still called him a friend. He knew what Judas would eventually do, and He knew why Judas had come, yet that did not stop Him from calling him "friend." Jesus knew it all and as a human being, He felt rejection by His closest friends and by the world. On the cross, He was rejected as His own Father in heaven turned His face away while Christ became a sin offering for us, in order that we could have His very own righteousness. (See II Corinthians 5:21)

The thought that Jesus, in His humanity, felt the same pains that I feel is of great comfort to me. Though my troubles could never match His, just to know that He , as a man, knows exactly what I am going through gives me courage to somehow keep on keeping on. The fact that He was alone, utterly and desperately alone, because of my sins, is reason for me to praise Him for the rest of eternity. Also, I thank my God and Father that He did not leave His Son dead in the grave but gave Him resurrection from the dead. Death no more has any hold on Him, nor on us who share in His life!

Romans 6:8-11
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isaiah 53:5

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

Glorying in Afflictions because of Romans 8:28

Psalm 149: 4: For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.

I ran across this marvelous verse this morning in my quiet time. I have read it before, but it commanded my attention today. I found a marvelous little book secondhand at my library yesterday, and it was Called to Pray by Wim Malgo. Written in 1975, it is as relevant today as it was then. The chapter I read today made me want to delight in the trials that have been appointed in my life. Mr. Malgo wrote about what are the necessary conditions for prayer:

"I always feel apprehensive when I hear people pray, 'Lord, please give me power', for our Lord has no use for powerful people. On the contrary Psalm 102: 4 says, 'He weakened my strength in the way.' The feeling of strength drives away the Spirit of prayer."

Later in the same chapter, he said: "If you have bitter disappointments from fellow Christians and fellow men, yes, if even the dearest one you have on this earth has disappointed you, then God has permitted this because He wants to make you a person of prayer. Let me say it more clearly: God takes away all your human props so that you can become increasingly dependent on Him alone."

In combination with what I received from last week's (9/12/13) teaching from the Grace and Truth Ladies Seminar, I found my heart rejoicing. I have had trials that have gone on for years without resolution, but God is in control of all that. In the verse we are all so familiar with, Romans 8:28, God makes us a promise that some would say is "too good to be true." It says: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Judy spoke of what the words "that all things" referred to. In the Greek, the word for this is "pas" and here is what it means:

I.
individually
A.
each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything


II.
collectively
A.
some of all types

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3956&t=NKJV

How many times, in darkness have I mourned over situations that cannot be humanly solved? How many tears have I cried in unbelief of what this verse really means? Romans 8:28 is a promise with a condition, and that is one must be a God lover for this to be true in your life.

There is a fear, often, of becoming a disciple of Christ. For He asks no less than all of our soul, dedicated to Him. He says clearly in Luke 14: 26: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."

Well, how does the Lord get you to hate your own life? In trials, we see just who we really are without His enabling power. He reduces us to the state that we will not glory in our accomplishments, but only in what He does through us. But He also assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13: 5), and as we continue in His Word, He shows us the glory and beauty of Christ. Also as we continue in His Word, He shows us Who He Really Is and it will automatically make us want to be a God lover, without striving or sweating. Then we realize that all along our lives do not really belong to us anyway, but to Him and that we hidden with Him.

Colossians 3: 3 is emphatic: "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
In this we find true joy and the meaning and purpose for our lives!

I don't know about you, but I don't like my old person clinging to her regrets and moods. I would rather walk in the Truth that says my life is now hidden with Him. And so, I can thank Him for the things that have happened in the past, believing that God is using them to draw me nearer to His side and cling to Him for all my righteousness.

II Corinthians 5:21

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.

Galatians 2:20 and 21 also says:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

I leave you today with the link for the wonderful message by my friend Mrs. Judy Seligman, who expounded on Romans 8: 28 and what it means for believers.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=914132239433

Listen and be blessed!

Can A Believer Know the Bible by Reading It?

1John 2:27 "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him."

At the end of the Dark Ages, a monk named Martin Luther tried to be the best monk he could ever be. He did it in the desire that it would assuage the terrible feelings of guilt and fear that hounded him constantly. Martin Luther had a picture of Jesus in his mind as a "Frightening Avenger." He did not hear about the grace of God poured out upon us through the Son of God by means of dying for us upon the cross.(Galatians 2:20) He did not know that Christ had actually stood in the gap for him so that Martin didn't have to be apprehensive all his life of Him. (II Cor. 5: 21) Since Luther had been beaten regularly by his schoolmaster in order to learn Bible facts, he didn't associate the Bible with grace. No, not at all.

Even Martin's superiors realized his great anxiety and decided that Martin needed to be a professor instead of a monk. That is when Luther first got to read the Scriptures for himself and the things he feared about God were gradually addressed. He was convinced that he had to work for his salvation, for that is what he had been taught all of his life. One day, while studying in the book of Romans, Martin read Romans 1: 17:

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

What Luther read in Romans 1:17 was actually a repeat of Habakkuk 2: 4 in the Old Testament, so this fact was actually stated twice in the Bible. Martin Luther had been known to beat himself with ropes. He said prayers constantly and attended services seven times a day. He begged and took vows of poverty. But none of these things made the miserable monk mollified.

"You are Guilty!" were the words he could not overcome.

So when the Scripture's declaration "the just shall live by faith" popped off Scripture's page that day, Martin Luther was incredulous. This truth had not been revealed by a Pope but to a perplexed and troubled man, studying for the priesthood, who just happened to be reading the Bible.

This one verse did more than light the Protestant Reformation. It revealed that one seeking the Truth could find it in the Scriptures by merely reading them with a heart that is positive to Jesus Christ and want He wants to reveal to him/her.

But some may say that only if the words are properly exegeted can we properly understand them. That argument sounds like we are going back to the days before the Reformation, when only the Pope or the priest read the Bible to the masses.

Here are some verses that encourage us to seek the Lord. How do we seek Him? Do we do some mystical ceremony? No! We seek Him through His Word! The Psalmist says:


Psalm 14:2 "The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God."

Psalm 119:18 "Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law."

Psalm 138:2 "I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name."

Jeremiah says:

Jeremiah 15:16 "Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts."

Jeremiah 6:19 "Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people--The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it."

Jeremiah 22:29 "O earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the LORD!"

A few of the Lord's statements on the Word:

Matthew 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock (v. 25) "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."

Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

Do you think that if you sat down with your Bible and wanted to understand it, God would refuse you? If you had a clean conscience before Him, do you think He would deny your request, "I want to know you Father?"

Luke says:

"If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11: 13

Jesus showed us the Father. We learn of the Living Word in the Written Word. In the times of the Old Testament Jews, the Jews did not even have the whole Pentateuch in some cases. We now have the whole Bible, plus all the free online Bible resources too numerous to be counted like the http://v3.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm. In a country such as America, for us to be ignorant or led astray is really our own fault. If you ask Him, He will lead you to a place where you can be taught accurately, too. But you have the written Word, and according to the book of Hebrews, today is the day of salvation! (Hebrews 3: 15)

Another Day of Grace along God's Path..

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16: 11

This is absolutely one of my favorite Bible verses. Let's face it, I walk to the beat of a different drummer. At the time of my engagement and marriage nearly 29 years ago, I had in my desk drawers not address labels, but labels imprinted with this very verse. I decided to stick this label, carrying this verse, to the back of our wedding invitations.

I believed that God would show me the path to joy, if only I could get to know Him somehow...

I struggled with believing that He was a good God. Why did I have to take that anthropology class in class in college and listen to a sneering, sinister laugh from my professor while my belief in Christianity was nearly snuffed out in a single lecture? I sat in tears in the University library while my fiancé tried to put his Humpty Dumpty wife-to-be back together again. If it was like that back in the 80's, it is probably ten times worse now. Pray for college-age kids, they are under assault like never before. (Watch the movie Expelled with Ben Stein for a real eye-opener at what is being taught these days.)

I wondered about all those people who had never heard the gospel. Like the Native Americans for instance. But my worries and (the creases in my forehead) were due to my own ignorance of the Scripture. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for this same thing,

"But Jesus answered them, 'You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.'" Matthew 22: 29

I didn't need to worry about those who had not heard the gospel. For it implied that I did not trust that God loved all mankind, that if He was so kind and gracious to send His own beloved Son for every single one of them, would He not make a way for them to believe on Him if they were positively inclined in their hearts? I was living in unbelief, as a believer! Ouch! No wonder I was miserable.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this in Romans chapter 1. But again, I was ignorant of the Scripture.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and Divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1: 19-20

and David, in the Psalms:

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge." Psalm 19: 1-2

But God knew that in spite of the fact that I wanted to know Him, He also knew that there was no way I could find that path to life on my own. Well, those little old invitations were sent, and shortly after that God used that man I married to point me to the way of grace, to point me to what Hebrews 10: 20-23 says is:

a "new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water...

Since then, I have had two choices, two pathways. One is the old pathway of looking back with un-forgiveness toward others, regrets, anger at my own bad choices etc. ad-nauseum. The other path is to Seek First the Kingdom of God.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6: 33

I want to keep choosing the latter. The Grace Path that Leads to Life, provided freely to me, but highly expensive to the One who offered it.

For He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

II Corinthians 5: 21

If Anyone is Willing.....

When I was a teenager, I knew that I had received Christ's forgiveness for my sins, but I didn't know too much about the character and attributes of God. That made for one young believer who asked for things but was often lacking in faith, as is described in James 1: 5-8.

It says clearly in James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

The next verses go on to say we must not doubt because "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

verse 7 continues "For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways.

I was seasick a lot back then.

I didn't understand the righteousness and justice of God. All I had to go on was what I saw all around me. People looked downtrodden all around me. I heard about the masses of people groups who supposedly had never had a chance to hear the good news. I heard about the horrors of World War II and the concentration camps. I thought about my poor uncle out on the family farm. Why wouldn't he be open to hearing about Jesus? Why do people's hearts get hardened?

I asked my older sister. I cried to her, actually, while we were both struggling college students, looking for who we really were. She tried to pat me on the back and told me, "I'm sure that God is worried more for Uncle _____ than you are."
She was right. I didn't understand that God truly loved my uncle. That He had paid the ultimate price for him. It wasn't God's fault if my uncle was disinterested, or at least appeared that way to me at the time.

My lack of faith really hindered me in thinking about all those situations. One day, all those questions hit me with a vengeance.

JUST WHAT KIND OF A GOD DO I BELIEVE IN ANYWAY, THAT HE WOULD ALLOW SOME TO GO TO HELL? IS HE STILL JUST IF HE SENDS PEOPLE THERE IF THEY WANTED TO KNOW HIM?

God is just. He had to do something about the sin problem. So He did in sending His beloved Son to bear the trillions of sins of every single person on the face of this earth. Talk about being unfair. If it was unfair, it was unfair to Him, not us.

"For He made Him who knew no sinn to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in HIM." II Corinthians 5: 21

I HAD to find out the answer. I could not "justify" in my puny human mind a God that would not give us the gift of free volition. Once again, God gave me a verse that has been a lifesaver for me. It is this promise from Jesus in John 7:17. I like how it is rendered in the KJV.

"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak it of Myself." (John 7:17)

This verse tells me if I choose with my will to know Him, then God will do His part to get His Word to me! Hallelujah! God sees with His omniscient Presence and He looks at every man's heart. If He sees a blip of faith, He will send the gospel to that person! No matter where they live, God is faithful.

That one verse saved me from an evil anthropology professor who nearly destroyed my faith during my stay at the university. He laughed at any of us who believed in God, and made me question everything I'd ever been taught. That was in the mid eighties. How much worse is it now. Think of thd kids going to schools now, even going to some Christian, (yes, you heard me right) schools, where the faith is subtly being denied.

God rescued me that day. I know, I was a rather "odd" person to have that kind of question about God in the first place. But it forced me to think about who God was. It forced me to realize that I, sadly, did NOT know Him. I still have a long way to go. But I do know that He is a loving God.(I John 4:8) He will not refuse anyone who is searching for HIM.

I love that one of the very last verses of the Bible again tells any one who is still looking for their ultimate need to be satisfied to come to Christ.

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

In other words, as long as you are alive, there is still time! Come now, don't delay one more moment.

Oh, Come let us adore Him!

I once took a Bible study course called The Way of Agape, based on the book by Mrs. Nancy Missler. Learning the definition of agape of in I Corinthians 13 caught me up short on the difference between God's love and human love.We are told in Isa. 55:8 "For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD.

How I could meditate on that one verse for a lifetime, especially in regard to God's agape love versus my own human love. My human love, oh how it falls so very short of God's kind of love.


The very best human love is no match for God's love. If you really want to know what God's love is like you need look no further than Jesus. Sometimes, when we do something nice, we may be tempted to think that we have pleased God because of that. But if we are not fulfilling I Corinthians 13 perfectly, then we need the rightousness of Another. Thank God there is One who did fulfill it perfectly on our behalf, and offers His own righteousness as a free gift. (II Corinthians 5: 21)



Now we are in the supposed "season of good cheer." It saddens me though as I see the twinkle of lights, the glitter, the rush in finding the perfect present. Is this the way to find and give agape love? It always reminds me of a kind of desperation. The days of December on my part of the planet are short, gloomy and dark. Men seem to try to comfort themselves in the giving of gifts, feasting and decorating.

Is that what its all about? Or is agape about the Kenosis of the Savior?

Consider Philippians 2: 3-11:

3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted HIM and given HIM the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

In verse 6 of Philippians 2 we hear of the kenosis of Christ, which comes from the root word kenoo (#2756). From the Blue Letter Bible study helps, we see that the Strong's definition of this word means to:


1) to empty, make empty

a) of Christ, he laid aside equality with or the form of God

That is our example, our role model. He didn't think about Himself. Ahhh, so very much unlike me, whose first thought is for her own comfort.

As He lay in the manger, He was holding the molecules together that kept the universe in existence, yet He chose to limit Himself to being a baby. He chose to feel the things we feel: hunger, pain, betrayal, loneliness, all the sufferings of being a human on this tiny planet spinning in the universe. He had to leave the adoration of all the angels and the love of His Father, and He chose to do so, for our sakes, willingly.

His thoughts are not our thoughts. His love is not human love. Oh, to know Him (Phil. 3:10) and to show that kind of love to others. My life is in vain if that is not my daily aspiration.

In John 6: 67, it says:"Then Jesus said to the twelve,"Do you also want to go away?'"

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life."

He alone has the words of eternal life. As we take in His Words and make them a part of us, may His thoughts become our thoughts, so that out of our hearts shall flow
rivers of living water. (John 7: 38)

It is so very right to sing: "Oh, come let us adore HIM!"

" In Christ Jesus"

What an amazing amount of hope is found in these 3 little words. I am in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of this Universe, who took on flesh and humbled Himself more than any other man, who has been exalted to the utmost at God's right hand at the seat of utmost honor and glory.(Phil. 2:9-11) And I am in Him. "But of Him you are IN CHRIST JESUS, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and sanctification and redemption..."(I Cor 1:30)
Think about it. We are all nothings. according to Paul in I Cor. 3:7.("So then he who plants is anything, nor he that waters, but God who gives the increase.") Now that is humbling, but also freeing. In spite of any accomplishments in this life, without Christ I am a nothing. Yet Christ valued me, and the entire world so much that He voluntarily became the object on which God poured out all His wrath, and turn His face away from, so much that Jesus cried out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matt. 27: 46) I think we will never be able in all eternity to comprehend the depths of Christ's condescension for us sinners, whom He has made to be righteous in His sight. "For He made Him who knew no sin to BE SIN for US, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM". II Cor. 5:21
You know, when I look at myself, I am hopeless, for I see one who has an incurable wound.(Jer. 30:12) It is only when I see myself "in Christ" that I have hope, strength to face tomorrow, to face the seemingly insurmountable challenges that this world may throw my way. Thank you Lord, that I am "in Christ" and no one can remove me from His precious hand.(John 10:28)