You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything ...
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, for all those who have power over us, also for our military, our state and local law enforcement folks, and all others who work for our health and safety. It is a really big group of people.
Potatoes and Tree Stumps:
Exodus 20: 6 - You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (NIV)
Once again on the news we see that people have claimed to be able to see The Virgin Mary in something. This time a tree stump. We have had people claim to see The Virgin Mary, Mother Theresa and even Jesus in many forms. I think it was a donut that sort of looked like Mother Theresa, and a potato and I think it was a sweet potato that was in the form of Mary, the mother of Jesus. On the news today people were gathering at a tree that was cut down. To me it looked like it was saw cut in the grain of the wood, but people claim they could see the mother of our Lord Jesus in that old tree stump. Ok, I confess, I have laid on my back in the yard and watched the clouds go past and would watch for shapes of things, and yes I have seen the face of Jesus as I know the face from pictures. But let me say at that point I stop. The news this morning showed people lining up to 'kiss the stump" and folks that is exactly what they were kissing, a big old tree stump.
Exodus 20: starting with verse 4 is very clear about idols, which include things where we think we can see the face of Jesus or others. We should bow down to no idols, which in my mind includes but is not limited to potatoes and tree stumps, and could include money, cars, trucks, and yes, even buses. We must be real careful not to worship "stuff". While most of us like "stuff" of some kind we just do not want it to get in the way of our worship or our living for our Lord Jesus.
Now while some might think that the best way of being sure we are not going to worship stuff is to get rid of the stuff, I do not always agree with that. I feel the very best way to not worship stuff and let it become an idol is to get Jesus locked into your heart, into your soul and into your mind and live for Him.
Please folks, let me just be a few days early this week on Salvation. Maybe I want to take a lesson from the racing people. You know, if Chevrolet wins the big races on the weekend, on Monday the Chevrolets sell a little better. If Toyota has a good weekend race, then on Monday the Toyota gets some extra customers. So I pray that a lot of "fence sitters" got to church yesterday and today I can follow up with a tad of Salvation on Monday. Are you ready to get away from the idols and get to Jesus? Plug Jesus into your life and the life of your family. MEN ... stand up and lead your family, get them into Jesus, not some potato or tree stump, or Chevrolet, Ford, or any other car. Put Jesus first in your life. Lock hands and hearts with Him. Put Him ahead of all you have including your family and friends.
Will you take time to pray for the removal of sins today, to pray to start fresh on this very first day of the rest of your life? Will you start it with Jesus and not a potato or a tree stump? If you already have fallen in love with Jesus, then how about renewing that love this morning? Will you do that today, not for me, but for your very own self? Then you can pray for the other things on our list ...
Dear Father in Heaven, I just want to lead others today to be cleaned or re-cleaned today. I can't pray for the others to be cleaned, only that you might encourage them to come to You. So Lord, I want to do this for myself. First, Lord, I want You to know that I love You, not some potato or tree stump. Well, Lord, I do like a baked potato or some mashed potatoes, but I am not going to bow down and kiss them or any other idol, be they real or a hunk of iron, or even gold. Lord, I want Jesus in my heart today and everyday, so I am asking for You to forgive my sins, and wash me clean today ... set me free, anew ... and Lord, help me walk with You, come into my heart and live, dear Jesus. And I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
Now go forth sharing your blessings, and talking to others about Jesus ... love ya, dan.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday: Mercy (5)
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
"Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Friday and the day we pray for all those who work for our Lord Jesus, all those who are going into the fields of Harvest and talking to people about the Good News. Also today, please pray for the family of Jordan. We have been praying for Jordan, 15 years old who had cancer. His cancer is gone, he is healed, he is with Jesus. Not the healing we wanted to see on earth. So pray for his family.
Mercy (5): All week we have been talking about mercy, today I want to talk to you about what I think was the greatest mercy shown which went for all people ... The mercy from God The Father through Jesus His Son was delivered on the cross FOR ALL PEOPLE. All you need to do to receive this mercy is believe in Jesus, and confess unto Him, and then work for Him. Let's face it, if we don't work for Jesus, how can we really believe in what He did for us and still does for us?
All these Bible quotes today will come from my NIV study Bible ...
John 3: 16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever BELIEVES in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3: 17 - "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
John 3: 18 - "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Now let us go to the cross with Jesus. This in my opinion is where all the mercy comes from when talking about our Lord Jesus. This is where the price was pa, on the cross. This is where our sins, yours and mine, mine and yours, and all the sins of the world, were nailed to the cross, and while Jesus was on the cross, with the nails in His hands, with His side pierced by the sword, with thorns in His head ... Jesus poured out mercy in the form of not just words but these things were written in His blood. Think about it as we review some of His last words ...
Luke 23: 34 - Jesus said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Even as Jesus was telling His Father in Heaven to forgive them, they were dividing up His clothes.
Now when Jesus was put to death there were two criminals who were on crosses next to Him. Here is the word on them ...
Luke 23: 39 - One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him. "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
Luke 23: 40 - But the other criminal rebuked Him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "Since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
Now here comes one really great ACT OF MERCY ... While dying on the cross Jesus forgave the one ... and guess what, the one that hurled insults at Him, WENT TO HELL. Here are the words of Jesus:
Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Now if there is any doubt about where Jesus might have gone after being put to death, this tells me that as soon as Jesus died, He went to Heaven with the one criminal. Why do I think that? It is in the words of Jesus: Today I will be with you in Paradise. Not tomorrow, but today and Jesus would be with Him in Paradise, in Heaven. I picture it like this. Jesus takes this criminal up to God our Father, Jesus has forgiven him of all his sins and presents Him to God clean. It might have been something like this ... Hi Father, this is Joseph, he is clean of sin and I present him to you to get into Heaven. With that Jesus leaves. Now think of it, it is not going to be any different when we get called. If we know Jesus one on one and we love Him, it would go something like this ...
Hi Father, this is "Tim the Gospel Singer and he loves me and has confessed to me his sins. He is clean, please Father let Tim in. Or it might be like this: Hi Father, this is Dan the Mechanic who is now a pastor. He is clean of sin, please let him in. Hi Father, this is Sharon, she was in the Navy and worked at the Army Base after that. She loves me, Father, and she is now free of sin, please let her in. Hi Father, this is Leslie, and she has worked so hard for me Father, she has been forgiven of her sins, please let her in. Hi Father, this is (now if you love Jesus put your own name in here.) Remember, this is a very personal thing. I am going to do one more. Hi Father, good to see You, look at my hands and feet Father, see the nail scars that they put on me. Father, I did this for You and for all people of the world, red and yellow, black and white ... all people, Father. Oh, and here is "Joe the plumber". He was rough at one time, but he came to me. He gave it all over to me, Father, and I took all of his sins to the cross with me. Please let Joe into paradise.
Now that is the way I picture it on my mind.
Now one last thing ...
John 14: 1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me 2 In my Fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME THAT YOU ALSO MAY BE WHERE I AM." (NIV) Yes, again all my Bible quotes came from my NIV study Bible.
Who else will show mercy like this?
John 14: 6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth and the life ... NO ONE comes to the Father except through me."
Who else will show mercy like this? NO ONE!!! And if you are like me this morning you are jumping and shouting THANK YOU JESUS ... and giving a really big AMEN.
Dear Father in Heaven, again I ask for mercy for I am a sinner. Help me be of service to You in the fields of harvest. Help us, Lord. Be with all the workers of Yours. Lord, please touch these workers as I call them by name ... Pastors, Tony, Kevin, Rick, Charles, Larry, Paul, and me, Lord ... and all others who teach, preach, tell, show, etc., others about Your Love. Please heal Pastors Tony and Charles. And please intercede between two of those listed. You know who in the list has been reaching out to one of the others, help me get that fence mended. Lord, we need to get out the word about Your mercy and grace. Help us, dear Lord, help us. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Now folks go forth, sharing your blessings and showing mercy to others. Again I tell you that God is going to forgive you as you forgive others. It is the same with Mercy, for indeed if I had to come up with a one word description for mercy, after writing all week about it, it would be just this:
Mercy = Forgiveness! Forgiveness = Mercy ... and it starts with God, comes through Jesus and YOU MUST BE INVOLVED. Check out our Blogspot at carrythelight4Jesus.blogspot.com and get involved ... love ya, dan.
"Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Friday and the day we pray for all those who work for our Lord Jesus, all those who are going into the fields of Harvest and talking to people about the Good News. Also today, please pray for the family of Jordan. We have been praying for Jordan, 15 years old who had cancer. His cancer is gone, he is healed, he is with Jesus. Not the healing we wanted to see on earth. So pray for his family.
Mercy (5): All week we have been talking about mercy, today I want to talk to you about what I think was the greatest mercy shown which went for all people ... The mercy from God The Father through Jesus His Son was delivered on the cross FOR ALL PEOPLE. All you need to do to receive this mercy is believe in Jesus, and confess unto Him, and then work for Him. Let's face it, if we don't work for Jesus, how can we really believe in what He did for us and still does for us?
All these Bible quotes today will come from my NIV study Bible ...
John 3: 16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever BELIEVES in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3: 17 - "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
John 3: 18 - "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Now let us go to the cross with Jesus. This in my opinion is where all the mercy comes from when talking about our Lord Jesus. This is where the price was pa, on the cross. This is where our sins, yours and mine, mine and yours, and all the sins of the world, were nailed to the cross, and while Jesus was on the cross, with the nails in His hands, with His side pierced by the sword, with thorns in His head ... Jesus poured out mercy in the form of not just words but these things were written in His blood. Think about it as we review some of His last words ...
Luke 23: 34 - Jesus said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Even as Jesus was telling His Father in Heaven to forgive them, they were dividing up His clothes.
Now when Jesus was put to death there were two criminals who were on crosses next to Him. Here is the word on them ...
Luke 23: 39 - One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him. "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
Luke 23: 40 - But the other criminal rebuked Him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "Since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
Now here comes one really great ACT OF MERCY ... While dying on the cross Jesus forgave the one ... and guess what, the one that hurled insults at Him, WENT TO HELL. Here are the words of Jesus:
Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Now if there is any doubt about where Jesus might have gone after being put to death, this tells me that as soon as Jesus died, He went to Heaven with the one criminal. Why do I think that? It is in the words of Jesus: Today I will be with you in Paradise. Not tomorrow, but today and Jesus would be with Him in Paradise, in Heaven. I picture it like this. Jesus takes this criminal up to God our Father, Jesus has forgiven him of all his sins and presents Him to God clean. It might have been something like this ... Hi Father, this is Joseph, he is clean of sin and I present him to you to get into Heaven. With that Jesus leaves. Now think of it, it is not going to be any different when we get called. If we know Jesus one on one and we love Him, it would go something like this ...
Hi Father, this is "Tim the Gospel Singer and he loves me and has confessed to me his sins. He is clean, please Father let Tim in. Or it might be like this: Hi Father, this is Dan the Mechanic who is now a pastor. He is clean of sin, please let him in. Hi Father, this is Sharon, she was in the Navy and worked at the Army Base after that. She loves me, Father, and she is now free of sin, please let her in. Hi Father, this is Leslie, and she has worked so hard for me Father, she has been forgiven of her sins, please let her in. Hi Father, this is (now if you love Jesus put your own name in here.) Remember, this is a very personal thing. I am going to do one more. Hi Father, good to see You, look at my hands and feet Father, see the nail scars that they put on me. Father, I did this for You and for all people of the world, red and yellow, black and white ... all people, Father. Oh, and here is "Joe the plumber". He was rough at one time, but he came to me. He gave it all over to me, Father, and I took all of his sins to the cross with me. Please let Joe into paradise.
Now that is the way I picture it on my mind.
Now one last thing ...
John 14: 1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me 2 In my Fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME THAT YOU ALSO MAY BE WHERE I AM." (NIV) Yes, again all my Bible quotes came from my NIV study Bible.
Who else will show mercy like this?
John 14: 6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth and the life ... NO ONE comes to the Father except through me."
Who else will show mercy like this? NO ONE!!! And if you are like me this morning you are jumping and shouting THANK YOU JESUS ... and giving a really big AMEN.
Dear Father in Heaven, again I ask for mercy for I am a sinner. Help me be of service to You in the fields of harvest. Help us, Lord. Be with all the workers of Yours. Lord, please touch these workers as I call them by name ... Pastors, Tony, Kevin, Rick, Charles, Larry, Paul, and me, Lord ... and all others who teach, preach, tell, show, etc., others about Your Love. Please heal Pastors Tony and Charles. And please intercede between two of those listed. You know who in the list has been reaching out to one of the others, help me get that fence mended. Lord, we need to get out the word about Your mercy and grace. Help us, dear Lord, help us. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Now folks go forth, sharing your blessings and showing mercy to others. Again I tell you that God is going to forgive you as you forgive others. It is the same with Mercy, for indeed if I had to come up with a one word description for mercy, after writing all week about it, it would be just this:
Mercy = Forgiveness! Forgiveness = Mercy ... and it starts with God, comes through Jesus and YOU MUST BE INVOLVED. Check out our Blogspot at carrythelight4Jesus.blogspot.com and get involved ... love ya, dan.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday: Mercy (4)
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy ..."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to families day on The Carry The Light Ministries praise, prayer and message line. Yes, today we pray for families, and remember, please remember as you pray for families to pray for the family of God. Please pray for Leslie and her family and for Vicki and her family.
Mercy (4): Matthew 5: 7 - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (NIV)
Roman 9: 14 - "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (NIV)
Ok, what is God telling us in these two passages about mercy? Here is what God is telling me ... From Matthew 5: 7 - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." God is going to show you mercy as you show mercy to others. Our Lord God will bless us as we bless others, He will open the floodgates of blessings upon us when we give to His work in faith. He blesses us over and over again when we share our blessings with others. Why would it be any different when it comes to showing mercy? Is not being able to show mercy a gift that is given to us by God? I believe so, for it takes someone special to show mercy to others. Most often when it comes to showing mercy, being able to forgive is right in the mix. How could you show mercy to someone if you have not forgiven them first? Forgiving others comes right from the heart, and so does showing mercy.
Now what about Roman 9: 14 - "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." I think this is God telling us that when it comes to Him showing mercy and compassion on others, that is His work. Remember I talked about it a tad yesterday, we are to be doing the will of God by working for God, we are not to even be trying to do God's work. Remember, God saves people, we don't, we can only get them to the feet of Jesus and tell them about it. And is not Jesus showing mercy when He does save us? None of us are worthy of it.
Tomorrow the ultimate showing of mercy!
Dear Father in Heaven, the messages that You are giving me this week are exciting, and something we really need to know. Again today I ask that You show mercy on me, on us, on all who ask, that You show mercy by forgiving us of our sins. Forgive me, dear Lord, have mercy on me dear Lord, and Lord please teach me over and over again how You forgive me as I forgive others, and how You show mercy on me as I show it on others. Lord, be with the family of Yours, the family of God, and help it grow, help us to be working for You and teach us the difference between working for You and trying to do Your work, which we cannot ever do. Lord, be with Leslie and her family and bless them. Iron it all out for them, Lord, as only You can do. The same with the family of Vicki. Lord, today I ask for blessings as we talk to people in the Rose Garden at Hershey. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth and share your love, share your blessings, share forgiveness, and share mercy as God leads you ... love ya, dan.
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy ..."
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to families day on The Carry The Light Ministries praise, prayer and message line. Yes, today we pray for families, and remember, please remember as you pray for families to pray for the family of God. Please pray for Leslie and her family and for Vicki and her family.
Mercy (4): Matthew 5: 7 - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (NIV)
Roman 9: 14 - "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (NIV)
Ok, what is God telling us in these two passages about mercy? Here is what God is telling me ... From Matthew 5: 7 - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." God is going to show you mercy as you show mercy to others. Our Lord God will bless us as we bless others, He will open the floodgates of blessings upon us when we give to His work in faith. He blesses us over and over again when we share our blessings with others. Why would it be any different when it comes to showing mercy? Is not being able to show mercy a gift that is given to us by God? I believe so, for it takes someone special to show mercy to others. Most often when it comes to showing mercy, being able to forgive is right in the mix. How could you show mercy to someone if you have not forgiven them first? Forgiving others comes right from the heart, and so does showing mercy.
Now what about Roman 9: 14 - "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." I think this is God telling us that when it comes to Him showing mercy and compassion on others, that is His work. Remember I talked about it a tad yesterday, we are to be doing the will of God by working for God, we are not to even be trying to do God's work. Remember, God saves people, we don't, we can only get them to the feet of Jesus and tell them about it. And is not Jesus showing mercy when He does save us? None of us are worthy of it.
Tomorrow the ultimate showing of mercy!
Dear Father in Heaven, the messages that You are giving me this week are exciting, and something we really need to know. Again today I ask that You show mercy on me, on us, on all who ask, that You show mercy by forgiving us of our sins. Forgive me, dear Lord, have mercy on me dear Lord, and Lord please teach me over and over again how You forgive me as I forgive others, and how You show mercy on me as I show it on others. Lord, be with the family of Yours, the family of God, and help it grow, help us to be working for You and teach us the difference between working for You and trying to do Your work, which we cannot ever do. Lord, be with Leslie and her family and bless them. Iron it all out for them, Lord, as only You can do. The same with the family of Vicki. Lord, today I ask for blessings as we talk to people in the Rose Garden at Hershey. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth and share your love, share your blessings, share forgiveness, and share mercy as God leads you ... love ya, dan.
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