Blessed are those who wash their robes!
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the old Southern Location of the North Pole, and it is Salvation Wednesday. Brothers and Sisters, we need to do more than just pray for souls, we need to put those stinky feet (ok, maybe yours don't stink, mine do and I'll tell you why someday, maybe tomorrow.) Moving on... put "feet on your prayers" (PSB) and go out and tell the lost about salvation through Jesus Christ.
Please keep praying for Don Saylor, and for Henry. Also please add to your prayers this day my dear wife Dolores. She has so much pain, but she keeps on keeping on...
Martin Gets a Bath 3: Revelation 22: 14 - Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (NIV)
So you put on your jeans and an old shirt, but they have been washed and the dirt has been removed. You head out to the garden or the workshop or to do some work on the old bucket of bolts, maybe because you just cannot afford to trade in your clunker. While you are working you, if you are like me, will keep wiping your hands on your jeans or even on the shirt. They were clean but you are getting them dirty again. Just like the old car wash, you clean it and it gets dirt on it, or my buddy Martin who got that bath and then just rolled in the dirt. (Martin goes for a bath tomorrow, so I have him reading this.) So when we read Revelation and we find that we are blessed for we have washed our robes, we have come to Christ to be clean, but we go and get the robe dirty again by sinning.
Yesterday I said that I would tell you what we have not mentioned about this. Why do we keep getting dirty over and over again? What are we forgetting? I had some nice suggestions from my brother in Christ, John Henry Riddlesberger, who said we did not keep praying after we were cleaned up, and it is true, we need to keep praying, we need to stay in touch with God. However, it was not what I had in mind, but it does take prayer to do what I had in mind. Are you ready for this? What did we forget when we went to Christ, and we asked to be cleaned, and then we got dirty all over again by sinning ... what did we forget?
Matthew 3:1 - In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (NIV) Yes, John the Baptist knew what was needed, then it was reinforced by Jesus.
Matthew 4: 17 - From the time Jesus began to preach, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near."
And yes, that is what we are missing. If we do not repent after we have confessed our sins over to our Lord Jesus, if we do not repent after He washed away our sins, we will be like my little dog Martin rolling in the dirt. Folks, what does it mean to REPENT? That is for tomorrow as we go on with Martin gets a bath. Why must we repent? Come back tomorrow and find out...
Dear Father in Heaven, as we ask that You forgive us of our sins, we ask also that You help us to repent of those sins. Lord, we need to not just get washed, we need to stay clean. Lord, help us this day to seek out the lost and help teach them about salvation through Jesus. Help us to bring in the Lost for we know we cannot save them, but You have told us that the fields are ripe for the harvest but the workers are not enough. Use us this day to do the work You have planned for us. We want to be Your helpers, we do not want to be a slacker, we want to do our share and more. In the name of Jesus, I ask Your healing hand on Don and on Henry and also their families... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Go forth now, sharing your blessings and seeking out the Lost. Work for Jesus for the night is coming. Yes, Jesus is coming back and we do not know when, and our work is cut out for us in advance. Also, we need to be sharing our blessings. For those now supporting Carry The Light Ministries and our food panty with food and dollars ... It is appreciated and you are welcome to stop in for a visit. Love ya, dan. Oh, did I say share your blessings? Yes, oh well, I said it again, it is that important... and yes, I still love ya, dan.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tuesday: Martin Gets a Bath 2
You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, it is Schools day, Tuesday, on the line, and we need to be getting down to some real praying for our schools, for we are just a few short weeks away from a new school year. Please warriors, if you live near a school, go there and do some serious praying and just plain talking to Jesus about the schools. If you live near a yard full of school buses, go and pray over them in the name of Jesus, pray for safety. Please keep praying for the Saylor family. Don is home from the hospital and hospice is now checking on him. Please do not let that scare you, for Jesus is still the one in control. Please pray for Vicki and her family as they have services for her dad.
For all of you who have lost love ones, remember this scripture... It comes from Psalm 30: 5 - For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime: Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (NIV) Yes, we weep when we lose the loved one, over and over again we might weep, however, if we look at the promises of God, that someday we will meet up in heaven, then we know that there will be joy or rejoicing in the morning...
Martin Gets a Bath 2 - You drive your dirty car down the street, it looks a mess, it has that road dirt, tree sap and bird stuff all over it... you go past the car wash and think, yes, I am going back and either have it washed or I am going to put some quarters in the machine and wash it myself (trust me you need a bunch of quarters). Anyway you go back, you spend some really good hard earned money on your dirty beauty. You pay for the extras, yes, clean and shine those tires, wash the car, clean the inside and put some of that smell good on the inside, clean the windows inside and out, and add the hot wax. Your dirty beauty comes out the other end of the tunnel and four or five people jump on it and in it and finish it. You just spent 20 bucks and now a tip. You smile and get in it and off you go. You are about a mile down the street and a flock of geese do a fly over... splat, splat and splat... You go a little farther down the road and a big truck passes you right where the water was left on the road from a construction job. And then the cloud over you goes dark, where did this come from... and there is just one cloud, and it lets go... and your nice new wash job is gone, down the drain so to speak. Your car looks as bad as it did before. No longer your clean beauty, it is back to being your dirty beauty. Now I say dirty beauty for you know that under that dirt is that bright red, or black, or white, or yellow, or whatever color your beauty might be. Under it is your Caddy, your Ford, your Honda, or maybe your Edsel. But you know that under that dirt is your beauty.
Folks, under the dirt of sin, we are all still God's children. He loves us all, He knows that under the dirt is still a beauty that just needs cleaned up. So we head for a wash job with Jesus and yes, like getting the car washed, we must get it started. Let's face it, brothers and sisters, Jesus did His part years ago on Calvary, He went to the cross for us, He died for us. We have been warned over and over again about this dirt that is known as sin - the dirt that soap will not wash off - the dirt that gets driven in clean to the bone. We make a choice here, we are tired of living in sin, we are being hurt by it, it is slowly taking us down. So we have a come to Jesus meeting, maybe on our own, or maybe at the altar of our church or a church we have never been in before. Maybe some friend took us to a good gospel concert and we responded to the call at the end... We go up and confess to Jesus our sins... we bundled them up for if we did one at a time we would need a week or more - and we GET WASHED. Listen to these words...
1 Corinthians 6: 9 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But YOU WERE WASHED, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God. (NIV)
Under all the dirt of sin, the beauty which God could still see comes clean like that big silver Caddy coming out the end of the Wash Tunnel. Yes, we are clean as clean can be and we get ready to head out for the day. How long will we stay clean? How long will it be till the flock of geese do a fly over us? How long till the splat, splat of the dirt we call sin comes on board with us? We forgot to do something when we got cleaned, we forgot to do it. We have gone out like my little K-9 Martin Martin Lehman (yes that is his full name) and we have got our messed up in sins... Tomorrow, what we forgot to do. Will you join in tomorrow and find out what it was that we forgot? If you have an idea what we forgot, drop me an e-mail and let me know. I love to hear from you.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for the wash job to clean us from sins. Help me, dear Lord, with the message tomorrow as You did today. Lord, be with the Saylor Family and heal them Lord, and Lord, be with Vicki and her loved ones as they suffer the loss of her dad. Lord, we pray today for our schools and for all those who go through the doors, we ask that You head them up, regardless of what some want, we who love You want You in the schools. You are indeed welcome. Help us to ready our children for school by teaching them more about You. Be with school bus drivers as they learn more about safety and those new drivers stepping into the buses for the very first time. Anoint them to drive in a safe way. And Lord, the Transportation Department at the Central Dauphin School District needs Your help... Please work it out for the good. Lord, I give it all over to You in the name of Jesus. Amen.
And now may the Good Lord bless and keep you, may He cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace, and may He cause you to share your blessings... Amen. Love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, it is Schools day, Tuesday, on the line, and we need to be getting down to some real praying for our schools, for we are just a few short weeks away from a new school year. Please warriors, if you live near a school, go there and do some serious praying and just plain talking to Jesus about the schools. If you live near a yard full of school buses, go and pray over them in the name of Jesus, pray for safety. Please keep praying for the Saylor family. Don is home from the hospital and hospice is now checking on him. Please do not let that scare you, for Jesus is still the one in control. Please pray for Vicki and her family as they have services for her dad.
For all of you who have lost love ones, remember this scripture... It comes from Psalm 30: 5 - For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime: Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (NIV) Yes, we weep when we lose the loved one, over and over again we might weep, however, if we look at the promises of God, that someday we will meet up in heaven, then we know that there will be joy or rejoicing in the morning...
Martin Gets a Bath 2 - You drive your dirty car down the street, it looks a mess, it has that road dirt, tree sap and bird stuff all over it... you go past the car wash and think, yes, I am going back and either have it washed or I am going to put some quarters in the machine and wash it myself (trust me you need a bunch of quarters). Anyway you go back, you spend some really good hard earned money on your dirty beauty. You pay for the extras, yes, clean and shine those tires, wash the car, clean the inside and put some of that smell good on the inside, clean the windows inside and out, and add the hot wax. Your dirty beauty comes out the other end of the tunnel and four or five people jump on it and in it and finish it. You just spent 20 bucks and now a tip. You smile and get in it and off you go. You are about a mile down the street and a flock of geese do a fly over... splat, splat and splat... You go a little farther down the road and a big truck passes you right where the water was left on the road from a construction job. And then the cloud over you goes dark, where did this come from... and there is just one cloud, and it lets go... and your nice new wash job is gone, down the drain so to speak. Your car looks as bad as it did before. No longer your clean beauty, it is back to being your dirty beauty. Now I say dirty beauty for you know that under that dirt is that bright red, or black, or white, or yellow, or whatever color your beauty might be. Under it is your Caddy, your Ford, your Honda, or maybe your Edsel. But you know that under that dirt is your beauty.
Folks, under the dirt of sin, we are all still God's children. He loves us all, He knows that under the dirt is still a beauty that just needs cleaned up. So we head for a wash job with Jesus and yes, like getting the car washed, we must get it started. Let's face it, brothers and sisters, Jesus did His part years ago on Calvary, He went to the cross for us, He died for us. We have been warned over and over again about this dirt that is known as sin - the dirt that soap will not wash off - the dirt that gets driven in clean to the bone. We make a choice here, we are tired of living in sin, we are being hurt by it, it is slowly taking us down. So we have a come to Jesus meeting, maybe on our own, or maybe at the altar of our church or a church we have never been in before. Maybe some friend took us to a good gospel concert and we responded to the call at the end... We go up and confess to Jesus our sins... we bundled them up for if we did one at a time we would need a week or more - and we GET WASHED. Listen to these words...
1 Corinthians 6: 9 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But YOU WERE WASHED, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God. (NIV)
Under all the dirt of sin, the beauty which God could still see comes clean like that big silver Caddy coming out the end of the Wash Tunnel. Yes, we are clean as clean can be and we get ready to head out for the day. How long will we stay clean? How long will it be till the flock of geese do a fly over us? How long till the splat, splat of the dirt we call sin comes on board with us? We forgot to do something when we got cleaned, we forgot to do it. We have gone out like my little K-9 Martin Martin Lehman (yes that is his full name) and we have got our messed up in sins... Tomorrow, what we forgot to do. Will you join in tomorrow and find out what it was that we forgot? If you have an idea what we forgot, drop me an e-mail and let me know. I love to hear from you.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for the wash job to clean us from sins. Help me, dear Lord, with the message tomorrow as You did today. Lord, be with the Saylor Family and heal them Lord, and Lord, be with Vicki and her loved ones as they suffer the loss of her dad. Lord, we pray today for our schools and for all those who go through the doors, we ask that You head them up, regardless of what some want, we who love You want You in the schools. You are indeed welcome. Help us to ready our children for school by teaching them more about You. Be with school bus drivers as they learn more about safety and those new drivers stepping into the buses for the very first time. Anoint them to drive in a safe way. And Lord, the Transportation Department at the Central Dauphin School District needs Your help... Please work it out for the good. Lord, I give it all over to You in the name of Jesus. Amen.
And now may the Good Lord bless and keep you, may He cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace, and may He cause you to share your blessings... Amen. Love ya, dan.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Monday: Martin Gets a Bath
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and it is August. Where has summer gone? Monday, the day we pray for our leaders, so brothers and sisters we need to be praying for our President and for his family and for our Vice President and his family and all our other leaders, those in authority over us, and they do need our prayers. Please pray first for their soul and then for them to take all things they do before God, before they bring it to us. It is also the day we pray for all those who work so hard to keep us safe and free. Our veterans, our military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, National Guard Units, and also the reserves. Pray for our Police, our firefighters, and all those who are in the ambulances on the land, sea and in the air. It is a big list, and think, all these people are working for us, to keep us safe and free.
Prayers also for Vicki and her family in the passing of her dad, Don. Please pray for peace in this family. Also please keep praying for the Saylor Family. Dad, Don, is in the hospital. Pray for Pastor Charles, for Pat, Jo, William, and for Greta, all who reside at the Bridges and want to come up out of those wheel chairs and walk. Also please be with Henry as we release him over to You. Be with Art and Elaine in this time of sorrow...
Martin Gets A Bath: Psalm 51: 1 - Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (NIV)
Each morning when I am getting ready for my shower, Martin, one of our little K-9s and yes, the one that travels with us when we are singing, runs and hides under the bed. He knows that there are days when I will put him on my shoulder and take him in the shower with me. He hates a bath. He even knows now if I am thinking of giving Martin a bath even during the day, and I might say to Dolores, I am going to give Martin a "B" and he runs under the bed. He knows code words..
Maybe Martin thinks that if he hides from me, I will not see how dirty he is, which brings me to this... We cannot hide our dirt from God. God knows our sins, each and every one of them, and we cannot hide under a bed or anyplace else that God cannot not see ... He sees it all ...
So let me get back to my beloved little boy Martin. He is just so cute and I still can get him for the bath. I just get a leash and say bye, bye, and he comes running... then I let the leash on him, and get ready for my shower. When I am ready for him, he is hiding under the bed, I just get the end of the leash and pull him out for his bath. Now this is different from our sins. Jesus does not put us on a leash, we have been given free will. And again we cannot hide our sins from our Lord Jesus. He knows... He knows. Ok, so I give Martin his bath and he looks and smells so good, and I put him down and in a few minutes I look outside to find Martin who had gone out through the dog door and is now rolling in the grass. Oh and did you ever see a wet dog, who just rolled in grass that was just cut? Back to the shower again..
So how does this relate to God? Well, it works like this... We come to Jesus, and we come in faith, we are ready to give it all up for Him and we confess we are sinners and ask that He wash away our sins with the blood of Jesus. And when we give it all over to Jesus He will wash us clean. Then like my dog Martin, we go out and roll in the dirt we call sin. After you have asked for God to forgive you of your sins, how long does it take till you get dirty again? How long till you sin? For some people it might be a while, for others it is right away. Folks, some people even pray to be cleaned of the sin they are about to do..
This week I want to give you a few examples like Martin rolling in the dirt, and relate it to us being forgiven and then sinning again. We need to repent...
Dear Father in Heaven... Thanks for forgiving us of our sins, and Lord we need to repent, we need to turn and walk away from sin. Lord, today I ask that You are with our leaders, protect them, and Lord I pray for their souls, that they know You, that they come to You with their work, before they bring it to the public. Please also protect our veterans and heal their wounds and protect those in our military and their families. And yes, those members of our family in the Military. Protect our Police, and our firefighters, and all those who work so hard to keep us safe. Be with Vicki and her family in this trying time and please work out the differences in the family. Be with the Saylor family and heal them Lord. Be with Henry, Lord, as we place him in Your arms for love and care. Be with Art and Elaine and comfort them. And Lord, these people want to walk again... and Pastor wants to preach. Lord, please heal, Pastor Charles, Pat, Greta, Jo, William, and others who want to walk again... In the loving name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Go forth, and remember you cannot hide your sins by going under a bed, so come out, repent, get washed in the blood, and yes, of course, share your blessings... love ya, dan.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and it is August. Where has summer gone? Monday, the day we pray for our leaders, so brothers and sisters we need to be praying for our President and for his family and for our Vice President and his family and all our other leaders, those in authority over us, and they do need our prayers. Please pray first for their soul and then for them to take all things they do before God, before they bring it to us. It is also the day we pray for all those who work so hard to keep us safe and free. Our veterans, our military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, National Guard Units, and also the reserves. Pray for our Police, our firefighters, and all those who are in the ambulances on the land, sea and in the air. It is a big list, and think, all these people are working for us, to keep us safe and free.
Prayers also for Vicki and her family in the passing of her dad, Don. Please pray for peace in this family. Also please keep praying for the Saylor Family. Dad, Don, is in the hospital. Pray for Pastor Charles, for Pat, Jo, William, and for Greta, all who reside at the Bridges and want to come up out of those wheel chairs and walk. Also please be with Henry as we release him over to You. Be with Art and Elaine in this time of sorrow...
Martin Gets A Bath: Psalm 51: 1 - Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (NIV)
Each morning when I am getting ready for my shower, Martin, one of our little K-9s and yes, the one that travels with us when we are singing, runs and hides under the bed. He knows that there are days when I will put him on my shoulder and take him in the shower with me. He hates a bath. He even knows now if I am thinking of giving Martin a bath even during the day, and I might say to Dolores, I am going to give Martin a "B" and he runs under the bed. He knows code words..
Maybe Martin thinks that if he hides from me, I will not see how dirty he is, which brings me to this... We cannot hide our dirt from God. God knows our sins, each and every one of them, and we cannot hide under a bed or anyplace else that God cannot not see ... He sees it all ...
So let me get back to my beloved little boy Martin. He is just so cute and I still can get him for the bath. I just get a leash and say bye, bye, and he comes running... then I let the leash on him, and get ready for my shower. When I am ready for him, he is hiding under the bed, I just get the end of the leash and pull him out for his bath. Now this is different from our sins. Jesus does not put us on a leash, we have been given free will. And again we cannot hide our sins from our Lord Jesus. He knows... He knows. Ok, so I give Martin his bath and he looks and smells so good, and I put him down and in a few minutes I look outside to find Martin who had gone out through the dog door and is now rolling in the grass. Oh and did you ever see a wet dog, who just rolled in grass that was just cut? Back to the shower again..
So how does this relate to God? Well, it works like this... We come to Jesus, and we come in faith, we are ready to give it all up for Him and we confess we are sinners and ask that He wash away our sins with the blood of Jesus. And when we give it all over to Jesus He will wash us clean. Then like my dog Martin, we go out and roll in the dirt we call sin. After you have asked for God to forgive you of your sins, how long does it take till you get dirty again? How long till you sin? For some people it might be a while, for others it is right away. Folks, some people even pray to be cleaned of the sin they are about to do..
This week I want to give you a few examples like Martin rolling in the dirt, and relate it to us being forgiven and then sinning again. We need to repent...
Dear Father in Heaven... Thanks for forgiving us of our sins, and Lord we need to repent, we need to turn and walk away from sin. Lord, today I ask that You are with our leaders, protect them, and Lord I pray for their souls, that they know You, that they come to You with their work, before they bring it to the public. Please also protect our veterans and heal their wounds and protect those in our military and their families. And yes, those members of our family in the Military. Protect our Police, and our firefighters, and all those who work so hard to keep us safe. Be with Vicki and her family in this trying time and please work out the differences in the family. Be with the Saylor family and heal them Lord. Be with Henry, Lord, as we place him in Your arms for love and care. Be with Art and Elaine and comfort them. And Lord, these people want to walk again... and Pastor wants to preach. Lord, please heal, Pastor Charles, Pat, Greta, Jo, William, and others who want to walk again... In the loving name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Go forth, and remember you cannot hide your sins by going under a bed, so come out, repent, get washed in the blood, and yes, of course, share your blessings... love ya, dan.
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