It is January 8, 2025. We've been going through ice and snow and really cold temperatures so I felt that we needed some beauty. I did an internet search for beautiful scriptures and this was one of them. We need color in this winter day. God is so good to us.
Matthew 6:28-29
To fellow Christians: I fell for the lies of the abortion industry for many years. What woke me up was seeing a picture on Facebook of a newborn baby. When I first glanced I thought that the baby looked just like my daughter when she was born. A head full of black hair jutting out all over the place and so tiny.
Then I took a second look after I realized that the baby was lying at a weird angle. Also, her limbs were all askew. Then, with horror, I saw that she was bloody and her limbs weren't just positioned funny - they were torn off and other chunks of her were put together like a jigsaw puzzle. You see, after an 'abortion', they have to put the baby back together to make sure they haven't left any pieces of the baby's body inside her mother. When it comes to killing babies - it is pretty black and white. Babies are dying horrendous deaths. They are being killed. Talk about the ultimate, most violent, child abuse. Jesus said we are to love God and to love each other. How is it love to take a person into a place to be painfully killed? How is it love to support an industry that profits off of the bodies of our babies and one that continues to corrupt our government, our scientific community, our judicial system, enables sexual abuse and trafficking, etc.? It isn't love. It is insanity and it is horrific and it must stop. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends . . . they are supposed to care and protect. They aren't supposed to kill. They just aren't. For those who did fall for the lies of the abortion industry, there is help. There are counseling services like Rachel's Vineyard or Support After Abortion. Rachel's Vineyard isn't just for the mother but for all who participated in the death of the baby. And we all know that we have Jesus who we can come to with our grief and our guilt. God is so good to us. But please don't advocate for death if you consider yourself a Christian. Always stand for life and always work for life - go that extra mile just like Jesus told us to - He showed us how to. Speak up for the orphans and those without a voice. Call up a pregnancy resource center near you. Offer to help out. Where I volunteer we do 2-two hour shifts answering phones a month. Another lady doesn't answer phones but she loves shopping at thrift stores. She is so cool. She finds the best baby clothes and maternity clothes. She takes them home washes them and brings them back. Another guy we call when we need repairs. A teenager volunteers and keeps our yard looking beautiful. If you know anyone who is bilingual please send them my way. We need interpreters. They don't even have to come in. They can call and speak to the client and then call us and tell us her needs. Or simply share information about pregnancy resource centers. We don't have the marketing budget that the abortion industry has. So many women don't know about us. Let them know there is help. Stop and think for a minute. If you weren't a Christian but you were near one and you were watching them. Wouldn't it confuse you to see them advocating for an act that kills a baby? Isn't that the complete opposite of what Jesus calls us to do? Please know that I'm not trying to guilt you with what I'm saying. But I do want you to think through what the world is telling you. Realize what is truly happening. Over 65 million babies have died a horrible death. That can't be justified. Don't be a part of it, please. Ask God to give you wisdom in this issue. Wisdom, courage, and the strength to follow through. Love you guys.
This morning, I was looking at pictures for inspiration when I came across this image. I don't know who created it but it definitely caught my eye.
I LOVE how God gave us His words (the Bible) so we could read His plan.
He is wonderful, glorious, powerful, the Almighty.
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I had a dream last night that woke me up. It was a dream that I remember, the important parts at least. I remember realizing that I did not go the path that God wanted me to walk. I chose a different one. I asked God to forgive me. Now I'm up and about my morning and I stumbled across this post from a Million Praying Moms:
"Redeem anything that's been lost in my life"
This prayer made my heart cry out to God the Father to please forgive me and help me to use what time I have left to accomplish what I was meant to do. I fall so short on just about every issue there is. I want to be who I was made to be and do what I was meant to do.
That scripture that Jesus talks about Micah 6:8 in Luke 11:42-43 just popped into my mind. If I have gone too far off the path, or while I live, until I know what I should be doing: do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God
Micah 6:8 KJV
So many stories in the Bible show us that God knows us before we are born. He creates us for a reason.
'Consider the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, but I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. '
Luke 12:27
This picture was posted by Boldness for Christ on Facebook
on March 1, 2024.
They
had posted a series of other graphics talking about sin. Together they made my
little pea brain go 'Maybe you should look into this'.
Have
you ever noticed that when you are reading scripture you hear a voice in your
head saying things like 'That sounds like you' or 'Haven't you done that? And aren't you still doing that?'
Anyway,
I'm going to do a Bible study on the verses they used in this graphic. I've
only gotten through two of them and I realized quickly just how important sin
is to watch out for and how it hurts us so badly.
1
John 5:18 (don’t practice sin)
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that
is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. KJV
We know [absolutely] that
anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing
sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects
him [Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and
the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him].
AMPC
1 John 3:3-10 (practice righteousness)
And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also
the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was
manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known
him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the
devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 1 John 3:3-10 KJV
And everyone who has this hope [resting] on Him cleanses
(purifies) himself just as He is pure (chaste, undefiled, guiltless).
4 Everyone who commits (practices) sin
is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking,
violating of God's law by transgression or neglect–being unrestrained and
unregulated by His commands and His will).
5 You know that He appeared in visible
form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him
there is no sin [essentially and forever].
6 No one who abides in Him [who lives
and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him–deliberately, knowingly,
and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has
either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him,
or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him].
7 Boys (lads), let no one deceive and
lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming
to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently
conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous.
8 [But] he who commits sin [who
practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one],
for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The
reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen,
and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].
9 No one born (begotten) of God
[deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature
abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently
within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of
God.
10 By this it is made clear who take
their nature from God and are His children and who take their
nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not
practice righteousness [who does not conform to God's will in purpose, thought,
and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his
fellow believer in Christ). 1 John 3:3-10 AMPC
Romans 6:1-2 & 10-14 (not ruled by sin)
'What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein? 'Romans 6:1-2 KJV
'For in that he died, he died unto sin once:
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.' Romans
6:10-14 KJV
1 WHAT SHALL we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin
in order that God's grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow?
2 Certainly not! How can we who died to
sin live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2 AMPC
10 For by the death He died, He died to
sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is
living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
11 Even so consider yourselves also dead
to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in
unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore rule as king in
your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its
cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions.
13 Do not continue offering or yielding
your bodily members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of
wickedness. But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you
have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members
[and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.
14 For sin shall not [any longer] exert
dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace
[as subjects of God's favor and mercy]. Romans 6:10-14 AMPC
Romans 6:23 & Ephesians 5:5 (we know what sin does)
'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Romans 6:23 KJV
' For be sure of this: that no person
practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is
covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for
gain]–for he [in effect] is an idolater–has any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God.' Ephesians 5:5 KJV
23 For the wages which sin pays is
death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union
with) Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 AMPC
5 For be sure of this: that no person
practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life, or one who is
covetous [who has lustful desire for the property of others and is greedy for
gain]–for he [in effect] is an idolater–has any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:5 AMPC
1 John 5:18 (we guard ourselves)
'We know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked
one toucheth him not. '1 John 5:18 KJV
18 We know [absolutely] that anyone born
of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the
One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him
[Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the
wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him]. 1
John 5:18 AMPC
1 Corinthians 9:27 (discipline)
'but I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway.' 1 Corinthians 9:27 KJV
27 But [like a boxer] I buffet my body
[handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that
after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it,
I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as
a counterfeit]. 1 Corinthians 9:27 AMPC
I like to first look at the King James Version and then look
at other versions if I don’t quite understand the wording. AMPC does a great
job of explaining what the passage is saying. NLT is my go-to version if I’m
just needing to read scripture for comfort or as a quick reference.
So, sin, it shouldn’t be part of a Christian’s life. We are
supposed to guard our body, our mind, our soul, and keep Christ safe. We are to
be holy set apart for God.
It seems that in our day and age we shrug off sin
because ‘they say’ it doesn’t have a hold on us. Well, that is not what
scripture says.
