Jeanette

"Lord, make me to know my end and [to appreciate] the measure of my days - what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].
"Behold, You have made my day as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah!
"Surely every man walks to and fro - like a shadow in a pantomime; surely for futility and emptiness he is in turmoil; each one heaps up riches, not knowing who will gather them.
"And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You."
(Psalm 39:4-7, Amp)

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, now sworn deceitfully." (Psalm 24:3-4)

We come to the Lord with empty hands and heart, holding nothing in our hands and cherishing nothing in our hearts. The Hebrew word for hands, in this verse, is the curved or hollow hand, turned upward to expose the inside of the hand.

We come with our hands clean and ready to receive. Reminds me of a child ready to receive an ice cream or something. Beforehand, Mum has said, "Put your toys down and go and wash your hands?" So if his hands are dirty and he has his toys in them, he cannot receive the ice cream.

And we come with sincere hearts devoted only to God... no hidden agendas... no other affections.

What's a REALITY CHECK!!!? I think, what I really meant was, God told me some home truths. I really goofed on something the other day, BIG TIME!!! The Lord used it to show me some stuff I needed to deal with. (See Hebrew 12)

Good news!!! Joy does come in the morning!! I've been able to sort through some issues!! Things are better than they were before. Praise God, He turns our mess-ups into miracles!!!

SHALOM

REALITY CHECK!!!!! Ouch!!! Really hurts!!! Just had one!!!

Just like when Paul wrote some pretty heavy stuff to the Corinthians!!

He said: “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.
“Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Cor. 7:8-10, NKJ)

But praise God, He does correct us, because He loves us.

“Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favour is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.”
(Psalm 30:4-5, NKJ)

Have you ever had a dead man speak to you?!!! Well, I do!...most mornings at 6:30 if I have my alarm radio turned on. If I wake up is another story!!! But the other morning, I did wake up (sort of), and I heard Derek Prince speak.

By the way, Derek Prince (who died only a couple of years ago) comes on our Christian radio every morning with a 15 minute message. If you miss it, you can catch it again at 1:45pm. What a pretty amazing thing that God can still use a person, long after they're dead and gone. (Well, dead from our perspective anyhow! Of course they're alive in heaven.)

I've thought before of how wonderful it will be when we get to heaven and God shows us our live and how He's used us to bless others while we were on earth,...and how we've made a difference in their lives!

But just imagine how much more a buzz it would be that when we get up there we could see that He is still using us on earth, even after we've left. Well, He did it with Paul, and the other writer of the New Testament,.. not to mention the Reformers and many great authors of the past century! When we die, it doesn't mean that our ministry dies.

Anyhow, that's all by the way! Back to what Derek was saying! The first thing I heard was his definition of repentance. He said it is changing from our way of thinking and doing things, to God's way of thinking and doing things. Sounds simple, eh?!!! But often oh so hard!!!! Our wills are stubborn things, but nothing is impossible with God!

The other thing I heard that was really neat! He was saying how God values the little things. He used the example of the sparrows in the Bible. In Mat 10:29-31, it says that 2 sparrows are sold for a copper coin. But in Luke 12:6, Jesus says that 5 sparrows are sold for 2 copper coins. (Buy 4 and get one free!!!) That means that the 5th sparrow has no monetary value at all! Yet, “not one of them is forgotten by God.”

How neat is that?!!!! Well, I thought so!!

We say that nothing is TOO BIG for God. Well, remember that nothing is too small for Him either!!! Nothing escapes His notice!!!

“I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvellous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret....
How precious also are Your thoughts of me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!”
(Psalm 139:14,15,17, NKJ)

SHALOM!!!

After sharing some scriptures yesterday, I'd like to tell you more about how they relate to me and how the Lord has challenged me with them. Particularly the first one: "Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time? For riches can disappear as though they had wings of a bird." (Prov.23:4-5, NLT)

For a few months this year I've spent a lot of time exploring different ways to make more money, as present income doesn't quite stretch far enough. The place I've been looking is the internet.

Well, have I been bombarded with heaps of emails and website offering upmteen ways to make a supposed fortune online?!!! Messages like: “How would you like to not only save thousands of dollars, but more importantly make thousands of dollars using guaranteed proven strategies?” It all sounds very tempting, and at times I almost fell for the trap. In fact, I did get burned a couple of times, only to realise that:

MONEY IS NOT MY PRIORITY!

God has put each one of us on this planet for a purpose, to do specific jobs/things. That is what is important to me.

My priority is to do the will of God and fulfil the purpose He has for me – to touch the lives of others in the way He wants me to – to make a difference in their lives – to do my part to make the world a better place – to bring others into relationship with God.

If I were to depart from this planet without fulfilling my purpose here, that would be the thing that would disappoint me most. I want to know that I have run the race well, and in turn receive my prize at the end. Not that my works are what gets me to heaven! I received my access to heaven through believing in Christ. It is through His righteousness that I can stand before God. However, I do believe we will be judged and rewarded for our works. Our works will be tried by fire. Only those works that are of God (the ones He has ordained) will pass the test. The rest are dead, and like dead branches they will burn up.

Our reward in heaven will depend on how we have fulfilled God's purpose for us. Have we done His will or chosen to follow our own will and plans? Oh to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Check out these Scriptures: Eph 2:10; Phil 3:12-16; 1 Cor 3:5-17

Shalom! (Hebrew for "peace")

Jeanette

Here's something that was in our church newsletter today:

TOLERANCE
"In the world sloth calls itself tolerance; but in hell it is called despair. It is the accomplice of every other sin and their worst punishment. It is the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing and remains alive only because there is nothing it would die for.
"We have known it far too well for many years. The only thing perhaps that we have not known about it is that it is a mortal [unto death] sin."
Dorothy Sayers

Something to make us think!

Jeanette

Here's what I read today:

"Don't weary yourself trying to get rich. Why waste your time? For riches can disappear as though they had wings of a bird." (Prov.23:4-5, NLT)

"The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." (Prov. 10:22, NLT)

"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4:11b,13)

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim 6:6-10, NKJ)

"Now Jabez was more honourable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez saying, 'Because I bore him in pain.'
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' So God granted him what he requested." (1 Chr. 4:9-10, NKJ) - (Jabez means "He Will Cause Pain".)

God bless you all!

Jeanette