True friends

I simply wanted to thank Corry and KC for being what real Christian friends ought to be.

They have offered me true friendship over and beyond blogging. They both have a listening ear and a praying heart.

The Lord has filled them with His wisdom, and I am honoured in having them bestow some of that wisdom upon me.

~Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9

Corry and KC, I really appreciate your friendship, so much so, that I wanted to brag about you on my blog!! :) Thank you for being true friends!

2008…A NEW Year

Eight is seven plus one, hence, the start of a new order. In Bible numerics, eight is for a new day. A new week. A new beginning. A NEW YEAR!!

And so, enter we into a new year.

What am I looking for in 2008?

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ho gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:13-14

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Precious Faith

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:1

I was reading 2 Peter yesterday and came across the word precious faith. I immediately flipped back to 1 Peter 1:7 which mentions that the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

It struck me then that my faith is a very important part of my life as it ought to be. This is rather obvious in the very meaning of precious. Precious means of a high price or of great value, but it can also mean beloved. From 1 Peter 1:7 we can conclude that the trial of our faith is worth more than gold. When compared with gold, it is has more worth and value and is esteemed higher. Why is the trial of our faith compared to gold? Because men have died for gold, they have sailed across the ocean to an untamed land in search of it. But God tells us that gold perishes. In other words, it can and it will come to ruin, just like any other earthly “treasures” (Psalm 49:16-17).

We are reminded that worldly treasures are corruptible but God tells us that our faith, though it be tested by fire, is incorruptible. We are also taught in James 1:3 that the trying of our faith works patience in our lives. This patience will then perfect us in making our faith entire, wanting nothing.

This, then, must be why our faith and the trying of it is so precious. Though we are complete in Christ we must always be growing and perfected. We realize that even if we loose everything we hold dear on earth our faith remains untouchable. Precious faith in Jesus Christ is incorruptible, eternal!

Hymns...All about HIM

To listen to a few precious hymns, please visit:

Pen of Iron

I promise you will enjoy listening to them!

On Forgiveness

We all have times in our lives when we need a) to forgive or b) to be forgiven. For as long as we’ll be in this sinful flesh we will be hurt or hurt others. Forgiveness is the key to the healing process. Inner peace can never be reached until forgiveness takes place.

And yet, the process of it all is so complex, that I still can’t conclude which is easier: to forgive, or to be forgiven. Even when we think it’s done and over with, we tend to harbour feelings of bitterness. Once bitterness creeps in, it takes root and spreads like a vicious cancer. We continually think about it, reliving it over and over, until it completely destroys us – until it destroys our spiritual life. Bitterness takes away our joy and peace in the Lord and can ultimately put a stop to our Christian walk.

Dealing with forgiveness is difficult. But why?

Have not our sins been fully forgiven through the blood of Christ? How oft do we continually taste of God’s forgiveness!? We serve a most longsuffering God, and yet continually dwell on "what he/she did to me". Maybe if dwelt a little more on what Jesus Christ did for us, forgiveness would come a little more naturally.

~And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:13-15

Back to AWANA

For those of you familiar with the AWNA program, our church kicks off its fourth year of Awana tonight.

We work with children ages 3 to 16 (although Awana offers programs for ages 16+). This year, I get to work with the teen girls once again. The Awana program runs through the school year, which means every Friday night at 7 pm. Much like school, they have homework: Bible verses to memorize and sections to complete! Leaders also have homework: lessons to prepare! Clubbers are awarded special Awana money for their work, which they spend when we open the Awana store, once a month.

Awana is a great program for churches to have. Awana is an outreach program to spread the gospel. It’s an investment in the children of tomorrow.

If you would like to learn more, simply visit the following link: AWANA

God’s book of remembrance

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. Malachi 3:16

Verses 13 to 15 of Malachi 3 contain a complaint of God’s people about the difficulty of keeping God’s ways.

In verse 14, the people feel that serving God is vain and that even the wicked are being spared. We get a sense of discouragement in God’s people. They have turned their eyes away from God and have looked to the children of the world. The carnal and disobedient are getting ahead in life and God’s children have envied. "What good is it to be godly?" they ask. God replies to them with a promise in verse 16. Sure, He does not say that He would end the injustice right then, although we know that He will one coming day.

But rather, in verse 16, God shows that His ear is on our conversations. Even Psalm 139 teaches us that the Lord is everywhere and that there is nowhere that we can hide from Him. He sees and hears all! The promise of Malachi 3:16 is that God is keeping a book of REMEMBRANCE and will Honor those that fear Him and those that aren't afraid to speak His name.

It is all too wonderful to think that each time we speak His name, or even so much meditate upon His wonderful name, He records it in His book of remembrance. This means that every time Christian brothers and sisters talk about the Lord it is being recorded in a book kept by Him. I wonder if even every time we blog about His name, the Lord records that too.

I would like to conclude by pointing out how important it is then to get God’s words in our hearts for as Luke 6:45 mentions “for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh”. Let us, therefore, build consistent Bible reading habits that we may boldly speak the name of Jesus Christ. After all, as He has promised, for every time we speak His name, He writes ours in His book of remembrance.