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Keith Green - Oh Lord, You're Beautiful

Friday, February 25, 2011

FOOD FOR THOUGHT?

I don't know if you have ever read the story of the " blazing hot Furnace?"
Here goes:
Daniel ch 3:( paraphrased by me)
King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
When the building was completed he sent out heralds.This is what they shouted out "People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king's command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other instruments,bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
Some people noticed that not all the people fell down and bowed to the statue and they couldn't wait to tell the king.

"Oh king..... there are some Jews--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They have defied Your Majesty by refusing to serve your gods or to worship the gold statue you have set up." So, all the people bowed down, and behold 3 men are still standing....in that large crowd, 3 men are standing!!!!
Couldn't possibly miss them could we?


So the king calls these 3 men and questions them as to why they do not obey the king?
He gives them another chance to do it, but they keep their stand and refuse to bow down no matter what the king threatens them with. So...the king is so angry, he orders the furnace to be heated 7 times more and he has the 3 men bound and they are thrown into the furnace.
(Will leave it there for now)

Now we go to Mathew 22...

Jesus speaking:
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
"And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.
"Again he sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast."'
"Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

'Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.'
"Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.
"But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,


Now this is my thought!

Just as the three men stood out in the crowd at the blazing furnace,
and we may have to stand out, as time progresses, and stand up for our faith, could this be the other way around, and this man, at the dinner, who was not dressed in wedding clothes, could this be some one with lots of head knowledge about "God's word" but no heart knowledge, and that is not good enough and as we read the continuing story, he was thrown into outer darkness where there is gnashing of teeth!
I pray that God preserves us for the times to come and keeps us "Standing for Jesus"

( (Oh the 3 men were saved and did not go up in flames....An angel of the Lord walked in there with them, they came out and the king demanded that every one worshiped their God....our God!)
Bless you....
Yaddy

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What a friend......

What a friend we have in Jesus!
All our sins and grief to bear.

What a privilige to carry...
everything to Him in prayer.

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry
everything to Him in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrow share?

Jesus knows our every weakness
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden
cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Saviour
still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Did your friends despise forsake you?
take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms he'll take and shield you....
You will find a solace there.

Praise the Lord

Bless you...

Yaddy

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Come to Me...all who are weary and heavy laden......

Jesus said in Mathew chapter 11 verse 28 “"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Weary and heavy laden….what does that mean?

To grow weary, tired, worn out, exhausted, either with work or grief, grief can make you exhausted, Jesus said to “come to Him…..”
Do we do that?

Or, in our weariness and grief….do we go to others first?

Are we really listening to what our Lord is saying here?
Do we listen or take notice of what is written or said?

Do we?

In Mark chapter 4 from verse 35, Jesus speaking, “On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Jesus said…”Let “us” go over to the other side!

Do you think the disciple-fishermen were listening to just “what” Jesus was saying?
They knew the waters well after all they ‘were” fishermen.

They would have been busy getting the boat ready for going to the other side, there’s lots of stuff to get ready in a boat, so when the storm came up, they would have known how bad it was,
but Jesus is asleep.
How would you have felt?

Would you still have trusted in the Lord? Or would you have panicked just a little?

I imagine, I probably would not have been ‘”all” ears and would not have really been listening,
and ignored the bit where Jesus said,
“Let US go over to the other side….
Jesus said, US…
so all those who were in the boat with him would also arrive on the other side…
Jesus said so!

Jesus then finishes with “Oh, ye of little faith…”
We need to build up our faith too, so that when Jesus speaks, we hear everything He says and we will trust that what He said, He will do!

Bless you….
Yaddy

Thursday, February 3, 2011

A little bit more about children...

They are so impressive aren't they? And, we should never forget, they are a heritage from the Lord Psalm 127 v 3

As parents,it is so important we need to teach our children the characteristics of happiness, truthfulness, respect, reverence, and moral principles.
You may ask why is this.
Well because our children are indeed the most valuable possession, more precious, than anything we could ever buy or earn. Being a parent means that God has entrusted us with the task of training our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).

He has given us the duty to teach them the fear of the Lord (Psalm 128).

He has asked us to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord without exasperating them (Ephesians 6:4).

He has allowed us to share the heritage of faith, and for our efforts, we get lots of hugs and kisses.

Today advertisers are going after our young people, and are spending millions of dollars convincing our children that they cannot be happy without a certain brand of shoe, blue jean, cell phone or jacket, just to mention a few.
They are increasingly targeting their messages to children. Why?

Because of the strong influence, they have on the purchasing habits of their parents, and because they have an increasing buying power of their own.

People in the advertising business are convinced that a young, satisfied consumer could become a lifelong customer, eager to buy their products far into the future. In a similar way, as parents, we need to be influencing our young people to “buy into” the good things God has in store for them throughout all of their life.

According to Proverbs 3, some fantastic possibilities lie ahead for the young person who chooses God’s way: love life and peace (Proverbs 3:2), favour in the sight of God and man (verse 4), direction from God (verse 6), health and strength ( verse 8 ), abundance (verse 10), happiness (verse 13). The person who trusts, honours, and fears the Lord finds wisdom an incomparable prize (verse 15). How much more we have to offer them by showing them that happiness is not in materialism but comes by walking with God!

Children are always watching and learning from their parents.

Sometime ago I was browsing in a used bookshop when an irate customer stormed in and loudly demanded a refund. When the man couldn’t get what he wanted, he began swearing at the clerk. He continued the tirade for several minutes, as a girl, 7 or 8 years old, stood passively at his side.

Eventually he stomped out of the store, cursing as he went, with the little girl following close behind.

I wondered if the girl was his daughter. If so, what did she learn from her father that afternoon? More important, the event caused me to ask, “What do our children learn from us at home and all the places we go together?”

Our children learn a lot more from watching our behaviour than from all our little talks. Remember that children may close their ears to advice, but their eyes are always open to our example. There are children watching us daily. The question remains what are they learning from us? Remember that children may not inherit your talents, but will most certainly absorb your values! Mikey

bless you Yaddy