WHAT IS TRUTH?

The Truth is!!!!

You cannot be saved by being a 'good person':

"For by grace are ye saved through faith...Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8a-9 KJV)

And there are not 'many paths’ to God, there's only One:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 KJV)

The Bible tells us that everyone is a sinner:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23 KJV)

You must realize that there is a punishment for sin:

"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a KJV)

This does not mean only physical death, but also spiritual death:

"...fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28b KJV)

Jesus died on the cross for your sins:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 KJV)

And then He rose from the dead, conquering death:

"Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;" (Acts 10:40 KJV)

Because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, eternal life becomes a free gift from God:

"...by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Romans 5:18b KJV)

"...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23b KJV)

But just like any gift, it doesn't become yours until you receive it. To receive God's gift of eternal life you must call on the name of the Lord:

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13 KJV)

Time is growing short and you should not put off your decision. The Bible tells us:

"(For he saith, At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you....behold.....now is the acceptable time....behold....now....is the day of salvation)" (2 Corinthians 6:2 NASB)

There is no other way to be saved than by Jesus, and there is no better time than now to receive salvation than right now!

Bless you....
Yaddy

GOD HAS NOT PASSED YOU BY!

David Wilkerson
http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

One of the greatest burdens I have as a shepherd of the Lord is, “Oh, God, how do I bring hope and comfort to believers who are enduring such great pain and suffering? Give me a message that will cancel their doubt and fear. Give me truth that will dry up the tears of the grieving and put a song on the lips of the hopeless.”

The message I hear from the Holy Spirit for God’s people is very simple: “Go to my Word, and stand on my promises. Reject your doubtful feelings.” All hope is born out of God’s promises.

I received a letter recently that contains a beautiful living illustration of this. It’s from a mother who writes, “My daughter is sixteen years old. She has a physical degeneration of her muscles, ligaments and joints, and is in extreme pain twenty-four hours a day. I lost my son to suicide in 1997 due to the same pain. He was twenty-two when, after nine years of suffering, he took his life. He couldn’t handle the pain.

“My daughter was a ballerina and was looking forward to going to Julliard School in New York City. But her dreams were shattered when she was stricken with the same disease that tormented her brother. The doctor said that her pain on a scale of 1 to 10 is at 14. The amount of painkiller needed to be effective for her would destroy her kidneys, so she can’t take the medicine.

“She loves the Lord, and is a joy to be around. She is a wonderful poet whose writings have appeared in over 15 publications, and she is listed in the ‘International Who’s Who in Poetry.’”

In the face of everything, amid a relentless shaking of body and soul, this mother and her daughter have put their hope in God’s Word to them. And he has given them peace.

Has the enemy tried to tell you that God has bypassed you? Have you been tempted to conclude that the Lord isn’t with you? Have you almost given up your faith? Put your hope in the Lord’s Word to you:

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

Bless you....
Yaddy

THE WEDDING DRESS!

Lilly Friedman doesn't remember the last name of the woman who designed and sewed the wedding gown she wore, when she walked down the aisle over 60 years ago.

But the grandmother of seven does recall that when she first told her fiance, Ludwig that she had always dreamed of being married in a white gown he realized he had his work cut out for him.

For the tall, lanky 21-year-old who had survived hunger, disease and torture, this was a different kind of challenge. How was he ever going to find such a dress in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Person's camp, where they felt grateful for just the clothes on their backs?

Fate would intervene in the guise of a former German pilot, who walked into the food distribution centre, where Ludwig worked, eager to make a trade for his worthless parachute. In exchange for two pounds of coffee beans, and a couple of packs of cigarettes Lilly would have her wedding gown.

For two weeks, Miriam, the seamstress worked under the curious eyes of her fellow DPs, carefully fashioning the six parachute panels into a simple, long sleeved gown with a rolled collar and a fitted waist that tied in the back with a bow. When the dress was completed, she sewed the leftover material into a matching shirt for the groom.

A white wedding gown may have seemed like a frivolous request in the surreal environment of the camps, but for Lilly the dress symbolized the innocent, normal life she and her family had once led before the world descended into madness.
Lilly and her siblings were raised in a "Torah observant home" in the small town of Zarica, Czechoslovakia where her father was respected and well liked by the young yeshiva students he taught in nearby Irsheva.
He and his two sons were marked for extermination immediately upon arriving at Auschwitz .

For Lilly and her sisters it was only their first stop on their long journey of persecution, which included Plashof, Neustadt, Gross Rosen and finally Bergen Belsen.

Four hundred people marched 15 miles in the snow to the town of Celle on January 27, 1946 to attend Lilly and Ludwig's wedding.

The town synagogue, damaged and desecrated, had been lovingly renovated by the DPs with the meager materials available to them. When a Sefer Torah arrived from England they converted an old kitchen cabinet into a makeshift Aron Kodesh.

"My sisters and I lost everything - our parents, our two brothers, our homes. So,the most important thing was to build a new home." Six months later, Lilly's sister Ilona wore the dress when she married Max Traeger. After that came Cousin Rosie.


How many brides wore Lilly's dress? "I stopped counting after 17."

With the camps experiencing the highest marriage rate in the world, Lilly's gown was in great demand.

In 1948 when President Harry Truman finally permitted the 100,000 Jews who had been languishing in DP camps since the end of the war to emigrate, the gown accompanied Lilly across the ocean to America .
Unable to part with her dress, it lay at the bottom of her bedroom closet for the next 50 years, "not even good enough for a garage sale. I was happy when it found such a good home."
Home was the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington , D.C. When Lily's niece, a volunteer, told museum officials about her aunt's dress, they immediately recognized its historical significance and displayed the gown in a specially designed showcase, guaranteed to preserve it for 500 years.

But Lilly Friedman's dress had one more journey to make....... Bergen Belsen.

The museum, opened its doors on October 28, 2007.

The German government invited Lilly and her sisters to be their guests for the grand opening.

They initially declined, but finally traveled to Hanover the following year with their children, their grandchildren and extended families to view the extraordinary exhibit created for the wedding dress made from a parachute. Lilly's family, who were all familiar with the stories about the wedding in Celle , were eager to visit the synagogue.

They found the building had been completely renovated and modernized. But when they pulled aside the handsome curtain they were astounded to find that the Aron Kodesh, made from a kitchen cabinet, had remained untouched as a testament to the profound faith of the survivors.

As Lilly stood on the bimah once again...... she beckoned to her granddaughter, Jackie, to stand
beside her where she was once a kallah.

"It was an emotional trip. We cried a lot."

Two weeks later, the woman who had once stood trembling before the selective eyes of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, returned home and witnessed the marriage of her granddaughter.

The three Lax sisters - Lilly, Ilona and Eva, who together survived Auschwitz, a forced labour camp, a death march and Bergen Belsen - have remained close and today live within walking distance of each other in Brooklyn. As mere teenagers, they managed to outwit and outlive a
monstrous killing machine, then went on to marry, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and were ultimately honoured by the country that had earmarked them for extinction.

As young brides, they had stood underneath the chuppah and recited the blessings that their ancestors had been saying for thousands of years. In doing so, they chose to honour the legacy of those who had perished by choosing life.
Dear Yaddy:
I am the author of the story "The Wedding Gown That Made History" originally published in The Jewish Press Weekly Magazine. Here is the link:
http://www.thejewishpress.com/pageroute.do/37658

Please add my byline to this unauthorized version and add: Helen Zegerman Schwimmer is the author of the acclaimed anthology, "Like The Stars of The Heavens" available from amazon.com.
Helen Zegerman Schwimmer

bless you....
Yaddy

some funnies

Some things people actually say in court:

Q: "What is your date of birth?"
A: " 15th July.." Q: What year? A: "Every year..."

Q: "The youngest son, the 20 year old, how old is he?"
A:" He's 20..."

Q: "Were you present, when your picture was taken?"
A: "duh...." ( no answer!)

Q: She had three boys....right?" A: "yes" Q: How many of these were girls?" A: "none"

Q: How did your marriage end?" A: "By death" Q: "By whose death was it ended?"

Q: " Do you remember the time of the autopsy?"
A: " Around 8.30am" Q: "And, Mr Denning was dead at this time?"
A: "No...no.....he was sitting on my desk, wondering what I was doing..."
Q: "Before you did the autopsy...did you check for a pulse?" A: "No..."
Q: " Did you check for blood pressure?" A: "No"
Q: " Did you check for breathing?" A: "No"
Q: "So, then, it is possible that the patient was alive....before you began?"
A: "No..." Q: "How can you be so sure DOCTOR?"
A "Because his brain was sitting in a jar on my desk...!"
Q: But...he could have been alive?"
A" Yes......he could have been practicing some profession somewhere...."


An elderly couple were having dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the women went into the kitchen.
The two husbands were talking, and one said, "Last night, we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great, I would recommend it highly!"
The other man said, "What was the name of this place?"

The first man thought for a while then said, " What is the name of that flower you give someone you love, the one that's red and has thorns?"
The reply was, "Do you mean a rose?"
"Yes," he said, "That's the one....." then he turned to the kitchen and yelled...."Hey Rose....what was the name of that restaurant we went to last night?"
Blessings.....
Yaddy

John chapter 10 verses 1 to 16

Here is the Scripture that I see so often misapplied. John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:”

Now for years I believed that the “the thief” mentioned here was the Devil. It is a pet verse of those who are “under attack” by the enemy. I do believe that the Devil is a thief, but allow me to propose to you that the Devil is not “the thief” that Jesus is warning about in this regularly quoted verse.

No my friends, the thief is not the Devil, but a “false shepherd” Please take a moment and read John 10:1:16

In the very first verse Jesus identifies the thief for us.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."

Jesus tells us that the one who enters by the door is the shepherd (v.2) and that He (Jesus) is the door. (v.9). The one who enters any other way is a “thief and robber” (v.1) as clearly identified by Jesus.

He tells us that the sheep “hear his (true shepherd’s) voice; he calls them by name, and he LEADS THEM OUT.” (v. 3)

(Funny isn’t it, most pastors today lead folks in.) The true shepherd “goes before the sheep” (v. 4) as he “leads them out.”

But Jesus tells us in verse six that the folks to whom He was speaking “understood not,”

and He took more time to further explain. Beginning in verse seven He tells us that He was “the door” and that “all that came before him were thieves and robbers.” (There it is again…He tells us who the thieves and robbers are...and it ain’t the devil.)

The thieves are the false shepherds who will not lead the sheep to Jesus, “the door” (v. 9) through whom the sheep could be saved. (v.9). (Get ready…here it comes)

In verse ten Jesus warns us that the previously identified thief (v.1 and v 7) has come to steal, kill, and destroy. The thief is not the Devil, but the false shepherd. (Still not convinced?)

Look who shows up in verse twelve…the wolf!

Doesn’t it make sense that the wolf is the Devil? We have two different characters here…the thief and the wolf….the Devil can’t be both. In fact, Jesus goes a step further to identify the thief for us by calling him a “hireling” and not the shepherd (v. 12).
It is the “hireling” (false shepherd) who “seeth the wolf coming” (v. 12) and deserts his post. The hireling flees because he “careth not for the sheep.” (v. 13), but is only in it for his own personal gain.
The thief (hireling) sees the wolf (Devil) coming and flees. It is the hireling who has come to “kill, steal and destroy.”

Some things never change. Those “hirelings” were the one’s Jesus saved his greatest criticism for, when He ran into them earlier, (only then He called them Pharisees) when He rebuked them because they “shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”

(Remember, He also accused the hirelings of not being able to lead the sheep through the door). The Pharisees were the original hirelings. Read what Jesus said about them and ask yourself if they were any different from what we see on the television today?

John 10 is clear if read with an open mind. Hirelings are Pharisees and the Pharisees were hirelings….professional “ministers.” Jesus warned us about both.

How can we possibly restore righteousness, when some of those who stand in the pulpit don't honour the Word of God?

Jesus’ anger was not directed towards the secular government but towards those who changed his house of prayer into a “den of thieves.”(There are those thieves again) He cleaned the house and today we need to do the same.

Christians have lost a lot of credibility with the world. It will never change while the hirelings are doing what they do best!. It is at their feet that we must lay the killing, stealing, and destroying of the Christian heritage from the churches. It is time for a reformation.

Don't get me wrong....... There are always true pastor who follow God's word. They are the meek who inherit the earth (Mat. 5:5). They weep and pray in secret, and defy earth and hell in public. They tremble when faced with danger, but die in their tracks sooner than turn back. They are like a shepherd defending his sheep or a mother protecting her young. They sacrifice without grumbling, give without calculation, suffer without groaning. Their price is above riches. They are the salt of the earth. For the cause of the kingdom, we need more of them." (Author unknown.)

Do you know many shepherds like that?

Don’t be discouraged. The Lord’s Church is thriving and on the advance, but don't focus on the big large group of people gathered in the showpiece building down the street. Most of those sheep belong to a hireling, a false shepherd, and not to the Lord.

It is the hireling, the false shepherd that has come to steal, and kill, and destroy.

Allow The Lord to be your Shepherd. He leads us out, we hear His voice, and He lays down His life for us.

As a friend of mine said, “Everyone wants to follow Jesus until they find out where He is going. He is going to a cross and he asks you to take up yours and follow Him.”

It is time we decided to follow Jesus and not some hired hand.

Dave Dausenmire

INNOCENCE IS PRICELESS.........

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, "Good morning, Alex."

"Good morning Pastor," he replied, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor, what is this?"

The pastor said, "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."

Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear, asked,

"Which service.....8.30 or 10.30?"

blessings..

Yaddy

A Verse We Can't Explain Away.... or Avoid

"All that the Father gives me will come to me; and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out."- John 6 v 37:

There are some especially challenging verses in the Bible which are simply profound and glorious, and are just to be believed and enjoyed.

Yet some professing Christians simply can't seem to believe them, because they can't make the verses fit into their own, theological system or tradition, or they are so prejudiced against what such verses say, that they have to explain it away or avoid it.

I have met people who do not like and won't even read Romans 11 because they actually can't stand what Paul says in that chapter. Some pastors will avoid preaching entire sections of Scripture because they know if they preached them, they would be greatly opposed in their church. So they remain silent about those passages by avoiding them.

Almost the same is said about this verse, which is is found in the words of our Lord in,

John 6:37: "All that the Father gives me will come to me; and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out."
How are we to read it and understand it? What is it saying? Some simple obvious observations we see even from a casual reading:

1. "All the Father gives me..."
There are "some souls" who have been given by the Father to Christ the Son.
It says: SOME that then means not ALL.

The verse specifically and clearly says this; Am I to change it or try to adjust it to fit my theology?

Why not let it stand and say what it says? Did Jesus mean what He taught there? "All that the Father gives me." So a right biblical doctrine from this text is this: Some have been given to the Son by the Father.

One might reply, "Yes, but would it not be right to say that ALL people--everyone--would have been given to Jesus by the Father?

No, that would not be right, and the context of the verse clearly shows why, which we answer in our next observation.

2. "All that the Father gives me WILL COME to me" . . .
All those who have been given by the Father to the Son DO come to Jesus Christ.

Jesus said this clearly: "All that the Father gives me WILL COME to me."
If ALL PEOPLE UNIVERSALLY had been given to the Son, then everyone would end up coming to Him for sure, because He says "all who are given by the Father DO come to Him"

3. "Whoever comes to me shall never be cast out" . . .
Anyone, anywhere, anytime who truly comes to Christ will never be rejected or cast away.

But first......you truly have to come to Him!

That's pretty clear and simple. Anyone who truly desires to come and does come, will be received and is never rejected or turned away.

Summary doctrine- God the Father has already given to His Son, as His inheritance,
a great number of individuals as His bride--
its called in the Bible His body, the true church of Jesus Christ. All those who have been given to Christ by the Father will certainly come to Him. Everyone who truly comes to Him in saving faith will be received and not cast away.

Application- It is wrong for us to negate, what one Scripture clearly teaches, by saying,
"But what this verse says can't be truly saying that because other verses contradict what it says."

No, they actually don't. Scripture never contradicts Scripture; but it often does state objective truths that seem impossible to reconcile, because our minds cannot see how they both could logically be true.
When that happens, we must let every truth stand alone and we must say

"Both are equally true and I just don't have enough understanding yet."

John 6:37 is infinitely glorious truth that we must believe and rejoice in, even if it is beyond us.

-- Mack Tomlinson

Careless Atheist...... By Ray Comfort

"I became an atheist to distance myself from people like you, but since becoming an atheist I've found that I don't care – I honestly don't care – if there is a God. I don't care if there is an afterlife. I don't care if I'm going to Hell. Oh, you can say all you want about that, I just don't care. You can't save me." (from an atheist)
reply:
"And I don't believe a word you are saying. If you became an atheist to distance yourself from people like me, why are you writing to me? You may say that you don't care, but you do, and so do I.

I care enough to get up on a soapbox thousands of times and look like a fool, to plead with people like you..... who either say that they don't care about their eternal welfare, or show that they don't.... by their godless lifestyle.

But the Bible teaches that sinful mankind doesn't "care" about God.

He gave them life itself and they don't care.

He gave them eyes to see His incredible creation,

ears to listen to incredible music,

taste buds to enjoy incredible food........and they don't care. As the Psalmist says, "God is not in their thoughts," and yet at the same time they vainly use His name as a swear word.

If....... you had to give up one of those senses....... which would it be?

Sight? You don't care if you go blind?

How about giving up your taste?

Or your hearing?

Imagine, never seeing a beautiful rose or a sunset, or the color blue ever again, or never tasting good food, or hearing the music of a bird in the early morning? If you are sane, you care.

But..... the loss of those precious senses are nothing compared to giving up your soul. Your "soul" is the real you. It's the interchangeable Bible word for 'your life'.

Your soul looks out the windows you call "eyes."

It's your soul that responds to the 10,000 friendly little taste buddies on your tongue.

Your soul listens to the amazing sounds that are pulled into your inner ear.

You don't know what you have until it's gone. Familiarity does breed contempt. Jesus said that if a man gained the entire world but lost his soul, he is the biggest of losers.

Yet, every day more than..... goodness only knows how many..... "don't care" enough..... to take their own lives. Life's circumstances have tragically driven them to that terrible point. Atheism is your first step in that direction. You owe it nothing.

You are right about one thing though.

I can't save you........ Only God can.

So after you have read these words of mine, how about reading the words of God? Read Matthew chapter 5-7 and get a glimpse of His perfect holiness. Then think about how we all justly deserve Hell if God is that holy, and think about how Jesus cared enough to take your punishment upon Himself--to pay your fine so that the Judge of the universe could dismiss your case. What more could you want?

An atheist's question . . .

"Do you ever doubt the existence of God? And if so, why?"

Do I ever doubt the existence of God?

NO.....Not for a moment. However, an intellectual belief in God's existence is really a non-issue. This is why:

I live in a solid, well-made house. Do I ever doubt the existence of a builder? Not for a moment.

My wife has a well-made and reliable vehicle. Do I ever doubt (for some strange reason) the existence of a car maker? Not for a moment.

I own a well-made computer...I'm sure you get the message. I never doubt that there was a maker of these things, because these things can't make themselves. My common sense tells me that they had to be made by someone with an intelligent mind. The alternative is ludicrous.

However, the issue I think you may be driving at is rather, "Does my faith in God ever waver?" The answer to that one is the same. Do I ever doubt God? Not for a moment. There's a reason for this unwavering faith.

If you asked me if I ever waver when it comes to faith in my wife, I would answer the same--not for a moment. This is because I trust her with all of my heart. She is a trustworthy person. She always keeps her word. However, there is a possibility that she could let me down.

That could happen because she is a sinner......... She is fallible.

But God is not. He is without sin, so you can totally trust Him with all of your heart, and you will never, ever, be disappointed in Him.

Life's terrible circumstances may shake you to the core, but if you catch a glimpse of God's incredible integrity as well as His ability to keep His word, and therefore you trust Him, your faith will only grow through life's lion's den experiences. His promises are immutable. They are a solid rock. See Matthew 7:24-25 for details.

www.LivingWaters.com

blessings

Yaddy