Another year, blessings go and blessings come!

 

“After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.  There was a great deal of weeping by everyone. And embracing Paul, they kissed him, grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.” Acts 20:36-38 (HCSB)

Every year we have to say goodbye to some of our people. Some have already left us and now three families will leave us real in the next couple weeks. People come and go here at this International church. Some endear themselves to us and others seem to slip in and out without being notice. We love each and everyone who walk through this door. This Sunday we will say our goodbyes to the Baxters, to the Waydas and to the Duleys. All have been an integral part of our church and the ministries. We are going to truly miss them. There are others who might be leaving us and maybe have not let us know of their upcoming departure.

Our prayers and blessings go with them. As they go others will be coming in. We do know of some other families moving here this summer and we will welcome them and pray that they may be involved. As we say GOODBYE we also say WELCOME!

 

TLS ®

Can you call God daddy?

 

“Our Father who is in heaven…” Matthew 6:9

Only those who come to God through Jesus Christ can call God “Father.” It is only those who trust Jesus who have “the right to become children of God (John1:12). These six words at the beginning of the Disciples’ Prayer reaffirm that God is Father to all who trust in Him. Jesus Himself used the title “Father” in all of His recorded prayers except one (Matt.27:46). Jesus used the Aramaic “Abba” literally meaning Daddy. Because saints belong to Jesus the Son, they can come to God the Father (Daddy) as His beloved children.

Certainly in our decadent day and age, many are increasingly growing up in homes where “father” is a person feared, a person who rejects, a person who demeans and devalues. How does God’s identity as “Father” fill the holes left by even well-meaning dads who fall short of what their roles requires?

Is God your “daddy”?

 

TLS ®

How does God reveal His will to us?

 

One’s character determines how he interprets God’s will.

Look at Psalms 18:25-27 (ESV) “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;  with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”

Jesus backs this up in Revelations where He says, Revelation 22:10-11 (ESV) “And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

God knows the heart and character of every person and He reveals Himself according to that character. If one sees God, Holy, he will experience a Holy God. If one sees an evil God, that is the God he will experience.

What kind of God do you see? Look deep in your heart first and see what is in there.

TLS ®

The Lord is coming soon!

 

“And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:4-13 (NKJV)         

There is not a day we do not hear about another earthquake happening somewhere in this world. The eruption of volcanoes has been in the news. Third world countries developing nuclear warheads. The continent of Africa is in utter turmoil and warring on every hand. Super bacteria that we cannot fight much less eliminate. The list can go on and on of the things happening TODAY.

There is no doubt we are in the last days. Christ’s return is real soon.

Jesus goes on in this discourse to say this,

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:36-39 (NKJV)

Not too many are paying attention but Jesus said that would be the case. Everyone is going around doing their own thing but Christ return will happen sudden when no one is expecting it.

 

TLS ®