★ WARNING - Pay Heed!

There have been times marked especially by GOD speaking. Theywere tbe days of the prophets of old and most definitely when The LORD JESUS,  the SON OF GOD was here on earth. In HIS Person GOD spoke to mankind. There have also been times of silence, for eg. The centuries immediately previous to The LIRD JESUS' coming to earth.

Now for almost 2000 years, people have been able to hear GOD's messengers proclaiming HIS demand to repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19). But this call will not be heard incessantly.  A time of silence will follow,  and woe to mankind, when GOD keeps silent! There remains only a certain fearful expectation of judgment (Hebrews 10:27).

People in a certain small town became so accustomed to the sound of hammering  in a nearby forge, even at night,  that it did not even disturb them anymore - until one night a power failure stopped the noise and they woke up, greatly concerned.

Dear friends and children from Christian families, you too, can get so used to hearing GOD's message of repentance and salvation that your conscience is no longer affected. If you only wake up when GOD has stopped speaking,  it will be too late.

As the Bible says, "TODAY if you hear HIS voice, do not harden your hearts as you did before" (Hebrews 3:7, 8 ), because TODAY is the day of your salvation. You will never be sure if you will ever see tomorrow. So please pay attention to this warning.

JESUS IS THE ONLY  WAY TO LIFE AND HEAVEN. ANY OTHER WAY OR NAME LEADS STRAIGHT TO HELL. The choice is yours to make. So choose wisely!

I leave with you two very powerful verses from the written word of GOD.

Acts 4:12 says,  "Salvation is found in no one else but JESUS, for there is no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved ".

Philippians 2:9-11 says, "Therefore GOD exalted HIM to the highest place and gave HIM the name  that is above every name, that at the Name of JESUS, every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD,  to the glory of GOD The FATHER". 

★ Free Gift - It's Yours!

HIS Righteousness! It's a free gift. But you have got to really want it and ask JESUS for it.

Since nobody is righteous before GOD, The FATHER, HE offers everyone HIS own righteousness through HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST. Every person who accepts GOD's message of salvation by believing in JESUS, obtains the forgiveness of his sins and divine righteousness on the ground of the LORD JESUS CHRIST's work of atonement at the cross of calvary. 

So it is in this that the main content and essential character of the gospel is set forth: it is the power of GOD, which proves effective in that wherein lost sinners can be saved through faith in JESUS.

And for those who want this free gift, the entire gospel can be summed up at this central point: The SON of GOD, The LORD JESUS CHRIST. In the fulness of time, HE came from heaven to earth to carry out GOD's will and glorify HIM by making g atonement for sin in HIS sufferings and death on the cross of calvary.

★ The Eagle!

Like an  eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers  over its young,  that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions, The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. Deuteronomy 32: 11-12

Trial's teach us faith. Trial is the fruitful soil of trust. Difficulties are the divine incentives which demand and develop our confidence in YAHWEH's faithfulness and trust.

The eagle can only teach her young to fly by tearing up her nest and hurling them out in mid-air, where,  thrown upon their own resources, they must either fly or fall. Then it is in that situation that they must learn the undeveloped power in their little pinions, and as they strike out upon the air in desperate struggles, they find the secret of a new life and gradually learn to beat their way through the pathless firmament and upon the wings of the wind and in the face of the sun.

So in the same way, GOD teaches HIS children to use their wings of faith by stirring up their nests, taking away their props and often flinging them out into an abyss of helplessness, where they must either sink or learn to trust and throw themselves upon the seeming void, to find that GOD's  arms  are  there beneath them like the supporting wings  of the eagle,  which she stretches forth beneath her faint and struggling brood.

It is so easy for us to lean upon things we can see and feel that it is an entirely new experience for us to stand alone and walk with an unseen GOD as Peter walked upon the sea. But it is the lesson we must learn,  if our souls are ever to dwell in YAHWEH's eternal calm where faith must be our only sense,  and GOD our all in all. Often therefore,  the crowning lesson of the spiritual life  is learned in the school of suffering...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Meat In Due Season

Can we ever see the air we breathe.  No... But we know its there. We know it for a fact. Even if someone tells us otherwise,  we would stand strong in our belief that this invisible air is all around us and if it were not there, we would indeed die.

Similarly our JESUS though invisible, is as real, or permit me to say with a very strong conviction,  is even more real than the air we breathe.  Infact HE is ever-present and always with us. Though we cannot see JESUS, HE walks beside HIS precious children, holding our hands when we are happy and carrying us in HIS arms when we are in pain...JUST BASK IN HIS LOVE.....

★ GOD's Favorite

John 10:11-16, 27-29

The LORD says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." - Jeremiah 31:3

This content is taken from the daily devotional called The Upper Room. Its written by Nancy Aguilar (Washington).

"As she prayed for me, my friend said to GOD, "Let Nancy know she's your favorite daughter". GOD doesn't have favorites! I thought. I knew GOD couldn't answer a prayer like that.

Later that day,  I came across photos of my dear friend Doreen, who died of bone cancer years earlier.  I remembered her memorial service.  As friends and family told stories about her, several women described themselves as Doreen's closest friend. They're mistaken, I thought. After all, I was her best friend. Doreen had so lavishly,  unselfishly loved us all that each of us thought we were her favorite. She lived so well JESUS' commandment  "to love one another"  that I'd felt completely, unconditionally loved.

The LORD interrupted my memories, speaking gently in my heart, "That's like MY love". I told GOD, I did not understand how that could be so. And GOD said to me, "You don't have to understand.  Only believe. " And I do believe. 

Still I wondered how GOD could love me. I am certainly no saint. Then I remembered the stories of David - a liar,  an adulterer and a murderer and yet he was "a man after GOD's own heart" (Acts 13:22). He was a man after GOD's own heart simply because he loved GOD with total abandon. To my surprise,  I realized that I am GOD'S favorite.  Each one of us is. All HE wants is that we love HIM with all our heart.

Prayer : Dear GOD, thankYOU for YOUR loving-kindness that draws us to YOU. Teach us to trust in YOUR love completely and be utterly lost in YOU...

I am GOD's favorite!  And so are you!

★ Alcohol kills!

1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 -- Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,  nor drunkards will inherit the kingdom of GOD.

Alcohol is a real problem for many people today, not just for simple, poor and uneducated people,  but also for intelligent, respected people in high positions. They are fettered by what promises a moment's joy or the ability to forget...But little do they know that this moment's joy is leading them into  deep bondage. Alcohol is a scourge of the human race.

To break free from this dependence and the burdens and involvement that have led to addiction,  one must be honest with oneself  and before GOD.

When it is a matter of bad habits, connections and sins, JESUS CHRIST is the one to turn to. HE wants, first of all, to make us aware of our undeniable un-righteousness before GOD and then free us from it. HE is not a miracle doctor. HE is the SON of GOD, The LORD. And what HE said of HIMSELF is true: If the SON makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36), that is, free from the power of sin, that human condition that causes misery and reduces us to wretchedness.

A true realization of one's condition is the first step for healing...Those who seek freedom from bondages of any kind sincerely, will then take the next step toward JESUS CHRIST.

★ JESUS - YESHUA ... Greatest Of All!

Consider how great this man was.  Hebrews 7:4

While this verse directly refers to Melchizedec, Hebrews is a book of superlatives when it comes to CHRIST. Its purpose is to show how much greater The LORD JESUS CHRIST is than all who preceded HIM. In this epistle, we read much of CHRIST's greatness in contrast with the old order of things which was but a shadow of HIM and of the good things to come.

Each chapter in Hebrews highlights this exquisite theme:

In chapter one - HE is greater than the prophets and the angels.
In chapter two - HE is greater than Adam (compare with psalm 8).
In chapter three - HE is greater than Moses.
In chapter four - HE is greater than Joshua.
In chapter five - HE is greater than Aaron.
In chapter six - HE is greater than the basic principles of religion.
In chapter seven - HE is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
In chapter eight - HE is greater than the Old Covenant.
In chapter nine - HE is greater than the Tabernacle.
In chapter ten - HE is greater than the sacrifices and the offerings.
In chapter eleven - HE is greater than the Old Testament heroes.
In chapter twelve - HE is greater than Abel.
In chapter thirteen - HE is greater than the sin offering and greater than Jerusalem or any other earthly religious systems.

HE is greater
because HE is divine, un-created, self-existent, being one with the FATHER, by whom all things in heaven and on earth are created;
because all creatures,  whether human or angelic, are but created beings, created by JESUS and created for JESUS;
because HIS priesthood abides continually according to the power of an endless life;
because HIS sacrifice does not need to be repeated and is effectual in giving eternal redemption;
because even the most renowned heroes of the faith were failing men-- but HE FAILS NOT;
because the most venerable religious system in the world is nothing compared to HIM; 
because HE is the Great Shepherd; 
and because HIS covenant is eternal! 

This greatest divine being named JESUS, whose NAME is greater than all other names, the NAME before which angels fall prostrate and demons tremble,  is the NAME I worship. What about you?
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    B. Reynolds