GUIDANCE FROM ABOVE

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.


All of chapter 3 is excellent, yet too much for me to comment on today. Have you ever received bad advice from someone, maybe a close friend, who meant well at the time giving the advice, but it turned out to put you in a worse scenario? What motivates different reactions to circumstances? I have flipped out on people in the past and did not improve the situation one bit. I have overheard someone giving horrible advice to another and realized, people can be vicious to other people. Everyone encounters good times and bad times in their life. God tells us to trust in Him in all areas, and at all times of our lives. If you do so, He promises to give you direction. Would you rather get advice from someone who could potentially send you down the wrong path that has devastating consequences? Or trust in God who knows all and wants to bless you! There are times I do not understand what's going on in my life, but I have learned to trust God's leading, and THAT takes a lot of worrying off my mind. May I always seek Godly counsel and not the counsel of men!

COMFORTING VERSE:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose - Romans 8:28

Praise God!!!

RKM

The Hand of God

Almost a week ago, June 15, 2009, My family witnessed the hand of God upon us. I, my wife, 3-yr old daughter, wifes younger sister, and their cousin, just started our drive home from vacationing in San Diego California. We were driving through a mountanous, very rocky area with huge boulders all over the place. My wife was driving and I was reading a book in the passenger seat. The speed limit was 65mph and my wife believes she was going about 60mph. We were coming around a sharp corner when right in front of us, probably 50-ft, an 18 wheeler was stopped in our lane, which was the right hand lane. In the left lane another vehicle was stopped. There were more than three people also standing in the road. Apparently there was an accident that just happened not even minutes before we got there. Well as I said I was reading a book and when we came around the corner and my wife saw the road was blocked with no where to go she was applying the brake, and knew instantly, there was not enough stopping distance. I remember her asking what she should hit. I had no answer for her, and I told her after this was over that she did exactly the right thing. She had control of the car and steered away from the 18-wheeler, and she tried to miss the other vehicle and the people. She barely missed the vehicle and the people which we were now on the shoulder of the road and next thing we know, there was a boulder we hit. All I remember is white smoke in my face and us rolling. We rolled over big rocks and boulders and came to a stop on all four tires. All I could think about was is everybody O.K., especially my 3-yr old daughter. As soon as we stopped, I jumped out of the car and opened up the back door to get her and she was perfectly fine. I did a quick survey of everyone else, and everybody was fine, no blood, no broken bones. My sister in law got the worst which she had a contusion over her left eye. I am attaching pictures of my car, and one picture shows the car from the accident before ours. God definitely held our car and the passengers together. Thank you Lord for your protection. Today is fathers day and the best present I could get is my daughter is safe. And to God, Thank you, Happy Fathers Day!

A TESTIMONY

I have been a christian for about 30 years now in which I have wasted most of that time using up God's Grace, by that I mean I went to church because I had to go and never did anything more than that. During my stint as a christian, I have had God directly speak to me only once. I admit He has spoken to me many times through other believers, but not like when He directly speaks to you--when you know it's Him. Here is my testimony:

Several years ago I was in the Air Force, and once every few months, we would do an exercise (where we pretend to go to war to evaluate how we perform our jobs under the threat of war). This one particular exercise, I was chosen to do this other job (for this story, the job doesn't matter). Well, during exercises, you work at least 12 hours and sometimes longer, plus you are not allowed to leave for lunch or anything (your at war). This one particular morning, I was running late so I didn't have time to eat breakfast, nor did I pack a lunch the night before, so I was looking at a long day of work, and nothing to eat. So on my way in to work I was grumbling and rhetorically asking God, what am I to do. As I got to work, there was a processing line everyone is supposed to go through which has many stations like a medical station, a chaplain station, and more. Well I stopped at the chaplain station and picked up a bible and an issue of Our Daily Bread, thought to myself what good will this do me today. Well I sat down where I was to wait to do my job, and I opened up the daily reading for that day out of the Daily Bread, and read Luke 12:22-30. Even after reading it, I still was grumbling to God about the horrible day ahead of me-when---a co-worker came over with a huge bag of sandwiches and snacks saying, There's plenty, so dig in. My heart sank.

God is good! Even though He has spoken to me directly once, I know He is always there and looking out for me. Thank you Lord Jesus!

The Trial of all Time

When our labor all retire
There will be a trial by fire
Will your treasure pass the test
Or will it burn up with the rest
You may build upon a sure foundation
With your building in delapidation
When it all comes down to rubble
Will it be wood, hay, or stubble
Or precious stones, gold and silver-
Are you really sure

And we all will stand at the Bema Seat
All will be revealed-it will be complete
Will there be reward in the fiery heat
When we see our lives at the Bema Seat

Every talent will be surely counted
Every word will have to be accounted
Not a story will be left untold
We will stand and watch the truth unfold
Every score-will be evened-nothing to defend

And we all will stand at the Bema Seat
All will be revealed-it will be complete
Will there be reward in the fiery heat
When we see our lives at the Bema Seat

Every building will be shaken
Every motive will be tried
He'll give reward to the faithful
Will you receive or be denied

And we all will stand at the Bema Seat
All will be revealed-it will be complete
Will there be reward in the fiery heat
When we see our lives at the Bema Seat

PETRA-From Not of This World
Romans 14:10, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15


You will one day be tried in the trial of all time, where even thoughts will accuse or excuse you.
Will what you do in this lifetime weigh in the right side of the scales of justice?

To hear the song, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxox7WcsigY

UNDER LAW or UNDER GRACE

ROMANS 3:23 says, [ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God], pointing out that all mankind can not live up to Gods standards. We read, [ Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement], HEBREWS 9:23. These two verses, and there are many more that tell us we are not perfect, that we will stand before God one day for judgement, for the physical actions we have done, even thoughts we dwell upon that are not right. Everyone knows that everyone will die one day, we can not escape it, EZEKIEL 18:4 reads, [ For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son-both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.] If you think you are not under the law or that you are perfect than prove it by living forever! These scriptures point out that no one is perfect and that everyone who sins will die. Why does the modern christian church teach the ten commandments, that if you haven't received Jesus as your saviour and you die, you will die in your sins and go to Hell? Then they say the Law was given to Israel and not the Gentiles (non-jews). If the law was given to the jews only, and it is not for the gentiles, then why is the whole world going to judgement one day? Why did the Lord Jesus have to die for everyone sins? We know that we are not saved by observing the law but by faith (ROMANS 3:27), (EPHESIANS 2:8-9). But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [ ROMANS 5:8] All mankind is sinful as the bible says, and all that sin will die, after death you face judgement for everything you said; did; or thought, So I charge you if you presently do not call on Jesus as Lord and saviour to do so soon, as you are on borrowed time! Jesus said he did not come to abolish but to fulfill the law [ MATTHEW 5:17 ]. So what do we do with the law that wasn't abolished, [ Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! on the contrary, we establish the law. ( ROMANS 3:31 ).

In Genesis 6:4 we read, [There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.] When read quickly and not pondered about, I think not much about it. I am 6 feet tall and i have seen some people to be taller than me and occasionally somebody over seven feet tall. Again, wow that person or persons may be tall but what about somebody even taller than they? As i think more about it i kind of get chills and can not fully take in there might have been people taller than 9 feet. Yet the bible describes there were giants! Numbers 13:32, 33 tells us again that there were giants, only it goes into further detail about how the Israelites would be like grasshoppers to them! Could this be possible? Check out this web page and ponder the possibility. http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/charts/charts.html

In Jewish Antiquities book one, Josephus writes, [For many angels of God now consorted with women and begat sons who were overbearing and disdainful of every virtue, such confidence had they in their strength; in fact the deeds that tradition ascribes to them resemble the audacious exploits told by the Greeks of the Giants.]

The Genesis Apocryphon(1Q20) of The Dead Sea Scrolls speaks of Lamech,(found in the bible), being troubled that his wife conceived a child due to the Watchers and the Holy ones...and to the Giants.

The Book of Enoch and the Book of Giants(4Q201) of The Dead Sea Scrolls mentions the taking of wives whomever they chose, their being pregnant by them and bearing Giants.

I fully believe the bible even when it talks of Giants that make other humans look like grasshoppers. I also believe the Jewish historian Josephus's writings as well as the Dead Sea Scroll writings back what the bible says when it says there were Giants on the earth. I may not believe all the pictures that are on the Internet about Giant skeletons are real, but it is a possibility. Where did the stories of Giants and so called mythological creatures come from? Did they start off as one persons crazy dream that he told as a bedtime story? Why was the concept entertained in ancient Greece and around the world for that matter? I will look more into this matter and will go more into where the Giants came from, another time. RKM