Love in Surround Sound

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:17b-19

Friday Funnies - 9 Year Old Dustin Joiner

Ya gotta give it up for a 9 year old kid who can stand up in front of a crowd of adults and actually be funny. Enjoy. And have a great weekend!

Thursday Thanks - God Always Loves Me

(Don't be afraid, I'm just changing the name of our Thursday edition a little bit. )


So, this week I'm especially aware of how thankful I am that God knows me and loves me anyway. No "ifs," no "buts," no "onlys," no "maybes," no nothing.

He just loves me.

He knows me better than I will ever know myself. He knows the way I think, the way I feel; He knows my quirks, my weirdnesses, my goof ups, my snarkiness, my tendency to procrastinate and be lazy, all those and more, and He loves me not one iota less than He would if I were less quirky or less lazy.

Thank you, Jesus, for your great and incomparable love for me. Thank you that I can always be secure in the knowledge that you love me, no matter what.

"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)


What are you thankful for?

Jesus, the Christ

The Bible says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:18) Our sin—our imperfection--separates us from a perfect and holy God.

BUT...

Never has so much meaning been applied to such a small, three-letter word.

1. Our sin separates us from a holy, pure God…. but God has offered us the gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

2. The payment for our sins is a spiritual death--separation from God in this life and the next….but God loves us and sent His Son to pay for our sins.

“God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

3. No one can pay for our sins…but Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because He is God Himself.

              “Jesus answered them…‘I and the Father are one!’”  (John 10:30)

4. Jesus said that there is no other way to heaven…but by Him.

“Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.’" (John 14:6)

5. There is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness or a place in heaven—we cannot be good enough…but if we will believe in Jesus the Christ--the anointed One, the Messiah, the Savior--as our personal Lord and Savior, our sins will be forgiven and we will live with God forever.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’”  (John 11:25-26)

6. This gift is offered freely to everyone….but…no buts on this one!  God’s free gift of salvation is open to anyone anywhere who will choose to put their faith in Him…including you!

               “For everyone, ‘whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”  (Romans 10:13)

Will you put your faith in Jesus Christ right now?  Will you accept His payment on the cross for your sins and be forgiven right at this moment?  If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, whether you have grown up in church or not, whether you have been baptized or not, you can pray to receive Him right now, right where you are.

In your own words, just talk to God and acknowledge your sins and tell Him you want to accept the gift of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins and ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord.  It can go something like this:

Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins.  Thank you for dying on the cross as my payment for every wrong thing I have ever done.  Please come into my life and be my Lord and Savior.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

That's it! You are now a son or a daughter of the King!

"So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 

You can now be assured that your sins are forgiven. 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

And you can be assured that the Lord will welcome you into heaven when you pass from this earth. The Holy Spirit now lives in you to teach you and to give you the spiritual power, strength, peace and comfort you need to make godly decisions and as you face the difficulties there are in this life.

   

If you don't already have one, I encourage you to get your own copy of God's love letter to you: the Bible. And then read, read, read. Talk to Him about every concern, every worry, every burden you carry and He will give you the strength and wisdom to handle each situation.  And He will give your life meaning as He pours out His love and joy into your life as you daily walk with Him, getting to know Him through prayer and the reading of His Word.  Nurture your relationship with your Lord.   He loves you and nothing can or will separate you from His love.

 

I also encourage you to ask the Lord to lead you to a good, Bible-teaching church where you can be baptized and taught God's Word, where you can join with a group of believers for love and encouragement and where you can serve Him with the unique gifts He’s given to you.

And if you prayed this prayer, I'd love to hear from you! Please email me or leave me a comment below telling me of your decision for Christ, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have as well.

God bless you!

Dorci

Remembering Dad

Been thinking about my dad a lot more than usual lately. This time of the year is like that. One reason for that is because he was a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces - Air Force to be exact.

Another reason is that May 27th is the 6th anniversary that he went home to be with the Lord. And the other is that May 22nd is the 6th anniversary that he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

When our then assistant pastor prayed with my dad to receive Christ, I had been a Christian myself for 13 years. And I prayed every bit of those 13 years for my Daddy’s spiritual eyes to be opened. We talked about God quite often actually. My dad was a thinker and he loved to think out loud with another person. We’d have long conversations on the phone, talking about this and that, and sometimes I’d find an open door and bring up Jesus. His answer at the end of all the thinking out loud and philosophizing, when I would ask him, “what about your relationship with Jesus?” would always be, “I’m trying.”

I’d do my best to tell him he didn’t have to try. That was the whole beauty of it. There’s nothing to do, you just believe. But for whatever reason, he just couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t feel worthy. Maybe he felt like he was such a bad person that God could never forgive him. But I knew that wasn’t true. Oh, he had done his share of “bad” things, just like we all have. But I knew that God’s love for him and His willingness and ability to forgive far exceeded anything that my dad could have ever done.

And so I kept praying. God had long before told me that it would be right before my dad’s death that he would accept Christ. And that’s exactly what happened. Five days before he died, there in the hospital room, God gave my dad the clarity of mind he hadn’t had in days to be able to hear Pastor Terell as he told him the gospel – that Jesus came to die for his sins so that he could be forgiven of anything and everything he had ever done and that he would have an eternal home in heaven living with his Savior forever.

And he believed.

And early on the morning of May 27th he entered into God’s presence and was finally free from the emotional and physical pain he had carried for so long.

Afterward I received many notes and cards from people who had known and loved my dad very much. And I began to find out that many other people had been praying for him, too. God was faithful to put people in his path throughout his life who had prayed for him. And God was faithful to answer those prayers.

My encouragement to you today is, if there’s someone in your life who you’ve been praying for, maybe for years, whether it’s for salvation or maybe there’s some bondage in their life that they just can’t seem to get free of, keep praying. Don’t ever give up until God says it’s time to give up.

My other encouragement to you is to show them Jesus. Love them as Jesus would love them. After my dad died I just kept thinking I wished I would have talked to him about Jesus a little less and showed him the love of Jesus a little more. He was a very private man, but I still wish I'd done more to show him how much he was loved.

But I know my dad is in heaven now, talking it up with Jesus and with Paul the apostle and no doubt with Thomas and Peter. He’s having the time of his life. And even in the midst of tears, that brings me unspeakable joy.

I love you Daddy and I’ll see you soon.

Friday Funnies - Encouragement, Patsy Clairmont Style

This is really a little bit of funny and hopefully a lot of hope and encouragement to you, no matter where you find yourself in life today.

Our God is the great El Roi, the God Who Sees You!

Thursday Thanks - Friends

This week I'm thankful for the wonderful friends I have, some of whom I had the privilege of spending the afternoon with earlier this week. Everything just seems better when you're surrounded by the love of friends. And knowing that we'll have eternity to laugh and worship the Lord together puts a smile on my face and gives me all kinds of peace and comfort.


Okay, now it's your turn....

Quote of the Day - Success

"There is no failure in God's will, and no success outside of God's will."

~George Washington Truett