#and this is how He has set us free from the burdens and sins we know we cannot make up for or overcome ourselves

[askdacast]

Fun fact: I've never heard the first part of this hymn before! I had no idea it goes so hard!

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Sustaining Through God

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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+ Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ Exodus 34:28 Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time, he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments —on the stone tablets.

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SUBJECT: Sustaining Through God

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM SUSTAIN BY GOD

I AM FREE

I AM STRONG

I AM FULL OF MERCY

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READ TIME: 7 Minutes & 24 Seconds

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THOUGHTS:

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   The Lord will sustain us; many don’t believe that, but he will when we turn to him. Moses was in the mountains for 40 days and 40 nights. He drank nor ate any bread, and because the anointing was so heavy there, the Lord sustained him through it; so many times, we let things in life sustain us and help us through.

      However, we must depend on God through it all. Even when Moses threw down the commandments, he didn’t hold that against him. He allowed him to rewrite the first set because God had written the first set. He could’ve very well let Moses go thirsty and hungry. Still, I believe the Lord's power sustains him and that we must let the power of God sustain us, heal our minds, and heal our hearts. What are you allowing to sustain you?  

 Exodus 24:18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

  Another time, Moses went under God, and he sustained him again. Anytime we walk this close to God, we will be under God's power. God wants us to be free from drugs, alcohol, and other things, but we must allow him to sustain us through our hardships. I can say that our lives are full of things we don’t like and complete with disappointment, but we can't allow the enemy's distractions to pull us away from God.

    Deuteronomy 9:18  Then I lay prostrate before the Lord, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.

 Have you ever laid prostrate before the Lord in thoughts of him and nothing else? Moses did this for 40 days and 40 nights without food or drink. He did this not for himself but for the sins of the people. Many don’t think our sins could be what is holding us from what the Lord wants to give us.

   Many of us don’t think about how our lives could be different if we didn’t taint our lives with forbidden sin. Some of us are partaking in sins that God has told us to stay away from and has delivered us from. We are still dabbling in it, and we think it's okay, but we must pray to God and ask him to forgive us of the sins we have done to and forgive us.

  What sustains us can be anything in this world, but we must not allow it to; a lot of us allow our money and other things to sustain us, and when we do, that means we have allowed it to be something we trust over God. We can't do this. God should be the only thing that we should want to sustain us. Sometimes, this is hard because what we want is something that is here and now, and sometimes God wants us to wait, and God time isn't our time; the spirit of the Lord is telling us today to get rid of the things that are sustaining you and count on him alone.

 The Holy Spirit is saying whatever you think is sustaining you isn't pulling you from him; he said you think what you have will keep you, but it isn't. What sustains us isn't what helps our spiritual life or relationships with God.

  Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

    It tells us in this verse to cast everything on the Lord because he can sustain us. A lot of us cast our burden on this person or that person or talk to a psychiatrist, but to who we need to give all our worries is God; God wants us to trust in him enough to do it

  What is sustaining you? This question must be asked because a lot of people are allowing the world to sustain us; people even use people to sustain them because they don’t want to wait on God; if we continue in this way, we will never be able to allow God to take care of us, the Israelites knew God could take care of them, but they always wanted something different, God provided so much for them, but they desire of something different out weighted their desire for God.

  How many of you let your desire for more become stronger? The Holy Spirit is saying to stop allowing things to weigh more than your love for him, the father wants to take care of us mentally, emotionally, and physically, but we first must allow him to do this; without our willingness, he can’t take it, but we must be able to give to him.

  Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever

  Everything else in our life can fail, but God is our portion forever; he will forever be our strength even in our lowest times; he’s there to take care of us; stop allowing drinking and smoking weed to be your substances; stop allowing illicit moments with people be your substance, stop allowing past hurt to fuel you so much where you don’t know how to allow new experience to be what you need we must stop. We do this by giving ourselves to God!

  ***Today, we talked about sustaining and how God is the only one that can, and sometimes we forget he’s the only one that can. God wants to provide for us every day, but we must be willing to give him everything and not allow our wants to outweigh our lives!

  Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus

 God will take care of our every need, but we must have faith in God! A lot of times, we don’t trust him, but his track record speaks for itself; he split the sea for the Israelites, he took care of Elijah by ravens, and he made sure Joseph made it through; these people made it through because of God, and we will make it through because of God when we trust in Him. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father, thank you for today! Lord, we ask you to forgive us for everything. Lord, we thank you for sustaining us through our tough times; if we rely on anything more than you, we ask you to remove it from our lives. Lord, we give you everything. Lord, change us to be more like you; help us walk in you! Help us to walk in your authority lord, we ask you to give us more of you each day; give us more wisdom and knowledge; in Jesus Name, Amen

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REFERENCES

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+ Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength.

 

+ Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together

 

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

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FURTHER READINGS

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 Proverbs 31

Ecclesiastes 9

1 Kings 17

Psalm 28

Numbers 30

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[calledtobethelight]

Run to Win

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”

 – 1 Corinthians 9.24-25 (NLT)

As Christians, we all have a race to run. There’s an appointed course set before each one of us.  We must be determined to win our race and keep the faith to lay hold of our heavenly prize – the inheritance of eternal salvation and the victor’s crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4.7-8).

This does not contradict the fact that we are saved by grace through faith, for the Bible says in Romans 6.23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” However, it is the responsibility of the believer to “work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) one’s salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ) (Philippians 2.12).” Although it is not in our own strength that we must work out our salvation for God empowers us, we still must be diligent in keeping the faith to ensure we will not be disqualified as Paul warns (Philippians 2.13, 1 Corinthians 9.27, 2 Corinthians 13.5, Galatians 5.7).

But how can we run our race effectively? How can we run to win? Here are 7 essential keys to run your race.

1.      Keep your eyes on Jesus

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we maintain focus. Everything in this world is a distraction that can take us off course, but when we keep our eyes on Jesus, we stay spiritually minded. Colossians 3.1-2 states, “Keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].” We gravitate towards the things we focus on. If we keep our eyes on the things of this world, we will only value temporary things. However, if we keep our eyes on Jesus – the Author and the Finisher of our faith, He will perfect our faith in Him and by this faith, we have the victory over the world (Hebrews 12.2, 1 John 5.4-5).

Jesus is also our example. When we look to Christ and see how He endured the cross “for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him” and triumphed, we can take courage to persevere in our trials and not become faint in our minds because Jesus has overcome the world and He lives on the inside of us (Hebrews 12.2-3, 1 John 5.4-5). John 16.33 states, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”

We are victorious when we keep our eyes on Jesus!

 

2.      Strip off sin and every unnecessary weight

In a race where “endurance and active persistence” are vital, any burden or weight in the race would slow the runner down or make them stop progressing altogether (Hebrews 12.1). It is easier to run free. Galatians 5.1 says, “It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].” Sin is bondage. It is a weight that will keep us from going forward by easily entangling and tripping us up.

But in Christ Jesus, we are free. In Christ, we have the power to overcome sin and temptation. In Christ, we have the victory. We must strip off sin and anything hindering our effectiveness in the race so we can endure and succeed (Hebrews 12.1).

 

3.      Let go of the past

You can’t move forward while looking backward or you’ll remain stuck. Stuck in a mindset. Stuck in guilt. Stuck in regret for your past mistakes. When you look back, it won’t change your past. It will only keep you from moving forward. Philippians 3.13-14 states, “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Forget your past. Forgive yourself. Fix your eyes forward so you can move forward.

2 Corinthians 5.17 states, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].” In Christ, who you used to be is gone and passed away. Take courage. You are not defined by your past anymore. You are a new creature. You have a new life. All things concerning you are made new because of Christ Jesus. Run your race in the freedom of this truth!

 

4.      Follow the rules

We must be doers of the Word of God to excel in our race.  2 Timothy 2.5 states, “And if anyone competes as an athlete [in competitive games], he is not crowned [with the wreath of victory] unless he competes according to the rules.” The only way to win a game is to know how to play. Likewise, we cannot be ignorant of the instructions and commandments in the Bible if we want to win our race or we will never succeed. We must obey God and His commandments.

Psalm 119.32 states, “I will [not merely walk, but] run the way of Your commandments, when You give me a heart that is willing.” We must know, understand, and rightly apply God's Word to our lives. Once we do, we won’t take tentative steps but run purposefully in our race.

 

5.      Be zealous

When a person walks for the duration of their race, it doesn’t express urgency, passion, or a desire to win. When you run, it communicates love and a zeal for the things of God. Your running is the exclamation point on what you believe! Romans 12.1 states, “Don’t be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Keep your zeal for God and love Him with all of your heart. We must not be cold or even lukewarm, we must hotly pursue the Lord with all our hearts to attain our eternal prize (Revelations 3.15-16).

 

6.      Have a vision

There must be a vision to stay on the appointed course set before you. Vision sets your eyes above your current circumstances to the destiny God has planned for you. Proverbs 29.17 states, “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish.” When people have no vision, they die because there is no direction and no revelation from God for their lives.

Psalm 32.8 says, “The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.'” When you trust God and surrender to His plans and purposes for your life, He will guide you and direct you to the best pathway. Once you allow God to lead and guide you, you can run into your destiny without fear of a misstep. Habakkuk 2.2 states, “Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Write the vision and engrave it plainly on [clay] tablets so that the one who reads it will run.” You are not aimless or uncertain when you have vision. You are confident in your success because God directs your steps.

7.      Be consistent

Consistency is necessary to endure your race. 1 Corinthians 9.25, “Now every athlete who [goes into training and] competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things.” A runner benefits from the consistency of training, exercising self-control, and buffeting their body to win the race (1 Corinthians 9.27). Likewise, we must exercise spiritual disciplines to endure the race, such as reading the bible daily and praying in the Spirit. We must buffet our body by crucifying our flesh and we must “walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled by and guided by the Spirit]” (Galatians 5.16, 24-25). When we are consistent in our spiritual discipline and training, we can endure the length of the race set before us because we have equipped ourselves to persevere. When we are consistent in our spiritual discipline and training, we are setting ourselves up to win!

Each of these keys is necessary to win the race. Therefore, we must not be neglectful to do what is required of us. Finish strong! Keep the faith! Run to win and you will receive the eternal prize!

[dreamgirlvibes]

hi! this is kind of a serious question but i need some advice on navigating racism in a godly way. people can be so mean and hateful that it makes me want to be the same way. i don't like the idea of extending grace to people who are evil like that because the trauma i experience (or have experienced) hits deep and affects my way of living mentally. it's all just so overwhelming and at times i feel defenceless living in a predominately white area. i don't want to pass down hatred because i know i'm destined for greatness, yk? i don't want bigoted people to ruin that for me but i also have trouble finding a middle ground. how can i stand my ground as a child of God? what's the best thing for me to do?

Thank you in advance!

Hey love, first of all, thank you for being so open and vulnerable with your question. What you're feeling is completely valid—navigating racism, especially when it’s so deeply personal and traumatic, is incredibly painful. It’s understandable to feel anger, frustration, and even the temptation to respond with the same hatred you’ve received. But it’s also beautiful that you're seeking to honor God and not let those harmful experiences define you or steal your peace.

The first thing I want to say is that your feelings are real and justified. The pain, the trauma—it’s not something that can just be ignored or erased. God sees that, and He’s with you in every moment of hurt. It's also important to recognize that anger and pain don’t make you any less of a child of God. You're allowed to feel and grieve, but God also calls us to a higher way of living—to respond with grace and love, even when it's incredibly hard. That doesn’t mean you have to take abuse silently, but there’s a way to stand firm in your identity without letting bitterness take root.

💕 Here’s a few points that I pray the Holy Spirit will help you understand and navigate through:

1. Remember Who You Are in Christ: You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Your worth doesn’t change based on how others treat you. You are a child of God, destined for greatness—just like you said. Hold onto that truth, especially on the hard days. Your value is in who God says you are, not in the opinions of others. 🫶🏽

2. Grace Doesn’t Mean Accepting Harm: Extending grace to others doesn't mean tolerating hatred or letting people walk all over you. It means refusing to let hatred consume your heart. You can stand up for yourself and speak truth, but you don’t have to let bitterness or hate take root. It’s okay to set boundaries and protect your peace. God wants you to be strong, not defenseless—but also to rise above the negativity without allowing it to define you.

3. Righteous Anger Is Okay: Jesus Himself showed righteous anger when He overturned the tables in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13). Anger in response to injustice is not inherently sinful. What matters is how you process and channel that anger. God’s justice and righteousness are always on our side, and we can trust that He will fight for us in ways we may not even understand.

4. Pray for Those Who Hurt You- This is a hard one, trust me, I KNOW PERSONALLY- but it’s in the Bible for a reason. Jesus teaches us to pray for our enemies and bless those who curse us (Matthew 5:44). That doesn’t mean you condone their actions, but it frees you from carrying the burden of unforgiveness. God can heal your heart and give you the strength to respond in love, even when it’s painful.

5. Find your voice: Standing your ground doesn’t mean being silent in the face of injustice. If you can, speak up—both for yourself and for others who might not have a voice. God has equipped you with strength, wisdom, and courage. Use that power to advocate for what’s right and to be a light in the darkness.

6. Healing is a Journey: The trauma you’ve experienced is real, and healing takes time. Don’t rush yourself. Lean into God during your process—He’s your refuge and your strength. Surround yourself with people who understand and uplift you. And remember, it's okay to seek help, whether through counseling, therapy, or support groups. God can work through these avenues to bring healing.

7. God Has a Plan for You: Despite the pain, God has a unique and beautiful purpose for your life that no one, not even the most bigoted or hateful person, can take away. Don’t let their hate overshadow the greatness that God is preparing in you. Stay rooted in His love and truth, and trust that He will lead you through this difficult season.

Psalm 139:14

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

This verse speaks to your inherent worth and identity in Christ. No matter what others say or do, you are beautifully and intentionally created by God, and your value doesn’t change based on anyone else’s behavior. 💕🥹

Romans 12:17-21

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

This passage teaches us how to respond to hatred with grace, refusing to repay evil with evil, but instead seeking peace and allowing God to bring justice in His perfect timing. 🙏🏾

Ephesians 6:10-13

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

This verse reminds us that, as children of God, we are equipped with spiritual strength to stand firm, no matter the external challenges or injustices we face. ✨

Matthew 5:44

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

While difficult, Jesus calls us to love even those who are unkind and to pray for those who hurt us. This is not an endorsement of their behavior, but a way to rise above and avoid letting hatred take root in our hearts. 💞

Isaiah 54:17

"No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

This verse assures us that God will protect us from every weapon formed against us, including the harmful words and actions of others. He is our defender, and He will vindicate us.

These scriptures remind us of our identity, the strength we have in God, the importance of extending grace, and God’s promise to stand with us through every injustice. You are never alone, and you can trust Him to fight for you.

You are so much more than the hatred you encounter. Your future is bright, and your resilience in the face of all this is a testament to the strength God has placed within you. Keep your eyes on Him, stand firm in your identity, and know that you are never alone in this.

I’m praying for you and standing with you, beautiful. Keep shining. You’re destined for greatness. 💕 here for you. 🙏🏾

[childofchrist1983]

What can we possibly give to God that would be an acceptable gift, worthy for Him to receive? How can we shower Him with generosity when everything that we have comes from Him? His generosity is the very reason that we give, for all He has given, He entrusts to us as His stewards. He does not need our money or our stuff, but He delights when we reflect the abundance of His grace. Him for providing so richly for us in so many ways. We can never repay all that He has done for us and has given us, for all that we have is His. All we can ask is that He forgives us and guides us and protects us. May He use us so that His grace may be revealed in our words and actions and His abundance may overflow through us to others. Thank Him for providing for us and for reminding us everyday of His great and perfect love. We can take comfort in knowing that in Him, we are never forgotten. Whenever we find ourselves struggling to endure the trials and difficulties of life. let us call out to God for an answer, but also remember to thank Him and ask for His strength to help us endure. Let us not waste this time on waiting. Instead, may we humble ourselves and ask God to use this season to deepen my trust in Him as He helps us to grow in faith and prepare us for whatever lies ahead.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for rescuing us from our destructive ways, and setting our feet on His path. Thank Him for lighting and guiding our steps and tending to the road ahead of us. May He help us to seek Him daily as we make this journey, so that we may not stray from Him and wander into ruin and destruction. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for easing our burdens and granting us the rest found in His mercy and forgiveness. May He teach us to walk in His gentleness and grace. Thank Him for providing us the strength to serve Him and for carrying the weight that should have been ours, all in His gracious name. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for faithfully staying with us in all times and places. We have not always sought Him and His guidance, yet He has continuously shown us the way back to Him. May He guide everything that we say and do, and show us the way no matter where He may lead us.

May He empower us by His Holy Word and Spirit to live in the light of His Truth, love grace. May our healing and transformation glorify His name and Kingdom of Heaven and reveal who He truly is to others. May He help us to keep close to Him, so that we may endure until He fully sets us free and brings us to our true home in His Kingdom of Heaven. Thank Him for His Holy Word and Spirit. Thank Him for revealing the Truth of Him and His holiness. May He help us to hold close to Him just as He holds close to us, so that we may live in humble and faithful obedience. If we stray from Him and His path, may He use His Holy Word and Spirit to bring us close to Him once again. May He help us daily to trust fully in Him and His love, provision and care. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for making us anew! May He complete His renewing work in us, ridding us of the sinful words, thoughts and actions that aren’t from Him, so that we may reflect only His love and light and presence in us to this dark and fallen world and the lost souls within it.

God is our Heavenly Father, our Creator and our guide. And Jesus Christ is our LORD and Savior and King. As Christians, we trust Him wholeheartedly and we submit our heart and our lives into His skilled hands. May He shape us according to His design and plan for us, so that we may stand strong in the firing furnace and emerge revealing His craftsmanship as He prepares us serve Him on Earth and in His Kingdom of Heaven according to His Holy Word and will. May He give us the peace and endurance we need each day, and may He use this time to help us grow in His wisdom and strength and to grow in our walk and relationship with Him. May He make us more into the person that He not only created us to us to be, but called us to be from the very beginning.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for securing a place for all true Christian believers as followers of Christ and spiritually reborn children of God in His eternal Kingdom. Each day, the sun rises and its light and warmth, and the Holy Bible gives us a glimpse of the promised eternity to come. May we continue to walk in the love and light of Christ with our heads held high and our eyes on the finish line. May we lead others to His Gospel Truth and to His light as well throughout this journey with Him. Let us all humble ourselves before God daily, asking Him to forgive us and to strength and teach us to view life through the lens of God and His promises. May He guard our hearts against Satan and the temptations of this world and our flesh. May He give us the peace to find full satisfaction in God and His peace and promises, so that we may live our lives daily in ways that honor and pleases Him. As we seek Him daily, may He reveal Himself to us through the words He has provided and use it to conform the desires of our heart to Him and His love and compassion and grace.

As true and spiritually reborn Christians, we love, trust and believe in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ. We choose to keep Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ first in our hearts and lives and all other worldly desires behind us. He extends salvation to everyone, and we want to show the world the freedom, hope and peace they can have in accepting and following Him. We must ask Him to help us grow spiritually in our relationship with Him and strengthen us and the bonds of love that He has given us, so that our unity may glorify and testify to His power and goodness. Thank Him for calling us to faith and imparting us with salvation and righteousness. May He empower us to live in His will and righteousness, so that we may testify to His soul-saving power as our faith carries us past all doubt, fear, and failure. May He grant us the grace to forgive others who have wronged us, and the humility to seek forgiveness where we have caused strife. May we follow and serve God daily with love, trust, awe and wonder. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ strengthen our faith, lift our spirits, protect our hearts, and show us opportunities to help bring others to Him and His Gospel Truth daily. May we do this duty boldly, humbly and faithfully. Seek, follow and trust in the LORD God Almighty always! To God be all the honor and praise and glory!

We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with sincere hearts to ask forgiveness and follow Him and His Holy Word and Spirit always. We praise Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the mercy He bestows upon us and we are grateful for His grace and mercy and infinite blessings. By surrendering our hearts and our lives to His will, we see all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. God our refuge and our salvation and our constant provider. We lift our voices to Him in praise for His steadfast love, mercy and understanding. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ open our minds and hearts more and more to perceive and embrace Him and His truths. May He help us to find time to pray and read and study the Holy Bible daily and to find power in prayer, praying according to His Holy Word and will. May He help us to come to Him in true repentance and with faith in Him and His grace and merciful nature. May He give us the grace, courage and strength we need to walk with Him and do His will daily. May He teach us to watch our words when we pray to Him and to speak reverently and rightly. May we continually ask God to transform our hearts and make us faithful and humble as we walk with Him daily. We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with honest, humble and repentant hearts. We must seek Him and His will and choose to follow Him all the days of our lives. May He help transform our hearts, help us to seek and live for Him above all else and to grow spiritually and build our faith and relationship with Him with each passing day. May He forgive our sinful nature and help us always make Him and our relationship with Him top priority.

As true and born-again Christians, we choose to walk in His righteous path and lead a life that is pleasing to Him. We desire Him and His will above anything else. We desire to walk in accordance with the love and light He has shown to us through His Holy Word and Spirit. We long for a deeper relationship with Him and a deeper fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. When we fall into temptation and sin, we must turn to Him for forgiveness, strength and guidance. When believers learn to walk in accordance with God's Holy Word and Spirit, they have deeper fellowship with both God and one another. And the sin that could threaten to destroy that fellowship, if confessed (1 John 1:9), is covered in the blood of Jesus Christ and no longer a barrier between us and God. May we ask Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ to forgive us for any sins we have sinned this day or in days past. May we be faithful to Him and His Holy Word always. May He help us to walk more consistently in the light and to not neglect long to confess and forsake any sins that hinder our walk with Him. May He lead us in the direction He wants us to go so that we may seek and serve Him faithfully. God is holy and almighty and deserving of all praise honor and glory. We rejoice in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, knowing He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8). May our hearts always be filled with thanksgiving and rejoicing. May He help us to praise Him freely and honestly like all believers who came before us. May we live a life that showcases our love and trust in Him and His Holy Word and Spirit as He uses us draw others to Him and His soul-saving Gospel Truth daily. May He continue guide, correct and protect us, so that we continue to grow in Him and not weaken and stray. May we all remain faithful to Him and to this duty and purpose He has called us to. Seek and put your faith and trust in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ and let Him do the rest. May He humble our hearts and help us focus on following and serving Him daily and helping others with joy and happiness. We lift our voices in praise to Him for His love, mercy, peace, faithfulness and grace - For EVERYTHING!

It is vital that we remain rooted in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit and that we live and walk as a beacon of His light and love and share and spread the Gospel Truth daily, so that the lost souls in this world can come to know Him and be saved. The more we focus on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, growing spiritually by building our relationship with Him, leaning on Him and His Holy Word and Spirit, the better off we will be. Thanks to this and our faith in Him, we know that everything will be alright. And we will forever be grateful to Him. As true and born-again Christians, we believe in Him and His Holy Word and we strive daily to walk in His Holy Spirit. We know though our mortal bodies should die, He will raise us up and into new and glorious bodies (The Rapture). We who are truly His and alive at His second coming will never die, and our bodies will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and so shall we ever be with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven forevermore (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is one of many promises given to us by God Himself. Thank God for His strength and guidance when we are faced with sin and temptation. Thank Him for His mercy and grace. Through Bible study and prayer, God reveals His wisdom and guides us to see opportunities to grow closer to Him and grow spiritually. He gives us direction to live our lives daily according to His will.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven (John 3:5, 14:6), the ONLY way to salvation (Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9) and He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26). Jesus Christ the LORD of lords, the KING of kings, the GOD of gods (Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16) - He is the Living, Almighty and Everlasting God (Isaiah 9:6, Revelation 1:8, John 3:16, John 3:36, Jeremiah 10:10). There is no other God besides Him (Isaiah 45:5). We MUST humble ourselves before Him, turning our backs on false teachers, false gods and idols and our sinful ways. We MUST repent and turn back to God and recognize who He is and love Him in return for His great love for us. We MUST make God top priority everyday! May we be motivated to spread God's Holy Word and Gospel Truth to all the Earth, knowing that it is the only hope of all those lost in their sins. Let us not hold out a false hope for men to be saved without the Gospel, but instead, strive to do our part to get the Gospel out to a lost and dying world.

Leaning on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit strengthens us and our knowledge and wisdom about God and His Gospel Truth, exposing these imposters. May God help us to seek and lean on Him daily to gain the strength, wisdom and spiritual discernment needed to expose Satan and his imposters who seek to destroy us and God's ultimate Truth. Everyday, we must remember to share Jesus Christ's Gospel Truth with the world and to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and from the eternal damnation of Hell. In all we say and do, may all praise, honor and glory always be given to Him and His Kingdom of Heaven.

With renewed minds, hearts and wills, let us serve Him humbly and faithfully out of pure love and grateful rejoicing. May He remind us of His presence and to remain at peace, fully knowing that all will be well because He is always with us. Let us seek Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ today and everyday with all our heart and being, looking for His love, light and will for our lives with each step we take. Let us seek to please Him with our thoughts, words, and deeds and seek to advance His Kingdom of Heaven and His glory with our lives. Let us seek Him from a pure and humble heart, and when we so seek, we believe Him and His promise that we will find. May He help us all to be more sensitive to the teaching ministry of His Holy Word and Spirit, relying on Him and allowing Him to speak to us and guide us every step of our Christian journey.

God gave us the Holy Bible - His living and Holy Word - to let us know of Him and His abiding love and care as well as guide and prepare us for all our lives. May He help us encourage one another as we continue our walk with Him and our duty to Him daily. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for being present for all our new beginnings and all our lives. May He redirect any anxiety we feel as He provides countless opportunities for growth and change. May we humble ourselves before God always, asking Him to forgive our sins and make our hearts and lives anew through His Holy Word and Spirit. May He help us make Him and His Holy Word top priority, so we can grow spiritually and grow in our relationship with Him as we apply it to our daily lives. Thank God that we can focus on Him and everything about Him, for that is what keeps us sane and at peace. May our words and actions always be a reflection of Him and His Holy Word and Spirit and will.

May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus! He loves us and He knows what is best for us. Seek, follow and trust in Him - Always!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Calculate your Spiritual Gains and Losses

by William Mason

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21

Oh happy, happy soul, who can say with Paul, “in life, in death, Christ is my gain!” Truly, if you believe on the Son of God, you may. You also have the same right and the same reason [to do so] as he had. Paul was a poor sinner, even as you are; but Christ was all his gain: so he is to you, and to everyone who believes in him. Come Christian, let us, like the wise merchant, calculate our accounts of loss and gain, and see the sum total. In self-righteousness before God, peace with God, love to God, hope in God, power to please God, enjoyment of God, the life of our souls, yes, our souls by themselves are totally lost. We are all a lump of sin, bankrupt sinners, insolvent debtors to law and justice, and are in danger of lying for ever in the prison of hell. Awful loss!

What is our gain? Inestimable riches! Nothing less than precious Christ, and a precious salvation! Oh is his dear name enrolled in the book of our hearts? Can we read Jesus there? Then in Christ we have perfect righteousness before God, full acceptance with God, free access to God, love from God, peace with God, hope of enjoying, yes, present fellowship with God; we are his children in Christ Jesus; all that he has is ours; every attribute and perfection of Jehovah is engaged for us; his Spirit is ours, to make us holy and happy here, and to lead us to eternal happiness hereafter. “But,” says the poor believing sinner, “I am brought to a standstill in my calculations; though Christ is my gain, yet I have not entirely lost my burden, sin: sin is still alive in me.” Don’t stop, oh soul: continue balancing your books.

Though we have sin and feel sin raging and rebelling, what then? In Christ we have gained a sacrifice for it, and redemption from it. His precious blood has taken away all the guilt of sin from us, and all the wrath due to us from the justice of God. So it stands upon record in the court of heaven, and the Holy Ghost is witness of it on earth. Therefore, record this in the court of conscience: Faith can show a discharge from the guilt of sin and the curse of the law. “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin” [Romans 6:11]. Dead indeed, how emphatic! Yes, as much dead to sin as a corpse buried underground; and as much alive to God in Christ, as though you had never committed one sin, nor have any sin in you. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2 NASB). Thus in Christ we gain a perfect victory over sin and the law. But say, will sin destroy our mortal bodies? let it; this is all it can do; it cannot hurt our immortal souls; for, thanks be to God in Christ, we have a complete victory over death; Christ is our gain in death. We shall lose nothing by death but sin and sorrow: but we shall gain eternal glory. We shall be with our Jesus (John 17:24).

[doomedandstoned]

GÉVAUDAN Unveil Powerful Lovecraftian Journey in ‘Umbra’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Album Art by Erskine Designs

I love it when bands go for epic. With concept firm in hand, four-piece English progressive doomers GÉVAUDAN reveal a one-track 43-minute epic in 'Umbra' (2023), the band's second LP following the well-received 'Iter' (2019).

Some songs are written to get your body moving and your head banging, and so release a lot of energy in a short space of time. Other songs are written for the long-haul, supporting the unfurling narrative of a story old, grand, mysterious, and surprising.

Gévaudan's penchant for storytelling is worthy of the baffling tale of the Beast of Gévaudan itself, a puzzling corner of history three centuries past. This epic tale seems at times to characterize a carousing beast or the sorrowful cries of its victims or the brimming rage of loved ones headed into the forest to hunt the thing that is like a wolf, yet not a wolf.

Some hints of the band's intentions can be gleaned from the album title, umbra being the darkest place in a shadow. The piece begins with the unsettling scratch of dissonant guitar, like a cloud of electrified mist. Then comes the slow, deliberate thump-thump-thump of the drums. The first doom riff and sorrowful verse emerges:

I’m waiting in the dawn light, clawing, tongue like dirt Bleeding wounds that unwind, nails worn through Screaming, wordless prayer

For a voice this plaintive, you'd have to go to Rainbo from Portland, Oregon's Purification or The Wizard from the late, great Pilgrim. There is genuine mourning here, with words reminiscent of the downcast prayers of King David. Like the Psalmist, the eyes of lyricist Adam Pirmohamed seem to lift heavenward, to the invisible, esoteric realms of God and the soul.

And I slumber, in His embrace He cradles me to death And I slumber, in His faith He caresses, within my flesh

You may wonder how to take the words, just reading them at face value, but Adam has a way of convincing you of them on an intuitive level, such is the sincerity and relatability of his singing. Meanwhile, guitarist Bruce Hamilton gives release to the moment with a dazzling heavy metal solo that does some singing of its own.

When Adam returns to the mic, it is with conviction, and the vocal style becomes considerably more bold.

And I slumber, in His embrace! And I slumber, in His faith!

There follows at 12:43 a period of the sublimest peace, with the airy ambience of pleasant dreams, free from the burdens and cares of this life. In a note from the band, they reveal that the song is about battling depression, with strong Lovecraftian themes (see below).

A third section surfaces at 18:32, with the guitar strumming a triumphant theme and the rhythm section of Andy Salt (bass) and David Himbury (drums) supplying a lofty heartbeat. Adam's singing seems to embrace sunlight and blue skies following the sullen clouds of the first act. At 21:51 a whirling, climbing solo from Bruce, charged with grit and determination.

There is something vaguely Medieval about the riff we return to at 23:03, as though it were ruminating on past sins or future worries. Then at 23:40 bliss enters in the form of a psychedelic guitar set against noodling bass and the gentle tapping of drums and cymbals. The stern riff returns, though it seems to be right at home with its jazzier counterpart.

Then at 25:05 the mood shifts back to the depressive air of the start, and it might seem like defeat -- back to the status quo of gloominess and melancholy. But something has changed. There is reflection and a sense of perspective about the state of things, and an optimistic spirit rises above the morass.

I’m waiting in the dawn light Screaming, euphoria Sightless woodland Breathless blood

The presence of the synth gives it an otherworldly flare. Then at 32:52 piano, bass, and voice take us to the water's edge for a beautiful song within a song. It might have ended there, but the full band returns at 35:53 with wailing guitar and damning chords to truly finish the piece.

Standing at my hearth, I am showered with gold Strong foundations, I am king, I am known Growing inside, fearless soul of mine Brightest eyes, reflecting through mirrors

Now, as I mentioned, this is inspired by Lovecraft so there could be something stranger, more sinister afoot than I am aware of. I won't spoil those last four lines of the song (beginning at 38:21), but they may leave you questioning whatever you believed about the whole ordeal to begin with. I love the dark, droning synth that takes us into the void at the record's conclusion.

And with that, Gévaudan have created something unexpected and brilliant in Umbra. The album releases this weekend on vinyl, compact disc, and digital formats (pre-order here). Stick it on a playlist with Neurosis, Serpent Venom, Purification, Age of Taurus, and Pilgrim.

Give ear...

Umbra by Gévaudan

A Letter From The Band

We’re delighted to provide an exclusive stream of our second full-length album, Umbra, in partnership with Doomed & Stoned. This has been a while in the making, and we’re really excited to finally be releasing our most ambitious record to date, seeped in grandiose and epic doom.

Our new album, 'Umbra' (2023), evolved from the depths. Through a single 43-minute concept, it explores depression through the eyes of Eldritch horror, culminating in the unrelenting shadow that’s imparted on its sufferer -- a battle of light, stalked by darkness. As you may have come to expect from Gévaudan, this is monolithic, progressive, and highly emotive doom.

It was late 2020 when the first riffs for Umbra appeared in the studio. We felt we’d really found our niche through our debut, ‘Iter’ (2019), and made a conscious decision that our next record was going to take some of the more epic elements even further. Since our inception in 2013, we’d had a strong desire to write a concept album - something vast and atmospheric. It felt like the appropriate time to embark on the piece and see how our sound would translate onto a 40+ minute canvas for the next album.

Our writing process took on a far more live and collaborative approach. Whilst riff-master-general, Bruce, continued to bring riffs into the studio which we adopted, refined, and worked into fully formed ideas. We also took more time to jam and evolve parts, and created more in the room collaboratively. This helped to fully shape the progression and tonal shifts we wanted to achieve.

Lyricist and vocalist Adam has always taken the lead on the thematics. When thinking of concepts for the album, we wanted to take a different approach than usual. We’ve covered a lot of fantasy, history, and the occult; and whilst we didn’t want to stray too far from that, we wanted to write something with more of a personal and relatable element.

At the time, Adam was managing a bout of depression and kind of fell naturally into writing about how they were feeling -- almost an indescribable and ominous feeling, a sense of something looming. From that feeling it felt instinctive to use themes and ideas of Eldritch Horror as an allegory for depression and distress, and it was rewarding to write about a relatable topic whilst still staying true to our known themes and tones.

An important part of our evolution on this album is the introduction of piano and synth. They have extended the layers and palettes we can play with and have allowed us to explore different textures and writing approaches.

As part of the completely immersive concept approach, the cover art was another key ingredient. The impressive cover artwork has been developed by Erskine Designs. Conceptually and tonally, it’s the perfect accompaniment of the aforementioned themes.

The dynamics of our song writing have always been a key ingredient to our musical approach, and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with producer and engineer Mike Exeter in the studio again.

Finally, we’re really excited to be working with Meuse Music Records on this release. They have been incredibly supportive in bringing our vision to life on physical formats, and are a really great team to be collaborating with.

Please sit back, lower the lights, and crank up the volume to indulge in this epic musical journey.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[shareyourloveandhope]

I came here to tell you an important message.

You should repent and walk in righteousness with God Almighty as soon as possible. Turn away from the things that are considered as popular in the world we're temporarly living. Know that the popular music and different series are NOT what bring you closer to our Lord but waste your time. Sure, it's great to spend time on watching it and listening to the music that everyone is talking about, but ask yourself these questions.

~ Is it something that brings me closer to God?

~ Is it something that became an idol in my life, something that keeps me away from prayer?

~ Does it teach me about the true values that we should have or not?

Dear people, I love you and want all of you to be saved. I will continue to pray so that your eyes, ears and minds will be open and you'll be able to receive the truth — a fact that Jesus is our Savior. He not only came to earth to set an example how we should live our lives but also died for us. Yes, I know that we heard it a lot of times and we know about it, but do you truly know what it means? He showed us the greatest love. Your heart is moved when you hear that someone saved someone else from death by dying himself/herself. Why aren't you moved when you hear that Jesus died for you? He was beaten, people mocked and insulted Him, they split in His face. He let others do it to Him while thinking of you. He was thinking that you're worthy of everything He's going through. Why? He loved you that much. He loves you that much that He took your sins and burdens, so you could receive a gift of salvation that is free. Anyone can receive it. You only have to work on your faith and most importantly — truly believe that Jesus has risen on the third day. You must truly have faith in Him just like a little child. Please, do this. Receive the salvation by claiming that Jesus is your Savior and spend some time on reading the Word of God and praying. Jesus suffered so much for you. Why can't you at least spend some time with Him?

I beg you, turn away from your sins and give your life to Jesus Christ. Get baptized and be filled with the Holy Spirit, be a friend of His. Let Him guide you to salvation. Yes, you cannot do it in your own strength, but you can ask Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ or the God Almighty to give you strength to do that. You just have to take a step and try to avoid the sin in the first place God will help you, you'll see. Just try your best to live holy. Yes, you will still sin sometimes, but don't let it discourage you. Just remember to talk to God about your sins, apologize and repent. Keep in mind that our sins will be forgiven in Jesus Holy name. I am praying that this message will speak to you and you will have strength to repent, courage to speak the Word of God and teach it other people and your faith will be made stronger. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

[almaqead]

"Oceanography." From Surah 35, Fatir, "the Originators."

Joe Biden is allowing the Blob to flow freely in spite of what the law says. When man who has every chance to act perfectly according to the law acts like an ash hole, we must consult the angels and go further, farther, higher and higher, deeper than deep in order to figure out what to do....

3: 11-18:

"And ˹it is˺ Allah ˹Who˺ created you from dust,1 then ˹developed you˺ from a sperm-drop, then made you into pairs.2 No female ever conceives or delivers without His knowledge. And no one’s life is made long or cut short but is ˹written˺ in a Record.3 That is certainly easy for Allah.

The two bodies of water are not alike: one is fresh, palatable, and pleasant to drink and the other is salty and bitter. Yet from them both you eat tender seafood and extract ornaments to wear. And you see the ships ploughing their way through both, so you may seek His bounty and give thanks ˹to Him˺.

He merges the night into the day and the day into the night, and has subjected the sun and the moon, each orbiting for an appointed term. That is Allah—your Lord! All authority belongs to Him. But those ˹idols˺ you invoke besides Him do not possess even the skin of a date stone.

If you call upon them, they cannot hear your calls. And if they were to hear, they could not respond to you. On the Day of Judgment they will disown your worship ˹of them˺. And no one can inform you ˹O Prophet˺ like the All-Knowledgeable.

O humanity! It is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah ˹alone˺ is the Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

If He willed, He could eliminate you and produce a new creation.

And that is not difficult for Allah ˹at all˺.

No soul burdened with sin will bear the burden of another. And if a sin-burdened soul cries for help with its burden, none of it will be carried—even by a close relative. You ˹O Prophet˺ can only warn those who stand in awe of their Lord without seeing Him1 and establish prayer. Whoever purifies themselves, they only do so for their own good. And to Allah is the final return."

Commentary:

Allah means "the best you can do." Ask the King of Denmark if Joe Biden is doing the best he can do; ask the Ukrainians and all the free and free thinking people all around the world if Joe Biden can even read this law which contains salvation for the human race:

"Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

Retrieved from: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383

As the Quran says- anyone who concieves of a nation who cannot process the knowledge is a fool. Who cannot judge is not of God and is of the devil. As a nation of persons born by the means of the union of the angels and mankind, we have an historic chance to obey the Quran and bring the wicked to their knees, and we must not let it pass us by.

America, an illiterate and barbaric culture that has money and missiles is scary without the wisdom of the Quran and we must teach it how to obey.

Come out publicly and peacefully against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Blinky for all the good they have left undone during the past four years. America is a failed state and must peacefully and legally attain to the authority of a recognizable government AT ONCE. The plan to inaugurate Donald Trump is not the proper way.

As Muhammad said, what is dark must be exposed to the Light. there is nothing in between; what is legal and what is illegal likewise never meet.

I am telling you the truth; these Republicans and their Imp cannot be allowed to penetrate the world any further. They are not sane, they do not know or love God. We must be truer than they are false or life on earth will cease to have any value. Trust God, the Tallest, who is trying to save our lives. Every living thing on this planet is at risk if we do not stop what is about to happen -quite against the law- on January 20, 2024.

Any and all discussions of deeper spirituality, regardless of the religion, language, or location do not matter so long as Joe Biden pretends he cannot hear our cries for help or that he cannot read.

The Quran mentions "seafood" as its analogy for responsible government. The Number is 440 תם, tam, or "the innocent are finished."

All that is good and innocent is finished if we cannot turn our eyes to the written word, a gift of God and act properly. America has long since acted naive to the prospects of Tam, but this time...it cannot.

The ability to read and write is a gift of God and His Angels. Why are primitive peoples expected to do it but not the rest? This is not how civilization is made. Every man, woman, and child of every faith therefore must do what can be done peacecfully and intellectually to get Joe Biden to act like a man and stop that starfish, Donald Trump from usurping the law once again. Whatever happens next history will change, and it must change according to the way God, not man has already decided.

[thebookofnehemiah]

"The Ason." From the Book of Nehemiah, "the Exploration of the Mysteries of the Lions that Lay," 13: 23-27.

Now Nehemiah addresses party politics which are frowned upon by the Torah and in real life, claiming they cause Ashdod, "violence in the breast."

In addition Nehemiah names Ammon and Moab as additional sources of rue. Ammon is "an in-crowd" and Moabites are "traditionalists". An in-crowd with counterintuitive immoral traditions like certain political parties in Europe and America are forbidden by the Torah. The etymology calls the combination of these party politics, "a field without rain."

We saw this recently when that hook nosed cunt, Marjorie Taylor Green who bitches and moans about her religion all the time sent an envoy from Ukraine home empty handed....at Christmas time. She claimed she wanted to support her 'conference' which depends on Russian drugs to prevail, which is what happened.

There are more and more hints of trouble to come all the time because persons like this are allowed to reign in public office. We do this because we think their organizations, which have always been here should always be here and that is not true.

Recall masculine terms in Hebrew invoke beliefs and aspirations, female forms are institutions. Nehemiah says we cannot marry "conferences" that do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Like calling Puerto Ricans garbage dwellers, threatening to make ten million people homeless, or pledging to roll back critical enviromental safety standards. "Conferences" that suggest such things are populated by the garbage, not the people of San Juan.

But we allowed the garbage to own the stage and now a generation of little kids are being taught to hate black people, Puerto Ricans, immigrants, and that it is all right to wave a wand and fire federal employees and service members who are gay. This is not being done in the language of Judah, it is all illegal and someone has to pony up: Party Politics are not a get out of jail free card or permission to oppress other human beings.

About this Nehemiah tells the Princes of Israel:

23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 

25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.

 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.

 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?”

Illegal institutions are foreign women. The Torah forbids them and foreign boy gods on the basis they are oaks, they "protrude". They are reared in a manner that prevents their hearing reason, and they perform the negative Mitzvah of Shechem, "they force the burdens of their beliefs on others."

God told Jacob early in the Torah to remove the fear of foreign gods from the land.

From Vayishlach:

2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. 5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them."

The Nsh pulls on the hair of the members of the Court of the Assembly telling them their party politiics, which include non-Jewish ideas have to be rooted out. We can tell the Court became a Democracy because Nehemiah says "half the children" spoke non-Jewish languages.

For this reason, democracies are not permitted by the Torah, only constitutional monarchies which guartantee a person with a conscience can rule the land longitudinally without being subject to the whims of the sorority.

Foreign gods as we know are not allowed. Friendly gods however are welcomed. There are a large number of gods of Israel named in the Torah. Each represents an object lesson of importance especially to military governance of the Israeli Empire.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 23-24: In those days I saw men of Judah. The Seven Days were instituted by God for the sake of Judah, our glory. When man achieves glory in all the right ways, God's Glory is expressed.

The Seven Days follow man across the course of his development and the curriculum in the Torah regarding their outcomes is sound. Yet we have beaucoup of men that do not want to be loyal to their parents, who started having sex too early in life, and are trying to steal or foul the land from its rightful owners and persons who depend on its produce.

All in the Torah and its Rooms, Wombs, Portions, Crossbars and Furnishings was given for the sake of produce. But the world is becoming barren, strewn with rubble, either drowned or dried out.

Man must not commit to giving up his life for the sake of a world that lacks produce, including himself.

The Number is 9258, ץבן‎ח, tzavan‎ch, "the parachute for falling into a slump."

A slump is a grave. The Torah says there are no graves in Egypt because people there are too arrogant. One must journey out of Egypt in order to die, and then as the above says, should one deign to confess to God on High one does not feel adequate, He will unveil Ha Shem and fix you right up:

From Beshalach:

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Ha Shem cannot be found except through silence. So long as the mind is present, Ha Shem cannot take hold of the He, "the one that is there."

So to be a Nsh and then King of Israel one must be rid of the influences of the sorors, the foreign gods and also of the lingering doubt of the He, "Who am I?"

v. 25: I beat on them and pulled on their hair. The Number is 8271, חבחא‎ ‎, havcha, in Hebrew means "to lay out in order to live collectively", essentially describing the act of submitting oneself fully to a group or community, often translated as "to prostrate" in a biblical context; it can also refer to a basic tent village representing a living, symbiotic collective. 

The story of Hannukah is all about pulling out hair. The song says a bunch of hairy Greeks showed up and tried to barge their way into the Jewish temple and were met with resistance. They wanted to use a vessel of oil used for the purposes of individual freedom, made by free man for the purposes of tyranny. Competition for Jewish assets for the purposes of tyranny is blasphemy against God.

Nehemiah pulls on the hair of his fellow princes in order to wake them up to the fact an invasive party must not be allowed to use the House of Israel to spread incorrect ideas about the purposes of humanity. In fact, one cannot use any infrastructure or public works made by free thinking persons just to turn other people into picaninnies.

Hair is 98, ץח‎, tzach, "pure, clean, virginal." To pull on the hair is 601, םא‎‎, sa, "to put an end to sorrow or mischief."

"The root אסה ('sh II) may have to do with a comparable Arabic verb that means to be sorrowful or distressed. Its sole derivative is the masculine noun אסון ('ason), meaning mischief, harm or evil (Genesis 42:4, 42:38, 44:29, Exodus 21:22-23).

These two roots might not be two at all, since all healing is done by people who first suffered harm. Likewise, a doctor is a "man of sorrows" as much as a healer or scientist."

v. 26: Do not be led into sin. Now the Nsh talks about ways entire collectives of persons can be led away from Shabbat by marriage to foreign ideas. As stated above, one must perform the amazing feat identified by the Torah Course of emptying the mind of all impure thoughts, filling it with those of the essence of the pure, and then delete the mind altogether. This is very strange to most persons but this is how it is done.

The Number is 9739, טזגט, ‎ tazgat, "you will join."

This is another complicated way of explaining what will end up being rather simple once one realizes the way to Sinai and Ha Shem. With sufficient Torah study and practice of an highly ethical way of life, more and more intuition will become available and the mind will empty on its own. The more Shabbos one attempts, the closer to Shabbat one becomes.

Each Day has a Shabbos and a Shabbat, the meaning of which can be found by using the Numbers to create an algebraic expression and stochastic progression. The entire Torah is just like this:

Day Zero: Chaos, esef elef, "the compilation of the thousand," "learn all that can be learned." Day Zero therefore is actually Number 11, "alef alef", "learn how to learn". This foots with the banner on the first Parsha called Bereshit.

Day one, the Dawn of Creation: Its Shabbos is 16, its Shabbat is 17.

16=או‎, or the Pillar of the Light.

17=אה‎‎ alef he, or Ah, "the knowledge of the He, the unmanifest Self, "the accumulated acumen of the house of one's brothers."

Now if we add them together we reach the stage called Orah, "the light in one's eyes, the light of life, an agent of the light of the stars."

All of the Torah is joined together like this.

Day 2: the Vault.

26=בו‎‎, "the bo." "the entrance come and go."

27= בז, gaz, "the falcon."

bogaz= "the box, the case" AKA Boaz, "a bird of prey that has a sense of direction, that understands right from wrong."

Back to the Nsh: do not be wayward, do not come and go, follow the continuous course.

v. 27: Why are you doing all this terrible wickedness? The Number is 8965, חט‎וה‎, hatveh, "a sculptor a carver" "carve away the sin."

Do not disobey federal and international laws that protect humanity from oppression. Obedience to these laws is a spiritual principal God gave Moses to give to the Jewish people and it cannot be contradicted.

Even stll, this is not enough. One must overreach and achieve Shabbos and Shabbat. Politics, policies, religious beliefs notwithstanding one must strive to attain to these things.

As for the GOP, it has knowingly engaged in election fraud in 2016 and 2024 along with many other violations of the law and must discorporate. About this there is no doubt.

[barinejohn]

--- Day 5

Title: "Walking in Freedom: Breaking Free from the Past"

Post Content:

Welcome to Day 5 of this journey. Over the last few days, we’ve talked about grace, identity, and letting go of regret. Today, I want to share something that has been a powerful part of my story: freedom in Christ.

The Chains of the Past

For a long time, I felt chained to my mistakes. The guilt, shame, and judgment from others made it hard to move forward. It felt like no matter how much I wanted to change, the weight of my past kept pulling me back. Maybe you feel this way too—trapped by bad decisions, painful memories, or the opinions of others.

But here’s the truth: You don’t have to live like that. Jesus offers us a way out.

Freedom Through Christ

The Bible says in John 8:36:

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

True freedom isn’t about forgetting your past; it’s about being free from its control over your life. In Christ, we’re no longer defined by what we’ve done but by what He has done for us.

When I surrendered my life to Jesus, He broke the chains of my past. He showed me that freedom isn’t about perfection—it’s about walking in His grace daily.

How to Walk in Freedom

1. Confess and Let Go: Bring your burdens to God. Confess your sins, and trust that He has forgiven you.

2. Forgive Others and Yourself: Holding onto bitterness keeps you trapped. Forgive and release those who’ve hurt you—including yourself.

3. Renew Your Mind Daily: Read the Bible, pray, and fill your mind with God’s promises instead of negative thoughts.

4. Take Action: Start living in a way that reflects your freedom. Pursue your goals, make amends, and embrace new opportunities.

Bible Verse of the Day:

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." – Galatians 5:1

This verse reminds us that freedom is a gift from God. But it’s also something we must actively protect. Don’t let your past or the lies of the enemy pull you back into bondage.

Encouragement for You

You are not your mistakes. You are not your regrets. You are not what others say about you. In Christ, you are free. Walk boldly in that freedom, knowing that God has great plans for your life.

Call to Action:

Take a step toward freedom today. Write down one thing from your past that has been holding you back. Then, pray and surrender it to God. Burn the paper if you need to—it’s gone, forgiven, and forgotten in His eyes.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post: “Turning Pain into Purpose: How God Uses Our Struggles for Good.”

Tags:

#BarineJohn #FaithJourney #FreedomInChrist #RedemptionStory #Grace #JesusChristIsLord #LettingGo #NewBeginnings

---

[riearchivistfornow]

Drops of Life

English Saturday 5PM 2016.03.26

Drops of Life

Blood. Easter is a time where we remember that Jesus shed His blood on the cross for us.

Every single drop of blood is a drop of life.

Why is blood important? Blood gives us life. Oxygen is transported by the blood all around the body. Blood cleanses us. Waste material from all parts of the body to places that it can be removed. Blood heals us. Blood contains antibodies to fight the infections.

Jesus was the greatest blood donor of all.

Colossians 1:19:20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

When we have Jesus' blood in our lives:

1) We have redemption; freedom from sin

Redemption is the clearing of a debt. "We owe a debt that we could not pay"

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

It is not about how big or small sin is in our lives, it is about the presence of sin. That is why we need Jesus to come to give us redemption, to have freedom from sin.

Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death…

This death that the Bible talks about is an eternal death, an eternal separation from God.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ our God

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

We try to fix things ourselves. We try to offset sin by doing more good. We try to use good deeds to counter the wrong in our lives but all that we do will not take away the sin in your life.

Nothing is ever actually free. It is not that there is no price for your sin, but it is that Jesus paid the price for your sin.

Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

"The work of redemption was accomplished by Christ in His death on the cross and has in view the payment of the price demanded by a holy God for the deliverance of the believer from bondage and burden of sin. In redemption the sinner is set free from his condemnation and slavery to sin" – John F. Walvoord.

We can only be corrected when we receive the redemption from the Lord, and that will bring us freedom from sin.

2) We are restored; freedom from the separation

Restoration is the act of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.

Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

We are created originally with holiness and righteousness, we are created to be pure. When we are tainted, we are separated from God.

Genesis 3:23-24 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

God casting them out is an act of love. If Adam and Eve continued to remain in the presence of God, they will be destroyed. So God separated us, wanting us to be restored one day.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

When Jesus died for us, we are restored.

1 John 1:6-7 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sins, making us pure and holy.

God was so desperate that He sent His Son for us.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus did not come to take or receive but to serve others. Jesus was focused on what He could give.

Jesus took our place in exchange for us.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Jesus took our place of separation, so that we can be restored to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We live in a world that many of us are constantly lost. One common thing is how people need space and time to "find and discover myself".

The reason why we struggle with this is because we have been separated from the Father too long. When you have been separated too long, you become lost.

"Jesus Christ became incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God that man might stand before Him as He was created to do, the friend and lover of God Himself." – Oswald Chambers.

"Faith is not to deny a problem's existence, but it denies that problem a place of influence in your life."

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

John 15:12-13 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

[theprayerfulword]

October 05

John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Colossians 1:13 For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

May you press in, with a sense of desperation, to know the Lord and to walk in His wisdom, for the hour is late and you will need His understanding to know how to do the good that will testify to others of the love and goodness, acceptance and mercy of the Lord when dark and difficult times come into people's lives. Jeremiah 4

May you desire to know the way of the Lord, seeking Him while He may be found, that you may draw near the Lord in repentance and humility, where you will find acceptance in His Spirit, and can take on the yoke and bonds of the King Who protects and cares for you. Jeremiah 5

May you fear the Lord your God, and tremble in His awesome presence, for He is the One who gives autumn and spring rains in season, assuring the regular weather for each season, and setting the boundaries for the sea, preventing its encroachment on the land, but unless you plead the case of the fatherless to win it, and defend the rights of the poor to establish His justice in the land, He will remove the barriers and release the schedules, bringing chaos to the land. Jeremiah 5

May you hear the warning of the Lord without offense, and may you listen to the Word of the Lord with joy, understanding the seriousness of His charge and the deep, desperate need for healing in the people, but knowing His power to save and the strength of His truth to set free, so that the desire for gain and the practice of deceit, which is the target of God's wrath, may be removed far from the hearts of the people. Jeremiah 6

My child, the salvation you have received from My hand is much more than the feeling of joy that fills your heart in My presence and relief from the burden of sin and fear which is removed from your life. That is your experience of salvation, but know that My salvation is so much more than your experience. It is not an idea you suggested to Me and I agreed to. The Godhead, in entirety, from eternity past, has devised and agreed upon the parts We each would fill and the costs We each would pay to see the vastness of the reach and the immensity of the depth of the concept come to pass. Such an idea had never been conceived that Divine Holiness would redeem fallen creation by discharging the debt in full and join together Creator and creation. You are an integral part, My precious one, of the plan that is beyond the scope of your imagining. You are being trained, My dear one, in ways you do not understand for work so much larger than you know so that in time you will eventually grasp the shape of it. Remain focused on Me, My love, and simply reject the accusations of unworthiness and thoughts of doubts that flit around you. Do not be distracted by them, for you know their source; they can do you no harm for you are sealed by My Spirit to show My ownership. The only purpose they serve is to draw your focus from what the Spirit is saying to your heart by causing you to beat the air ineffectually. You are Mine. Hear My Word. I will direct you when it is time to fight; until then, learn of Me, My redeemed one, for I have much to tell you.

May you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel, for God has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1

May you proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that everyone may be presented perfect in Christ, even as you work to this end, laboring with all His energy, which so powerfully works in you. Colossians 1

May you be encouraged in heart and united in love with the rest of the Body of Christ so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2

May you continue to live in Christ Jesus as Lord, just as you have received Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2

May you cry out to God for help when you are in distress and seek Him, stretching out untiring hands at night when your soul will not be comforted, that He may bring to your recall the mighty deeds of the Most High and remind you of His miracles of long ago, so you can meditate on His compassion and mercy, His unfailing love and favor, and once more you may rejoice in Him with songs in the night. Psalm 77

May you be reminded that God's ways are holy, for there is no god so great as your God, Who performs miracles and displays His power among the peoples, redeeming them with His might arm. Psalm 77

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for September 3

Morning

“They went and told Jesus.”

Mark 6:14-29

The stir made by the mission of the twelve readied all classes of society.

Mark 6:14

Where there is an idle faith there is generally a busy imagination: Herod would not obey John’s religion, and yet became the slave of superstition. His conscience was not powerful enough to prevent his murdering the good man, yet it was not so dead as to allow him to rest in peace after the cruel deed.

Mark 6:15-18

This was faithful preaching. What is the good of a minister if he does not tell us our faults?

Mark 6:19 , Mark 6:20

Herod is a warning to us. He was not a mere hearer of John. He was an attentive and delighted hearer, and up to a certain point a doer of the word. Surely he bade fair for good things; and yet he became the murderer of the very man to whom he had listened with so much respect. If hearing the gospel does not change our nature, it has done little or nothing for us.

Mark 6:23

Probably he had become drunken while feasting, and so uttered the rash promise and confirmed it with an oath. When vice dances in the presence of drunkenness no good can come of it. This young girl danced off the prophet’s head: we have never read that any good at all proportionate to this evil ever came of dancing. For a child of God to join with the frivolous in their idle dances, would be as unbecoming as for an angel to wallow in the mire.

Mark 6:25

I will that thou give me by and by in a charger or a large dish

Mark 6:29

Or as another evangelist tells us, “they went and told Jesus,” which was the very best thing they could do. Happy are they who have learned to take all their trials to Jesus. Let us speak with him now in our prayer.

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,

Jesus loves to answer prayer;

He himself has bid thee pray,

Therefore will not say thee nay.

With my burden I begin,

Lord, remove this load of sin;

Let thy blood, for sinners spilt,

Set my conscience free from guilt

Lord, I cast on thee my care,

Thou hast bid me leave it there;

For my heavenly Father knows

All my griefs, and wants, and woes.

Evening

“He satisfieth thy mouth with good things.”

Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30

Ministers are accountable to their Lord both for their doings and sayings, and they should neither do nor teach anything which they will be ashamed to relate to their Master.

Mark 6:31 , Mark 6:32

The most active servants of God cannot always have their minds upon the stretch; they must have relaxation. Their tender Master was careful to provide it for the apostles, and those who are of a kindred spirit should enable poor ministers at set times to enjoy a little needful retirement. Jesus took his apostles to a place where they could be alone, for rest in a crowd is not the rest ministers need.

Mark 6:33

No bell was wanted to call them together. The spirit of hearing was abroad, and the people flocked like doves to their windows, and this all the more eagerly because the preacher was going away. If we knew how soon good ministers will be called home to heaven, we should be far more eager to profit by them while they are spared to us.

Mark 6:34

He was not angry at losing his rest, but ready to bless the people, for he saw their need.

Mark 6:35 , Mark 6:36

This is the disciples way out of the difficulty. No doubt they can take care of themselves: ”send them away.” We hope something may be done for the masses, and there we leave it.

Mark 6:37

Meet their wants yourselves. Alas! the command sounds very hard when the exchequer is low!

Mark 6:37

They calculate the need, but forget the omnipotence which is at hand to meet it.

Mark 6:38 , Mark 6:39

The Lord had thus provided a noble banqueting hall, splendidly carpeted, and of vast dimensions, and there his guests sat in order, as became a royal entertainment.

Mark 6:40

For it was not a scramble, but a royal feast.

Mark 6:41-44

When Jesus blesses our slender gifts, he makes them sufficient for the feeding of thousands. It is ours to do our best, and trust in the Lord to make it useful. Lord, help us so to do.

Thy providence is kind and large,

Both man and beast thy bounty share;

The whole creation is thy charge,

But saints are thy peculiar care.

My God! how excellent thy grace,

Whence all our hope and comfort springs;

The sons of Adam, in distress,

Fly to the shadow of thy wings.

Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim,

And publish abroad his wonderful name;

The name all-victorious of Jesus extol;

His kingdom is glorious, and rules over all.

Salvation to God, who sits on the throne,

Let all cry aloud, and honour the Son;

The praises of Jesus the angels proclaim,

Fall down on their faces and worship the Lamb.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[jdgo51]

August 26, 2024

Safe in God’s Embrace

Kumalawaty Sundari (Jakarta, Indonesia)

"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." - Psalm 4:8 (NIV)

"When I was young, I often had nightmares that woke me. Feeling anxious, I would knock on the door to my parents’ room, and my mother would calm me, giving me a hug. After my fear started to subside, she would take me back to my room and sleep with me for the rest of the night. Knowing my mother was there with me, I then was able to sleep peacefully.

I think this is what the psalmist experienced. He could forget his burdens and enjoy peace at night by putting trust in the Lord. When we have a hectic day, our emotional and physical energy is used up; we may feel angry or worried so that even at night we are still thinking about the events of the day. However, when we turn our eyes to God and share our struggles, God’s presence can fill us and bring relief for the soul.

The presence of my mother beside me, guarding me from my fears as I slept, provided me peace. In much the same way, remembering God’s presence provides me peace today. When our strength is limited and our minds are filled with worries, we can reach out to God and rest assured that in God’s care, we need not dwell in fear." When we have doubts or the slightest bit of fear, we can no that God is right there for us. Reach out to Him!

Today's Prayer

"Dear God, life is full of hardship. But when we put our trust in you, we can rest peacefully knowing that you are our protector." Amen.

Psalm 4:1-8

"'1 Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God! Set me free from my troubles! Have mercy on me! Listen to my prayer! 2 How long, you people, will my reputation be insulted? How long will you continue to love what is worthless and go after lies? Selah 3 Know this: the LORD takes personal care of the faithful. The LORD will hear me when I cry out to him. 4 So be afraid, and don’t sin! Think hard about it in your bed and weep over it! Selah 5 Bring righteous offerings, and trust the LORD! 6 Many people say, “We can’t find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, LORD!” 7 But you have filled my heart with more joy than when their wheat and wine are everywhere! 8 I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, LORD, let me live in safety."' The Lord hears our cries and He gives you a full heart that abounds with joy and peace. We are safe in the arms of Jesus every day! Blessings abound for all of us! Joe

[childofchrist1983]

Sometimes, we read the Holy Bible and wonder how much easier life would be if Jesus Christ were right here with us, just as He was with His disciples long ago. But Jesus reminds us that it is better for us that He is not confined to the limits of an earthly body. He prepares His Kingdom of Heaven to receive us, while at the same time remaining with us in spirit to prepare us for Heaven, our true home.

So many of us, myself included, wish we could reach out and take His hand, or even simply touch the hem of His cloak. And one day, we who are saved and spiritually reborn Christians, will get that chance. Until then, we must be patient and continue to serve and praise Him and thank Him. Including for sending His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to remain with us, to work in us and to guide us and our lives as we walk in step with Him each day. May He continue to help us grow spiritually conform me more each day until this life’s journey is done and His perfection is completed in us. Thank Him for providing for us and for reminding us everyday of His great and perfect love. We can take comfort in knowing that in Him, we are never forgotten. Whenever we find ourselves struggling to endure the trials and difficulties of life. let us call out to God for an answer, but also remember to thank Him and ask for His strength to help us endure. Let us not waste this time on waiting. Instead, may we humble ourselves and ask God to use this season to deepen my trust in Him as He helps us to grow in faith and prepare us for whatever lies ahead.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for rescuing us from our destructive ways, and setting our feet on His path. Thank Him for lighting and guiding our steps and tending to the road ahead of us. May He help us to seek Him daily as we make this journey, so that we may not stray from Him and wander into ruin and destruction. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for easing our burdens and granting us the rest found in His mercy and forgiveness. May He teach us to walk in His gentleness and grace. Thank Him for providing us the strength to serve Him and for carrying the weight that should have been ours, all in His gracious name. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for faithfully staying with us in all times and places. We have not always sought Him and His guidance, yet He has continuously shown us the way back to Him. May He guide everything that we say and do, and show us the way no matter where He may lead us.

May He empower us by His Holy Word and Spirit to live in the light of His Truth, love grace. May our healing and transformation glorify His name and Kingdom of Heaven and reveal who He truly is to others. May He help us to keep close to Him, so that we may endure until He fully sets us free and brings us to our true home in His Kingdom of Heaven. Thank Him for His Holy Word and Spirit. Thank Him for revealing the Truth of Him and His holiness. May He help us to hold close to Him just as He holds close to us, so that we may live in humble and faithful obedience. If we stray from Him and His path, may He use His Holy Word and Spirit to bring us close to Him once again. May He help us daily to trust fully in Him and His love, provision and care. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for making us anew! May He complete His renewing work in us, ridding us of the sinful words, thoughts and actions that aren’t from Him, so that we may reflect only His love and light and presence in us to this dark and fallen world and the lost souls within it.

God is our Heavenly Father, our Creator and our guide. And Jesus Christ is our LORD and Savior and King. As Christians, we trust Him wholeheartedly and we submit our heart and our lives into His skilled hands. May He shape us according to His design and plan for us, so that we may stand strong in the firing furnace and emerge revealing His craftsmanship as He prepares us serve Him on Earth and in His Kingdom of Heaven according to His Holy Word and will. May He give us the peace and endurance we need each day, and may He use this time to help us grow in His wisdom and strength and to grow in our walk and relationship with Him. May He make us more into the person that He not only created us to us to be, but called us to be from the very beginning.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for securing a place for all true Christian believers as followers of Christ and spiritually reborn children of God in His eternal Kingdom. Each day, the sun rises and its light and warmth, and the Holy Bible gives us a glimpse of the promised eternity to come. May we continue to walk in the love and light of Christ with our heads held high and our eyes on the finish line. May we lead others to His Gospel Truth and to His light as well throughout this journey with Him. Let us all humble ourselves before God daily, asking Him to forgive us and to strength and teach us to view life through the lens of God and His promises. May He guard our hearts against Satan and the temptations of this world and our flesh. May He give us the peace to find full satisfaction in God and His peace and promises, so that we may live our lives daily in ways that honor and pleases Him. As we seek Him daily, may He reveal Himself to us through the words He has provided and use it to conform the desires of our heart to Him and His love and compassion and grace.

As true and spiritually reborn Christians, we love, trust and believe in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ. We choose to keep Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ first in our hearts and lives and all other worldly desires behind us. He extends salvation to everyone, and we want to show the world the freedom, hope and peace they can have in accepting and following Him. We must ask Him to help us grow spiritually in our relationship with Him and strengthen us and the bonds of love that He has given us, so that our unity may glorify and testify to His power and goodness. Thank Him for calling us to faith and imparting us with salvation and righteousness. May He empower us to live in His will and righteousness, so that we may testify to His soul-saving power as our faith carries us past all doubt, fear, and failure. May He grant us the grace to forgive others who have wronged us, and the humility to seek forgiveness where we have caused strife. May we follow and serve God daily with love, trust, awe and wonder. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ strengthen our faith, lift our spirits, protect our hearts, and show us opportunities to help bring others to Him and His Gospel Truth daily. May we do this duty boldly, humbly and faithfully. Seek, follow and trust in the LORD God Almighty always! To God be all the honor and praise and glory!

We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with sincere hearts to ask forgiveness and follow Him and His Holy Word and Spirit always. We praise Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the mercy He bestows upon us and we are grateful for His grace and mercy and infinite blessings. By surrendering our hearts and our lives to His will, we see all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. God our refuge and our salvation and our constant provider. We lift our voices to Him in praise for His steadfast love, mercy and understanding. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ open our minds and hearts more and more to perceive and embrace Him and His truths. May He help us to find time to pray and read and study the Holy Bible daily and to find power in prayer, praying according to His Holy Word and will. May He help us to come to Him in true repentance and with faith in Him and His grace and merciful nature. May He give us the grace, courage and strength we need to walk with Him and do His will daily. May He teach us to watch our words when we pray to Him and to speak reverently and rightly. May we continually ask God to transform our hearts and make us faithful and humble as we walk with Him daily. We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with honest, humble and repentant hearts. We must seek Him and His will and choose to follow Him all the days of our lives. May He help transform our hearts, help us to seek and live for Him above all else and to grow spiritually and build our faith and relationship with Him with each passing day. May He forgive our sinful nature and help us always make Him and our relationship with Him top priority.

As true and born-again Christians, we choose to walk in His righteous path and lead a life that is pleasing to Him. We desire Him and His will above anything else. We desire to walk in accordance with the love and light He has shown to us through His Holy Word and Spirit. We long for a deeper relationship with Him and a deeper fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. When we fall into temptation and sin, we must turn to Him for forgiveness, strength and guidance. When believers learn to walk in accordance with God's Holy Word and Spirit, they have deeper fellowship with both God and one another. And the sin that could threaten to destroy that fellowship, if confessed (1 John 1:9), is covered in the blood of Jesus Christ and no longer a barrier between us and God. May we ask Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ to forgive us for any sins we have sinned this day or in days past. May we be faithful to Him and His Holy Word always. May He help us to walk more consistently in the light and to not neglect long to confess and forsake any sins that hinder our walk with Him. May He lead us in the direction He wants us to go so that we may seek and serve Him faithfully. God is holy and almighty and deserving of all praise honor and glory. We rejoice in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, knowing He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8). May our hearts always be filled with thanksgiving and rejoicing. May He help us to praise Him freely and honestly like all believers who came before us. May we live a life that showcases our love and trust in Him and His Holy Word and Spirit as He uses us draw others to Him and His soul-saving Gospel Truth daily. May He continue guide, correct and protect us, so that we continue to grow in Him and not weaken and stray. May we all remain faithful to Him and to this duty and purpose He has called us to. Seek and put your faith and trust in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ and let Him do the rest. May He humble our hearts and help us focus on following and serving Him daily and helping others with joy and happiness. We lift our voices in praise to Him for His love, mercy, peace, faithfulness and grace - For EVERYTHING!

It is vital that we remain rooted in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit and that we live and walk as a beacon of His light and love and share and spread the Gospel Truth daily, so that the lost souls in this world can come to know Him and be saved. The more we focus on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, growing spiritually by building our relationship with Him, leaning on Him and His Holy Word and Spirit, the better off we will be. Thanks to this and our faith in Him, we know that everything will be alright. And we will forever be grateful to Him. As true and born-again Christians, we believe in Him and His Holy Word and we strive daily to walk in His Holy Spirit. We know though our mortal bodies should die, He will raise us up and into new and glorious bodies (The Rapture). We who are truly His and alive at His second coming will never die, and our bodies will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and so shall we ever be with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven forevermore (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is one of many promises given to us by God Himself. Thank God for His strength and guidance when we are faced with sin and temptation. Thank Him for His mercy and grace. Through Bible study and prayer, God reveals His wisdom and guides us to see opportunities to grow closer to Him and grow spiritually. He gives us direction to live our lives daily according to His will.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven (John 3:5, 14:6), the ONLY way to salvation (Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9) and He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26). Jesus Christ the LORD of lords, the KING of kings, the GOD of gods (Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16) - He is the Living, Almighty and Everlasting God (Isaiah 9:6, Revelation 1:8, John 3:16, John 3:36, Jeremiah 10:10). There is no other God besides Him (Isaiah 45:5). We MUST humble ourselves before Him, turning our backs on false teachers, false gods and idols and our sinful ways. We MUST repent and turn back to God and recognize who He is and love Him in return for His great love for us. We MUST make God top priority everyday! May we be motivated to spread God's Holy Word and Gospel Truth to all the Earth, knowing that it is the only hope of all those lost in their sins. Let us not hold out a false hope for men to be saved without the Gospel, but instead, strive to do our part to get the Gospel out to a lost and dying world.

Leaning on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit strengthens us and our knowledge and wisdom about God and His Gospel Truth, exposing these imposters. May God help us to seek and lean on Him daily to gain the strength, wisdom and spiritual discernment needed to expose Satan and his imposters who seek to destroy us and God's ultimate Truth. Everyday, we must remember to share Jesus Christ's Gospel Truth with the world and to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and from the eternal damnation of Hell. In all we say and do, may all praise, honor and glory always be given to Him and His Kingdom of Heaven.

With renewed minds, hearts and wills, let us serve Him humbly and faithfully out of pure love and grateful rejoicing. May He remind us of His presence and to remain at peace, fully knowing that all will be well because He is always with us. Let us seek Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ today and everyday with all our heart and being, looking for His love, light and will for our lives with each step we take. Let us seek to please Him with our thoughts, words, and deeds and seek to advance His Kingdom of Heaven and His glory with our lives. Let us seek Him from a pure and humble heart, and when we so seek, we believe Him and His promise that we will find. May He help us all to be more sensitive to the teaching ministry of His Holy Word and Spirit, relying on Him and allowing Him to speak to us and guide us every step of our Christian journey.

God gave us the Holy Bible - His living and Holy Word - to let us know of Him and His abiding love and care as well as guide and prepare us for all our lives. May He help us encourage one another as we continue our walk with Him and our duty to Him daily. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for being present for all our new beginnings and all our lives. May He redirect any anxiety we feel as He provides countless opportunities for growth and change. May we humble ourselves before God always, asking Him to forgive our sins and make our hearts and lives anew through His Holy Word and Spirit. May He help us make Him and His Holy Word top priority, so we can grow spiritually and grow in our relationship with Him as we apply it to our daily lives. Thank God that we can focus on Him and everything about Him, for that is what keeps us sane and at peace. May our words and actions always be a reflection of Him and His Holy Word and Spirit and will.

May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus! He loves us and He knows what is best for us. Seek, follow and trust in Him - Always!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!