Sowing And Reaping

II Corinthians 9:6-8

Personalized:

Remember this, my dear daughter, whenever you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly, and whenever you sow generously, you will reap generously. Decide in your heart that you will always give generously--not because you have to, or are supposed to--but because you want to; then you will be able to give cheerfully, or even hilariously! Then I will make sure that all my grace will abound to you, so that in all things, all the time, you will have all you need; and you will abound in every good work I planned for you to do! You won't miss out on anything, dear.

Love,

Dad

The Sacrifice

Genesis 2:25, 3:7,10, 21

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

"I heard You in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Before sin entered this picture, the first couple were completely oblivious to the fact that they were naked, they didn't even notice, it made no difference in their relationship.

Then, with sin, shame also entered this picture, and Adam was afraid; when before he walked with God "in the cool of the day" as a usual practice, open and free. Now, aware of his nakedness, he was afraid and hid. Even though they had tried to cover themselves ( the first "religion"), they still considered themselves naked, and hid. They were not clothed until God made them garments of skin--something had to die so they could be clothed.

Whenever I try to cover up what I have done, I know that I'm still exposed, and I feel the shame of not measuring up.

So  God let them know that something had to die for them to be clothed, then later God gave the Israelites the sacrifices, for the sacrificial animals to take the peoples' sins and die in their place; which showed how Jesus, as God's sacrificial Lamb, would take upon Himself the very sin-nature of every person born from Adam, purchasing the whole world (so now He is appointed Judge of all) and satisfying the debt we owe, I owe, for the sin, and for all the sins that result from it. God provided the remedy for our sin--in clothing Adam and Eve, providing the ram for Abraham (in Genesis 22:8, 13) in place of his son Isaac, giving the sacrificial system, and finally, His own Son, my Lord Jesus, the Christ, to pay the debt in full for me.

And for you, dear reader, too, if you recognize that you deserve the death Jesus died, and He took your place on that Cross. That's putting your trust in Him and letting Him be your Savior, by dying the death you deserve, so you could have His life, that you don't deserve, either. God's mercy is not giving us the punishment we deserve, and His grace is giving us His eternal Life, by putting His own Spirit inside us to live in our spirits. Now He can forgive us, and bless us with every blessing out of His abundance in Glory.

Our "Bar Of Soap"

I John 1:8-10

If we claim to be without sin - Refuse to admit that our wrongs are wrong.

we deceive ourselves - We lie to ourselves, fantasize.

And the truth is not in us - We've chosen fantasy over reality.

If we confess our sins - Admit our wrongs, face the dysfunctions in our lives and recognize them as sin.

He is faithful - He always remains true to what He has said.

and just - Because the price has already been paid at Calvary.

And will forgive us our sins - The ones we are aware of and have just confessed.

And purify us from all unrighteousness - Clean out all the filth, shame, dysfunction; everything in us that is contrary to His perfection and goodness to make us pure and holy completely.

If we claim to have not sinned - Refuse to admit that what we've done or said is wrong, justify ourselves.

We make Him out to be a liar - Because we're contradicting what He said as though we're right and He's wrong!

And His Word has no place in our lives - We've pushed out His Truth and embraced our own fantasies.

On That Day

Malachi 4:1-3

Personalized:

O my precious daughter, I tell you that the Day is surely coming, and it will burn like a furnace, a crematory. For everyone who is arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and that Day that is almost here will burn them up with fire. I am the Lord, Almighty over all the Earth. Not a root or a branch will be left of them. But for you, Bonnie, and everyone else who revere My Name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go out and leap and dance like frolicsome calves released from their stalls. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be the ashes under the soles of your feet on the Day that I do these things for you, daughter, dear; as your Lord Almighty you can be confident in trusting Me.

When Will Jesus Call Us Out?

Romans 5:9

Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him!

Daniel 3:17

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Daniel 6:22

"... My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me." ... Daniel.

Revelation 3:10

. . . I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live upon the earth. To the Church at Philadelphia.

Let's do a little word study in the Greek:

'Hour' is 'hora' in the Greek: a day, an hour, an instant or a season; a period of time.

'Keep" is 'tereo' in the Greek: from the Greek word 'teres': to watch, to guard from loss or injury; differing from the Greek word 'phulasso': to prevent escaping.

So God has promised to keep the Philadelphia church from loss, injury or harm through the hour, the time period, of the trial, temptation or Tribulation that will test those who live upon the Earth, differing from preventing or escaping from that time of trial and testing.

Bible scholars have used this verse, Revelation 3:10, as a "proof" that the Church will be "Raptured" (a word not found anywhere in the Bible) before the 7 years of Tribulation and Great Tribulation.

However, seeing how God saved the three Hebrew children from the fire of the blazing furnace even though they were in the midst of it, without harm, and He also saved Daniel from the lions even though he spent the night in their den with them; He will also save His Church from His wrath that will be poured out upon the whole Earth.  

Psalm 91:7-8 says, A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. So Jesus will appear at the end of the Great Tribulation. He will "see us through" the 7 years of trials that will test everyone living, but His wrath will not come near or touch those of us who are His own.  We will be persecuted and even beheaded, but we will be saved from God's wrath, just as He promised.

Love One Another

John 13:34-35

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.

Three times Jesus repeats this command in these two verses: Love one another. We are to love each other the way Jesus loves us--freely, purely, whole-heartedly, sacrificially. Even while we are still sinners, He loves us, so much that He gave His all on our behalf. I want to love others, even my own family members, even when they are not living according to the way I think they "should" live. They will reap the fruit of their own choices, whether good or bad, and even though my heart may be breaking for them, I will rejoice with them and not rescue them. I will continue to pray for them, and look for ways to bless them.

One Answered Prayer

Psalm 118:5-7

In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.

My adult daughter texted me this morning that the old sewing machine was acting up again, and she didn't think she had time to finish the baby quilt by hand instead of machine in time for the baby shower this afternoon. I asked her what I could do for her, her answer was to please pray. Then God gave me this scripture in today's Our Daily Bread to give to her. 

She did finish the blanket, by hand, 20 minutes before the baby shower, but didn't embroider the baby's name and date in the corner like she had planned. But the quilt was given, and received, on time. Thank you, Lord.