Month: April 2018

Six Keys to Know God’s Will For Your Life

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Six Keys to Know God’s Will For Your Life

1. God Wants You to be Saved.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 King James Version (KJV), “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV), “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

My personal testimony on why and how I became a Christian is HERE.

2. God Wants You to be Spirit Filled

Ephesians 5:18 (KJV), “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit;”

3. God Wants You to be Sexually Pure

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 (KJV), “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;”

4. God Wants You to Submit Yourself to God

James 4:7-10 (KJV), “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

See also Ephesians 6

5. God Wants You to be Willing to Suffer for the Cause of Christ

1 Peter 3:17 (KJV), “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing than for evil doing.”

6. God Wants You to Have a Spirit of Thanksgiving

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV), “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

My source for the above outline is Neal Jeffrey, Associate Pastor of Pastoral and Preaching Ministries at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. I made the outline from notes taken during the Friday Morning Men’s Bible Study lesson on April 20, 2018.

You Have an Inheritance

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Inheritance

Learning to deal with a chronic illness includes apprehending you have an inheritance.

When faced with a chronic disease you realize your normal has changed. You have the new normal of the daily medicines, therapy, and sometimes chemo. A once envisioned future evaporates. You wonder what the tomorrow holds.

The good news is that as Believers in Christ Jesus, you do have an inheritance. Cancer, heart disease, a stroke, high blood pressure, glaucoma, COPD or any disease/illness cannot take that future bequest away from you.

Today’s Bible Verse:

1 Peter 1:3-4 (KJV), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”

What the Verse Means:

As a Christian, you have an inheritance through Jesus Christ.

Personalized Prayer Using Today’s Scripture:

  • I bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • I thank our Heavenly Father for his abundant mercies that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ I have a Living Hope, even as I battle a chronic disease.
  • I praise you for the inheritance I have in Jesus Christ. The bequest in Jesus Christ is incorruptible, undefiled and does not fade away. It does not disappear when I get a chronic illness.

Photo Source: Pixaby

April 3, 2018

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“Today is Tuesday, April 3, 2018. It is 7:00 am. It is 70 degrees outside. You have a big day scheduled. The visiting hospice RN is due at 8:30 am and the hospice social worker at 1:30 pm,” I said to my wife of 43 plus years.

In the background, my sister-in-law said, “It’s time for your first morning meds. These are the ones with the thyroid medicine and two others. You take them before breakfast.”

My wife squinted, the ceiling light temporarily blinding her and then hurting her eyes. “So I don’t get breakfast now.”

“No, you don’t eat with the thyroid meds. The others RXs are to protect your stomach and get you ready for breakfast, and the 9 am medications,” said my wife’s younger sister.

“So I have to wait an hour to eat?”

“Yes. I am going to cook you pancakes for breakfast,” I said.

She gave me an evil eye.

“I know, you didn’t like them in the hospital or the in-patient hospice, but these have the secret ingredient, my love,” I said.

As she rolled her eyes, she said, “Okay, why not? I’ll try them.”

And so began day five on the in-home under the supervision of hospice care of my terminally ill wife. She has had Melanoma for three years. It spread to the brain. A tumor was removed. I recurred again. And here we are.

I’ll write a few thoughts from time to time on what is happening. From what I’m told, if I use an American football metaphor, it is the fourth quarter, the two-minute warning has been given, and we are out of timeouts.

I Love “Classic Church” – Easter Thoughts 2018

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Sometimes I just need the classics, like on Easter Sunday. I love the pipe organ and choir filling the sanctuary with praises to the Master.

Classic Church

I was thinking this morning. I love Jesus, I confess Him as my Lord and Savior. I also love attending church. All the new songs and informality in “contemporary church” now of days are okay but I prefer “Classic Church.” I just invented the term.

What is a “Classic Church?”

“Classic Church” is Bible-centered expository preaching, songs sang from hymnals (first, second, and last verses), not words on the wall. You might even begin the service with the Doxology from time to time. You have a predictable liturgy (order of service). It makes you comfortable.

The preacher wears his suit AND TIE. You always take an offering, have special music before the sermon, and you present how to be saved (born again).

You end with an altar call invitation giving people a chance to make a public profession of faith.

Like Classic Rock, Classic R&B, or Classic Country is the best music for me, so is “Classic Church” my favorite church … just saying.

Photo Source: Pixaby