RANDOM THOUGHTS

The Ultimate Health Care Plan

"If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer." (Exodus 15:26)

What Wonderous Love The Father Has Bestowed Upon Us

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

"Of The Father's Love Begotten"
by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348 - 413)

Of the Fathers love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!

At His Word the worlds were framed; He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!

He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam's children doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!

O that birth forever blessd, when the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the worlds Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!

This is He Whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!

O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live,
On the Fathers throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!

Christ, to thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!

The above hymn is beautifully performed below by pianist Tim Story. We hope you enjoy it.


Something To "Chew" On

"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and they became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts!"
(Jeremiah 15:16)

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man (and woman) who takes refuge in him!" (Psalms 34:8)

The Essence Of Christianity

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Other than perhaps John 19:13 where Jesus said, "It is finished", and the deep profound meaning and significance of these words for all of us, this verse, Galatians 2:20, is, without a doubt, the most important verse in the New Testament for God's people.

"I have been crucified with Christ..." Meaning, I have chosen to identify myself with Christ and His death, such that, my life, as I have heretofore chosen to live it, is over. It is finished!

Quoting Oswald Chambers, "When I come to such a moral decision and act upon it, then all that Christ wrought for me on the Cross is wrought in me. The free committal of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the chance to impart to me the holiness of Jesus Christ."

"...Nevertheless I live..." My individuality remains, as well as my body, but I have given up, once and for all, the right to myself. I no longer live my life according to what ever I think or choose to do with my life but rather, I choose to live my live exclusively for and according to God's will for me.

"And the life I now live in the flesh..." That is, the life I live right now, the life which people can see, "I live by the faith of the Son of God..." Meaning what? That I have received and live by the faith of the Son of God, Christ Jesus, His faith, not mine, but His. And now, He lives in me by His Spirit and imparts His faith to me which allows me to live my life according to His will and good pleasure, not mine!

And why does this matter? Because, 1st John 2:17 says, "...whoever does the will of God lives forever."

Or as the Apostle Paul said, "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
(Philippians 3:10-11)

"...who loved me and gave himself for me." He gave himself for us in order to make it possible for us to regain that which Adam and Eve cost us by sinning, namely, to be able to one day soon "walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day." (Genesis 3:8)

Now, how wonderful is that going to be?

Definition Of A Christian!

"It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless." (Revelation 14:4-5)

Are you one of these people?

Great And Precious Promises!

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
(2nd Corinthians 7:1)

And just what are "these promises" mentioned above?

"For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate from them says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.'" (2nd Corinthians 6:16-18)

How wonderful! Oh, dear reader, let us labor to lay aside any and everything in our lives, people and wrong relationships included, that keeps us from allowing God to fulfill His promise to us in the above verses, and let us seek Him with all our hearts, day and night, until He becomes our Life and nothing less!

"For I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Truly, is there anything more important, or more meaningful, or more satisfying, or more fulfilling in life than living for God?

Is This The Desire Of Your Heart?

"I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil."

(Psalms 101:1-4)

If the above Psalm speaks to you then the following verses will as well:

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous of good works."
(Titus 2:11-14)

Will You Also Go Away?

As a Christian have you ever stopped following the Lord? Have you ever been lukewarm or indifferent towards God and His Son Jesus Christ? Or, has Jesus ever said anything to you that was offensive and made you want to turn back and not follow Him any more, like the disciples did in John 6:66? This happened after Jesus told His disciples in John 6:53, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." So what does this mean?

It means that, unless and until Jesus becomes our only reason for being alive on this planet, or as it says in Acts 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being..."; until we can honestly say to Him, "not my will but thine be done", concerning every aspect of our lives, holding absolutely nothing or any area of our lives back from Him whatsoever; until He is simply all that matters to us from the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night; until we can say to Him, as did Peter when Jesus asked His disciples if His words offended them too, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words to eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68-69); simply put, it means that until we get to this place in our life and relationship with Jesus, we do not have eternal life within us.

Are We Really Disciples Of Jesus?

Oswald Chambers asks: "Are we really prepared for God to do in us all that He separated us for when He called us to Himself? Are we prepared to separate ourselves to God even as Jesus did? Are we prepared to suffer the loss of everything that is not of God in us? Are we prepared to say--'Lord, make me as holy as You can make a sinner saved by grace'? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him as He is one with the Father. The one and only characteristic of the Holy Ghost in a man is a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, and freedom from everything that is unlike Him."

If we can't say, "Yes and Amen!" to all of the above then we are kidding ourselves about our discipleship and we are "neglecting so great salvation". If "our hearts do not burn within us over the words that Jesus speaks" then we are NOT His disciples. At best we are "lukewarm" Christians and, as a result, God is going to "spit us out of His mouth"!

We need to "examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith"; and we need to ask God to show us where we stand with Him and make sure that we are "on the Lord's side".

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)

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(Acts 17:11)

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