really, our view is to prepare, watch, and pray. how it will work itself out will be revealed in God’s time.

Peace in Christ.

The redeemed from among men…who come out from among the man-based churches…stand upon “Mount Zion” with the Lamb. Revelation 14:1 .

We are redeemed NOT by the churches fathers’ things that they deem as “precious” (silver, gold)…their church handwritings and doctrines…but we are redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb.

Our “vain conversation”…our empty church behavior…was received by us by the church fathers’ “tradition”…their handed-down “tradition”…their handwritings that were passed down from one generation to the next. The sins of the church fathers (their handwritings) were passed down from one generation to another by doing so....making them to also go through the "fire" of God's wrath for He is a consuming fire upon the children of disobedience.

1Pe 1:18-19 KJV
(18) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
(19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

We...who believe in the Word of Truth when we hear it.... stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

“Zion” = rising “sign”, monument, “indication” or “marking.”

It is the sign of the Son of man….the rising light…the mounting up light .. "Mount Zion"… within our very hearts that brings us together …being of one mind and one body in Him. We stand with the Lamb with the sign of the Son of man shining in our hearts. We keep His daily sacrifice....the Lamb slain.

The 144,000 = the house of Jacob = the few who receive His mercy and are redeemed from among the man-based churches.

Rev 14:1 KJV
(1) And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

They HEAR the voice from Heaven and believe.

His voice is as the voice of “many waters” as the Son interprets the words of the biblical witnesses that are recorded in the Scriptures. Many waters = The spirits/breath of just men are made complete by the interpretation of Christ.

The hearers and believers of the Word of Truth rejoice in their hearts…..making melody there (the voice of harpers harping with their harps…that is, their HEARTS.)

Rev 14:2-3 KJV
(2) And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

The voice of the harpers harping with their harps = rejoicing in the heart and giving thanks always for all things unto God….as they hear the Word of Truth and believe and rejoice with their hearts...the "harpers harping with their harps."

Eph 5:19-21 KJV
(19) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
(20) Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(21) Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

The “voice of a great thunder” = God will glorify His name. He will glorify us who believe in the Word of Truth as His name is written in the forehead (amid the face). He glorifies His name and we have His name/authority written amid our faces....the open face.

Joh 12:28-30 KJV
(28) Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
(29) The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
(30) Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

The 144,000 are those who are created for His glory.

Isa 43:7-8 KJV
(7) Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

They will shine towards the outside people who are in deep spiritual darkness. They will “bring forth the blind people that have eyes”…those on the outside who will see us and believe. They will also preach to His people who will hear ...bringing forth the "deaf" among His people who have ears to hear.

(8) Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

The Christians that were before us were the “vessels of wrath” that were fitted to destruction….but now He creates the 144,000 for the display of His glory.

The Christians that were formed for the display of His wrath were sown in dishonor and weakness...but they will be resurrected in honor and glory AT the last day of this age.

Rom 9:21-23 KJV
(21) Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
(22) What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

The 144,000 are those who He has prepared unto the display of His glory to this dark world. They are the first fruits....they are resurrected NOW in this mortal body and are kept standing here in this earth TO the last day of this age.

(23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

The 144,000 will keep His daily sacrifice (the Lamb slain). They will be redeemed from among men….from the man-based churches. They will no longer keep company with them….not defiling themselves with “women”…being one flesh with the harlot churches of men....the "strange woman".

Rev 14:4-5 KJV
(4) These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

In their mouth was found no “guile”…no decoy. They will not preach “another jesus”…a decoy jesus…a false Christ.

(5) And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

The first fruits are not defiled with "women"..they will not sit together in the man-based churches becoming one body and one flesh with them in their destruction. They are redeemed...delivered from the "strange woman"...from the congregations of false prophets who flatter them with their good words and fair speeches. Nobody that goes to a man-based church takes hold of the paths of life. We must come out from among them and be separate....be "virgins."

Pro 2:16-22 KJV
(16) To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
(17) Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
(18) For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
(19) None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
(20) That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
(21) For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
(22) But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Today is April 3, Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent.

We hear at today’s Mass, “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?” (Jn 5:44).

Jesus warns us about seeking praise from other people. But why would we seek praise from others in the first place? One of the greatest desires of the human heart is to be known and acknowledged as good. We want to be accepted by others and thereby be affirmed in our identity.

When we are seeking this from other people, it can take a lot of work. Think of the athlete who is trying to impress the coach or the student working extra hard to impress a teacher. Children want to be accepted by their parents. In each of these cases, it takes focus and attention on another person to be accepted and affirmed by them.

Sometimes, this desire goes too far. We become “people pleasers” because we depend on others liking and praising us for our own contentment with who we are. All of our focus is on those around us and what they think of us. Do they think I am praiseworthy? Will they affirm me in my goodness?

Understanding our identity​

Continued below.

Based off Hebrews 12:1-17

Hear ye, hear ye, Christians listen,
Hear the words of God and hasten
To obey Him, follow His ways,
Here and now and throughout your days.

Lay aside the sins which tangle,
Which, your faith, they surely strangle,
And then run with perseverance
The race God has set before us.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, Savior,
Of our faith, He is perfecter.
Follow Him where’re He leads you,
And now eat what Jesus feeds you.

With regard to sin’s temptations,
Don’t reject the Lord’s disciplines.
Discipline of God for our good.
Holiness of God understood.

Deeds of flesh and knees that feeble
Must be brought to Jesus’ table,
At His altar sacrifice them,
Put to death and not live in them.

Follow straight and narrow way to
Life with Jesus, surrender to
Follow Him in ways that are true,
Life with Jesus daily renew.

Sanctifying, not denying,
Holiness, not outright lying,
God obeying, not sin playing,
Life eternal with Christ staying.

An Original Work / April 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Michie said:

One of the NASA astronauts who recently returned to Earth after being stuck at the International Space Station for more than nine months said earlier this week that remotely attending church services sustained him spiritually while lingering in orbit.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore said during a Monday press conference in Houston with fellow astronaut Suni Williams that maintaining virtual fellowship with Providence Baptist Church — his home church in Pasadena, Texas — was "vital" while their originally planned eight-day trip to the ISS dragged out for 286 days amid technical issues.

Wilmore, an elder at the church he has attended with his family for 17 years, led devotionals and joined fellow astronauts in singing "Amazing Grace," he told CBNin a recent interview.

Continued below.

NASA astronaut rescued from ISS says virtual church fellowship sustained him: 'Vital'

Barry Butch Wilmore, who recently returned to Earth after being stuck at the International Space Station for more than nine months, said that remotely attending church services sustained him

www.christianpost.com

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He is certainly a man who takes his church eldership role with Christ-like humility. I had read an article last year where from the ISS he called an ill member of his congregation to check on him. May all our church leaders have as much compassion which only comes from the Lord!

Hungary will leave the international criminal court because it has become “political”, the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said as he welcomed his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanhayu – the subject of an ICC arrest warrant – to Budapest for an official visit.

Netanyahu hailed “a bold and principled” decision.

“I thank you, Viktor … It’s important for all democracies,” the Israeli prime minister said. Netanyahu has been under an international arrest warrant since November over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.

Zceptre said:

Voices and ideas that pop up inside your head are not always you. You need to make this distinction very clearly.

Thoughts and voices in the mind can come from anywhere and they should not be listened to, but rather dictated to.

The planes can fly overhead, but you do not have to let them land in your head. Tell the bad thoughts and ideas to keep moving and focus on something else.

The birds can land in your hair, but do not let them make a nest... Shoo them away, tell the voices to be silent, tell them no, tell them that this is your mind and you dictate what stays and what goes.

Choose to banish negative thoughts, evil thoughts, selfish thoughts, harmful thoughts, unloving thoughts, ungodly thoughts.

Keep and cling tightly to good thoughts, happy thoughts, heavenly thoughts, loving thoughts, kind thoughts, thoughts of Lord Jesus and God our Father and the Holy Spirit who is with us and in us always.

Our bodies are the Temple of God, where He has chosen to reside, to stay.

This means that our mind is the alter where what we focus on is the thing we are choosing to worship.

Attention is worship. Choose God, choose good, focus on love, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

If the birds are making nests and you let them stay there, they will own your head and make it home forever.

Command the voices to be silent if they are negative, evil, or unloving.

Do not believe anything that tells you that you must obey it. It is lying to you.

If a voice disagrees with scripture in the Bible, it is not from God. (1 John 4:1)

Speak control into your mind with your physical voice if you need to. Choose something good to change your focus to and begin talking about it out loud and thanking God for good things. If voices contradict you and try to distract you, disregard them and affirm that you will stay focused on positive things only and that this is your choice that you are dictating. (Philippians 4:8) (Proverbs 18:21)

Practice makes things easier, giving up makes things harder. Willpower is a muscle and we must use it, or we lose it.

This is easier said than done. But it is absolutely achievable, for with God's help we can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)

Do a search for positive quotes, leadership quotes, Bible quotes, optimism quotes. Dig in deep into positivity and the Bible.

God told us this is a war, and it is a war that starts inside our minds. The enemy wants to destroy us, and that is where he starts, attacking our mind.

We must fight evil, and choose good, resist Satan and choose God the Son, Lord Jesus. (James 4:7) (Joshua 24:15)

Memorize scriptures, including these posted here. Work hard at it, and they will guide you every day. Make sure you can say them without looking at them or reading them. They are the "good" thoughts we need to keep us on the path of light and truth and to win the war in our mind.

Jesus Christ, God the Son, died for you and me and all who would accept His love. Focus on this love, remember this love, embrace and immerse your mind in this love and become this love. He loves you more than anyone else could, and wants to teach us how to be the same kind of love that He is in our thoughts and deeds. (John 15:13) (1 Corinthians 13:13) (1 Timothy 1:5) (Matthew 27)

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I totally agree. I would just come back on something that was said. Of course you can make an oath or a vow to God. But you have to accomplish it! In your case it was a moment of weakness. You didn t mean it And didn’t understand the consequences. Repent, read God s promises as quoted to our friend s message. And keep positive. When we re with God nothing is against us. god is our shield, our fortress, our refuge. Read Psalms.

Reluctant Theologian said:

To me it seems very illogical and contradictory to claim or believe Yeshua is begotten, but that there never was a point in time or situation that He was not.

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Good point. See For God so loved the world, that he gave his only BEGOTTEN Son

Lk 7:

12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.

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On Biblehub, 40 versions used 'only' while 1 version used 'begotten'.

G3439 (μονογενής, monogenés) occurs 9 times.

HELPS Word-studies:

3439 monogenḗs (from 3411 /misthōtós, "one-and-only" and 1085 /génos, "offspring, stock") – properly, one-and-only; "one of a kind" – literally, "one (monos) of a class, genos" (the only of its kind).

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Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

single of its kind ... used of Christ, denotes the only son of God or one who in the sense in which he himself is the son of God has no brethren.

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Monogenés meant "one and only of its kind". It identified uniqueness.

How is the word applied to Jesus?

New King James Version, John 3:

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [G3439], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

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Jesus is God's only begotten son.

BDAG μονογενής:

① pert. to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship, one and only, only (so mostly, incl. Judg 11:34; Tob 3:15; 8:17) of children: of Isaac, Abraham’s only son (Jos., Ant. 1, 222) Hb 11:17. Of an only son (PsSol 18:4; TestSol 20:2; ParJer 7:26; Plut., Lycurgus 59 [31, 8]; Jos., Ant. 20, 20) Lk 7:12; 9:38. Of a daughter (Diod S 4, 73, 2) of Jairus 8:42. (On the motif of a child’s death before that of a parent s. EpigrAnat 13, ’89, 128f, no. 2; 18, ’91, 94 no. 4 [244/45 a.d.]; GVI nos. 1663–69.)

② pert. to being the only one of its kind or class, unique (in kind) of someth. that is the only example of its category

The birthing process was not necessarily part of its meaning. In modern English, "begotten" implies a temporal or biological act of procreation, which may lead to misunderstandings about Jesus' eternal relationship with the Father. The English Standard Version deemed the word "begotten" here unhelpful:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

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At Biblehub, 20 translations used "begotten"; 18 did not.

In Lk 7:12, 40 versions translated μονογενής as 'only' while 1 used 'begotten'. However, in Jn 3:16, for the same Greek word, 20 used 'begotten' and 18 did not.

Jesus is the unique monogenḗs Son of God, the only one of his kind. He is not begotten in the way many people use the term "begotten" today. It is more accurate to say that Jesus is the monogenes Son of God.

See also

• Abraham offered up his only BEGOTTEN son
• The only begotten God

I am not being good to myself
I must admit
Today
Again I wet my bed
And I was up at 3 am
I have to do laundry again
That is insane
I am spending lots of money
When I do my laundry

The subject matter is that of getting rid of any lingering and captivating sins in our lives so that we can walk the walk that God has for us to walk, as his followers, in walks of surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands in holy living, without which no one will see the Lord. For all throughout the New Testament writings the church is being warned against thinking that they can continue in their sins, and not in walks of obedience to God, and that heaven will still be their eternal destiny. It won’t. Believe it!

And whenever I read verses 12-13, I think of them somewhat in a symbolic sense in that our hands represent our deeds, our works, our actions. Our knees represent surrender of our lives to God, in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, in true humility and in genuine repentance (death to sin). And the straight paths for our feet represent the gospel which teaches faith in Jesus resulting in us dying with him to sin and walks of obedience to his commands. And our feet represent our walks (our conduct and patterns).

Therefore, the message that I get from this section of Scripture, in relation to the message spoken in Hebrews 12, as a whole, is that we need to have our deeds in line with God’s will and purpose, in living holy and godly lives, and no longer making sin our practice. And we do this by surrendering our lives to the Lord, dying with him to sin, and now walking in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God. Now our lives are to be committed to doing the will of God and no longer to sinful practices.

But now when this says that we are to pursue peace with all men (all people), this is not the kind of peace which makes compromises with truth and righteousness, and with the Scriptures, and with the gospel message, and with the character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – in order to be accepted by others so that they will like us, and so that we will not be persecuted by them. We only make peace with anyone as far as it depends on us not having to compromise holiness and righteousness.

And what follows next? We are to pursue sanctification (holiness) without which no one will see the Lord. For the Scriptures make it clear that faith in Jesus, which is of God, and which is persuaded of God, will result in us dying with Christ to sin and us walking in obedience to his commands, or it is not genuine faith which saves. If we give lip service only to the Lord, and then we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and we do not make obedience to God our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

For it is possible to profess faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that all your sins are forgiven, and that heaven is secured for you for when you die, but for you to come short of the grace of God. For God’s grace is what sent Jesus to the cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus, we will no longer walk in sin, but we will now walk in obedience to our Lord. And God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14).

In other words, God’s grace is not a free ride to heaven based on making a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ alone. God’s grace is deliverance from our slavery (addiction) to sin and empowerment of the Spirit to walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin must no longer be our practice, but obedience to God should be our practice from now to eternity. Too many people are thinking they are going to heaven who are still living in sin and not in obedience to the Lord, sadly so.

For if we claim to believe in Jesus, and we claim that we are now saved from all sins, and that heaven is now our eternal destiny, but then we continue living in sin and in disobedience to God, it is the same as Esau selling his birthright for a single meal, who was not able to get it back, and who did not inherit the blessing, even though he sought it with tears. He came short of the grace of God for he sold out his inheritance to satisfy the cravings of his flesh. And sadly, this is what many professing “Christians” are doing today.

Many people today, who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, are still living immoral and godless lives in surrender to self and to sin. And one day they will stand before the Lord on the day of judgment, and they will call him, “Lord,” and they will proclaim all that they believed they did in his name, but they will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they would not obey God, but they obeyed sin, instead. So don’t be like them. Repent of your sins and obey God now and forevermore.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Lead Me Gently Home, Father

By Will L. Thompson, 1879

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

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Make Straight Paths for Your Feet
An Original Work / April 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

NBB said:

The devil hates both God and the family the most.
I don't want to defend politicians or sides, but for me, lets see.

The Left is defending criminals with laws that punish innocent people.

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Do you know who defended the criminal and paid the penalty for that criminal’s crime? His name is Jesus, the son of God, and I was the criminal, my actions warranted eternal hell, yet Jesus, who had no criminal conviction, died on the cross for me. Does that sound like a liberal heathen to you?

ChristianSonic said:

Don't doubt God's ability to bring true love, even in this day and age. I refuse to give up because this modern romance culture means nothing to God. I trust Him. The world may seem like a genuine marriage is impossible, but God has overcome the world.

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I am not doubting God or asking you to give up. I am just advising you against expecting something that isn't guaranteed, and if you do get it, it isn't going to solve all of your problems.

The final part of my coverage of the Release International Apr-Jun 2025 will take me to an article worth mentioning in and of itself- the mention of Afghan brothers and sisters in Christ finding refuge in Brazil- what a way of showing God's work around the world!

1. Ahmad- Ahmad was a police officer in Afghanistan, his entire team were taken out by a bomb blast in Afghanistan- he was the sole survivor. He had previously seen a documentary about Christ and for the first time after surviving the blast, called on the Lord!

Despite living in Afghanistan, Ahmad was still bold enough to share the Gospel, but then the Taliban came into power and he fled with his wife and children.

Ahmad began his journey with his wife, 10 children and 10 others in the back of a a pickup truck. The truck broke down and they spent 3 days walking in the freezing cold to Pakistan. Can you imagine having this kind of memory and all that it entails in your memories of your walk with Christ?

Of course, Pakistan is hardly a safe haven for Christians but in due time, a pastor got them a visa to Brazil- Ahmad and his family are now well settled into a local Brazilian church and they can now speak Brazilian Portuguese and are accustomed to Brazilian culture- wow, what a story to share!

2. Luke and Grace (not real names) Like Ahmad they initially sought refuge in Pakistan. When settled in Pakistan, they even used their time to help other Afghan refugees in the Country!

Two years later they then had the opportunity to go to Brazil, so they took it. They are well settled into a local church in Brazil too and love their Brazilian family in Christ.

To conclude, in my Bible reading this morning Luke 7:24 tells us that the OT prophets desired to hear what we do as Christians and stories like these , really add to this theme.

[Deleted - already discussed in other threads]

jacks said:

Never mentioned food deserts, nor did I imply that they don't exist.

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By all means - please define what you object to - and what your sources are. Then we might have to do some research on something! It's one of the only things these days that makes me go hunting for new knowledge. You might even score some points? It might refine both our knowledge. (No claims of being omniscient here - I make plenty of mistakes and admit them online.)

Bob Crowley said:

So what?! Who cares??

You post what you want to post and I'll post what I want to post.

It's called democracy.

Incidentally the whole forum is Christian based, which means God should be able to make an appearance in each and every subforum, even if in your humble opinion it should only be a cameo performance, like Hitchcock in one of his films.

Or is He too insignificant to be mentioned??

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Democracy has nothing do with the fact that this forum is set up specifically to talk about a specific thing. A specific thing that you are not even remotely talking about. There's nothing wrong with saying that you believe God created everything, but it behooves you as a member of this website to stick to the subforum topic.

If you want to talk about God in science but not have to deal with people getting on you for not actually talking about the science, then there are Christian Only segments of the forum you can go to.

. Your prayers please for our Pakistani family in Christ- Muskan Salman, aged 15, has been abducted a second time by the same man who tried to illegally marry her previously. Please pray for her parents and that she would be safely returned to her parents.

. The church in Laos- though restrictions on our Christian faith have offiically eased, local authorities are still trying to clamp down on it. It was very encouraging to read that there are many 'Pauls' in Laos who were persecutors, but have now seen the light of Christ!

. Your continued prayers please for pastor Raymond Koh, he was abducted in 2017 and his whereabouts and whether he is alive, is currently unknown. Pray also for his wife during this unimaginably difficult time, that she may get closure.

. A very moving story about a brother in Christ in Ethiopia "Joshua", after him and his family were led to Christ, they were attacked by militants. He survived the attack, but his wife and children died, and are now in glory. After returning to his family, they rejected him. Despite all of this, he is a missionary and church planter. Let us pray his ministry bears much fruit and that he comes to terms with the loss of his wife and children.

. We read about a sister known as Mrs. Kim, aged 96 - she had seen Christians risk death, her uncle had given her a Bible and her Grandma preached the Gospel in her native North Korea but she became saved after fleeing to South Korea. Despite surviving domestic abuse, war, etc she is strong and bold in sharing the Gospel- may we be like her if we live this long!

The “great cloud of witnesses,” I believe, is in reference to the preceding chapter, which many have come to call “The faith chapter of the Bible,” for it speaks of people of faith in biblical history and of the things that they did in either obedience to God and to his specific instructions, and/or that they did in love response to God in submission to his will and for the glory and praise of God. It is symbolic of the biblical truth that faith in God, which is genuine, will result in obedience to him and to his commands, or it is not of God.

Now faith in Jesus Christ, which is of God, and which is not of the flesh, will result in repentance (the forsaking of our sins, dying with Christ to sin) and walks of obedience to our Lord’s New Covenant commands, in practice, by the Spirit, or it is not biblical faith. “Faith” which results in the sinner continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and not in walks of obedience to God and to his commands, and not in surrender to his will, is not biblical faith. The end result of that “faith” is not eternal life with God.

As those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are to be his followers who walk in obedience to his commands, and no longer in deliberate and habitual sin. And so we have many instructions and cautions and warnings written to the church in the New Testament, teaching us that we must forsake all sins, which we may still be holding on to, and which easily entangle (deceive, lure, entrap, ensnare) us. And we must get rid of everything in our lives which has the potential to lead us into sin.

For many people continue in deliberate and habitual sin, because, in truth, they want to continue, but also because they do not get rid of those “doors” which typically and habitually lead them to committing the same sins over again. And smartphones, as useful as they can be sometimes, are a door wide open always to people who are undisciplined, who are self-indulgent, who are immature, who are selfish, and who are lazy, to keep going right back to the same sins over again without genuine change (repentance).

But if you are going to be followers of Christ, you must cut the ties with all that leads you into sin and with all those sins which captivate you and keep you in slavery to them. And depending upon how long you have been enslaved to the same sins, this may require some very serious cuts and things discarded. But.. and this is critical that we grasp this first. The Bible teaches that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander” (see Matthew 15:17-20).

So, first, all the evil that is stored up in the heart must come out for good so that good can come out of the heart and so that you will no longer habitually and deliberately keep returning to the same sins repeatedly, some people for the course of their entire lives, until death, some of them into their 80’s or 90’s, and still they do not repent and change their evil ways. For we act out what is stored up in our hearts. What we believe, in truth, is what will come out in our words, in our attitudes, in our actions, and how we treat others.

So, if there is hatred, unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, prejudice, lust, greed, pride, selfishness, evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander, and the like, stored up in your heart, this is what is going to come out in your actions and attitudes and words towards other people, even those you profess to love, but don’t, in truth, because hate is what has taken over your heart, instead. So all these must be cleansed out of the heart, by the Spirit, if you are to be free from addiction.

Some people just try behavioral modification, but that doesn’t work if the heart does not change. They will make changes to their routines, or they will try to avoid certain things which remain in place to tempt them again, and again. But the heart still spews out the same stuff because the heart has not changed. It has not had a house cleaning of the Spirit of God, and so there is no room for the Holy Spirit to take up his dwelling there. So, even if they profess faith in Jesus, he is not their Lord, for obedience is not their practice.

So, the heart has to change. We must all die with Christ to sin and be reborn of the Spirit of God and be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. But then we must no longer allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death (not life). But if obedience to God is what we obey, then we have the promise of salvation from sin and eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

So, we must die with Christ to sin and now walk with God in obedience to his commands, in daily practice, by the Spirit, and we must no longer give the devil a foothold in our lives. We must cut out of our lives all hindrances to our walks of faith, and then we can run with perseverance the race God has marked out for us to run, which is our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in denying self and in dying daily to sin, by the Spirit, as we keep focused on Jesus and we choose to cooperate with God in his work of grace in our lives.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

How Long Till the Morning

Scripture: I Thessalonians 4:17
By C. E. Couchman

Consider the mornings of this mortal land,
Each a new beginning from the Maker’s hand.
While the storms may gather ‘gainst the evening sky,
The day breaks cloudless in the morning.

Rise up to the battle, for the skies dawn clear.
Let us gather courage while the foe draws near.
Though the night falls weary, saints of God, march on!
And He’ll raise our banner in the morning.

When the trumpet sounds to signal Heaven’s day,
Resurrection Morning when the dead shall wake,
What a glorious gath’ring when the Lord descends
And we rise to meet him in the morning.

How long, my Lord? Till we see the morning?
How long, O, my Lord, till we see your face?
O my Lord, guide us through our troubles
Till we rise above them in the morning.

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The Sin Which So Easily Entraps
An Original Work / April 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Michie said:

Construction of the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a 169-foot-tall Christian monument celebrating answered prayers, is set to begin this summer after delays caused by inflation and design complexities.

The landmark, located near the M6 on the outskirts of Birmingham, is now expected to open in autumn 2027, according to The Telegraph.

The project in Coleshill, which will feature an infinity-loop design inspired by a mathematical Möbius strip, aims to represent the eternal nature of God. The wall will be made of 1 million white bricks, each digitally linked to a story of answered prayer.

Continued below.

Creator of giant Christian monument celebrating millions of answered prayers reveals opening date

Construction of the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a 169-foot-tall Christian monument celebrating answered prayers, is set to begin this summer after delays caused by inflation and design

www.christianpost.com

Click to expand...

This is great news, as it is in the UK, hopefully I may get to visit.

Shalom

I bring our precious brother Caleb today with a request for prayer:

His mother recently died, and he now needs God's favor and wisdom regarding the inheritance because of a complicated family situation.

I also ask that the Lord help him to walk more and more in the love of Christ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) and give him insight and understanding into God's ways (Proverbs 2:3), in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you for your prayers!

May the Lord bless you abundantly (Luke 6:38, Job 42:10), and may He bless Israel, in Jesus' name. Amen!

Sole Deo Gloria

PS And I pray that the Lord sends out harvesters into His harvest (Matthew 9:38).

Election results in Wisconsin and Florida were a mixed bag politically. While Democrats in Wisconsin defeated a state Supreme Court candidate backed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Florida saw many gains at the local and federal levels.

Voters in Wisconsin also weighed in on the future of the state’s voter ID law.

Here are five highlights of Tuesday’s election results.

1. Former Planned Parenthood attorney elected as Wisconsin Supreme Court justice​

Continued below.

Looking through the window glass,
What I’m seeing, need not ask.
People staring everywhere
Looking as if they don’t care.

World is going straight to hell,
For the most are under spell,
Hypnotized by what they see
On their teeny tiny screens.

World is lost in all their sins,
While the time is wearing thin.
Need to hear the gospel truth,
Not the lies that many spew.

Who will tell them? Be it you?
Will you tell them what is true?
Will you call for death to sin?
Let the Spirit rule within?

Will you say they must obey
Our Lord Savior, not delay?
Will you warn of sinful pride
Which takes people on a ride?

Will you say, if not obey,
Think that sinning is okay,
Will not promise life with Christ,
For they’ve taken truth by heist?

Or will you now shy away,
And continue games to play,
Watch your stories, sing your songs,
Not to Christ do you belong?

Jesus calls us, Him obey,
And the gospel not betray,
Share the gospel truth, do tell,
So the people know not hell.

An Original Work / April 2, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Whenever I read this passage of Scripture I am always moved by the persistence of these blind men and their refusal to be intimidated by the crowd who wanted to silence them. It brings me to tears, in fact. Why? My feelings of compassion for them, having been treated the same way many times in my life, people wanting to silence me because I am a woman, and because I speak the truth that many people do not want to hear. So I feel with them, I grieve with them, but I also rejoice with them in their victory.

And I am certainly not promoting rebellion nor disrespect nor riotous or irreverent behavior. But what I am promoting are the teachings of the Scriptures and the courage that they teach us to stand up for truth and for righteousness, and to not give in to the lies and to the pressures of society to conform to the ways of the world in diluting the gospel message to make it less offensive to the people of the world. “For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Amen!

And this isn’t just about sharing the message of the gospel, but this is about not listening to the naysayers who will try to convince you that you did not hear from God, and that God did not call you to a specific ministry, and that God cannot use you in a particular way, either because you are female, or because you are too young, or too old, or because you don’t have a college or a seminary degree, or because you are not an “official worker” of a particular church denomination, but you are just a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now I will add a word of caution here because there are many people claiming to have heard from God who are getting messages which are contrary to the divine character and will of God, and which are contrary to the doctrinal teachings of the Scriptures. So all must be tested against the Scriptures to make certain that what we think we are hearing is truly from God and not from other voices. But God does speak to us individually or else we would not know to what ministry he has called us, and what we’re to do.

I can tell you one thing for certain. If I had listened to the crowds, and if I had allowed myself to be intimidated by their attempts to silence my voice, I would never have stepped out in faith nearly 21 years ago and accepted God’s call on my life to write down what he is teaching me from his word each day and to post these writings on the internet so that a herald could “run with it.” But this is my body part within the universal body of Christ, and this is my assignment from God (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-31).

I didn’t let the naysayers discourage and dishearten me, but I persevered in following the leading of the Lord in my life. And where did it take me? It took me to the internet and to multiple internet sites where I have been sharing with the people of the world my daily times with the Lord in his word, either expressed in devotions, like this one, or in Christian memes (short devotions), or in songs, or in poems, or in testimonies, or in video talk devotions – however he leads me. And these go to people all over the world.

So, what is my point in sharing this with you? Don’t let the opinions of other humans determine your destiny or your walk of faith in the Lord Jesus. Be respectful, but don’t give in to intimidation intended to silence your voices. Make sure you are being led of the Lord, and that what you are sharing is biblical and/or that it is not anti-biblical, that it is of God, and that it will bring honor and glory to God, and that it will mean the salvation of human lives. But don’t back down and run away because of the naysayers.

If these men let themselves be intimidated by the crowd they probably would never have been healed of their blindness. And Jesus is calling each of us to specific areas of ministry which involve the healing of other people’s spiritual blindness, their salvation from slavery to sin, and the empowerment of God to now live holy and godly lives, to the glory and praise of God, resulting in eternal life with God. If we keep our voices silent, then how will they hear the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and so be saved?

So, don’t give in to peer pressure. Don’t listen to what the majority are saying, because the majority are those who are on that broad (wide) road to hell (destruction). It is that small minority who are walking the narrow way, and they are few in number, who we should be listening to. But even there we must test everything we hear from other people against the teachings of the Scriptures, taught IN CONTEXT, to make certain that what we are hearing, and repeating, is the truth of the Scriptures, and not the lies.

So, be bold! Be brave! Be submissive, but never to the point of denying Christ and his Word and his calling on your life, and never to the point of accepting the lies and repeating the lies because the lies are more acceptable and less offensive to the people of the world. Don’t let the crowds determine your destiny. Speak to Jesus! Call out to him! And let him work his work in your hearts and minds in making you the people of God that he wants you to be, to be used of him to minister his love to other people.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:27-28; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; Ac 2:14-18; Ac 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]

Lead Me Gently Home, Father

By Will L. Thompson, 1879

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
When life’s toils are ended,
And parting days have come,
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home;
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come,
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.

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Don’t Listen to The Crowds
An Original Work / April 2, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love