Living In Light of Divine Restoration

By Nathan Gibbs

Isaiah 57:17-18, “For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and his mourners.” (KJV)

Injury is inevitable. At an early age we understand that our bodies are frail. As toddlers we learn to balance, stand and eventually walk, yet we experience many falls along the way. Our journey of learning life includes many cuts, scrapes, bruises and even broken bones. Our bodies are frail indeed, yet our potential for living is great and so we want to live life to the fullest, but to do so requires risk by putting our bodies in danger of harm. Thus a few broken bones and mishaps along the way are expected. God has compensated this human contradiction by making our bodies in such a way that they can heal and recover. Even in dire circumstances where someone has been in an accident where it appears they will never recover, miraculously they do and and we are amazed. (more…)

The Fiery Furnace

By louis gander

Nebuchadnezzar sent out a decree -

that you must bow down to the image you see -

bow to an image, an image of gold.

Do as he tells you. Now do as your told.

This he demands and this he requires -
(more…)

A Convenient God

By Steve Countryman

To be a true believer, as a Christian should, you cannot place conditions on God. Serving God cannot be accomplished on your terms. You can’t decide to serve Him today but not tomorrow. You don’t get to pick and choose when, where and how to serve God. The many religions of this world will tell you otherwise. A convenient god is a man made god. A convenient god is a god created in man’s image. It is a god that is only here to serve you. You bring him down from the shelf when you need his help, then return him when you don’t. He places no demands on you or your time. He is more like a magic genie than a god. You only think of him when you are in trouble or when you want something. You think that by doing some good deeds from time to time you will earn “heavenly points” that will all be added up when you die to help get you into heaven. That is the kind of deception that will keep you out of heaven, out of your blessings that God has for you and land you in hell instead. (more…)

HEAVEN NEEDS YOU

By SIXTUS ONYEANUSI

Vs1.
As you go by the road and street
Heaven sends men for you to meet
Don’t you see the mercies of God?
It does show that the Lord is true
It does show that Heaven needs you (more…)

Feeding the Birds

By Robin Cassell

I Feed My Birds Manna From Heaven

I put out bread and water for the wild birds every day.

Isn’t this like God who put out manna in the desert for Israel?

If I can do this, who’s to say God couldn’t do it too in His wisdom and power and abilities.

The birds have no idea where or how the “manna” comes from. If I tried to explain the what, why and how of it, it would be so far over their heads, they would totally not understand it at all. Not even the language I was using. (more…)

God’s Promises for Difficult Times

By Frank King

I believe most if not everyone who reads this article will agree that we are living in difficult times. God does not exempt us from being tested just because we are Christians. But He has given us promises in His Word to give us inner peace and to serve as an anchor for our soul during difficult times.

It’s hard to ignore it when we are going through a difficult time. That’s because we feel the weight of the test. We may know what the Bible says about God’s faithfulness during those times in our life, but we tend to focus more on the agony of the test than on the consolation of God’s promises. So in this article, let me share several of God’s promises that we should bear in mind when we are tested: (more…)

Knowing Our God Given Purpose; No Ordinary Knowledge

By Dale Linton

Knowledge that is derived from truth that feeds our spirit; which is our source of life, is referred to as “the bread of life”.

John 6:47, 48 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

I am that bread of life.

John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Our tendency, as Christians, is to feel as if we already have a “full knowledge” of truth, when the reality is that we may have only experienced truth in an “introductory phase” of God given knowledge. This is exemplified extremely well in the story of Nicodemus. (more…)

Aspects of Love – Patience

By Hon Wei Chan

Love is really the in-thing nowadays. People sing about love, movies are themed around love, books about love are bound to be bestsellers. Love sells but what is love?

Does the world portray an accurate picture of love? Does the church portray an accurate picture of love? Maybe, a good place to start really is in the famous Love chapter of Paul namely 1 Corinthians 13 written about Agape – the love of God.

The last thing we all need is a dictionary definition of God’s love. But rather, I would like to explore the different aspects of love. And the first aspect I would like to indulge in is this, taken from the  New Testament is the Patience of God. (more…)

Preparing The Bride

By Steve Countryman

Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. We who are called His children, His church and who Christ is the Head are also known collectively as the bride of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom who is coming back to get His bride that has been promised Him by God the Father. That will only happen when the bride is prepared and ready. (more…)

What God requires of Mankind

By Wesley Pierce

Mic 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Deut 5:29
29) Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

Deut 13:4
4) It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. (more…)

“Wait Upon The Lord”

By Steve Countryman

Nothing can separate you from the love of God. God who cares enough about you that He not only knows you better than you know you but God wants to be involved in EVERY decision you make. Not just the big ones but ALL of them. When Jesus lives within you it is in every day living. It is the habitation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father. Not visitation like on most Sundays but a daily habitation. “But I’m not worthy of God’s habitation?” Jesus makes you worthy and deserving. Sin and un-forgiveness are the two things that will remove you from God’s presence in your life. I said His presence not His love. The truth about removing God’s presence is that God doesn’t remove Himself from us but by our sin and un-forgiveness that we remove ourselves from His presence. (more…)

How God Identifies Himself

By Cory Tucholski

“It’s interesting how God defines himself. He told Moses that he is the God of your fathers; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He did not define himself by his omnipotence or his omniscience but by his personal relationships with these common men.” (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11747) (more…)

God of Infinite Love

By Ron Quinlan

I heard a sermon recently by my pastor. He talked about the imagery of God in the Old Testament as a God who disciplines whereas the God of the New Testament is seen as a God of Love. He also stated that surveys reveal that those over fifty tend to see God as a God who disciplines. We need to focus more on the God of Love. (more…)

Let us stop offending the Most Holy One

By Faith C

Good Morning Friends, I’ve spent many hours through the night praying and the Lord put many things on my heart today. I remembered this beautiful song ‘O To Be Like Thee’, I used to sing in Church as a child and found this lovely one on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsSOUqSAD0g. Please hear it and let God touch you in a special way. (more…)

Wintery Theology

By Anthony Weber

An unexpected storm dumped about 2 feet of snow here in Traverse City last night. Snow blanketed everything, as if Thomas Kinkade had personally orchestrated the event. The view from my window this morning was stunning.

But the beauty of winter is a mixed blessing. While the snow hangs delightfully on the trees, and my boys made a 6-foot-tall snowball, and snowmobilers are out in force, there is downside. Thousands are without power, a lot of people ended up in the ditch, and the city declared a State of Emergency. (more…)