Author Archives: christartist

My One Word 2019 – Guard Your Heart 4/22-24

Proverbs 4:23 English Standard Version (ESV)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.

Guard your heart.
Wow.
As I was working through the additional Lent blogs, of which, I only added a handful, I was struck how many times that someone wasn’t guarding their heart.

Judas – he wasn’t guarding his heart. He was known to be a liar, and thief.
Peter – he wasn’t guarding his heart when he denied Christ 3 times before the cock crowed.
Martha – she wasn’t guarding her heart when she said to Jesus “Master – go straighten out Mary!”
Jonah wasn’t guarding his heart when he was sent to Nineveh – I did a whole study on Jonah in Itty Bitty Bible Study!
Abraham – he wasn’t guarding his heart when Sarah suggested Hagar to carry their child.
Miriam and Aaron weren’t guarding their hearts when they spoke against Moses.
Job – he wasn’t guarding his heart when he was depressed. Somewhere in there, God was stirred up in a whirlwind, and spoke to Job, and he repented!
David – he wasn’t guarding his heart when he called Bathsheba to the palace.
on and on and on and on throughout scripture we can see that humanity is as it has done since the day Eve didn’t guard her heart and had a talk with the devil, and since Adam didn’t stand up for what God had told him, and he followed along with Eve. First peer pressure!

My current situation – here is the prayer I’ve been sending around:

Prayer warriors…a request..for the week of April 21, 2019
Nutshell…travel Sunday, Thursday and Sunday,and Monday.
Procedures Tuesday and Friday.
Next week Jim has two procedures. We have much travel. We would like you to agree with us in prayer:
Our Travels would be blessed and all protected, all pilots will be rested, and alert.
Machinery, both for travel and for surgery, will perform at top standards or higher.
Doctors and medical staff will be alert, clear headed, well rested and not ill.
Jim and i would have the peace that passes understanding as we abide in Jesus, our prince of peace.
I would walk in manifestation of health, i say no to vertigo, migraines, any dizziness or ear pain. I say that Jesus took those stripes so that i am healed!
I declare life to Jim’s body, in Jesus’s name.
I confess that cancer must leave, in Jesus’s name.
I speak peace and confidence because of our position with God the father, because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
I pray that through this challenge, our love for each other, and our love for Jehovah God will grow exponentially.

Thank you all for your prayers. I’m going to tag a few of you… share a you see fit.

I am confessing God’s promises.

Passover.
Friday, April 19, 2019 was the first night of Passover.
The thing about Passover is that Moses told the people to sacrifice a lamb, and to put the blood on the doorposts to warn the death angel that this home was covered by the blood price God demanded for sin.

Death and disease came into this world because of sin.

I’m not saying that Jim or I or anyone else has cancer because of THEIR sin – but that this world has fallen so far from the Paradise that God intended, and our bodies were not made to excel in this environment. It’s why they lived longer and longer as you go back closer and closer to the Creation.

Then the flood – because of sin.
Then, man couldn’t live as long anymore.
And, they didn’t have fast food and coffee places on every corner!

This is a fallen world.
You and I are fallen humans.
Our bodies are no longer as strong as they once were. From the day we are born, our bodies go about dying.
I could delve into the whole genetics and how we are losing our genetic resilience (Jim could add the pod case about folks getting dumber) but, I want to get back to the Bible.

Jim has death in his body called cancer.
Jim gave his life to Jesus Christ – 1975.
Jim’s sins were covered by the blood of Jesus the day he invited Jesus into his heart.
Jim’s healing was purchased by the stripes on Jesus’ back.
Jesus said on the cross – IT IS FINISHED.

BECAUSE JIM HAS THE BLOOD OF JESUS ON HIS SOUL, THE DEATH ANGEL, OR DEVIL, HAS TO PASS OVER BECAUSE HE IS A CHILD OF GOD!

What happened next to the Israelite/Hebrews? They were set free from the slavery of Egypt.

I believe that cancer is a type of Egypt – something that sucks the life out of you, and beats you down.
I believe that Jesus came to deliver us from our Egypts. Yes, that means sin and the punishment for that sin. But we also have the promise that by his stripes we WERE healed!

I’m going to back down a little bit…do you always see the manifestation of your healing in this lifetime? obviously, no.
Do I know why? Sometimes, in my life, I do.
Other times, I don’t.
Other times, I get really upset that I do not see the answer.

This is when I need to guard my heart.

What do I believe? Here’s a simple answer:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Apostles Creed

I also believe that the Bible is the word of God, add verse about all scripture….

It says that I can ask what I will and it shall be given unto me, if I ask in Jesus’ name.

In our life, we have seen children raised from the dead(possibly me…), broken bones healed, sicknesses removed and many other things. We have also seen certain physical issues NOT get taken away, or removed.
do we give up?

this is where I have to guard my heart….it says that he that endures to the end….

Does it mean the Bible isn’t true?
This is where I have to guard my heart…it’s an act of faith.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Faith is a choice.
Love is a choice.
believing that My Father God, who has given me so many good gifts, is a bad God because of the few things that I haven’t gotten, or the sickness or disabilities he has chosen not to heal (on my timeline) is to not love God, to not have faith in God, and to not be patient with God.

I am believing for the Passover of Jim’s bodily struggle from this fallen world.
I am believing for Jim to be brought out with silver, and with gold, and not be feeble ever again…
I am believing that we will both enter into the promise land, by faith in the person of Jesus Christ.

guard my heart – for out of it flow the wellsprings of life….

Psalm 19:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Proverbs 18:21 King James Version (KJV)
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

James 3 says a lot about the dangers of the tongue.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20(NIV) – specifically:
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Today, I choose life!

Joshua 24:14-15 King James Version (KJV)
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

As for me and my house – we will serve the Lord!

We place the blood of Jesus upon the doorposts of our heart.
We declare the protection of the Angel of the Lord.
We command, in Jesus’ name, the death angel to pass over our home and family!

Today is day three of our medical week.
first flight – excellent.
first procedure – accomplished well, and Jim is in little pain.
Tomorrow is the flight out of the country.
Friday is the big procedure for Jim.
Saturday is a recovery day.
Sunday is a flight back to the states.
Monday is a flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh and back home.

Time for praising!

I’m doing some editing from Cancun, Mexico, as Jim is in the operating room for HIFU.

Therefore, this is actually day five of our medical week.

I’m sitting outside of the hospital cafeteria, listening to the birds and construction. I am at Peace!

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

2019 Lent Day 20 – the Way, the Truth, THE LIFE

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Three – for Catch up.
Lent Week Four started March 5, 2018 and March 23, 2019

Lent Day Twenty
The Way, the Truth & The Life John 14:5-14

Music
You are Life by Hillsong

Devotion
The WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.
Tuesday, we looked at THE WAY.
Wednesday, we looked at the TRUTH.
Today, we will look at THE LIFE.

Pastor John Piper has a great sermon about the Life God gives us.

Here is his Easter sermon from 1984, talking about God giving you life in your mortal bodies.

I want to look at Jesus IS THE LIFE.

From BlueLetter Bible, the Outline of the Biblical Usage of this word is this:

life
the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate
every living soul
life
of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic “logos” and to Christ in whom the “logos” put on human nature
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.

Websters has these choices:
1a : the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body
c : an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism (see METABOLISM sense 1), growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction
4 : spiritual existence transcending (see TRANSCEND sense 1c) physical death
5a : the period from birth to death

There are 20 entries!
My summary:
Life is being able for growth, reaction to stimuli and reproduction in a human.
Life is a spiritual transcendance of a human and the very nature of God
This is my favorite definition:

life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.

To discuss how Jesus is LIFE, we need to find out where death came from!
Genesis 1

Genesis 1 King James Version (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Before God created man, He created, period!

Light
Firmament of Heaven divided from Earth
Dry land separated from water, plants – first evidence of life
Sun, Moon, Stars – Day and Night
Water Creatures
Land creatures and Man

There are various creation theologies.
Back to John Pipers ministry, they provide Creation Theology in 12 points.
Here is a very deep explanation of Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 from Answers in Genesis.
The theological term is creatio ex nihilo, the Latin for “from nothing”.

This is the theological position I believe.
and here’s a few verses to back my belief up, though others will have verses that back up their theology.

Hebrews 11:3 King James Version (KJV)
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

John 1:3 King James Version (KJV)
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Why do I believe this?
1. In the Beginning – God.
Out of His creative character, and because only HE can create matter(First Law of Thermodynamics and the Law of Conservation of Mass Energy) God Created.
Nothing was made without him is the rephrasing of without him was not anything made that was made.
2. God is eternal, therefore, within Him resides ETERNAL life. Ps 90 All About God – Eternal God.
3.All beings with a spirit are Eternal or Immortal, but only God is without beginning or end. Daniel 12:2-3, All About God’s writing about is the Human soul mortal or immortal?
4. The order of Creation sets up the stage for LIFE on earth!
5. Man was not alive until God breathed life into him. Genesis 2:7
6. In the midst of the Garden there was a tree of life.
7. In the midst of the Garden there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9

What happened? SIN
I’ve written about Adam and Eve on many instances, but my favorite is An Inconvenient Truth.

Short story:
Eve listened to the Serpent
Adam listened to Eve
God found out.
animal had to be killed to pay the price so they would not have to die.
At that point, death entered the world.
Cain killing Abel was the first murder.
and it goes down hill from there…
UNTIL

Jesus is born.
Eve had been given a promise.

Genesis 2:15
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

They did not have to suffer physical death instantly as the judgement of their disobedience demanded, but something had to. A sacrificial animal. The precursor to Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb.
Here’s where you can learn more:

I am that I am – a statement of Life, complete existence in Himself – THIS IS THE FIRST NAME GOD GAVE HIMSELF.

Only HE who HAS can give to he who has not.

John 10:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Back to Genesis –

Genesis 3
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Because of the disobedience, they were driven out of Paradise.
They were forbidden to eat of the Tree of Life!
We are in the midst of a study called Freedom created by The Church of the Highlands. I highly recommend it, to get a new and fresh look at the Trees from the Garden.

To eat of the Tree of Life would have meant that they would forever live in their sin. God prevented that.

Jesus is the Rod of Jesse – like a tree. Is 11:1-2
Jesus is the Branch – like a tree. Zech 6:12
Jesus is the Vine – a plant. John 15
Hebrews 11:17-24 talks about being grafted into the tree of the family of God.
Romans 6 talks about being dead to sin and alive to Christ.

When we are saved, the old man dies – the death payment for our sins, and the new man comes alive – the Life bestowed upon us for being IN CHRIST!

Acts 17:28 New International Version (NIV)
28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]

The interesting thing here is that Paul is talking to the people of Athens – and is quoting their own poet, who was speaking of THE UNKNOWN GOD. They knew there was some power that was in everything – and Paul declares Him as the God of Creation, who sent His son so that we could KNOW HIM!

Jesus broke down the walls that separated us from the Tree of Life!
In Jesus, WE HAVE LIFE!

That is worth celebrating!

Worship
I am the Vine by John Michael Talbot
Now my Lifesong Sings by Casting Crowns
LifeSong by Casting Crowns
In Him We Live and Move and Have our Being

~~~~~~~

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

M. Christine Wildman

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

2019 Lent Day 19 – The Way, THE TRUTH, The Life

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Three – for Catch up.
Lent Week Four started March 5, 2018

Lent Day Nineteen
The Way, the Truth & The Life John 14:5-14

Music
Song of Truth by Mark Shelton & Jonathan Malone

Scripture
John 14:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Devotion
The WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.
Yesterday, we looked at THE WAY.
Today, we’re going to look at the TRUTH.

Jesus says he is the TRUTH, but what is truth?

From Websters Dictionary
Definition of truth (Entry 1 of 2)
1a(1) : the body of real things, events, and facts : ACTUALITY
(2) : the state of being the case : FACT
(3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality
b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true
truths of thermodynamics
c : the body of true statements and propositions
2a: the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality
b chiefly British : TRUE sense 2
c : fidelity to an original or to a standard
3a : sincerity in action, character, and utterance
b archaic : FIDELITY, CONSTANCY

Blueletter Bible explains the Biblical usage in this outline
objectively

what is true in any matter under consideration
truly, in truth, according to truth
of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly
what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
in the greatest latitude
the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians

Strongs G225 simplified says this:
I. objectively;
1. universally, what is true in any matter under consideration (opposed to what is feigned, fictitious, false):

John 1:14 & 17 says

John 1:14-17 King James Version (KJV)
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

- - Jesus says He is the Truth.
  - John describes Him as bringing Truth.
  - The Religious leaders told him that he taught the truth in Mt 22:16, Mk 12:14, and Luke 20:21.
  - Jesus tells us that
    
    John 8:32 King James Version (KJV)
    32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
  - Jesus says we should do truth in John 3:21
  - Jesus says we need to worship God in Spirit and in Truth in John 4:24
  - Jesus prays about us being sanctified by the truth in John 17:17
    
    John 17:17 King James Version (KJV)
    17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
  - Jesus says to the Father – THY word is TRUTH!

Is Truth a Who? What? How?

Thing or Action – Our Salvation

Ephesians 1:13 King James Version (KJV)
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Action – Our responsibility to obey – Galatians 3:1 and 5:7

Thing – Part of our Armor! Loins girt about with Truth! Eph 6:14

Person or Character – God is not a liar – therefore God is true: – Titus 1:2, Heb 6:18 and

Numbers 23:19 King James Version (KJV)
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

In fact, Hebrews 6:18 says that it is an immutable thing…God cannot lie! Part of His Character!

Person – Jesus promises a comforter…the Spirit of Truth! John 15:26,

John 14:17 King James Version (KJV)
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Person – The Spirit of Truth is our Teacher.

John 16:13 King James Version (KJV)
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Who is this comforter? The Holy Spirit, the third person in the God head! For more info on the Tri-unity of God, Lent Day 7

Jesus is the Truth
God’s Word is True.
Jesus is the Word.
We are sanctified by the Word.
Jesus is God
God cannot lie.
The Holy Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is Truth
The Holy Spirit is the comforter that Jesus sends back to teach us all things of TRUTH!

What are the “doing” parts?
Part One – teachings – The Holy Spirit is guiding us into all truth…because Jesus promised that

John 8:32 King James Version (KJV)
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Part Two – actions

So that we can gird our loins with TRUTH.
So that we will not be deceived by the enemy.
So that we will be set free from the lies that surround us.

How can this be a concept, a person, thing and an action at the same time?

By Faith, we Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ – TRUTH as a person.
God’s heart is that all will come to the knowledge of truth – 1 Tim 2:4 – TRUTH as a concept to be taught.
We are told to obey the truth in Galatians – TRUTH as a concept and action.
We are told to gird our loins with TRUTH – TRUTH as a noun

God is only known in spirit and in truth. He is OTHER. This is a whole study unto itself. The thing is, that we believe it because God said it, and we trust His Words. It is because HE is. It is by faith, through grace.

Ephesians 2:8 King James Version (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Romans 10:9 King James Version (KJV)
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

The opposite of truth is deceit.
I don’t want to list these verses, and fill up this blog, but, for further study, here is a list of scriptures about deceit from Bible Study Tools.

Colossians 3:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Deceit is part of the old man – the man without the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in their lives.
Remember, we are known by our fruit!

Jesus is the TRUTH – and by allowing him to enter into our lives, and make us new, set free from the old man, we are back in relationship with the God who Is TRUE, and we can be filled with the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will guide us into all truth!

In that light, we can
Psalm 37:3-6 King James Version (KJV)
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Truth is God, Godly and Godliness.
For more – Itty Bitty Bible Study Titus Ambassadors

Worship
Voice of Truth
Stronger by Hillsong

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

2018 Lent Day 18 – 3/6 – THE WAY, The Truth & The Life

Lent Devotions
Lent Week Three – for Catch up.
Lent Week Four started March 5, 2018

Lent Day Eighteen
The Way, the Truth & The Life John 14:5-14

Music
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life

Scripture
John 14:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Devotion
The WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.

THE WAY
It really starts with verse 1:

John 14:1-14 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Way to the Father
14 “Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.
3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.
4 You know the way to where I am going.”
5 “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus was trying to comfort them….”let not your heart be troubled”.

HOW?
“Believe in God, believe also in me.”
In Lent Day Eight, we discussed how he placed the choice before them…that HE cried out, and almost begs them to choose Him!
It is the basis of our salvation – Acts 16:31 – to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!

He tells them that he is going to prepare a place for them…as I wrote about in Day Seventeen, Many Mansions.

Dear Thomas, so honest and transparent…”we don’t know where you’re going…how can we know the way!”

In lent Day Seven, we discussed the Tri-unity of God – His unity in plurality. Here, Jesus reminds them that He and the Father are one, as he stated in John 10:30.

This is NEW to the Jewish religion – that God is One in Three.
Here is a quote from Day Seven:

In the beginning God spoke let there be light.(Genesis 1) God’s voice is the source of creation – The Father

In the Beginning – the spirit hovered over the face of the waters – The Holy Spirit.

In the Beginning was the word and the Word was God and the Word was with God – Jesus (John 1) All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.

We know that God’s voice spoke words. We know that the word of God is Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus Christ was part of the creative power in the beginning. We know that God moves upon water as The Holy Spirit, in the beginning. We have a Triune God to manifest himself in Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Three distinct personalities in one complete person. Several times, when God speaks, the fullness of the Godhead is displayed.

~~~~Theology of the Trinity on Wikipedia, Answers in Genesis, Desiring God, and possibly my favorite – The Gospel Coalition~~~~

The WAY is to believe in the fullness of the Godhead! And, Jesus prepared the way for us, through His death, burial and resurrection! If you have questions on that concept, there are links in my signature!

Worship & Praise
What a Savior – Laura Story
One Way – Hillsong

The next few days will be about the Truth and the Life!

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

My One Word 2019 – Guard Your Heart Pr 4:23 – 2/25/2019

Proverbs 4:23 English Standard Version (ESV)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.

My notes on the bitterness post:

Guard your heart
Bitterness
On forgiveness

How did i learn i had bitterness?
By my words
Out of the abundance of my heart, my mouth spoke

I am an abuser survivor
Forgave
Healed
Didn’t wait for the abuser to apologize
It only takes one to forgive.

I am a peaceful conflict resolution teacher
I know the steps
It takes two, to do a resolution.

I’m a human
I’ve been wounded
I thought I’d forgiven
I have bitterness

Why is it so difficult forget sometimes? Is it because someone has hurt you over and over and over? And they have the potential to continue doing so? And you’re sure you fill the 70 × 7 forgiveness requirement?

Hebrews 12:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

I just completed IBBS Titus 1:10-16, and in Titus, Paul warns about those who are defiled.

Titus 1:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

I discussed how when someone chooses to go the way of the wide path, and not the straight and narrow, eventually, God gives them over to their own lusts. God gives them, or allows them, what they want. Romans 1:18-32

All I wanted to do was to discuss the concept of holding unforgiveness in your heart would cause you problems. Well, me, specifically. These posts are all written to me, I just share them with whomever is interested! HA! Such a simple task, I thought! Therefore, as God would have it, I’ve been enlightened about how much bitterness I hold in my heart!

I’ve written a few times about bitterness!

Forgiveness:

Dear Peter
Betrayal
Jonah chapter 4 – includes part of my testimony

About anger:

Boiling Point

Coming up soon, from the date of this writing, is the Resurrection Season. I wrote a series for Lent last year, and the First Sunday of Lent deals with Forgiveness!

There is a website that I refer to often, GotQuestions.org.
Here’s their write up on What is Forgiveness. The article talks about the two aspects of forgiveness – the part that is key to our salvation, or, OUR forgiveness by GOD, and the part that we are to implement, or, OUR forgiveness of OTHERS.

Another resource is from Desiring God, and here is a list of their various posts on Forgiveness…including several by John Piper. Here’s one that fits this topic wonderfully – How to Battle Bitterness!

In that sermon, John Piper brings up this verse:

Romans 12:19 King James Version (KJV)
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Isn’t that why we hold onto the anger, the rage, the hurt and such? We want vengeance?

“Revenge – it’s a dish best served cold.”

I have no idea where that came from. Wikipedia says this:

The popular expression “revenge is a dish best served cold” suggests that revenge is more satisfying if enacted when unexpected or long feared, inverting traditional civilized revulsion toward “cold-blooded” violence.[12]

The idea’s origin is obscure. The French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838) has been credited with the saying, “La vengeance est un met que l’on doit manger froid” [“Revenge is a dish that must be eaten cold”], albeit without supporting detail.[13] It has been in the English language at least since the 1846 translation of the 1845 French novel Mathilde by Joseph Marie Eugène Sue: “la vengeance se mange très bien froide”,[14] there italicized as if quoting a proverbial saying, and translated “revenge is very good eaten cold”.[15] It has been wrongly credited[16] to the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782).

Its path to modern popularity may begin with the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets which had revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold. The familiar wording appears in the film Death Rides a Horse (1967), in the novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo (1969), as if from an “old Klingon proverb” in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). The title sequence of the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) referred to this last movie by again citing it as a Klingon proverb. After that it appeared in the 2004 version of Man on Fire.

The phrase has also been credited to the Pashtuns of Afghanistan.[17]

Another proverb states, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”. Another version (Chinese: 子不复仇非子也) proposes that a son who does not take revenge for his parents is not a son.[citation needed]

That’s the way of the flesh.
Hebrews 12:15 says not to allow a root of bitterness to grow! And, any plant grows from a seed.
Romans 12:19 says to let God take vengeance on our behalf.

When our children were little, they often offended each other. Yes. It’s true.
If they came to me with the concern, I would sit them down, and start a peaceful conflict resolution – let’s talk it out, and come up with a satisfactory solution.
If one lied, they would be disciplined.
If one disobeyed some rule, they would be disciplined.
BUT, if the offended one took matters into their own hand, I would say
“you already handed out the punishment, I cannot punish them anymore. If you want them to have discipline and learn the lesson, you need to let me be the judge, and pronounce the judgement.”

These aren’t quite the same thing, yet I’m pretty sure these verses were those from whom I gleaned this concept.

Proverbs 24:17-18 New International Version (NIV)
Saying 28
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the Lord will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.

Proverbs 24:29 King James Version (KJV)
29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

And a few others:

Lev 19:18
Deut 32:35

I have written about God being a Vengeful God in IBBS Nahum 1:2b

The thing is, vengeance is a release of the anger and the bitterness, from our physical, emotional and mental perspectives.
Forgiveness is letting go from a SPIRITUAL perspective.

I’ve done much study on Forgiveness as an abuse survivor.
It’s not about the other person, though, if they want to sit down and work things out, GREAT!
It’s about MY HEART!!

God says in His Word:

Ephesians 4:26-27 King James Version (KJV)
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.

What happens if we give place to the devil?

Hebrews 12:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

And yet, Our Heavenly Father knows us so much, that he gave us a promise to help us let go of that anger:

Romans 12:19 King James Version (KJV)
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Give room for GOD’s wrath to deal with it!

Did Jesus talk about this? Yes, including instructions!

Matthew 5:21-25 King James Version (KJV)
21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 5 is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are the

poor in Spirit
mourn
meek
hunger and thirst after righteousness
merciful
pure in heart
peace makers

Do any of those sounds like anger, wrath, or bitterness? Nope, not to me, either.
The fruit of the Spirit are:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Self-Control

Anything look like anger, wrath and bitterness there? nope, nada!

1 Corinthians 13, in the chapter describing LOVE says this:

1 Corinthians 13:5 New International Version (NIV)
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Not only does love not get easily angered, IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS.
ISN’T THAT BITTERNESS???

Before listing the fruit of the Spirit, Paul lists the fruit of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions,
21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Even though we are forgiven for our sins, and yes, we struggle with the flesh in this life, these things are not becoming of an Ambassador of Christ! While I’m studying this, as I said above, I was also studying about what it meant to be an ambassador for and of Christ through Titus 1. IBBS Titus 1:6-9 Ambassadors

See, when someone starts sharing things, things that could be perceived as teachings, they could be perceived as teachers.
I am told, as an old woman to teach the younger women.
TEACH seems to be the key word here.
This is to the older men, but, in my Titus studies, I realize, it isn’t gender specific!

Titus 2:6-8 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
7… Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching. 8 Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

It’s a warning to anyone that potentially teaches.

James 3:1-2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
3:1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment,

Of course…we are all called to teach…

Matthew 28:19-20 King James Version (KJV)
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

What does this have to do with Bitterness, unforgiveness and anger?
I HAVE NOT HAD SO MUCH TROUBLE IN YEARS WITH ANGER AND BITTERNESS TOWARDS MY FAMILY as I have since I started working on this post!
Was there anything that anyone did horrible to me?
NO!
Was there anything illegal, immoral, or of enduring effect?
NO!
I just didn’t seem to be able to LET GO of the pain!

Testimony…
Yes, I have had pains that come up, and I do have triggers because of those painful memories.
Yes, my family sometimes forgets the (long list, I’m sure) triggers that trigger me.
YES, I get hurt. Mad sometimes. Sometimes, I have to talk to them about it.
The thing is, a long time ago, I decided that I didn’t have the emotional energy, nor the mental capacity to give anger room in me! It’s exhausting!
YET NOW IT’S HAPPENING!

Maybe, just maybe, there was special grace given to me to forgive my abusers, and now, I have to seek out that grace in face of MY NEED for forgiveness.

What do I mean by that?

Matthew 6:14-15 King James Version (KJV)
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

There’s a qualification to being forgiven! Jesus said so!
I studied that when I was going through the early therapy for the PTSD, and prayed to forgive my abuser.
Years later, I went through some spiritual techniques that had you go through and forgive all those from your past. This included asking those you could contact for forgiveness where needed.
Here I am, actually writing a piece because of a few things that were bothering me…and I get hit with a month’s worth of lessons on anger, bitterness, releasing the pain, and forgiveness.

I had a diagram that I wanted to create a video of.
I’m going to share that photo here, but because of a new friend, Ebony, I’ve just been made aware of another aspect to forgiveness and bitterness that I need to work on…forgiving myself!

I’ll explain this, and maybe have a video in part two!

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Titus 1:10-16 This is a true saying

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

I utilize various resources to research and study these Itty Bitty Bible Studies.
This time, for Titus, I hooked up with Keith Loy’s Celebrate Titus on RightNow Media. RightNow Media is a subscription for everyone in a church.
If you don’t have RightNow Media on your computer or TV streaming channels, the Celebrate Titus dvd is available. I don’t know if it’s more or less information.

I am not an Amazon associate, so I don’t get anything out of sharing this! I will let you know that I will be quoting him!

Titus 1:10-16

13 This saying is true.

What saying is true?
It’s not a pretty saying.
We’ve just looked at Titus 1:6-9, the qualifications for an ambassador for Christ. It’s not just for Bishops, Elders and such…it’s for everyone who is called by the name of Christ!

Titus 1:10-16 King James Version (KJV)
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

We can read that in various versions….

Titus 1:10-16 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
10 There are many who don’t respect authority, and they fool others by talking nonsense. This is especially true of some Jewish followers. 11 But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not. 12 It is like one of their own prophets once said,

“The people of Crete
always tell lies.
They are greedy and lazy
like wild animals.”

From the look of this, there is some stereotyping going on…and yet, “it is one of their own prophets that said”…apparently, it was a cultural thing at that time.
Read it in the Amplified or The Message, I dare ya!

Cultural bigotry?
That’s not the point of this passage.
Then, what is?
It’s a statement of a cultural issue, that even the people of CRETE knew about! Yet, that’s not why Paul is writing that. It’s to prepare us for the next part:

Titus 1:10-11 Contemporary English Version
10 There are many who don’t respect authority,
and they fool others by talking nonsense.
This is especially true of some Jewish followers.
11 But you must make them be quiet.
They are after money,
and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not.

The point is that false doctrines cause chaos…and need to be shut down.
Even if it is from the Jewish followers, of whom Paul has had difficulty making sure they don’t bring others back into bondage to the law!
Galatians 1:6-9
Hebrews 6:4-6

Using Contemporary English again,

13 That surely is a true saying.
And you should be hard on such people, so you can help them grow stronger in their faith.
14 Don’t pay any attention to any of those senseless Jewish stories and human commands.
These are made up by people who won’t obey the truth.

KJV says it a bit more clearly:

13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

The reason to rebuke someone in error is to clear up the issue, and help them to grow sound in the faith! Grow stronger in their faith! Not let them slip down the rabbit holes of senseless and foolish Jewish myths, or human commands that pull them away from the freedom of Christ.
This is the purpose of Church Discipline doctrine…which I’m not going to discuss, but rather, put a link here for you to read and discern. Matthew 18, with some examples in the Corinthians letters. An extreme of this is the Amish shunning.

Are there really rabbit holes and Jewish myths mentioned in the Bible? YES!
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warned them, and us, of false prophets, that they will look good…but we can judge them by their fruit…and we should.
Matthew 15 talks about the traditions of the elders verses scriptures.
Matthew 23 lists a few the Pharisees were guilty of teaching.

Mark 7 also talks about these things…Jesus is putting the teachers of that time on notice!

Blind guides…Matt 15:14

WARNING WARNING WARNING

1 Timonthy 4:1 KJV
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2 Peter 3:16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 He speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

We have to beware of those teaching false teachings, as well as those that twist scriptures around to their own destruction.

Here is the really ugly, dangerous, scary part to me:

Titus 1:15-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.

I don’t want to be defiled.
I do not want to be unbelieving.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 King James Version (KJV) especially verses 14-16
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

It takes the mind of Christ to understand the things of Christ, and that is only obtained through salvation. Steps are listed at the end of this blog.

This passage is scary, but true!

Romans 1:18-32 King James Version (KJV)
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Go Ahead, read that passage in different versions, if you aren’t clear on the meanings. Romans 1:18 and following in the Bible Hub

God gave them what they wanted. Freewill. Scary.

On the other hand, there is something very precious here…

Titus 1:15 To the pure, everything is pure.

This is freedom!
This is priceless – though Jesus paid an enormous price for us to walk in this freedom!

Again, Paul does talk about us NOT using our liberty in Christ to sin…or to cause others to stumble. Our freedom = rights, but with rights comes responsibility!

What are we free from?

sin
death
slavery
fear
self hatred
purposelessness
the consequences of the law!
earning our way to heaven…

Can you think of any other things that we are free from, by the grace of God, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

We do have rights, and with those rights come responsibility!

rights —– responsibility
wealth —– giving/generosity
health —– self care
eternity — faithfulness
forgiven — forgive
full life — die to self

Die to self? That’s self sacrifice, taking the flesh to the cross…choosing to walk in the fruit of God’s love.
There are two ways we can sacrifice for God:
Walk in the Spirit… Galatians 5:16-26
present your bodies a living sacrifice – Romans 12:1

Just because we are free and have liberty does not mean that we can go on living in sin…GOD FORBID! Romans 6:1-3

1 Corinthians 6:12 King James Version (KJV)
12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

We are crucified to that old life! Romans 8
Remember, we shall know them by their fruits…Matthew 7:20
They shall know us by OUR fruits…
what fruit are we displaying?

For reference, review the chart in Itty Bitty Bible Study Titus 1:6-9
Galatians 5 talks about walking in the Spirit. We looked at it in Itty Bitty Bible Study, Galatians 5 as well.

A warning, to all of us:

Titus 1:16 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.

Titus 1:16 Common English Bible (CEB)
16 They claim to know God, but they deny God by the things that they do. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

Titus 1:16 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 They profess to know God [to recognize and be acquainted with Him], but by their actions they deny and disown Him. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for good work of any kind.

For completeness – here’s the passage in The Message

Titus 1:16 The Message (MSG)
10-16 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst.
They’ve got to be shut up.
They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck.
One of their own prophets said it best:

The Cretans are liars from the womb,
barking dogs, lazy bellies.

He certainly spoke the truth.
Get on them right away.
Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith.
Everything is clean to the clean-minded;
nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers.
They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act.
They say they know God,
but their actions speak louder than their words.
They’re real creeps,
disobedient
good-for-nothings.

If we are honest, we can all point our fingers to someone that is dirty minded…seeing something dirty in anything that is said.
If we are honest, we can think of someone that says they know God, but their lives and actions and choices say they do not.

If we are honest, we can point all those fingers back to ourselves…

Do we laugh at off color jokes?
Do we giggle at psuedo off color jokes?
Do we snicker at something that is totally innocent, and yet, we see it with a less than pure concept?
I have.

Do I do things that might speak to someone watching that I am an unbeliever?
Does my character, choices, and conversation glorify God or would Jesus be embarrassed to be by my side sometimes?
Yes, I have…and yes, things have been iffy at times.

There are times that my behavior and choices could cause others to question my loyalty to Christ.
Am I supposed to be concerned with other’s opinions?
For those in the church, in order to move up in the church, to gain accolades or to obtain position…if those are my motives for my character and choices…they are wrong. I am a manpleaser. My reasons are for my own benefit.

On the other hand…if my character and choices causes others that are watching to see how a Christ-follower behaves, then I am to be concerned about how my behavior effects their opinion of God and His Kingdom. I am an ambassador. My reasons are for Christ’s and seekers’ benefit.

On another hand(yes, that’s three), if I choose to do things that the world does so that I do not have to speak up for Christ, or potentially suffer persecution, my reasons are for self preservation, not others, nor Christ’s.

Here’s the catch.
The Holy Spirit is ALWAYS WITH ME, because I am the temple of the Holy Spirit!
That means, when I choose to do things that are less than Godly, I expose the Holy Spirit to things that are less than Godly…or ungodly.
Someone is ALWAYS watching me.

I’ve been writing up a post on bitterness, including anger, and frustration and irritation at others. Do people see this in me?
Maybe.
But even deeper than whether others see this is that there are verses that say these very things prevent me from being forgiven if I don’t forgive, my prayers being hindered if I hold onto anger, and that a root of bitterness can grow and poison everything in my life. The thing is, I see these in me, and therefore, Jesus sees these in me, and is talking to me about them. I have a choice.

Our choices, our character tells others how committed we are to Christ.
Our choices, our character tells God how committed we are to Christ.
Our choices, our character tells US how committed we are to Christ.

I do not want to face Christ and here him say that I was good for nothing!
Oh my, just read the list in Revelation about who goes into the lake of fire!

Revelation 21:8 King James Version (KJV)
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Go ahead, read Rev 21:8 on Bible Hub, in various versions!
On the Bible Hub website, you can look at the cross references…so many things that talk about what will NOT have it’s place in Kingdom…like:

1 Cor 6:9-10 KJV
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

The beauty is that we have a choice.
We have a choice because we were bought with a price.

1 Corinthians 6:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

We are not our own…we are a new type of slave…but also called friend, by Jesus Christ!

John 15:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

We will still be judged, and this is what I want to hear:

Matthew 25:23 King James Version (KJV)
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

When you think of all that He has done for us, is it too much to ask us to live according to His principles and His standards?
When he’s saved us out of darkness, and brought us into His Kingdom of light…saved us from eternal death, which we deserved…how much is too much to give back to Him?

An oldie:

A new one for me:

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

My One Word 2019 – Guard your Heart ~ PR 4:23 ~ 2/6/2019

Proverbs 4:23 English Standard Version (ESV)
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.

Wow, January, Now February.
What has happened to my post on Bitterness?
Um, I’m getting schooled!

Psalm 19:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Let me explain.
When I write up anything that I share, or when I share something face to face with someone, my prayer is that I am not a hypocrite.
Last year, January 15th to be exact, I wrote about My One Word 2018, Be Like Jesus – Jesus is not a hypocrite.
That blog post does go into the depths of my being…who I am…what makes me tick, or not tick, as in, what might make me give up.
It touches on hypocrisy, and various ways we sweep the ‘little’ sins under the rug and point the fingers at those that have ‘bigger’ sins.

I’m a bit touchy about hypocrisy, because it’s a lie.
Here’s a blurb from that post:

Lies…that is how the abuse in my life continued.
I suppose that folks that knew lied to themselves, as well as others.
Those lies almost destroyed me.

John 8:30-32King James Version (KJV)
30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The truth of sexual abuse is not an easy truth to accept.
but by allowing the truth to open my eyes, so many things started to fall in place that had been chaotic, and confusing. Things that had never made sense were now making sense, in the face of this ugly truth. And the bigger TRUTH??? Jesus was in control. Not me. Not my abuser. Not those that knew and allowed it.

So, to be honest about the bitterness post,
I could say that I have a drawing/illustration that needs to be done on the white board but my husband hasn’t been available to video that for me. He does videos of himself presenting to send in for work all the time, so, I do want his help. On the other hand, I can set up a camera, I can turn on video, I could make it work without him if I was really pushing to get it done.
I could say that I haven’t had time to finish it…because I was working on this, that and the other, had PT, had a bout with sickness, and blah blah blah, but the truth is that I have found time to watch TV, and to just sleep in sometimes! ( I lie in bed and pray…some people call it snoring in tongues)
Even there…I want to let folks know that there are times that I’m burdened to pray and I lie in bed to pray…as if I’m some great prayer warrior. I do, sometimes, do this. But, there are at least as many times, if not more, that I roll over and fall back to sleep.
Now – I could say that I’ve slept in because of nightmares and night terrors, and that would be true…sometimes. Others, I got carried away with solitaire on my phone, or watching shows on TV over and over….
Even there…I want to let folks know that I am cleaning up my choices of shows…I’ve never gotten into the purely occult shows…like witches, but, I have liked sci fi, and other types along those lines. I’ve become ‘addicted’ to the ability to binge watch with netflix or prime. It’s the same reason that I cannot read a fiction book before bed…I never go to sleep! Just one more chapter. Just one more episode.
While the choices I’ve made may not be considered bad by many, of the Christian mindset, even if they were beautiful representations of Christian Life and Biblical teaching, the point is…I’ve wasted time watching them.

See – even confessing I try to clean up the confession!

August 15, 2017, I wrote How Long Bitter? based on the Lord teaching me to number my days,

Psalm 90:12 – teach me to number my days so that I might apply my heart to WISDOM!
Or, officially:
Psalm 90:12
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.

I had asked the Lord to teach me to number my days…and to apply my heart to wisdom.
Less than 2 years ago…he was teaching me about bitterness.
Also, just 2 years ago, He was having me look into my time management.
And my confession here is that I have not done well with it.

What has happened in the last month?
A. I’ve gone to the ER for unknown vomiting and excruciating pain. I was afraid it was going to turn into the horrible episode of dizziness with vomiting that I had in Florida last November, and was hospitalized.
What did I learn? That crying out to Jesus is just as powerful as any long winded prayer or quoting volumes of scriptures. I couldn’t do anything more than just say Jesus, Jesus…oh the blood of Jesus.
I could barely text to ask family for help.
I couldn’t text to ask for prayer partners.
I was solely reliant on my faith in Jesus, and my daughter Faith, and my husband’s prayers in Florida( I was in Ohio).

B. I’ve gone through a very emotional attack on facebook about sharing an article about a boy that committed suicide at 8 years old because he was bullied by a gang at school. The issue the others had was that this was a white boy and the gang were listed as an Asian gang. seriously…can we not just realize that no nationality has the corner on gang like groups, or bullying, or suicide and depression? Can’t we just say that no matter the color of the skin, sexual orientation, race or creed, faith or not, bullying is wrong, suicide is tragic and we need a real solution for EVERYONE? This hit me…I have an 11 year old and an 8 year old grandson…among others…and I want to protect them from this mentality!
This triggered some very difficult issues with me, as to who has the right to be declared needing help…because of my childhood.

C. Another thing that I’ve gone through is finding out that a family of young children, specifically an older girl with a brother 3 years younger have a mother that is a nurse, that is addicted to drugs and is taking the drugs from patients. This put me in a funk for a week…this is my childhood. My mom was an RN, and she took the PRNs from her patients to self medicate for bipolar. You know, that statement is so enabling! I’m still giving her an excuse. She was sick. She needed help. But so did my brother and I, from the age of 13 and 11, to when I came home from the Navy to get my brother’s guardianship moved from my mom to my dad for his care. I dropped out of school for various times to work hours to provide money for the bills. I stopped going to a full day of school the second half of my senior year in order to work full time so that I could provide for my brother, me and my mom. I also drove my mom to and from work(yes, she continued to work for senior homes, even though the community knew she had a problem) so that 1, I could have a car available, and 2, so that she was not driving under the influence. Honestly, we couldn’t tell when she was hypoglycemic and when she was drugged…but the amount of drugs that we found, and the repeated suicide attempts were pretty clear that it was mostly drugs. So, yes, the current events triggered unresolved issues from my past.

D. During the medical issue with the vomiting…my daughter brought over her dog to help calm me…
and, he was so concerned about me, but couldn’t stay with me for the night, because he is so bound to his babies at his house…the three boys, and watching over mama!
He reminded me of Gabriel.

Here’s an album on my page Service Dogs
Why is this something that has delayed me? Gabriel alerted to my blood sugars, my heart rate, and was a stabilizing force so that I could walk without fear of falling. Those are just three of the things he did for me.
He saved my life.
He attended mental health hospitals with me.
He did everything with me.
And, in October, 2017, I had to let him go, because of cancer and other illnesses.
I had decided I didn’t need or want another dog.
I was grieving.
Enter Paxton, and the obvious way he was able to calm me, even though he was NOT my dog!

So I started researching service dogs.
I started dealing with the fact that I would probably have to train mine, for financial reasons, again.
This was so emotional, because
1. I miss Gabriel
2. I never really felt confident in my training of Gabriel, though he behaved better than most of the police, fire, and service dogs that we met! I have issues with never feeling like anything I do is good enough, so, it just filtered over here.
3. Did I want to take on a puppy? or Did I want to take on a possible explosion of a rescue dog?
4. finances.

I found a wonderful site, Psychiatric Service Dog partners, and they had a great article on why, for psych dogs, you’d be better off with a puppy.
So much fantastic information on this site.
And, since 2008, there is an amazing amount of information now online. Not so much in 2008!

So, through various research, prayerful nights, and discussions with those that know me best, I will be going to meet a female German shepherd puppy, well, four of them, on February 19th.
I am researching the information now online for training, the requirements again, and having just created that album about Gabriel, I was able to see the fun I had in training him. I’ve also restarted the Service Dog page in order to get actual legal information, not false sales tactics out to the public, as well as encouragement.
The grief of Gabriel, the concerns for my ability, no matter the prior evidence to the contrary, and the stress of finding the ‘right’ puppy has triggered several issues in my mental health, and emotional health at this time.

E. Another thing that just started is that I’ve joined a group for Christian women who have suffered sexual abuse.
If it’s not obvious how that could be triggering, you might be new to my website!

My word for the year is to guard my heart…for out of it flow springs of living water.
Of course, if my heart is full of ugly, ugliness will flow out.
The thing is, I do not want to be hypocritical, talk about bitterness, when I’m having several areas brought to my attention about the need to forgive…not hold bitterness…not go to sleep harboring anger because it gives place to the enemy, and so many more.

I am guilty.
I am human.
The word of God is a two edged sword…sometimes it comforts me, then the other side will attempt to cut away the ugly parts of me and help me to heal from ashes to beauty by His grace.

Please forgive me for the delay, but I hope that you also can extend me grace for being human.

If you ask God to make you more Christ-like, He will take you up on that request.
The Old must pass away, and the NEW must be born!

I am a New Creation, learning and relearning to put off those things of the flesh that so easily distract me!

Here’s one of the worship songs that has been ministering to me the last few weeks.

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Titus 1:6-9 Ambassadors

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

I utilize various resources to research and study these Itty Bitty Bible Studies.
This time, for Titus, I hooked up with Keith Loy’s Celebrate Titus on RightNow Media. RightNow Media is a subscription for everyone in a church.
If you don’t have RightNow Media on your computer or TV streaming channels, the Celebrate Titus dvd is available. I don’t know if it’s more or less information.

I am not an Amazon associate, so I don’t get anything out of sharing this! I will let you know that I will be quoting him!

In IBBS Titus the Introduction, we talked about Paul confessing to be a servant, and that translates to being a slave – but to whom?
In IBBS Titus 1:1-2, we talked about God’s elect and godliness.
In IBBS Titus 1:2, we talked about an eternal hope and promise.
In IBBS Titus 1:3-5, we talked about Who, What, Why, Where and Peace

Now, it’s about Qualifications for Leadership. Here’s some quotes from Keith Loy.

“Leadership is not a title to be earned, but a towel to be held.”

“Influence and Impact another is leadership”

“Godliness(Christlikeness) is all about public witness (Influence)”

“Reputation precedes effectiveness” – Joseph Hall?

“How one lives has everything to do with how one leads”

“Does my walk talk and does my talk walk?”

What is the point of all of these? As Christ like followers, we are Ambassadors to this world.

“You may be the only Jesus anyone ever meets” – unknown

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 King James Version (KJV)
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Got Questions has a very nice explanation of what does it mean to be an ambassador of Christ.

From this article, they say it much better than I could even try!

Christians are God’s ambassadors in that they have been “approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel” (1 Thessalonians 2:4). As we go through this world, we represent another Kingdom (John 18:36), and it is our responsibility to reflect the “official position” of heaven. We are in this world, but not of it (John 17:16). God’s ambassadors are to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we must take the message of our King to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), imploring men and women everywhere to be reconciled to God.

This is not easy to accept.
I’d like to put all the responsibility of being an ambassador on the Elders and Bishops, as are listed here in Titus and in Timothy.
The problem is, Jesus didn’t just preach the sermon on the mount to the 12 disciples.
Another problem is, we are all to be trees that produce fruit(by Jesus’ words) and we know the fruit is in Galations.
Another problem is Paul’s excellent writing on Love…in 1 Corinthians 13. He’s not just talking to the Bishops and the elders.
If that’s not enough…Christ commanded several things:

Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus said Go YE…as in ME.
If I want to claim “and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” I have to claim the calling as well.

1 Peter 4:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

We’ve all been given a gift…and as we have, we are to minister to one another…and that is the evidence of us being good stewards of the grace of God!

another reason for maintaining the character and reputation as listed here is

1 Timothy 3:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

How many have fallen snare to the enemy, and lost their witness? Their church? Their families? Some, even their lives?

Can we agree that if we love the Lord Jesus, that we will want to be a good example of Him to others?
Can we agree that the combined commandment from Jesus is to Love God and Love others?

Ephesians 4:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

I have been gravely convicted of my lack of qualities as an ambassador of Christ…and yet, I am greatly comforted by the fact that in any way that I sin, I have the promise of an advocate for me with the Father (1 John).

I haven’t listed Titus 1:6-9 here yet.
I’ve tried to cross reference it with The Fruit of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 13, and the Beatitudes.


Titus 1:6-9	Bishop Qualifications			Cross Reference
Fruit of the Spirit	Love Chapter	Beatitudes	Bishop	Others
Gal 5:22-23	I Cor 13:4-7	Matt 5:3-10	Titus 1:6-9
Love	Love		faithful to one wife	1 Tim 3:2-4
Joy	Rejoices in the truth			Neh 8:10 John 15:11, 16:24,33 Psalm 16:11
Peace		Peacemaker	Not violent	John 14:27 1 Tim 3:3 Prov 28?7, Phil 4:7
Patience	Patient		Not angry Not irritable	1 Tim 3:3 2 Tim 2:24 Prov 14:17, 15:18
Kindness	Kind	Merciful	Hospitality	1 Tim 3:2
Goodness		Pure in hearts	Blameless Holy	1 Tim 3:2 & 7
Gentleness	Not rude			2 Tim 2:24
Self Control	Endures all things	Meek	Not drunkard Not violent Not angry	1 Tim 3:2-3 2 Tim 2:25 Eph 5:18, Lev 10:9
Faithfulness	Bears all things Believes all things Hopes all things	Persecuted	Live wisely Devout Just	Pro 31:4-5
	Not arrogant	Poor in Spirit Mourn		2 Tim 2:24-25 1 Tim 3:6
			Not greedy	1 Tim 3:3-7
	2019(c) MCWildman and The WildBerry Patch

Here is a pdf of a Google doc of the qualifications of bishop.

Here’s a very clumsily hand written one:

All of this is to try to give you an overview of the various qualities written in Titus for the Bishop, and how they actually are the qualities that Christ expects of us as an ambassador.

I hope this gives you the same eye opening understanding about the qualifications of a Bishop…we are all ministers to the gospel. I had hoped to get away from this, as there is that qualification – husband of one wife…I am never going to be a husband! Titus 2 will bring that home!

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Titus 1:3-5 Who, What, Why, Where and Peace

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

In IBBS Titus the Introduction, we talked about Paul confessing to be a servant, and that translates to being a slave – but to whom?
In IBBS Titus 1:1-2, we talked about God’s elect and godliness.
In IBBS Titus 1:2, we talked about an eternal hope and promise.

Titus 1:3-5 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
3 In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:

4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith.

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus’s Ministry in Crete
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town:

Let’s break these down quickly.

Who was Paul?

Titus 1: 3 In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:

Paul didn’t walk with Jesus.
He seems to feel like he is an apostle out of his time.
Jesus revealed his message to him, specifically, and called Him personally.

Acts 9:1-9
2 Corinthians 12
In IBBS Galatians 1:1-10, I talked about Paul defending his apostleship.
He begins many of his letters with just such defense. It’s as if he’s listing his qualifications as an apostle.

Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith.

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Who was Titus?
Wikipedia has a great summary about Titus, Saint Titus, verses Titus the Roman Emperor.
The international Bible Society gives some information on Titus in it’s intro to Titus.
Christianity Today gives a bit of the Bible Timeline history of Titus.

Apparently, he was someone Paul led to Christ.
Apparently, he was called into the ministry, and served with Paul.
Apparently, he was sent out to minister to Crete, and this is where this letter comes in.

When was this?
From the International Bible Society:

Paul possibly wrote from Macedonia, for he had not yet reached Nicopolis (see 3:12). The letter was written after he was released from his first Roman imprisonment (Acts 28), probably between a.d. 63 and 65 (see chart, p. 2261)—or possibly at a later date if he wrote after his assumed trip to Spain.

Why?

Titus 1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town:

To complete a work.
To appoint elders.
Next time, I’ll talk about the importance of elders, and watchmen and overseers for the body of Christ, or God’s people, since it starts back with Moses, but for right now, this is the purpose.

Did you notice I skipped something?

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Romans 1:7 KJV
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:3 KJV
Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

For more: IBBS Galatians 1:1-10

Ephesians 1:2 KJV
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

For More: IBBS Ephesians Intro, 1:1-2

Philippians 1:2 KJV
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

For more: IBBS Phillipians 1:1-2

Colosians 1:2 KJV
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The BibleHub has quite a collection of cross references for Grace and Peace based on the verse Romans 1:7

It’s as if this is a theme to Paul! A constant Prayer.
Grace…
Peace…

Numbers 6:24-26 King James Version (KJV)
24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Ephesians 2:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Philippians 4:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

And then, Faith….

Hebrews 11:1 King James Version (KJV)
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Is he praying for our salvation? I don’t know…but I’ll take all the grace, mercy, peace, faith and love that I can get. What about you?

Ah, there’s the Where!
Crete…Greece. Preaching to the gentiles!

Next – the requirements for being an elder…you might be surprised at my take on this!

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
Project Based Missions, Global
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
Compassion

Itty Bitty Bible Study – Titus 1:2 Hope and promise

My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)

Titus 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

The Hope of Eternal Life which God promised before time began.

Most Christians know what the Hope of Eternal Life is….

Romans 6:23 King James Version (KJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For more information on this:

- Advent day 14 – Jesus is a Lamb
- Advent day 12 – Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb
- Advent day 7 shares the colors of Christmas, or the colors of salvation.
- Advent Day 6 shares WHY did Jesus Come.
- IBBS Ephesians 2:1-10 explains the situation – why we needed Jesus!
This is the Hope…that we who were dead in our sins were loved while we were yet sinners and Christ came down from his glorious heaven, took on our form, dealt with our pains and sufferings, and died a horrible death on our behalf, then rose from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God to intercede for us day and night!

Why did I post all of those previous blog post links? Because, if you do not know the hope of eternal life…they are there to guide you and explain!

If you think you are getting into heaven just because you are good enough…let me burst that bubble right now. So you think you are going to heaven? is something I wrote years ago, and it’s because I want you to have the TRUE hope of eternal life!

2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie,promised before the beginning of time,

The hope of eternal life…..
Talked about in Titus introduction.

The hope of eternal life…salvation.
God, who does not lie…I think we can agree with this…God is TRUTH.
Here’s a bunch of verses about truth…from BibleStudytools.com

None really say God is Truth…but, when you take all of verses together…you get:

Romans 3:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Another collection of God is true verses comes from Bible Knowing Jesus.

Again, only a few specifically say that God is true…but you get the picture…God cannot lie and still be truth.
He promised eternal life…He promised salvation…He promised a solution to our sin situation!

James 1:17 KJV
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

2 Timothy 1:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible
12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me[a] until that day.

Philippians 1:6 Holman Christian Standard Bible
6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you[a] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The end is coming, and our hope is in this eternal life…

1 Thes 4:14-18
18 Therefore encourage[e] one another with these words.

Hebrews 6:13-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Inheriting the Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself:
14 I will indeed bless you,
and I will greatly multiply you.[a]
15 And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham[b] obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17 Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

So, this goes back to Abraham….
What about Noah?
Genesis 9
God promises not to destroy the world again with a flood – but Noah and his family were a type of salvation…

Hebrews 11:7 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

For that matter, Hebrews 11talks a lot about the promise not seen in the heroes of the Faith.

Heb 11:10 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Heb 11:16 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Heb 11:39-40 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Now, going back before Noah…

Hebrews 11:1-3 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Heroes of Faith
11 Now faith is the reality[a] of what is hoped for, the proof[b] of what is not seen. 2 For our ancestors won God’s approval by it.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was[c] created by God’s command,[d] so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.

Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
How did God promise this gift of eternal life before time began?
What happened before creation?

Luke 10:18 KJV
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Isaiah 14:12-15 King James Version (KJV)
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Ezekiel 28:11-19 tells more of the fall of Satan

Got Questions answers about the angels that fell with Satan.

One thing that Got Questions says that I’m not sure I agree with is that the fall was AFTER creation.
Let me put forth what I believe I’ve just gotten, and you be the judge as to the WHEN of the thing!

Based upon the promise before time began, when did time begin?

Genesis 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[a]
2 Now the earth was[b] formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

As far as I’m concerned – time was created when God created the light, separated the day and night, and declared “the first day” was good!

Time began.
As I read Titus 1:2, I take it that he had the plan for our salvation BEFORE day ONE.
WHY?
To choose good, there must be something else to choose from.
The lack of good.
Otherwise known as not good, or evil.
The angels were created with choice – but, what choice did they have? Hmmm. Lucifer wanted to be like God! And he was already prepared to tempt Eve with the same thing!

God knows the end from the beginning, right? Isaiah 46:10
God wants us to love him freely, not out of requirement or slavery, right?
So, God gave us a choice…freewill…and, it didn’t take very long, as far as we know, for humans to mess up.
Knowing that we would mess up, and choose ‘not good’, God still put the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the garden.
It’s the ONLY thing that they could not touch. THE ONLY THING!
They could have eaten from the tree of life!
AND EVERY OTHER TREE, SO BEAUTIFUL, SO FRUITFUL, SOME THAT WE CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE! Paradise! with ONE restriction.
The devil was there in the garden…
The devil used words to tempt Eve to question God.
Adam didn’t stand up to Eve…which may have changed everything! He just ate.
Their gods were their bellies, their eyes and their pride. Phil 3:18-20
The sin was idolotry…they put their own desires above God. They wanted to be LIKE God!

The Plan

Genesis 3:15 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.

This is known all through Christendom as the first declaration of the plan of salvation.

Genesis 3:21 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
21 The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

This is the first death, and it was on behalf of Adam and Eve’s sins…their futile attempts to hide their sins with fig leaves failed. The wages of sin is death…something had to die…and Adam and Eve had to wear the skins of the animals that they had named and cared for…to remind them of the cost of sin.

Hebrews 9:22 Amplified Bible (AMP)
22 In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment].

The shedding of animal blood was the foreshadowing of Christ being the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. John 1:29
Isaiah prophesied of this lamb in Isaiah 53 – long before he came.

Here’s what has blown my mind.
As I read it, God had already experienced the angels falling….and they had lived in perfection.
Still he chose to create us.
He knew the end from the beginning…so when Eve was rebuked, He knew that Jesus was going to come and die on our behalf…seed of Eve, destroying the seed of the enemy.
When HE covered them with those bloody animal skins, the first death, HE KNEW that one day, Jesus would be that bloody mess, paying the price for sin on our behalf.
And still – God chose to create us.
He created us in His image…so that we could be like him.
He gave us free will and choice…so that we could choose to be like him…or not.
And, He gave us His son, that we might be saved from the dead heart that chooses evil.
AND – HE GAVE US THE GIFT OF FAITH SO THAT WE COULD BELIEVE!

Ephesians 2:8-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

While we were yet sinners – yes:Romans 5:8

Before we were knit in our mother’s womb – yes –
- Jere 29:11
- Jere 31:17
- Lama 3:26
- Jere 1:5
- Psalm 139
But even before that!
Before time began!
He created us with a plan!
He knew we would choose to fail,
And that we would slip into hell
But when we listen to his voice
He calls us to a better choice
Come unto me my little dears
I will love and draw you near
I have loved you since before time began
And I have set in motion the perfect plan.
Choose Jesus and the blood you see
And I’ll give you life that is so free
The life I planned, that you destroyed
Is still here waiting with love untold.
Just turn to me, and let me show
The love I planned to help you grow.
Eternal life is mine to give,
Just turn to me, and live, live, live.
(c)MCWildman2019

Forgive me for this long passage of scripture at the end, but, it is God’s words to us…He has set before us life and death…we must make a choice!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 King James Version (KJV)
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

I hope you worship with me:

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.
- Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
- Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation
Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.
- Naomi’s Heart Ministries
- Obed’s House Ministries
- Project Based Missions, Global
- The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.
- Compassion

The Wildberry Patch

Be Engrafted into the VINE to produce Eternal Fruit

Author Archives: christartist

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)