Proverbs 3:5 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding…”

As I trust God, He will perfect His will in me and change me into a trophy of His grace.

Trust in God, My soul

Oh, Lord, I trust Your grace;
It is enough, enough for me.
In ev’ry trial I shall trace
Its all sufficiency.

And, Lord, I trust Your strength;
in You alone I shall be strong:
My failing flesh will learn at length
A daily triumph song.

Oh, trust in God, my soul
And look into His face.
Oh, trust in God, my soul;
His holy will embrace.
Than I shall stand complete and whole,
A trophy of His grace
As I trust God.

Oh, Lord, I trust Your Word;
It gives me hope and light to see.
The path ahead, tho’ now obscured,
Will open wide for me.

Safeguards for Moral Purity
~Mrs. Lisa Wehry~

1)    Recognize Potential for Moral Failure
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1Corinthians 10:12)

2)    Realize that you don’t have to give in
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.  (1Corinthians 10:23)

3)    Resolve to be Pure
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
(1Peter 1:13-16)

4)    Remove all Bitterness
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; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
(Hebrews 12:15-16)

5)    Restrain Fleshly Desires
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
(Romans 13:14)

6)    Reject anything that can lead you into moral bondage
And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
(Proverbs 7:7-9)

7)    Run from Evil
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
(2Timothy 2:22)

8)    Renew your Mind
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
(Philippians 4:8)

9)    Recruit Help
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
(James 5:16)

10)    Remember Consequences
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
(James 1:14-15)

11)    Refuse to Remain Defeated
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…
(Proverbs 24:16a)

12)    Rely on the Holy Spirit
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:16)

“I cannot gaze enough on Thee,
Thou fairest of the fair;
My heart is filled with ecstasy,
As in Thy face of radiancy
I see such beauty there.”

Yes, this is the One of whom Isaiah spoke of as having no outward beauty. But then, why did the children so readily come and cling to Him if there was nothing outwardly to attract you to Him? Why did so many love this One who had nothing in His outward appearance to offer? Because this was the One from whom shined out all that was good. He was the One who offered life, and “that more abundantly.” (John 10:10) He offered living water that would satisfy forever (John 4:10-14). He brought hope to those in despair, healing to those who were captive in their beds, friendship to those who were lonely, forgiveness to even the most vile or sinners.

  This is my Savior. People may ask me “Who is this Jesus?” This is who He is. He is everything beautiful to me. Why He should choose to put His name upon my forehead will forever be a mystery to me. How can I help but give Him all the honor, glory, and praise?

 He is so beautiful.

A Sunset

     The soft, radiant beams of light diminished as the sun slowly disappeared from the distant horizon. Pink and purple hues crowned the fluffy clouds, making them appear to be high-school girls in a beauty contest. Color wafted gently across the sky, and it seemed to be a watercolor painted by a skilled artist. The beautiful colors began to fade, softening the sky and inspiring the onlookers below. Red, like fire, shot across the sky and brightened the earth below with fire-like intensity. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the colors were gone-leaving the earth in darkness. This was truly the most glorious sunset the world had ever seen.

Bow The Knee

There are moments on our journey following the Lord
where God illumines every step we take
There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us
as we try to understand each move He makes
When the path grows dim
and our questions have no answers turn to him

Chorus
Bow the Knee
Trust the heart of your father
When the answer goes beyond what you can see
Bow the Knee
lift your eyes towards Heaven
and believe the One who holds eternity
and when you don’t understand, the purpose of his plan
in the presence of the king Bow the Knee

Verse 2
There are days when clouds surround us and the rain begins to fall
the cold and lonely winds wont cease to blow
And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel
We are tempted to believe God does not know
when the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight

Chorus
Bow the Knee
Trust the heart of your father
When the answer goes beyond what you can see
Bow the Knee
lift your eyes towards Heaven
and believe the One who holds eternity
and when you don’t understand, the purpose of his plan
in the presence of the king Bow the Knee

He always brought me to the place where I needed to be. The Study in Colossians….. “He is Enough” being constantly thrown at my listening ears….. my heart was ready and instantly, hungrily grabbed this truth. Great is Thy Faithfulness Lord!

Remember…. The Provision of God

The year when daddy was out of a job right around Christmas. No food in the refrigerator, just barely enough gas in the car to get us to church. Mr. Summers handing daddy some money and saying: “God told me to give this to you.” ………. Coming to College with barely enough money for the first payment. He provided the money the next week! ….. Grandparents starting a savings account when I was a baby for the books I would need for College- finding out that it was almost $10,ooo. All I have needed, HIS HAND HAS PROVIDED!

Remember….. The Satisfaction of Christ

Just as He took something away, He filled that place with Himself. Just when I thought that I though that I needed something, He reminded me that He was ALL I needed and then He came and gripped my heart with Himself.

Remember…. The Love of God

He gave me something that I could never deserve. Every sin, although there were many and each was horribly evil, He took on Himself. Even when I did not love Him, He chose me. When I rejected Him, He embraced me. When I turned my back, He stretched out His arms and died.

Remember…..
“Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.” 1 Chronicles 16:12

“I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember Thy wonders of old.” Psalm 77:11

DO YOU HAVE A NEEDY HEART?

~Pam Reagan~

In Matthew 9:22 Christ spoke to the woman with an issue of blood saying, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” This statement indicates that God grants victory in proportion to our willingness to trust Him, that is, our willingness to live by faith.

“Faith is dependence upon God. And this God-dependence only begins when self-dependence ends. And self-dependence only comes to its end, with some of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans, and hope bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat. And only then do we find that we have learned the lesson of faith; to find our tiny craft of life rushing onward to a blessed victory of life and power and service undreamt of in the days of our fleshly strength and self-reliance.” James McConkey

“God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise before patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hand as a means. I say deliberately that trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.” George Mueller

“It is a great thing to learn faith: that is, simple dependence upon God. It will comfort you much to be assured that the Lord is teaching you dependence upon himself, and it is very remarkable that faith is necessary in everything. ‘The Just shall live by faith,’ not only in your circumstances but in everything.” ~J.B. Stoney

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

We are His children and we walk by faith, which means we depend totally on Him. Then why do we have so many needs in our lives? Why does God make us needy? Because God’s basic ingredient for Christian growth is need. “The reason our Father creates needs in our lives is to turn us from all that is outside of Christ, centering us in Him alone.” “Not I, but Christ.”

Our needs are invaluable because they make us spiritually hungry. Without a needy heart, we would not feed upon the the Lord Jesus Christ. “Wisdom and philosophy never found out God; He makes Himself known to us through our needs; necessity finds Him out.I doubt much if we have ever learned anything solidly except we have learnt it thus.” J.N. Darby

“Life is meant to be a succession of discoveries of our need of Christ, and with every such discovery the way is opened for a new inflow of the supply. This is the explanation of so much that we cannot otherwise understand- this plunging of us into new tests where only a fresh supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ will meet our need. And as our need is met, as we prove the sufficiency of Christ to meet our inward need, so there can be a new showing forth of His glory through us.” H.F.

This brings us to our ultimate need- the need for deliverance. We are thankful for God’s forgiveness, but we need more than forgiveness, we need deliverance. Yes, God has forgiven us for what we have done; but if we are to grow in Christ, we must see our need for deliverance from who we are. This part of the Christian walk is drastic because it requires our reckoning ourselves dead; that is, the death of our old man with Christ.

We are not left to deal with the old life ourselves; it has been dealt with Christ on the cross. This is the principle which we must know and upon it we must build our lives. In other words, on the cross we died with Christ that we might live in Him. Through the crucifixion of our old man with Christ we have been made dead to sin; we have been completely freed from sin’s power; and we have been taken beyond sin’s grip. The claim of sin in over us has been nullified, but this accomplishment of God’s grace at the cross will not be realized in our life until we by faith reckon ourselves to be “dead indeed unto sin.” Sin need have no more power over us except what we grant it through unbelief, If we are alive unto sin, it is due mainly to our failure to reckon ourselves dead unto sin through the death of Christ.

Living victoriously requires faith, which is complete dependence upon God. Living by faith requires that we appropriate the death, burial , and resurrection of Christ in our daily life.

(Romans 6:2-13)

The first step to our becoming free of the old life is to know in our daily experience that we were once for all separated from that life by the crucifixion and burial of Christ. We were crucified and buried with Him. This is the ultimate in deliverance- death. The old life is not changed, but rather exchanged for and altogether new life. Our heavenly Father sees each of us as completely new in His dear Son. 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passes away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who had reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ…” 2 Corinthians  5:17-18

We remain the same individual while being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death unto sin and His resurrection unto life.  However, we aquire a new position, a new life, and a new nature in our risen Lord.

” But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)   And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 2:4-6

Our new position is that we are seated in the heavenlies  with Christ Jesus. Our newlife is the risen Christ life, rather then the old Adamic life. Our new righteous nature in Christ is in stark contrast to the old sinful nature we inherited from Adam. Christ lives in us, not instead of us. He is the source and motivation of our victorious living.

“Our daily choices will lead us to be dominated and defeated by sin or to be freed and growing in the Lord Jesus. You cannot be neutral. ‘As new creations in Christ we no longer have to yield to indwelling sin; the Cross has freed us from its power. But we are responsible to abide in Him by faith, in order that His love and righteousness may be manifested in this needy world.” Miles J. Stanford

In other words, the Lord reveals to us our great need to abide in Him; to see ourselves as new creations in Christ and to live a life of victory because Christ is our life. The emphasis must be on life. Yes, we had to die with Christ, but it is His life that we want to share with a lost and dying world. Claim the victory over sin through the death of Christ and claim the power to love and witness to sinners through the life you have received through the resurrection of Christ. Growth in our Christian life comes from the resurrection, from seeing ourselves alive in Christ. Don’t shun the death of the Cross or you will miss the victory of a resurrected life which bears fruit for eternity. Remember that fellowship with the old life only results in sin and in chastening; however, fellowship with the Lord Jesus results in growth and in life for others.

“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ” Philippians 1:20-21

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

When I came home from break, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that one of my managers was a Christian. (There were three other Christians that had worked with me this summer, students from Crown College of the Bible, but the two sisters were waitresses and I didn’t know James very well.) I was excited because now that there were three Christians in production, we would be able to witness together- and we would be able to live out the gospel before more shifts. ☺

Last Wednesday, there were 4 production workers: Alex, Donnie, Daniel, and Myself. It was a slow day, and about 2 o’clock Donnie raised the question of “Is Jesus really God?” He brought up the verse where it says that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. “How can God be sitting beside Himself? There are a lot of different views. There is only one God.”

“I’m not very good at explaining it, but the Godhead is a trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three, but One. It is like the egg, there are three parts, but it is still one egg. That is what God is- three parts, but still One God.” Alex said, trying to explain.

Donnie immediately began to come back with his defense for his belief. Soon, both Alex and I were quoting scripture. Donnie began to argue, and we stopped, not wanting to argue with him.

The conversation was only for about 10 minutes, but it was a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel- something that I did not expect when I arrived at work that day. Praise the Lord for the opportunity! ☺

Please pray for Alex, Christine, Stephanie, and James, as they continue to live out the gospel in front of our coworkers.