Have you ever noticed that when you are least expecting it...GOD shows up??!!! That seems to be how it is for me many times. There have been things I have talked to GOD about a lot and haven't really gotten an answer. Sometimes there have been things with me that I want GOD to "fix"...and HE doesn't. However, there have been many things that HE has helped me with. Things in me that HE has changed. HE is an awesome GOD!!! But...there are still things I struggle with. Things, that as a Christian, you either should or should not do. Tonight I am talking specifically about forgiveness...
For a long time it was hard for me to really get the fact that once you ask JESUS to forgive you and come into your life, that was all you needed to do. You were "forgiven" right then. What ever you had done in your past life was gone...erased. In the Bible GOD says that HE casts your sins as far as the east is from the west. HE also says HE doesn't keep a list and HE throws them into the ocean!
Psalm 103:12 (New Living Translation) He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
Isaiah 43:25 (The Message) "But I, yes I, am the one
who takes care of your sins—that's what I do.
I don't keep a list of your sins.
Micah 7:19(b) (New King James Version)
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
This is all great news for everyone! When HE forgives us we are truly forgiven...forever! We are blessed!
Then there's the part where we have to forgive others. Most of the time that isn't a problem for me. Sometimes it takes me awhile but I know I have to do that. So...sooner or later I have gotten there with all the big ones in my life.
Mark 11:25 (New International Version)
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
There is still another type of forgiveness that we are expected to do. That is...Forgive ourselves for things we have done in the past.
Romans 8:1-2 (The Message)
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
I like the way The Message Bible says this verse...live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. When you can't find it within yourself to forgive yourself for something you did in your "past before CHRIST life"...you cause yourself all kinds of needless problems. But...if you really want to be free and live as you are meant to as a Christian, you have to come to terms with your past, forgive yourself, and put it behind you. You probably won't ever forget what you did but you don't have to be haunted by it either. I always told myself that if GOD could forgive me for what I had done that it didn't matter if I did or not. But I was wrong. Satan will use anything and everything he can to try to get you to fail. To go back to your old life. He will get in your head and remind you over and over of what you have done. When you haven't forgiven yourself what comes rolling in? That low-laying black cloud. When that's hanging over you it causes all sorts of bad things. You listen to what satan says instead of to what GOD says. He brings on all kinds of bad symptoms in your life. But then there's the flip side...
There's a phrase I really like...But GOD!!! At the beginning I said sometimes GOD shows up when you least expect HIM! It is so true. This weekend I was reading a book. It wasn't a self help book, it wasn't the Bible, it was fiction. I was really into the story and all of a sudden what I read just hit me. What a character in the book had done...so had I. I have struggled with the pain of this for years. I have not talked to GOD about it for a long time. The great thing is...GOD talks to us about things when HE wants to! HE chooses HIS time to heal us of things in our past, not our time. When I read the sentences in this book it was as if I were reading about my own situation. The wonderful thing about it is...GOD, right then, healed me of all the pain of my past sin. For the first time that I can remember, I was able to let all the emotion out that I had held inside for so long.
GOD can and will do this for you too. It doesn't always happen immediately. GOD works on HIS time not ours. The great thing is, when HE does it you know that it is truly a...But GOD moment in your life!!
If you need a...But GOD moment in your life don't give up. Sometimes when you least expect HIM...HE shows up!! HE will change your life if you will let HIM. Call on HIM today!!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
GET READY!!
Today has been a day when I have just been thinking about the LORD's return. How wonderful it is going to be when HE comes back to get us!! From all that I read and hear in the news I believe it won't be much longer. We all need to make sure that we are ready when HE comes.
Before becoming a Christian I read the Left Behind series. It was a little unnerving because I knew that if the LORD came back then I would be "left behind". But...I wanted to know what would happen and what people on earth would be going through. Basically, I wanted to know what "I" would have to do to become one of the people that made it through the Tribulation. My thought was that I would only make it to Heaven in that way. Thankfully I don't need to worry about that anymore. My whole purpose of this blog today is this...
Now I have been reading the prequel to the Left Behind series. There are three books and they tell about the characters lives from when they were young and how they were before they were left behind. The last of the three is titled, "The Rapture". I don't wnat to ruin it for anyone that hasn't read it and will but...the Rapture takes place in this book. What I thought was so great was how the author let the Christians know it "was time"...they were going up!! HE called out their name...LOUDLY!!! Then they heard the trumpet!! Everyone heard their name called and then they were going up and seeing all the other Christians!! I don't know how it's really going to happen but if it were to happen this way how exciting that would be. All Christians everywhere hearing their own names called out at the same time.
We know that GOD is everywhere and can speak to everyone at the same time. Church's all over have services on the same times and days. People everywhere talk and pray to GOD at the same time. HE hears us all and answers us all!! It's amazing!!!!
Whatever way it happens when JESUS comes back to get us it will be sooo exciting! I don't want to miss it and neither should you. It doesn't matter what you've done or how bad you have been...You can be forgiven. You "will" be forgiven if you just call on the name of JESUS and ask HIM to forgive you and come into your heart. Don't wait...do it today. Then when HE comes back to take us home you will be going up too!!!
32-35"Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer's just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you'll know he's at the door. Don't take this lightly. I'm not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won't wear out.
36"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
37-39"The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah's. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.
39-44"The Son of Man's Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.
HE died for you so you can live for HIM!! Make the step today. You won't regret it!!
Before becoming a Christian I read the Left Behind series. It was a little unnerving because I knew that if the LORD came back then I would be "left behind". But...I wanted to know what would happen and what people on earth would be going through. Basically, I wanted to know what "I" would have to do to become one of the people that made it through the Tribulation. My thought was that I would only make it to Heaven in that way. Thankfully I don't need to worry about that anymore. My whole purpose of this blog today is this...
Now I have been reading the prequel to the Left Behind series. There are three books and they tell about the characters lives from when they were young and how they were before they were left behind. The last of the three is titled, "The Rapture". I don't wnat to ruin it for anyone that hasn't read it and will but...the Rapture takes place in this book. What I thought was so great was how the author let the Christians know it "was time"...they were going up!! HE called out their name...LOUDLY!!! Then they heard the trumpet!! Everyone heard their name called and then they were going up and seeing all the other Christians!! I don't know how it's really going to happen but if it were to happen this way how exciting that would be. All Christians everywhere hearing their own names called out at the same time.
We know that GOD is everywhere and can speak to everyone at the same time. Church's all over have services on the same times and days. People everywhere talk and pray to GOD at the same time. HE hears us all and answers us all!! It's amazing!!!!
Whatever way it happens when JESUS comes back to get us it will be sooo exciting! I don't want to miss it and neither should you. It doesn't matter what you've done or how bad you have been...You can be forgiven. You "will" be forgiven if you just call on the name of JESUS and ask HIM to forgive you and come into your heart. Don't wait...do it today. Then when HE comes back to take us home you will be going up too!!!
Matthew 24:30-44 (The Message)
30-31"Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he'll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God's chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.32-35"Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer's just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you'll know he's at the door. Don't take this lightly. I'm not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won't wear out.
36"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
37-39"The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah's. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.
39-44"The Son of Man's Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.
HE died for you so you can live for HIM!! Make the step today. You won't regret it!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Do What's In Your Power
I am reposting this from the Messenger International blog site.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Do What's In Your Power
Dear Friends,
A woman in Iran urgently needs your prayers & your influence.
Her children need your compassion and active voice.
Proverbs charges us to speak up for those who have no voice.
A women condemned to die in an Iranian prison is virtually voiceless.
Her son and daughter are praying and pleading that the world’s community would lift their voices and stop the cruel execution of their innocent mother.
(see their letter below)
It is hard to imagine the possibility of a woman being stoned still exists...sadly it does.
They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
John 8:7 NLT
This situation demands an answer.
Will we stand up and rise to the question.
I believe you will pause long enough to stop these stones from flying.
What if this was your mother? Sister? Or daughter?
How would you want others to respond?
Prayer? Yes certainly pray!
But what of those with the power to do more?
Wouldn’t you hope (and pray) intent and action would be added to prayer?
May each individual, family, community,church and organization do what is in their power.
You are more powerful than you know.
Below are some options/resources and links so you can exercise your influence and be part of stopping this type of atrocity.
If only a 1000 pastors motivated 100 members in their churches to write a letter...10,000 letters /emails would travel & serve as voices with the potential to stop this from happening.
To make this as easy as possible. We have included sample letters to be emailed or mailed to the following organizations:
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS
NAVI PILLAY, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights
Please copy and used with individual names. Thank you for opening your heart to this Mother and her children.
If each of us does our possible God can do the impossible.
Lisa Bevere
Messenger International
(Feel free to repost & reprint this document and use the information within however you see best.)
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children/
Two things to do:
1) Please send the sample letters adjusted per your preferences to the targeted recipients
2) Please send the children’s letter to your local newspaper with an explanation of why we need to support these children and take a stand against brutal execution in Iran.
LETTER FROMTHE CHILDREN OF SAKINE MOHAMMADI:
Do not allow our nightmare become a reality,
Protest against our mother’s stoning!
Today we stretch out our hands to the people of the whole world. It is now five years that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the world so cruel that it canwatch this catastrophe and do nothing about it?
We are Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani’s children, Farideh and Sajjad Mohamamadi e Ashtiani. Since our childhood we have been acquainted with the pain of knowing that our mother is imprisoned and awaiting a catastrophe. To tell the truth, the term “stoning” is so horrific that we try never to use it. We instead say our mother is in danger, she might be killed, and she deserves everyone’s help.
Today, when nearly all options have reached dead-ends, and our mother’s lawyer says that she is in a dangerous situation, we resort to you. We resort to the people of the world, no matter who you are and where in the world you live. We resort to you, people of Iran, all of you who have experienced the pain and anguish of the horror of losing a loved one.
Please help our mother return home!
We especially stretch our hand out to the Iranians living abroad. Help to prevent this nightmare from becoming reality. Save our mother. We are unable to explain the anguish of every moment, every second of our lives. Words are unable to articulate our fear…
Help to save our mother. Write to and ask officials to free her. Tell them that she doesn’t have a civil complainant and has not done any wrong. Our mother should not be killed. Is there any one hearing this and rushing to our assistance?
Farideh and Sajjad Mohammadi e Ashtiani
Translation: Mission Free Iran
Disseminated by the Committee Against Stoning
Mina Ahadi
+49 177 569 2413
————–
SAMPLE LETTER TO NAVI PILLAY, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights:
Send to: npillay@ohchr.org, with copies to: urgent-action@ohchr.org, Iran_team@amnesty.org, saneif@hrw.org
MAIL to: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Dear Ms. Pillay,
I am writing to you with an urgent demand that you intervene with the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who are preparing to execute by stoning Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani. Stoning is a barbaric form of torture and execution that should be outlawed worldwide. It is your responsibility to step in and demand a halt to these proceedings.
The children of Ms. Mohammadi e Ashtiana have written a letter in her defense, and have issued a call to the world asking for help. Their letter is here; I suggest you read it, and then act according to their heartrending demands.
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children-2
Sincerely,
[your name]
* * * * *
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS:
Send to: Florian Westphal (fwestphal@icrc.org) and Dorothea Krimitsas (dkrimitsas@icrc.org)
Dear Ms. Westphal and Ms. Krimitsas,
I am writing to you with an urgent request that you intervene with the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who are preparing to execute by stoning Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani. Stoning is a barbaric form of torture and execution that should be outlawed worldwide. Multilateral organizations have thus far refused to step in and put a halt to the criminal actions perpetrated by the Islamic Republic. Your mandate encourages your organization to undertake the work of visiting prisoners in situations of internal violence, where the Geneva Conventions do not apply. I ask you to step in and demand a halt to these and other ongoing criminal and barbaric proceedings in the Islamic Republic
The children of Ms. Mohammadi e Ashtiana have written a letter in her defense, and have issued a call to the world asking for help. Their letter is here; please read it, and then act according to their heartrending demands.
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children-2
Sincerely,
[your name]
A woman in Iran urgently needs your prayers & your influence.
Her children need your compassion and active voice.
Proverbs charges us to speak up for those who have no voice.
A women condemned to die in an Iranian prison is virtually voiceless.
Her son and daughter are praying and pleading that the world’s community would lift their voices and stop the cruel execution of their innocent mother.
(see their letter below)
It is hard to imagine the possibility of a woman being stoned still exists...sadly it does.
They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
John 8:7 NLT
This situation demands an answer.
Will we stand up and rise to the question.
I believe you will pause long enough to stop these stones from flying.
What if this was your mother? Sister? Or daughter?
How would you want others to respond?
Prayer? Yes certainly pray!
But what of those with the power to do more?
Wouldn’t you hope (and pray) intent and action would be added to prayer?
May each individual, family, community,
You are more powerful than you know.
Below are some options/resources and links so you can exercise your influence and be part of stopping this type of atrocity.
If only a 1000 pastors motivated 100 members in their churches to write a letter...10,000 letters /emails would travel & serve as voices with the potential to stop this from happening.
To make this as easy as possible. We have included sample letters to be emailed or mailed to the following organizations:
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS
NAVI PILLAY, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights
Please copy and used with individual names. Thank you for opening your heart to this Mother and her children.
If each of us does our possible God can do the impossible.
Lisa Bevere
Messenger International
(Feel free to repost & reprint this document and use the information within however you see best.)
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children/
Two things to do:
1) Please send the sample letters adjusted per your preferences to the targeted recipients
2) Please send the children’s letter to your local newspaper with an explanation of why we need to support these children and take a stand against brutal execution in Iran.
LETTER FROM
Do not allow our nightmare become a reality,
Protest against our mother’s stoning!
Today we stretch out our hands to the people of the whole world. It is now five years that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the world so cruel that it can
We are Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani’s children, Farideh and Sajjad Mohamamadi e Ashtiani. Since our childhood we have been acquainted with the pain of knowing that our mother is imprisoned and awaiting a catastrophe. To tell the truth, the term “stoning” is so horrific that we try never to use it. We instead say our mother is in danger, she might be killed, and she deserves everyone’s help.
Today, when nearly all options have reached dead-ends, and our mother’s lawyer says that she is in a dangerous situation, we resort to you. We resort to the people of the world, no matter who you are and where in the world you live. We resort to you, people of Iran, all of you who have experienced the pain and anguish of the horror of losing a loved one.
Please help our mother return home!
We especially stretch our hand out to the Iranians living abroad. Help to prevent this nightmare from becoming reality. Save our mother. We are unable to explain the anguish of every moment, every second of our lives. Words are unable to articulate our fear…
Help to save our mother. Write to and ask officials to free her. Tell them that she doesn’t have a civil complainant and has not done any wrong. Our mother should not be killed. Is there any one hearing this and rushing to our assistance?
Farideh and Sajjad Mohammadi e Ashtiani
Translation: Mission Free Iran
Disseminated by the Committee Against Stoning
Mina Ahadi
+49 177 569 2413
————–
SAMPLE LETTER TO NAVI PILLAY, UN High Commissioner for the Office of Human Rights:
Send to: npillay@ohchr.org, with copies to: urgent-action@ohchr.org, Iran_team@amnesty.org, saneif@hrw.org
MAIL to: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Dear Ms. Pillay,
I am writing to you with an urgent demand that you intervene with the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who are preparing to execute by stoning Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani. Stoning is a barbaric form of torture and execution that should be outlawed worldwide. It is your responsibility to step in and demand a halt to these proceedings.
The children of Ms. Mohammadi e Ashtiana have written a letter in her defense, and have issued a call to the world asking for help. Their letter is here; I suggest you read it, and then act according to their heartrending demands.
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children-2
Sincerely,
[your name]
* * * * *
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS:
Send to: Florian Westphal
Dear Ms. Westphal and Ms. Krimitsas,
I am writing to you with an urgent request that you intervene with the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who are preparing to execute by stoning Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani. Stoning is a barbaric form of torture and execution that should be outlawed worldwide. Multilateral organizations have thus far refused to step in and put a halt to the criminal actions perpetrated by the Islamic Republic. Your mandate encourages your organization to undertake the work of visiting prisoners in situations of internal violence, where the Geneva Conventions do not apply. I ask you to step in and demand a halt to these and other ongoing criminal and barbaric proceedings in the Islamic Republic
The children of Ms. Mohammadi e Ashtiana have written a letter in her defense, and have issued a call to the world asking for help. Their letter is here; please read it, and then act according to their heartrending demands.
http://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sakine-children-2
Sincerely,
[your name]
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