Happy Valentine's Day

From Ginger Cox: 

Sent with Love

For the last few weeks, John 3:16 has circled through my mind.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish,but have eternal life.

Then yesterday I read a different 3:16, and the message was amplified!

1 John 3:16 – We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us.

To me, these are the ultimate Valentines—the perfect love notes from our Father and His Son.

Yet Jesus left one more message for us—‘A new commandment I give to you...even as I have loved you, that you also love one another’ (John 13:34).

The perfect love triangle is: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit actively working in you.

Let's pass along His love message this Valentine season.

  

 Happy Valentine's Day!

   

Ginger Cox
www.CoxWorks.com 

This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad today! 
Psalm 118:24

Are You Sharing the Good News?

My Sunday School teacher, who has been invaluable to our group,  has put together a lesson I would like to share with you. Read carefully. Give this some deep thought.

All People Are Without Excuse

(Romans 1:16-25)

Let us consider these three groups of people: #1. Believers who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. #2. People who have rejected Jesus as Christ. 3. People who have never heard about Christ. The Bible is clear about the destiny of the first two.

This week’s lesson question was “What about the people who’ve never heard about Jesus?” yet maybe the more relevant question is “What am I doing to share the good news of salvation given by God through Jesus Christ?”

            All People Are Without Excuse Before God (18-25) – general or natural revelation

·         God created all people to worship and serve Him alone. We are accountable.

·         They choose to suppress evident truth—God’s attributes as shown in creation but also an inner consciousness of God because we are created in His image.

·         God’s wrath is a reasonable abhorrence to godlessness and unrighteousness.

·         Godlessness—choosing to reject Him—not worshiping or thanking God.

·         Unrighteousness—not acting right toward other people.

·         God lets people choose their destiny and suffer consequences of their choices.

·         God’s wrath is now and later—but if sinners respond, He will save them.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ Brings Salvation to All Who Believe (16-17) – Theme

·         Even those who honor God due to natural revelation need to hear the gospel.

·         Culture was (and is) antagonistic to gospel—we must not be intimidated.

·         Read Mark 8:38 and 2 Timothy 1:12 regarding not being ashamed.

·         Gospel is the dynamic, life-changing message leading to a divine relationship.

·         Everyone who believes in Christ and repents will receive eternal life.

·         Righteousness is only by God’s grace—activated and sustained by faith.

Prayer – Dear Lord, thank you for making Yourself known, foremost in Jesus Christ. May I be so awed in knowing You that I will be diligent in making You known to others. Amen.

Happy New Year

We are starting another year and it's time to assess our relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ. We will need his strength, wisdom, love, and conviction as we move through this new year. Make no mistake, lean on the Lord. Let him guide you, love you, and discipline you. Remember that when you sin and repent, the Lord will forgive you but there are always consequences to your actions.
Start reading and studying your Bible. Get in God's word. You will be amazed at how your life will change.

Psalm 86:5

5  For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Christmas and the kingdom of God is upon us!

God's perfect plan went into human motion at the birth of Jesus. Only through Jesus can we approach God in righteousness and justification. Only by the work of Jesus- his death on the cross- can we be viewed by God as his children, without sin. His death and resurrection has brought us eternal life.

Romans 3:22-25

New Living Translation (NLT)

²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

Isaiah 9:6

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 This Christmas, give your heart to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Praise the Lord!

End Times

Jesus disciples asked him "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.
⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus disciples wanted to know when the "end of the age" would happen.  Jesus told them that they could not know (24:36).

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

Dear friends: Pay heed to the signs we have been witnessing in our country and around the world. Take a lesson from the wars and civil conflicts, the famines, the financial crisis, the disastrous weather patterns and the rise of subjective "good" and political correctness. We are in the throws of the "birth pains". Now is the time reach out to the Lord. Build your relationship with him. Only through Jesus can we have salvation. Keep watch, because we don't know when the Lord will return.  






 



 

Heaven

What is heaven? We don't know, but it is more wonderful, beautiful, awesome, than we can humanly imagine. It is where we will spend eternity with our God. Reference to heaven can be found more than 600 times throughout the Bible and it begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation.

 Genesis 1:1  The Creation of the World ] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The Bible also tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth--a renewed creation! Read Isaiah 65:17 in the Old Testament. The Lord says, “For behold, I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind."
And in the New Testament, 2 Peter 3:13 writes: "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
And in Revelation 21:1 John the apostle says: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more."

We will live in heaven with our God and marvel at our eternity.  
As the apostle John states, (John 3:16): “For God so loved the world,^[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus says, (Matt 6:19-21)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Genesis 3:1-13

One of our teachers, Edward Freeman, has asked us to study these verses in Genesis:  

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool^[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^{[d] 10} And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The blame game. We have all played this game at some time or another. We can see how disastrous our poor choices can be.  And it started with Adam who blamed God for the woman he, Adam was given, then Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit, then the woman blamed the serpent. Quite simply, they disobeyed God. Their disobedience led to hardship and tragedy not only for themselves, but for all mankind. But God had and has a plan for us. He has redeemed those whose faith is in Jesus and His work on the cross. Our human hardships and tragedies will end for we have salvation in Jesus Christ.