Woven In

Whelp, it's a purdy good day at the Superman household. 

I was thankful to wake up migraine free, 

and despite the Cards loosing in the world series last night, 

this day has started without a bump, as some days will do. 

Handsome Hubby flew off to work early this morning to save the world, 

{after tucking a couple of fried eggs and cinnamon toast under his belt}.

I tackled some long awaited jobs nice and early while Dustin took care of morning chores, 

and then onto Bible study we went.

God is all wise.

No news flash, I know. 

We know that, but still, 

I find myself stumbling upon that fact over and over again throughout my days.

 I already knew that being in the habit of studying my bible is a good thing, 

and that being in the habit of studying my bible in different books on the same day, 

can be even better.

 I already knew about the blessings I have found in the past doing just such a thing. 

So, isn't it silly that it surprises me when those blessings jump out at me again and again!

Right now, this little gal is studying in 

Psalms,

 Ezekiel, 

2 Thessalonians,  

and 2 Peter. 

2 Peter is just a bonus challenge this week in our Five Tens group, 

the others are just where I happen to be in Psalms and my Old and New Testament studies...

blah, blah, blah...

I know I just get all wordy without even meaning too! 

Ok., get on with it! 

Anyway don't those books seem random to you? Unrelated? Psalms, mostly written by a King some 3000 years ago?  A book of major prophecy to a people now scattered over the earth from around 600 BC, several hundred years ago? Two different letters written to two different groups of Christians, by two different men in the early days of the establishment of the church? But, the wonderful common bond that they all share? They were all inspired by the same God, weaving the same redemption story throughout history, meant for all mankind to read, with the same plan of saving all men's souls by the power of God's word and the Gospel!

If you don't believe how lovely God weaves it all together, read on!

"I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." Psalms 39:1 O.k., so this one doesn't tie in as much as it's a real gem I need to work on...hee hee, but stay with me!

Here are the words from God to Ezekiel, to warn Israel. You can't help but compare them to us, living in present day America, where God's word is rejected out of hand and at every turn. Or, more accurately, we could compare them to the so~called religious who call Jesus "LORD, LORD, and do not the things that He says". 

"Son of man, thou dewllest in the midst of a rebellious house, 

which have eyes to see, 

and see not;

 they have ears to hear, 

and hear not:

 for they are a rebellious house."

 Ezekiel 12:2 

"They have seen vanity and lying divination, 

saying, The LORD saith: 

and the LORD hath not sent them: 

and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 

Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, 

whereas ye say, the LORD saith it; 

albeit I have not spoken? 

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies,

therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. 

And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. 

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar:

Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that is shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundations thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace saith the Lord GOD." Ezekiel 13:6~16

Hmm, you may be thinking?

 But it's a simple and clear truth, if we look.

 God had told His people, the Israelites, that the captivity was coming.

God was fed up with the idolatry, the lies and stealing, disobedience and deceit.  

The Babylonians were coming and nothing anyone said, or did was going to stop that at this point. 

Many religious people rejected that truth. 

They kept preaching:

 "peace and safety,

 ignore the truth, 

we'll build these walls, 

God is not sending anyone to punish us". 

But every word they said was a lie. 

They spoke against a prediction that God Himself gave,

 and there would be no changing. 

Our Dear and Holy Father simply can not lie, dear ones! 

Believing a lie will never change the end result of God's truth. 

See, folks rejected God's word way back then, and they're still doing it today. 

Many folks teach or preach false teachings.

 And they convince MANY people to follow them, as did the erring Jews in Ezekiel's day.

 Few were saved then, and sadly few will be saved today because people will NOT listen to God. 

They desire to preach their own gospel/desires rather than fully submit to His.

One of the greatest false teaching that the religious world offers is that of Pre~millinialism, 

the teaching that there will be a time of Christ reigning on the earth, 

with a WHOLE lot of warning before the Judgment Day comes. 

Lots of time for those who haven't been living right, 

to make it up and get it right. 

Hogwash and poppycock is what that is.

Scriptures do NOT contradict themselves, and our Dear Father and His Precious Son gave repeated warnings that were will BE NO WARNING WHEN HE COMES AGAIN. NONE.

Read with me, my friends, from my New Testament study, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves no perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly...The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:" 1 Thes. 4:16,17 through 2 Thes. 5:1~5,9 

Good gravy and hot mashed potatoes. That is no joke. God clearly teaches that there will be NO WARNING when our dear Lord comes again...and furthermore He's not going to set foot on this old earth. No where in scripture can you read of us receiving a warning of His second coming, or of an earthly reign by Christ. Remember what we've said before? It's easier to believe a lie you have been told a thousand times, that to accept a truth you've never heard before.

And weaving all of God's beautiful word together..."But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of who the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." 2 Peter 2:1~2

See? It stinks. I hate it. But it's true. Just like there were religious ones that taught contrary to God's word then, there are those today doing the same.

 What a blessing that we have the soul saving gospel, 

so we can dig, study, pray, meditate and come to the truth. 

Don't you let that old Devil deceive you! 

He's a rotten scoundrel, and he knows where he's going, 

and he sure would like to take you with him.

Study, pray, study some more. God's wonderful redemption story is woven through the pages of our bible just waiting for us to read it and follow it. I hope you all have a super day!

 I love you, dear ones! 

Let's study, girls!

Love, 

 Superman's Marie (Debbie)

Him

A good friend posted a note on facebook a few days ago...it was about all the blessings flurying around us right now. Weddings, showers, graduations and the celebrations that go with them all...Wonderful, blessings overflowing days filled with goodness and {{{hopefully}}} thanksgiving.

She noted how important, in the midst of all of this, it is to not neglect the spiritual aspects and our obligations that go with those blessings...sigh...

I already am the world's worst card sender. I have good intentions. I pray for those dear ones that are grieving, sick or discouraged, but I'm not the best at letting them know that. Then, with all the wedding goodness going on, a few things have fallen by the wayside. I honestly have not studied nearly as much as I usually do these last few weeks. Why in the middle of blessings from HIM, do we let ourselves get so busy we neglect HIM? I know, I know, life does get busy, but I'm just saying that I, me, myself could do a little better.

This morning as I was finishing up 1 John, I was touched several times by His words about the great love that  Our Father has for us. The reassurance that He wants us to have in knowing how much He loves us, though we truly are not deserving of His love. He loved us first, and frankly, there was a time when I sure was not that lovable...ahem...Superman may say there still are times...cough, cough...

Anyway...I am thankful for that friend's reminder. I am thankful for my precious family, these beautiful blessings full busy days before our babygirl's wedding, but most of all I am thankful for HIM. For the sacrifice of the Father in giving His Son for me. For the sacrifice of the Son in giving Himself for me. And most of all for His word that I can know of His great Love and of His great plan that's all about Love and Obedience, for all of us.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another...Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He fist loved us...By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous. ...These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."  1 John 4:10,11,17~19; 1 John 5 2,3, 13

Love you all~
marie

Pure Religion

We had a wonderful ladies Bible class tonight with very dear ladies and kiddos. 

I enjoy our ladies Bible class so very much! We prayed. For a really long time. No. I mean. A. Very. LONG. Time. It's what we do. You all know I'm a chatty girl. Well, um, if I'm chatty with you, you KNOW I'm going to have a lot to pray about with our Holy God. Many of you were brought before our Father's throne tonight, for comfort, strength or renewed health. 

We studied James 1:26~27 through 2:1~4.

Main point?

 Pure Religion=True Christianity, before God (which is everywhere and all the time) is truly being a Christian through and through. Duh, right? But easier said than done. It takes a constant heart of self examination, honesty and humility to see our weaknesses and decide to overcome them.

We should live our lives the same whether we are at home, the store, the church building, the bowling alley...everywhere, all the time in any and all circumstances. We should always show love, grace, mercy, patience, purity, kindness, compassion, and the list goes on...NOT because someone is looking, but because we DESIRE, with all of our hearts, to please God and to be a shining light to show others the love, blessings, peace, happiness and joy that can be found in Jesus Christ our LORD in living a life that brings glory to Him.

We used to read in the Little House on the Prairie books about the judges at the county fair taking a core sample from a huge wheel of cheese, or a tub of homemade butter, or a watermelon or pumpkin. They took core samples to make sure that whatever was being judged didn't just look good on the outside, but that it was solidly wholesome all the way through. That's what being a Christian is all about. That's what I want to be. I want people to be able to trust that I am who and what I say I am all the way through, not just for show and not just for them.

Do I stumble? Absolutely. Am I perfect? No way! Do I get mad sometimes? Umm...do you know me? Yup. Do I have a lot of growing to do? You bet. I can be a real stinker. Superman wants to hit me on the head with a coconut sometimes. No, really. He doesn't, but, I can make that man crazy. Does my faith get shaky when crisis after crisis hits. Yup again.

But I WANT to be like Christ in every way that I can be. I want to grow and learn to be more like him. I want you to be able to take a core sample of my heart, and see I'm a Christian through and through, no fooling. I slip up sometimes, but I'm not trying to discourage you, or fool you. I truly do love the LORD with all of my heart, soul, and strength. I'm trying to please the LORD, but I mess up. I fail. I sin. I stumble, then I get back up and try again. I need you to have patience with me, and be willing to forgive me when I stumble, because, maybe, like you, I'm a work in progress. I promise to try and do the same for you. That's this wonderful, perfect plan of pure religion. Of true Christianity.

What a wonderful life this Christian life is. What wonderful peace to pray and KNOW God hears us. To stumble, and know He will reach down and pick us up. To fail and know HIS blood covers a multitude of sins. To cry out to Him in anguish for this painful crisis to pass, and to KNOW that eventually it will. God is so good. And eternity is Forever.

Love you all.
Sweet dreams and don't forget your prayers.

~Marie