Heaven

Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving   

 

                                            - Psalm 100:4

 

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The Lord giveth and the 

          Lord hath taken away;

    may the name of the Lord 

          be praised.           

                                                    - Job 1:21

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Said the caterpillar,

    contemplating the coming death 

             to its way

        of life in the cocoon:

"I'm afraid of the change --

    I've never been a butterfly before."

Said the butterfly soaring above:

    "The old ground-crawling life

        was just the beginning.

    THIS is what I was made for!"

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The Resurrection Body  

          - 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-57

 

     But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised?  With what kind of body will they come?"  How foolish!  What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

     So it will be with resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

     If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written:  "The first man Adam became a living being," the last Adam, a life–giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.  As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

     I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery:  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:  "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

  "Where, O death, is your victory?

    Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

"Step By Step, The Weaver Maketh No Mistake"

THE WEAVER

My life is but a weaving

    Between my Lord and me;

I cannot choose the colors;

    He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow,

    And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

    And I, the underside.

Not 'till the loom is silent

    And the shuttles cease to fly

Shall God unroll the canvas

    And explain the reason why

The dark threads were as needful

    In the Weaver's skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

    In the pattern He has planned.

  

                                              - Benjamin Malachi Franklin

  

HE MAKETH NO MISTAKE

My Father's ways may twist and turn,

    My heart may throb and ache,

But in my soul I'm glad I know

    He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,

    My hopes may fade away,

But still I'll trust my Lord to lead

    For He doth know the way.

Though night be dark and it may seem

    That day will never break;

I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,

    He maketh no mistake.

There's so much now I cannot see,

    My eyesight's far too dim;

But come what may, I'll simply trust

    And leave it all to Him

For by and by the mist will lift

    And plain it all He'll make.

Through all the way, though dark to me,

    He made not one mistake.

 

                                                                - A.M. Overton 

STEP BY STEP

He does not lead me year by year

    Nor even day by day.

But step by step my path unfolds;

    My Lord directs my way.

Tomorrow's paths I do not know,

    I only know this minute;

But He will say, "This is the way,

    By faith now walk ye in it."

And I am glad that it is so.

    Today's enough to bear;

And when tomorrow comes, His grace

    Shall far exceed its care.

And so I rest in His love, because

    The God who gave His Son

Holds all my moments in His hand

    And gives them, one by one.

 

                                                                 - Author Unknown 
 

Broken Pieces

If my life is broken when given to Jesus, 
it may be because pieces will feed a multitude
when a loaf would satisfy only a little boy.

                                               - quoted by Elisabeth Elliot

 

There Is No Pit So Deep - Corrie ten Boom

There is no pit so deep, 

    that God’s love is not deeper still.

The Things To Do

* Give Thanks
* Choose Joy
* Do Not Fret
* Do the Next Thing
* Accept with Joy
* Keep a Quiet Heart
* Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
* Trust in the Lord with all Your Heart, and
* Lean Not on Your Own Understanding
 

Choices

I can choose to
Fret and Fume, and Grumble and Gripe,
or I can choose to
Focus by Faith on the Goodness of God,
and look for Joy on the Journey.
 

Fix Your Eyes On Jesus

Let us run with perseverance

    the race marked out for us.

Let us Fix Our Eyes On Jesus,

    the author and perfecter of our faith. 

                                                 – Hebrews 12:2

 

Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus,

    the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 

                                                  – Hebrews 3:1

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,

    Set Your Hearts On Things Above,

        where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set Your Minds On Things Above,

    Not On Earthly Things.

For you died, and your life is now hidden 

    with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears,

    then you also will appear with Him in glory. 

                                                   – Colossians 3:1-4

Therefore, we do not lose heart.

Thought outwardly we are wasting away,

    yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles

    are achieving for us an eternal glory

        that far outweighs them all.

So we Fix Our Eyes not on what is seen,

    but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

    but what is unseen is eternal.

                                     – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

    walked on the  water and came toward Jesus.

But When He Saw The Wind, He Was Afraid

    and, beginning to sink, cried out, 

        "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand 

        and caught him.

"You of little faith," He said, "why did you doubt?"

                                           – Matthew 14:29-31

 Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

    look full in His wonderful face,

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim

    in the light of His glory and grace.

Satan wants us to Doubt the Word of God.

He wants to Distract us from spiritual things.

He wants to Disable us in the Lord's service.

He wants to Destroy us physically.

His primary strategy:  Deception.

The only way to avoid these tactics is

to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the problem.

                                               – Dr. Charles Stanley

Many believers gaze at their problems and

        glance at the Lord.

We need to gaze at the Lord and 

       glance at our problems. 

                                               - quoted by Joni Earekson Tada

When we are blind-sided:

* Focus on the cause of the anxiety

    (becomes a magnet)

            or

* Focus on God

    (when you take your focus off God,

        you will be thrown off balance) 

                                               – Dr. Charles Stanley

How shall we fix our eyes on things unseen?

There is no other answer but faith,

faith in the character of God Himself.

That and no other is the anchor for our souls. 

                                                  – Elisabeth Elliot 
 

Your Word Is A Lamp To My Feet

Your Word is a lamp to my feet

     and a light for my path.

                                                   – Psalm 119:105

He who carries a lantern on a dark road at night

     sees only one step ahead.  

When he takes that step, the lamp moves forward 

     and another step is made plain.  

He finally reaches his destination in safety

     without once walking in darkness.   

All the way is lighted, but only a 

    single step at a time.  

This is the method of God's guidance.  

As the child of God refuses to worry 

        about tomorrow

     and trusts Him for today, 

he finds by the light of God's word

     the grace and guidance for every situation 

        in life.  

It isn't necessary to see beyond 

     what the Lord reveals.
Following His leading, there's always enough light

     for each step of the way.

                                                                          – Daily Bread
 

My Help Comes From The Lord - Jerry Henry

I lift up my eyes to the hills –

    where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip –

    he who watches over you will 

         not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you –

    he is your shade at your 

        right  hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

    not the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from 

         all harm –

    he will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your 

        coming and going

    both now and forevermore.

                                                                    - Psalm 121

He manages perfectly, 

     day and night, 
          year in and year out, 
    the movements of the stars, 
           the wheeling of the planets, 
    the staggering coordination 

           of events.  

There is no doubt that He can 

          manage the  timing 

                of my days 

                     and weeks.               

                                                       – Elisabeth Elliot

MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD

Pastor Jerry Henry

(Capital letters indicate preaching volume!)

Psalm 121 is a song of ascents, and Jerusalem was surrounded by hills, from whence often came trouble.  The dash referred to above is in “I lift up my eyes to the hills –“   Some versions translate this verse to mean that the help comes from the hills, which Pastor Henry felt was incorrect, and felt was translated correctly in the NIV as lifting up the eyes to look on the hills of trouble.

Job was right when he said man is of but a few days and those days are full of trouble.  The Lord was right when He said we wrestle with troubles and trial and tribulation.  When trouble comes in and snatches my joy, God helps me.

Jesus was correct when He said, "In the world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world."  Our forefathers had it right when they said, "There is trouble in the air."

All of us live in Jerusalem, surrounded by hills of trouble and trial and tribulation.  And when we take a survey of our lives, if all we look at is the hills, we too will put a dash. There are trials, troubles and tribulations, and we have no answer.  That will dog us all the days of our lives.

As this psalmist, as these pilgrims looked to the hills, they cried out in desperation, "Where does my help come from?"  They did not get lost in looking for help.  Many of us look at our troubles, many of us gaze at our troubles, and we get lost.  We get lost looking for help.  "Where does our help come from?"

For every question in life there are two answers.  There is the HUMAN VIEWPOINT; there is GOD’S VIEWPOINT.  God says in Isaiah 55 there are two viewpoints in the world:  "MY THOUGHTS are not your thoughts.  My ways are not your ways."  For every problem and every question in our lives there are two answers.  There is OUR WAY, OUR SOLUTION, and there is God’s solution.  And I declare, God’s solution is better than ours.  God says, "If there is any question about whose thinking is superior, AS HIGH as the heaven is above the earth, that’s how much better my thoughts are than your thoughts.  That’s how much better MY WAYS are than your ways." 

MY WAY seems right to me, but MY WAY creates MORE problems than I had to start with.  Human viewpoint will never answer the questions that plague the human heart.  There are some questions that we have no answers for.  When you stand by the bedside of a loved one who is struggling and suffering with disease and sickness, we have no answer.  We do the very best that we can in life and nothing comes back to us – THERE ARE no human answers.  Death comes into our midst and snatches at the prime of life of one of our loved ones – THERE ARE no human answers.

This psalmist teetered on the very brink of desperation before the hills of Israel.  Looking at the mountains, acknowledging that there is trouble everywhere, and that I HAVE NO ANSWER, he said, "Who is my God?  My God is my helper."  And the answer that comes is, "The Lord, who made heaven and earth."  Aren’t you glad about that?

When the HILLS OF TROUBLE press down on us, when THE HILLS OF TROUBLE sap our joy from us, when THE HILLS OF TROUBLE take sleep from us, when THE HILLS OF TROUBLE cause us to doubt, we have a help that’s bigger than us, we have a help that’s greater than us.  THE LORD is our help.

In case there’s anybody wondering how the Lord would help us, and why the Lord can be our help, the psalmist gives us GOD’S RESUME.  Do you know who the Lord is?  He is the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  He’s got on His resume He’s an able God.  That’s what that means, HE’S ABLE.  He made the heavens and THE EARTH.  This is the God who looked down on nothing and spoke and WORLDS came into being, SUNS started shining, MOONS started reflecting, STARS started twinkling.  He is able.

If He is able to make the universe, if He is able to keep the sun and moon in their orbits, if He’s able to keep galaxies from running into one another, if He’s able to keep green grass growing and clear water running and trees growing, CAN HE HANDLE my little affairs?

There are sometimes when my little affairs overwhelm me.  Sometimes I look at the trouble and trial that I face, and it’s bigger than me, but I’VE GOT A GOD bigger than it!  He is able.

You know, there are some able powers in this world, but they’re not available.  They are not attentive to me.  But this is an attentive God.  It says right here on His resume, He will not let your foot hit the ground.  This God that made heaven and earth, yes, He made heaven and earth, HE set the mountains in majestic order, HE scooped out the valleys, HE filled up the oceans, but HE is concerned with our footing.

This is God taking notice.  Jesus said He doesn’t miss the health of even a little sparrow.  He’s got the whole world in His hands.  He said He’s got the little bitty babies in His hands.  And THEN HE SAID He’s got you and me, brother, in His hands.  Isn’t that good news?!

Sometimes we wrestle and struggle with our problems, and we think nobody cares.  Our loved ones around us can’t reach us and help us, but WE’VE GOT A GOD who is concerned even about the stubbing of our toe.

I dare you to WAIT on Him.

I dare you to TRUST Him.

I dare you to LEAN on Him.

I dare you to REST on Him.

He’s an attentive God.  And not only is He an attentive God, He’s an available God.  He’s a God who is AVAILABLE to us.  It says right here in His resume, behold, He neither slumbers nor sleeps. 

I’VE GOT A GOD that listens.  I’VE GOT A GOD whose line is never busy.  I’VE GOT A GOD whose line is never cut down.  Without batting an eye and without moving a muscle I can send a message from the deep river of my troubled soul all the way through the galaxies up to heaven and the throne room of God.  I STRETCH MY HAND TO THEE, NO OTHER HELP.  He NEVER sleeps.  He NEVER slumbers.  Someone said to me, "Ever since I heard that I don’t stay up at night." 

I’VE GOT A GOD who works through the night.  No need for both of us to be up.  I can go on to sleep, leaning and depending on Him.  I just go on to sleep, leaving it in His hands.  "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

He’s the Alpha.  He’s the Omega.  It’s right in His resume.  He is the beginning.  He’s the end.  Going out is birth, coming in is death.  HE’S A GOD who has us in the cradle of His love.  From the moment we’re born until we die, and then beyond the grave, from this time forth, and even forevermore.  It’s on His resume. 

HE’S A GOD who counts our footsteps.  HE’S A GOD who orders our thoughts.  HE’S A GOD who provides all we need.  HE’S A GOD that throws loving arms of protection around us.  HE’S A GOD that walks with us, that talks with us, that tells us we are His own. 

I’M SO GLAD that I’ve got a God like this.  When the darkness moves in and I can hardly see my way, if I would but hold on to Him.  I don’t know which way He’s taking me.  I don’t know how He’s going to bring me out.  I don’t know what the answer will be.  But I know one thing – 

I’VE GOT A GOD   

    who cares about me.

I’VE GOT A GOD 

    who forgives my sin.

I’VE GOT A GOD 

    who hears my problems.

I’VE GOT A GOD who will fix it. 

YES, the hills are full of trouble.

YES, sometimes they overwhelm me.

YES, I don’t know sometimes which way to go.

YES, darkness is all around me.

YES, I seem about to faint.

YES, I’ve got a God who will 

                 make a way.

The Lord that I serve, 

He will make a way out somehow.

He’ll make a way out.

He already KNOWS 

    the way out of it.

He already HAS the right road map.

He already HAS GIVEN 

    the strength for today. 

I’VE GOT A GOD!

I dare you to trust Him.

Trust Him and never doubt; 

He will surely bring you out.  

Don’t worry about how. 

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT He would come and part the Red Sea?   Don’t worry about how.

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT He would have brought the mighty walls of Jericho tumbling down?  Don’t worry about how. 

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT that He could install air conditioning in a fiery furnace?  Don’t worry about how. 

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT He could snatch the appetite from hungry lions?  Don’t worry about how. 

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT He could take the shame and scandal of Calvary and make it the instrument of our salvation? 

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT – don’t worry about how.

He will bring you out.

To any who are already in Christ – you believed a long time ago, you are in the family, you are one of the children, but you’ve lost your freedom.  You’ve allowed trouble and trial and tribulation to almost beat you down.

The word for you is Trust Him. 

Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him, "If you continue in my Word you’ll know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

The truth will make you free.  The truth will give you the power to live in spite of what’s going on. 

Trust Him.   

                                                                   Amen
 

Fix Your Eyes On Jesus

Let us run with perseverance

    the race marked out for us.

Let us Fix Our Eyes On Jesus,

    the author and perfecter of our faith

 – Hebrews 12:2

 

Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus,

    the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

 – Hebrews 3:1

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,

    Set Your Hearts On Things Above,

        where Christ is seated at the 
            right hand of God.

Set Your Minds On Things Above,

    Not On Earthly Things.

For you died, and your life is now hidden 
       with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears,

       then you also will appear 
            with Him in glory.

 – Colossians 3:1-4

 
Therefore, we do not lose heart.

Thought outwardly we are wasting away,

    yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles

    are achieving for us an eternal glory

        that far outweighs them all.

So we Fix Our Eyes not on what is seen,

    but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

    but what is unseen is eternal.

 – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

    walked on the  water and came toward Jesus.

But When He Saw The Wind, 
        He Was Afraid

    and, beginning to sink, cried out,
       "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand 
       and caught him.

"You of little faith," He said, 
     "why did you doubt?"

 – Matthew 14:29-31

Satan wants us to Doubt the Word of God.

He wants to Distract us from spiritual things.

He wants to Disable us in the Lord's service.

He wants to Destroy us physically.

His primary strategy:  Deception.

The only way to avoid these tactics is

to keep our eyes on Jesus 
   and not on the problem.

     – Dr. Charles Stanley

Many believers gaze at their problems and

        glance at the Lord.

We need to gaze at the Lord and 

       glance at our problems.

– quoted by Joni Earekson Tada

When we are blind-sided:

* Focus on the cause of the anxiety

    (becomes a magnet)

            or

* Focus on God

    (when you take your focus off God,

        you will be thrown off balance)

 – Dr. Charles Stanley

How shall we fix our eyes on things unseen?

There is no other answer but faith,

faith in the character of God Himself.

That and no other is the anchor for our souls.

                                                                          – Elisabeth Elliot