Liebster Blog Award

And a big shout out to Kim from  http://unwalled.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/liebster-award/

for nominating me for the Liebster Blog award. If you have never checked out her blog Unwalled please give her a read!

For those who may not know, the Liebster Award is an award given to blogs that have less than 200 followers as a way to show encouragement and appreciation to fellow bloggers, as well as to spread the word about new blogs. 

The conditions of accepting the award are as follows:

A) You paste the award picture into your blog.- This picture is at the top of the blog. Prettyish huh?

B) When you receive the award, you must post 11 random facts about yourself.- Those of you who have been reading me for a while have already heard about all my strange musical instruments and know how many kids I have and all the normal 11 things about myself that would make this part of the post boring; So I’m going to take a different tack with this one. I am going to share 11 Scriptures which have special meaning to me.

Here we go.

1. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. Romans 8:28   This is one of my life verses. I have walked through my share of good and bad. But God turns everything! everything! everything! into a blessing if we do not forget to love Him through the good and bad times!

2. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 Peace through every moment in life is possible if we only just keep our eyes turned on Jesus. Turn your eyes on Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace

3. Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 Maybe these next two verses should have been numbers 1 and two but I am just laying these out in random order. I am so thankful that Jesus settled this issue for me all those years ago. When I came to the realization that practicing witchcraft was getting me no closer to the living God this verse cleared the way for me to repent and come to a right faith!

4. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3 The next question asked of Jesus was “How is this possible?” With man it’s not but with God it is and I am so glad that Jesus showed me I could be born again spiritually and have a fresh start on life.

5. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. I John 3:8 Having come from a rather potent sin background myself I was well acquainted with the devil and his demons. I actually called them angels. I talked with them took advice from them, channeled their power. I am so glad Jesus destroyed those works in me!

6.  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7 I love this verse because it reminds me that not all of god’s promises are unconditional. Answered prayer doesn’t come without a constant seeking of God and His will for me and for those I pray for.

7. A psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Psalm 27:1,2  I love this verse because it reminds me that even when things look lost and my ship appears to be going down, I am truly unassailable as long as I stay in the place of His grace.

8. ⁵¹ But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵² It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. ⁵³ For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. ⁵⁴ Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O death, where is your victory?     O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Cor. 15:51-57 Do I really need to explain why I like this one?

9.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died  will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. I Thess. 4:16,17 This is one of the weirdest truths in the Christian faith. It makes me smile to think that Star Trek wasn’t that far off with the whole “Beam me up Scotty!” thing!

10. The LORD appeared to us in the past,  saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jer. 31:3 I know this was directed toward Israel, but I am grafted in…adopted. His love is for me as well and for that I can never say “Thank you!” enough.

11. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name. Rev. 3:12 I just think this verse is great incentive to let the Lord liberate me from every evil thing!

I hope these inspired you! I am way over my word allotment for the day so I shall finish this tomorrow! 🙂  

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 130

Dark Forest by JE Lillie

The weather here in New England has been dancing somewhere between the frigid midnight peck of an angry wife and the sloppy wet smooch of a long-lost love. So last Thursday when my bones started aching as though I’d been wracked I thought it just the ol’ lumbago set off by the lousy undulating dampness. On Sunday as I was standing to sing the worship service I felt that familiar tickle at the back of my throat. On Monday at the Sectional Pastor’s Christmas party I had a tight cough which I kept mostly under control. But Tuesday night the cough began to call the shots and my bones made me feel like I was Wolverine in the presence of Magneto (comic book reference couldn’t resist). Wednesday and today I have spent mostly in bed, too tired to do much but walk the little white dogs.

Sickness and sin…I suppose they mimic each other in nature because they started in the same place…at the same time. Sickness likes to creep up on us, catch us unawares. It incubates in the cells of our bodies waiting for the opportune time, then springs and knocks us down for the count. To an untrained eye it seems “all of a sudden”. To the medical professional, though, sickness is a process that is understood to start  before it can be seen by the naked eye ( of course the more virulent the illness the quicker the physical manifestation). It’s like that with sin. It lurks at the doorways of our hearts waiting, seeking a foothold. Once it finds the entry point it springs. The fall looks instant,quick, painful but as the song writer says really…”It’s a slow fade.”

We learn about the rise and fall of Israel’s first king, Saul, in a few chapters. It takes perhaps an hour or so to read. His meteoric rise and his cataclysmic fall seem to happen almost all at once; But we have to put the pauses…the sabbaths…the breathing spaces in between the verses and chapters. Saul didn’t crash and burn the day after his coronation. It was a slow fade. So it is with us if we are not mindful of our daily walk.

Here is what I see in today’s chapters:

I Samuel chapter 17 sermon topics/titles:

1. The Enemy’s Hero: I Samuel 17:1-11

2. The 40 Day Challenge: I Samuel 17:1-16

3. What To Do With Rejection: I Samuel 17:22-37

I Samuel chapter 18 sermon topics/titles:

1. Kept By An Earthly King: I Samuel 18:1-5

2. The Enemy’s Fear Turns To The Anointed’s Blessing: I Samuel 18:6-30

3. Dodging Spears, Staying Loyal: I Samuel 18:6-30

Now tell me what you see! 🙂