"...You were dead in your sins..."

-B-29 & B-2

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Mark 5:1-11
 

"...8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ..."

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Ephesians 2:1-10

"...8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast...." 

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Romans 8

" 1-2 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death...."

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SET ME FREE

It hasn’t always been this way

I remember brighter days

Before the dark ones came

Stole my mind

Wrapped my soul in chains

Now I live among the dead

Fighting voices in my head

Hoping someone hears me crying in the night

And carries me away

Set me free of the chains holding me

Is anybody out there hearing me?

Set me free

Morning breaks another day

Finds me crying in the rain

All alone with my demons I am

Who is this man that comes my way?

The dark ones shriek

They scream His name

Is this the One they say will set the captives free?

Jesus, recue me

As the God man passes by

He looks straight through my eyes

And darkness cannot hide

Do you want to be free?

Lift your chains

I hold the key

All power on Heaven and Earth belong to me

You are free

You are free

You are free

-by Mark Hall

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What a Name!

Man of sorrows what a name

for the Son of God, who came

ruined sinners to reclaim:

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,

in my place condemned he stood,

sealed my pardon with his blood:

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Guilty, helpless, lost were we;

blameless Lamb of God was he,

sacrificed to set us free:

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

He was lifted up to die;

"It is finished" was his cry;

now in heaven exalted high:

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

When he comes, our glorious King,

all his ransomed home to bring,

then anew this song we'll sing:

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

~Bliss

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Who can save us?

Galatians 5

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 

A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted?

Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.

I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another."

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The Beauty in You

People can be so very mean.  

I have even stated that some of the meanest people can be Christians. 

Christians who judge unrighteously, those who are manipulative, controlling, thoughtless, inconsiderate, unfriendly, mean....the list goes on and on and on...

Well, the issue is obvious.  

Christians are fallen sinners in a fallen world in which they can easily be just as sinful as the unbelievers! 

Good news! Christians can repent and change their wicked ways.

FACT: Christians, if they really, truly trust Jesus as their Savior and turn from their sins, are sinners who have been saved!

So for these mean, uncaring, unkind... Christians out there do have a big job to do with the LORD: ask for forgiveness and begin anew!

What about the people who are not Saved?

I could say, "Danger Will Robinson!" but this would be trite in this serious discussion. 

It is serious!

The people who do not choose the LORD God whose Son, Jesus Christ came into the world to save those who accept Him/His sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of all those who truly follow Him---those who chose NOT to follow Him will not be saved when their end comes or when The End comes.

It is a huge decision which should not be taken lightly.  People tend to believe in The Now, and let whatever is next come.  They do not think ahead to what will come.

We have talked with so many young people through time whose answer to the question: 

What will happen to you when you are dead?

Their answers always led to: 

*worm food*

This is a very trite thought, which sounds safe enough, but the truth is: 

the fires of hell forever.

Getting back to Beauty

People, the unsaved and the Saved by God's grace, can be mean, unfeeling, bothersome, rude or nice, kind, caring...

The thing about all of this is:

!PAY ATTENTION!

There are other people all around you. I'm talking about you Christians now, those saved by God's Marvelous Grace: 

Look around you! 

Look at the people you never notice, AND look at the people you already know whom you choose not to acknowledge.

These other Saved or unsaved people you now see  -besides your selfish self-  deserve to be treated kindly with compassion.  

Bring out the beauty of the LORD in you! 

Your God given Beauty will shine because of Him in you! Praises!

A smile, a door held, a kind word to the person who serves you, the ones who fix your plumbing - treat them with honor, a note of encouragement, a gentle hug, a "hello", a wave, a smile..... there are countless ways to be loving and kind. 

These acts of love can melt a hard heart!

Let's begin to see others and see the beauty in them or you be the beauty who acknowledges their being.

We have a job to do in our beauty for the LORD.

 It is to love and to love the unlovely.  This is the way to begin to love others.

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1 John 4:7-21

..."Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; 

and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent 

His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this 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 also ought to love one another.

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides 

in us, and His love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because 

He has given us of His Spirit.

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent 

the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, 

and he in God.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. 

God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, 

and God abides in him.

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence 

in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because 

fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

We love, because He first loved us.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; 

for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, 

cannot love God whom he has not seen.

And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who 

loves God should love his brother also."

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Jesus' mercy and grace is on display in we sinners who are saved by His marvelous grace.

..."a saint is someone who is no longer under condemnation for sin; or controlled by sin.

A saint is someone who has been humbled by the reality of her sinful impulses, her sin-infected motives, and her sin-stained record.

But instead of being constantly crushed by this reality, she finds herself constantly grateful for a far greater reality -- the reality of the grace and mercy extended to her in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

This grace keeps drawing her to turn toward Christ in sorrow over her sin.

She keeps finding that this grace is giving her power to forsake sin.

This grace is freely available to the last person you expect to become a Christian, whether that person is someone you see on the news, in your family photo, at your workplace, or in the mirror.

But it must be received.

Look at Saul, the Hebrew of Hebrews, who became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles; a blasphemer who became a believer, a predator who became a preacher, a terrorist who became a theologian, a law-keeper who became a grace-receiver, a scoundrel who became a saint.

See and know that Jesus loves to put his mercy and grace on display in the lives of the worst of sinners."

- Nancy Guthrie, Saints and Scoundrels in the Story of Jesus: the Worst

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Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured–

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea-waves cold,

Threaten the soul with infinite loss;

Grace that is greater– yes, grace untold–

Points to the Refuge, the mighty Cross

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

All who are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

-Julia Johnston

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1 John 1:5-9

..."This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

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Yes, you can have freedom from your past

 Romans 8:1-17

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. 

But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."...

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I don't belong, I'm a foreigner here

I DON'T BELONG

by Gloria Gaither, music by Buddy Greene

 

It's not home

Where men sell their souls

And the taste of power is sweet

Where wrong is right

And neighbors fight

While the hungry are dyin' in the streets

Where kids are abused

And women are used

And the weak are crushed by the strong

Nations gone mad

Jesus is sad

And I don't belong

 

I don't belong

And I'm going someday

Home to my own native land

I don't belong

And it seems like I hear

The sound of a "welcome home" band

I don't belong

I'm a foreigner here

Singing a sojourner's song

I've always known

This place ain't home

And I don't belong

Don't belong

But while I'm here

I'll be living like I've nothin' to lose

And while I breathe

I'll just believe

My Lord is gonna see me through

I'll not be deceived

By earth's make-believe

I'll close my ears to her siren song

By praisin' His name, I'm not ashamed

'Cause I don't belong

 

I don't belong

And I'm going someday

Home to my own native land

I don't belong

And it seems like I hear

The sound of a "welcome home" band

I don't belong

I'm a foreigner here

Singing a sojourner's song

I've always known

This place ain't home

And I don't belong

 

I belong

To a kingdom of peace

Where only love is the law

Where children lead

And captives are freed

And God becomes a baby on the straw

Where dead men live

And rich men give

Their kingdoms to buy back a song

Where sinners like me

Become royalty

And we'll all belong

 

Yes I belong

And I'm going someday

Home to my own native land

Where I'll belong

And it seems like I hear

The sound of a "welcome home" band

Yes, I'll belong

No foreigner there

Singin' a sojourner's song

I've always known

I'm going home

Where I belong

Yes I've always known

This place ain't home

And I don't belong

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2 Peter 3:8-15

..."But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation"...

Revelation 21:1-4

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”...

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Feeling so very Thankful!

 ME

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Happy Resurrection Day! Celebrate Every Day!

 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

..."Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive."

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Looking forward to Glory!

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I Know that I can be White as Snow

Praising the LORD God Almighty for His Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world!

John 3:16-21

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

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Isaiah 1:18

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Truth

 

Luke 2:8-14

"In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

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The LORD God Does Not Forget His Own

 

Psalm 126

When the Lord brought back 

the captive ones of Zion,


We were like those who dream.


Then our mouth was filled with laughter


And our tongue with joyful shouting;


Then they said among the nations,


“The Lord has done great things for them.”


The Lord has done great things for us;


We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,


As the streams in the South.


Those who sow in tears

 shall reap with joyful shouting.


He who goes to and fro weeping, 

carrying his bag of seed,


Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, 

bringing his sheaves with him.

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GLORY!

Praises to His Name!

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