according to our Lord, . . anything put before Christ. .

Repentance?. What is it? Is it an essential part of the gospel message?

Isn't it so, Christ's invitation to salvation is His command to believe and repent.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones. "Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God,

that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound.

It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you and that you long to get rid of it and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form.

You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practices, and you deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ.

Your nearest and dearest relative, and the whole world may call you a fool or say you have religious mania, you may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference. That is repentance."
~ ~

Paul N. F. (8 Apr 2010)
"MAN'S WASTED POTENTIAL"

By A. W. Tozer

Then I will turn to those on my left and say,
'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
demons. --Matthew 25:41

God has made it plain that hell is a real place --- a final
abode for people who do not want to love God and serve
Him!

The sadness and the tragedy of this fact is that these are
human beings, all dear to God because He created them
in His own image. Of nothing else in the Creation is it
said that it was created in the likeness of God!

Because fallen and perishing man is still nearer to God's
likeness than any other creature on earth, God offers him
conversion, regeneration and forgiveness. It was surely
because of this great potential in the human personality
that the eternal Word could become flesh and dwell
among us.

We are assured in many ways in the Scriptures that God
the Creator does not waste human personality, but it is
surely one of the stark tragedies of life that human
personality can waste itself!

A man by his own sin may waste himself, which is to
waste and lose that which on earth is most like God. The
man who dies out of Christ is said to be lost, and hardly a
word in our language expresses his condition with greater
accuracy!

Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.

Patty Hayes (8 Apr 2010) @ Five Doves . .
"In the midst of a fiery trial"


I hope this letter blesses you, that it reminds you of strength and courage God provides
in the midst of a fiery trial....Patty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My dearest wife;

God, by His holy will, has prolonged my prison sentence to five years and four month. I very much long for the day that I will be reunited with you my dear wife, our children and God's people in the church.

My dear, listen to me; not only as a wife, but also as a Christian woman who has come to understand who God is and how deep and mysterious His ways are. Yes! I love you, I love the children and I would love to be free in order to serve God. But, in here, God has made me not only a sufferer for His Name's sake in a prison of this world over which Christ has won victory, but also a prisoner of His indescribable love and grace.

I am testing and experiencing the love and care of our Lord every day. When they first brought me to this prison, I had thoughts which were contrary to what the Bible says. I thought the devil had prevailed over the church and over me. I thought the work of the gospel in Eritrea was over. But it did not take one day for the Lord to show me that He is a sovereign God and that He is in control of all things - even here in prison.

The moment I entered my cell, one of the prisoners called me and said, ‘Pastor, come over here. Everyone in this cell is unsaved. You are very much needed here.’ So, on the same day I was put in prison, I carried on my spiritual work.

My dear, the longer I stay in here, the more I love my Savior and tell the people here about His goodness. His grace is enabling me to overcome the coldness and the longing that I feel for you and for our children. Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Am I out of my mind? Am I a fool?’ Well, isn't that what the apostle had said, ‘Whether I am of sound mind or out of my mind, it is for the sake of Christ.’ (2 Cor. 5:13)

My most respected wife, I love you more than I can say. Please help the children understand that I am here as a prisoner of Christ for the greater cause of the gospel.

-- From a pastor in bonds in Eritrea

Thank you dearest Donna for posting this! I have in my heart that an idol is anything that gets my attention more than the Lord or gets my attention off of the Lord (TV, hobbies, etc). I have to remind myself when I am watching the TV that it is unproductive and I should be spending that time with the Lord!! I spend time with the Lord each day, but I coud be spending way more with him if I kicked the TV habit!! Love you Donna!

Jesus, Jesus... you show us that you truly are worth anything this world can offer and you show yourself strong on behalf of those who are called to give up more of this world and even the blessings of family. What a powerful, awesome, loving and holy God you are!

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Matthew 19:28-30

Oh, what would do without the Spirit's leading, Jesus assuring us His love casts out fear as He leads His flock.

Yes . . . Ms Victor and Melanie . . The sent Spirit abiding God's children, comforts and teaches the Way His children should go.

How is it that the saints are encouraged, invited to go before the Throne boldly, reverentially. What a Gift that cost our God a great Price.

our God knows His saved children, and we know Him, for we are made in His image, born-again, helped by the Spirit to press deeper into the bosom of our LORD . . What Grace and Mercy and Love . . .

yes , anything that takes time away from our time with CHRIST !!!
GREAT POST , DONNA SIS!!!!!!!
Blessings in 2010 ...our year to FLY !!bb

helped by the Spirit to press deeper into the bosom of our LORD . . What Grace and Mercy and Love . . .

_____________________________________________________


Donna, The past couple days I have been considering how the Lord has used my husband in my life to help me to be separated unto Him and kept from idols!

Also I have been thinking about the post from a couple of days ago that was titled "do we need teachers". When I read this title I thought - do we need spouses? The concept is kind of similar. We can live without them, but our lives are added to by them in many ways, hopefully good, but also usually some bad! Someone commented on that thread that the Holy Spirit is our teacher and this is so true, but He uses those around us to fine tune what He is teaching us it seems!

Anyway, it is a comforting thing for me to see how God has used my husband to help me to keep my eyes on God and off of the world and other idols that I was prone to. It is a blessing to be able to focus on God and allow His Holy Spirit to teach us, even through the ones that sometimes seem to be a real thorn in the side in our lives!

Probably this is a personal message for me but maybe others can relate to this!

I'm s-o-o-o-o-o-o EXCITED . . we're all ready to skip in Heaven's paradise . .




haven't felt the strings of my heart sensing a 'pulling' upward, in quite awhile . . . our Snatch is near, WOO HOO!!!

It is, it is, Bon-bell, our rapture flight!! . . see you in the air, sis, and all here, I believe it, I believe it!!

Amen , Dear Watcher for HIM !!!!
.....every SIGN in place , birthpangs increasing every hour , our hearts KNOWING it is the time !!!
ALL PRAISE TO THE KING ......HE is COMING !
see you in the air Precious Sis !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bonbell