The New Covenant

Praise God, we are no longer under the law of Moses, doomed to repeat the failures of Old Testament Israel. We are under the covenant of grace, an unconditional covenant.

When we trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit, He writes the law in our hearts!

Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that i will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith The Lord; I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

God gives us His righteousness and grace. What does He want from us, His people?

Psalm 53:16,17 For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

God desires an attitude of faith, contentment, obediance, humility, meekness, respect and service.

The Bread Of Life

John 6:35 And  Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Jesus is not defining Himself as a literal piece of bread. He is speaking of Himself as the only spiritual sustaining, satisfying food for man's hungry soul.

He is the only One who is able to fill man's soul with saving, satisfying grace. In Jesus Christ alone we have the forgiveness of God, as well as His friendship and fellowship.

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depts of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand. 

Natalie Grant

Praise The Lord

Psalm 63:3 Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee.

Praising The Lord seems to be out of vogue, but God still expects our praise. If God has done anything for you at all, you have a reason to praise Him.

Praise Him for Who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He has promised to do.

God is exalted when He is praised in His church and in the world. When we forget about our rituals and take the focus off ourselves, then we can praise The Lord. 

Looking back, I can't begin to count the wonderful things God has done for me. He made something beautiful out of my life, and I praise Him for that.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Thomas Ken 1674

If We Are To Live Holy

The physical body of the believer belongs to God, set apart for His service.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

• If we are to live holy lives by the power of God, we must confess and forsake our sin.
• If we are to live holy lives by the power of God, we must "walk in the Spirit".
• If we are to live holy lives by the power of God, we must study the Word.
• If we are to live holy lives, we must be found faithful in the assembly of the saints.
• If we are to live holy lives, we must respond properly to trials

1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Pray For Patience

I thought I had a handle on patience. I thought I could agree to disagree and smile and walk away. After all, I am an optimist.

Then Texas Primaries began and my phone rings day and night, snatching me out of my recliner with political messages I don't want to hear. Don't  they know I voted early today (screaming)? Pray for me. I lost my handle. Whew.

Patience is an important characteristic of a maturing Christian. It's not sitting in a rocking chair waiting for God to do something. It's endurance in action, overcoming obstacles in the Christian race, not quitting.

Too many Christians have a tendency to quit when circumstances become difficult. It'st not talent or training that guarantees victory; it's perseverance.

Romans 5:3,4 . . .  but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Oh, The Precious Love Of Jesus

The depth and height of God's love reaches to dark secret places that no one knows about, places lined with scars and despair. Then He carries them out of the miry clay and fills their hearts with His love.

Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Jesus' love is big enough for instant access and wide as His stretched-out arms on the cross, whirling our sins as far as the east is from the west for eternity. 

Romans 8:38,39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

The "Add To" List

The saints and angels rejoice when a soul is saved. The apostle Peter gives the new convert excellent advice on how to live for Jesus (2 Peter 1:5-7). They "Add Too" their new-found FAITH.

• VIRTUE -- moral purity
• KNOWLEDGE -- the ability to apply the principles of God's Word to their lives
• TEMPERANCE -- self-control -- submitting every emotion, passion, and appetite to the control of the Holy Spirit
• PATIENCE -- perseverance -- a resolve to "hang-in" when the going gets tough
• GODLINESS -- a life of reverence and worship
• BROTHERLY KINDNESS --love your neighbor as yourself
• CHARITY (LOVE) -- give to God and others without expecting anything in return

2 Peter 1:8 For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
9. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.