Predicting?

Matthew 24:36-42 ... But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

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This is Too Much!!

Only to be permitted to contemplate such a being as Jehovah; to ponder God's absolute goodness, holiness, justice, mercy, patience and sovereignty; to ponder them united with eternity, infinite power, unerring wisdom, omnipresence, and all-sufficiency; to ponder all these natural and moral perfections indissolubly united and blended in sweet harmony in one pure, spiritual being and that being placed on the throne of the universe; to ponder this would be happiness enough to fill the mind of any creature in existence! 

But in addition to this, to have this ineffable Being for my God, my portion, my all; to be permitted to say, "This God is my God forever and ever;" to have His resplendent countenance smile upon me; to be encircled in His everlasting arms of power and faithfulness and love; to hear His voice saying to me, "I am yours and you are Mine! (Isaiah 43:1) Nothing shall ever pluck you from My hands or separate you from My love, but you shall be with Me where I am, to behold My glory, and reign with Me forever and ever!" (John 10:28)

This is too much! It is honor, it is glory it is happiness too overwhelming, too transporting for mortal minds to conceive, or for mortal frames to support! In Heaven, the saints will be entirely lost and swallowed up in God, and their minds will be so completely absorbed in the contemplation of His ineffable, infinite, uncreated glories! Oh then, what must it be, to escape forever from error and ignorance and darkness and sin into the region of bright, unclouded, eternal day! 

What must it be, to behold your God and Redeemer face to face! What must it be, to continually to contemplate with immortal strength glories so dazzlingly bright, that one moment's view of them would now, like a stream of lightning, turn your frail bodies into dust! What must it be, to see the eternal volume of the divine counsels, the mighty map of the divine mind unfolded to your eager, piercing gaze! What must it be, to explore the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths of the Redeemer's love and still to see new wonders, glories, and beauties pouring upon your minds in constant, endless succession; calling forth new songs of praise songs in which you will unite with the innumerable choirs of angels, with the countless myriads of the redeemed--all shouting with a voice like the voice of many waters: "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns!" (Revelation 19:6)

[Edward Payson]

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A Riddle in Providence!

Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places-while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although He is the King of the kings of the earth-yet He walked the footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants. 

What wonder is it if His followers, who are princes of royal blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible people? The world is upside down, and therefore, the first are often last-and the last are often first. See how the servile sons of Satan rule in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate. David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state. 

Elijah is complaining in the cave, while Jezebel is boasting in the palace. Yet who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? And who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns-those who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Ecclesiastes 10:7 ... I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Matthew 20:16 ...  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. ❤

God of Comfort

The inspiration for this image came from one of my followers, anonymous, who requested a picture about Jesus protecting a woman from verbal abuse. Domestic violence and abuse are a heavy topic, and there is very little artwork out there for encouragement. My heart breaks for anyone in this situation, and I pray that this image gives you the assurance that you are not alone. I do not have all of the answers for you, but I do know that the Bible says we can trust in Him for comfort and safety!

                                                           www.ChristianPhotoshops.com

Psalm 34:18 ... The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Proverbs 18:10 ...  The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ... Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. ❤

A Woman To Be Remembered!

Few words ever spoken by the Lord Jesus are more solemn or searching than this brief, three-word warning: "Remember Lot's wife!" How striking it is that, out of all the women of Scripture, our Lord singled out one for us to remember, not Sarah for her faith, not Ruth for her devotion, not Hannah for her prayer, not Mary for her love but Lot's wife, for her destruction! 

The Spirit of God has placed this warning before us as a perpetual beacon, lest we too be deceived by the bewitching world and perish. Yet all of this availed her nothing. She perished miserably because her heart was never truly separated from the world. Outwardly she fled Sodom, but inwardly she lingered. Her body was on the path to safety, but her affections were chained to the city of destruction. With one glance backward, she revealed the state of her soul. That look cost her eternal glory, and she was turned into a pillar of salt a monument of God's righteous judgment against hypocrisy and divided hearts. 

The tragedy of Lot's wife stands as a warning to all who imagine that religious advantages, spiritual associations, or outward privileges can save. Many think that because they were raised in a Christian home and attend church, that they are safe. Lot's wife shows us that one may be surrounded by light and truth and yet perish in eternal darkness. She had seen angels, heard warnings, and been led by the hand of mercy yet she never savingly believed. The heart is what God is concerned with, and her heart was still in Sodom. Her backward look was not a small matter. It was the outward expression of inward rebellion. God had said, "Do not look back." (Genesis 19:17) 

In disobeying, she revealed where her treasure lay. She longed for the life she left behind, the comforts, the pleasures, the society of Sodom and in doing so she despised the salvation of her soul. Jesus declares, "No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) The danger of worldliness and divided affection is real. How many professors of religion today claim to follow Jesus, yet their hearts cling to the world! They say they are bound for Heaven, but they look longingly at Sodom. They want to go to Heaven when they die, but they also want the soul-ruining world. The end of such double mindedness is eternal destruction. 

Scripture is full of warnings against this very danger. John writes, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) James tells us that "friendship with the world is hatred toward God." (James 4:4) The Savior Himself declared, "Remember Lot's wife!" She was almost saved yet lost forever! There are many in churches today who will come just that far they will hear sermons and sing hymns, and yet their hearts remain with the world. Their empty profession will not hold up in the Day of Judgment. Beloved reader, let us examine our hearts. 

Are we secretly longing for the very things that God calls us to forsake? Are we following Christ with a whole heart, or are we still glancing backward toward Sodom? When Jesus calls us to take up our cross, we must not look back to our Sodom. Salvation demands the forsaking of sin, and the forsaking of the world. It demands a heart fixed on Christ. "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:17) The warning of Lot's wife is not written to terrify the believer, but to search the heart of the hypocrite and to awaken the careless professor. 

If you are resting in your church attendance, your upbringing, your knowledge then, remember Lot's wife. If you are unwilling to forsake the world and to follow Christ, then remember Lot's wife. If you are almost persuaded, almost a Christian, almost saved, remember Lot's wife. If you are but almost saved, then you will be altogether damned! "Remember Lot's wife!" 

Let us take warning. Let us not dally with sin, linger in compromise, or toy with the world. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2) For the soul that looks to Him in faith shall never be cast away, but the soul that loves the world will be lost forever.

[J.C. Ryle] 

Luke 17:32 ... Remember Lot's wife!

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Return of Christ Predictions

With all of the online hype around the rapture happening next week, I felt it necessary to create this chart of previous predictions and prophecies. As Christians we are called to eagerly await the Lord and be excited for His return. I believe we all desire the day He comes and judges the world and brings us home. 

However, we CANNOT make predictions or prophecies about specific dates. We aren't called to do that. And everyone who does is deceiving the brethren. I hope this chart is helpful for you. Not to discourage you that the Lord isn't coming back, but so that you do not get wrapped up in the online hype. The Lord is indeed coming back, but it will be at a time we do not expect. 

May it be soon!

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Just be ready ... 

Matthew 25:8-10 ... And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.. ❤

Why Are We Here?

Before there was a Milky Way, there was God! Before there were galaxies, solar systems, constellations, and nebulae, there was God! Before Mercury, Venus, and Mars were plugged into their sockets, there was God! Before Polaris was fastened above the North Pole, there was God! 

Before Orion the hunter had a belt, and Saturn had its rings, there was God; all alone, perfect and content, glorious in His solitary existence as the eternal I AM! Before there was a sun, a moon, or an earth; before there was grass to clothe the field, and flowers to adorn it; before the mountains were brought forth, and the sea filled the depths; before the eagle soared through the sky, and the fish swam through the sea; before angels, devils, and men had their being there was God alone! 

If we would understand things aright, we must not begin with man, but with God for He is the beginning of all things. To begin with man is folly, for man is but a creature, a production of the Creator. We must back up and begin where the Bible begins, with God! God's people know, and have always known, what continues to baffle the minds of the scholars and scientists of our day, that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Through faith, God's people understand the mystery of creation. I ask you, "Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is God's purpose?" Can we even know the answer to these questions? Indeed, we can. The twenty four elders seated around God's throne in Heaven give us the answer in Revelation 4:10-11, "The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and for Your pleasure they exist and were created!" 

You, me, angels, animals, plants, rocks, and all other things, exist and were created for one reason: the pleasure of the Creator. We were created according to His will and purpose, for His pleasure and glory. God did not create the Heaven and the earth arbitrarily. He created them to be the stage upon which He would perform His eternal purpose of grace and reveal all the wonders of His goodness and mercy toward His elect. It is upon the stage of time, that God displays His eternal purpose and shows forth His glory in the salvation of chosen sinners. He created this world for the salvation of His people, that they would be recovered from their sin by His almighty grace. 

[Frank Hall] 

Isaiah 46:9-11 ... Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

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What Does The Bible Say About Gaza And Israel?

As we explore what the Bible says about Gaza and Israel, we realize that peace and reconciliation are foundational themes. In our faith, we are called to seek peace with others. The scriptures remind us that true peace comes from a heart aligned with God. We are encouraged to be peacemakers and promote understanding. Through prayer, love, and compassion, we can help heal divisions and build bridges where there seem to be walls. Let’s hold on to the hope that God’s plans for peace can prevail. 

Matthew 5:9 ...  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

This verse beautifully captures the heart of God’s desire for us to be peacemakers. In a world filled with conflict, we are reminded that those who seek peace are truly blessed and recognized as God’s children. This calls us to reflect on our actions and strive to foster peace in our communities. 

Romans 12:18 ... If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

This scripture encourages us to take an active role in promoting peace. It acknowledges that while peace may not always be possible, we must do our part to maintain harmony with those around us. This powerful reminder can guide our interactions in challenging situations, especially regarding Gaza and Israel. 

Ephesians 4:3 ... Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In this verse, unity is rooted in peace. God calls us to actively work toward maintaining unity with our fellow believers and those around us. We should strive for a spirit of cooperation and understanding, especially when faced with strife, such as the conflicts seen in Gaza and Israel. 

Isaiah 26:12 ...  Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

This verse serves as a reminder that true peace originates from God alone. In times of conflict, we can find solace knowing that God is at work, bringing peace to our hearts and the world around us. This assures us to trust in His plans for Gaza and Israel. 

James 3:18 ... And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Here, we see the rewarding nature of pursuing peace. When we choose to promote peace, we cultivate righteousness in our lives. This encourages us to make conscious choices that reflect God’s love for others, especially in the context of conflict.

[Christianity Path]

What Does The Bible Say About Gaza And Israel (31 Verses Explained) - Christianity Path

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The Exclusivity of the Gospel

In an age of religious pluralism and tolerance of error, the biblical teaching on the exclusivity of the gospel is essential, even though most people find it to be offensive. Scripture leaves no room for ambiguity: there is only one way of salvation. There are not many paths to God, nor are there multiple gospels tailored to different groups. There is but one Savior, one gospel, and one way to eternal life. The way to Heaven is not left to our choice but is revealed by God. And that way is Christ alone. 

The apostle Paul, under divine inspiration, wrote with utmost clarity: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all!" He immediately pronounced a curse upon anyone who preached a gospel contrary to the one he had delivered. (Galatians 1:6-8) There is no allowance for alternative methods of salvation. There is no second gospel for Jews, Muslims, sincere religious people, moralists, the heathen or the young. The gospel is singular, exclusive, and absolute. Jesus Himself declared the narrowness of the way when He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me!" (John 14:6) 

He did not say He was A way, but THE way. Faith in Jesus and His sin-atoning death is not one option among many, but the only gospel by which sinners can be reconciled to God. Peter echoed this exclusive claim when he boldly proclaimed, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved!" (Acts 4:12) This one way of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast!" (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

To deny the exclusivity of the gospel, is to deny the very heart of the gospel. To suggest that sincere people in other religions can be saved apart from Jesus, is to make His sin-atoning death unnecessary, and His words untrue. It is a rejection of the only remedy for sin that God has provided. There are not fifty ways to God there is only one. The road is narrow, and it is marked with blood. Let us then stand firm, unashamed, and uncompromising in proclaiming the one true gospel the only gospel that saves. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

Romans 1:16 ...  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

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Pilgrims

When this world seems unrighteous and unfair ~~~ it is.

But remember, this world is not your home.

www.ChristianPhotoshops.com

Hebrews 11:13 ...  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

John 15:19 ... If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Romans 12:2 ... And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. ❤

Puritan Quotes

Do not think on the comforts you lack, but on the mercies you have. Look rather at God's end in afflicting, than to the measure and degree of your affliction! 

[Christopher Love]

The humble Christian studies his own unworthiness. He looks with one eye upon grace to keep his heart cheerful; and with the other eye upon sin to keep it humble. 

[Thomas Watson]

If Satan's darts have wounded us, then faith cools the scalding heat of sin by applying to us the precious balm of Christ's blood!  

[Christopher Love]

Sin is a leprous spot. It makes everything we touch unclean! 

[Thomas Watson]

A man with God is always in the majority! 

[John Knox]

The tongue exists to reveal our heart! 

[John Calvin]

The human heart is a factory of idols! 

[John Calvin

God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does! 

[Martin Luther]

Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God! 

[Martin Luther]

The bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me! 

[Martin Luther]

It is certain that a man must completely despair of himself, in order to be fit for the grace of Christ! 

[Martin Luther]

Faith is the wedding ring in which we have pledged ourselves to Christ! 

[Martin Luther]

Ministerial work is to make saints out of sinners, living souls out of the dead,
children of God, out of servants of the Devil! 

[Martin Luther]

Ministers should make it their business not to set forth new notions, but to press on Christians old truths, and known duties. 

[Thomas Gouge]

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