1 Cor. 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
Do you see Jesus in this verse? He is the only truth that one must follow. We find that truth in His Word. (John 14:6) Not only is He the truth in all things, but He desires to have close fellowship with us. So much so, that He calls the church His Bride! (Revelation 21:2, 21:9, 22:17) The church has continued to build, from the time Jesus arose to Heaven to the day the Rapture takes place. After the Rapture, the church is not mentioned because the Bride has gone home to her Groom! He loves us so much that He gave His life for us!
Jesus took all our punishment upon Himself so that we could be free from sin. The penalty of sin has been paid on the cross over 2,000 years ago! What love!
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus made it clear that if we follow Him, we are not only His Bride, but His friends! We are not servants but friends! Jesus is my Saviour! My eyes are fixed on Him as He leads me! We all need Him today more than ever! The world is upside down with sin running rampant in our streets. It is only through Him that we find truth, peace and comfort. (Matthew 11:28-30) Thank you, Lord!
Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
1. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!
Refrain: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.
2. Thro’ death into life everlasting, He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion– For more than conqu’rors we are!
3. His Word shall not fail you–He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!
Helen Howarth Lemmel
The History Behind the Hymn
Born in 1864, Helen Lemmel moved to the United States around the age of twelve. From a young age, her musical ability was noticed by all those around her.
In 1907, She moved to Germany for 4 years to undergo intensive music training. It was here that she would meet her husband. Together, they returned to the United States in 1911. While in America, she served faithfully in the Lord’s work. She dedicated herself to writing, arranging, and teaching songs and hymns of the faith
A few years after her marriage, a tragic illness caused her to lose her vision. Her husband, refusing to attend to a blind wife, left her. This time of hurt and loss weighed heavily upon Helen.
Then, in 1918, Lemmel was introduced to a pamphlet written by Algerian missionary Lilias Trotter. Trotter was a well-known artist who had given up a rising and lucrative career to serve the Lord on the misson field. Her words stirred the heart of Lemmel. She writes, “Suddenly, as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and, singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody…These verses were written…the same week…”
The words that so captivated Helen were these: “How do we bring things to a focus in the world of optics? Not by looking at the things to be dropped, but by looking at the one point that is to be brought out. Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look…look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine “attrait” by which God’s saints are made…will lay hold of you. For “He is worthy” to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.”
Helen kept her eyes on the Lord Jesus and continued to serve Him faithfully.
enjoyingthejourney.com
A Lesson for Me
Mat 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I’ve often quoted this Bible passage. In fact, these were the first verses I committed to memory after I was born again. My husband was furious at the change that came upon me (John 3:3, 6-7; 2 Cor. 5:17). I was no longer the woman he had married. I longed for the rest that the Lord Jesus promised in this passage. I longed for my burdens to be made light. This is the believer’s confidence, dear Reader.
Psa 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
Without the Lord, there is no such confidence but that of the flesh. (Proverbs 14:30a) Only a heart that is fixed on the Lord can survive the struggles in life.
His Word shall not fail you–He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!
Message for today
Will life have no struggles after salvation? Of course not! The unbeliever has no one to turn to who will provide peace and comfort. However, the believer in Jesus Christ does! Can’t you see that? Our trials and tribulations are not taken away. Instead, we are promised that the Lord Jesus will walk beside us and provide the right amount of grace to persevere!
How do I know this? Jesus calls those who are born again His friends! Not only are we His friends, but we are now His Bride!
Joh 15:14-15 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Jesus Christ did not leave us empty handed to live willy-nilly in the world. He left us His Word so that we could learn and find comfort. There is comfort to be had while we go through the trials of life. It is up to us to spend time in prayer and in the God’s word! Jesus is the spoken word of God Himself, dear Reader!
O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!
It is in the light of the Bible that you will find solace for your soul. It is between those blessed pages that you will find peace which passes all understanding! The born-again child of God is not left to his own devices but is given rest during difficult times.
Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
If you are not truly born-again, you cannot possibly have this peace. There is coming a time when it will be too late for you to repent and be saved. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
Good morning, Reader! I hope this series has brought you some comfort during these difficult times. As I write this, there is extreme unrest in Israel. A Jewish brother in Christ says that Israel is on the brink of civil war. The prophecies of old and those of the end times revolve around Israel. It doesn’t matter what other countries do amongst each other; it matters what happens to Israel, amen?
The news is constantly filled with horrible headlines of famines, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars. Jesus said this would happen in the end times and would get worse. (Matthew 24:6-8) But should the believer in Jesus Christ be eaten up with worry? Do you not think that God knows your heart and how worried you are?
How would you feel if your child stayed awake at night worried that someone would break into house? Wouldn’t it bother you that your child didn’t trust his parents enough to protect him? It is no different with God. If you are a born-again Christian, the Father in Heaven knows you so well. Friend, He actually knows your name!
Exo 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
To an unbelieving world, events may seem chaotic where fear sets into the heart of man. This is exactly one of the devil’s goals. He does not want you to have peace in the Lord.
Satan wants mankind to be distracted and fearful.
This distraction and fear plays right into the devil’s plans to usher in the antichrist. The antichrist will appear to be the man of peace when he signs a peace treaty with Israel. But the devil is a deceiver and the father of lies. (John 8:44) He is known as an angel of light according to 2 Corinthians 11:14! The end times will be filled with lies, deceptions, signs and wonders, which will be so mesmerizing that it will seduce the world into believing he is God. (Mark 13:22) Friend, you should not take this lightly. The world will be sucked into this delusion!
1 Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
But before the antichrist can be revealed, the Holy Spirit’s influence on the earth (residing within every born-again believer) must be removed in order to usher in the devil’s total influence. (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8)
In the meantime, the Lord takes care of His sheep. His Spirit leads and guides us through His Word, the Bible! Although God is a God of judgment (as the world will see in the Tribulation), He is also a God of love for those who follow Him. As Christians, we know that the Lord not only loves us but He knows us intimately.
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
When God says that the very hairs on our heads are numbered, it reveals that intimacy! Not only does He know us intimately, but we are now His child because Christ’s righteousness covers us. When God looks at the born-again believer, He sees His Son’s righteousness over us, not our own! In fact, just as Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, God called Abraham His friend! Praise the Lord! Christ’s righteousness over us means that God calls us His friend also!
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Not only are we considered a friend, we are Christ’s Bride. (Revelation 21:9, Revelation 22:17) The groom would never allow anything horrible happen to the woman of his dreams, right? Well how much more will our Groom protect us, His Church, from the Tribulation? (Revelation 3:10) Be encouraged, Christian. The same God who counts the hairs on our head, joys over us and calls us friend, is the same God who will give you peace during these difficult times!
As believers, we have so much at our fingertips to pull from for encouragement. We can read our Bibles, search out songs to encourage our hearts, and bow before the Lord of lords and Kings of kings in prayer! We can have intimate fellowship with the Creator of the universe!! But to the person who is not born-again, he has only himself to turn to and there’s no comfort in one’s own heart. The unbeliever doesn’t have the comfort that the believer does; they may be able to access the resources but that comfort just isn’t there. Friend, don’t be willfully ignorant of the end times. (2 Peter 3:5) If you are not born-again, confess your sins and repent of them. The time is coming when it will be too late for you to repent. You will remember each opportunity you were given by God to be saved; you will remember each time you laughed it off and ignored it. Please Reader, repent and accept Christ into your life. (Act 16:31, Rom 10:9) I want to be sure that anyone who reads the posts on this blog can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are going to Heaven. Have you received Christ as your Saviour? If no, your sins are not covered by His sacrificial offering of Himself. You have not been redeemed by His blood. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!
