Whoa!

DeGarmo & Key
Petra
Geoff Moore & The Distance
Undercover
X-Sinner
Stryper
Keith Green
Phil Driscoll

So....is this a list of your favorites?  

I'm trying to find some good sounds for my 20 yr old son who just gave himself to Jesus around Christmas time '04.  He tells me that the secular music sounds good, but the lyrics are aweful.  And the Christian music has true lyrics (some anyway), but he says the musicality of Christian sounds are pretty poor.

What do you think?  Are their websites where we can go get a sample soundbite?  I really don't want to buy him cds just to find out that he doesn't like them...

(His birthday is coming up.)      

Thanks for your reply,
selahjoy*

Brothers and Sisters,

We have some missing members that I've just been praying for, and I wanted to ask you to join me in prayer for them.

Bronzesnake - I haven't heard from him in almost 2 weeks. He's had several bouts of illness, and he was sick the last time we exchanged mail.

Dreamweaver - I haven't heard from him in almost 2 months. The last I heard from him was an email, but the body of the email was empty. I know that his computer survived a fire, but it was really in pretty bad shape before the fire. So, I'm hoping that his absence is because of not having a computer to use.

Chris - I think that Chris has been missing for about a week. She posted a prayer request about some problems starting again.

Others - I have heard from several older members recently who say that they've been very busy with various things like new jobs. It's also the season for vacations and travel.

Please join me in prayer for all of them, regardless of what their circumstances might be.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 66:20  Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Father, in gratitude, we come humbly to Your throne of Grace and we bow boldly with all authority that your Son, Jesus Christ, gave to us.  We pray by name for Bronzesnake, Dreamweaver, and Chris.  Please remember the others too...

NationalGuardMom,

The other day, I had read a prayer request regarding your next deployment but just now, found this thread!

I'm so glad to "meet" you!  My eyes got moist reading your story and I must say that I am joyfilled to hear of your son's courage!

I will join him in praying!  Please keep in touch so we may hear current prayer requests.

My son was in Iraq for 12 months and the Lord has given me a testimony of His great love for all the military personnel serving abroad.  I look forward to receiving updates from you!

Christian hugs and love in Jesus name,
selahjoy*

I consider the things of God and His Word to be spiritual food. I give thanks that we live in a country where there is no reason to be spiritually hungry. Again, I was just thinking about our freedoms, especially to worship.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Totally agree!  As I mentioned in a recent post, it seems to me that if we who are free to worship would feast upon the word and walk in it, then the revival and the revolution will come to America.  Salvation and deliverance will come to many who are being called, and the glory of the Lord will fill the earth, just as the Bible says.

Author: Warren Wiersbe
Source: Lessons on Living From Moses
Scripture: Exodus 15:25

Cry Out

Exodus 15:25

So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them.

Cry Out

On a gloomy day in 1857, a man in New York City, Jeremiah Lanthier, scanned the morning newspaper. He was distressed to read that the depression gripping the nation was causing fear and panic among the people. Factories were closing and thousands were unemployed. Although Lanthier didn’t know what to do, he knew who did! That day he sent a note to all his business acquaintances, telling them that at noon a prayer meeting would be held in his office.

On the first day no one came. All alone he prayed fervently that God would bring about a great change in him and in America. [quote/]

ditto; ... just happened again.

The second day a few friends joined him. A short time later similar gatherings were started around the city. Then like wildfire, the movement spread to all parts of the country.  [quote/]

oh yeah! Bring it on--again!

Some historians say that this effort of united prayer and faith was an integral part of the improvement in the economy that soon followed.

Moses also faced a situation for which he had no answers, but he knew who did. Fervently he cried out to God, and God showed him what to do. It was not something he would have dreamed up on his own; it was better. The waters of Marah were bitter, and so were God’s people about the quality of the water. The Israelites grumbled about many little things, but this was life-threatening. All Moses could do was pray to God and trust His answer, regardless of how unorthodox that answer may be.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Follow the example set by other godly people—cry out to the Lord and He will answer. If you are willing to follow His instructions, you will never be left without the right answers.

It’s not what you know but who you know that counts.

_________________________

This devotional is freely distributed by Back To The Bible.

Did you enjoy this devotional?  Send it on for a friend to enjoy.
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Praise God!  We Cry Out to You, Lord!!!

[I don't want to do that.Yes Lord, I will go and do your will. Lord, I ask for strength and guidance.]

SelahJoy,

I think that the single biggest answer to your question is prayer. We can and should ALL do that. Some people get discouraged in prayer because they don't see immediate results. The lack of immediate results does NOT mean that God doesn't hear our prayers, and it certainly doesn't mean that prayer will NOT be answered.

I think that the next biggest answer is yielding to God's will. All of us are unique in terms of talents, gifts, and abilities. I am firmly convinced that God gives all of us opportunities to serve him, and it is up to us whether or not we take advantage of the opportunity placed in our path. Regardless of health, I'm positive that God gives us work that he wants done. I'm reflecting on a time when my dad was dying. He had been in the ministry for over 60 years, and it made him very unhappy when he couldn't continue. He prayed about it and felt led to talk with anyone who would listen coming into his home. He chose Hospice instead of the hospital, so he stayed at home. So, all of the nurses and volunteers who were willing to listen got an ear full. Many did want to listen, and many had questions about the Gospel dad wanted to share. These questions made dad very happy, and he knew that God had provided work HE wanted done.

I'm positive that the Holy Spirit works in us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The more we want to listen to God - the more that God shares with us. This is especially true for those who pray and have a desire to be used by God. It then becomes a matter of whether we yield and obey. It could be a small task that would be easy to perform, or it could be a large and difficult task that we doubt whether we can do it or not. In those hard or seemingly impossible tasks that the Spirit leads us to do, it then becomes a matter of more prayer for strength, wisdom, and guidance from God to do what God wants done. We can do all things through Christ.

Lastly, many people get discouraged when they see the devil winning over and over again. We can't stop the devil from his evil, but we can and should stub his toe and at least slow his progress with the things that God leads us to do. Bible Prophecy makes it very clear that the last days of this age of grace will become increasingly evil. I think that we are to simply fight in the tasks that God gives us to do until Jesus comes to take us home.

Our work could be almost anything from sweeping the floor at church to organizing telephone, letter-writing, or email campaigns to Congress. All of the work will be important, and the most important work will obviously be witnessing to the lost. We might not feel capable to do the work that God gives us, but He will prepare us for the work He wants us to do if we but yield. So we are really left with:

I don't want to do that.

Yes Lord, I will go and do your will. Lord, I ask for strength and guidance.

If a Christian doesn't face persecution, ridicule, and assaults from the devil, it's almost sure that man or woman is not yielding to the will of God in accepting the work He wants done.

Just 2 cents worth.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Matthew 5:3-11  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Dear Blackeyedpeas,

You are sooooo right, and I really needed to pray.  Actually, I also went to watch some fireworks with friends and in my thoughts, felt that I could almost "hear" myself "yelling" over and over, OH GOD!  So I left as soon as polite.

I came home to spend time...I confess that your first bolded statement was true for me.

I don't want to do that.

stood out!  The verse where Paul says something like, "I do what I don't want to, and I don't do what I want to" came to my mind.  I need to be obedient--in every aspect of my life!

Yes and Amen to your reference to stubbing the enemy's toe, and as ZakDar pointed out in his post this morning, the "spiritual dog" does pester.

Your dad's testimony is powerful; it looks like he used every opportunity God gave him to share the love of Jesus.  God's word and His testimonies are very encouraging.  I am so happy to have the words of God to read in their nearest original form that my human brain and education can handle, and then to ask the Holy Spirit to help me walk faithfully--and circumspectfully--in this evil age.  Even so, we keep our eyes on the prize for the high calling of Jesus Christ!  Amen?  

Blackeyedpeas,  thank you so much for writing me yesterday and encouraging me.  I was at first surprised that you replied with lengthy compassion, and then upon reading the second post in which you offered to pray (AND FOR MY FAMILY!!), I could see that you are a minister of Jesus' love.  Praise God for ChristiansUnite!

Now I hope it is okay for me to add to ZakDar's meditation on Rom 8, as found in "You Name It."  Every verse found there is powerful, but it reminds me of:

Col 1:9  We do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding
Col 1:10 Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God
1:11  strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy
12  give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred) us into the the kingdom of the Son of His love
14 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross.

The sovereignty and preeminence of Jesus Christ, as triune with the Father and Holy Spirit!  What unity!  What mystery and beauty!  

May you have a most blessed day!

I HAVE MADE SO MANY MISTAKES IN MY LIFE WITHOUT
YOU ,LORD. I NOW TURN MY LIFE OVER TO YOU,FOR I
NEED YOUR WISDOM AND GUIDENCE.IN THE NAME OF
JESUS I PRAY . AMEN

Seeking!  

In the name of Jesus, I praise our Father with you!     Let us continually give praise to
Him!  Also, if you have not already seen it, may I turn your attention to the comments and Bible text that was just posted this morning.  It seems perfect for you!  

Just go "Home" (within ChristiansUnite)
Scroll down and click "Fellowship"
"You Name It"
and then "Glory Be To Our Lord Jesus the Anointed One"  The post is from ZakDar

Or if you go real soon, you can scroll to the bottom of the Homepage and view the post under "...The Last Ten Posts..."

Now I'm going to go read it again   because I am so happy to be in the family of our Mighty Abba!

Christian hugs and love in Jesus name,
selahjoy*

p.s.  I just CANNOT go without saying WELCOME to the family of GOD!  

There was a sermon on the radio that left me with a question.  The message was about God's Sovereignty (agree) and that He predestined us for salvation (agree) and that our accepting Him has nothing to do with our salvation (?)  So, if that is the case, then what is the motivation for a non-believer who is all bound up into sin to believe?

I agree that belief is a result of the Holy Spirit, and I agree that this encourages me to pray more for the lost, but if a non-believer asked you why, since their confession of faith has no bearing on the free gift of salvation that God predestined to give some but not others, why then should they give their life to Jesus, what would you say?

Put in otherwords, if salvation is a free gift from God, one in which not even our confession is needed to receive salvation, then what motivates a person to confess, read the Bible, battle the devil's wiles, etc?  If my skeptical young adult family member asks me that question, I want to be ready with an answer.

Regardless the answer, I am going to pray even more fervently for him because it would appear that only the Holy Spirit REALLY brings one to REAL repentance!  (By the way, this sweet young man is married to my daughter, so I'm going to pray for her too!)

Thanks for setting me strait on the word of God!

selahjoy

Blackeyedpeas,

From my heart, thank you for your responses.  I poured myself on paper (computer screen) and then deleted it.

Now I'm going to thank you again, and then go pray.  I need to!

Sincerely,
selahjoy

p.s. As John 6:5 affirms, I'm glad God is with us.

I really dont know why I keep coming to this website. Theres so much blindness..

I mean people liking:     rick warren
People believing in the: Pre-Trib lie fantasy
People liking the film     The passion of mel gibson

I guess its just all part of the great falling away...

RichkCt,

Don't leave this website if you have Biblical foundation to share!

I'm practically a newbie at this website, but I'm reading and praying.  So, please post and pray.

Love in Jesus,
selahjoy

[but we are not of this world.]

AMEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

There are many beautiful posts in this thread and much to think about. I was left with some simple thoughts. Christians will always have much work to do until Jesus comes to take us home. I like to think about some precious potions of Scripture on a regular basis that deal with:

1 - Fighting a good fight.

2 - Running a good race.

3 - Finishing our course.

4 - Our citizenship is in Heaven with JESUS, our Lord and Saviour.

5 - We are currently in this world, but not of it. Our journey here will be short.

6 - Put on the whole armor of God, yield to His Will, and go forth in whatever way HE leads us.

Brothers and Sisters, we can and should stand up for JESUS, regardless of the adversity and ridicule we will face. This world is becoming more evil by the minute, but we are not of this world.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 5:17-18  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Hi,

As I was reading through the posts, I was thinking about asking if someone had specifics that we could adhere to in our efforts to stand up for Christ.  So the above quote is really cool!  

However, I'd like to remind you of something in post #36, where PR mentioned "uprising...perseverence."  The resulting question is, what should we do to uprise and persevere?    All I know at this time is to read the Bible, pray, and ask others to join in.

In further response to post #36, I was really encouraged to see the "God Bless America" signs in 2001-2002 and to hear talk-of-God in public forums after the 9-11 tragedy.  So now in 2005, what should we do to uprise and persevere?  Are we completely obedient in praying alone and with small pockets of believers?  Should we then add something else?  What do you think and upon what Biblcal basis?

The reason that I am wondering this is because recently, I feel the Lord wanted me to consider the first parable written about in Matthew 25.  I feel convicted to wake up, widen my eyes, refuse lethargy and complacency, and fully wake up.  Does anyone have any thoughts on how this should be done?  I pray for revival among Christians, specifically we who worship freely in western countries, with no fear of death-threats.  Are our oil lamps full?  Is Jesus coming back to pockets of obscure believers or to a political force of believers active within the social landscape?

thoughtfully,
selahjoy

hey! I think i did the photobucket thing!  But the picture of my kids picking up rocks somehow got deleted so the one posted here is of my son's homecoming.

His wife, three kids and father-in-law are welcoming him!  I am a very thankful mom!  My prayers remain faithful for all who still serve abroad.

love, selahjoy*

thanks, i'll try that....i thought i already did that photobucket thing.    i'll try this again.  

Hey, can I send a picture too?  

My heart stretches halfway around the globe to each military person.  If I can send letters or cookies to someone abroad, I would cherish the opportunity.  

To the troops, thank you for being the incredible men and women of honor that you are!

Apparently, I don't know how to copy a picture from my files into the CU post.  Sorry

I'll head on over to the technical thread and see what I can learn...

 

Hey, can I send a picture too?  This one is of my son Rob, and my youngest grandchild, Christopher.

Christopher was born on the day that my son first got to Iraq.  After coming home from his one year service, my son and grandson are now getting to know each other.  I particularly like this picture because it was taken just a week ago while dad and son were preparing to throw rocks in the stream.

My heart stretches halfway around the globe to each military person.  If I can send letters or cookies to someone abroad, I would cherish the opportunity.  

To the troops, thank you for being the incredible men and women of honor that you are!

Love, Selah*