GOD'S WORD! HOW PRECIOUS!

This has been a busy summer for us.  We spent 10 days in South Dakota for his family reunion.  Now we are off tomorrow to the east coast to be with our children for 2 weeks.  So I will touch basis with you again later in the month. 

So I encourage you to stay in the Word and in prayer as you continue on your journey home.  I will have much to share when travels are over.  By then it will be almost September and the fall season starts.  But before I leave you for a couple of weeks I wanted to share something I found on a small piece of yellowed paper when going through my mother's things.  The note says it is from the flyleath of Dwight L. Moody's Bible.  So enjoy this and be encouraged this day.

"The Bible sets forth two things - the cross and the throne.  The Old Testament points toward the cross.  The Gospels tell the story of the cross.  The Epistles point toward the throne.  The Book of Revelation tells the story of the throne.

The Old Testament tells us what sin leads to and ends with:  "Let I come and smite the earth with a cruse"  (Malachi 4:6).

The New Testament shows the way out of sin and ends like this"  "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all" (Revelation 22:21).

Blessings,
Pastor Sharon

WHEN WILL THE MORNING COME?

WHEN WILL THE

MORNING COME?

As I sat there at my desk recently on a lovely summer morning, I wondered what that day would hold.   Oh, I had my agenda for that day which included a graveside service for a precious sister in the Lord. And I asked the Lord “Who can I comfort in Your Name this day?”  I realized that there would be grieving hearts there in that cemetery that day.  And indeed, as I am now writing this, there was much pain that day, as the daughter of the dear lady who had passed also was grieving for her husband who passed on just four days after her mother.  So the pain is great in so many lives, so much pain and sorrow, that I have included a piece from Charles F. Spurgeon, from his devotional “Day and Night.”  

 WATCHMAN, WHEN COMES THE MORNING?

But watchman, when comes the morning?  The Bridegroom tarries!  Are there no signs of His coming forth as the Sun of Righteousness?  Has not the Morning Star arisen as the pledge of day?  When will the day dawn and shadows flee away?

Oh, Jesus, if Thou come not in person to Thy Church this day, yet come in Spirit to my sighing heart and make it sing for joy!

Now all the earth is bright and glad with fresh; but all my heart is cold and dark and sad.  “Sun of the Soul; let me behold the dawn!

 Come, Jesus Lord!  Oh quickly come according to Thy Word!  Let the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen

I know that there are many of you out there who cry like Job of old:  “So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.  When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be gone?’  And I am full of tossing to and from unto the dawning of the day” Job 7:3-4.

Your pain is so great you wish it was night and you could sleep, then you toss and turn and wish it was morning.

But morning is coming, my friends.  Job looked down through the centuries of time and saw his Redeemer, and he somehow knew that someday he would see Him face to face.

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God:  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and no another; though my reins be consumed within me” Job 19:25-27.

Oh, what precious promises and prophecy are found in God’s Word!  Our Redeemer has come and He did indeed stand upon this earth, went to the cross, bore our sins and paid the price for our salvation.  Praise the Lord!  Do you know Jesus as your own personal Savior?  Make Him yours today, and be ready.

Now He sits enthroned in glory and lives within our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit and we have the promise of His soon return and the dead in Christ shall rise to meet Him in the air, along with those who remain.  These bodies will be changed instantly and we will at last see Him Face to Face!

Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, 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” I Corinthians 15:51-52.

Yes, the morning is coming, and there will be no more sighing hearts, for all of us will be singing for joy in His presence!  And our hearts will no longer become cold, dark and sad, because the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings:  “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.  And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” Malachi 4:2.

These are the last verses in the Old Testament and are filled with hope.  Regardless of how your life looks right now or how dark your night, God controls the future.  We who have loved and served God look forward to a joyful celebration.  This hope for the future is ours when we trust God with our lives.  And I truly believe His coming is very near, and that day will at last dawn upon us.  And we can pray with Charles Spurgeon:  “Oh quickly come, according to Thy Word!  Let the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen……….

Come, Lord Jesus Come!

Pastor Sharon

WINNING THE RACE, GAINING THE PRIZE

WINNING THE RACE,

GAINING THE PRIZE

As have many of you, we have been watching the Olympic Games from London.  We watched the Opening Ceremonies, and saw the Queen arrive by Helicopter.  We also saw what appeared to be her descending from the skies with a parachute, and the crowds waving and cheering and looking up into the heavens.  It reminded me of our Great King, as someday He really will descend from the skies, and all eyes will behold Him, King of kings and Lord of lords, and how we look forward to that grand day! The glory and splendor of His coming will eclipse the coming of any king in history, as the shout of the Archangel and the sounds of trumpets announce His coming.  This very earth and the heavens will shake with the sound of His glory!

Meantime, we are enthralled by the runners in the races, the swimmers in their lanes, the bikers on their paths, all racing toward the prize of a gold medal, or maybe a bronze.  But the crowds line the streets, or sit in the grand stands cheering on their various countries. And I like to imagine the heavenly hosts lining our pathway cheering us on in our race!   As we run this race, the path sometimes has dangers along the way.  There are rocks of sorrow and grief in the pathway, which may cause us to stumble in our race for the prize.

“Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize.  You also must run in such a way that you will win.  All athletes practice strict self control.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (NLT)

In Paul’s day, the Greek Games were popular, and the tradition continues with the Olympic Games.  They were awarded a woven crown of leaves, as I understand.  Today our athletics win various medals, but you know all earthly prizes will fade away someday.  But we are running for the heavenly prize.  Our eyes are fastened on the heavenly city just over the next horizon.  Yes, trials will come, the skies grow dark, we fall down, but we get up and keep running, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the “author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2).

This race we are running here will be worth it all when we finally see Him face to face.  When we have run the last mile of the way, and have reached our goal of the heavenly calling of Jesus Christ.  I was reminded of an old hymn, written by W.E. Mark.  It reminds of a truth we cannot forget:  The joys of Heaven, the hope of no more sorrow, no more pain, no more parting, the hope of seeing God, all of these are dependent upon our finishing the race and the course we have started.  We must run the race and complete that race and strive on to the “The Last Mile of the Way.”

“If I walk in the pathway of duty, if I work till the close of the day, I shall see the Great King in his beauty when I’ve gone the last mile of the way.

If for Christ I proclaim the glad story, if I seek for His sheep gone astray, I am sure He will show me His glory when I’ve gone the last mile of the way.

Here the dearest of ties we must sever, tears of sorrow are seen everyday, but no sickness, no sighing, forever when I’ve gone the last mile of the way.

And if here I have earnestly striven, and have tried all His will to obey, ‘twill enhance all the rapture of Heaven when I’ve gone the last mile of the way.”

In the last few months, and in the last week, and even today, I heard the news that another brother or sister has gone home to Jesus.  We lost our beloved mother, a brother in the Lord last week, and today, another precious saint has finished her race and is home with her Lord and Savior.

We are all running in a race.  We are all striving for a prize at the end of our journey, but what are you striving for in your race, my friends out there?  Are you running this race with Jesus, competing for the heavenly prize?  Or are you on a course that will end on the broad way that leads to eternal destruction?

Make your choice today, my friends.  Run the race with Jesus.  Remember, as I have said before:  “This life has many choices, eternity has only two.”  We choose the heavenly prize, or destruction in hell, separated from God forever.  Make your choice with Jesus today.  Time is very short, and we never know what tomorrow will hold for each one of us.  Make sure your life is secure with Jesus on this race we are running.

And what is the heavenly prize we are running for?  It is not a gold or bronze medal, or a woven crown of flowers which the Greek Athletics wore.  My mother, my brother and sister in the Lord have completed their race, they have run the last mile of the way, crossed over that last hill and glimpsed the heavenly city, and Jesus was waiting for them there.  Oh, yes, we sorrow and their going home leaves a gap in our lives, but someday it will be certainly worth it all that we have run the race and finished our course.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing” 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

So that prize that we are running for is a Crown of Righteousness!  And Jesus, Himself, will award those crowns, to the runners who have finished the race, who have been faithful in serving Him, despite all the trials of this life, and it will also be given to all that love and look for His appearing.  So keep looking up, keep on the path, keep running the race to win the Heavenly prize.

In the Name of Jesus,

Pastor Sharon