Confident and Unashamed

 

"And now, dear children, continue (abide) in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of Him." (1 John 2:28-29)

The key for God's children to be confident and unashamed when Christ returns is to abide in Christ (live in fellowship with Him). “I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) We are to be living in the light of His imminent return. If He came back right at this moment, would we be confident (keeping a clear conscience) and unashamed (having nothing to hide) or would we feel unsure/afraid and ashamed/embarrassed? Let us examine how we live our lives. No one knows when Jesus will return. We must be ready at all times. Let us have a Maranatha mindset! 

Knowing God Who is righteous and practicing righteousness should go hand in hand. True/Right doctrine leads to true/right living (according to God's Word). Our words, our action, our character, our lives reveal who we are and Whom we belong to. God's children who have been born of God should take after God. Can people see the family resemblance? Righteous living (holiness/godliness/Christlikeness) is the proof of the new birth/being born again (which is the working of the Holy Spirit). I remember a convicting quote by Gandhi: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." To me, it's one of the saddest statements ever. We are Christ's ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). Do we represent Him accurately? How we live our lives either draws people closer to Christ or away from Christ, whether we're aware of it or not. Do we love and serve like Christ? Do we conduct ourselves like the world or like Christ? In short, "to abide in Christ" is the call for us to live in constant fellowship with Christ and live in obedience to His Word, relying upon the indwelling Spirit for empowerment.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for rescuing me from the dominion of darkness and bringing me into Your kingdom and adopting me into Your family! Please forgive me for the ways in which I misrepresent You. Please enable to be constantly abiding in Christ, being ready for His return. Please mold me to be like Christ. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being so that I may live a life worthy of You, please You in every way, and bear fruit in every good work. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

12 Good News of CHRISTmas!

Hear ye...hear ye..12 Good News of CHRISTmas:-

1. "An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel'--which means, 'God with us.'" Matthew 1:20b-23

2. "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

3. "The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:10-12

4. "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known." John 1:14, 18

5. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17

6. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

7. "Jesus said to her, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11:25-26

8. "Jesus answered, 'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

9. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God...And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us." Romans 5:1, 2, 5

10. "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17

11. "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' He said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" Mark 1: 14-15

12. "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.'" Mark 16:15-16a

Let's not keep the good news to ourselves.  Let us lovingly and joyfully spread the good news any chance we get so that the world may know!

Nothing But the Blood

Note: Please turn off my music playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the videos.

Nothing But the Blood (Words and Music by Robert Lowry, 1826-1899)


Nothing But the Blood by Matt Redman

"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22b
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood." Romans 3:23-25a

Only the shedding of God's Son's blood can satisfy God's justice for our past, present, and future sins.  Christ's blood makes us righteous (have right standing with God).  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your precious blood that makes me white as snow!

"Nothing can for sin atone--nothing but the blood of Jesus; naught of good that I have done--nothing but the blood of Jesus." ~Robert Lowry (from the hymn above (the first song); this stanza was not sung in the video).


Previous Songs:
- Redeemer
- Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
- Faithful One
- Your Love Broke Through
- Until the Whole World Hears
- Take My Life
- In Christ Alone
- Sweetly Broken
- Be Thou My Vision
- God With Us
- Offering- Christmas Version 
- How Many Kings
- Give Thanks
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- He Knows My Name
- Oh Lord, You're Beautiful!

- What the Lord Has Done in Me

- I Surrender All
- Mighty To Save
- Could I Be Called a Christian?
- Cry Out to Jesus
- Jesus, Be the Center
- God of Justice
- Love That Will Not Let Me Go
- I Will Offer Up My Life
- When It's All Been Said and Done
- Knowing You, Jesus

Thankful Thursday #13

 
This week...
1. I am thankful that I can pray to God anytime, anywhere, and about anything.  I'm so glad that He never gets tired of listening to our prayers.  I love the fact that our line of communication with Him is always open/available...24/7!  "Pray continually." 1 Thessalonians 5:17  "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

2. I am thankful for rest...for sleep.  I am thankful that I hardly ever have trouble falling asleep.  I am very grateful that I can lay all my burdens at the feet of Jesus and rest in Him.  "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28  "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Psalm 68:19

3. I am thankful that all my children enjoy reading.  I think once children learn how to read and acquire a love of reading, they can pretty much learn about anything they are interested in. 

4. I am thankful for soldiers and police officers who work tirelessly and sacrifice courageously to protect us.  Let's remember to pray for their safety and for their families.

5. I am thankful for God's protection (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual).  Whenever I look back at my past, I am so grateful to still be alive today :).  I fell into a manhole when I was little.  I desperately begged my mom to stop choking my neck/suffocating me (she was distraught about her failed marriage and temporarily was not in her right mind).  I almost drowned once.  I was close to getting run over by a vehicle several times (if you ever try to cross the streets in Bangkok, Thailand, you will understand why).  In Thailand, I traveled to school by bus and it's always crowded on buses; therefore, I usually ended up standing on the bus' steps (sometimes with one of my feet and/or part of my body hanging out into the traffic).  I had a high fever of 107 degrees F; my husband took me to the emergency room and the doctor there misdiagnosed me...(thinking that the fever was caused by heat exhaustion but I actually had a kidney infection).  I am sure there have been many more incidents that the Lord has protected me (even without my knowledge).  Regarding spiritual warfare, I am thankful that the battle belongs to the Lord, that He is on our side, and that He has given us the full armor for our protection.

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:11-17

P.S. I'm hosting a giveaway (4 free movie tickets) on my HSB blog. The deadline is this Saturday. Hope you will stop by and enter :)!

Jubilant, Joy, and Judge

God is love and God is just.  Many people accept the former but ignore the latter.  Remember the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).  Are we living in Christ's righteousness and in His truth (according to His Word) or are we living in worldliness and in the lies of the culture?  We have to daily choose.  Our choice will be judged by the Lord.  Let's sing for joy before the Lord for He is our Righteous Judge filled with compassion, mercy, and grace.

"My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.  God is a Righteous Judge, a God who expresses His wrath everyday." Psalm 7:10-11

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8



Previous WFW:
- Rooted in Love
- Who Daily Bears Our Burdens?
- Reflecting the Lord's Glory
- The Rock Eternal
- His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Knowing You, Jesus

Knowing You (All I Once Held Dear) was written by Graham Kendrick and sung by Robin Mark

My desire is to know Him more and to make Him known! Certainly, there is no greater thing than knowing Jesus! I love You, Lord!
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11
Previous Songs:
- In Christ Alone
- Be Thou My Vision