The fabric of our lives is what makes us who we are, that fabric should be interwoven with God! It is God who has made us. He desires to be the Fabric of our lives. I was recently at the beach there was an announcement over the loud speakers that there were lost children looking for their parents. One of the children was a 5 years old, the other was 3 years old, and there was a 1 year old. After the last child’s parents were located the life guard station politely announced “could parents please stop drinking and keep an eye on your children”. We know that alcohol was a factor, because the police had been there checking and confiscating alcoholic beverages right before we arrived. A women sitting across from us was commenting on how could any parent lose track of their children. If you look at the marriage status in this country today you will see that statistically 1 out of ever 3 marriages fails. I feel as though from talking with people that the number is more like 9 out of every 10 fails. It seems everywhere I turn people are either getting a divorce or there marriage is on shaky ground. I think that there is something seriously wrong with the fabric many people are choosing to weave their lives out of today, NO GOD only themselves!!!
I have been on a 36 year quest to find the right the path which would give me a greater spiritual awareness and closeness to my Creator. I have found it to be a rocky road at times. On this journey I have finally come to know God in a greater way than I ever thought possible. I have also found that the hard things in life can be good for us, because they help us, by Faith, turn to our Creator and seek his help and guidance. GOD LIKES THAT, yes he likes when we depend on him. It was always that way we just didn’t know it. After all he did create us, wouldn’t you think he has all the answers. WHY NOT ASK? Please read the following Article, in it you may find something that can help you, as it did for me.
Martin Luther (a.d. 1483-1546) was an extremist. He believed all deeds were inherently corrupt and that only by an act of God’s sovereign grace could one be saved. Thus, ultimate salvation has nothing at all to do with works, it was entirely granted on the basis of faith alone in the words of God alone. Furthermore, the faith one has is itself a gift from God bequeathed to those he has predestined for salvation. Although Luther has now been dead for 465 years, he continues to cast a long shadow. All one has to do is listen to Christian radio, watch TV preachers, or peruse the local Christian bookstore to find virtual unanimous agreement on this issue (unless one happens to tune in to a Catholic program). It seems that non-Catholics universally condemn “works righteousness” and “salvation by works” as if the worst action would be to actually do something other than merely believe. Somehow, faith is good and works are bad. Those who strive to be holy are misguided while those who humbly confess they are incapable of doing good are virtuous. For some reason, I never see the bumper sticker “striving to obey God”, but frequently see the one that says “not perfect, only forgiven.”
I thought of this song this morning, as I read these words in Scripture:
“And he [Jesus] said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me. Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
Mark 7:6-8.
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I thought the following article was a good one about following Jesus and not making a Jesus that we like better than the real one. I know I often try to rationalize some of the difficult sayings of Christ to make them fit better what what I think Christ really means and wants – and while I still think that “sell all you have” may not be to each Christian across the board, I must allow the spirit of Christ to show me which areas of my heart, life and even my stuff need to be sold or thrown out.
I often tease my husband by calling him, “Farmer Tony.” He grew up farming with his dad, and loved it. He no longer farms, but let’s just say he takes gardening to a new level. His soil preparation is intense and when he is finally ready, he plants the seed. Almost always, the seed comes up and brings forth a produce that our family can enjoy. Other times, a certain seed will be old or conditions will be too wet and rainy, so that the seed fails to even break forth from the soil.
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(This week I begin another series from my web site, dealing with Kingdom Living.)
The promises made to Abraham included land, material blessings, and protection. Those who are Christ’s now have the hope of partaking of those promises, and of ruling the world with Jesus Christ. That rule will be a perfect and righteous rule, and in order to enjoy all those things one would need to be given life in the Age To Come. Yet Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the Pharisees, we would in no wise enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 5:20). This hearkens back to verses like Psalm 15:1-2, that the one who would dwell in God’s holy tabernacle is the one who works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart.
Some verses are just ‘refrigerator verses,’ you know? I mean the kind like John 3:16 which gives a great message, makes you feel good, and you’re not afraid to post it for all to see. People post verses on bumper stickers, t-shirts, refrigerator magnets, Facebook statuses, and I even have some stenciled on my walls. I love the reminder of God’s words being everywhere my eyes might happen to fall. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 comes to mind, which says, “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
But what do you do with a verse like this one: “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:4.
Most everyone is familiar with the story of Jonah in the Bible. He even has his own book in the Old Testament named after him. He was made famous for running away from God, getting swallowed by a big fish, then spewed out, so he could be obedient to God and go preach to Nineveh. Jonah sometimes gets the bad rap because he didn’t really want to do what God asked, was disobedient, and had a bad attitude. We, Sunday School teachers, shake our fingers at him, and say, ‘tsk tsk. See what happens when you don’t do what God has called you to do?’ Yet, how many times does God ask us to do much smaller, easier, insignificant things, and we turn away as if we didn’t hear Him ask?
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From my experience, many churches tend to “downplay” the Old Testament. In other words, many churches do not “pay much attention” to the Old Testament – instead, they focus almost exclusively on the New Testament.
There are many reasons why churches do this; but one of the common reasons is that churches believe the following idea:
“Everything that Jesus taught us was brand new. In other words, all of the statements that Jesus made cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament. Therefore, Christians should not really “pay attention” to the Old Testament – because all of the information there is obsolete.”
