TAKING CARE of MY HEART...

Friends are like flowers...

They take care of

My Heart.

Thank you Sister Diane, Sister Martha, Sister Barbara...

Thank you Brother Milton...

May our Dear LORD+ bless

each of you today

with as much joy

as you have

blessed me.

Today is Sister Judith Hannah's 62nd birthday. She rejoices to have been blessed by The LORD JESUS CHRIST for 62 years. HE+ indeed doeth all things well.

HE+ loved me 'ere I knew HIM+;

now, ALL my love is due HIM+.

HE+ plunged me to Victory

in His+ Redeeming Blood.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

+ + +

In the name of the FATHER, Who begot thee;

And, His+ Holy SON+ JESUS, Who+ saves thee;

And the HOLY SPIRIT,

Who baptizes thee with Spirit

and with Fire.

<(((><

HOW PHARAOH LEARNED ABOUT GOD'S MERCY

~ OR ~

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TAKING ADVANTAGE OF

THE LONG-SUFFERING NATURE

OF GOD

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Lately, our Sunday School lessons have been focusing on Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus, chapters 5-15.

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I have been pondering what The LORD could be showing us for today's living in these Old Testament Scriptures.

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Certainly, HE+ must be speaking to us in these lessons... because The LORD JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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<(((><

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We all know the familiar story about the LORD'S ancient people, the Hebrews, living in Eygpt for about 400 or so years. During that time, they became slaves and oppressed. They were badly mistreated.

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At the time of Moses' birth, the Hebrew slaves were ordered to cast their male babies into the Nile River. Some books say the Hebrew babies were eaten by the crocodiles which lived along the Nile and were considered "sacred" ~ the crocodiles, not the babies ~ in some parts of Egypt. Some books say this command was lifted after a couple of years, under a new ruler. [I do not really know this for certain, not having researched this myself. ]

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We know that The LORD sent Moses back to Egypt with instructions to tell Pharaoh to let MY+ people go. Pharaoh, of course, did not recognize the authority of this GOD Who was telling him to do something. Pharaoh rejected Moses' Word from the GOD of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and thus, refused to obey it.

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<(((><

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So, did The LORD destroy Pharaoh ?

NO.

The LORD, in His mercy,

gave Pharaoh a glimpse

of His great power.

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<(((><

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The LORD commanded Moses to show Pharaoh the great sign of Aaron's rod becoming a serpent. That serpent swallowed up Pharaoh's dark magicians' serpents.

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So then, did Pharaoh believe that the LORD,

the GOD Whom Moses served,

was powerful ?

YES!

Did Pharaoh care that HE was powerful?

NO!

So, did The LORD destroy Pharaoh?

NO!

The LORD showed Pharaoh

His Mercy, once again.

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<(((><

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In The LORD'S mercy, HE sent the first plague of waters-turning-to-blood, through the hand of Moses, as Moses obeyed the LORD and smote the waters of the "sacred" Nile with his rod.

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<(((><

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So then, did Pharaoh believe that The LORD,

the GOD Whom Moses served was powerful?

YES!

Did Pharaoh care that HE was powerful?

NO!

So, did The LORD destroy Pharaoh then?

NO.

The LORD showed Pharaoh

His mercy, once again.

.

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<(((><

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On and on the confrontation continued, all through the plagues of blood, frogs, lice, flies, murrain sores on livestock, boils upon both animals and Egyptians, hail and fire, locusts, darkness...

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<(((><

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Until finally... did Pharaoh believe that The LORD,

the GOD Whom Moses served was powerful?

YES!

Did Pharaoh care that HE was powerful?

NO!

So, did The LORD destroy Pharaoh then?

NO.

By the end of these confrontations, what did Pharaoh know...

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REALLY KNOW...

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about the GOD Whom Moses served?

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<(((><

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Pharaoh knew: HE was powerful and HE was merciful.

And, that was ALL that Pharaoh

needed to know

in order to obey HIM.

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<(((><

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DON'T WE KNOW THE SAME THINGS....

AND EVEN MORE SO...

IN CHRIST JESUS,

WHOM WE CALL "LORD" ?

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<(((><

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Did the knowledge of GOD'S Great power

and evidence of His Great mercy

change Pharaoh?

NO.

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<(((>< .

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NEITHER WILL IT CHANGE US...

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unless we obey HIM+ in Spirit and in Truth,

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for The FATHER seeketh such to worship HIM.

+ + +

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<(((><

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In the name of the FATHER, Who created us,

and His beloved SON Who saves us,

and The Blessed HOLY SPIRIT

Who sanctifies us.

+ + +

the PATHS of The LORD...

All

the paths

of The LORD

are

mercy

and

truth

unto such as keep

His+ Covenant

and His+ Testimonies.

Psalm 25: 10

Yes, this is true. We keep His+ Covenant daily by performing the vows of our baptism. Daily we work out the application of our renouncements of :

• the world
• the flesh
• and the devil...

and all his tormenting lies that tell us

to believe him instead of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST,

blessed be HIS+ Name, forever and ever.

His+ Testimonies should be on our lips and tongues, daily. We praise HIM+ when things work out nicely for us. We give HIM+ the praise and glory due unto His+ name.

We DO NOT SHARE His+ glory with natural-minded ways and means... in other words, we do NOT give glory unto mankind and his ways but always, always we return the true thanksgiving and praise unto The LORD for making things to work out properly... making the cars to operate well, the machinery to work right, the medicines to be effective, etc.

We DO NOT DIMINISH His+ praise, though, when things go awry.

HE+ is LORD AND MASTER of this universe. HE+ does NOT turn a deaf ear to our problems and heart-aches. Rather, HE+ expects us to

continue to affirm

Who+ HE+ IS

and was

and evermore shall be

in the face of the struggles besetting us day by day.

<)))><

O LORD our GOD,

THOU+ Who+ loveth mankind,

we praise THEE+ with all that is within in us.

We bless Thy Holy Name and

Thy Son, JESUS CHRIST ,

Ruler of the Universe,

to Whom+ every knee shall bow...

of beings in the Heavens,

of beings on the earth,

and beings under the earth.

We bow the knee of our heart,

LORD GOD,

and yield our lives unto THEE+,

Who+ art worthy of praise at all times.

We pray, do THOU+ accept

the free-will offering of our hearts,

unto the praise and glory

of Thy Holy Name.

Amen.

+ + +

BREAKING through the LETHARGY Barrier...

Breaking Through the LETHARGY BARRIER...

How do we do it?

How do we Christians get the dead wood

out from between our toes...

and become full of life,

like hinds, leaping about on high places?

One step...

one verse...

one prayer...

one commitment...

one small, flesh-denying discipline...

seriously, undistractably done,

one at a time.

Well, why aren't we doing it?

<(((><

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There is a justifiable reason for those crises which come upon GOD'S people. Crises wake us up. Crises draw us closer to the LORD JESUS CHRIST and away from listening to the world's voices.

QUESTION:

Do we Christians need

crises

in order to get out of our lethargic stupor, our humdrum, tedious,

plodding along in our dutiful "service" to our LORD ?

If we gave our

spouses, children, relatives, and close friends

the same kind of priority-time devotion

WHICH WE GIVE TO HIM+ ...

would our family, marriages, and important relationships

thrive ?

Or rather, would they dry up and die?

Shall we pray for The LORD

to send some crises upon us...

because we cannot wake up

and draw closer to HIM+...

on our own ?

Is this what we NEED ?

No, we say, thinking of all the problems

that could befall us, our home,

our finances, our loved ones.

But I say, that unless we truly repent for filling our minds, our hearts, our hands, and our beings with the things and activities of this world,

we will indeed have some crises to deal with. HE+ will see to it.

The LORD OUR GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD.

Furthermore, HE+ seeks HIS+ own... zealously.

Get ready.

It is a fearful thing

to fall into the hands of The LIVING GOD+...

...in Whose+ Hands is the breath of every living thing.

One step...

One verse...

One commitment...

One small, flesh-denying discipline...

seriously, undistractably done...

one at a time.

In the Name of The FATHER,

Who created thee;

His Holy Son JESUS CHRIST,

Who+ saves thee;

And the blessed HOLY SPIRIT,

Who anoints thee.

Amen

SOFT AS CLAY...

Soft as clay in the Master's Hands...

O LORD JESUS, soft as clay in the Master's Hands, I would be

Willing clay... workable, compliant...

not fighting against THEE+

when I don't like the changes.

My lump of brittle dryness,

cracking, and falling in pieces...

not able to be used,

except for dustpan debris...

until the moisture of Thy Nearness+

is added unto me.

The stiffness and hardness of my clay heart then

... and only then...

is worked,

kneaded thoroughly by the Potter of all flesh.

until I have reached that perfect state:

being totally malleable in Thy+ Hands.

Work me, make me supple under Thy+ Touch

until I don't fight THEE+ any more.

Form me, shape me,

into a vessel meet for Thy+ Use

... for Thy+ Divine Purpose...

on this battlefield of life.

And, help me not to harden

until the change has come.

My ears crave to hear this

at the setting of my sun:

"Enter thou into the joy of

Thy LORD+,

My+ good and faithful servant...

well done!"

+ + +