El Roi

Welcome to Scripture Saturday!

12:00 AM




This is our first verse for 2018! We pray that you will challenge yourself to memorize the verses we post weekly throughout this year.

 “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified”  
C. Swindoll 

 Here is a link that offers more to help convince you...

 https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-memorize-scripture



Have a blessed and precious day and week everyone!

He is coming soon!

2:00 AM


Friday December 29th-Revelation 22

Yes, I am coming soon!  Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:20


We started our study this past year with the genealogy of Jesus and His birth and we will end with the hope of His return.

I know for me that this year was amazing in learning more about the ONE that I love.  We learned of His birth-to think that He came down here for us- from a poor family with no place for Him to be born but in a stable.  Yet the shepherds and wise men gave Him honor and glory!  We can learn much from Him by the way He lived His life here on earth.  He brought honor and glory to the Father.  He gave up His life for us while we were still sinners-I do not know of anyone else doing that do you?  He is now with the Father in heaven and will return.

Behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Rev. 22:12-13

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come and let the one who hears say, Come.  And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.  :17

He is the first and the last!  Are you thirsty?  You can have the water of life without cost!  It is the free gift of God.  Salvation in Jesus Christ!
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior won't you ask Him today?
Drink from the water of life today because He is coming quickly!
Amen, Come Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen!
Lyn


Join us tomorrow for our Scripture Saturday!
Also on Monday we will be starting a new study-  A call to worship-Traveling in the Light-reading through the bible in a year!

I hope that you all can read this it is a good advent devotional for Revelation 22
(Thank you Mari for sharing this)







Becky Austin

Behold I Make All Things New {Revelation 21}

12:46 AM


This is an exciting chapter!  After all of the terrible trials and tribulations, John is shown the wonderful future awaiting Christians. Just as in the beginning of Genesis, God begins creating again.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (v1)

There is also a new Holy city, a new Jerusalem. It is compared to a bride adorned for Jesus.  There are many details given about the physical beauty and magnificence of this city. Imagine if you can: “The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” (18-21).

Although the physical beauty will be breathtaking, that's not the best part. The most amazing feature is revealed: “having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” (V11) I couldn't help but think about how Moses asked to see the glory of God. Afterward, his face shown because he had been in the presence of God.  Moses had such a special relationship with God.  We are told God's Spirit would stand in the form of a cloud at the tent entrance where Moses was. “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. " (Exodus 33:11)

Have you ever wished that you could experience God even more intimately?  Well, in that city of Jerusalem you will: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (v3-5)

God's perfect plan for the redemption of man will be completed.  Fellowship with God will be restored and all of our needs will be met by Him. 



My story is meant to have a happily ever after. Your story is meant to have this hope filled future as well. We worship and serve the God of the Universe who is holy and just.  He loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him. From the beginning of time God has been carrying out his plan to redeem mankind and eradicate evil.  “And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment." (v6)

Have you accepted this freely offered gift?  Have you chosen this future?  Have you been burdened for others to also join you in eternity with God? “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
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Book of Life

The Great White Thone {Revelations 20}

12:00 AM


Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

I’ll go ahead and confess something I’m not very proud of:
Early on in my Christian walk, when someone would cut in front of me driving or jump in front of me in line, I would think to myself, “That’s okay, I’ll let you jump ahead of me on judgement day as well.”(I know... I told you I’m not proud of it, and I was also mistaken!) The truth is, we won’t be judged before the “great white throne”, but someone recently told me we’ll be there to see this scene play out! Imagine with me for a moment…

  • A great white throne emphasises God’s purity, holiness and righteousness in judging and His sovereignty over all the earth.
  • From whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. This scene takes place in the absence of earth and heaven as we know it. There's a great white throne, God in the form of Christ sitting on it, BUT the earth and heaven have disappeared. Perhaps we can call this, “uncreation”. Just as God brought them into existence they’ll cease to exists. Scripture tells us that heaven and earth will pass away, and we see this fulfilled here.
  • And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. I’d like J. MacArthur to help me explain this scene: “The scene then is really incredible. As the universe dissolves, Hades and the grave dissolves with it. And all the bodies then come out because Hades is emptied of the spirits and the bodies are emptied out of the universe, and actual resurrection bodies are created for the ungodly dead. That's why it's called a resurrection unto damnation, or as Daniel called it, a resurrection unto contempt. It is a resurrection. And the difference between the Hades of suffering now and the eternal hell is that the Hades of suffering now is the suffering of the soul, whereas the suffering of hell will be the suffering of the soul in a resurrected body. They will be body and eternal...soul rather and eternal body fitted for the eternal hell.”
  • The great and the small: John isn’t describing the physical stature of the people, but more their stature in society. There will be the dictators and rulers of the world who had hundreds and thousands of their own people murdered and there’ll be those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah. Those who thought that their works would be good enough to get them into heaven. Those who chose their own way or another way, but somehow failed to accept Jesus’ words when He said, “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no man comes to the Father, but through Me!” (John 14:6)
  • And books were opened; God has kept a comprehensive record of every person's life, and each one’s thoughts, actions and motives were written in the books. Our Lord, who is Omniscient and Omnipresent has kept careful notes, and sinners are going to be judged on the basis of their deeds, measured against God's perfect standard. There will be no more justifying or rationalizing sin. Every skeleton in the closet will be exposed.
  • And another book was opened, which is the book of life. God has another book. In that book are the names of His own, the names of those who believed in Him; who chose to follow Him, and were faithful to Him. Jesus once said His disciples in Luke 10:20, "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." This special book contains all the names of  those who belong to the Lord. And the book was opened with the names of those who will not die the second death, but will live with Him forever.
  • And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is eternal punishment. And everyone who has rejected the grace of God in Jesus (Eph 2:8-9) will face this final, eternal punishment.

There will be some standing there that day, hoping, wondering if their name is found in the Book of Life, but they will be sadly disappointed. They will say to the Lord as Jesus predicted back in Matthew 7:22-23, “‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The truth is God has done everything He could to keep these events from happening, we’ve just celebrated Him coming down to earth to pay our penalty, but this day is coming; with each minute it draws closer, and we need to ask ourselves what have we done about it? Are we certain our names are written in The Book of Life? And are we doing all we can to make sure others are written down as well, especially those we love most!?

Someone told me recently that we shall witness this fateful day. We will witness our loved ones, who rejected Jesus, before the great white throne, which is why he claims the Bible also says, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. I haven’t had the time to research this to prove if his thoughts are true or false, but what if he’s right?

O Father, please cause us to not only be thankful we have been given the assurance that we will not appear before the great white throne, but let us also be zealous to share the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ with all we know and love! Father, we know You to be a loving God who calls and knocks and keeps knocking to everyone! You have given us the ministry of reconciliation, may we number our days and gain a sense of urgency to be busy in all You have called us to!
Father, We are so thankful that we have found favor in Your sight, and know the truth and all that is to come! We are so thankful that You have made it possible for all sinner who will admit their guilt and ask to be forgiven will receive the gift of eternal like. Please help us share this truth with others before it’s too late. Amen

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

King of Kings and Lord of Lords {Revelation 19}

12:30 AM

December 26, 2017

Good Morning Ladies!

I hope you all have enjoyed a blessed Christmas.

Due to the busyness this past week, I have found myself with little time to write a post for today’s chapter.

I hope you find this transcript from a sermon from David Platt as enlightening as I have.  If you want to read it in its entirety, here’s the link:  http://www.radical.net/files/uploads/Revelation_TS10_web.pdf

Finally…the good news! We’ve been waiting. Seven seals and seven trumpets of judgment, seven visions and seven bowls of wrath, the dragon and the beast and Babylon rising up to oppose and seduce and deceive and persecute the people of God. And now, in Revelation 19, Jesus arrives riding on a white horse with eyes like fire and crowns on His head and a sword in His mouth, and just like that the battle is over, the beast is gone, and a cascade of praise erupts in a chorus of hallelujahs across the heavens. Yes! This is where all of eternity is headed.

If we looked seriously and soberly, as we should, at the dangers of worldliness, at the seductive attractions of this world that pull away the people of God.  They will not have the last word. Satan and sin and the suffering produced by both will not have the last word in this world. Man-centered worldliness will ultimately be overcome.

Revelation 19:1, “After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, ‘Hallelujah!’” Revelation 19:3, “Once more they cried out, ‘Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.’” Revelation 19:4, “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, ‘Amen. Hallelujah!’” Revelation 19:6, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah!’”

Did you know that this is the only time in the entire New Testament where this word is used? It’s like all the New Testament has been building up to this. After 26 books and 18 chapters of Jesus coming to the earth, dying on the cross, rising from the grave, ascending to heaven, sending His Spirit, inaugurating His church, being preached among the nations, the history of the church, the story of the King who came and His Kingdom being proclaimed, by this point in Revelation 19, as a testimony to all nations and tribes and tongues and peoples. And now as Jesus returns, in light of all history, heaven has nothing left to shout but “Hallelujah! Praise Yahweh! Praise the Lord!”

The goal to which all of history is headed is the glory of God. Everything in all history—everything!—is aiming toward the day when “Hallelujahs” will ring from the heavens and the earth to the glory of our God. God writes this Book, God writes this script, and He determines how it ends. And it ends with Him being praised across the universe.

To some that seems selfish—for God to bring everything in history to culminate in His praise. But I would ask you, “Who else do you think should be praised in the end of it all?” You? Me? Us? No. God is the only one who deserves to be praised in the end of it all.

You see, God orchestrates all of history to display His glory, and God ordains all of His people to enjoy His glory. So John writes in verse 1, “After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude…” (Rev. 19:1). “After this…” After what? What’s “this”? “This” is a reference back to the two chapters right before this that we looked at last week where we read/heard about the destruction of Babylon. Babylon—this picture of the non-Christian, anti-Christian culture surrounding the church throughout her history, luring people away with worldly wealth and worldly pursuits and worldly pleasures. Seducing people—even some who once seemed to be among God’s people—seduced into spiritual adultery and spiritual idolatry.

So here’s the picture. You have the church in the middle of worldly Babylon. They’re surrounded by all the pleasures and all the satisfaction and all the wealth and all the fame and all the luxury this world has to offer. And in the middle of it, the church is saying, “No. Our deepest joy, our deepest pleasure, our deepest satisfaction is not found in the things of this world. Our deepest joy, our deepest pleasure, and our deepest satisfaction is found in the worship of God!”

I love the way John Piper puts it. He says:

“Worship is an open declaration to all the powers of heaven and to all of Babylon that we will not prostitute our minds or our hearts or our bodies to the allurements of the world. Though we may live in Babylon, we will not be captive to Babylonian ways. And we will celebrate with all our might the awesome truth that we are free from that which will be destroyed…. Corporate worship is the flagrant, open enjoyment of God in the midst of a very seductive Babylonian culture.”

God praised for His vengeance upon the nations. But this exactly what the book of Revelation is about. This is exactly what we heard the saints crying out for in Chapter 6. Do you remember their prayers around the altar of God? Revelation 6:10, “They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” They were crying out for the justice and the vengeance of God.

And now, here, we see the multitudes of heaven worshiping God in His justice. And this is where we need to remember what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, when we considered how and why God is worshiped for His wrath.

Remember that the focus here is on the true judgment that sin and sinners are due in this world before a holy God. And specifically Babylon here. Babylon, who Revelation 17:6 described as a “woman…drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.”

If God turned a deaf ear to these things, if God turned a deaf ear to sin and evil and injustice and suffering in this world, He would not be true, and He would certainly not be just. So here, God is rightfully and wholeheartedly praised for His justice. Oh, what it would do for our evangelism if only we really believed that the people around us who don’t know Christ are sitting under the judgment of a just and holy God, a God who desires to save them by His grace as we speak his gospel. If only we would truly see the justice of God in our worship, surely we would be compelled to give our lives as witnesses. God, help us to see the truth and justice of God in our worship.

Next, He is eternal. Verse 3 emphasizes the eternality of His truth and justice. Smoke rising up forever and ever indicates that God’s judgment is final, permanent, irreversible, and everlasting.

The judgment of God is final and eternal. Do not play around with the justice of God, carrying on in sin like it does not matter. It does matter. His judgment is final, permanent, irreversible, and everlasting.

And this is also good news. In light of evil and suffering and tragedy around this world, it is good to know that there will be a day when God’s justice and truth will reign supreme, and evil and rebellion against God will never escape to arise again against God and His people. We praise Him because He is eternal.


 Image result for revelation 19



candle

Can The Devil Really Make Me Do Something? {Revelation 18}

12:00 AM

Can The Devil Really Make Me Do Something? {Revelation 18}


Revelation 18 describes the fall of Babylon. Babylon is a city filled with blasphemy, where the blood of God’s saints is shed with glee. It’s people are under the rule of the Antichrist and will receive God’s judgement. “And the light of the candle will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.” (18:23) Because the people of Babylon are under the spell of the Enemy, is it fair to hold them responsible for their actions? God’s answer is yes. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Throughout the Bible, Satan is called a deceiver, and the father of lies. But how much control does he actually have over us? Dr. Charles Stanley has some thoughts on the subject that when I read them I knew I wanted to share!

“The late comedian Flip Wilson may have popularized the catchphrase, “The Devil made me do it”, but this excuse has always been around. We blame Satan since we know he has something to do with the temptation process. But in fact, the Devil cannot make us do anything. Satan’s only power over us is manipulation and deceit.

If the Devil could actually make us do things, then he wouldn’t need to go to all the trouble of deceiving us. When he dangles the right bait in front of us at the right time, our fleshly desires make it seem as though something is relentlessly drawing us toward sin; but this power does not control us. In each case, we choose to disobey.

Think of it this way. Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a cliff. Now suppose I walked up to you and threatened to harm a family member if you didn’t jump. If you believed my story and jumped to save that person did I make you jump? I may have made you willing to jump, but I have not caused you to jump. Even if you figured out I was lying on the way down, I still did not make you jump. I simply tricked you into jumping. On the other hand, if I walked up behind you and pushed you, then I made you do something contrary to what you wanted to do, felt like doing, or even thought about doing.

Now think about the last time you felt tempted to sin. Did you suddenly discover you were sinning or had sinned? Were you in the process before you ever thought about it? Or did it begin with a thought, then a feeling, then maybe a little struggle, then the actual sin? Just as no one held Eve and forced her to bite the fruit, no one holds you down and forces you to sin. Satan cannot make you do anything, but He will do all he can to deceive you into dishonoring God.”....Dr. Charles Stanley






Cake

Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

11:00 AM





Cranberry Orange Pound Cake 

1 box golden vanilla or yellow cake mix 
1 box (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 cup water, or ( 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup orange juice)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 to 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped (do not thaw frozen cranberries)

Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan, or spray with baking spray with flour. 
In large bowl, beat cake mix, pudding mix, water, softened butter, orange peel and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Fold in cranberries. Spread in pan. Bake 57 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. 

Orange Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup butter or margarine

In 1-quart saucepan, cook orange sauce ingredients over medium heat about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Serve the sauce with the cake either warm or cool.   

Vanilla Butter Sauce

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and flour. Stir in cream and butter; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm over cake.

Scripture Memorization

Scripture Saturday - Hiding God's Word in our Hearts

12:00 AM




Welcome to Scripture Saturday!

The New Year is about to begin! As we read through the iWorship Daily Devotional Bible each week, a challenge for each of us will be to memorize scripture found in reading we have completed.  Below, you will find a suggested schedule of the scripture verses to memorize for 2018.  We hope that you will join this year us as we worship our Father and hide His Word in our hearts!

Print the schedule here!


Have a blessed and precious day and week everyone!


Week
Scripture verse(s)
   Done
Notes
January 1-7, 2018 Genesis 16:13


January 8 - 14, 2018 Genesis 22:14


January 15 - 21, 2018 Genesis 17:15,16a


January 22 - 28, 2018 Exodus 34:6,7


January 29 - February 4, 2018 Leviticus 10:3


February 5 - 11, 2018 Numbers 14:18


February 12 - 18, 2018 Deuteronomy 6:5,6


February 19 - 25, 2018 Joshua 1:9


February 26 - March 4, 2018 Ruth 1:16


March 5 - 11, 2018 1 Samuel 12:20


March 12 - 18, 2018 2 Samuel 2:6


March 19 - 25, 2018 2 Samuel 22:29


March 26 - April 1,  2018 2 Kings 6:16


April 2 - 8, 2018 2 Chronicles 7:14


April 9 - 15, 2018 2 Chronicles 19:9


April 16 - 22 Ezra 7:10


April 23 - 29 Job 19:25,26


April 30 - May 6, 2018 Psalm 23:2


May 7 - 13,  2018 Psalm 42:8


May 14 - 20 Psalm 56:3,4


May 21 - 27 Psalm 91:1,2


May 28 - June 3 Psalm 116:1,2


June 4 - 10 Proverbs 1:7


June 11 - 17 Proverbs 14:26


June 18 - 24 Proverbs 31:30


June 25 - July 1 Song of Sol 2:10


July 2 - 8 Isaiah 9:6


July 9 - 15 Isaiah 46:4


July 16 - 22 Jer 29:11


July 23 - 29 Lam 3:23,24


July 30 - August 5 Ezek 11:19,20


Aug 6 - 12 Daniel 2:21


Aug 13 - 19 Jonah 2:7


Aug 20 - 26 Zeph 3:17


Aug 27 - Sept 2 Zech 13:9


Sept 3 - 9 Matthew 11:28


Sept 10 - 16 Matthew 22:37,38


Sept 17 - 23 Mark 10:45


Sept 24 - 30 Luke 7:47


Oct 1 - 7 Luke 9:23,24,25


Oct 8 - 14 John 1:1,2,3


Oct 15 - 21 John 13: 14,15


Oct 22 - 28 Acts 2:42


Oct 29 - Nov 4 Romans 1:16


Nov 5 - 11 Romans 8:38


Nov 12 - 18 1 Cor 10:13


Nov 19 - 25 Eph 2:8,9,10


Nov 26 - Dec 2 Phil 3:8,9


Dec 3 - 9 2 Tim 2:22


Dec 10 - 16 Heb 11:1


Dec 17 - 23 Jude 24,25


Dec 24 - 31 Rev 3:21,22