Praise to the Father

'I Lift My Hands in Praise' for the next three weeks, giving praise to each "Person" of our Triune God, along with verses from the Bible, giving praise and honor to the One we worship and adore.
In awe we worship the Father and say with Moses in Exodus 15:11:
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonder?
From Revelation 15:4 we join the Revelator with: Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou art Holy.
Hallowed be thy Name! Matthew 6:9
O Father, in the words of Daniel "Thou art a great and awesome God". I praise You and humbly bow before You. You are Holy, yet You love me so much You allowed Your Son Jesus to be my sacrifice. You are so Holy, You had to turn away from You precious Son when He took my sin on Himself. You left Him alone as You could not look on MY sin. And now, because of His sacrifice, You look at me and see His reflection. You see me as righteous. You see me as without sin, and I praise You. I Adore You! Abba, Father! Amen

1. The Holy Bible
2. From the heart of CC

God Meant It For Good!

And we know that all things work together
For good to them that love God. Romans 8:28

The term "all things" does not mean 'most things', or 'good things' or even 'joyous things', but it means "ALL THINGS'. God can use my sins, my mistakes, my wrong choices, and even my rebellion, all to work for my good.
God has a purpose for each one of us, and that purpose is that we learn to be loving, joyful, gentle, patient and kind. There may even be a special job for us thrown into the mix, but the main thing is that He wants us to learn to have the mind of Christ, and learn to have 'iron' in our soul. An example would be from Genesis and the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, and no doubt felt God had forgotten him. To make matters even worse, he was in prison for years through no fault of his, yet all the time God was working. He was later made a ruler and he was able to save many, many peoples throughout the world. In a poem by Freda Hanbury Allen, based on Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his brothers it was a 'God thing'. Here are some of the verses from that poem, showing how God can use "all things":

"It was not you but God, that sent me hither."

Witnessed triumphant faith in after days;

"God meant it unto good," no "second causes"

Mingled their discord with his song of praise.

"God means it unto good" for thee, beloved,

The God of Joseph is the same today;

His love permits afflictions strange and bitter,

His hand is guiding through the unknown way.

The Lord, who sees the end from the beginning,

Hath purposes for thee of love untold.

Then place thy hand in His and follow fearless,

Till thou the riches of His grace behold.

There, when thou standest in the Home of Glory,

And all life's path lies open to thy gaze,

Thine eyes shall SEE the hand which now thou trustest,

And magnify His love through endless days.

George Mueller once said:

"In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer's good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside."

"What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." (John 13:7)

1. Streams in the Desert, June 10

2. The Holy Bible

3. From the heart of CC

Place of Help

THE PLACE OF HELP by Oswald Chambers

The Holy Spirit in me makes me a passionate, devoted, absorbed lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lives are changed, not by 'baptism' of the Holy Spirit, but power of the ascended Christ coming into men's lives by the Holy Spirit.

Paul (as we should be) is so absorbed with Jesus that he does not think of himself apart from this marvellous identification with Jesus Christ. It is closer than a union, it is a oneness illustrated by the vine and the branches.

John 15:4 and 5
". . .As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

1. "My Utmost for His Highest"
2. The New Scofield Reference Bible
3. The heart of CC

Freedom

"Let Freedom Ring!" We lustily sing at this time of year. But do we really know what Freedom is?

One dictionary meaning is: 'a being able to act, move, use without hindrance or restraint'. Synonymous with the word 'Freedom' is the word 'liberty'. The dictionary states that 'liberty' connotes past restriction, or repression. When our founding Father's signed the declaration of Independence, they were stating we were no longer repressed or restricted by another governing ruler. We were setting up our new nation to be free and independent of England or any other nation. To have the Freedom to pursue Life, Liberty and Happiness.

So it is with our Spiritual life. We are repressed, dominated, controlled by sin and the father of lies, Satan. But John 12:36 states "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed". Jesus declaration to us is from John 3:16, "Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have Eternal Life." Jesus said "I am come that you might have Life, and have it more abundantly." This is our Declaration of Independence that gives us True Freedom!

From the heart of CC