Lift My Voice

This day I wanted to lift my voice to the Heavens to sing praises to the Lord for bringing me to the Cross, for lifting my eyes off of myself and directing them to the Son so my sin filled life could be revealed and my need for the Savior could be seen.

May the work of the Holy Spirit within my heart be praised, so full of grace and tenderness as to soften me to repentance, to a place of realness where I could truly see the love God had for me when he sent His Son to die for my sins, the worlds sins. Oh how I praise the work of the Cross - The ultimate sacrifice of God...to send His beautiful, perfect, Son Jesus -- just for this sin filled person!!!

How I love Him so, how beautiful is His love, how precious is His care for each and every one of us! How I thank Him for pursuing me even when I have disappointed Him so very much, Thank God for never giving up on me, for never turning your back...thank you for running and opening your arms to me when I called your name.

May you be magnified for all eternity and beyond, may your love call me to action when there is a lost soul that comes into my life and may this life that you saved from the pit of hell count for you and only you! I love you my God, my Friend, my Heavenly Father.

Your forever child, Chris

Comments Turned Off

Well, it's finally happened. Adverstisers in their never ending quest to inundate us with advertisements, have begun to post ads as comments.

To save us all from this ultimate invasion, I have disabled the comment function. Until such time as Blogger comes up with the capability to delete such posts, I will keep it turned off. Thank you for your understanding!

Chris

Tempation is a Demonstration

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." (Matthew 4:3 NKJV)

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Did you ever wonder why the Lord lets Satan do his thing? If God is all-powerful and cares so much about us, why doesn't He just wipe out the devil along with all of the temptations he throws our way? Wouldn't this world be a wonderful place if there were nothing out there to draw us away from God and if He were the only thing we could possibly love?

Think of what that type of love would look like. If God were all there was to love, then our love for Him would be forced love, which really isn't love at all. Love can only be proven true when it is challenged by other choices. Imagine a food menu with only a single item on it. Ordering that item doesn't prove that a person likes it. But if someone goes to a restaurant with a twenty-six page menu and orders a roast-beef sandwich, we can conclude it's something he or she really enjoys eating. This is because true love can only be proven in light of other choices.

God wants our love for Him to work the same way. He doesn't create temptation, but He allows them because they test our love for Him. We're tempted to steal, but God tells us not to. We're tempted to hate, but God tells us not to. We're tempted to lie, but God tells us not to. Which way will our love go, toward the temptation or toward the Lord's will for our lives?

When we make the choice to obey God, it proves that our love for Him goes beyond the sinful enticements of this world. God allows temptation because it gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our obedience and love for Him.

Dig -- Why doesn't God eliminate all the sinful temptations of this world?
Discover -- What are some temptations that compete with your love for God?
Display -- How will you prove your love for God today?

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from the Active Word