Saturday, December 17, 2016

Part 2 (of 3): Only Jesus Christ is the LORD God and the Savior of All People! HE IS YOURS, too, Friend.



And there is Salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved. 
(Acts 4:12)
Breath-taking art piece, "The Rescue," by Nathan Greene

~~~God's Truth~~~
It is vital to me, actually, it weighs greatly upon me to tell you this message:
The one and only Message of Truth is that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God- Who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords! It is He Who is the Creator of the universe and all that is in it: you, me, every thing that is alive- living and breathing- also, atoms, matter, and cells~~~ including the rocks and mountains, all plant life, all water that comes down and goes into all the streams, lakes, oceans, and on and on...Life! and matter, substance.  We would not have the emotions we have unless we have a God who wanted to experience love, intimacy, understanding, compassion, faithfulness, even anger and sadness and loss.  He felt these emotions long before we were ever created in His image.
The Lord God Almighty, the Trinity of our One God 
(the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit- Three Persons and also One Spirit)~~~

Our God is the Lord of us.  Jesus Christ (alone, only) is the Great I AM, the Way to the Father- the Way, singly, to Heaven and Life eternal!!

John 14:1-7 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus is speaking: 

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life 

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord,we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

---Problems and Lies of This World... 

No guru, dharma, or other charlatan can save you!  No other religion, faith, or philosophy can bring you Redemption and Salvation with 
the One, True God, Jehovah, God Almighty.
I am quite tired, actually~ I am sad, angry, and heartbroken~ for people who refuse to accept Christ's offering of Salvation.  I can barely stand to think of my closest loved ones who could miss the mark- even though they have been given the Truth of Jesus Christ countless times, but I must press on for them and others I know and also strangers, in prayer and in boldness!  
I completely trust my Lord God because He is Holy, Good, Loving and Just.  His Character, Attributes, and Qualities are the antithesis, OPPOSITE of anything evil.  He made you, and He wants GOOD for you!!!
He will do absolutely everything in His power-
which is massive, unlimited, and has no boundaries- 
to bring a person to the Truth of Personal Salvation; 
however, God will not overstep a person's free will, which He also has given to us. 
I have heard people say, "the universe" brings it to me; that there are many paths to God; that every person's journey to God can be whatever that person wishes or desires, etc.  These human-based, as well as certainly devil-based distortions and untruths, abound and flourish in our world!  
These lies and half-truths, which is no truth whatsoever, are agendas of the devil ever since he, Satan, lied to Eve in the Garden of Paradise. 
The Lord Himself walked daily with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day!! 
Can you hardly comprehend that they had such an intimate and deep kind of loving fellowship with HIM, the One Who Sustained them, and the Lord of their lives? 
And yet, the human pair listened to the devil instead of their loving Maker.  
It was the most terrible of all moments- for them, their family, and down through history today with us.  How utterly sobering.  ALL of the madness, sickness, hatred, even petty issues of humanity began when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden 
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because they believed the devil, the serpent, that God was trying to keep something good from them- which was A Bold-Faced LIE.  God had told them they "would surely die," if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but that they could eat fruit from every single other tree in the whole Garden!
The couple ate fruit from the forbidden tree. (Read Genesis, Chapters 1-3.)
(Oh, how many times have I wished that I do not know of the malevolent, ugly, even cruel and hateful ways of people that plague our world...How we can treat each other in selfish, petty, and sometimes vile manners and ways.  Yet, look at the love that a new mother and father have with the just-born child; see how a sister and brother laugh so knowingly, unselfishly and have a love and a bond that can never be broken...the list is endless how God has shown us His Love in His Son Jesus Christ, and we only know how to love because of what He, alone, has put into us long before He knit us in our mother's womb.)
I have come to believe, personally, that any one of us would have succumbed to the devil's crafty trickery and, in our humanity, we would have taken the deadly advice of Satan.
HOWEVER, God so loved us that He gave every woman, man and child Salvation. Each person has the choice to ACCEPT or to REJECT Christ...adults at the age of consent and understanding, which begins around the age of 12 years old. 
 Each person needs- there is no more important decision!- TO ACCEPT Salvation by telling God of his/her faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ; that He died and was resurrected in three days; and that we are truly sorry for our sins and mistakes and will go on living for the LORD and Savior Christ Jesus.
(+++See the Salvation Prayer toward the end of today's posting, please : )
The Lord God in the Garden of Eden caused Eve and Adam to leave the Garden.  
He SO LOVES us that if the two had stayed in sin, they would have eaten from the Tree of Life and lived in sin forever, probably decaying and being sick for eternity.  

GOD'S PLAN was that Jesus Christ His Son would come to Earth as The Little Babe to free us forever and ever- those of us who choose to BELIEVE in CHRIST, alone, no other gods.  

The Holy Bible is the true source of all inspired, God-filled writing about Jesus Christ and the Way for eternal life, including living in the Kingdom of God right now, continuing into forever- with Him!  The Bible is God's story with us, and everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and in the New Testament tells how "Love Came Down, from Heaven" in the Person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, fully God and fully Man.  ...And much more- His birth, Life, Ministry on Earth, the Disciples, Jesus' Death and Resurrection, His Ascension to the Right-Hand of God, the Father, so that the Holy Spirit of God could come down to woo us to God and to live within, guiding, directing and comforting the New Believers in Christ.  Read about the First Apostles!!


No false person, "faith," religion, or church (coming in all forms and diversions) has the way to God, except through Jesus Christ and the Christian Church~ 
Matthew 16:13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him,“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[b] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[d] in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

The Bible says that there will be many false witnesses and...Sometimes people and groups that say, purport, spread widely and teach- sometimes these people are misinformed and have taken on beliefs, unwittingly, that are untrue, i.e., false. 
At other times! these groups, including some very pious, arrogant, and pridefully bad ministers~ derelicts of Christianity and wrongly teaching "churches"- spread the various forms of twisted half-truths- as in false- on the real Truth of God- ON PURPOSE.  In other words, people at times KNOW they are spreading counterfeit information and want to dupe people into believing that- they themselves or the person to whom they are speaking- are much more than a normal human being, which of course is complete deceit. 

We believers/disciples of Christ are fully redeemed when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and the Lord of our lives.  We have the Kingdom of God, but it will not be fully realized until we meet our LORD one day in the Rapture, or when we die from this Earthly life and pass on to Heaven in Glory for Life-everlasting!

As people/human beings, when each of us passes away, we will either go with Christ to Heaven forever, or if we have rejected Him, we will go to Hell- forever, also.  Both places are very real.  The Bible says that our lifetimes and what is happening here now is a shadow of Life Eternal.

Colossians 2:16-18 (NIV)
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebrations or a Sabbath day.  17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.  Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.
+++Please be sure that you have told God, our Father, that you believe in His Son Jesus Christ; that you know the Son of God died on the cross for your sins, and that you have repented and are accepting Christ into your heart.  Tell the LORD that you want to walk with Jesus now and forever!

Dear Heavenly Father,
I know I have sinned against you.  No matter how awful my sins are, You can take them away from me forever and ever.  I have not kept the Ten Commandments all of my life. Jesus, you put it this way: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and then love others as you love yourself.  I want to turn away from my past.  I know you put it away from Yourself as far as the east is from the west and as deeply into the ocean where you remember that sin no more.  You completely forgive me, God!  I am so grateful and blessed to be your child!  I believe in Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross for me, arose after three days, stayed with the Disciples and others for 40 days, then He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes for us!  Jesus left to take the Crown and to be the King of kings and Lord of Lords! Thank you for your undying Love for me, now and forever.  Help me stay with your Bible, find a good, solid, loving church that exemplifies Your Truth, not some candy-coated, feel-good, meaningless imitation.  I want your Truth and to be in fellowship with people who care and want to be your disciples. 
In Jesus' Name, Amen, So Be It!


Part 1 (of 3): Only Jesus Christ is the LORD God and the Savior of All People! The Ten Commandments Included. A Prayer of Salvation!

Part 3 (of 3): Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Only One and the Way to Almighty God & A Salvation Prayer
~~~Watch for Part 3 of this series, which is coming to this blog very soon, in 1-2 weeks! 
Only Jesus Christ is God, including His Father and the Holy Spirit, which makes Our One LORD, Triune in Persons, Yet Spirit- and Jesus Alone is the Way to Salvation!  Watch for it, Part 3!

Donna M.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

One Thing So Dear to Me about Christians: Something We Do That Defies Human Nature!

painting picture image jesus christ love

Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant!
This is what I want to hear Jesus say to me when He welcomes me into Heaven...oh, yes, that I want to hear with all my heart and have every reason from the Bible and in my faith to believe it will come true...Matthew 25:21, NKJV: "His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'"
(Thank you so much for this lovely depiction of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ welcoming a Believer into Heaven, godisreal.today/picturesofjesus)

As Christ followers, even when life can be daunting at times, we remain true believers in Jesus; we praise Him in all things and stand firm.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18~~~Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (NKJV)
Exodus 18:23~~~If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace." (ESV) (Very interestingly, The Israel Bible commentary states the meaning of this Scriptural verse is that as Isaiah 1:27 says, "Zion shall be redeemed with justice".)

Matthew 16:17-20~~~
Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (NIV)

Today is a year to the date, Sunday to Sunday in one year that our church moved into the great building on Vista Drive, in Shawnee, Kansas.  I realized that I must finish this posting and publish/share it today to celebrate and to tell the story of how Christians are mighty and powerful, only in Him!  Because of Him, the LORD, we are able to keep our faith and to have the strength, never waning from the Salvation that only Jesus can give, that we have accepted.  God will never force His Salvation upon anyone.  Indeed, the Holy Spirit draws you to God.  Once we believe and are true Jesus followers/disciples, then we just keep getting stronger and stronger! Why?  Because we have God on our side, in our corner, walking with us, making the way for us on the path that is best for us.

As I was driving home from church that Sunday last December, I was feeling uplifted about our new building!  It was the very first day we had been in the sanctuary for worship service and, naturally, we were continuing with KidzLife (Sunday School) at our wonderful, spacious church site! The layout of the rooms and areas seemed to have been made just for us.  We had acquired this "just perfect" church place through a very caring, businessman friend of our Pastor Chris where the two knew one another from a shared civic group.  Relationship!  Yes, that is a good part of our walk with the Lord at Community Life Church, Shawnee, Kansas, U.S.A.

These relationships of which I speak are 1) our most important relationship is with God including worshiping Him- through love, honor and thankfulness; 2) our relationships with each other such as Bible study and being in fellowship, and the learning and the doing to be great disciples of Christ; and 3) our relationships to the people in our mission areas ~locally with a school where people tutor children and pray for the staff or help folks with very needed yard work such as helping a widow or older folks who are unable to do a house project, etc.

Internationally, we also give of time, talent, and funds, including actual physical help in re-building and helping to strengthen pastors at an orphanage and school in Haiti or to support some of their physical needs such as much-needed lighting and water systems, etc.

Our church folks have gathered clothes, then sorted them to help a great lady of faith, Pastor Alice of  True Light Resource Center, Kansas City, Missouri U.S.A.  Her spiritual gifts- in heart and mind- enable her to love and teach folks about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who God is, and how much He loves us!  She offers assistance for people who come to the church such as clothing, resources, help to get back on one's feet and toward goals- as she shows them the hands and feet of the Lord (the Body of Christ) from herself and other believers.

There is something quite unique, special, and amazing within the Christian church community. When one of us goes through a serious or threatening time, such as illness, the passing on of a loved one, loss of job, and so forth- we are all in solidarity to support our suffering fellow sister of brother.  We may be set back a bit for a time, but we remain solid in our love for Jesus Christ and remember the Scripture, Romans 8:28-29~ "And we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Back to our own building where we are the church, too!  We rent one-half of the building. There is a very welcoming church area that helpers in the church had created...walls and rooms already formed,  and as the Lord would have it for us, everything was working well (space, design, arranging/re-arranging) for the sanctuary to worship and to hear sermons, the kitchen and small banquet area, a more gym-like area for fun and games, ladies' nights, etc.  There are marvelous class rooms for the children to learn about God's love for them- the Father above; Jesus, the Son of God, their best friend, Who lives in their hearts; and the Holy Spirit Who guides, protects, and comforts them through life.  There is an area for small groups and prayer, foyer where we can sign children in to classes right down the hall with bathrooms handy and also where people can gather to have coffee, and larger areas to have ladies' nights, conferences, lunches after worship.  Our church is a place of worship and learning about Jesus and our faith in God is a dream come true!

Our church has worked through difficult times, and we will yet again!  Such is the nature of humanity; the problems can press in at every corner it seems, and yet, we press on toward our goal, our Lord and our Savior, Who is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Jesus Christ of Nazareth!!

Truly, since the beginning of Community Life Church, we have had challenges, joyous and happy times, seen spiritual growth and programs that fit "where we were" as a church family. God has remained faithful, always! Likewise, we want to be learning and growing in the Lord God,  it has always been the same, really: God, first at the top of our focus and time spent with Him, then on one side- the fellowship with each other, worship services, and Bible studies; then, the other side of the 3-focuses, which is the outward growth and help, missions, helping people in our community and individual spheres of influence...

Hmmmmm, Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength... No matter how arduous, even grueling, the strife or challenge, no matter come what may: the good, the difficult, and, yes, even the ugly~ the one thing I love about true Christians as I have moved amongst them and even in my very early 20s when I was on the fringe~ Christian people have an abounding love for the Lord that makes them exclaim, "God is good!!  All the time, God is good!"  When things are going wrong, left and right, and seemingly on every side, we proclaim- Joy and Love in our Jesus Christ!  He does make all things new~!  We can do all things in Christ~!

I have marveled at this strange and yet very wonderful aspect of Christ-followers...I remember way back in my early 30's, I was invited to Christian women's gatherings by a very nice and welcoming woman who worked at our newly found car insurance company.  Whenever I dropped by, this good lady of the Lord would invite me to an evening talk with Christian women, to a dinner with same, etc.  It was either at this point or thereabouts that I decided to take a sister-in-the-Lord at her invitation and to go to a praise and snack gathering one afternoon.  There was a presentation of singing and worship, reading from the Bible, small discussions, and our Scripture for that day was: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV), which says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in you." 

At the time, it baffled me.  How can one rejoice when things are not so good?  I had much to learn and still am learning and maturing in faith, but now I have grown to understand that we are not happy about our present circumstances in these moments and times, but we know that God is working in them because He loves us so very, very much and is working for us.

Before, during, and after a crisis of life, many believers in Christ Jesus will proclaim that our Lord is the Almighty Who Sustains and Loves of us...loves in agape love, you and me.  He is our most intimate and personal Savior, the Lord Jesus Who created us and all that is in the universe.  We, only, are made in His image!

Be a true believer in Christ, the Messiah, because He is Who He says He is!  Jesus go with you today and all the days of your Life.  Blessings for the road :)


Donna M.