Friday, November 02, 2007

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Works vs Faith Current mood: chipper Works vs. Faith Current mood: chipper One day as I was spending time with the Lord, He gave me an analogy I thought was pretty cool.  I scratched it down on a piece of paper and tucked it away.  Well, I came across it again so here it is.   On a CD, or for you ancient people a record or cassett tape, it already has everything recorded on it, the lyrics, the music, the instruments, the vocals, effects etc...  the work has been done -  in essence "It is finished".  Now, I can take that CD or record and if I try and try my hardest to spin it with my finger using all my energy, maybe for the old fashioned record holding a needle on it trying to get sound out of it, trying to get it to do what it was designed to do, till I 'm blue in the face. I would get frustrated and weary of trying to make it work for me.  I may, at the most from the record, get a squeak or scratchy sound out of the friction of the needle I'm holding to it.   But if on the other hand I take this "Finished work" and put the record or CD in the Player, close the lid and plug it in, I am now tapped into the source of Power and I can take advantage of the blessing of the "Finished Work" that is bringing beautiful music into my life. So it is with God and the "Finished Work of the cross of Calvary.  We can not take full advantage of the blessings God has for us if we are not plugged into the scorce, through acknowledging God, repentance of our sin and Faith in Jesus Christ. Scripture records in John's written eye-witness account of Jesus Christ crucifiction,   "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am Thirsty."  A jar full of sour wine was standing there;  so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth.  When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said,  " It isfinished!"  And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.                                                              John 19: 28 - 30 You see Jesus Christ, (God in the flesh) has already done the the work fulfilling all that God required to redeem people that He loves so much from their sins.  see John 3:16 " It is finished! " We can not possibly, no matter how hard we try, by our works, work our way to a relationship with a Holy, Loving, and Just God thereby receiving the benefit of being His child.  It's just like trying to spin the CD with our finger, we can not make that connection with God unless we plug into the source.  The only way to do that is by Faith, believing 1  that He is, and that being God He has given us His precious Word to reveal Himself to us.  And 2  He requires that we simply recognize that we have sinned against Him and His laws  so God is looking upon our hearts to see that we acknowledge this and we respond by ask Him to forgive us, turning from practicing sin and turning to Jesus Christ receiving Him as the complete and perfect sacrifice that paid for the penalty of my sins.  See  Mark 1:15 and Acts 2:38 These speak of repentance and belief. Also Romans 10:9 - 10 says " that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in you heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;  for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation. All other religions of the world are systems of works.  People striving  to attain a higher plain, or become god like or working their way into eternity or the next life etc..  All on their own feeble efforts.  That is why it is so hard for people to grasp the simplicity of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ.  It truly is good news and it is life changing and life transforming when you GET IT.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves,  it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."                                                                           Ephesians 2:8 - 9 God's Word is truly miraculous and when you discover it's truths and it's glorious message to all of mankind it causes you to see everything clearly and God Himself comes in the person of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, teaching you as you go along in life as you seek to know Jesus more.  See Acts 4:12 How do you know someone?  Answer - By spending time with them.  Spend time with God, pray ask Him about things you want to know about.  Read His Word, His Word tells us about Who He Is and about man and how man has been given a will to receive Him or reject Him and the blessings or consequences that come with the choices you make.  And it tells you of His Great Love for You and How he planned from the beginning to redeem souls who would only believe on His Name.  It tells of the glories of heaven and the Horrors of hell and how you can choose life and eternity with Him.  It gives us good and moral standards to live by with the 1 commandment to Love God and to Love others, and So...... much more. Let me know what you think? And I leave you with this scripture   "And being found in appearance as a man,  He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."  Philippians 2: 8 - 11     In Christ Love           Tammy

Hey All,

Thought I would just write a tid bit about my life.  Last Friday, Oct. 19th, I went out to Vista out near Ocean Side with my daughter to see my oldest son and my nephew.  We stayed the weekend with them because 1. I just wanted to hang with them and 2. my younger sons band Cirque de Sound was playing an outreach concert on Saturday.  I had a blast visiting hashing over Biblical doctrine and hanging with all their friends.  The band also stayed at their apartment, now that was fun.  Those guys are nuts.  They tend to keep everyone laughing.  They were flopped all over the floor in the living room and my daughter and I slept in the other room.  Well all was quiet and the drummer was finishing brushing his teeth and next thing you hear an outburst of laughter   ( my daughter and I were clued in on)  the lead singer had an infered camra and they took a vidio while they pantsed the drummer.  They were comming unglued at the seams.  It was pretty funny!  Well, then everyone
just got silly.  We finally all went to sleep.
  Anyway, the concert was awesome. They rocked!  God has gifted these guys incredibly and they play & sing with all their heart.  They jam!  But they also love the Lord and they let people know of their need of Him and their testimony.  My other son got up and shared the gospel message and poured out his heart to those who came and He did an awesome job.  I can't help it, I'm a proud Mom, what can I say?  These guys are teen and collage age and they are a great group of guys. 

  My daughter and I left on Sunday and drove through a wind and dust storm just learning that some fires had been started not knowing what was to come.  We made it home safe and woke up the next morning to find out about all the Southern California fires burning all over.  Well, Vista is not far from many of the flare ups surrounding the San Diego area.  So far they are O.K.  My oldest son works at Camp Pendelton and has been helping with evacuations and other various things needed.  Keep all those in these fire areas and the firemen and their families in your prayers.  God has move upon many hearts to help and give comfort to those affected.  In the midst of tradgedy you can alway see His hand of mercy at work. 
Well, that was my exciting weekend
       Love and Blessings till my next Blog!