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Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

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by John Doyle"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of Praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, but do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."Hebrews 13: 15 - 16.What sacrifice could be equal to the sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary? The cross of Christ has declared that there is nothing we can do and nothing that we owe. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Yes we owe Him our all, because He gave us His All. This should encourage us daily to give Praise to God.How best can be PRAISE in these difficult days of Lockdown?1. P - "Present your bodies a living service, Holy and acceptable to the Lord" Romans 12: 1 - 22. R - "RESIST the Devil, and he will flee from you" James 4:73. A - "As thou has sent Me into the World, even so have I sent them into the World" John 17:184. I - "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me" Gal 2:205. S - "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be HOLY, for I am the Lord your God" Lev. 20:76. E - "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that LOVE Him" 1 Cor. 2:9Lets bring PRAISE this Lords day to:Our Father God the infinite, matchless King,The Living Christ, Who is set down at right hand of God, interceding for usThe Holy Ghost, a Heavenly gift from above to all who place there Faith in Jesus.Lets also Praise God and give thanks for the Blessings of:Having a Personal relationship with Him through our faith in ChristFor providing for you and your family in these difficult days of LockdownFor the joy of having more time with your loved ones, despite the PandemicYes it's time to sing it with me:Praise God from whom all blessings flowPraise Him all creatures here belowPraise Him above ye heavenly hostsPraise Father, Son and Holy GhostGod bless you and your family.In the Love of the Lord Jesus.John and Barbara

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The Lord’s Protection

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by Graham MolAs I was reading through Psalm 116 there was a particular verse that stood out to me:The Lord guards the inexperienced;I was helpless, and he saved me,(Psalm 116:6 CSB) I was intrigued by the word "inexperienced" and took a look at a couple of different translations. This is a helpful practice since the Bible was not written in English but in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testamet) and so the meaning of the words use do not always have a direct translation into English. This is why you find differences between the different translations that we have of the Bible. This is not to say that our English versions are not accurate, the core meaning is retain as each translation highlights a certain aspect of the original Hebrew or Greek word.Here is verse 6 in a few different translations:The Lord preserves the simple;    when I was brought low, he saved me. (ESV)The Lord protects those of childlike faith;    I was facing death, and he saved me. (NLT)The Lord protects the unwary;    when I was brought low, he saved me. (NIV)The Lord protects the simple (childlike);I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me. (AMP)Ok so Bible lecture aside! What does this verse mean? Let's first consider the opposite of the person described here as inexperienced, childlike and simple. This would be someone who is experienced, who has seen the world and knows how complicated it can be, for them life is not simple. We could call this person world-wise or even street smart. They could be complex and crafty. Often this is the kind of person you must become to survive in this dog-eat-dog kind of world.Although such a person can survive or even thrive in a tough cut-throat world, it often leaves them worn, cynical and disillusioned. Their hands might be stained from some of the dirty things you just "have to do" to get by. In contrast, the simple, inexperience and child-like person would be considered like a lamb to the slaughter. Their innocence making them vulnerable.Sometimes we Christians are regarded as such lambs. Walking in love, placing the needs of others before our own, seeking to bring peace, we can sometimes come across as ideological or naïve. "That's great," others may say, "but in the real world it doesn't quite work like that..."What hope do we have? Is the only way to make it in a cold, cruel world is to become like it? The call of Scripture is clear, we are to be set apart as God's holy people. In the world but not behaving like it. So yes, our "inexperience", our simplicity, our childlike-faith may put us at risk, but we are not helpless and defenceless.The Lord guards the inexperienced, He preserves the simple, He protects those of childlike faith. When we are helpless, when we are brought low and even when face danger and death, He will save us. God BlessGraham

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God’s Strength in Our Weakness

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by Calven CelliersWhen asked during a radio interview why so many of the ‘heroes’ of the Bible had such serious flaws, author and pastor Ray Pritchard answered, “That’s all God’s got to work with. The talent pool has always been pretty thin when it comes to moral perfection. So, God works with sinners because that’s all he has to work with. In heaven we will all be vastly improved – perfected by God’s grace. But until then, He uses some pretty ornery people who fall short in many ways – and He does some amazing things through them.” Think of it like this, if God chose only well-rounded people with no character flaws, then the credit would inevitably go to the people and not to the Lord. By choosing flawed people with a checkered past, a shaky present, and an uncertain future, God alone gets the glory when they accomplish amazing things by His power.The apostle Paul makes this point abundantly clear in his first letter to the Corinthians saying, “26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 26 – 29NLT) If you wanted to condense the message of this passage in just one sentence, it would probably go something like this: God won’t tolerate human pride, so He chooses people who have nothing to brag about.It seems God has never been impressed with self-sufficiency, which is probably why the apostle Paul said He is drawn to people who are powerless, despised by the world and counted as nothing. The Bible is full of examples of how God uses imperfect, ordinary people to do extraordinary things in spite of themselves. When you think of the limitations in your life you may be tempted to conclude that God could never use you, because you’re not perfect, but let me remind you of this Scriptural truth – God is not limited by your limitations! In fact, we read in Scripture that He enjoys putting His great power into ordinary containers. In his second letter to the Church at Corinth the apostle Paul wrote, “7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 4:7NLT) Many of the principles of God’s kingdom are paradoxes (seemingly absurd or contradictory statements.) When the apostle Paul pleaded with God to remove his  ‘thorn in the flesh’, the Lord said to Paul, “9 …My grace…

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Building a Godly Heritage

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by John Doyle“But as the days of Noah were so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating & drinking and marrying, up to the day Noah entered the ark," (Matthew 24:37-38)In the days leading up to the Flood Gods people choose to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. They showed indifference to God’s call to live the righteous life - Math. 24: 38 Wickedness and intent to do evil prevailed in heart and mind. The earth was corrupt and violent.But Noah (v8) had a key responsibility. “By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household (home) by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11: 7 - 8)But Noah v8 “found grace”, was warned, moved himself, prepared an ark and became the heir of righteousness!Noah (& family) MOVED & PREPARED. When Noah faithfully did his part: GOD – God our Master Builder Provided and did His part.“Except the Lord build our home we will labour in vain...” (Psalm 127:1)The Floods came – the trials followed, but Noah and family remained faithful. They got to the other side. They came out of the ark together. They landed on dry ground.God established a covenant with this family. God blessed this family and all generations that followed (Genesis 8:18, 9:1-13) "This is my covenant which I make with you and every living creature for perpetual generations; I do set my rainbow in the cloud and this shall be my covenant with all mankind...” v.13Days leading to the coming of Jesus Christ will include Violence – evil intent – corruption – demise of covenant relationship of marriage – war. The “But Noah’s” v8 need to ariseMove, take responsibility & PREPARE to BUILDSacrifice whatever to bring the whole family on boardYou have faithful “But Noah's” around you in the Church support them - join them and Build a Godly Heritage.The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ: “We were at one time disobedient people when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built in which few, that is eight souls were saved from the floods” (1 Peter 3:20).Christ in you is the ARK. We have a guarantee that if we MOVE and PREPARE and become ‘BUT NOAH’s & BUT Noah’s wives and children’ we will arrive in glory on dry ground, no more floods, no more tribulations, no more sorrow (1 Peter 3:21 -22).In the meantime what is Jesus doing? He is “Interceding on our behalf” “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by HIM, as He ever lives to intercede for us”  (Hebrews 7:25)With God All things are POSSIBLEPREPARE FOR THE IMPOSSIBLEOBEY GOD’s COMMANDSSAFEGUARD YOUR COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS - With God & FamilySACRIFICE TO GET YOUR FAMILY ON BOARDINVEST IN THE LIVES OF OTHERSBUILD ON THE ETERNAL…

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