Jesus the chosen one !!!

Luke 2:4-5 (NIV). So Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child....... 

Thoughts on This Verse... 

For the next few days, let's journey with Joseph and Mary as they experience the incredible grace of God. 

These verses give us the basics: they took a trip south from their home town, they went to Bethlehem which was King David's city, they were''betrothed'' or pledged in marriage but not yet fully married, Mary was pregnant, and they were going there to register with the Roman government. Intrigue and scandal ripple between the lines of this straightforward account. 

Promise and fulfillment are strongly suggested with the connection. Faithfulness through the midst of storm is demonstrated. 

A real historical context for everyday people is made with the presence of a Roman census. Scandal, promise, faithfulness, and history collide. Jesus enters our world very much in a place where we find ourselves -- a place of hope and dreams marred by scandal, disappointment, travel, and bureaucracy. 

He will be a people's Messiah. We know it even before the story of his birth is told. It makes us love him and appreciate him more. 

God has chosen to enter our world as one of us, not as some pristine and untouched alien from beyond. This is a Messiah we can reach and follow. 

This Jesus is one of us. 

See the Saviour bearing his cross to Calvary

"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him."

Luke 23:27

Amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to his doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations--fit music to accompany that march of woe. 


When my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing his cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief--cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought. 


They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die; but my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn.
My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried "Crucify him! crucify him!" and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders. 


His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity: but my having been his murderer, is more, infinitely more, grief than one poor fountain of tears can express.

Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess: but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored--but I myself have been raised to newness of life. 
Peter's wife's mother was cured of the fever--but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast--but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favoured with visits--but he dwells with me. 


His mother bare his body--but he is formed in me the hope of glory. In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind them in gratitude or sorrow.

"Love and grief my heart dividing,

With my tears his feet I'll lave--

Constant still in heart abiding,

Weep for him who died to save."

Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=c681ddb0defcc297d7092dbb994be6d725f51fba1f4dbae30462cc4c3b0db30d

Let's Love each other !!!

                                                     John 15:12 (NIV)

                   My command is this:
                    Love each other 
                   as I have loved you.

HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME?

Search me, God !!!!

Psalm 40:10 (The Message)

  I've preached you to the whole congregation, 

      I've kept back nothing, God—you know that. 

   I didn't keep the news of your ways 

      a secret, didn't keep it to myself. 

   I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. 

      I didn't hold back pieces of love and truth 

   For myself alone. I told it all, 

      let the congregation know the whole story.

one voice and one spirit !!!

Philippians 1:27-28 (NIV). Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God....... 
Thoughts on This Verse... 
Let's live as if we've been redeemed! Let's show our love and character in our daily lives. Let's especially work together, with one voice and spirit, making a vigorous effort to share the Gospel with those who have never heard of the grace of God in the ministry of Jesus. In the face of opposition, let's not be deterred or divided. Instead, let's work hand-in-hand for the cause of the Gospel. 

Trust in the Son of God !!!

"If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

Luke 23:31

Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching: "If the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself--the dry tree--shall fall into the hands of an angry God?" When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, he did not spare him; and when he finds the unregenerate without Christ, he will not spare them. O sinner, Jesus was led away by his enemies: so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" what an awful shriek! But what shall be your cry
 when you shall say, "O God! O God! why hast thou forsaken me?" and the answer shall come back, "Because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." If God spared not his own Son, how much less will he spare you! What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors. 

Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners--who would stand in your place when God shall say, "Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart forever"? Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all
 the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus who died for us; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are. 

You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and by his blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die.

Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=1c712107de207cfe5598a5e0dbd1326d92220028d91599e3cb686a689f25e6ad

What Would Happen If We Didn't Pray?

God's unfailing Love !!!

Psalm 36:5-6 (The Message)

      God's love is meteoric, 

      his loyalty astronomic, 

   His purpose titanic, 

      his verdicts oceanic. 

   Yet in his largeness 

      nothing gets lost; 

   Not a man, not a mouse, 

      slips through the cracks.

The victory is ours !!!

1 John 4:4 (NIV). You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [those who deny that Jesus is from God and who have the spirit of the world], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world....... 
Thoughts on This Verse... 
The world can often be a hostile place for believers. God wants his spiritual children to know, however, that they are not alone. He lives in us through his Spirit. We can be assured, therefore, that no matter what spirit someone else may have, the Holy Spirit of God is greater, more powerful, and more glorious. The victory is ours because God's presence in us is greater than any force that we will ever face. 
We have our victory assured over all forces, powers, spirits, or opponents. 

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?"

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?"

Psalm 4:2

An instructive writer has made a mournful list of the honours which the blinded people of Israel awarded to their long expected King.

1. They gave him a procession of honour, in which Roman legionaries, Jewish priests, men and women, took a part, he himself bearing his cross. This is the triumph which the world awards to him who comes to overthrow man's direst foes. Derisive shouts are his only acclamations, and cruel taunts his only paeans of praise.

2. They presented him with the wine of honour. Instead of a golden cup of generous wine they offered him the criminal's stupefying death-draught, which he refused because he would preserve an uninjured taste wherewith to taste of death; and afterwards when he cried, "I thirst," they gave him vinegar mixed with gall, thrust to his mouth upon a sponge. Oh! wretched, detestable inhospitality to the King's Son.

3. He was provided with a guard of honour, who showed their esteem of him by gambling over his garments, which they had seized as their booty. Such was the body-guard of the adored of heaven; a quaternion of brutal gamblers.

4. A throne of honour was found for him upon the bloody tree; no easier place of rest would rebel men yield to their liege Lord. The cross was, in fact, the full expression of the world's feeling towards him; "There," they seemed to say, "thou Son of God, this is the manner in which God himself should be treated, could we reach him."

5. The title of honour was nominally "King of the Jews," but that the blinded nation distinctly repudiated, and really called him "King of thieves," by preferring Barabbas, and by placing Jesus in the place of highest shame between two thieves. His glory was thus in all things turned into shame by the sons of men, but it shall yet gladden the eyes of saints and angels, world without end.

Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=78f7a38342598b1413ebbc3b2dbe37c2567148a1fc0e0a3ed311b8a4a7f8c99d

promises are made to the true worshiper !!!

Psalm 84:11 (NIV). For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.......

Thoughts on This Verse... 


These promises are made to the true worshiper 
(see Psalm 84). 
This worshiper delights to be in the presence of God and yearns to be with God in worship. This worshiper trusts fully in God as his source of strength, hope, victory, and joy. For this worshiper, God has left this incredible set of promises! Very similar to Romans 8, and its hallmark passage in verse 28, God promises to work out things for good and bless those who''love him and are called according to his purpose'' and withhold nothing that is good (Rom. 8:32). Why? God is for us! He is our sun and shield, he lavishes his grace and glory upon us, and he will not withhold any good thing from us. 

"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp."

"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp."

Hebrews 13:13

Jesus, bearing his cross, went forth to suffer without the gate. The Christian's reason for leaving the camp of the world's sin and religion is not because he loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so; and the disciple must follow his Master. Christ was "not of the world:" his life and his testimony were a constant protest against conformity with the world. 

Never was such overflowing affection for men as you find in him; but still he was separate from sinners. In like manner Christ's people must "go forth unto him." They must take their position "without the camp," as witness-bearers for the truth.


They must be prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold,unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, and his truth next, and Christ and his truth beyond all the world. 


Jesus would have his people "go forth without the camp" for their own sanctification. You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may cost you many pangs, and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. 


No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals himself so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest. The highway of holiness is the highway of communion. It is thus we shall hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow Christ "without the camp." 


The crown of glory will follow the cross of separation. 
A moment's shame will be well recompensed by eternal honour; a little while of witness-bearing will seem nothing when we are "forever with the Lord."


Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=9d1f98fa43a584c80c4d64cf08ffcb38721b4728eb2fbb555a61b0b1c6a6502a

Espiritu Santo ven y llename !!!

Hechos 5:32 (Nueva Versión Internacional)

Nosotros somos testigos de estos acontecimientos, y también lo es el Espíritu Santo que Dios ha dado a quienes le obedecen.

IS YOUR NAME WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE ?

He Holds the Key !!!

Revelation 3:7B (New International Version, ©2011)  

 These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

"On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus."

"On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus."

Luke 23:26

We see in Simon's carrying the cross a picture of the work of the Church throughout all generations; she is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then, Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer.

But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon's, it is not our cross, but Christ's cross which we carry. When you are molested for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you, then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ's cross; and how delightful is it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!

You carry the cross after him. You have blessed company; your path is marked with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of his blood-red shoulder is upon that heavy burden. 'Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow him.

Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it. That is very possible; Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly it is so with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier end.

And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only for a little while at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love the cross, and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, when it works out for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."




Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=91a21ecd453222c8db1792558b800192f8fecf891a6b814c16c9b2849883bfb0

The Power of LOve !!!

Matthew 22:37B (New International Version, ©2011)

Luke 18:27B (New International Version, ©2011)

   “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

“What is impossible with 

man is possible with God.”

Friends18.com Quotes Scraps

For he hath made him to be sin for us !!!

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

2 Corinthians 5:21

Mourning Christian! why weepest thou? Art thou mourning over thine own corruptions? Look to thy perfect Lord, and remember, thou art complete in him; thou art in God's sight as perfect as if thou hadst never sinned; nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness hath put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than the righteousness of man--thou hast the righteousness of God. 


O thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember, none of thy sins can condemn thee. 


Thou hast learned to hate sin; but thou hast learned also to know that sin is not thine--it was laid upon Christ's head. Thy standing is not in thyself--it is in Christ; thine acceptance is not in thyself, but in thy Lord; thou art as much accepted of God today, with all thy sinfulness, as thou wilt be when thou standest before his throne, free from all corruption. 


O, I beseech thee, lay hold on this precious thought, perfection in Christ! For thou art "complete in him." With thy Saviour's garment on, thou art holy as the Holy one. "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Christian, let thy heart rejoice, for thou art "accepted in the beloved"--what hast thou to fear? Let thy face ever wear a smile; live near thy Master; live in the suburbs of the Celestial City; for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits, and reign at his right hand; and all this because the divine Lord "was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."



Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=ccc48cddb5cc095eca7914d069d59fa3a2a4e2c49952136f260419f11fcb174a

While listening to the music, meditate on this Verse !!!

Psalm 34:17-18 (New International Version, ©2011)

   The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
   he delivers them from all their troubles.     The LORD is close to the brokenhearted 

   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Finding fault !!!

Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV). ''Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.''...... 

Thoughts on This Verse... 


Finding fault in someone else is so easy for most of us. Finding fault in ourselves is much trickier. Jesus reminds us that we must deal with the shortcomings and sins in our own lives before we start telling others how to live. Seems pretty simple, doesn't it? But we all know it isn't. 

"They took Jesus, and led him away."

"They took Jesus, and led him away."

John 19:16

He had been all night in agony, he had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas, he had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate; he had, therefore, but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted him. 


They were eager for his blood, and therefore led him out to die, loaded with the cross. O dolorous procession! Well may Salem's daughters weep. My soul, do thou weep also.
What learn we here as we see our blessed Lord led forth? Do we not perceive that truth which was set forth in shadow by the scapegoat? Did not the high-priest bring the scapegoat, and put both his hands upon its head, confessing the sins of the people, that thus those sins might be laid upon the goat, and cease from the people? Then the goat was led away by a fit man into the wilderness, and it carried away the sins of the people, so that if they were sought for they could not be found. Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers, who pronounce him guilty; God himself imputes our sins to him, "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;" "He was made sin for us;" and, as the substitute for our guilt, bearing our sin upon his shoulders, represented by the cross; we see the great Scapegoat led away by the appointed officers of justice. 


Beloved, can you feel assured that he carried your sin? As you look at the cross upon his shoulders, does it represent your sin? There is one way by which you can tell whether he carried your sin or not. Have you laid your hand upon his head, confessed your sin, and trusted in him? Then your sin lies not on you; it has all been transferred by blessed imputation to Christ, and he bears it on his shoulder as a load heavier than the cross.

Let not the picture vanish till you have rejoiced in your own deliverance, and adored the loving Redeemer upon whom your iniquities were laid.

Today's reading is from "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon. Find out more: http://click.lists.biblegateway.com/?qs=39f1ce66fc1e788302ba0126ec0ee723d64d166850c93d931d492358250cf427