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One of the things that Lura would do with this blog from time to time is post videos, music and otherwise, that expressed some aspect of Christian life. I’m continuing that tradition with this video that I ran across on YouTube that I’m certain she would have loved.
A lightsaber battle that takes place within the soul of a young man who must choose between his Godly nature and his sinful nature.
In addition to taking a look at an ancient conflict in light of a modern popular science fiction story and special effects, it also won second place in the “lightsaber Choreography Competition 4″ on “theforce.net” fan films forum.
For the best effect, I recommend watching this in full screen mode.
Romans 7:19-20, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
By now I’m sure that regular readers of this blog are aware that my wife Lura who created and wrote in this blog went home to be with the Lord last December 30th, 2008. You may also know that in a final posting that I put on several of her other blogs that I said that intend to keep this one going because it while she didn’t post here nearly as much as she wanted to, she felt that this was the most important of the blogs that she wrote in.
Several times I’ve sat down with the intention of starting this task but I’ve always found myself at a loss for words and ended up putting it off again. I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps the best, most fitting way for me to begin posting here is to start with the basics. Later I’ll be referring to her notes and posting things in them that I know she intended to post here. I’ll probably throw in my own two cents here and there as well.
I guess the best place to start is that while I miss her terribly and wish very much that she was still here, I have not actually lost her. I know exactly where she is and fully expect to see her again someday.
You see, Lura accepted Jesus as Lord many years ago. Because she did, I know that she’s with Him now and that when my turn comes to leave this mortal world I’ll be joining her. And that’s the message that I know she wanted to get across.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the world we’re living in is, in many ways, getting worse every day. Evil is showing up more blatantly and more severely in more ways and places than ever before. All it takes is reading Matthew 24 & 25 and taking a good look at the world and people around us to see that we are in fact living in the last days. Because of this it’s more important than ever to make sure that everyone accept Jesus as Lord and claim the forgiveness that He died to give us.
We have to recognize that God exists, and that there is an eternity waiting for all of us. We each have the ability to choose how we’ll spend that eternity.
If a person makes the choice to ignore or reject God then they are in fact choosing to spend their eternity in a place of eternal condemnation that was NOT made for humanity. It’s important to note that God neverdamns anyone. He want’s us to come to Him. It’s up to US to decide to obey Him or not.
If that same person chooses to Accept Jesus as their Lord then they are able to become citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.
God does not force us to obey Him, he’s given each of use the ability to decide for ourselves what we’ll do. If he made the choice for us or forced us in some way then our accepting Him would have no value. He’s not after mindless automatons or robots, He wants us to come to Him freely.
So what do you have to do?
Believe that God exists and that He will reward those who diligently seek Him.
Understand that Because God’s standard is one of absolute perfection. Sin cannot exist in His presence and will never enter the kingdom.
Admit to yourself and to God that you cannot “save yourself” or by your own efforts meet this standard of perfection and qualify to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Believe that Jesus died to pay for your sins and that he rose from the dead on the third day.
Accept him as your Lord and accept the gift of salvation that he died to give you.
After that it’s a really good idea to get a Bible and begin to learn about Jesus and His teachings (start with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.), get connected with other Christians (in person and online) that can help you understand the scriptures, spend some time every day both praying and studying His Word.
Then, when you see the things that are going on in the world you can rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus is going to return some day, probably sooner than most would like to think about, and that when He does you’re going with Him to an eternal reward.
I will keep this short, hopefully. I’m coming to you today with my own prayer request and for my husband. On November 22nd, a Saturday, I fell down on a grocery store parking lot. At the time, I thought it was just a scrape on the left leg. I had taken my Mom to the store so we went on in. When I got dizzy and about to faint twice, I took a look at the leg. It was extremely swollen, same one where I had a blood clot in August. On that Tuesday, I took an ambulance ride to a hospital where the doc there said that since I was allergic to the ONLY IV antibiotic he wanted to give me, he would not be able to justify keeping me even though he knew I was in incredible pain. He said that his diagnosis was cellulitis which is extremely painful. It wasn’t just painful, it was incredible agony at the time. I do not say that lightly. Not to brag but I tolerate pain quite well and will take a lot before it’s a big deal to me. This pain was a 10+ on a 1-10 scale.
Since then, I have had nurses out to see me a couple times a week. The last visit before today was last Friday. She had not seen the leg before. (I see several nurses) Right after I saw the ER doc, I developed blisters on the leg and since then, they have broken and reset fairly often. When the nurse saw me last week, she suggested I go to see my family doc. I told her then that it was not possible since the leg hurt so much and the skin where the blisters are is quite sensitive. I could not wear any type of pants. That’s really all I have for going out of the house. I should mention that I am on a pretty high powered pain killer and it does not completely cut the pain but it is far more tolerable than before.
Today, I saw her again. She says that the blisters are getting worse, in her opinion, and she took pics. She gave them to my family doc who now wants me to go to the ER as soon as is possible. For some reason they just started getting worse than before. The other nurses did not see it that way before but there has been a gap in when I saw them and this nurse. Please pray for my healing and that this is not going to go any further downhill.
In addition, my husband who is the only one to take care of me and who does all the work, has been suffering from debilitating migraines just lately. The weather has changed recently and he often has problems with them at that time plus he is worried about me. That has to be contributing to the whole thing too. These migraines are really bad, worse than he usually has. Please pray that the migraines stop and that he is completely healed.
NOTE: This sounds like his migraines are bad but not horrible. Oh they are horrible, very debilitating to him. In addition, he is having jaw pain that will not let up like it has in the past. One always kicks off the other but this migraine stuff has lasted much longer than his headaches usually last. These have been going on almost every day for the last couple of weeks. It is likely that he will be going into the ER for his own needs tomorrow. We need prayer that this hospital is willing to do everything they can (they don’t always do that. This hospital is the one I was in last time. We need prayer for THAT too.)
It has come to my attention that there is a family in desperate need of prayer. The mom is a single mother, handicapped, with two teenage sons. These sons are very helpful to her, NOT rebellious teens like most their ages. She recently has had surgery that completely immobilizes her neck. This is a permanent situation. But this prayer request is about something else at the moment.
Her sons go to a school that is full of race problems. The principal is turning her eyes away from the problem. Recently, the brothers went into the cafeteria to get their lunch. They happen to be on the federally funded free and reduced lunch program. Soon, quite a number, some 25 black and hispanic young people came into the cafeteria and cut into line. There was name calling and shoving. Now please remember that the boys were not the cause of this. The teacher who was in charge came over the see what was the matter. She is hispanic. She decided that the two white boys were at fault and took them to the end of the line. When one of them came to the head of the line to get his food, she told those handing the food out that he was not allowed to have his hot lunch but instead was to receive what they call a “sub lunch” because he was a trouble maker. This is a frozen turkey sandwich, a close to rotten apple and three day old milk.
The mom has called the school. They were unresponsive until yesterday long after the lunch was over. The principal claims that she had no knowledge of this incident. She instructed the mom to have the teens come to her when this happens again. This is not an isolated incident. It apparently happens quite often. Many of the students no longer get their hot lunches because of the harassment from the other, much bigger teens who often carry weapons to school. There is much fear. What the mom is finding out is that the principal is probably not going to do much about this even though this school, like so many others, has a zero tolerance policy concerning bullies. She is insisting that the teens come to her when this happens. Unfortunately, if they do, they will be branded as tattletales and beat up, probably often.
Please pray for the safety of these teens and the other teens in that school. Please pray that this comes to light whether by the school itself, the local media or some way in which the safety of all is insured. Please pray for the family to get to know the Lord as well. And thank you so much for this. They need all the help they can get with this dire situation.
One of the songs that I love is called “He Made A Change”. The first time I heard it was with Ernie Haase and the Signature Sound. After that, it seemed to be around a lot. I really don’t know why I had not heard it sooner. Actually, the Cathedrals sang it first or at least before Ernie Haase did. Of course, Ernie used to be a member of the Cathedrals before they disband. The message in the song is so great. He made a change in me. I am walking and talking a different way because Jesus got a hold of me and made a change. Isn’t that awesome?
If you have not had that change in your heart yet, please listen to the song and then make the choice of asking the Lord Jesus into your heart today. When you tell Him your sins and ask Him to forgive you, it might just dawn on you that He went to that cruel cross just for you. I know that can be tremendously hard to believe but it is very true. He died so that we all might live. However, it is a choice. He does not force anything on you. This is up to you. But it is so worth it.
And now, here are Ernie Haase and the Signature Sound (one of my very favorite groups) singing He Made A Change!!
If you have any questions, I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you have a favorite song you would like to see here, please let me know by putting your request into the comments section here. If you need prayer, please click on the prayer request link. Know that people are praying for you!
I wanted to pass on some prayer requests from another blog called Grumpy Ape. Please click on the name to get to them. Praying for others is vital to the walk of a Christian. It is the spiritual lifeblood for us. When we pray for others, the kingdom of God is working as it should.
We all need prayer from time to time, some more than others. Some folks who come to a place of asking Jesus into their hearts seemingly have so many ills and problems that they bend God’s ear daily. Others apparently have seen the “light” and do not need to pray at all. All is well with the world. Right. There are folks who simply will not bother God with the trivial, some don’t think they are worthy of going to God for anything. What’s wrong with this picture?
First and foremost, the Father is not a sugar daddy who can and will hand out the wishes and wants like Santa Claus. God’s will is the one that will be done, not ours. Many, sometimes I think the word should be most, Christians new and older tend to feel that God is there to beg, plead, cajole, bribe and scream at to get what they want regardless of the cost to themselves or others. So many times, people want to do their praying from a desperation stance. And that is not the way God wants us to live at all.
Second, while we should not be praying from a point of desperation, sometimes it is essential to do so. Some things simply are desperate. Do not hesitate to go to the Lord with your petition. However, He is not moved by tears and begging. Most of us have to remember that one. During a time of pain and pressure, either your own or someone’s that you love, that might be all you can do. Instead of simply begging God, take the time to thank Him for all He has done for you. Give Him your heart. Put yourself in His Hand like no other time. God will honor that. Do nothing from a selfish or self centered point. He honors that which comes from the heart, the true compassionate giver.
Prayer is for a time to be with the Father, enjoying each other and having a friendship and fellowship unlike any other. But it is also time to talk about the needs of others, to petition for things that God is very willing to do for those people. It is not for selfish gain. God does not really honor that. So, do I not ever pray for myself? Of course you can. God wishes for you to have the desires of your heart. The one tiny thing about that is that when you become a Christian, read your Bible and sit with the Lord to learn, something changes inside you. Something rearranges and slowly your ideas of what you need and want tend to change, to become more like the Lord. When that happens, you look back on what you wanted before and realize that those were usually selfish and self centered things you wanted. God is looking out for you and for your family and friends. But He is not going to hand you everything you want just because you want it. Sometimes the tough road must be taken. That is a hard lesson indeed.
Praying for others is a step in the direction that God wants you to take. It is a totally unselfish act as long as you don’t have ulterior motives in doing so. If the prayer is for that person alone, this pleases God. So, please click on the link to Grumpy Ape and pray for those you do not know who need these prayers so much. Believe me, it brightens my day to know that I have a hand in helping someone who needs the help. They won’t even know who prayed for them. Isn’t that wonderful?
Normally, I pass on prayer requests as they come to me. And I put them in a list unless something requires more attention. I received this petition for a prayer request on a comment from an older post. It does appear to be urgent so I am putting it here in total as I received it:
My wife Mrs. Hasina Akhter (age 40) from Dhaka, Bangladesh, has long been suffering from an acute syndrome of “auto Immune disease” (wegners Granulomatosis), a very rare suffering which may not be cancer, but its malignancy is no less devastating.
She has been attended and provided almost all modern medications, both in Bangladesh and abroad. But nothing seems to cure her agony. So our only consolation left is the mighty and unseen blessing from heaven.
Now she is suffering of Cavities - Infections on both Lungs, Stomach infection and pain, Bad cough , Headache, Jaw and Gum area pain, Back pain, Cavities - Infections on both Lungs, Bad cough, upset stomach, Osteopenia, weight loss, joint pain, Fever, Lost Appetite etc.
So, you are requested to kindly let her name be announced in your prayer or any other discussions, so that your people can bring her in their prayer. I am confident that where great number of people raise their hand to the creator, one hand may be granted.
Best Regards,
Fazlur Rahman
Banani, Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Father, we are pleading with You to touch this person with Your healing hand. Lord, we are ever grateful to You for all things that You do for us. These folks are in desperate need of Your intervention. Please help. Please give peace that passes all understanding. We thank You so much for Your amazing grace and mercy. Please give them wisdom and understanding of everything You are doing in their lives. We thank You so much for all that You have done for us. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.
If I never knew before what the people are wanting to know, I do now. The previous post, “Please, Tell Me About Jesus“, had more views than any other post in the history of God’s Topshelf AND one of the largest view count that I have had on any of my 10 blogs in all the time they have been in existence. People want to know about the Lord Jesus. They are hungry to know about Him. That says to me that we, as Christians, are in a place where we can witness of our Savior. We can tell them how we came to know Him. And we can tell them what it takes to have what we have.
Most professing Christians will not do that. In fact, some would rather allow the person to go to hell rather than embarrass themselves over it. Friend, if you are embarrassed to talk about the Lord Jesus and what He has done for you, the scripture is rather clear on this point, He will not recognize you either. And Him not recognizing you means that you are likely to suffer in the pits of hell. Are you ready to risk that simply because you might be a little embarrassed? Yes, there are those who do not want to hear a word of what we have to say. So be it. In time, they just might change their minds. Who knows. That is between them and God. We are to do what we are told by the Lord. And if there is any question, I can tell you that God has said that we all are to witness, if we do nothing else. Thing is, you can witness by being the best Christian you know how to be. Your light will shine and someone will say “I want what you have” simply because you have a smile on your face and they have no idea why.
This is the time to stop and think how many people out there want to know about Jesus but cannot find someone to ask. According to the statistics about the United States, you should be practically falling all over Christians in this country. The reality is that many who say they are Christian are not. They think that because their parents were Christian and raised them that way, they say. They go to church and give a buck or two. These are really good people, never hurt anyone in their lives. But those people who are so good and go to church are going to die and end up in hell. There is but one way into the heaven everyone wants to go to, Jesus Christ! And someone needs to tell them that. Most of you want the television preachers or the local pastor to do all this. I have news for you. God did not give the job just to them. He gave it to you!
(Mark 16:15-16) And He said to them (eleven disciples), Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Now I know people who will argue that Jesus was talking to them, not us. True. But it is also clear that each time Jesus talked to them, He also meant that they should pass what they learn along to others who would do the same. Don’t believe that?
(John 17:20) (Jesus is praying for His followers at the Last Supper) And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word,
He said “their word” meaning the words that they set down in the four gospels and the rest of the New Testament. So, it is clear that each person who professes Jesus as their Savior has an obligation to tell others about Him and what He did for them. Those who are grateful will do this out of love for their Lord. Those who do not, have not understood exactly what Jesus did for them. One thing I am extremely aware of is that if you are grateful to the Lord, you will show it in witness. People who know Jesus, do love to talk about Him. I can tell you that’s true in my own life. When I was preaching at the truckstop, I found it to be fun to talk about my Lord and Savior. It was a joy to tell people who the Lord is and what He has done for us. After those Sunday mornings, I had the excitement and joy lasting well into the night. Everything was all right, exceptionally all right. Now, as I type out things that the Lord encourages me to write, I feel that joy and excitement running through me. Why? Because I know that someone that God sent to this blog will understand something they never did before and give their lives to Jesus or they will come back to Jesus. It is an awesome thing to be part of what God is doing today. Awesome!!!
Just tell what’s in your heart about your Lord. What the person does about it is, for you, irrelevant. God has asked you to witness. Surely what He did is worth that small thing. And the love that comes from God is so worth it. Jesus is my Lord. He died on a cruel and terrible cross, taking on all the sins of the world and you so that you would not have to pay the price for your sins. He paid it all for you. If He had not done that, you would be bound for hell which, by the way, was not made for you. It was made for the fallen angels from heaven and for the devil who persuaded them to fall with him. He has always been extremely selfish and self centered. He knew God. He was his right hand angel. He knew what God thought about what he was going to do but he thought that he could gain God’s throne. That was his purpose but God saw it and cast him out of heaven. Others were cast out with him, a third of the angels. Now, because of that element entering earth and the not so friendly skies, we have evil and sin in this world. Jesus took care of all that for you.
Now is definitely the time to seek Jesus while He may be found. There will come a time when He will say no, you had your chance. A cut off time in coming. The last seven years of this horrible time is just about to occur. When it starts, there will be nasty and awful things happening in the world, worse than Adolf Hitler could ever imagine, worse than Hussein, worse than anyone you can think of. There will be earthquakes worse than you have ever seen, drought, sickness, famine, hurricanes worse than ever before and much more. People need to be ready for all that. And they will not be if no one will witness to them. Aren’t their souls worth the time to tell them about Jesus? YES!!! A thousand times yes!
Take the time to seek God and find out what your specific job is for Him and then go do it. You will not regret it. The joy of the Lord comes upon those who do the Master’s will. What a blessing of God it is to be His child. I am a child of the King! If you are not, just ask Jesus into your heart today. Free yourself by confessing your sins to Him and ask forgiveness. He will welcome you into the house of God and the family. I will warn you, there are many people who, at first, do not feel any different. This is not about feelings. This is about a decision to be a part of the family of God and to put Jesus into your heart. What a life!!!!
How many people ask you that? OUCH! That question came from God. It hurts to hear it because most of us never hear that question coming, no one asks. Why is that? The reality is that those same people do not see Jesus in us. OUCH! Yes, these things hurt us and it hurts our witness. We are not doing what we must to put forth the Word of God as we should. If we were doing what we were supposed to be doing, the world would already be completely divided into two factions, believers and non-believers. That is so true. Right now, even though you can argue that this is exactly what we have, I say that’s not strictly true. What we have are THREE factions; believers, non-believers and fence sitters, those who might or might not choose the Lord. Some are that way because they have never heard the Gospel, ever. Is it so strange to realize that people right here in the U.S. have never heard the Gospel? How about in other countries where it’s preached a lot?
We need to get the Gospel to the world! Why? Jesus told us that when that happens, the end shall come. What end? The world? Oh no. Jesus was talking about the end of an age of misery and pain, death and destruction. That is the end Jesus was talking about. The end will come when Jesus comes back to claim what is rightfully His. There is a song that I love to hear and sing, Till We All Fly Away. Songs like that move the heart, spirit of a person. I have no idea when we will fly but we will. God was clear that the Christian will not go through the wrath of God. And make no mistake, God’s wrath is coming. With the world conditions as they are now, the time is ripe for the enemy to take hold with his diabolical and horrifying dark servant, the anti-christ. He is exactly as that sounds, anti, the very opposite of God and Jesus. Our Father is giving, compassionate, loving, merciful, graceful, saving and Lord. The enemy is just the opposite and his dark servant will be the same. Time is ready for that to occur.
We absolutely must be ready for a time when people will come to us and say that very thing, “Please, tell me about Jesus!” and we will need to be prepared to answer that with the joy of the Lord, the salvation message. But if you never give anyone that message, are you doing your job as a Christian believer? I don’t think so. We ask the Lord Jesus into our hearts because we feel that need inside ourselves to know Him and want Him in our lives. He drew us to Him by the power of the Holy Ghost through others who felt the need to pass on what they knew.
Let me ask you this. If John, Peter, Paul, Luke, Mark, Matthew had not heeded God and wrote the New Testament, where would we be? I have no idea how God would have done it, I am certain His plan would go forth but how much harder would it have been to understand the Gospel message? Do you see how easy God has made it for us? Do you see how God worked it out so that we could have His message, His Word right in front of our eyes? We take that so for granted. I think about the countries that did not allow the Gospel to come in like Russia and the satellite countries at the time. One of the most compelling stories I have ever read concerned Brother Andrew and how he got Bibles into the closed countries. He started with one Bible, hidden from view. Then another Bible that sat on the seat beside him which the guards could not see. When that realization hit, he decided to send truckloads of Bibles into a country that said NO! You cannot have that here. Still, the people in that country were taking ONE Bible, cutting it up and each person having a page to memorize and pass around. Now that is wanting to know the Word of God.
People, we are so blessed in the countries where the Bible is fully accepted. We can have as many Bibles sitting in our homes as we have money to purchase them. How blessed and fortunate we are. But do we use that? Not really. And there are so many excuses not to share the Gospel. “I can’t say anything at work, I would get fired.” “I don’t know how to tell anyone.” “My neighbors would think I’m strange or lost it.” “I’m too shy to do all that. I don’t know where to start.” All these and so many more excuses are just that, excuses. I want to know something here. Are you grateful for the saving grace of Jesus? Did you go to the cross and have Him tell you no, that you were not good enough? Did He say to you that He was too shy to tell you the Gospel? No, He died a horrible, horrifying death on a cruel cross so that you could go to church and sit silently in your little pew for years on end, putting your dollar into the plate every week, listening to the pastor preach, wagging his hand after the service and going home to the same old situation, having forgotten everything the pastor just preached to you.
Before I get all the comments, I do realize that not everyone is like that. But just examine your life. Are you the shining example of Christianity so that someone will come to you some day soon and say to you, Please, tell me about Jesus! Examine yourself to see if those around you will know that you have something that they want. See, you do not have to present the Gospel at work by having a meeting around the table. You can be a shining, silent example of Jesus just by living the life of a righteous, born again child of God, a child of a King! The King’s kids act like King’s kids usually. They simply have the assurance that they are rulers. We have that as children of the King but we do not live like it.
Isn’t it time to live the life we were born to live? We, who claim to be Christians, need to show by example and our lives who we are in the Lord. You know, Jesus told us to let our lights shine and not put them under a bushel basket. Most of us live in our basket covered world. Let the Light shine! And one day, someone will come up and beg you to tell them about Jesus and because you love Him so much, are so grateful to Him for what He really did for you, you will tell the story to them and they will know that they can have what you have. No more secrets!!! Let the Light shine!
My ex-husband died this morning. From friends, I am assured that he was a Christian for which I am truly thankful. However, my daughter, who lives in the same area that he did, is having to deal with this pretty much on her own. I am unable to be with her for this. Holly, the mother of his second daughter, is not going to be a whole lot of help, if the past is anything to go by. She is, herself, very much upset and having difficulty dealing with this. I should say here that this was not unexpected. He had throat cancer. However, it was not expected for him to go this quickly. They had just given him 6 months but that he could change that to years if he would do certain things. This comes at a time when my daughter was having other problems too.
Please pray for her. She is a strong person but says she is losing it today. And it is likely that she will have to make the decisions concerning everything. Please help her to get through this and to be able to deal with her other problems like with her car.
Father, I just ask you to take care of my daughter, to give her the strength to get through this definitely difficult time, to give her peace concerning it all and to be able to deal with the morass of things that always pop up unexpectedly in such situations. I pray that Holly will be able to be helpful in all this so that my daughter does not have to shoulder this all by herself. Please help her, Holly and Amber to make it through with no negative things happening. Give that little girl the knowledge that though her earthly father is no longer with her, that You are her Father as well. Help her to make it through these troubling times.
We love You, Lord. You are in control here.We praise You for all the blessings You give. We thank You that through this many people will see Your hand involved. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen.
