Powerfully Saved

So much has been happening in the news lately, of course the much anticipated Supreme Court decision is being talked about everywhere, many on Facebook are altering their profile pictures to show their support of the same sex marriage decision...I was considering altering my profile picture on Facebook to have a Bible or a cross or perhaps an open tomb, but decided to keep my profile pic the way it is. I don't want to cause people to jump to conclusions from a picture before hearing me out, and it all seems like a childish "whose side is bigger" game to me. It doesn't matter what people (including Supreme court justices) decide or do, it is what God has done, does, and will do that matters most.

Looking around on youtube on the topic of LGBT I found a wonderful testimony by a former lesbian activist. She has many insights into the "lifestyle" and the LGBT movement, how they infiltrate, the truth about LGBT tactics, and the difficulties that plague those caught in this way of life from behind the scenes, and how the Lord saved her and changed her "ministry".

Charlene is not a pastor, but she does mention a woman pastor that spoke words of life to her. I hope you won't get sidetracked on the woman pastor issue.  True that the office of pastoral leadership should not be held by women, however I also know from scripture that God can even use a donkey to keep a person from heading for destruction.

Also she mentions that it was her choice to allow Jesus to save her, yet she mentions  that the Lord saved her when she was 12 years old...the Lord obviously had a plan for Charlene's life and He brought it to completion. It doesn't matter if we think we chose Him, what makes anything we do real or not is if God ignites and infuses His Spirit into whatever decisions we make. Many think man's power to decide is what saves us and of course we can do nothing unless the Lord first grants us the ability to see that choice and then give us His power to choose the right thing. She might be a bit confused about who chose whom, but I can see that she has been powerfully saved by the Lord truly intervening in her life.

This video is about 25  minutes in length. Please have a very uplifting and inspirational coffee break time out with Charlene:

The Gospel

 http://tractleague.com/tracts/the-gospel--good-news/

 

What is the gospel?

According to the Strong's the word that has been translated "gospel" is from the Greek word meaning "good message" ...I've always seen it translated as "good news"...

The gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that provides full and free deliverance from the power and penalty of sin according to the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Why is this such wonderful news?

You and everyone else have been born with a fatal condition. This condition is called sin. Why is this condition so serious? Because God is sinless and hates sin, for sin is rebellion against His perfect and righteous standard. And your sinful actions makes you an enemy of God (Romans 3:23; James 4:4). God made man imperishable, in His own image (Genesis 1:27). He made man so that he may have continual fellowship with Him. But when sin came, the intimate fellowship between man and God changed.

 http://www.gospeloutreach.net/gospel.html

Things can be faked. We are all wicked, self-serving, self-loving above all others...we want to think that we are "good", but the truth is when push comes to shove, we will shove those who shove us and shove harder. Many times we see those who have a form of godliness yet deny His power (2 Timothy 3:5), and Jesus said they are difficult to tell apart without having His discernment, and even then, only after the wheat (true) and tares (false) grow into maturity (Matthew 13), because while these are yet immature they look very much alike....it is only after they bear fruit that we can see the difference.True godliness truly and honestly (perfectly? no, only God is perfect) loves others more than self. None of us have it truly....unless we have the Spirit of God making that true in our lives.

The word "gospel" first shows up in scripture here:


 Matthew 4:23-25  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.   And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. (KJV)

This is really the first time that I'm noticing that this good news went out beyond the borders of Israel during the time of Christ's ministry on earth....

Anyway, the good news is that we were doomed to hell, doomed in our sin, forever outcast from the presence of a holy and righteous God. The good news (gospel) is that God is merciful. He made a way out of this mess through the shedding of His Son's blood as payment for the ransom that needed to be paid for our transgressions.

When I watch the Investigative Discovery channel, the family of victims which were raped, tortured, and/or murdered are relieved when the perpetrator of the crimes is apprehended and sentenced to his just punishment. While he is not yet found, they worry that justice will not be served. But we fail to realize that because of our sinful nature we are all guilty before the perfect law that God demands to be able to stand in His presence. While we yet love sin (and face it we all do, it is part of our fallen human nature to love sin...even if it seems that we only love minor sins to a small degree, we are guilty to the full extent of the law), we do not want to stand in the presence of a holy God. I know that prior to being saved I hated anyone who told me the truth about my sin. Therefore how could I  stand before a perfectly holy God who would see every glaring but secret sin I ever committed that went without His punishment?....however He provided His Son to pay that debt! That's good news! It is like getting a reprieve from the governor while on death row.

A day or two ago DebbieLynne touched on the topic of "the gospel" while I was considering doing a post about it. She has some beautiful insights on this subject. Do take a look and meditate further on this blessed gift of God:

http://debsheadstick.blogspot.ca/2015/03/why-did-he-do-that.html

On Being Forgiving, Should We Forget?

"When I was a little older, I noticed my dad did not express his feelings as openly as some people, and I remember my mother trying to explain to me that as a young boy, my father learned to hide his feelings. He had learned that his persecutors in Germany were less abrasive if he didn’t respond to their actions against him.
When I was a teenager trying to “find myself,” I realized much of my personal insecurities could be traced directly back to the fact that I was the child of a Holocaust survivor."
 ---Jonathan Bernd—Why I Cannot Keep Silent
 http://thatjewdiedforyou.com/jonathan-bernd-son-of-hans-bernd/

My parents also suffered atrocities during WW2. My dad didn't talk about it but my mom did. My mom was angry and bitter, and held on to her resentment for many years. When my mom came to Christ, she learned her need to forgive the people that hurt her in her past. God provided wonderful opportunities to her to heal that anger. 

All of us have had things happen to us with which we struggle to find that place of forgiveness. I like what Jonathan Bernd says in the above piece, that forgiveness is not the same as forgetfulness. We can forgive and still remember, in fact we must remember. The two (forgiveness and forgetfulness/remembrance) are not intertwined, and can both be handled separately. I am sure Jesus remembered what was done to Him on the cross at Calvary, He remembers all things, and yet He forgives.

Passover

Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread) 2013 

begins: in the evening of Monday, March 25
and ends: in the evening of Tuesday, April 2

 David Brickner executive director of Jews for Jesus explains the components of the Passover 
seder:

The Evil We See... and God's Love

Yesterday morning, just before waking I had this dream:

There are terrible creatures, hideous, somewhat reptile-like, somewhat human-like. They are destroying everything and everyone in their path. The people they encounter are torn apart, or squeezed to death, blood is everywhere. One looks right at me as I am looking at this terrible horrible scene. He rushes to me but I have a force field in front of me. He hits it really hard, and I can see a large crack in the shield but it remains firmly in place before me. He loses interest in me and continues killing and destroying in other directions, as I look passively on. I recognize that I am looking at all of this and have no feelings about it at all. I see death and mayhem and blood everywhere, and have no compassion, or sorrow. I see that even though I am not doing the killing, that I am no better than the demons that are doing the ruthless slaughter. I just like them, feel no love for those being senselessly slaughtered. I am cold and heartless....and then I awaken, and think about what I just dreamed...


What comes to mind first of all, is that this is truly happening in the realm of the spirit. Demons are seeking whom they can destroy, and they are having a field day, wreaking havoc on this fallen world. God protects His own, and the devil cannot touch them (me included)...but because I am not being hurt, I can be cold and unfeeling about the people who are being hurt, and destroyed, by the devil's very ill behaviour. Even though I could clearly see the perilousness of the situation, the disgusting, violent, and senseless destruction, I have no sense of pity or horror, UNTIL I think it is tainting me by making me look bad (just as evil as the demons) to not have the correct pity towards the afflicted. And this is true about me. I do not have enough of a sense of urgency for the lost and dying. I do not make use of what I know about Jesus to try to help those in the devil's clutches. God selects whomsoever He will, but He chooses to use His elect to reach others. But many of His elect are like me. We see the sin, the evil, and if it doesn't touch us directly...
 we can choose to watch....
or choose to look away....

...but how often do we choose in God's strength and through prayer, to intervene?

Zec 4:6  Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:7  Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'"
Zec 4:8  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Zec 4:9  "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Zec 4:10  For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth."





I know that in my own strength and by my own ability I cannot accomplish anything worth anything in eternity...and then it is only (usually) to bring glory to myself for my heroic deeds. But in Christ I can do anything


Php 4:10  I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Php 4:11  Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Php 4:12  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
Php 4:13  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Php 4:14  Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 

Perhaps it is partly because of "the spirit of the age" that I have become numbed to the horrors of what is going on today. I can simply turn off the television and then go on about my own business, and as long as I feel good about myself, everything is good. The rest of the world can "go to hell in a hand-basket" but if it doesn't touch me, why worry about it? It's going to happen anyway, right? Or should I still wrestle in the spirit about it, and pray for understanding, and strength and compassion to at least attempt to do some small thing for the Lord that might be used by Him to save a lost soul? Can I look on what is happening with compassion, angst, the love of Christ, instead of looking away so I can be "at peace"? So I can feel good about myself? What did Jesus do? If I do not feel for the lost, am I just as cold and unfeeling as the demons that are ripping the unsaved to shreds? Yes, I believe that I am just that cold and unfeeling, at times, and only by God's grace and His help is there any hope for me to reach his lost ones through me in this decaying and tormented world.


Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Halloween

image link

I am no fan of Halloween, but simultaneously I do not feel called to stand on a soapbox to denounce it either. I feel led to live my life as quietly as possible in thanksgiving to God. I have always struggled with whether I should still hand out candy even though I personally believe it is something I should not be involved in...but I live in an apartment complex and previous years here we have been rather untrafficked by little Halloweeners (Halloweenites?) . I think they tend to go to the neighborhoods where they think they will reap the most candy, which I suppose isn't here. It does help me with my avoidance of this issue of what to do or not do regarding this thing. If any Halloweeners do happen to show up, I have fiber/nutrition bars available to hand out. At least I can try to make it a bit healthier than a Snicker's bar. I have also seen it advocated to put Christian tracts into the little gremlins and witches bags. I'm not sure if that falls into the category of casting pearls to swine, because I'm certain the little "darlings" won't appreciate getting jipped out of some great treats...

What will you be doing for Halloween? What about "All Saints Day"? I have a friend whose birthday falls on "All Saints Day" (November 1st). I do say "Happy All Saints Day" at least a couple of times on November 1st and it usually gets a puzzled look in response.

Happy All Saints Day!!!

It Depends On How You Look At It

The last few weeks have been times to reflect what I think, how I perceive, and what I think the Lord wants me to consider valuable and important. I realize that often times what I think is most valuable and important really isn't anything special in "the grand scheme of things" and what truly is important often gets trampled underfoot, and thrown out. (I think this is why I am such a clutter bug/hoarder. I'm always afraid that what I throw out will be thing thing I will really regret throwing out and soon after throwing out discover that I really needed it, sigh) .

I've been trying to pay more attention to those things that speak huge truths quietly, to listen carefully to sermons, and not just throw a sermon out because I disagree on one point....and who knows? I might be off (probably am) on my full understanding of that one point and how I should actually deal with it. Instead, I want to really listen for the gems that are there, that the Lord knows I need to hear.

Lord open my ears that I might hear, and my eyes that I might see, those things that you see I truly have need of. Help me to not shut my ears to you because the bearer of your message to me disagrees with me on one point.

...and Romans 8:28 always comes to mind. :)

A wonderful sermon that truly blessed me:

Exercises in Missing the Point

Footprints in the Sand

Last week was spent in the Bahamas. It was beautiful and relaxing. My friend Ken took this picture of me:

Just look at how big his shoes are compared to me, lol, and yes my legs are really that pale! Anyway, I put this and a few other pictures (chosen out of over 400 pictures taken) on my Facebook page. Someone that I work with commented underneath the above photo with:

"Footprints in the sand"

It's incredible that those simple words had a profound effect on me. God knows exactly where I am, and where I've been, and where I'm going. That just was so reassuring and uplifting.

Looking back on 2011 and Forward to 2012

 image source 

(also has great chemtrail info)

This has been an interesting year...

The world population (according to U.N. calculations) reached 7 billion on October 31, 2011. Read National Geographic News for their comments about this.

Look Up Fellowship does a good job in mentioning some of the highlights of 2011, as well as some speculative projections for 2012... and it is an election year, many believe we are in for four more years of Obamamania.

I know that whatever has happened and whatever will happen is in the Creator of the universe's hands, and He promised us Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Happy New Year, may it be a blessing for you and your family and those closest to you as you draw near to the Lord in 2012.

1Peter 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

image link

this link is another great source of info about chemtrails

Freedom of the Believer

image link

Does Jesus truly set us free? Free from what? What does that mean?

The whole thing about Christmas being completely pagan and the need to "throw the baby Jesus out with the bath water" as it is being discussed on Look Up Fellowship, is making me look at this topic once again.

This situation reminds me of the story of how circus people train elephants to remain on a chain. A very young elephant is chained with a  huge chain to a very large peg. He soon wearies himself trying to pull free from the chain. Eventually he resigns himself to the fact that he never will break free. Now the big chain can be replaced with a much smaller and weaker chain that will keep the elephant from breaking away, even though he has more than the needed strength to break free. When Jesus sets us free, we can be alot like that elephant that doesn't really believe that Jesus set us free. We still want to perform within the limitations that we have grown accustomed to. However, if my freedom causes weaker brethren and sisters to "sin" because they believe that living an extreme Puritan lifestyle is the only way Jesus will accept them, should I flaunt my freedom in their faces? The Apostle Paul said I shouldn't do that, but to have compassion for the weaker believers that feel that they must keep to rigid traditions (or a complete break with certain traditions) in order to keep themselves pure. I myself find I don't have to follow the traditions of my family, but can join with them and enjoy being with them in celebrations that I don't necessarily fully agree with, but do not feel condemned in being with them in the celebrating.

We are sanctified in Christ, by His blood, not by our doing or not doing, but "to them who think it is a sin, it is sin".... so should we cause them to sin by making them accept what they see as sin in us? The Apostle Paul said that was not a loving way to be towards others, so we should be mindful of their weak consciences. 

But then does that mean I should conform to their way so that their mind can be appeased? If I know it isn't true, then am I not a hypocrite? Shouldn't I be honest about it?

The way I see it (maybe I'm wrong) is if I am in their home, I would respect their way, and eat their food (if it's a food issue), and respect them if they feel unable to come to my home because I do things they see as abominable and my food and drink or habits are intolerable for them, and then not chide them for their weakness, neither let them judge me (Colossians 2:16) because we have one judge, and we all stand before Him.

We serve one God, He is over all. If one who serves Him wants to serve by not doing something, then that is how he will serve God. If another serves God by doing that which another man finds offensive, it is not for him to judge how another man serves God, but to pay attention to his own walk before the Lord.

We will each have to give an account for our own actions, and according to the scriptures love (poured out to us through the blood of Christ) covers a multitude of sins. (Proverbs 10:12)

He gives us His peace.

Edited to add:

A very nice link that has lots of verses which have to do with the freedom we have in Jesus:

http://www.nehemiahministries.ca/2009/the-believers-freedom-colossians-210-16/

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas

image link

I've been somewhat on the fence on this topic for many years...and that's because I really didn't know how I SHOULD stand on this topic. I've heard the arguments from both sides of the isle, and I find truth and error in both arguments. Those who say we shouldn't celebrate it at all make me sad...by that I mean, they seem to rigid and dogmatic to me. They remind me of Jehovah's Witnesses who say it is wrong to celebrate birthdays because the only birthday mentioned in the Bible cost John the Baptist his head. Well that IS true...but do we cut off someone's head to celebrate anyone's birthday these days? I agree that celebrating with a fictional character of Santa Claus and flying reindeer makes no sense...however, celebrating Jesus birth into the world ....(aside from the argument that His birthday PROBABLY WASN'T December 25th.....SO WHAT!???!) ....why exactly is it wrong?

So I was heartened to see that Jred spoke on this topic, and asks some very good questions:


http://www.lookupfellowship.com/2011/12/mixing-holy-with-profane-is-what.html

Excerpts:

 This year, I wondered why it is that we seem to know all the demonic, occult, pagan, Satanic things associated with this time of year as if we are experts on the subject (and all in the name of "exposing the darkness of deceit" consistent with Ephesians 5:11 and Matthew 10:16 I'm sure), but we don't seem to possess the same kind of knowledge when it comes to the holy, religious, redeeming, and spiritual aspects associated with this time of year?.....

.....There's something potentially significant that I'm wondering about. There's something pertaining to those who were alive in Jesus' time.

I imagine they had trouble (actually, we know they had trouble) accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God because of sin, yes, but also because some of them just couldn't understand why a "holy" and "sinless" God would incarnate Himself in a "fallen", "unholy", and "sinful" human body (Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:21). It's because sin is the reason for the season.

I bring that up because it seems to correlate quite nicely with this entire debate, doesn't it? I mean, those who oppose the celebration of Christmas will often cite all the verses from the Bible about mixing the "holy" with the "profane".

Forgive me, but isn't that what the birth of Jesus Christ is all about? Isn't the virgin birth a mixing of a holy God with an unholy human body? Isn't that the very essence of the thing we celebrate during this (or any other time of the year) as a fundamental tenet of our shared faith?

So what's the problem then? Why the constant debate? Why the protest? Why the incessant hand-wringing over the celebration of Christmas?

************************

It does seem that those who advocate not celebrating Christmas in any way whatsoever do seem to know all about the Pagan, demonic, occult, Satanic things about it, and nothing of what is:

Philippians_4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

It's almost as if there is an all-pervasive need to always find the ugly about anything with some of these folks...and perhaps that is the problem Jesus saw in the Church at Ephesus:

Rev 2:2  "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
Rev 2:3  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
Rev 2:4  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

With all the finding what is wrong with everything, do they ever mention what is good and sweet and gracious and encouraging? Perhaps they think that making everyone hate Christmas is doing good and sweet and gracious and encouraging things by making everyone aware (continuously) of every evil in the world....but then doesn't that go against Philippians 4:8 admonition to only concentrate on those things that are good and pure? Do we have to constantly find the ugly in everything and continue to purge it out with our disdain for anything that might even have a faint glimmer of possible Pagan influence in it? Or can we find that good part that might turn other people's attention back to the One who makes all things pure?

If Jesus is the reason for every season...doesn't that INCLUDE Christmas?

********************************

Edited to add:

 Jred had a couple of comments in the comment section, which he addresses, and then he has this which is about where I am with this right now too:

At the end of the day, I think this still holds true...

"To summarize briefly, I’m convinced by Scripture and conscience that Christians are not obligated to observe Christmas, and that Christians are not obligated to not observe Christmas.

Christmas observance, or non-observance, (just like the observance or non-observance of any other day) plainly falls into the Biblical category of a matter of indifference and liberty (Romans 14-15; Col 2:16-23).

 

My point in publishing this material isn’t to advocate for, or against, the observance of Christmas (or any other day), but rather to make the case that

a.) such things are matters of liberty and conscience in the light of Scripture

b.) many of the popular myths surrounding the origins of Christmas, even within the church, are often dubious, and sometimes misleading/false and 

c.) many of the most strident objections to the observance of Christmas if applied equally and consistently can have far reaching [and quite probably un-Biblical, legalistic] implications in actual practice."

Some of you will maintain that 'Christmas' IS ugly and evil. I get where you’re coming from. There are many points where I actually agree with you. Really, I do.

In the spirit of Romans 14, I’m okay with that though. I would never dream of trying to convince YOU that YOU should celebrate something that YOU don’t believe YOU should.

I’m just wondering where the line is drawn between 'celebration' and 'worship' because that’s what I think this all comes down to. Maybe that would’ve been a better angle for me to have approached this study from this year.

The Star

Jeffrey Radt at Look Up Fellowship posted about the Star of Bethlehem today...and he got me thinking about stars....about how television and movie actors are called "stars", and "wishing upon a star", and the death star of "Star Wars"....and Nibiru, and Wormwood...anyway...I only got to watch the first 10 mins of the video that LUF had up but it is amazing! So I repost it here, in 3 parts:

Really Cool Video

This is an experiment, lol...although the video clip shows a wonderful individual! Isn't it wonderful how God has given us creativity and a desire to accomplish goals! This young man was able to use those gifts wonderfully well!

Just Be You....

God knows the truth about us, He can see past our masks:

Good-O-Meter

Something in our assignments for this week reminded me of this video I had seen on Ma's blog...and after about an hour of searching for it on Ma's blog, I finally realized it might be quicker to find it through a search on Youtube... I typed in "scale, Jesus, heaven" into the search box and found it in about 2 minutes.

So after all that, I figured I'd share this one again, it makes me smile big each time I watch it. 

I also shared it with the class 

Dr. Andrew Corbett

This is a wonderful video presented by a pastor in New Zealand, Dr. Andrew Corbett. I absolutely love his accent, and his quiet and gentle passion. In this 27 minute video, he brings up many things (I'm going to have to watch this a couple of times, at least) such as "the gift vs the packaging", the "Midnight Society" (of fiction writers and artists), and that we as Christians wage war in the realm of ideas, ideas that can build strongholds (of wrong thinking) in people's minds. I hope you enjoy this little conversation as much as I do:

I don't agree with everything he says...I don't agree with his thoughts about using Harry Potter as a springboard to introduce the things that are similar to what the Bible says about the struggles between good and evil and the ultimate outcome being life after death, etc. I agree that we don't necessarily have to pull away from any contact with subject matter such as Harry Potter as being a taboo, something that we must not touch. To the Christian, all things are clean and pure so in that sense I do agree with Dr. Corbett that we don't have to worry about abstaining from certain types of fiction or films. However not all things are in our best interest. Some things might sidetrack and bog us down unnecessarily, or might even be a hindrance in our walk, or in how others (non-Christians who are watching us) may perceive us. Paul warns us that we need to be respectful and caring about hindering others who are weaker brethren, and also the fact that the truth is evil spoken of because of how some Christians (whether they truly are Christian or not is possibly debatable) behave themselves, or what they allow themselves to be involved with.

Anyway, he does have many good things to bring to the table, food for thought. Whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Corbett, he presents his arguments with a delightful accent and sweet passion.

Persevering Grace

God finds us, saves us, regenerates us, grows us, and keeps us:

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mat&c=19&t=ESV#24

The "scary" portions of scripture that seem to indicate that we can "lose our salvation" are there to remind us that if it were left up to ourselves, we would definitely lose it indeed. Thankfully, God does not leave it there with our own faulty handling of things, but takes command of His own that are truly in Him. I've heard Him called a "benevolent dictator"...anyway, the point is He does it and does it completely. We cannot, and all the "scary verses" that point many people to attempt to do what Jesus says we cannot do, by trying harder to do what Jesus says we cannot, those will eventually burn themselves out... It's a vicious cycle that ends badly, but for those who are truly His, it eventually leads us to resting in His finished work.

If that weren't so, it would not be good news.

Feet

Luk 10:38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that Jesus entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. Luk 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
Luk 10:40 But Martha was encumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Luk 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Luk 10:42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I've been thinking about feet lately....about the woman with the issue of blood who grasps the hem of Jesus's garment (by His feet) and gets healed by "stealing" some of His virtue. About the woman that kissed Jesus feet as she wiped them with her tears, tears of joy because of the tremendous love He had for her to forgive her all her many sins. About Jesus's feet pierced with the nails through them as He hung on the cross, weeping and dying.

Mary was close to Jesus and loved sitting at Jesus feet to hear His word. I tend to be more like Martha, and get angry when others aren't doing enough of their share of the work that needs to be done. I need to be more like Mary. "One thing is needful..." Lord help me to desire only that one thing and not be so troubled in my spirit about the things that won't amount to anything in the eternity.

Isa 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

The Gospel

2Th 1:8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power

 This is one of those "trouble passages" for a TULIP Calvinist like me, and one that Arminians love to "use against me". With the word "obey" right there "in my face", how can I say that being saved does not involve something that I do and keep on doing to keep myself there? Hmmm....?

"Obey not THE GOSPEL"....

What is the gospel? What is the "good news" and how do we "obey" it?

From what Jesus has taught me in His word, THE GOSPEL is the good news that He paid the price for my sin, and I am to trust in Him and His finished work. I am supposed to REST IN JESUS, but without His help in this, it is something I cannot do...and I confess that I cannot do it, and REST in the fact that Jesus can, and does, and already did everything to secure that for me, and that is GOOD NEWS (gospel) indeed!

EDITED TO ADD

Gregg at Gospel Driven Disciples has the word GOSPEL for his A to Z challenge word for today. He has some excellent info on that excellent word here