Thoughts, Encouragement, Wisdom & Fellowship

[channah]

On mercy…

We might hate what some people do, but if we have truly grasped at least a fragment of the amazing love God showed us in His Son Jesus, then our hearts would start to heal, and that would lead us to NOT hate the people who do evil, but rather feel sorry for them; we would start to copy God, we would become merciful… not only just, but merciful, too.

And we would leave all final judgment to Him, as only He has all the information required to make perfect judgment and justice in the end.

Therefore, we can rest assured that one day, perfect justice will be done.

[channah]

Bummer Lambs…

Every once in a while, a ewe will give birth to a lamb and reject it. If the lamb is returned to the ewe, the mother may even kick the poor animal away. Once a ewe rejects one of her lambs, she will never change her mind.

These little lambs will hang their heads so low that it looks like something is wrong with their neck. Their spirit is broken. These lambs are called “bummer lambs.”

Unless the shepherd intervenes, that lamb will die, rejected and alone.
So, do you know what the shepherd does? He takes that rejected little one into his home, hand-feeds it and keeps it warm by the fire. He will wrap it up with blankets and hold it to his chest so the bummer can hear his heartbeat.

Once the lamb is strong enough, the shepherd will place it back in the field with the rest of the flock. But that sheep never forgets how the shepherd cared for him when his mother rejected him.

When the shepherd calls for the flock, guess who runs to him first? That is right, the bummer sheep. He knows his voice intimately.
It is not that the bummer lamb is loved more, it just knows intimately the one who loves it.

So many of us are bummer lambs, rejected and broken. But He is the good Shepherd. He cares for our every need and holds us close to His heart so we can hear His heart beat. We may be broken but we are deeply loved by the Shepherd.

[Kaatje]

AN ALLEGORY OF THE ASS AND THE LAMB

“But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.” [Exodus 34:20]

Every firstborn creature must be the Lord’s, but since the ass was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means! God admits of no exceptions. The ass is his due, but he will not accept it; he will not abate the claim, but yet he cannot be pleased with the victim. No way of escape remained but redemption–the creature must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die.

My soul, here is a lesson for thee. That unclean animal is thyself; thou art justly the property of the Lord who made thee and preserves thee, but thou art so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept thee; and it has come to this, the Lamb of God must stand in thy stead, or thou must die eternally. Let all the world know of thy gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has already bled for thee, and so redeemed thee from the fatal curse of the law.

Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite which should die, the ass or the lamb? Would not the good man pause to estimate and compare?

Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of the soul of man and the life of the Lord Jesus, and yet the Lamb dies, and man the ass is spared. My soul, admire the boundless love of God to thee and others of the human race. Worms are bought with the blood of the Son of the Highest! Dust and ashes redeemed with a price far above silver and gold! What a doom had been mine had not plenteous redemption been found!

The breaking of the neck of the ass was but a momentary penalty, but who shall measure the wrath to come to which no limit can be imagined? Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb who has redeemed us from such a doom.

[From Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, October 15]

---

Personal footnote:
Don’t be offended by the use of the word “ass”.
It is not a deregatory word. It did become thus, but at it’s origins it’s not more, or less, than a donkey.
It is used in Scripture! And what God deems right, we shouldn’t let the be taken away from us.
YSIC, Kaatje

[staceylovesJesus]

[staceylovesJesus]

”So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.“
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

No matter what you have done…. Run back to Jesus because He is already right there waiting for you!

[channah]

(L.T.)

[channah]

Question for my brothers and sisters who might see this post:

Do any of you share the Gospel via Facebook?
If you’ve done it for a while, do you find it efficient?

Thank you!

[goodboy]

@channah

Do any of you share the Gospel via Facebook?
If you’ve done it for a while, do you find it efficient?

I do that every once in a while. Not sure just how effective it is, but it does remind people that I am a Christian.

[goodboy]

@channah

And we would leave all final judgment to Him, as only He has all the information required to make perfect judgment and justice in the end.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

[ellebee]

OUR CHILDREN ARE NOT BABY GOATS - THEY ARE LITTLE LAMBS

It is possible that no one has realized the deception caused by this word ‘kids’ in regard to our children.

What is a kid, exactly? A kid is a baby goat. When did this become a part of our Western culture? With the Baby Boomer post-WWII generation, with its growing emphasis on pop culture unleashed through the programming of television, radio and print advertising. The “kids” were the new generation doing shocking things, and shaking things up for the “old goats”, their parents and grandparents. Hidden-hand agendas have created the movements introducing the elements into youth culture since the advent of the advertising age, the Roaring Twenties. It is the continuing series of plots carried out to deconstruct mankind’s meaning. The word “kids” as a term for children was injected into vernacular by the “ad men”, who received their seasonal agendas from the higher ups of corporate boards. Their directives come from governments, and all governments are Luciferian, the nephilim who speak in the language of witchcraft, putting spells on people through symbols, words, music, products, all food, drink and medicines, and all water and now air, thanks to their geoengineering. With 5G they control the airwaves completely, and are ready to drop us with that military technology of low frequency waves. They’ll do it when people begin to lose all sensibility when the grid goes down due to Nibiru’s presence now.

But we can understand this: YOUNG HUMANS ARE NOT BABY GOATS. THEY ARE NOT SATAN’S KIDS.

HUMAN CHILDREN ARE LITTLE LAMBS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. We are sheep, not goats. Baphomet is the goat! This deception ends right here!

“Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” - Luke 2:13

From https://eatingtoascend.com/2019/08/01/children-are-not-baby-goats-they-are-little-lambs/

[Flamingogirl49563]

Beautiful and so touching. Thank you for sharing that encouragement, Kaatje.

[Flamingogirl49563]

Wow didn’t know this. So thankful that I was raised in a home where the Word of God was truth, and I hid it in my heart daily. Thank you for sharing this important information.

[Flamingogirl49563]

I was on Facebook since it started up and last year closed my account. I found that it was not a good way to spend my free time. I was too tempted to check on my daughters who have forsaken their father and I and it caused me to dwell on the negative aspects of that situation. I posted to many lifelong acquaintances who were brought up in church, but their indifference or should I say coldness to the proper and just life of a Christian was of no interest to them. It seemed prudent for me to leave this negative influence for better fellowship. I was not making a difference there. You may find it different, but for me it was not a good way to spend my time.

[TCC]

Excellent intro Laura. Welcome to the forum. Bessings.

[TCC]

A while back when BLM was very popular, a lady friend of mine from my previous reformed church invited several believers to the day she opened up her Facebook page to her unbelieving coworkers. It had the effect of interesting exchange to having to kind of shut it down. After a while some of the believers kind of started to take stances a bit stronger than conversation.

A lady friend I’ve known for years had recently heard about the AC coming from the Muslim faith as the Madi (a teaching that got popular in some reformed circles). So like one of the people unbeliever coworkers I was talking to was very BLM supportive and mentioned she was Muslim. And my other lady friend started to dig in. So it kinda started a food fight…lol. I was just getting warmed up to the BLM person. She was pretty young too. So I just IMed her and apologized for how the converstations broke out. And that believers have different conviction levels. And I hoped she was not too bothered (she had left the page calling Christians harsh).

Although taking a strong stances against Muslims is biblical, the context was that a friend of all of ours was inviting her unbelieving co-workers to her Facebook page. Meaning she will still be ministering to them at work (in a physical office). So I was just thinking for her friends to make a good impression on FB for the short while we would engage. But unfortunately it kind got crazy.

When I IMed that lady that called us harsh, she thanked me and appreciated me reaching out. At least there was that testimony. One thought I had over the decades I was at my reformed church (which seemed to be very sophisticated and edge cutting world wide church training par excellence), is that sometimes I believe there is a bit of a disconnect. Like the leaders are used to high end active lives and in a way see like to encourage the congregation from their lifestyle perceptions. Like importing how we who don’t live jetsetting lives can absorb through osmosis their super energized life. Nothing wrong with being challenged to reach out highest calling. But it was kind of a staple that their was this disconnect. And I think might have caused some in depression. Well their was a huge case that went to the supreme court over that sort of thing where a member had committed suicide. And the supreme court ruled that churches do not have to have academic psychology degrees to council…it would be a reason we don’t have that in America. This occured before I got there. But it demonstrates how jet setting can almost be like a Christian way of keeping up with the Joneses.

Anyway…lol…that lady friend that went off about Muslims on FB was just speaking straight cuz she got it from the pulpit. And to me, from an honest perspective kind of mowed down an unbeliever that was already in route of being exposed to what Chrsitians are like through the lady that invited us onto her FB page to intermingle with her unbelieving co-worksrs. It would be good if churches maybe had some classes on ediquitte in how to best minister some “intense” convictions they hear from the pulpit. The said, the thing is on top of that–if the AC does not come through the Muslim faith (which I doubt he will–my view), its like using mirage Christian concept to turn the more immature believer into a weapon against the lost rather than an olive branch to Christ. I mention this because this principle is a huge type of issue also in fundamentalist like churches i’ve seen too. Just saying.

Suffice it to say, Facebook can be an awesome tool I am sure. I’ve seen others just regularly post and perhaps posts get forwarded from time to time to unbelievers. But Facebook by nature is kind of tribal and known for be part of social ills. And social disfunction (internet warriors–giants behind the screen kind of thing). But Anca, I believe Stephanie has done a lot of on line witnessing. She might be a good reference. Blessings.

[TCC]

Thanks Kaatje. Its been a while since I looked at Spurgeon. For a moment I was thinking wow Kattje must be in poetry mode. I thought you might have been sharing a poem you had written. But then I noticed it was Spurgeon. Wow. Very nice. Lovely.

@Kaatje

My soul, here is a lesson for thee. That unclean animal is thyself; thou art justly the property of the Lord who made thee and preserves thee, but thou art so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept thee; and it has come to this, the Lamb of God must stand in thy stead

My favorite line.

I am surprised the filter bot let you post that. It likely knows its history as donkey has beeb its legal tender definition longer than its colloqueil use. Sometimes the filter bot wont let us post a persons last name…lol. I like that you and it leaves the words as written. As they were meant. For their context speaks from an era that speaks to our generation. And reminds us that it is our sounder parent (in comparison to our very learned yet not as wise age in general), that reminds us of the echo of a people a bit closer to the initial ages of innocence that proceeded Adam And Eve,

Blessings.

[ellebee]

Praise God you were blessed so as a child! That makes me very happy.
You are welcome. It’s one of those things that once you see it, you can’t unsee it, yet we have all been so snowballed to accept this and so many other things in “modern culture”.
Blessings! Thank you for your message here!

[ellebee]

Lol I didn’t realize it would serve as that - so be it!
Thank you and God bless you too!

[channah]

I wondered today in my meditations on God’s Word if this could pe a possible scenario of what happened in the Garden of Eden.

1. God makes Adam.
   

   

2. God planted the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
   

   

3. Rules are made perfectly clear: “Do NOT eat of that tree for you will surely die”.
   

   

4. There’s one missing puzzle piece.
   

   

5. God finds the missing puzzle piece and puts right where it belongs.
   

   

6. Adam is happy.
   

   

7. Unexpected guest appears on the scene.
   

   

8. Eve was aware of the strict rule to NOT eat of that tree (“nor shall touch it”). Obviously Adam made it clear to her.
   

   

9. The crafty attack has come. Satan deceives Eve by enticing her to eat. Satan’s promise is: "the day you eat your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
   What did Eve understand by evil?
   Probably something very attractive and desirable, but the idea of evil was something she didn’t grasp; she’s never experienced it before, hence she had no understanding of EVIL.
   How do we know that? The Bible says she was “deceived”. That means she had no idea was she was getting herself into.
   Satan on the other hand experienced evil; he knew first hand what evil was and he was so evil that he dragged Eve into eating the fruit by lying and ensnaring Eve.

10. Since Adam was “with her”, could this mean that he let Eve make her own decision freely instead of forcing her? Just like God doesn’t force us to love Him, but rather lets us freely choose to love Him or not?
    Maybe.
    It makes me think of the following: “If you love someone, set them free. If they come back to you they’re forever yours; if they don’t they never were.”
    

    

11. After the tragedy occurred, God the Redeemer takes the initiative and comes looking for His lost children in order to redeem them.
    

    

Maybe this is what happened in the Garden, maybe not. Chances are high that I could be wrong.

But one thing I know for sure: we are free to love God or not. I am forever grateful that He came to search the lost, of whom I was one.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.

(Luke 19:10)

The moral of the story in the Garden is that God loves us and He wants a relationship of genuine love with Him.
His character revealed in Jesus, demonstrates beyond any shadow of doubt that He is worthy of our obedience, whether we understand Him or not.
No other being in the Universe is worthy of this kind of unconditional trust and obedience. He is the only true God, and Jesus incarnate is His image. We are free to choose because Love is not Love unless it is freely chosen.

[goodboy]

What was the reason that Adam and Eve ate the fruit? The Bible tells us.

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Eve was deceived by the Serpent, that’s an easy one.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Notice that the Bible does not just say that Adam also ate of the fruit. It says that Eve gave it to Adam.

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

So Adam makes the excuse to God that his reason for eating the fruit is because Eve gave it to him.

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

So God punishes Adam for obeying Eve rather than him.

So here is how it all works out. Eve ate the fruit as she was tempted and lied to by the Devil who deceived her. Adam ate the fruit because Eve gave it to him, not because he was deceived.

So Eve’s problem was not submitting to Adam. She should have asked for Adam’s counsel before proceeding. Sound familiar?

So Adam’s problem was placing Eve above God. He became submissive to Eve when Eve was supposed to be submissive to him. Sound familiar?

This is the exact same problem we have today with wives not submitting to their husbands and trying to rule over them and men submitting to their wives and placing them above God. I actually slowly ended up placing my wife above God. My primary goal became to please my wife, not to obey God. God 36 years later removed my wife from me (divorce), so I would get back to serving him!