Count Your Blessings
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
Refrain
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
Refrain
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Refrain
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
NOW, Is The Acceptable Time!
The Signs Of The Times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Matthew 24 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4. Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places
8. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11. and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13. but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15. “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
16. then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.
18. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.
19. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
21. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25. See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29. “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]
30. “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d]
31. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door.
34. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36. “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.
37. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 . and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
43. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
44. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
46. It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
47. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’
49. and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
50. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
As we look around in our cities, country and the world we see so many thing happening, and they are very disturbing! And no matter how we look, and meet and try to negotiate, man is no longer in control of what's going on. He no sooner puts out one fire when two more spring up!
If it's not bad weather ( snow ), earth quakes, fires, storms, sickness, etc. It's nations rising up against each other and threatening nuclear destruction! But, notice, Jesus, predicted this would happen. In fact He says the only way things will get better is when He returns.
LISTEN UP! Things on this Earth are NOT going to get better! They are going to get so bad that Jesus will have to return to put a stop to it!
Everywhere you look it seems like things we used to depend upon are being made obsolete over night. It used to be the American Dream to have a home, but many are homeless now because they can't afford to live in them any more. It used to be part of the American Dream to have a job, now millions of people are out of work, and even more are sure to join them before the years end. Having no job means you can't pay rent/mortgage, car note, bills, buy food, support family, provide health care, etc. With very few or no jobs available, criminal activity abounds. With police forces being cut in half, many crimes are not even reported, if they are there is no one to investigate. Some American cities are slipping into anarchy right under our noses.
With threats to lay of fire men, I guess they will burn down too. . . . .
It is as if someone pulled the plug on Human society! Want to know what this really is? This is GOD showing us two things. Number One: What the world is like without God. Man wants a world without so He let things deteriorate to the point of no return. Man doesn't want God, His Word, His wisdom, His protection, so God said "Go ahead.". Because He will not force Himself upon people. Number Two: God is letting us see that all of those things that man is know to seek security in without depending on God WILL FAIL!
Man used to be secure in the fact he had a job for life, he had a home for life, he had a pension all set up for retirement, he has health care all set up for life, that he had certain benefits which came with the job. God is showing that these things can all fail over night. All it needs is someone to legislate it away. And one day you have it, the next day you don't. And it doesn't matter if you are a member of a union. Unions are being busted and broken down left and right.
It's a sad story that God has to STRIP man down to nothing in order for man to either look up and look to God, or become extremely bitter and blame God.
Why does God STRIP man, even to the point of putting him or her in the hospital with cancer ( or some other horrible disease )? He is letting them know that what they had was a FALSE SECURITY! The only ETERNAL SECURITY is in Christ! NOTHING ELSE!
Judging by the signs of the times, it's no time to play games and dawdle! All of the prophecies have been fulfilled so Christ can return any day now! There is absolutely no reason for you to remain hopeless. Jesus Christ died and overcame so you can to. You only need to accept Him as your Savior. And you will truly have a HOPE!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you want to accept Christ as your Savior and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this:
"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always."
If you prayed this prayer, you are saved FOREVER and NOTHING can remove you! Not even God Himself!
Matthew 24 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4. Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places
8. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
11. and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
12. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13. but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15. “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
16. then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.
18. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.
19. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
21. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25. See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29. “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[b]
30. “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d]
31. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door.
34. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36. “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.
37. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 . and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
43. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
44. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
46. It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
47. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’
49. and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
50. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
As we look around in our cities, country and the world we see so many thing happening, and they are very disturbing! And no matter how we look, and meet and try to negotiate, man is no longer in control of what's going on. He no sooner puts out one fire when two more spring up!
If it's not bad weather ( snow ), earth quakes, fires, storms, sickness, etc. It's nations rising up against each other and threatening nuclear destruction! But, notice, Jesus, predicted this would happen. In fact He says the only way things will get better is when He returns.
LISTEN UP! Things on this Earth are NOT going to get better! They are going to get so bad that Jesus will have to return to put a stop to it!
Everywhere you look it seems like things we used to depend upon are being made obsolete over night. It used to be the American Dream to have a home, but many are homeless now because they can't afford to live in them any more. It used to be part of the American Dream to have a job, now millions of people are out of work, and even more are sure to join them before the years end. Having no job means you can't pay rent/mortgage, car note, bills, buy food, support family, provide health care, etc. With very few or no jobs available, criminal activity abounds. With police forces being cut in half, many crimes are not even reported, if they are there is no one to investigate. Some American cities are slipping into anarchy right under our noses.
With threats to lay of fire men, I guess they will burn down too. . . . .
It is as if someone pulled the plug on Human society! Want to know what this really is? This is GOD showing us two things. Number One: What the world is like without God. Man wants a world without so He let things deteriorate to the point of no return. Man doesn't want God, His Word, His wisdom, His protection, so God said "Go ahead.". Because He will not force Himself upon people. Number Two: God is letting us see that all of those things that man is know to seek security in without depending on God WILL FAIL!
Man used to be secure in the fact he had a job for life, he had a home for life, he had a pension all set up for retirement, he has health care all set up for life, that he had certain benefits which came with the job. God is showing that these things can all fail over night. All it needs is someone to legislate it away. And one day you have it, the next day you don't. And it doesn't matter if you are a member of a union. Unions are being busted and broken down left and right.
It's a sad story that God has to STRIP man down to nothing in order for man to either look up and look to God, or become extremely bitter and blame God.
Why does God STRIP man, even to the point of putting him or her in the hospital with cancer ( or some other horrible disease )? He is letting them know that what they had was a FALSE SECURITY! The only ETERNAL SECURITY is in Christ! NOTHING ELSE!
Judging by the signs of the times, it's no time to play games and dawdle! All of the prophecies have been fulfilled so Christ can return any day now! There is absolutely no reason for you to remain hopeless. Jesus Christ died and overcame so you can to. You only need to accept Him as your Savior. And you will truly have a HOPE!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you want to accept Christ as your Savior and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this:
"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always."
If you prayed this prayer, you are saved FOREVER and NOTHING can remove you! Not even God Himself!
Shut Up, Already! ( Said W/ New York City Accent )
Some of you may be wondering "What's this about sharing the Good News?" We are tired of hearing about it!
It's awfully strange that when people have good news, they tell it! If a woman gets engaged, she tells and shows off her ring all of her friends, if a couple gets married they tell everyone, if a couple has a child, they tell everyone. If you get a promotion, you tell everyone, get a new job or house, car, everyone is told! Hoy! If you win the lottery, the media will make sure everyone knows because your name and photo will be published all over ( unless you get lawyers to put a stop to it )! Why does the world "harrold" such things? Because they want folks "to know"!
The world system advertises everything from A to Z on billboards, television, radio, the internet, etc! You literally can't go anywhere without being BOMBARDED with advertisement which calls your attention to something, even if you don't want to hear about it. However, whenever a believer in Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior decides to share the Gospel of Salvation, It's like "Enough already!"
The common "misconception" is "If your faith is so good, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!" Well, I can't! Like the bible says, "It's like fire shut up in my bones!" I HAVE TO TELL YOU!
Why? I don't because I was saved and delivered out of a "horrible pit"! Only the hand of the Most High God could have delivered me from there and set me free! If you were neck deep in quicksand and someone threw a rope in and pulled you out, wouldn't you thank the one who rescued you? Wouldn't you praise him or her and tell everyone about them? YES YOU WOULD!
Well, that's what I'm doing when I share my faith in Christ and invite people to come to Him!
The final reason, and by no means the least reason is the Great Commission.that Jesus gave to every one of His soldiers. That's right, when I received Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior, I changed sides. I left the Army of Satan and I'm a soldier in the Army Of The Lord. I'm no longer my own, as I was bought with the precious blood of my Savior. So, I now take orders FROM HEADQUARTERS! THE MOST HIGH GOD! He says go, I go! He says speak, I speak!
Mark 16:15 (New Living Translation)
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
And aren't YOU an "everyone"? If so, YOU CAN COME!
* * * * * * * * * * *
If you want to accept Christ as your Savior and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this:
"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always."
Did you pray this prayer? If you did, you are saved FOREVER!
It's awfully strange that when people have good news, they tell it! If a woman gets engaged, she tells and shows off her ring all of her friends, if a couple gets married they tell everyone, if a couple has a child, they tell everyone. If you get a promotion, you tell everyone, get a new job or house, car, everyone is told! Hoy! If you win the lottery, the media will make sure everyone knows because your name and photo will be published all over ( unless you get lawyers to put a stop to it )! Why does the world "harrold" such things? Because they want folks "to know"!
The world system advertises everything from A to Z on billboards, television, radio, the internet, etc! You literally can't go anywhere without being BOMBARDED with advertisement which calls your attention to something, even if you don't want to hear about it. However, whenever a believer in Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior decides to share the Gospel of Salvation, It's like "Enough already!"
The common "misconception" is "If your faith is so good, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!" Well, I can't! Like the bible says, "It's like fire shut up in my bones!" I HAVE TO TELL YOU!
Why? I don't because I was saved and delivered out of a "horrible pit"! Only the hand of the Most High God could have delivered me from there and set me free! If you were neck deep in quicksand and someone threw a rope in and pulled you out, wouldn't you thank the one who rescued you? Wouldn't you praise him or her and tell everyone about them? YES YOU WOULD!
Well, that's what I'm doing when I share my faith in Christ and invite people to come to Him!
The final reason, and by no means the least reason is the Great Commission.that Jesus gave to every one of His soldiers. That's right, when I received Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior, I changed sides. I left the Army of Satan and I'm a soldier in the Army Of The Lord. I'm no longer my own, as I was bought with the precious blood of my Savior. So, I now take orders FROM HEADQUARTERS! THE MOST HIGH GOD! He says go, I go! He says speak, I speak!
Mark 16:15 (New Living Translation)
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
And aren't YOU an "everyone"? If so, YOU CAN COME!
* * * * * * * * * * *
If you want to accept Christ as your Savior and turn from your sins, you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord by praying a prayer like this:
"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always."
Did you pray this prayer? If you did, you are saved FOREVER!
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