GRACE AND PEACE ,FAMILY OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER ,I JUST RECEIVED THIS AND THOUGHT IT MIGHT  BE OF HELP TO SOMEONE LOVE ALL

Unmet Expectations
Theme of the week: God Shines Light into Our Darkness
Sunday, January 29, 2012

 1 of 1

Who Said It … Frank Viola

Frank Viola is a leader of the house church movement, a frequent conference speaker, and the author of numerous books on the Christian life and church renewal. His writings include Reimagining Church, the best-selling From Eternity to Here, Finding Organic Church, and Revise Us Again. Frank and his family live in Gainesville, Florida.

What he Said … Unmet Expectations

When the Lord doesn't act according to our expectations, our faith gets tested. Some people fall away. Note the words of Jesus about this: "God blesses those who do not turn away because of me" (Luke 7:23). Here's the context. John the Baptist had just been put in prison. John's prison experience caused him to doubt that his cousin was the Messiah. So John sent emissaries to Jesus, asking him, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Luke 7:19, NIV).

Jesus' reply comes straight from Isaiah 61: "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor" (Luke 7:22, NIV).

Jesus, however, leaves out one phrase from Isaiah 61, the one John would have expected to hear: to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

John never left the prison.

"Blessed are those who do not fall away from me, especially when I do not meet their expectations."

Key Study Passage: Psalm 88

Adapted from Revise Us Again (David C. Cook, 2011) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2012 by Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

 1 of 1

share this page

Prayer for the Week

WELCOME TO THE NEW MEMBERS!!!  WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE YOU HERE.  I am blessed that everybody is here .  Glory to God!  We are going to find out, what we are to do for the GLORY OF THE LORD!!!

GOD is wanting us to obey HIM.  We are called to do HIS Will.  Now is the time, many have begun, some have just been waiting, others are wanting to know what to do.  

READ THE WORD!  PRAY, PRAY,PRAY...Pray for others, Pray for your sight, for your hearing.  Allow the Courage of HOLY SPIRIT to over take you. And STAND for the LORD!  STAND for others!  STAND and prepare, make ready!  THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE!!! REJOICE, REJOICE, REJOICE, and be Glad in it...Allow the Lord to show you, give the Spirit Freedom as never before.  Unleash the hounds.. The LORD is MOVING. HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! 

Martyp my beloved sister we has an awesome Heavenly Father who loves us and will answer our prayers I'm so thankful to him for you ,KEEP GOING FORWARD IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME AND POWERFUL BLOOD LOVE YOU MY SISTER

AMEN AND AMEN LORD for all the VICTORIES my family in this had from you. GLORY TO YOUR NAME.

O HEAVENLY FATHER ,I COME TO YOUR THRONE OF GRACE RIGHT NOW JUST TO SAY THANK YOU ,AND TO PRAISE YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND YOUR MERCY AS YOU BLESS YOUR CHILDREN IN THEIR TIME OF NEED ,WE THANK YOU O HEAVENLY FATHER IN THE NAME OF YOUR SON JESUS THE CHRIST ,WHO IS OUR BIG BROTHER AND HIGH PRIEST WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US SO THAT WE MAY LIVE WITH YOU AND THAT  YOU DWELL IN US ,THROUGH YOUR HOLY SPIRIT WHICH GUIDE US DAY BY DAY ,I THANK AND LOVE YOU IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME AND POWERFUL BLOOD .SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH ,I'M A LIVING WITNESS OF HIS FAITHFULNESS .MARTY ,MY BELOVED SISTER ALL GLORY GOES TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER ,I'M ONLY SHARING WHAT HE IS GIVING ME TO MAKE ME STRONG ,SO BY OUR KINDRED SPIRIT I'M GLAD THAT IT IS HELPING YOU LOVE THIS WHOLE GROUP IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME

AMEN ELAINE AMEN

WOW FAMILY JUST LOVE THIS SO I JUST HAD TO SHARE IT THANK YOU O HEAVENLY FATHER IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME

Today's Bible Verse:

Psalm 103:5
…who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (NIV)

Today's Inspiring Thought: Your Youth is Renewed

Aging is a strange thing. My body is nearly 60 years old now, but my mind still feels like 30 or 35. I attribute this phenomenon to the goodness of God. Seeking and serving God keeps you young. When our desires center upon our Savior, Jesus Christ gives us more understanding of him. I can't run up stairs any more, but I can read the Bible and appreciate what God is saying to me. I can't do much physical labor without getting tired, but I can pray and be sure that God will do what is best for me. I can't see much without my bifocals, but I can see that Jesus will greet me in heaven some day. When your youth is renewed like mine has been, you don't worry about the things you can no longer do. Instead, you praise God for the new life that lies ahead.

FAMILY CHECK THIS OUT,AND BEGAN TO SMILE IN YOUR TESTS

How God Uses Pain

February 4

 

 

"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isa 45:7).

God will use pain in order to create a love relationship with His creation. This statement may challenge your theology. However, consider that God allowed Jesus to experience incredible pain in order to create an opportunity to have a relationship with His creation. Consider how Jesus created a relationship with Paul. He blinded him and used a crisis in his life in order to bring him into a relationship with him and use him for God's purposes. Consider how God recruited Jonah for the mission He had for him.

This is not God's first choice for His creation. Romans 2:4 reveals that God's preference is to show mercy and kindness: "Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" The problem is there are few people who respond to the goodness of God. God loves people more than He loves their comfort. He invests a great deal into mankind. He desires relationship with us and will go to great lengths to create such a relationship in order for us to receive the rewards and inheritance He has for us.

I have observed this process in the scriptures in working with people through years of ministry. I have noticed three distinct stages. First, we live based on convenience. Our obedience is largely based on circumstances in our lives. We choose to obey based on the circumstances.

The second stage is the crisis stage. God allows a crisis to come into our lives. We are motivated to obey God in order to get out of the pain of our situation. Many times God allows us to stay in this condition in order to demonstrate His love and faithfulness during our pain. Gradually, we discover something new about God and often have a personal encounter with Him that changes us. Our very nature is affected by this God-encounter.

This begins to move us into a third phase that is a relationship that is motivated now by love and devotion instead of pain. This is where God desires us to be. Another way of saying this is we are no longer seeking His hand. We are seeking Him. We want to know God personally.

Obedience will not last when the motivation is only the removal of our pain. Obedience only lasts when the motivation is loving devotion. Where are you in your obedience and what is the primary motivation? If it isn't love, why not tell the Lord you love Him today and want to know Him for who He is and not for what He can do for you.

Alcedes, your comments have jsut hit me like a train. Outof all the time I have been on this site, this has hit me and makes some kind of real sence to me.

Where am I within the stages.

How do I get know and understand who the Lord is, I am only in this for myself, how do I devote to something that is willing to use pain for me to love them, is my pain all I think about??

These are really relevant to me now.

Thank you God bless you.

After I had read Alcedes posting about pain. I also am in agreement to the Wisdom Holy Ghost has shown him. As I have been shown and the Spirit continues to reveal to us on this subject. So many of us deal with pain, however, the enemy often for different reasons, does not want us to share with one another on this issue. As it tries to have us buy into the idea, we are failures if we have pain. Like most of us learn, who deal with pain everyday. We are Over comers based on the Word, not how we feel. Here are two parts, of things on pain that I was shown, and shared in the past. The more freedom we show by sharing, the better off “the Body” as a whole is.
Pain can tell us 8/23/11
Pain can tell us things, we might not be able to hear, any other way.
It shows us limitations, what we can or cannot do.
Where our weakness are, and what to do to get past them.
If we allow pain to much power, it can change us into people we may not like.
If we don’t listen close enough, we can become even more damaged, had we not heard
it’s voice. It can show us who we are and who we are not.
What we do to avoid pain, can be an indication of how much pain we have had.
Pain does not prove bravery, or cowardice no matter the degree. It shows where we are at that moment. What we do w/ that information however shows quite a bit.
Pain is not a licence to hurt others, we never have that right...
...There are always lessons to be learned from pain, we need to learn them.
It’s not that we won’t be hurt again, we will.
But we can learn not to put ourselves in the same positions.
And we can become stronger and more educated.
Everybody is different, what one gleans from something does not mean
another will see the same thing.
That may work for you but, it only makes things worse for me.
Pain can effect how we help and how we let others help us.
Pain can make us very touchy, we need to be aware of that, so others can help us.
And when we can help others w/ that in mind, we don’t just march in and try to fix them.
Is pain my friend, or just companion? Do I embrace pain or shun it’s existence .
How we see pain, what we learn from it, and the manner we share it’s knowledge.
Those are the things that make us up, as people and as a society.
My hope is that none of this hurt.

“The Battle in Storms!” 11/8/11
I love storms, always have I image always will. Yet, since all that has happened to me and my body, the weather can effect me in very painful ways. When I woke up this morning, I was in such pain I said, “no I will stay here in bed!!” And then in me my spirit said, “No, I want to get up and Praise God!!” Now if I were to say the pain left me, and I jumped up and danced before the Lord, I would be a liar. What I did was, I arose and said, “Yes, I will get up and Worship my Jesus!” Not in spite of my pain, not even to lessen my pain. My Lord deserves my Praise. Did my pain go away because I Praised? Well, I took my meds, does that show lack of faith? You see the point is, it has nothing to do w/ pain. As my focus was no longer on pain, but on Praise. No matter the condition we find ourselves in, Jesus deserves our Praise. It is not a this for that. If I Praise You then, You take away my pain. Our Praise is not a transaction. Do I believe in Prayer for healing? Yes, of course I do. I stand on many scriptures for many parts of my body. But, remember” the Battle belongs to the Lord!!” If my faith needs to be built up and, the testing of of that faith is through what I face then, cool. I am standing and believing He knows what is best for me. I exercise my faith by, asking the Father for what I need and want. Jesus Himself gives us the confidence by His Words in Matt 6:8 ..Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Then John reminds us in 1John 5:14 We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval. So we stand. Oh, by the way, my pain did and has continued to lessen....

Delete Comment

AMEN ELAINE AND YES MY BROTHER CHRIS, YOU ARE SO RIGHT IN BOTH OF YOUR POSTS  AND I JUST LOVE PSALM 119 AND HERE IS A FEW VERSE FROM IT,

Yodh.

73Your hands made me and fashioned me;
         Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

74May those who fear You see me and be glad,
         Because I wait for Your word.

75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
         And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

76O may Your lovingkindness comfort me,
         According to Your word to Your servant.

77May Your compassion come to me that I may live,
         For Your law is my delight.

78May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie;
         But I shall meditate on Your precepts.

79May those who fear You turn to me,
         Even those who know Your testimonies.

80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
         So that I will not be ashamed.

God bless you Chris, I pray that your pain is not with long and that it soon leaves you. Peace be with friend.

Hi Marty, I am with you as I have and am currently always thinking alot about my self and my circumstances. I find it hard to change this and my current way of thinking, I struggle so much with the learning. I don't mind helping others with anything, but do struggle with the concept of giving to the Lord & living for God.

When you ask about the anchor with a cross on. Well in my country in places by the sea and the fishing communities have and anchor with a cross on. I cam't quite remember if represents a certain saint, but they are very christian communities and I asume it represents they christian believes and it used as protection etc.

Elaine. wow I didn't no this, thats great explanation. I will remember this.

This would seem to me that the anchor with a cross has some real relevance to you Marty, given whet you said about the storm.

I like the navigation through life, though I think I need radar.

God bless.

Martyp , my sister I hope this answer your question about the man you think was homeless

      6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” 8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” 10And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

      14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

      19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

25As He says also in Hosea,
         “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’
         AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’”

26“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’
         THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

      27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; 28FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”

29And just as Isaiah foretold,
         “UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY,
         WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”

      30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

33just as it is written,
         “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE,
         AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

AMEN sis Elaine....

MARTYP....bless you for your nice comments to me

ALCEDES.....love you for all your features here and there.

FAMILY I WANT TO SHARE THIS

Letting Go TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3:13, NKJV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria We all go through disappointments, setbacks and things that we don’t understand. Maybe you prayed for a loved one, but they didn’t get well. Or maybe you worked hard for a promotion, but you didn’t get it. You stood in faith for a relationship, but it didn’t work out. One of the best things you can do is release it. Let it go. Don’t dwell on it anymore. If you go around wondering why things didn’t work out, all that’s going to do is lead to bitterness, resentment and self-pity. Before long, you’ll be blaming others, blaming yourself, or even God. You may not have understood what happened. It may not have been fair. But when you release it, it’s an act of your faith. You’re saying, “God, I trust You. I know You’re in control. And even though it didn’t work out my way, You said, ‘All things are going to work together for my good.’ So I believe You still have something good in my future.” There is power in letting go of the past and the frustration of trying to figure everything out. When you release your questions, you are saying, “God, You are in control. I trust You.” And when you put your hope in God, that's when He can heal your heart and lead you forward into His path of blessing. A PRAYER FOR TODAY Father God, I come to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Help me to forgive and release the past. Heal my heart and restore my soul. Show me the good plan You have for my future as I keep my mind stayed on You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Amen Elaine I really like the pray for peace. God bless you. ,Martyp is right keep them coming. I don't reply to all of them, though I  do love to read everyones comments and prays.

MartyP I can only speak for my self , the Lords reasoning goes well beyond my understanding. If I could understand the Lords reasoning and choice and why he  has given and gives and doesn't is beyond my comprehention. I can honestly say I have not met any human to convince me either and don't mean to negative  on this, I just haven't.

My Grand parents used to always say The Lord moves in mysterious ways".

There is one thing I can say though, from reading your comments over the last few months the Lord should be glad of your faith in him.

I admire your faith. God bless you.

Ephesians 1 :1-14
New American Standard Bible

2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

      3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Put On the New Self

      1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

      5Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

      12So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

      1And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

      6Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

9but just as it is written,
         “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
         AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
         ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

10For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

      14But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ

    
Ephesians 3 :14-21
New American Standard Bible

  14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

      20Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Today's Bible Verse:

John 9:3
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." (NIV)

Today's Inspiring Thought: The Works of God

All of us, at some point, have to go through serious illness or injury. Recently I was treated for cancer, for the second time in my life. We can't understand why such things happen, but we can be sure that God does not send illness to punish us. That's what Jesus Christ tells his disciples in today's verse, when they asked whether a blind man or his parents sinned, causing the man to be born blind. When injury or illness strikes, remember these words of Jesus. The works of God apply to you, too. If he chooses not to heal your body completely, he will heal your spirit so you can live with your disability. Getting sick is part of life, but God's love and strength are how we, as believers, can overcome whatever happens to us.

Elaine,my sister I thank you for your prayer but I think you toke my post as it was me speacking ,but it was from another sister ,but I liked the thought so I shared it here so pray for my sister in JESUS CHRIST, who name is MARY ,and again I thank you for the prayer ,because prayers is something that I feel personalty we can never get enough of, love you my sister in Christ ,

The High Priestly Prayer

      1Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5“Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

      6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7“Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12“While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

The Disciples in the World

      13“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

      20“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Their Future Glory

      22“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

      25“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

A THOUGHT TO PONDER

"And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27).

The Holy Spirit becomes to the consecrated heart the Spirit of intercession. We have two Advocates. We have an Advocate with the Father, who prays for us at God's right hand; but the Holy Spirit is the Advocate within, who prays in us, inspiring our petitions and presenting them, through Christ, to God.

We need this Advocate. We know not what to pray for, and we know not how to pray as we ought, but He breathes in the holy heart the desires that we may not always understand, the groanings which we could not utter.

But God understands, and He, with a loving Father's heart, is always searching our hearts to find the Spirit's prayer, and to answer it. He finds many a prayer there that we have not discovered, and answers many a cry that we never understood. And when we reach our home and read the records of life, we shall better know and appreciate the infinite love of that Divine Friend, who has watched within as the Spirit of prayer, and breathed out our every need to the heart of God.

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV). '''Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'''...... Thoughts on This Verse... This was originally spoken to Jeremiah about the fate of Jerusalem. However, this promise is true in special ways for us as well. God wants us to call to him. God often waits for us to ask before he blesses us with what he longs to give us. Yet we lack the ability to comprehend and receive all the great truth about God. He is simply too big and too glorious for us to fully comprehend him and his grace.

I thank you my sister but that not me all GLORY GOES TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER all  I'm doing is sharing what the HOLY SPIRIT IS MAKING MY SOUL FEEL GOOD TO AND IS THANKFUL THAT IT IS MAKING YOUR SOUL FEEL THE SAME WAY LOVE YOU MY SISTER GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME .

Just got finishing reading this

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

      1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7for he who has died is freed from sin.

      8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

      12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

      15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

      20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

Wow just got this and it made me take a look in my mirror at my self ,ask our Heavenly Father to forgive mr first then give the wisdom to do this at all time wow,

Today's Bible Verse:

2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God ... (NKJV)

Today's Inspiring Thought: Our Sufficiency is From God

All Christians have a tendency to say that apart from God we can do nothing. We say it with our mouths, but unfortunately, our lives often tell a different story. A true test of our level of dependence on Godcan be found in how often we pray and lean on the Lord in our everyday actions and duties. Every time we head into our day or begin a significant task without stopping to pray, we demonstrate that we believe our sufficiency is found in self, rather than God.

Consider this: how often do you plunge right into your work without stopping to pray and ask God for help? If I'm honest with myself and others, I have to admit that stopping to pray before doing my work is something I don't do nearly enough. In fact, I'm ashamed to say as I began to write this devotional, I realized I had started writing without taking a minute to ask God for his help and guidance.

The problem is, we can have some measure of "success" in what we do in life without stopping to pray before we work. And yet apart from prayer and dependence on God, any success we may seemingly have is of no lasting or eternal value.

Do you really want to be used by God? Do you want your life to be significant to such a degree that it has an impact on others for days and years to come? If so, learn to pray about everything. All of our conversations, work, and relationships will be far more powerful if we acknowledge that our sufficiency comes not from self, but from God.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

"He went out not knowing whither he went."
—Hebrews 11:6-10.

Abram began his journey without any knowledge of his ultimate destination. He obeyed a noble impulse without any discernment of its consequences. He took "one step," and he did not "ask to see the distant scene." And that is faith, to do God's will here and now, quietly leaving the results to Him. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and destiny.

And so faith is accompanied by serenity. "He that believeth shall not make haste"—or, more literally, "shall not get into a fuss." He shall not get into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his to-morrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, "Thou hast beset me behind." Concerning his to-morrows faith says, "Thou hast beset me before." Concerning his to-day faith says, "Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me." That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.

HEBREWS 12:18-29

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

      18For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 19and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.” 21And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

The Unshaken Kingdom

      25See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” 27This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29for our God is a consuming fire.

Jesus, the Example

      1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

      3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

A Father’s Discipline

      4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
         “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
         NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
         AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

      12Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

      14Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; 16that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Family ,all praises goes to our Heavenly Father through his son and our big brother Jesus the Christ ,feast your soul on this it is called "AN ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE"written by a PHILIP DODDRIDGE BUT IT IS LONG BUT DEEP AS IT IS LONG PLEASE LET YOUR HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE YOU THROUGH IT MUCH LOVE ,THIS IS THE END TO THE BEGINNING

IV. Let all that are born again, long for that blessed world, where the work of God shall be completed, and we shall appear with a dignity and glory becoming his children.

As for God, his work is perfect; (Deuteronomy 32:4;) and the time, the happy time is approaching, when we shall know, and the whole world shall know, in another manner than we now do, what our heavenly Father has intended for us in begetting us to himself. Whatever our attainments here may be, we know at present but in part: (1 Corinthians 13:9;) and with whatever integrity of soul we now walk before God, we are sanctified but in part: and hereupon we find, and must expect to find, the flesh striving against the Spirit, as well as the Spirit against the flesh: so that, in many respects, we cannot do the things that we would. Galatians 5:17. In proportion to the degree in which our nature is refined and brightened, we are more sensible of the evil of these corruptions that remain within us; so that though we are not, in a strict propriety of speech, carnal and sold under sin, but do indeed delight in the law of God after the inward man, (Romans 7:14, 22,) yet in the humility of our hearts we are often borrowing that pathetic complaint, Oh, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Verse 24.

But let it be remembered, Christians, as the matter of your joy, that the struggle shall not be perpetual, that it shall not indeed be long. Look up with pleasure then, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28. The time is approaching, when that which is perfect shall come, and that which is in part shall be done away.1 1 Corinthians 13:10. You are now the children of GOD; but it does not appear to every eye that you are so: the world knows us not.1 John 3:1, 2. Nor are we to wonder at it: for even Christ our Lord was once unknown, and appeared in so much meanness, and so much calamity, that an undiscerning and carnal eye could not have discovered who and what he was. But there is a day appointed for the manifestation of the sons of GOD, (Romans 8:19,) as the apostle Paul most happily expresses it; when he will manifest them to each other, and manifest them also to the whole world. They shall not always live thus at a distance from their Father's house, and under those dispensations of Providence that look so much like disregard and neglect; but he will take them home, and gather them to himself. Ere long, Christians, he will call these heaven-born spirits of yours, that are now aspiring towards him, to dwell in his immediate presence: he will receive you to himself; and you shall stand, where no sinner shall have a place, in the congregation of the righteous, (Psalm 2:5,) and shall have an inheritance among the saints in light, the saints in holiness and glory.

O happy day! when dropping this body in the grave, we shall ascend pure and joyful spirits to that triumphant assembly, where there is not one vitiated affection, not one foolish thought to be found among the thousands and ten thousands of God's Israel! O blessed period of a regenerate state I Though all the schemes of the Divine love were to rest here, and these bodies were forever to be laid aside, and utterly to be lost in the grave; the rejoicing soul might say, "Lord, it is enough!" And it might be indeed enough for us; but it is not enough to answer the gracious purposes of God's paternal love. God will show, in the most conspicuous manner, what a family he has raised to himself among the children of men; and therefore he will assemble them all in their complete persons, and will do it with solemn pomp and magnificent parade. He will for this purpose send his own Son, with all his holy angels, (Matthew 25:31,) and will cause the bodies of millions of his children, that have long dwelt in the dust, to spring out of it, at once in forms of beauty and lustre, worthy their relation to him. This, therefore, is, with beautiful propriety, called by the apostle the adoption, even the redemption of our body; (Romans 8:23;) alluding to the public ceremony, with which adoptions among the ancients were solemnly confirmed and declared, after they had been more privately transacted between the parties immediately concerned.

O, Christians, how reasonable is it that our souls should be rising with a secret ardor towards this blessed hope, this glorious abode!—It is pleasant for the children of God to meet and converse with one another upon earth; so pleasant, that I wonder they do not more frequently form themselves into little societies, in which, under that character, they should join their discourses and their prayers. It is delightful to address those that, we trust, through grace are born of God. No discourses are more pleasant than those that suit them: and could we, that are the ministers of Christ, reasonably hope, that we had none but such to attend our labors, we should joyfully confine our discourses to such subjects. Yet while we are here, we see imperfections in others, we feel them yet more painfully in ourselves: and as there is no pure, unmixed society, no fellowship on earth that is completely holy and without blemish, so there is now no pure delight, no perfect pleasure to be met with here. Oh when shall I depart from this mixed society, and reach that state where all is good, all glorious: where I shall see my heavenly Father, and all my brethren in the Lord; and shall behold them all forever acting up to their character! All giving thanks to the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light! Colossians 1:12. All forever blessing and serving the great Redeemer; and without one ungenerous action, one reflecting word, one suspicious thought, forever serving each other in love, rejoicing in each other's happiness, and with the most prudent and steadfast application forever studying and laboring to improve it!

With the most earnest desire that you, my dear brethren and friends, may at length attain to this state of perfection and glory; and with a cheerful expectation, through Divine grace, that I shall ere long meet many of you in it, I close this sermon, and these discourses: not without an humble hope, that when we arrive at this blessed world, these hours, which we have spent together in the house of God, in attending them, will come into a pleasant remembrance; and that the God of all grace, to whose glory they are faithfully devoted, and to whose blessing they are humbly committed, will honor them as the means of increasing his family, as well as of feeding and quickening those who are already his regenerate children!—Amen.

If, therefore, God has called us to the office of the ministry, as the experience of this change on our own hearts will be our best qualification for our public work, and indeed such a qualification that nothing else can supply the want of it; so it will surely excite us in a very powerful manner to apply vigorously to this care. That which we have not only heard, but seen with our eyes, and looked upon, and handled of the word of life, let us declare to others; that their fellowship also may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.1 John 1:1, 3. Let us declare it in our public discourses, and never be ashamed to bear our testimony to that grace to which we are so much indebted; to that grace by which we are what we are.1 1 Corinthians 15:10. Let us warn every man, and teach every man the absolute necessity of regeneration; and expose the vanity of all those hopes which are built upon any fair outside, on any moral decency of behavior, or any humane turn of temper, on any warm flight of imagination or emotion of the passions, while the soul continues unrenewed and unsanctified. Let us endeavor to save men with fear, pulling them out of the fire, (Jude ver.23,) which, if they are yet unregenerate, is just ready to kindle upon them. And let us be often reviewing our respective flocks, that we may see who they are, concerning whom there is reason to entertain this fear; that proper applications may be made to them in private, as well as in public; that joining our admonitions to our sermons, and our prayers and examples to both, we may at least deliver our own souls, (Ezekiel 33:9,) if we cannot deliver theirs. But in proportion to the degree that such a spirit prevails in us, there is very great encouragement to hope it will be propagated to them, and that our labor shall not be in vain in the Lord.1 1 Corinthians 15:58.

And let me beseech you, my beloved hearers in other stations of life, that you would not imagine the work is so entirely ours that you have nothing to do with it. Are we alone redeemed by the blood of the Son of God? Are we alone renewed and sanctified by his grace? Are we alone the brethren and friends of mankind, that the generous care and endeavor to promote their eternal happiness should be entirely devolved upon us? We wish so well to the world, and permit us to say, we wish so well to you, to your own religious consolation and establishment, to your comfortable account, to your eternal reward, that we can not but earnestly exhort you all, even as many as have tasted that the Lord is gracious, (1 Peter 2:3,) that in this respect you join, not only as I trust you do, your prayers with ours, but that you also join your endeavors.

Let me particularly address this exhortation to those of you who bear any distinguished office in the society, to whom therefore its religious interests are dear by additional ties Let me address those of you whose age and experience, in the human and the divine life, give you something of a natural authority in your application, and command a distinguished regard. Look round about you and observe the state of religion in your neighborhood; and labor to the utmost to propagate, not so much this or that particular opinion or form of worship, but real vital Christianity in the world. Bear your testimony to it on all proper occasions: be not ashamed of it in your familiar discourse; and above all, labor to adorn it by your actions. And when you see any under serious impressions, as it is certain they will have a great deal discouraging and difficult to break through; and as the devil and his instruments, among whom I must necessarily reckon licentious company, will be doing their utmost to draw them back into the snare of the fowler; let me exhort and charge you to be as solicitous to save as others are to destroy. I know how many excuses our cowardly, and indolent hearts are ready to find out upon such an occasion: but I think those words of Solomon are a sufficient answer to all, and I beg you would seriously revolve them; If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain: if thou sayest, Behold we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, thine, Oh Christian, with such peculiar and gracious care, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? Proverbs 24:11, 12. He will assuredly remember, and will abundantly reward, every work of faith, and every labor of love; (1 Thessalonians 1:3;) and we are insensible of our own true interest, if we do not see how much it is concerned here.

Let me especially leave this exhortation with you who are parents and heads of families. And one would imagine there should need but little importunity in such a case as this: one would think your own hearts should speak to you, upon such an occasion, in very pathetic language. Look upon your dear children, to whom you have conveyed a nature which you know to be degenerate and corrupt; and be earnest in your prayers before God, and your endeavors with them, that it may be renewed. And take care that you do not in this sense despise the soul of your manservant, or of your maid-servant. Job 31:13. God has brought them under your care, it may be in those years of life in which, on the one hand, they are most capable of being instructed and seriously impressed; and in which, on the other hand, they are also most in danger of being corrupted. Perhaps their relation to you, and abode with you, is the most advantageous circumstance which may occur in their whole lives: see therefore that you seize it with a holy eagerness; and amidst all the charges you give them relating to your own business, neglect not that of the one thing needful; (Luke 10:42;) and labor heartily to bring them to the honor and happiness which is common to all God's servants, and peculiar to them alone.

Let me conclude this part of my address with entreating you all to express your concern for the souls of others, by your importunate prayers to God for them. Pray for the success of gospel ordinances: and for a blessing on the labors of all God's faithful servants throughout our whole land, of one or another denomination in religion. Yea, pray that throughout the whole world, God would revive his work in the midst of the years; (Habakkuk 3:2;) that the religion of his Son, by which so many souls have been regenerated, refined and saved, may be universally propagated; and that all who are vigorously engaged in so important, though so self-denying a work, may find that the hand of the Lord is with them, and multitudes believe and turn unto the Lord; (Acts 11:21;) so that his sons may be brought from far, and his daughters from the ends of the earth; (Isaiah 43:6;) that the barren may rejoice, and she that did not travail with child, may break forth into singing, and cry aloud; that the children of nations now strangers to Christ, may be more than of those that are already espoused to him. Isaiah 54:1; Galatians 4:27. And then,

"Oh," may one Christian say, "how obstinately did I strive against my own happiness! like a poor creature that, having received some dangerous wound, and being delirious with a fever attending it, struggles with the hand that is stretched out to heal him. How did I draw back from the yoke of God! How did I trifle with convictions, and put them off from one time to another! So that God might most righteously have awakened any heart rather than mine. He admonished me by his word, and by his providence; he sent afflictions; he wrought out deliverances for me; and yet I went on to harden my heart, as if I had been afflicted and delivered, that I might work greater abominations; (Jeremiah 7:10;) till the Lord being merciful to me, laid hold upon me, and drew me out of Sodom." Genesis 20:16.

And here another Christian will be ready to say within himself, ''If the grace of God wrought sooner upon me, when my soul was more pliant, when my heart was comparatively tender in infancy or childhood, or in early youth; yet what ungrateful returns have I since made for his mercy I How defective have I been in those fruits of holiness which might reasonably have been expected from me, who have so long a time been planted in the house of the Lord! Alas for me! that I have flourished no more in the courts of my God. Psal. xcii.13. How often have I forgotten and forsaken him; how cold and negligent has my spirit been, how inconstant my walk, how indolent my behavior, for these many years that have passed since I was first brought into his family! How little have I done in his service in proportion to the advantages I have enjoyed! All this he foresaw; all the instances in which my goodness would be as a morning cloud, and as the early dew; (Hosea 6:4;) all the instances in which this perverse heart of mine, so prone to backslide, should turn aside, and start back from him like a deceitful bow: (Psal. lxxviii.57:) and yet he has mercy upon me, I know not why. I cannot pretend to account for it any otherwise than by saying, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight: (Matthew 11:26:) thou hast mercy on whom thou wilt have mercy, and thou hast compassion on whom thou wilt have compassion. Romans 9:15. I have revolted deeply from thee again and again; yet thou sufferest me not to be lost to this very day, nor wilt thou ever suffer it: Thou restorest my soul; thou leadest me in the paths of righteousness for thy name's sake. Psal. xxiii.3. Having therefore obtained help from God, I continue to this day; (Acts 26:2;) and surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and unworthy as I am so much as to enter into thine house below, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever above. Psal. xxiii.6. Thus, Lord, thou makest me, as it were, a wonder to myself; and I hope to express my admiration and my gratitude throughout eternal ages: and if I can vie with the rest of thy redeemed ones in nothing else, I will at least do it in bowing low before thy throne, and acknowledging that I am of the number of the most unworthy, in whom my Lord has been pleased to glorify the riches of his mercy, and the freedom of his grace."

In the mean time, Christians, I call you often to entertain yourselves with such views as these, often to excite your hearts by such lively considerations; I call you, in the name of your Father and your Saviour, to a whole life of gratitude and praise. And this leads me to add,

II. Improve those experiences you have had of Divine grace, as an engagement to behave in a suitable manner.

Remember the lively admonition of the text, that you were begotten by him for this very purpose, that you should be a kind of frst-fruits of his creatures. See, therefore, that ye be entirely consecrated to him; and behave as becomes the children of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation: being not only harmless and blameless among them, but shining as lights in the world, and holding forth that word of life, (Philippians 2:16,) by which he has begotten you to himself, and quickened you when you were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1, 5.

God has now brought you into a most honorable relation: he may therefore well expect more, much more from you than from others. He has made you as his children, kings and priests to himself, (Revelation 1:6,) and you are therefore to offer up spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.1 Pet. ii.5. You were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk, therefore, as children of light. Ephesians 5:8. Remember you are not your own; (1 Corinthians 6:19;) your time, your possessions, and all your capacities for service, are the property of your heavenly Father. And permit me to remind you, that if you desire to see this doctrine of regeneration prevail, you, who profess to be experimentally acquainted with it, must take great care that your behavior may not only be innocent, but exemplary: otherwise many will be ready to blaspheme the holy name of that God, (2 Samuel 12:14,) whom you call your Father; and you are like to bring a reproach upon the household of faith, which probably you will never be able to roll away.

Christians, the dignity of our birth and our hopes is too little considered and regarded; and the reason why the world thinks so meanly of it, is because we ourselves are so insensible of its excellency. Did we apprehend it more, we should surely be more solicitous to walk worthy of that calling wherewith we are called, (Ephesians 4:1,) that high and holy calling. Let me, therefore, exhort you to endeavor to loosen your affections more from these entanglements of time and sense, which so much debase our minds, and dishonor our lives. Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead: (Romans 6:13:) employ, with a growing zeal, to the honor of God, that renewed life which he has given you: Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds: (Romans 12:2:) and let your conversation and behavior be like those who feel the constraining influences of Divine love, (2 Corinthians 5:14;) who are, not in form, but in reality, devoted to God; and who would be continually waiting for his salvation, (Genesis 49:18,) with that temper in which you could most desire that salvation to find you when it comes.

III. Let those who have experienced the power of Divine grace themselves, study to promote the work of God upon the hearts of others.

Labor, as much as possible, to spread this temper which God has wrought in your hearts; for you cannot but know that with it you spread true happiness, which alone is to be found in that intercourse with the great Author of our being, for which this lays the foundation, and in the regular exercise of those powers which are thus sanctified. No sooner was Paul converted himself, but he presently set himself to bring others to Christ, and to preach the faith which once he destroyed. Galatians 1:13. And David speaks of it as the effects of God's pardoning love to him, Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Psal. li.13.

My brethren, it is a favor in which the salvation of your souls is concerned; and can that be small? or ought it ever to be thought of but with the highest emotion and enlargedness of heart? The gracious purposes of God towards his children are to make every one of them higher than the kings of the earth, (Psal. lxxxix.27,) to jive them more solid satisfaction than crowns and kingdoms can afford, and at length to raise them to a diadem of immortal glory. Oh what reason have you with the Apostle, to say, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, even to the hope of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation! 1 Pet. i.3-5. Survey this great privilege which God has already given you, this high security, these glorious hopes. Has he not brought the beginning of glory already into your souls? Has he not wrought you to a filial temper, and taught you to cry, Abba, Father? Galatians 4:6. Has he not, in some measure, formed and fashioned your minds to a meetness to dwell with angels and perfected spirits in heaven? So that you can now say, even with relation to that which you already feel, that you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. Ephesians 2:19. You are even now the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what you shall be; (1 John 3:2;) but there is enough appears, and enough known at present, of what you are, and what you shall be, to revive, to delight, to transport the heart.

And is not this too, O thou afflicted soul, who art called to encounter the most painful difficulties, enough to be the means of thy support, and to afford thee matter for thy strong consolation? You that are tossed with tempests, (Isaiah 54:11,) and obliged to struggle under various and long continued burdens, have you not here a joy that the world can neither bestow nor impair, a pleasure in public and in secret duties, and a hope, which is as the anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, entering into that within the vail, (Hebrews 6:19,) and so enabling you to outride these storms and tempests? How glorious does your lot appear when viewed in the light of scripture! You are expressly told, All things are yours: (1 Corinthians 3:21:) the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from you: (Psal. lxxxiv.11:) all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to you; (Psal. xxv.10;) and ere long you shall see how they are so. You have a sight by faith of the inheritance appointed for his children; but he does not intend merely a distant prospect for you: you shall go in and possess that good land, (Deuteronomy 4:22,) and shall ere long be absent from the body, and present with the Lord: (2 Corinthians 5:8:) yea, the Lord Jesus Christ, ere long, shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, (2 Thessalonians 1:10,) to be glorified and admired, in and by you in particular; when bearing the image of your heavenly Father, you shall rise far beyond this earth and all its vain anxieties, and vainer amusements, to dwell forever in his presence. And what is there in this world that you imagine you want, which is by any means to be compared with these enjoyments and hopes? Surely, sirs, in such a view, you should be much more than content; and should feel your inward admiration, love, and joy, bursting the bonds of silence, and turning your voices, that have been broken by sighs, into the most cheerful and exalted anthems of praise: especially when you consider,

2. How few there are who partake of this important favor, which God has extended to you.

I hope I need not, after all I have said, remind you at large, that I intend not by any means to speak, as excluding those of different forms and different experiences; as if, in consequence of that diversity, they had neither part nor lot in this matter. Acts 8:21. I hope. that many who are not so ready, as it were to be wished, to receive one another, are nevertheless, in this respect, received by Christ to the glory of God. Romans 15:7. Yet the temper and conduct of the generality of mankind, even under a Christian profession, too plainly show, that they have the marks of eternal ruin upon them: and one can form no hope concerning them, consistent with the tenor of the whole word of God, any other than this, that possibly they may hereafter be changed into something contrary to what they are, and in that change be happy.

Now that you are not left among the wide extended ruins of mankind, but are set as pillars in the building of God, is what you have been taught by the preceding discourses to refer to the grace of God, which has taken and polished you to the form you now bear. Or, as the Evangelist expresses it, in language more suitable to the subject before us, the power, or privilege, to become the sons of God, is what he gives to as many as receive him; and it is manifest as to your regeneration, that you are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God: (John 1:12, 13:) for we love him, because he first loved us; (1 John 4:12;) and whatsoever our attainments be, there is no true believer but will be ready, with the Apostle Paul, to say, By the grace of God I am what I am.1 1 Corinthians 15:10.

And now, when these two thoughts are taken in this comparison with each other, how deeply should they impress our minds! And how should it excite us to the most lively gratitude, to consider that when so many of our fellow-creatures perish, even under the sound of the gospel; that when they live and die under the power of a corrupt and degenerate nature, despising all the means which God has given them of becoming better, and turning them into the occasion of greater mischief; God should graciously incline our hearts to a wiser and better choice! It is indeed a melancholy reflection, that the number of those who are made wise to salvation should be so small; yet it is an endearing circumstance in the Divine goodness to us, that when it is so small, we should be included in it: as no doubt it would appear to every truly religious person in the ark, that when but eight souls were saved from the deluge, he should be one. There is now a remnant, says the Apostle, according to the election of grace: (Romans 11:5:) to that grace therefore should we render the praise. We have indeed chosen him; but it is in consequence of his choosing us. John 15:16. We have said, The Lord is my portion; but let us remember to bless him that he has given us that counsel, (Psal. xvi.5, 7,) in consequence of which we have been inclined to do it. Again,

3. Consider, in the midst of how much opposition the grace of God has laid hold on your souls, and wrought its wonders of love there.

Christians, look into your own hearts; yea, look back upon your own lives, and see whether many of you have not reason to say, with the great Apostle, It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief: (1 Timothy 1:15:) and yet to me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this given, (Ephesians 3:8,) that I should be a regenerate, adopted child of God, begotten to an inheritance of eternal glory.

James I.18.

James 1:18.

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context.

I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those for whose service they were immediately intended: but if they have not been so to all, and if with relation to many I have labored in vain from Sabbath to Sabbath, I cannot be surprised at it. What am I better than my fathers? 1 Kings 19:4. It has, in every age, been their complaint, that they have stretched out their hands all the day to a disobedient and gainsaying people; (Isa.1xv.2: Romans 10:21;) that the bellows have been burnt, and the lead consumed of the fire, but the dross has not been taken away: such reprobate silver have multitudes been found. Jeremiah 6:29, 30. Yea, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who spake with such unequaled eloquence, with such divine energy, yet met with multitudes, who were like the deaf adder, that would not hearken to the voice of the wisest charmer: (Psalm 58:4, 5:) and surely the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. Matthew 10:24.

When indeed we consider the infinite importance of the message we address to you, O ye perishing sinners I we hardly know how to give over, or to take a denial. We feel a strong impulse on our hearts to give line upon line, and precept upon precept: (Isaiah 28:10:) as a physician that loves his patient, when he sees the distemper prevailing, and has run through the whole range of medicines, is ready, while life yet remains, not entirely to give over, but to repeat again what he had prescribed unsuccessfully before. And if God spares our lives, no doubt many of those things which I have before been urging, must in substance be repeated. But at present I will desist: I know not what more or further to say; and if you are utterly unimpressed with what I have already laid before you, especially with regard to the character of the unregenerate—the nature of regeneration—the absolute necessity of it—and of the Divine agency in producing it, with the absolute importance of your securing a part in the kingdom of heaven; I know not what further to urge, and must leave you either to the grace or the judgment of God.

The time will certainly come, when you will see and own the importance of these things. The word of God will, in one sense or another, take hold of every soul that hears it, and, perhaps on some of you in a very terrible manner, and in a very little time. But if it do, I may say with the apostle Paul, when in token of the solemnity with which he spoke, he shook his raiment, and took leave of his obstinate hearers, I am clean from your blood; (Acts 18:6;) and since you refuse to be instructed, I turn to those who regard what I say. And thus, according to the method I at first proposed, I proceed,

Seventhly, To conclude these discourses with an address to those who, by Divine grace, are experimentally acquainted with this great work of regeneration; to show them how they ought to be affected with the consideration of the truths that have been offered, and what improvement they should make of such a course of sermons as you have lately been attending.

Out of a general regard to the glory of God and the good of souls, you have attended on what has hitherto been spoken to persons of a very different character; and I hope not altogether without some sensible refreshment and advantage; but now hear more immediately for yourselves, and suffer a word of exhortation in such particulars as these: Be thankful to God for what you have experienced; improve it as an engagement to behave in a suitable manner; study to promote the work of God upon the hearts of others; and long for that blessed world where the change that is now begun, and is gradually advancing in your souls, shall be universal and complete. Your own wisdom and piety have, no doubt, anticipated me in each of these particulars; but you will be glad to enter more fully into the reflection than you could do, while it was intermingling itself with other thoughts.

I. Return the most affectionate acknowledgments of praise to the God of all mercy for the experience you have had of a regenerating change.

I would now address this exhortation and charge to every one of you, who, through Divine grace, hope you can say, that you are born again; to all who can say, that God has, of his own will, begotten you with the word of truth, that you may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. To you I would say, Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness and goodness. Psal. xxx.4. Give thanks to the Father, who has made you meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:12. Join your voices and your hearts in the most cheerful hymns of praise, whatever your different circumstances are. Let the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the honorable and the mean, rejoice together; if any may be called poor, who are thus enriched; if any may be accounted mean, who are thus honored. Bless the Lord at all times, let his praise be continually in your mouths; (Psalm 34:1;) and endeavor to carry along with you, through the darkest road you travel, and the bitterest sorrows you taste, cheerfulness in your hearts, and praise on your tongues; considering—how important the blessing is with which the Lord has favored you; how few there are who partake of it; and in the midst of how much opposition the Divine grace has taken hold of your souls, and wrought its wonders of love there.

1. Consider, my Christian friends, how important this favor is which God has bestowed upon you, in thus begetting you as a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Justly indeed may we say, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be regenerated by his grace, and so be called, and that with propriety, the sons of God! 1 John 3:1. Justly may I say to you, now you are assembled in the courts of the Lord, in those emphatical words of David, O come, let us worship, and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; (Psal. xcv.6;) for it is he that has made us and not we ourselves, with regard to this second, as well as the first creation; and we, in consequence of it, are in the noblest sense, his people, and the sheep of his pasture: enter, therefore, into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:3, 4.

Family ,all praises goes to our Heavenly Father through his son and our big brother Jesus the Christ ,feast your soul on this it is called "AN ADDRESS TO THE REGENERATE"written by a PHILIP DODDRIDGE BUT IT IS LONG BUT DEEP AS IT IS LONG PLEASE LET YOUR HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE YOU THROUGH IT MUCH LOVE ,THIS IS THE BEGINNING TO THE END WOW NOW I MUST FIND OUT WHO WAS PHILIP DODDRIDGE ,BUT FROM THIS HE WAS USE BY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER MIGHTY WOW DID I ENJOY READING IT

WOW FAMILY GOD DID USE OUR BROTHER PHILIP DODDRIDGE MIGHTY ,YOU NEED TO CHECK HIM OUT