OMG!!----BY DAVID JEREMIAH

(Some good thoughts from David Jeremiah, via my friend Charles Rosson in Arkansas. In introducing this article Charles Rosson said "In our culture of growing atheism when few things are considered holy and sacred, this is a very timely and much needy statement" )

It's almost impossible to turn on the television without hearing someone exclaim, "Oh my G--!" In the popular culture, it's even been reduced to an acronym: OMG. Even many professing Christians use His holy Name in vain.

There are times when such an expression is an appropriate prayer in a crisis (the phrase "O my God" appears twenty-one times in the Bible), but for the most part it simply represents a degrading of His holy Name. Our pagan society wants to reduce our Lord to a profanity and diminish His name to a vulgarity.

Jesus said, "Hallowed be Thy Name." The Bible says, "Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God" (Isaiah 50:10).

The name of our Lord is to be hallowed, feared, reverenced, trusted, and loved.

"Praise the name of the LORD! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the LORD's name is to be praised" (Psalm 113:1-3).

“How we use the name of God reveals more clearly than any creed we ever
confess our deepest attitudes towards the sovereign God.” (R. C. Sproul)

-David Jeremiah, Turning Point Ministry

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST

He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. He put on humanity that we might put on divinity. He became Son of man that we might become sons of God. He came from Heaven where the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, frosts never chill the air, flowers never fade and no one is ever sick-no undertakers and no graveyards-for no one ever dies, no one is ever buried.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty, reared in obscurity-only once crossed the boundary of the land, in childhood. He had no wealth or influence and had neither training nor education. His relatives were inconspicuous and not influential. In infancy, He startled a king; in boyhood, He puzzled the doctors; in manhood, He ruled the course of nature. He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold all the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all writers combined. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has. He never practiced medicine, and yet He healed more broken hearts than the doctors healed broken bodies.

He never marshaled an army, drafted a soldier or fired a gun, yet no leader ever made more volunteers who have, under his orders, made rebels stack arms or surrender without a shot being fired. He is the Star of astronomy, the Rock of geology, the Lion and the Lamb of zoology, the Harmonizer of all discords and the Healer of all diseases. Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on. Herod could not kill Him, Satan could not seduce Him, death could not destroy Him, and the grave could not hold Him.

He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant's gown. He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor. How, poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another's manger. He cruised the lake in another's boat. He rode on another man's ass. He was buried in another man’s tomb. All failed, but He, never! The ever Perfect One, He is the Chief among ten thousand. He is altogether lovely and He is my Saviour! (Writer unknown)

JESUS WEPT

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS FROM W.F. BELL

(Since we have been looking at prayer, and revival, this fits so very well. Thanks, brother.)

Luke 19:41 and John 11:35 and Hebrews 5:7 = These are the three specific times Scripture records the "tears" of the Son of God. Nothing endears Christ more to believers than His great compassion, love, and tears for sinners! "Jesus wept" over Jerusalem, He "wept" at the tomb of Lazarus, and He "wept" greatly, "with strong crying and tears," in Gethsemane. May we never be "too good" to weep! And note that in Luke 22:41 we are plainly told Christ "kneeled down, and prayed," and we do not understand at all why many people "go to church" and never get on their knees! Or never kneel anywhere! Beloved, it is praying time, it is kneeling time, it is weeping time! The modern church has lost its testimony before the world, and lost its power with God, but we don't seem to care! But now may these lines from Benjamin Beddome encourage us:

So fair a face bedewed with tears; What beauty even in grief appears!

He wept, He bled, He died for you; What more, ye saints, could Jesus do?

Enthroned above, with equal glow His warm affections downward flow;

In our distress He bears a part, And feels a sympathetic smart.

Still His compassions are the same; He knows the frailty of our frame;

Our heaviest burdens He sustains; shares in our sorrows and our pains.

Gadsby's Hymns

WE MUST SEE CHRIST

Scripture Meditations from W.F. Bell

How grateful to God I am that I was brought up in church (a fairly large town church), and through this church I first learned of my need of Christ. I was convicted greatly of my sins when just a young boy, which kept me from a lot of wild ways growing up. This is the great grace of God, bestowed upon me sovereignly, in plenteous, undeserved mercy. With David I can truly say, "I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise Him among the multitude" (Psalm 109:30). I could never be ashamed of my precious Savior, and what He has done for a poor sinner like me, and for all believers. I gladly sing, "I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all, but the Lord Jesus Christ is my All in All."

The question now is, Have you seen Christ by faith? All who "see" Christ "believe on Him," and these only have "everlasting life," with the promise of resurrection glory (John 6:40). It was Ferrell Griswold (1928-1982) who wrote the following, and I can do no better than quote him, which plainly clears up a lot of misunderstanding many people have about salvation:

Salvation is in a Person, and not in a doctrine, church, or the works and will of the flesh (John 1:12-13). Salvation is to know Christ, to be in union with Him, to have His righteousness upon your record, to be seen in Him as complete. "And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness" (Philippians 3:9). "And ye are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:10).

f you have Christ, you have life. "He who has the Son has life" (I John 5:12). If you have missed Christ, you are condemned, for "He that believeth not is condemned already" (John 3:18). To miss saving faith is to miss union with Christ, and to miss union with Christ is to miss spiritual life. Jesus said, "Ye in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20). And if we miss spiritual life we rest under the condemnation of the law of God. "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

So, you must see Christ! You must come to Him! You must lay hold upon Him! This you cannot do within yourself. This is His work within you. If you feel now your heart drawn toward Him, this is His work, and not the work of your hard heart. Throw yourself upon the mercy of Christ as a hell-deserving sinner, and if you perish, do so lying at the foot of the cross. Cry out, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13).

Come to Christ only! He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). And His promise is, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37).

SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS

BY CHARLES WOODRUFF

(The following is an email which I sent to all my mailing list earlier today. it is so important that I want to share it with all who will read it here on Cybermeditations. Please think about it.)

Dear friends,

Yesterday was the anniversary of another "Day of Infamy" as was said about the Pearl Harbor bombing, and 9-11-2001 when our country was attacked. This day was the Supreme Court decision on Roe V.Wade which permitted abortion on demand in the USA. That was January 22,1973, and since that time it is estimated that over 70 million babies have been aborted in the United States. There have been millions more aborted around the world. The unborn cannot speak for themselves, we must speak for them.

God has already spoken in His word about the slaughter of the innocent. "Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen" (Deuteronomy 27:25).. There are other places where God says this as well. The unborn, who have never lived to sin, are in that sense innocent more than any other. Life begins in the womb. The Bible teaches that.

In 1981 conservative Lutheran barrister John Warwick Montgomery wrote a book titled Slaughter of the Innocents. There have been a number of other books by Christians on the subject, including one by R.C. Sproul that was published 20 years ago called Abortion: A Rational Lok At An Emotional Issue . It has been recently updated. In spite of battles over this for over 50 years, it is still going on, because so many are content with this deplorable situation. We believers in Jesus Christ need to pray, and oppose this slaughter as never before. Our nation faces much more judgment that we have seen if we continue to permit this awful carnage. What are you going to do about it?

When Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was involved in a dog fighting ring, and was convicted of abusing and killing animals, he was imprisoned for several years, as he should have been. But, under the cover of "The law of the land" abortionists go unpunished. A person who abuses animals should be punished, but then far more those who kill human beings, even little unborn human beings.

May God bless each of you and your families, which God gave you, and you have them now because they were not aborted by you!

Charles

A TIME TO SPEAK-PETER MARSHALL

"We know, our Father, that there is a time to speak and a time to keep silence. Help us to tell the one from the other. When we should speak, give us the courage of our convictions. When we should keep silence, restrain us from speaking, lest, in our desire to appear wise, we give ourselves away."

Peter Marshall was a Presbyterian minister from Scotland. He came to the United States and pastored churches in Covington, GA, Atlanta, GA, and Washington, DC. While in Washington, he became chaplain of the U.S. Senate. He became known for his sermons that lived, as if he was sharing what he saw with his own eyes. He also was known for his prayers, in churches and in the U.S. Senate. This is an excerpt from a prayer I found online, probably taken from The Prayers of Peter Marshall, edited by Catherine Marshall; McGraw Hill, 1949. Her famous book A Man Called Peter is his life story, and is a great read. He was taken away very young, but made a major impact on this nation during World War Two, and even after his death. Much that he said is very valuable, even today.

THE KIND OF MAN THE DEVIL HATES

BY W.F. BELL

(Some timely thoughts from my friend; a little morsel, but quite practical).

Be the kind of man that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, "Oh no, he's up!" Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forgive the ones who don't.

Believe everything happens for a reason, according to God's purpose. When bad things happen to you, trust God to change you through them. Take a few minutes to think before you act when you're mad. Forgive quickly. The Lord never said life would be easy, but He has promised to be with us: "I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psalm 32:8).

The Lord Jesus Christ walks with His children day by day, in all situations: "For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Know that you are loved by Christ, though hated by the devil. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (I John 3:10). Brothers in Christ do love each other! A real brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.