Look at your life through Heaven's Eyes

Inspired by the children at services today when we took off our sandals and watched the Prince of Egypt. Thought the lyrics and music might inspire you as well.  Enjoy : )




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPb2FqFN7-


 Through Heaven's Eyes

A single thread in a tapestry,
though its color brightly shines;
can never see its purpose
in the pattern of the grand design.

And the stone that sits up on the very top
of the mountain's mighty face;
does it think that it's more important
than the stones that forms the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
or where your value lies?  Oh, you can never see through the eyes of man;
you must look at your life  - look at your life through heaven's eyes.

A lake of gold in the desert sand
is less than a cool fresh spring.
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
is greater than the richest king.

Should a man lose everything he owns
has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
of a new and brighter birth!

So how do you measure the worth of a man
in wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained, or how much he gave;
the answer will come to you...
to look at his life through heaven's eyes!

And that's why we share all we have with you
though there's little to be found.
When all you've got is nothing
there's lots to go around!

No life can escape being blown about
by the winds of change and chance;
and though you never know all the steps
you must learn to join the dance!

You must learn to join the dance and look at your life through heaven's eyes!!

In the Storms

We have had some intense weather in our region.  Unprecedented  winds, storms, and flooding.  Driving around my neighborhood, almost every home has a pile of soaking wet debris dragged from a waterlogged basement.  It rained again last night.  Thunder, winds and lightning rattled every window and my nerves.  As I waited for it all to pass, my thoughts were about how God speaks.

I remember reading that He once spoke to the prophet Elijah.  The scenario was God speaking to Elijah who is hiding and afraid.  He tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

He knew God chose to speak in a whisper that day.

So, who is speaking in these storms?

There is another prophet in the Bible.  His name is Nahum.  He had the role of whistle blower for God to Ninevah, the capital city of Assyria.  Years before Nahum spoke, Jonah (his story may be more familiar; the big fish, 3 days in the belly) was to alert Ninevah of God's coming judgement.  They listened to Jonah's warning, but then the city and nation turned back to their evil ways of doing things.

Nahum is called to say this to the city of Ninevah; "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.  His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.  He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry...the mountains quake before him and the hills melt away.  The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.  Who can withstand his indignation?  Who can endure his fierce anger?  His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him. The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in him, but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Ninevah.

God showed He can also choose to speak in the storm.

How is He speaking to today?  To whom is HE speaking?  Have we thought of listening?  The Lord is good.  A refuge for those who trust Him in times of trouble.  From the looks of things, I believe He is trying to get our attention.

References to 1 Kings 19:9-13, Nahum 1:3-8

The God of Daniel

C.H. Spurgeon penned this devotional as a reminder that he believed in the sovereignty of an Almighty God.  For me, today, it was a perfect encouragement. The prophet Daniel dared to be decided for Truth and his God delivered him out of many difficult situations.   I hope that you may also be encouraged and blessed by this reminder. 

Nothing to Alarm Us

"As for you, go your way till the end.  You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." (Daniel 12:13) 

 

We cannot understand all the prophecies, but yet we regard them with pleasure and not with dismay. There can be nothing in the Father's decree which should justly alarm His child. Though the abomination of desolation be set up, yet the true believer shall not be defiled; rather shall he be purified, and made white, and tried. Though the earth be burned up, no smell of fire shall come upon the chosen. Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds, the Lord Jehovah will preserve His own.

Calmly resolute in duty, brave in conflict, patient in suffering, let us go our way, keeping to our road, and neither swerving from it nor loitering in it. The end will come; let us go our way till it does.

Rest will be ours, All other things swing to and fro, but our foundation stands sure. God rests in His love, and, therefore, we rest in it. Our peace is, and ever shall be, like a river. A lot in the heavenly Canaan is ours, and we shall stand in it, come what may. 

The God of Daniel will give a worthy portion to all who dare to be decided for truth and holiness as Daniel was. No den of lions shall deprive us of our sure inheritance.

BARUCH HABA B'SHEM ADONAI

Then Jesus said as He looked out over Jerusalem, "and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ "

Psalm 118:19-26

  "Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

  This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.

  I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.

  The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. [2]


  This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.

  This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 Save us, we pray, O Lord!

O Lord, we pray, give us success!

 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

 
  We bless you from the house of the Lord.

  The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us."

In light of these words, please watch this video because God has made His Light to shine upon us and He will open the eyes and circumcise hearts to see His Anointed Messiah in Zion.

http://vimeo.com/15034110

Partakers of the Promise

by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).
There are many Christians who regard themselves as almost exclusively New Testament believers, arguing that the Old Testament was for the Jews under the dispensation of law and thus not applicable to Christians today.
Nothing could be further from the truth. While the old animal sacrifices, temple rituals, and Levitical priesthoods have indeed been superseded by Christ's "one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:12), there are many "exceeding great and precious promises" (II Peter 1:4) of the Old Testament that can be properly and joyfully appropriated by Christians. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable . . ." wrote Paul (II Timothy 3:16), speaking particularly of the Old Testament Scriptures.
In the context of our verse for the day, Paul is stressing that his own new revelations, given in connection with the gospel of Jesus Christ, actually involved bringing Jew and Gentile together as one body in Christ. The "dispensation of the grace of God . . . by revelation He made known unto me," he wrote, but in previous ages, it had not been "made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:2-5).
And what was it that had not been made known? The hidden mystery was simply "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs" with the Jews, and therefore "partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).
Thus Gentile believers can now share in all the gracious promises of God in the Old Testament (e.g., Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3; etc.), except those directly dealing with the future of Israel as a nation, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:14).