Thoughts and Considerations

                    IT IS NOT HOW WE STARTED, BUT HOW WE FINISH  We are going to look at a few lives discussed in the Bible and see how they began and how they finished. "...and if the tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be." Ecclesiastes 11:3   My senior Pastor was an old-school gospel preacher. I had known him and worked with him for years, and he was always consistent in his faith. Even to his dying days, while in the hospital, he was leading people to the Lord. What an amazing example of faith in Christ. JACOB AND ESAU "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord, yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau..." Malachi 1:1-2    These two men were brothers, twins, Abraham's grandsons. Obviously, their beginnings were almost identical. Both had the same opportunities and potential, and both had the same knowledge of God. Easau was a hunter, a man's man, and Isa...

                       HAVE YOU MADE YOUR PEACE WITH GOD? This topic is based on the question, 'If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity?' Have you been cleansed of your sins before you stand before the Almighty and Holy Creator of the Universe? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26  "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement." Hebrews 9:27 "And He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.' And he thought within himself, 'What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?' And he said, 'This will I do. I will pull down my barns, and build...

  THE GOSPEL OF  THE LORD JESUS CHRIST -   THE GOSPEL OF GRACE   "But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (for by GRACE you are saved); and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus . For by grace are you saved through faith , and that not of yourselves, it is the GIFT OF GOD ." Ephesians 2:4-8 GRACE IS - AND UNEARNABLE BENEFIT, PROVISION, HELP.   Grace is an unearned favor that we obtain from God for all the things that we cannot do for ourselves. Frankly, even the things that we can do for ourselves, like gathering our own food, actually depend on His Mercy and Grace   ( "That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the go...

                                       CONFORMED TO HIS IMAGE "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son , that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:29   As children of God, we want  to be like Jesus, and our Heavenly Father's intention is to conform us into His image, but we must realize that that is solely the handiwork of God Himself, and not of our doing . Yes, we actually have a part and responsibility; we yield, and we follow. There is only one Lord Jesus Christ, so it is not so much us trying to be like Him, but rather us allowing His nature to shine through us, praise His Holy Name! He will never force us. We have no supernatural ability to grow from an infant into an adult; it is already in our created makeup, but to grow into a healthy adult, we need to eat properly, get the appropriate rest and exe...