by Max Barry

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And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8 NLT

Jesus is Lord

No matter how good you are, how hard you try, or how decent of a person you attempt to be, when it comes to following Christ, you can’t earn your way to God. You can’t do enough good things to tip the scales in your favor. You can’t buy, win, impress, or manipulate your way into salvation.

But Jesus has already purchased your freedom on a cross and offered it to you as a gift.

But you do have one job, as Paul describes in his letter to the Romans…

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV

Many people believe that Jesus was a real, historical person. Many people believe that Jesus was a genuinely good man. But the Bible says that even the demons believe there’s only one God (James 2:19).

Minutes before their deaths, two criminals hung next to Jesus on the cross. One of the criminals mocked Him, but the other one trusted in Him. Jesus told the one who trusted Him that he would soon be in Heaven. He received grace.

You see, we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard. We all need His grace, but we haven’t all received His grace.

So are you trying to be good enough for God? The bad news is, you can’t. You can’t ever be good enough on your own. But the great news is, Jesus has already made a way. However, you can’t simply know that He was a real person or think that some of His teachings were nice.

The most important question remains: Will you make Him the Lord of your life?

Living life takes its toll. There are knocks and scrapes, bumps and bruises together with the occasional gaping wound, as we each navigate our way from the cradle to the grave.

The Apostle Paul had just finished sharing his many great afflictions with his friends before writing this:

2 Corinthians 4:16,17 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (ESV)

I try to keep myself pretty fit, but day by day I know my outer self is wasting away. Yours too, both through the passage of time and the toll that life takes. But God’s Word to you today is not to lose heart, because the more you trust in Jesus, the more your inner self – which is really where it matters – is being renewed day by day.

And all that is to prepare you for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison … one that will go on forever and ever.

So, friend, don’t lose heart. God is with you and He is transforming you … because there are brighter days ahead.

God’s Great River Project

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:5
 
Have you heard of the Great Man-Made River project? It’s the world’s largest irrigation project, a network of pipes and aqueducts that supplies fresh water across Libya. There are vast aquifers under the Sahara desert—enough water to last a thousand years, according to some estimates. Others aren’t so sure how long the supply will last, but this incredible engineering feat keeps the faucets of Libya running.

Have you heard of the great God-Made River project? It’s the outpouring of love, channeled into our heart by the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ as Savior, God sends us the Holy Spirit—His love in us. This enables us to love others through situations we would have found impossible before. Give a prayer of thanks to God that He chose to send His love into us through the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to enable you to show others the love of Christ in you.
 
The reality of God’s love in a believer’s heart gives the assurance, even the guarantee, that the believer’s hope in God and His promise of glory is not misplaced and will not fail.

XBOX LIIIIIIIIIVE

Take some time today to pray to God. If He feels distant, ask Him to be close to you. If you feel weak, ask Him to strengthen you. He promises to uphold you, so trust in His promises. Continue to build a relationship with God and seek His presence. As you do, you’ll find a renewed strength as you walk through life with Him.

Over the years you and I have seen a good many high-profile Christian leaders fall from grace. And without exception, their demise had its beginnings in some secret, hidden sin. There’s a salutary lesson in that for us.

If you’re into something that you need to hide from others, from your wife or husband, your friends, your children … then examine it closely. Because there’s every chance that it involves sin.

And whilst others may not see what’s going on, there’s One who does. Here’s Moses speaking with God:

Psalm 90:8 You know about all our sins. You see every one of our secret sins.

And friend, sooner or later God will bring those secret sins out into the light. That may happen in this life as it has for many of those fallen leaders – tragic yes, but better that it does. At least you’ll have the opportunity to turn away from it, to repent, to be forgiven by God.

What would be infinitely worse is for that hidden sin only to come to light on that day of judgement, where the opportunity to repent is lost.

Charles Spurgeon once said this: “Lord, free us from those who are angels in public, saints at church and demons at home.”

Can I challenge you today to be honest with yourself? Do you have some hidden sin going on in your life? Are you clinging to this demonic darkness in private whilst masquerading as an angel of light in public?

If so, take the initiative. Bring it into His light. Deal with it before Him. Because He sees every one of our secret sins.

Psalm 18:30 God’s way is perfect. The LORD’s promise always proves to be true. He protects those who trust in him.

I know you got 3 seconds to watch this reel

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3cnG0wIFWJ/?igsh=bHlsczZpOGsxczM5

In appreciation for opening our embassy, this sumptuous meal is on us:

**Sets up a table of hot roast beef sandwiches, pasta salad, onion rings, French fries, iced tea, cupcakes, and Hershey's kisses**

Late, but thank you so much for the embassy request!! :D

Hope y'all have a lovely day! ^^

Post self-deleted by United Bridgestone.

“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT).

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