For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17). While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and they who live by it grow in understanding (Psalms 111:10).

There is freedom in Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:1), However this doesn't mean we are absolutely free to do everything as we please, like God (Psalms 135:6). Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin, not from everything. We are still bound to God; we are His servants even ever since he created us. Whether we obey out of love, obedience in its true essence still means; dutifully complying with the commands, orders, or instructions of one in authority, and that is God. The meaning of obedience and our motivation to obey are two different things. Obedience has only one meaning and it never changes, while our motivation in abiding whether it be to God or someone else may vary. Some obey out of love some out of duty, but when you obey you still have to admit that you are lesser or a subordinate of the one you are obeying, in the case of Christians that is God or Jesus Christ, our Lord. If anyone thinks that in Jesus we are not to fear the Lord must think twice about what they believe. Because it is written we are to workout our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear, He is the one you are to dread (Isaiah8:13, NIV). For The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and they who live by it grow in understanding (Psalms 111:10). If we fear anything other than God, we are deceived. God is the only thing in the universe worthy of fear. Satan, of course, would disagree and has made an industry out generating bogus fear. His weapons are horror movies, anxieties, worries, nightmares, phobias, panic attacks, demons, etc. Satan wants the fear due God. To be sure, Satan is truly a terrifying master to those under his care, but those "in Christ" have been purchased from his mastery and need not fear him any longer. Whenever it is in our power, we should cut off any access Satan has to our minds or hearts to plant bogus fear. Fear of the Lord is an important element of faith. If you do not fear or believe that God could put punish you with death due to your sin (Romans 6:23a) then you won’t have reason to accept His Son, Jesus Christ as your Savior (John 3:16).

Sisters In Christ (Women's Fellowship)

• I am loved with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)
• I am the apple of His eye. (Proverbs 7:2)
• My name is engraved in the palm of His hands. (Isaiah 49:16)
• I am carried through every storm. (Mark 4:35-41)
• I am wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
• I am watched over day and night. (Psalm 121:1-8)
• I am forgiven. (1 John 1:9)
• I am rejoiced over with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

My life is more than half full. It overflows. I just have to be willing to see, and enjoy, who God is and the beautiful things He's given me.
LeAnn Rice~~~~Jennifer

The Teachings of Jesus Christ


Obedience is defined as “dutifully complying with the commands, orders, or instructions of one in authority. Obedience in other words means submission, subservience, deference. Using this definition, we see the elements of biblical obedience. “Dutifully” means it is our obligation to obey God, just as Jesus fulfilled His duty to the Father by dying on the cross for our sin (Romans 5:8). “Commands, orders or instructions” speaks to the Scriptures in which God has clearly outlined His commandments and His will. It is also useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “One in authority” is God Himself whose authority is total and unequivocal. For the Christian, obedience means complying with everything God has commanded because it is our duty to do so. And if we truly love God, we will obey His commands (John 14:15).

Man was created to be a winner. The Bible tells us so. We read in Genesis, for example, that man was originally put on this earth as a dominating lord. God gave him dominion over the earth and everything that crept, flew, crawled, and breathed there. Man didn't even know what losing was until he separated himself from God through disobedience in the Garden of Eden. When that happened, he ran headlong into defeat. He was forced to accept failure as his lot in life, lowering himself to a subordinate position--a position he was never meant to occupy. It's a sad story. But if you're a born again child of God, your story has a happy ending. Through faith in Christ Jesus, you've been made a winner once again! In fact, God has guaranteed your success. Let me show you what I mean. Imagine you're about to tackle a really tough job, and before you even get started on it, God speaks to you right out loud and says, "I just want you to know, I'm going to personally see to it that this project you're working on succeeds." Well, let me tell you something. You do have God's promise that you'll succeed. He said in His Word that you're an over comer! In Him you can overcome any problem the world throws your way (1 John 5:1-5). It doesn't matter how much you feel like a loser. It doesn't matter how many times you've failed in the past. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then you've become more than a conqueror in Him (Rom. 8:37). Does that mean you won't have any more trouble? No. It simply means you can go through that trouble and emerge triumphant. If you've been feeling like a failure lately, renew your mind to the Word of God that says you're a success. Every time a challenge comes up, respond by saying, "Well, praise God, I can beat this thing because I'm an overcomer in Jesus!" Let that Word from God abide in your heart. It will make a winner out of you.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.

---

Deuteronomy 32:11(King James Version)

Dearest Abba, Father, great are your works! Your greatness no one can fathom. You are most worthy of our praises. Marvelous are Your ways and means by which You lead us. Sometimes You let troubles to come in our life so as to teach us to trust You and to depend on You. You test us in the crucible of our life to make us pure as gold. Since You are overseeing the troubles and tribulations in our life, they never can hurt us. They will make our faith in You to become stronger. How sweet is Your love! How immeasurable is Your wisdom in ordaining each situations in our life! You never let anything happen in our life which is unbearable to us. You are everything to me. Help me learn from You always. Lord Jesus, I lay myself at Your feet. Cover me with the dust of Your feet. In everything I do, I want Your thoughts to be on my mind so that I can be a success and my life can be an abundant blessing. Let the lamp of active faith burn ever so brightly in my life. Abba, put Your words in my mouth and cover me with the shadow of Your hand. Through Jesus Christ, through whom everything came into existence and through whom I live, I pray. Amen.

The Teachings of Jesus Christ

We live in a fallen world due to sin. Not only that we all live like zombies (living dead) in our former state (Ephesians 2:1), a life apart from God due to our sins (Romans 3:23) we were all dead because of our connection to Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22). But Jesus came to earth as the Messiah (John 3:16) and those who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We gain salvation by God's grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and in Christ there is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1) Nothing here on earth and beyond can ever separate us from God's love through His, Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39). However this does not mean life will be easy for us, Christians. For we will suffer persecution as Christ and the Prophets did (Matthew 24:9), the world will hate us (John 15:18-21; 16:1-4, 17:14-18) Following Christ is also like engaging in a spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18). But never loose heart brothers and sisters for God will never abandon us (Matthew 28:20), keep abiding in God and never lean on ones own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Never be anxious, instead pray with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7). For in Christ we are considered God's children, heir of Christ's kingdom (Romans 8:17).

The Teachings of Jesus Christ
The secret to finding and experiencing true joy is; first to acknowledge that God is sovereign above all (Psalms 115:3) everything is owned by God even our lives, besides that God loves us (John 3:16), He loves us so much, that he lets His Son die for us, while we were sinners (Romans 5:8). Be contented with what you have, like apostle Paul (Philippians 4:10-13). Through contentment, we will be ab...le to appreciate everything we have no matter how little we have especially our salvation. Lastly have fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25) and extend that fellowship to non-believers by reaching out to then for Christ, since it's our great commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This way our joy which come from our salvation will increase and will make us more confident not only on ourselves but more on God. Jesus came into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Him should stay in darkness (John 12:46). Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). According to Jesus the one who believes in Him has eternal life (John 6:47).

The Teachings of Jesus Christ

Christian living, means walking in the Spirit, in God's ways, in love and in truth. As we live our lives for Christ, our goal should always be to progress and to develop to be increasingly like Jesus Christ. In scripture this is called sanctification. To progress in our lives with Jesus Christ, there are three things we need to consider, so that we could ensure that we are moving forward and not backward.

These three elements are obedience, wisdom, and confidence. Obedience is a very important element in our Christian living. It shows that we love God (John 14:15) and it shows that we have genuine faith (James 2:17). Obedience starts in putting our faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16), Studying, meditating on His Word and living it out (2 Timothy 3:16; Joshua 1:8), a regular communication with our Father in Heaven (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:17) fulfilling our greatest commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Obedience helps us gain wisdom from God, especially if we ask it of Him, through prayer (Hebrews 4:16) and be lead by His Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Romans 8:26). As we gain wisdom from God, we become more confident in fulfilling His will, more confident in His promises, and more confident in Him (Philippians 4:13).

As we become more confident in God, we tend to trust Him more and truly obey Him in-spite of our inhibitions (Proverbs 3:5-6). If you want to truly progress in your walk with Christ, start with obedience.

Sisters In Christ (Women's Fellowship Group)


Faith is not necessary when you know how things are going to work out, - that's knowledge. It's in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. Faith is what gives you strength. Faith is that light in your heart that keeps on shining even when it's all darkness outside. Now is the time to keep that faith alive!Joselyn

"If Jesus Came to My House."

"If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two / If he came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do. / Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room to such an honored Guest, / And all the food you'd serve to Him would be the very best, / And you'd keep assuring Him you're glad to have Him there / That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

"But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door / With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor? / Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in? / Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been? / Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn't heard? / And wish you hadn't uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

"Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out? / Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about? / And I wonder if the Savior spent a day or two with you, / Would you go right on doing the things you always do? / Would you go right on saying the things you always say? / Would life for you continue as it does from day to day? / Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace? / And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace? / Would you sing the songs you always sing, / and read the books you read, / And
let him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed? / Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you'd planned to go? / Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

"Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends? / Or would you hope they'd stay away until His visit ends? / Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on? / Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone? / It might be interesting to know the things that you would do? / If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you."

It would be very interesting if Jesus did come in person to your house and mine.

Prayer: "Gracious Loving Father in Heaven, please help me to so live that should Jesus turn up in my house in person, there would be nothing that I would be embarrassed or shamed about. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, In Jesus Loving Name I Pray, Amen."

Today is St. Patrick's Day and my father's Birthday.. He was born in 1914 and would be
98 if still here. But I know where he is.. He is in Heaven with my mother and his mother
and all the other family and friends that have gone to heaven. I praise
God that we have a life beyond death, and that the grave isn't the final resting place.

All we have to do is beleive in God and that he was sent from above, and he knew why.. to
die on the cross for our sins. Sins that were handed down from Adam and Eve in the
garden, when they did what God told them not to.. So all we have to do is ask God to
come into our Hearts and forgive us for all of our sins.. We need to follow through, by
finding a church that believes that God did this too.. We should get baptized and start
reading our Bible and listening to a good Preacher/ Teacher.. I find Creflo Dollar on
tv is no only a Preacher.. He teaches. I have learned so much listening to him.

He teaches his congregation.. he doesn't shout and yell and do the old fire and
brimstone message as they used to, to scare you into heaven. He teaches you about
everything and the questions we might want to ask, he hits on those.. I feel like
I know I have learned something in just that 1/2 hour I listen to him. If he was
here and my health was better, his church is the one I would go to and take my
grandchldren too.

Everyone have a very good day today and think of something nice to do to a person in
your family or even a stranger at a store.. Put there cart up, if they dont have those
pennies in line, give them to them.. Let them know you care in a simple way. God bless you.

The Holy Spirit Will Help You

JOHN 14:16
16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another
Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
...
If you allow Him to, the Holy Spirit will guide you in every
area of life; from the words you should speak, to the spouse
you should marry, to the investments you should make.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity of God. It
is difficult for humans to understand how there can be only one
God, as the Scriptures teach, yet He can reveal Himself as
three persons. So do not let it be an obstacle for you, or be
drawn into fighting about it.

The Holy Spirit is a person, not just a force. He should be
treated with the utmost respect and gratitude.

I have personally found the Holy Spirit to be a wonderful,
wonderful Helper -- in so many ways. Even in simple, practical
things, like reminding me of things, or helping me to find
misplaced items. The Holy Spirit is truly interested in
everything that affects you, and desires to help you -- if you
will allow Him to.

No doubt, the Holy Spirit has been helping you, too. You just
may not have recognized it. You may have called it "a hunch" or
"it just came to me" or "I just had an idea." Start giving
thanks to the real source of your help -- the Holy Spirit of
God.

The Bible mentions several ways the Holy Spirit helps: teaching
you all things, bringing the Word to your remembrance, telling
you of things to come, revealing to you the things of God,
comforting you, encouraging you, empowering you to be a
witness, and bringing life and healing to you.

You are not facing life all alone -- as an orphan would. The
Holy Spirit is with you continually -- living with you. When
you need help He is never far away, but always right with you,
waiting for you to call on Him for His help.

SAY THIS: Holy Spirit, I appreciate your help. Thank you for
guiding me in life and helping me in every way

My name is Marilyn and I use the name BahamaMama on Goldtoken and Pogo. I live in Arkansas and I am 56 yrs old. I have 2 daughters. The oldest is Joni and she will be 30 in Nov. The youngest is
Jennifer, she prefers Jen, and she is 28, will be 29 in Jan. of 2012.

I have 5 and 1/2 grandchildren.. lol. Joni has 3 children, Bryce almost 10, Wyatt 6 and Jewelia 4. Jennnifer has Kaley 6, Aden 18 months and is 7 months pregnant with a baby girl that she is suppose to have by c-section around Oct. 19th. She is going to name her Alexis Renae, I couldn't talk her into Kaitlyn Renae, lol.

After having seen the voting for the blogs, I thought hey thats awesome. I had no idea that people were even doing blogs on here. I want to do this one on the Bible if that is ok with everyone. I wouldn like to put Bible verses that I really like, or that I find in the Bible that really mean something deep about the Lord to me. I also want to put poems on here or maybe words to a song.

I was born and raised in Wenatchee, Wa. Mom started taking me to church when I was 3 years old, due to my sitting out on my swing that my dad had made for me on mom's clothes line, and I would say mama come out and listen to the pretty music, so my mom always told me. We lived at a 4 cornor 2 way stop and on the one cornor closest to my swing I heard the singing all the time. Well mom had been saved and baptized when she was living in Arkansas and just had not started going to church when they moved to Washington. So she felt sad about me not being in church hearing the music.

She calle a friend of hers and asked where she was going and she told her they were meeting in someone's home at that time, and growing and saving money to build a church. Well I ended up going to Wenatchee Valley Baptist Church until I was 18. I went up in church at 12 and gave my life to the Lord Jesus. Even before that time you couldn't keep me out of church, I loved it so, and began to love it even more after accepting Jesus as my Saviour, praise God he forgives us for our sins.

I was at church on Sunday morings and nights, Wednesday nights and as I grew older went and visited people on Thursday nights with the other people and teens my age. Mom told me I was so excited on what would be my 16th birthday.. not because I woulld get my drivers license or a car, but because then I would be old enough to be in the adult choir and wear the robes that the choir wore. I was also in the youth choir, and taught in Bible school in the summer. I loved camp and I think I went to Mt. Baker in Washington about ever year from the age of 9 to 14 or so.

Jesus means the world to me. He has brought me through so much in my life. I did walk away from him for many years and when I look back I sure wish I hadn't and I feel I really wasted my life during those years by not going to church and reading my bible as I had done so many years before that. I still prayed but not always. Usually they were the prayers you say those prayers when something is really upsetting you or a friend is hurting or a death. The kind of prayers that so many of us wait and pray during the hard times.

I began having severe panic attacks when I was 23 years old and they lasted until I was 50.. that is 27 years to be exact. I had 7 good years during that time when I could work and drive and be the ole Marilyn. But then the antidepresent would quit working and I would crash for a week or two until the dr. found another for me. That is why I wish I had stayed in church, I feel like if I had of I would of kept learnng so much more of the bible that I would of known how to fight the devil and he would have never put that much fear in me. I have learned now how to fight that devil from so many pastors on tv and from books I have read, besides the bible.

All the years I has the panic attacks, my mom would ask the people at her church to pray for me and she prayed for me for years. My mom never really could understand what was wrong with me. She said no one in either side of the family had ever had those. Well it turned out about 5 ppl past and present did have nerve problems and low seritonum in their brains like I did.

I kept praying that I would be healed. Finally one night when I was 48, I was in my bedroom watching TBN on tv. I know that I had really loved the message that was preached and always did love the singing. When the preacher was done and said if you know you need forgivenss of your sins and the Lord in your life or you know you need to rededicate your life to the Lord please say this prayer. I felt like I did when I was that 12 year old girl when I had the feeling to run up the aisle, but since their wasn't an aisle in my room, I just said the prayer with the precher.. I asked Jesus to forgive me and I was so sorry I had been away from him for so long and would he forgive me for all my sins that I had committed through all those years and and to help me to never ever leave his side again. I felt so much better, and started reading the bible again and reading alot of great Christian books that I just loved. I finally read the Bible through for the first time.

I was living with one of my daughters and her husband and 2 of their kids and they decided it was time for them to move out on there own away from me. I went to the other daughters for a year and I decided it was time for me to move. I found and apartment in town and rented it. This would be the first time I had lived alone since I was 23. The first night I had to walk to my daugthers just across the street and stay all night, but after that I just really prayed harder and was able to stay alone and still do today 6 years later thanks to a gracious and mighty God. Only because of God do I have the strength to be alone now and let my kids not have to be there with me all the time.

If you know the Lord as your Saviour, please never walk away from him like I did. There is not a thing in the world that is worth being away from God for even one day. All that wasted time, that I could of been knowing him better and having a deeper realtionship with him saddens me, but I know I have learned so much more now ever since that night in my room when I rededicated my life to Jesus. I love the Lord and I am not ashamed to tell anyone that. He is my saviour, my rock, my redeemer my love and my life.

If you ever need someone to pray for you please must go to my box on here and let me know. It will be just between you and I and the Lord. All of us have things happen in life when we need a friend to pray for us and I want to be that friend to any of you. God bless you all and please come baaback to my blog again and I will try to start putting up scriptures and other things. God bless you all and remember everyone to live your life with God, pray for everyone especially your family and friends and people you dont even know in all parts of our world. Always remember that have one friend that will never leave you or forsake you. All you have to do is call out his name the name Jesus. Jesus who is in Heaven preparing a mansion for you to have when you leave this world someday. Aslo remember to live, laugh and love. Thank you for reading this. God bless you all.