Draw Me Nearer

Do we desire to be nearer to Christ? The hymn Draw Me Nearer is one of my favorites!

Vr 1. I am thine, O Lord I have heard thy voice, and it told Thy love to me;
(I think of John 3:16 here: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. )
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, And be closer drawn to Thee.

Ch: Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, To the cross where thou has died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To thy precious, bleeding side.

Vr 2. Consecrate me now to Thy service (do you serve the Lord?) Lord, by the pow'r of grace devine; Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.
(Are you doing your will or God's will?)

Vr 3. Oh, the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend!
(Do we talk with God as much as we talk with our friends? Better yet, do you talk with God in prayer as much as you, say, watch TV, spend time on the computer, insert what keeps you from communing with God daily)

Vr 4. There are depths of love that I cannot know Till I cross the narrow sea; There are heights of joy that I may not reach Till I rest in peace with Thee.
(I think of those who have gone on before. They are in Heaven they are resting in peace. Heaven is sounding sweeter every day!)

I hope as you read this that in some way it's a blessing to you. Or maybe helps you to realize maybe something needs to be changed in your life so YOU are Nearer to God!

Bought with a price

I Corinthians 6:19-20 "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

....bought with a price... We, you and I, are bought with a price and God paid that price by dying on the cross.
Did he have to do this? no, he could of called the angels to remove him from the cross.
Did he have to leave his home in glory? no, he could of stayed there and not suffered the terrible things he suffered here on earth for you and me.

So why do we not care for the Temple of the Holy Ghost?
Why do we not watch our weight?
Why do we eat and drink that, that we know is not good for us?
Why do we abuse our bodies?

The Bible clearly states that "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost...."
As Christians we are to care for our bodies.
Why?
Let me answer this with other questions...
*Would you destroy the house you live in? Of course not that is YOUR home. Same with the Holy Ghost our bodies are the "house" temple in which he dwells.

*Now your house can't gain weight, but don't you think that since our bodies are the Temple that we shouldn't let it become fat, sloppy, ugly looking? God made each of us in his image because of that we should be proud of the way we look. Not to where we become a "Look at me, I'm beautiful" type person, but where you walk with head held high, and proud that you are Christian and that your body is the Temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells.

*Would you bring bad things in to your home to feed your children? Of course not, so why would you feed yourself things that will destroy your body? Be careful what you eat and drink not only physically but that which could be harmful to spiritual life.
Be careful not quench the Holy Ghost, but listening to Rock music, reading dirty magazine, watch bad TV shows, speaking curse words. You should be feeding the Holy Ghost by listening to Godly music (not gospel rock, not contemporary music) by reading your Bible daily and praying. Feed the Holy Ghost not allowing your self to read, watch, or say that, that would be hurtful.

*Would you abuse your home, by throwing things to break the windows, or burn down your home. No we wouldn't cause that would put us without a place to live. Again going back to the point before we don't want to abuse our bodies with those things. We also don't want to abuse our bodies by drugs and alchol.

As Christians we need to always keep in mind that we are the Temple of the Holy Ghost. We need to make sure that we always "feed" the Holy Ghost. We shouldn't do anything that would quench or grieve him!!

Help in time of need

Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." KJB

Have you ever wonder why God allows certain people to come into your life? I was thinking about that the other day. A friend, whom I'll not name as to not embarrass her, sent an e-mail to me thanking me for being a friend.

This young lady and I knew each other, we went to school together and I believe became good friends. We ended up going our separate ways, but the Lord never allowed me to forget her. As the years past I would pray for her. Having NO idea what she was going through. Well, back about...... I believe 4 yrs ago we got back in touch with other. I still was unaware of anything in her life, until the other day. She asked me to pray for her, and assured her I was and had been since we had lost contact. Over the past few days we've e-mailed several times and as I was reading in Hebrews today I came across this verse ....find grace to help in the time of need. I had NO idea that one e-mail I sent her would be an encouragement. She shared with me things that she didn't have too and I believe that God brought as together years ago, so that at this time of her life I could help her in the time of need. If she reads this I believe she knows I love her and will be there for her.

Then also I think of a family who has suffered much, and another family whom they were already friends with, was there to help in their time of need.

Is it always easy to help in the time of need? NO
Do we want to help in the time of need? Not always
Does God give the grace needed to help in the time of need? YES!!!

Now, we may not see that grace that is needed to help and we may think, Why me?? May I say that God was there when, You, were in need! God died on the cross at a time that we needed Him. That grace that God gave us, he allows us to share with others.

So the next time you hear of one who needs help think of Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need."

Who might you help this today?

Take Heed, America

This beautiful Poem was written by a lady in our church Ms Jeanine Caldwell

Take Heed, America

Our fathers founded this great land,
The American soil on which we stand,
With Washington, Jefferson
And Franklin too,
With golden deeds and words so true!

A government founded
On the power of God
Will guide us in this great land we trod.
With freedom, and liberty and justice for all,
Will we now refuse to heed God's call?

Our foundation was laid by noble men,
But are we destroying
Ourselves from within?
Let us take heed before God and all,
Before He allows America to fall.

Let us go back to obeying and fearing,
If not, then destruction we are nearing.
Let us go back to reading the Book.
O America, please stop,
Please take time to look!

Although we think that
There is something new,
God's Word is still powerful
And It is true!
O, Please pray, please pray
For our land,
Or, sure as His Word
He will remove His guiding hand.