Bringing Balance to the New Year by Rightly Dividing the Word

January 6, 2014 by 1 Comment

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Dear Child,

If this day is not in balance, your week, month and year will not be in balance. Meet the needs of body, soul and spirit everyday, to mature to a whole person, living not only in harmony with Me but also with yourself. If you live in harmony, you will have the peace that passes understanding. To be healthy and strong in body, soul and spirit, you need balance in all roles and responsibilities of your life. Do all things in moderation. I need a whole person.

You are a steward of all I have given you, be a good steward of all I have placed in your care. You will have time for all I want of you, if you live a balanced life, and seek first My Kingdom.     

                                  Thus saith Papa

Philippians 4:5  Let your moderation be known unto all men. 

WHAT IS BALANCE ?

Balance brings steadiness and stability to all areas of our lives especially when we “rightly divide the Word of Truth” 2Tim.2:15. If we neglect to spend time studying and rightly dividing the Word, we will loose our balance, which could result in a fall!

The following are examples to give you some food for thought.

SOCIAL LIFE:-

Proverbs 18:24  A man that hath friends must show himself friendly:

Proverbs 25:17  Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

Are the above scriptures contradictions? No! They are teaching us balance!

MINISTRY:-

Galatians 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Mark 6:31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

Are the above scriptures contradictions? No! They are teaching us balance!

WORK ETHIC:-

Ecclesiastics.3:13  And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Mark 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Are the above scriptures contradictions? No! They are teaching us balance!

FULFILLING YOUR DESTINY:-

Jeremiah 29:11  For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Proverbs 27:1  Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Are the above scriptures contradictions? No! They are teaching us balance!

HOLINESS OR LEGALISM:-

Exodus 20:8 – 11  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work……

John 5:16-17 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Are the above scriptures contradictions? No! They are teaching us balance!

Surely the best scripture to teach us balance is:

Ecclesiastics 3:1 – 8 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

This is a New Year offering you the opportunity to live a healthy balanced life meeting the nutritional needs of body, soul and spirit! Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas of life. But can it really? Can success in your profession compensate for a broken marriage, ruined health, or weakness in personal character? True effectiveness requires balance. 

CHALLENGE: Don’t try to burn the candle at both ends! 

Psalm127: 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.

In what areas of your life do you lack balance, which is robbing you of peace and harmony within?

 

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Have you Unwrapped His Gift?

December 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Christmas month is almost over for another year. And again I find myself trying to reach out to help people who can’t, by themselves, “unwrap” Christmas. It is, you know, “wrapped” for many.

……..Wrapped in bandages of bygone hurts and disappointments

……..Wrapped in plastic of sophistication which shuns childlike wonder

……..Wrapped in the tinsel of a materialistic binge

……..Wrapped in the confetti and streamers of empty partying

……..Wrapped in the busy-getting-ready preparations

……..Wrapped in the artistically designed whiskey box of bombed-out, so-called celebrations.

The wrappings represent the cluttered residue of a man or woman’s private history. They are the wadded packaging of Christmases ruined in other times, at other places. Sadly the impact carries on, souring year after year. 

I’m speaking of people who:

* Had a heartbreak one yuletide and now always associate the season with that tearful memory.

* Have been burned out over family stresses surrounding the holidays, so that now these days are dreaded instead of anticipated with joy.

* Became wearied with the carnality of superficial gift giving when love seldom attended the presents, and wince at the idea of Christmas shopping.

How many cases? How many varieties of death wrap a God appointed celebration of life?

I come to you today, my disappointed friend in Jesus’ name and I come with this word, “Be free!”

Confront and reject those ghouls of past pain. Refuse to let the prince of darkness smother the season of light. The one who sought to murder the babe of Bethlehem now seeks to ruin your celebration of His coming.

Jack Hayford’s book “Come…and behold Him!”

John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

CHALLENGE: Unwrap the gift of God’s love and be free as you step into a brand New Year.

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The Vital Truth of the Virgin Birth

December 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

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Since we all are born with our Adam nature and born as sinners separated from God, where could we ever find someone who was sinless, who could take the penalty for our sin by taking our place of judgement? It had to be someone who did not inherit the Adam nature. The only way this could possibly happen was to have someone born physically without an earthly father since sin is inherited through our fathers’ bloodline not our mothers’. But everyone male or female inherits that Adam nature since we all have earthly fathers.

There was only one born who did not have an earthly father, that one was the babe in the manger in Bethlehem. Yes, even He did have an earthly mother who had been born of an earthly father, but biologically the blood of the mother never intermingles with the blood of the fetus, thus He could be born without a sinful nature. The chemistry is in the blood, sin is in the blood, and life is in the blood.

If this babe had an earthly father He would have been paying for the penalty of His own sin.

He had to be the perfect Lamb to be found worthy to take away the sin of the world.

If He wasn’t born of a virgin we are still in our sins for His sacrificial death would not have been an acceptable sacrifice when He presented His blood in the Holy of Holies in the heavens.

When the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit plants His seed in our spiritual wombs we are “born again” of a different bloodline through the New Birth as we now can become the children of God.

Surely the Christmas story is The Son of God becoming a man to enable men to become the sons of God.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

CHALLENGE:

Except we become as little children we cannot see the Kingdom of God.

Celebrate the miracle of the Virgin Birth this season with childlike wonder and faith.

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The Incarnation — God in the Flesh

December 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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“You may go if you must, but not me! The church is rubbish. Christmas is pure sentimentality…….”

The man was an agnostic. And though his wife and children pleaded with him to join them for services on Christmas Eve, he would not. “I don’t need Christmas” he would say. “It’s for children not for me.”

It began to snow. The man now, at home alone, peered out the window at white swirls dancing across his lawn. He settled down with the daily paper, hoping that his wife and children would soon be home. And then, ‘Thump…..’ on the window pane above the sofa. The man went to the door. He cracked it open to see a little ball of feathers – a barn swallow- sitting in a lump beneath the window. Apparently it crashed into the pane wanting to escape the blowing snow that now threatened to become the first storm of winter.

The man, who was not much given to sentimentality, felt nevertheless drawn to the bird. It must have a family he thought, among the many swallows that nested in the tool shed. It must have gotten lost. Perhaps it felt panic as the sky lowered and the snow began to fall.

“If only I could point it to the shed” he thought to himself. “ There the little fellow would find shelter against the storm”. He made a gesture with his hand, but he knew it would be useless. He picked the bird up and set it on the path to the shed. But it only sat there. Running to the kitchen, the man brought bread crumbs and laid them out in front of the bird thinking to lure it toward the shed.

But this, too, had no effect. “I’ll never make it understand” he thought to himself. “It speaks another language. The little thing is confused – it misunderstands my intentions.” And then he thought, “I’d have to become a bird myself and show it the way……”

Just then, above the wind, he heard a church bell ring. It reminded him suddenly of the season – it was Christmas. And in a flash he understood that Christmas was necessary after all. “How else might God let his creatures know His intentions? How else might he lead them to shelter? It required becoming one of us….”

God has become one of us. And he has entrusted us with the same message – to become a genuine part of people and cultures around the world. How else will they ever know?

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

CHALLENGE: Are you listening and following after Him?

My book and study guide “Developing a Secret History with God” will inspire you on your journey to hear His voice that you may follow after Him.

Book available on Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ Walmart/Lulu/ itunes/ Kindle/ Nook/http wwwclfrance.com/ W.H. Smith UK/or a bookstore near you.

Languages: English/ French

 

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Rethinking “Twas the Night before Christmas”

December 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house.

Not a creature was praying, not one in the house

Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care

In hope that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed

Not once ever knelling or bowing a head.

And Mum in her rocker with baby on her lap

Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter.

I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open  the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear

But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.

With a light like the sun sending forth a ray

I knew in a moment this must  be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head

It was Jesus returning just like He had said.

And though I possessed wisdom and wealth,

I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His Hand

Was written the name of every saved man,

He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;

When He said “Its not here” my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love

He gathered to take to His Father above.

With those who were ready He rose without a sound.

While all the rest were left standing around.

I feel to my knees but it was too late;

I had waited too long and this sealed my fate,

I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;

Oh! If only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;

The coming of Jesus is drawing near.

There’s only one way life and when comes the call

We’ll find that the Bible was true after all!

CHALLENGE: 

Since there are approximately 300 prophecies about His first coming and over 1500 prophesying He will come again, His second advent is imminent. In the middle of all the hustle and bustle in preparing to celebrate His Birth do we even give it a thought to prepare for His second coming?

 

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