Christmas is coming! Are we ready for the Lord’s appearance? Have we prepared His way by our repentance for the remission of our sin?

“Prepare the WAY of the Lord; make His path straight.”

Jonah 1:10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to Jonah, “Why have you done this? “For the men knew that Jonah fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.”

Are you running from the LORD? God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to the wicked Ninevites. Jonah hated them! He did not want to go and preach the word God had given him. Jonah knew if they repented God would forgive them and not destroy them. Jonah wanted them all dead! Jonah rebelled against God’s call and went to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Is God calling you to do something for Him? Are you running from the Lord rather than running to the Lord? King David asks the question in Psalm 139:7: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” Let’s face it. God is Omnipresent! God knows us and calls us even as He did Jonah. We can not run from God. We must stop and return before God puts us in the belly of our own great fish.”

“Here I am oh Lord! What is your will?” Amen.

'Seeing our Lord face to face!!"

1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am known.

Revelation 22:4
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

Have you ever longed to see the “face” of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you ever wonder just what He looked like in human form? Well, did you know that one day we shall see Him face to face? Yes, at this present time we see Him by faith as in a mirror, dimly, for “we walk by faith, not by sight.” However, we shall soon see Him as He is in all His glory. His new name shall be on our foreheads. As His children we shall “see Him face to face. When He comes we shall be like Him. We shall be in His likeness and in His image and in His glory.

“What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace,
And He takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land. What a day, glorious day that will be!”
(See Philippians 3:21”).

"HOPE AND FAITH IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR!”

Habakkuk 3:17-19 -“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--YET I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.”

In the midst of the “death throes” of the nation of Judah the prophet Habakkuk finds strength and hope through his faith in the LORD his God. He embraces and clings to the God of his salvation in spite of what is happening to Judah as a nation. Habakkuk declares that “the just shall live by faith.” Ch. 2:4.

What is your hope and strength in your time of trouble? Is it the LORD your God? Are you and I truly living by faith in Him? Amen!

“The Potter and the Clay!”

Romans 9:21-24
“Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for Destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”

Our God is Sovereign Lord over all things and over all people. He is the “Creator” who made all things and all people! His creation was made according to His will and according to His divine purpose.Out of one lump of clay, the dust of the earth, God created all men. According to His foreknowledge and according to His divine purpose He made us all, knowing us beforehand and making us vessels ac-cording. “Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have You made me like this?” He is the potter and we are the clay.

What kind of vessel are you? Amen!

But Jesus called them (his disciples) to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave---just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Mothers always want the best for their children. The mother of James and John, Zebedee’s sons, was no different. She came to Jesus requesting that her sons be allowed to sit at Jesus right and left hand when He came into His kingdom. This made the other disciples very angry. In response to her request and the disciple’s anger our Lord Jesus told His disciples how they could ALL be “great” and “first” in the kingdom of God.

“From God’s Word to Our Heart!”
by 
Dr. Kinney Wallace

“God’s Great Commission to His Church?”

Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Our Lord Jesus was about to ascend back to the Father in heaven to take His place at the right hand of His Father. He had done all that was necessary to establish His “church” and save those who were lost. Now He gives His last commandment or commission to His disciples and His Church.

Our Lord’s command is for us to “GO”. He said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” We are commanded to take action as believers in Christ. Our action is to “GO and make disciples.” One translation of this text reads, “As you go make disciples.” How do we make disciples? First, we must lead the lost to the Lord to be saved. Secondly, we must lead them to follow Christ in baptism. Thirdly, we must make disciples of them by leading them to grow through the word of God and His teachings. Jesus said, “teaching them to observe (keep and do) all things that I have commanded you.”

To strengthen every believer that Christ commanded He also gave a promise. He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He is with us now! Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) We have His presence and power with us. Now, let us GO daily and be witnesses for Him. Amen!