Saturday, January 24, 2015

GOD'S RESTORATION! 1/25/15

NOT LONG after my son turned 40 he had a heart attack! His body already had replacement arteries, so no stints were needed. Not long after I turned 70 I had a heart attack and had one stint put in. At the time my son and I had our heart attacks the hospital had a rehab program for heart patients, and so both of us were able to go thru a six week, 3 times a week, rehab. We were wired up and connected to a monitor. We were watched, evaluated, and our blood pressure was measure often during our morning visits.

AT FIRST both of us were a little intimidated because we were afraid to do anything for fear it would bring on another heart attack. But we were encouraged to keep moving along, and we had to work hard at it physically, emotionally and mentally! By the time the six weeks were up, our confidence was restored. However, part of us was still in recovery! Little by little we began to live again without apprehension, and life has become good again.

I HEARD a phrase a few years ago that I wrote down and came across it, just this morning. "Let God restore you but don’t stay in recovery all your life!"    God’s rehabilitation is full restoration. But we have to discipline ourselves to respond to His program. Now I know most people do not like "programs". But the Church needs programs to get us off the couch! Without them we neither learn how to become transformed, nor to live the life God has created us for! Think about who you were before Jesus and who you became after Jesus!

KNOWING Jesus is not all in the wrist! Knowing Jesus is when you’ve stopped knowing about Him, and become one with Him! When you know Jesus, as you read the book of John, it literally jumps out at you that because we live in this period of Grace we have advantages that gives us the edge that the world would never understand.

"IF YOU love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth (The Holy Spirit). John 14:15-16     When you know Jesus, you know that after He completed His work; the death burial and resurrection, he promised us that He would never leave us and so He gave us the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Acts 2:38 tells us what we are to do and what will happen afterwards. Upon Baptism our past sins will be forgiven, and we would received God’s Spirit!

YOU SAY but what about our present and future sins? "The times of ignorance, God overlooked, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He has appointed, and of this, He has given assurance to all men, by raising Him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31    God has promised that when we repent, He will forgive; likewise we must forgive others also.

WE ARE on a journey! In the days of old when Jesus came they did not recognize Him. Don’t be like them! God gave us His Word, so we do not have the same excuses of those who came before us. Satan hides the beauty of the Word so we will read junk! Don’t let Satan hinder your way! When we allow Satan in, he sets about stealing our peace and our happiness!  But let me tell you, Satan may take away your happiness but he cannot take away your JOY, because JOY is the fruit of the Spirit within you! It has come to stay!  

MANY talk about works but they are alluding to the law of the Old Testament. We are not under the law! Jesus said he was working just as His Father in heaven was working. We need to work at keeping our lives in tune. God has given us restoration not just rehab! Keeping in the word is how we keep our joints lubed and oiled! I heard a preacher say; "One who wants the perks without the works is a jerk!" Having the rehab after a heart attack was a good thing and Danny and I were blessed to do that. But the program closed after I finished. God’s program never stops. It is His way or the highway; choose wisely! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/24/15

Saturday, January 17, 2015

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? 1/18/15

RECENTLY my attention was drawn to a scripture in Isaiah 42. I love reading Isaiah, some of my favorite versus are in Isaiah but this one I had to ask the question; "what does that mean?" So I read the whole chapter and concluded that God was talking about Jesus and the Church. "I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to graven images." in Verse 8 God sort of repeats this verse as follows; "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." Isaiah 48:11

GOD will not share His name or His glory with anything or anyone else. He made it clear when He chose the Israelites to be His children, and He has made it clear to the Church. We are to have no other gods before Him and Him only are we to serve. Why is it we listen to man and neglect His Word?

I TOO LISTENED to my preacher, and my Sunday School teachers, but when I was a child, and had so many more questions than I do today, my Pastor said to me; "Janie, no matter what I teach and preach, it is up to you to check out what I have said, in your own bible, to understand the truth! God wants our full attention! God wants us to pay attention to His Word! God gave us His Word so that when we listen to others telling us what we need to do to be saved we can check it out in His Word and know the truth.

OUR GOD is faithful and true! Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever! Our God’s Word is still the same as it was before it was written. From the time that God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, His rule of thumb has never changed. Oh, the Law, that was given to the Israelites, has passed away, but God’s rule of thumb is still alive and well through His plan of Grace, and the way to Salvation has never changed since the beginning of the Church.

MANY preach that belief is all you need for Salvation; but I ask the question; "what about repentance, forgiveness, confession, baptism? They are all in the Bible as necessary for salvation also! I tell people it is a process. Each scripture given that declares you will be saved is part of the process. I grew up with the five steps of salvation. It was an easy way to understand the process. Hear, believe, repent, confess and be baptized! So simple and yet so controversial. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe!"   1 Corinthians 15:1-4

WE MUST hear the Gospel in order to believe. From all the methods God could have chosen to reach the world, He chose preaching. "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12    Those who hear the message and believe it, are beginning the process of being saved! Romans 10:9 says "Because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!"     Keeping it to yourself doesn’t work according to God’s Word. Believing in your heart brings justification but saying it with your mouth is what saves you here. "And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!" Acts 2:38    Without baptism you forfeit forgiveness of sin and the greatest gift of all; the Holy Spirit! Process is finished with baptism! That is according to God’s Word not me or any preacher!

THE preacher says only believe and you will be saved! If that was the case why did Jesus walk about sixty miles to be baptized in the Jordan? God was pleased with what Jesus did and the angels rejoice in heaven every time a soul is saved! When making plans for your future; consider asking Jesus into your heart, and being baptized! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/17/15

Sunday, January 11, 2015

A SONG OF CONFIDENCE! 1/11/15

I WOKE up this morning and realized that this last week was filled with so much busyness that I forgot about Morning Glory. As I was perusing face book a friend serving the Lord in Thailand, posted a very timely scripture. I don’t usually just post scriptures, but today I am. It is so timely and so very much needed as a reminder that our GOD is well and alive on planet earth.

"THE LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? THE LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord, is that I will seek after, to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent, He will set me high on a rock. Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD!" Psalms 27:1-6

AS I PONDER the message to us in this passage I keep coming back to one thought. Our enemies declare that their god says to kill the infidel. But our GOD says to love your enemies! Pray for our enemies, knowing that they need God and being willing to sacrifice our time to do just that, is something we all must consider throughout our days.

"HEAR, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! "Come," my heart says, "seek His face!" Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help,. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the LORD!" Psalms 27:7-14

WE OFTEN need to remind ourselves that even though "We are few," We have the Lord on our side!      "Have you not known? Have your not heard?" "The Lord is the everlasting God; the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint!" Isaiah 40:28-31

GOD’S people have always been surrounded by enemies. God commands His people to fight the good fight and promises victory over their foes. However, until death, there is no relief from this warfare. We may walk away from time to time. but only to continue the good fight another day. We never fight alone when we love our enemies and pray for their change of heart.   Seek His face regularly to pray for our enemies - God says that when we seek His face with all our hearts, we will find Him! That is a promise! We can put our trust in Him and His Word!   God’s heart is revealed to us in John 3:16              By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/11/15

Saturday, January 3, 2015

LOOKING BACK! 1/4/15

IN MAY of 2008 I wrote a Morning Glory called "What is your beginning" and posted it January 1, 2009. 8 years ago was a long time back but I would like to revisit that blog with a few touches here and there of updating and remembering. Our world has faced a lot of obstacles since the entrance of the millennium. Remember the chaos of the computerized world facing the upcoming crash as the clock went from 1999 to 2000.

REMEMBER facing the Y2K crisis? Remember the electronic world scrambling to have a program ready just in case the year reverted back to 1900, instead of moving onto 2000.   However, the computers carried on into the millennium without a hitch. Business as usual went on! The world went onto bigger and better programs, along with bigger and better gadgets that they could hold in their hands, so they would no longer have to communicate with each other, over the breakfast table. Instead, they hold their gadgets clicking with their thumbs and wonder why they don’t know each other any more. None of us have remained the same since that time!

EVERYTHING HAS A PAST! Good or bad, there is a past! Lots of times we refer to history to help us to remember. For instance, lets take a look at the 7/11 store! Many of you may already know these things but I find some trivia interesting. The 7/ll Store began sometime during the depression which was in the 30's and it’s beginning was as an "ICE HOUSE." This means they only sold blocks of ice to be use in "ice boxes" which were used to keep food cold. We now have refrigerators and only a few ice boxes are still being used. The name of 7/11 was to advertise the hours of the store. They were open from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm. Hence; 7/11!

THROUGH the years they thought of changing it to 24/7 but decided it was best to just leave it alone. When folks would come for their ice, they would ask why they didn’t also sell; milk! So, they sold ice and milk. Then they were asked about eggs; so they sold ice, milk and eggs. Bread was the next selection and before you knew it, they started adding many items that were regularly requested and today they stock well over 4000 different items to satisfy their customers. In 1957 they began to serve "slurpies" and they became an instant success. Many of us are happy to find they are open all night!

EVERYTHING has a beginning no matter how trivial. What about you? What is your beginning? Has it kept you from moving forward, or has it held you back? My Mom and Dad ran an Ice House also! Although I hadn’t made it on the scene yet, it was a beginning for our family. However, their running an Ice House was not the success of their life, but raising a family of fourteen children was. I guess success is measured by your own perspective.

"BELOVED, "I do not consider that I have made it my own (that is obtain eternal life) but this one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead! I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14    Paul spent a lot of time in prison! He didn’t have time to relive what he had done to the Christians, but instead he was his focusing his attention on teaching and preaching the gospel.

WHERE ARE YOU today? How does what Paul did, compare to what you must leave behind? What was Paul pressing towards? The prize of the upward calling. "Eternal life!" Paul says that he was not perfect! He was not complete or yet finished here on earth! Paul was saying he had no righteousness of his own. I have discovered that I too have no righteousness of my own. I too am diligent about what I put into Morning Glory and what I teach and preach in Soul Sisters Bible Study. God doesn’t keep a file on my past and He doesn’t keep a file on yours. What He does keep, is a place in His heart for each us; urgently asking all, to consider a life time of service in His Kingdom; His righteousness can be yours!     By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/3/15