This week’s word for the week from ” A Word In Your Ear” is the word ORNATE.
Each week this fine lady plops open her dictionary and picks a word from the pages which land open. If you would like to discover more “ornate” posts go to http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/a-word-a-week-challenge-ornate-week-44/
Here are my pictorial thoughts on the word “ORNATE”.
All of these photos were taken on my first trip to Holland. They are inside St. Bavo’s Church in Haarlem.
This week’s Fun Foto Challenge from Cee is “ALL ONE COLOR”. I had such fun with this one thanks Cee!
Dear Reader, If you would like to Cee more “All One Color” posts go to http://www.ceephotography.com/2013/09/03/cees-fun-foto-challenge-all-one-color/
Here are mine:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psm. 51:7
I know Cee said no black and white but I hope she will indulge me for a quick shot of her royal cuteness, Mercedes and her court.
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Col. 2:10
We have been looking at Colossians 2:6-10 over the last few days and have been speaking about our completion in Christ. If you have missed any of the discussion you can find it in the following blog posts:
http://wp.me/p39vIx-IQ Pt. 1
http://wp.me/p39vIx-IU Pt. 2
http://wp.me/p39vIx-J8 Pt. 3
Now here is what I am thinking about completion today:
The moment you come to Jesus …the moment you believe He died for your sins… the moment you receive Him as Lord and Savior you are completely saved… that is you are granted eternal life in Heaven. That is the GOOD NEWS that the Bible teaches!
But the Bible also teaches says that all who do not receive Jesus die separated from God and are consigned to a sinner’s Hell. I know that is not a popular thing to preach these days but it is the truth.
11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’[b]
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-12
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18
Many will say “that’s unfair Pastor J why would a loving God only provide one way for men to get to Heaven? Why can’t every man choose His own way?”
The answer is simple: Because man is not God. Only God can save.
It is not unmerciful that God did not provide a hundred ways to Heaven. It is a mercy that He provided any way at all when He did not have to.
That said, those who have asked Jesus into your heart are complete in salvation. We can take nothing away from that salvation and we can add nothing to it. Christian, if you have asked Jesus into your heart you do not need to keep asking him over and over to save you. You have asked He has responded. You are saved and unless you go to Him and say “Jesus I don’t believe in you I no longer want you in my life.” you are saved because you are complete in your salvation.
Has the idea that Jesus is the only way to Heaven ever offended you?
A group of us from area churches recently spent a week serving the disabled community of New England at the North East Special Touch Getaway. This was a fantastic week of God-sightings and heart-warming ministry.
I have so many stories I could share but I will share just this one. One of our getaway guests approached our table after breakfast one morning and said to us, “Y’know I am one of the lost boys.”
“What do you mean Addie?” Pastor Joe asked.
“I won’t ever grow up.” She said laughing.
We all raised an eyebrow at that, which wasn’t lost on her.
“I’m serious.” She said. “God has told me I am no longer to be childish but I am to be child-like.”
Now that preaches!
Here are some other photos from our time away:
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Col. 2:10
Today we continue with part three of last week’s sermon entitled “he Completes Me” from the book of Colossians 2:6-10
If you have missed the beginning of our discussions here you can find them at:
Now for today’s sharing:
What does it men to be “complete in Him?”
Well first it means that you are complete in your salvation. We so need saving! You see, the Bible tells us that every human being has a problem. That problem is called sin. Sin is that nature inside of us which causes us to make wrong choices, evil choices. We all have it within us. We have all made choices we regret. There isn’t one of us who can look at our lives and say “I have never done a single thing wrong.”
Most of us refer to this part of our personality as our weakness but sin is not really a weakness; It is a power that enslaves us to doing wrong. It is a power that separates us from God.
The Bible says it this way.
we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,[c] are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”[d]
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”[e]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[f]
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”[g]
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”[h]
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Romans 3:9-20
But God in His mercy did not leave us to solve our problem alone. He sent Jesus to die on the cross and to rise from the dead. When Jesus did that he made it possible for us to be saved to enter “salvation”.
Romans 3 doesn’t end with people remaining bound up in sin it goes on to say…
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[i] and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
Now that’s what I call good news!
Hey Ho! I have a few minutes between meetings tonight. So I thought I would answer Cee’s great questions at this juncture. To read more “Share Your World” posts go to http://www.ceephotography.com/2013/09/02/share-your-world-2013-week-30/ .
I think today I would be a peach. I just finished canning fresh peaches and making batches and batches of peach jelly.
I would love to be an eyewitness to the resurrection of Christ. My second choice would be to see the chariots of fire whisking Elijah from the Earth.
Who thought of tapioca pudding?
I love the question. It’s so colorful 🙂 If I were a crayon just now I think I would be taupe, which is sort of a greeny grey brown. I am just coming off of a very busy season of ministry and I am sort of ready to hide myself away. Being taupe would make that a lot easier.
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie
So this evening I would like to return to our discussion regarding the Book of Acts. If you have missed any of our last discussions you can find them here http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh . Go ahead! Take a gander and add your two cents. I would love to hear from you. 🙂
Let’s pick up where we left off in Acts chapter 3:11-26
11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’
24 “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.” 26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Our questions for discussion:
If you were Peter how would you feel delivering this message to this particular crowd of people?
If you were the crowd how would you feel hearing it? What would you do?
Olde Centre Church, Jesus the Good Shepherd
Yesterday I published Pt. 1 of last Sunday’s sermon at Cornerstone Church, “He Completes Me”. If you missed that you can catch up by going to http://wp.me/p39vIx-IQ.
Now today’s submission begins:
“You are complete in him” now those are powerful words; At least they made me sit up and take notice. Christian are you complete in him? Do you feel complete in Him?
“He completes me”…that is a statement we usually reserve for the deepest of romantic statements. In fact “You complete me” is right up there with the very cheesiest of romantic sentiments…like
” Once in awhile,
Right in the middle of an ordinary life,
Love gives us a fairy tale.”
Unknown
Or
” Love is like a butterfly, it settles upon you when you least expect it.”
Anonymous
Or
” if I could rearrange the letters of the ABC’s I would put U and I together and next to each other forever….”
Anonymous
Yet God uses this statement to speak of our relationship to Him. He says in Colossians 2:10 “You are complete in Him.”
Let’s explore that thought a bit:
The word “complete” is actually the Greek word “pleroo” which means “filled to the brim.” If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, according to the Book of Ephesians chapter 1 He has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you and you are full to the brim with God. If you have not yet made a decision to give your life to Jesus you do not have God living in you or with you but you could have. All you need to do is ask Jesus to take control of your life and you can begin a relationship with Him as your God.
Let’s pray together- Dear Lord Jesus I realize I want you to be my God and king this day. I invite you to come into my life and take charge of it. You be my God and I will be your servant. Please forgive me for every wrong thing I have done which has set me at odds with you. By your cross Jesus I ask you to make peace between me and the Father God. I thank you that is now done. I believe it and I receive it by faith now. Thank you for filling me up to the brim with your Spirit. Amen!
So tell me what do you think it means to be complete in Jesus?
I had the opportunity to preach at Cornerstone again this week. I have been so blessed by the work God has given me to do among the people of this region. I honestly have to say, I don’t know why Jesus chose me for this labor of love but I am so glad He did! I have prayed for you dear reader that this sermon, broken down into bite-sized chunks for you reading pleasure, would be exactly what you need to hear each day!
Let us begin!
Colossians 2: 6-10 reads
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[a] with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
You go ahead and meditate on these verses tonight.I will begin my thoughts on this tomorrow. 🙂
I love how JS has put this. It is through the body that the manifold wisdom of God is made known.
Lillie-Put 