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Do you know?Did you know that you were created to have a loving relationship with God? He is patiently and lovingly waiting for you to respond to His invitation to salvation. Yes, you can receive forgiveness for your sins and assurance of eternal life through Christ.
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July 31 TRULY AMAZING!!!!!This deserves a blog entry! Thank all of you for your prayers for Albert. Here is the praise report I just received from the youth pastor: I just got off the phone with Gracie and she says Albert does not need surgery!!!!!!!!!Praise the Lord and thank everyone for the prayers! Also, as our Lord does over and above anything we can ask or imagine the doctors say that He can go HOME today! God is Good! Please keep praying that he does indeed get out of the hospital today. God Bless. Layne Here are the prayer requests that I have been sending out. Pray for Albert 7/22/08 In car accident and scan shows bleeding at the back of the skull. They will be doing another scan in 2 hours. If there is still bleeding they will need to do surgery. Pray that the bleeding stops and complete recovery Continue to pray for Albert update 7/25 Albert is having headaches, blurred eyesight,heart slowing down, bruise on the brain. They can not do surgery until the bruise goes down. Also, pray for the family. Albert Ortiz needs urgent prayer 7/30 Albert was in an auto accident and received head trama. Unfortunately, they will need to do brain surgery tomorrow. Pray that the surgery is a complete success and that he fully recovers from the accident On of my friends had visited him yesterday afternoon and as of last night we were still praying about the surgery. He still had the blood clot, migraines and double vision. THANK YOU LORD FOR HEARING AND ANSWERING OUr PRAYERS. Please continue to pray for a full recovery and thanks again. AND THE NOMINATIONS ARE.... RULES List 7 people to who you want to get this award, then contact them to let them know they have received it! Next to each nomination, state the reason you have chosen them. It is then up to them to pass this along to 7 of their friend’s. MY NOMINEES ARE:
July 28 Quiet TimeI just added a song list to my site for your enjoyment. I find that turing on some worship music and just sitting before the Lord is so refreshing. So just an encouragement to take 1/2 hour, close the door behind you and wait upon the Lord. Even if you don't have a relationship with God, I encourage you to do the same. He is a rewarder to those that diligently seek Him. Take the bible with you during this time and read through a Psalm or elsewhere in the word.
I promise you!! God will meet you right where you are at and speak to you through the songs and the word. He is just waiting on us to take the time.
July 26 The war within my soulWe go through things in our lives so that we can help others that are going through the same thing. As I share this with you I also realize that it is also releasing me from my own struggles within. As I wrote about in my last blog, my 10 year old is here visiting with me. What I didn't tell you is that my ex wife is also out in California visiting. I picked her up last night to come and visit with the family. My mood has become depressed, my anger has resurfaced and my bitterness has reared it's ugly head back into my life. I thought I had dealt with all these issues since our divorce 6 years ago. The details of our break-up are not real important but it brought into my life a lot of pain and feelings that I never knew I had to deal with again.
Driving down to pick her up I could feel my self tense up and memories of the past flooded my mind. I couldn't even look at her when I saw her and went to bed early just so that I would not need to deal with it. This morning I decided to face reality and began praying and seeking the Lord. I know that in my own strength I can not handle this. As a christian I can not just ignore that this is a stumbling block in my life and I have decided to face it head on with the Lord's help. I started reading the book of James in the Bible. I came to this verse and thank you Lord for speaking to me through your Word.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, sensual and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdon that is from above is first pure, then peacable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13-18
As I write this, I know that the Lord is speaking to my heart. Realizing that I want God's will in this situation and I cry out to Him for His true wisdom and the ability to love as Jesus loves me. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"Not that I have allready attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phill 3:12-14
Please pray that God would put in my heart the love of Jesus towards my ex and give me the strength to conquer this weakness in my life. Thank you Lord that I do not need to stay the same. Make me more like you LORD.
July 24 A Father's Love for his childrenLast night my 10 year old (Joy) came into my room with tears running down her cheeks. I asked her a couple of times "What's wrong?" but she just stood in silence not saying a word. Just to let you know, she lives in Ohio with her mom and is out here visiting with me. I speak to her quite a bit on the phone during the year but I don't get to see her face to face but once a year. Finally after several attempts to find out what was wrong, I just took her in my arms and laid her down besides me in a huge bean bag chair in the room. A few minutes later we were laughing and talking together again.
When I woke up this morning I was thinking about how my Father in heaven loves me. Children exhibit sincerity, eagerness, a trusting attitude and total dependence on their parents. When we go to our heavenly Father, we must go to him with child like faith. He loves us unconditionally, right where we are at and knows our every need before we even ask. There are many times in my life that I hesitate going to God, yet He is just waiting for me with loving open arms.
Why do I hesitate to have fellowship with God when He is allways there waiting for me? Here is a list of a few reasons why. Unrepentant sin, anger, pain, pride (a feeling that I can do things on my own), hurt, a broken heart, a contrite spirit, unforgiveness, depression, etc... But I know God loves me, He promises to take care of all my needs, He has given me eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ, I have His Word (The Bible) and I know I can go to Him at any time. This is where my child like faith comes in. I can not go to God on my own merits or works.
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Rom 5:1-5
It is because of Jesus Christ being the ultimate sacrifice on the cross for my sins that I can have fellowship with God. It has nothing to do with my own works or feelings. My dependence on God is fully reliant upon the finished work on the cross. I can enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus because He is our High Priest (Heb 10:19-23).
So John, what are you really trying to say? As my daughter came into my room, tears in her eyes and speachless; she knows that I love her unconditionally and that she doesn't even need to say a word. God is allways waiting for us with open arms.
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait upon 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: 29-31
 Thank you Mrs. Magnolia for this picture.
July 23 Who do you say that I am?Since I have emphasized so much in my blogs about my reliance in my relationship with Jesus Christ, I think it is important that you know why. Many say that believing in God is a blind faith. I would beg to differ. GOD does exist! Whether or not you believe this does not change the fact that HE DOES. If someone really wants to know the TRUTH all they need to do is seek for it. What we believe does not change the fact that God is sovereign and that we will all have to face Him one day. You may not even believe this but it won't change God's mind and He will have the last say. I am not a scholar nor do I claim to know everything. In my quest for truth I know that the Bible is the Word of God, that Jesus is the only way to have eternal life and a personal relationship with God. I am not here to argue with anyone nor debate the issues. All I want is to present the truth and you decide. I have found that Jesus loves everyone and He always spoke the truth, even if it was against the grain. He was crucified because of who He is. He has given every person a free will to choose what they want to believe. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16-17 In the next few weeks I will address to the best of my ability the following: 1. Why is Jesus the only way? 2. Is the Bible reliable? 3. How can I have a personal relationship with God? I would love to get your comments on this and know what you think, so please let me know. John July 21 Tag Your ItWell, I've been tagged by Doc Wood http://docwoodsr43.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D13585BBC5C832BB!598.entry
1. I am proud to be called a Christian and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.
2. As you can see on my site, I have 7 of the greatest children in the world (just a little bias)
3. I lead our Monday night men's bible study in worship. I play the guitar a little and love to sing (scary thing) praise to my God and lead others to do the same.
4. I run my own business from home selling Eco products for the home and businesses. Check it out if you like http://www.ecoquestintl.com/johne
I was in the mortgage business for 10 years and you all know what has happened to that.
5. Love going fishing with my sons. Planning a deep sea fishing trip in August. Will have pics.
6. Born and raised in Detroit Mich until 1976 and moved with my parents to California
7. Single and love it (sometimes). I keep myself very busy and don't think about it much.
8. As I get older (50 in February) I am learning that life is an adventure and just trying to figure out what I want to do. Have had many ups and downs in my life.
I think my life would be in shambles if it was not for my relationship with God in my life.
RULES FROM THE TAGGER TO THE TAGGEES . Post the rules at your Space. List eight things about yourself to share with all of your friends. After the list, choose eight other people to tag, list their names, and link to their Space. Then go to their space and tag them by leaving them a comment under one of their blogs telling them they've been tagged. Tell them to visit your Space to see the rules and what you wrote about yourself. You can copy/paste my blog, make the changes, and then post it at your Space
Tag your it: Lynda's Space, Tony, Duckie, Catfish Stew, Sue, Plain Field Meditation, Dion's space, Truely Blessed July 17 Just Good AdviceAs your circle of friends on this site grows, I suggest that you check out everyone's page before accepting them to be one of your friends. I have ran into a few that you would not want your children to see! The goal for my site is to give glory to God so I do allow anyone to my circle of friends as long as they are not dishonoring themselves and others. My prayer is that I would just reach a few that normally would not go to church or may have never heard the gospel. If we are going to reach the world with the truth, we can not hide our light under a basket "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Mat 5:14-16 July 14 Is God for me or against me?Do you ever wonder if God is for you or against you? Well in spite of your circumstances I can assure you that He is for you! In the book of Exodus the Israelites kept ignoring that God was with them. I say ignore because it was obvious that God was with them the whole time and that He made His presence known. I bring this up because the enemy (Satin) will do anything to keep us from staying in a relationship with our Lord. I battle with this all the time and begin to look at my situation rather than delighting in the Lord. "Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord and trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:4-5 When God was angry at the Israelites and wanted to destroy them because they built an idol to worship, Moses reminded God of His promise with them (Ex 32:11-14). We must remember that God loves us and "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, Great is Your faithfulness." Lam 3:22-23
This morning I was up early and could not go back to sleep. Didn't feel like praying, worshiping nor reading the Word. Did a crossword puzzle and a jigsaw puzzle, everything but going to God. Finally, after much struggling I began reading Exodus (that's where we are in out men's study) and began reading till the end. God spoke to me throughout the whole book. I knew God was assuring me of His presence in my life (you wouldn't know it). I had for a brief time allowed the enemy and my flesh to have the victory. But praise be to God, He is allways there. Remember, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 8:37-39 What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31
So what? you may ask. I know the scripures, I know God loves me, blah, blah, blah... God is infinitely wise, powerful and good. We cannot accuse Him of being unfair in His dealing with us. It was our own sinfulness that has entrapped us and condemned us. Yet God, out of His infinite mercy, chooses to save us. We are saved by grace and grace alone "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God" Eph 2:8 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Heb 11:1
Hope this helped someone out there. Have a blessed day!!
Brother John
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