FROM THE SERVANT TEAM:

PRAISE the Lord!!

Pastor Jeremiah

"Shining In 2014 - God Has A Paradise"

Who Am I.............It Is GOD

One morning while reading my devotions I came upon John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.  The Holy Spirit that spoke this same calling to me in April of 2004 started reminding me that it is not about me or anyone that is chosen.  It is all about God.  That morning became a reality check for me because I was second guessing God on me.  He said I know the plans I have for you and others but you do not know them.  Trust me.

Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, “But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value”? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him “to Jerusalem” (Luke 18:31).And that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you. (Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest – August 4th)

The meat and potatoes of this note is to remind all that are in the service of God that it all depends on Him and not us.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. (God does not call the qualified but He qualifies the called.)

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. (It’s not about our works but about His work through us.)

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Without the power of the Holy Spirit doing the work through we would not and could not do anything.)

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (Christian are the chosen generation and God has made the provision that are called but the choice is ours.  It’s the whosoever will call upon the Lord.)

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (Our life and service are in Him and without Him we can do nothing)

Matthew 20:16b For many be called, but few chosen. (If you are called the choice is yours but when God chooses it is His choice)

Matthew 6:27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (We cannot add nothing only God can.)

Ephesians 2:8/9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  It is the gifrt of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast. (You cannot save yourself....It is God who can.)

An Angel Wrote:

To handle yourself, use your head;

To handle others, use your heart.

Remember that,

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

If someone betrays you once, it’s his fault;

If he betrays you twice, it’s yours.

Great minds discuss ideas;

Average minds discuss events;

Small minds discuss people.

God gives every bird its food;

But he does not throw it into its nest.

He, who loses money, loses much;

He, who loses friends, loses more;

He, who loses faith, loses all.

Beautiful people are acts of nature;

But old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others;

You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

The tongue weighs practically nothing;

But so few people can hold it.

Many people will walk in and out of your life;

But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Butterflies

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.  One day a small opening appeared.  He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.  Then it seemed to stop making any progress.  It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly.  He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.  The butterfly then emerged easily.  But it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings.  The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.  Neither happened!  In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.  It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives.  If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.  We would not be as strong as what we could have been.  We could never fly!