June 2010
Welcome to this month's
view. I'm glad to hear that you enjoy not
only the views, but the entire web site.
As you read, I pray that God's love will
be revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.1
Remember, "We love God because He first
loved us."2 We
are beloved by God!
KLove.com
Do you find it hard to
stay focused on your relationship with the
Lord throughout the day? If so, one way
to focus is by listening to contemporary
Christian music on KLove.
com. As you do, God's word of love and
grace will renew your mind to the finished
work of Jesus, producing a sense of righteousness
and perfect peace.3
"Therefore by Him
[Jesus] let us continually offer the sacrifice
of praise to God, that is, the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks to His name."4
Serenity Prayer
My mother's favorite prayer was the Serenity
Prayer. Often, she would pray it out loud
to overcome as things got too tough for
her to handle. I recall her cry:
"God, grant me the
serenity to accept the things I cannot
change, the courage to change the things
I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
What she didn't know was the rest of the
prayer, which she would have loved. It is
as follows:
"Living one day
at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; trusting
that You will make all things right if
I surrender to Your will; so that I may
be reasonably happy in this life and supremely
happy with You forever in the next. Amen."
This prayer was written by Reinhold Niebuhr,
who I'm sure wouldn't have realized how
it would be used by so many. I can testify
that God has used his prayer to bring comfort
to many in troubled times. If you are bombarded
with troublesome thoughts or worries, stop
now and pray this prayer from the heart
to God. The Lord says, "Call to Me,
and I will answer you and show you great
and mighty things which you do not know."5
Faith Righteousness
For Christian music and the Serenity Prayer
to be effective, we must have our foundation
in faith righteousness. Righteousness is
the ability to stand in God's presence without
the sense of fear, sin, guilt or inferiority.
This ability comes solely through faith
in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
"For God sent Jesus
to take the punishment of our sins and
to satisfy God's anger against us. We
are made right with God when we believe
that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing
His life for us. God was being entirely
fair and just when He did not punish those
who sinned in former times. And he is
entirely fair and just in this present
time when He declares sinners to be right
in His sight because they believe in Jesus."6
For a time, I thought my good works would
make me more right with God because the
world says, "You are accepted if you
perform well," but God says, "You
are accepted because of the performance
of Jesus." I was wrong, "For God
made Christ, who never sinned, to be the
offering for our sin, so that we could be
made right with God through Christ."7
"What this means is that those who
become Christians become new persons. They
are not the same anymore, for the old life
is gone. A new life has begun! All this
newness of life is from God, who brought
us back to Himself through what Christ did.
And God has given us the task of reconciling
people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to Himself, no longer counting
people's sins against them. This is the
wonderful message He has given us to tell
others."8
Abounding Love Ministries
This ministry of reconciliation began in
1980, through mailing brochures, cassettes,
videos, and testimony books to both prisoners
and free society. It was not until 1998,
that aboundinglove.org started up. We're
so very thankful for those of you who have
made it possible through your prayers and
faith.
We are now celebrating our 30th Anniversary
of ministry. "As God's partners, we
beg all unbelievers to not reject this marvelous
message of God's great loving kindness.
For God says,
'At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.'
Indeed, God is ready to help you right
now. Today is the day of salvation."10
This means that today, deliverance, health,
soundness, peace, prosperity, liberation,
freedom, rescue, and victory is available
to you right now.
"Behold, God is my salvation, I
will trust and not be afraid; for YAH,
the LORD, is my strength and song; He
also has become my salvation. Therefore,
with joy you will draw water from the
well of salvation."11
Won't you surrender today?
A Prayer For You ...
Heavenly Father, I surrender
my life to Your plan. I believe that You
sent Your Son Jesus to take my sin, guilt
and pain upon Himself, so that I could be
made right with You. I believe my sins are
completely forgiven because of the precious
blood of Jesus. I believe that You raised
Jesus from the dead, and I confess Jesus
as Lord with my mouth. Forgive me for trying
to save myself by my own works. I turn to
You with all my heart, and trust in Your
finished work at Calvary. Thank You for
this awesome gift of eternal life. Thank
You for taking up residence in my heart
and for inviting me into Your glorious kingdom.
I commit my life to serving before Your
throne forever. Amen
Scripture References:
Acknowledgement: A special thanks
to Sherry for transcribing this months view!
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