Swan's Got It Goin' About Luther

A great read here...
http://aomin.org/index.php?itemid=2339

Check it out!

God's Love In Christ

'As I live' says the Lord God,'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'

A loving God calling out to rebellious ancient Israel. From this verse we can gain so much insight into the Heart of Almighty God. Truely God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He hates sin and its consequences upon the human race. His desire is that lost men and women would look unto Him and be saved. He is the One Who said:" There is no other God besides Me , A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me".

He pleads with the lost to "Turn,turn from your evil way!" You can sense the love and compassion of His Heart in the question, " For why should you die, O house of Israel?".

Indeed, God IS love. He is not willing that any should perish,but that all would come to repentance.

But,God's love cost Him dearly. " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...".

Yes, He gave that One with Whom He shared His glory before the world was. He sent that One Whom He loved before the foundation of the world. No human can fathom the width and length and depth and height of the Father's love for His Son. The Father sent that One Who was the very center and focus of His infinite love. He sent that One Who alone is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person. He sent that One Who alone loved Him enough to be able to say,"I have come to do thy will, O God".

Yes, God's love cost Him dearly. Yes, What happened to the Son was pre-determined in eternity past. Still, the Son must endure and the Father must watch. The Son has taken upon Himself the sins of a lost world. He is beaten with a whip, ripping flesh from His bones. He is punched in the face, so much so that He is no longer recognizable. They mock Him, spit at Him and pound a crown of thorns onto His head.(He is the One Through Whom the world was created). But, the truth be known, all of this, and the cross that lay ahead was the Father's doing. He was carrying out His plan of having His Son pay the price for the sins of mankind. His plan was carried out by the hands of wicked men. God,you see, was in complete control.

There, on the ground lay the assembled cross. One can imagine the Son, out of love for His Father, out of love for mankind, walking over to the cross unforced. That love motivates Him to lie down on that cross unassisted. No one need hold Him down as the nails are driven in. Then that cross, bearing the sinless, sin-bearing Son of God, is picked up and thrown into an awaiting post-hole. His body bounces back and forth while suspended from those nails. There He hung, bearing our sins and the Father's wrath upon those sins. At one point the Father turns His head from the Son. Our sins are THAT ugly in His sight. Then, after hours of agony, out of the Son's mouth come those wonderful words," It is finished". Man's sins are now paid for. The Father's wrath upon those sins has been spent in its entirety. Now, with His sin-bearing mission complete, Jesus yields up His spirit. THE way to approach God is now opened.

Oh, what Christ accomplished on that day!

Now sinners, those slaves of sin, have deliverance from that slavery. Those coming to Him no longer need fear judgement, there is now forgivness of sins. Now repentance and remission of sins can be preached in His name to all nations. For, you see, three days later He rose again. The Father had accepted His sacrifice. The Son has conquered sin and death. God has provided the perfect way of salvation. It truely is finished!

"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"...John 3:16.

Jesus now invites, yea, He commands, people to come unto Him - those who labor to be right with God, and are heavy laden with guilt over their sin - and He will give them rest. His instruction for us is to take His yoke upon us, so that He has control over our lives, so that He can steer our lives in the direction He would have us go. He would have us learn of Him, how He wants us to live.

Yes, turn from your evil ways, and come to Him. Look only to Him and be saved.

Dad

Well, I went to see dad after work today. (I only had a 6 hour workday today, meaning I was out and about at 5:00 PM). On the car ride from work to the nursing home I was reflecting on days gone by; days of when I was very young. My mind stayed fixed on a certain Saturday morning, probably around 1965 or so. It was winter and snowing lightly. I was the only one awake. There, beside me, was my little Westclocks alarm-clock. It was one of the very first things I had ever bought with my own money. I was so very proud of that little clock as I layed there just staring at it. It just ticked away. It was one of those wind-up types. If I remember correctly it cost about three dollars.

Another thing about that morning was the sense that we were a happy family, all safe and sound in a warm house. Dad did not have to go to work that day; Mom was a stay at home housewife; and Ron and I did not have to go to school. It was just a peaceful pleasant moment; obviously one that stuck with me all these years.

Dad is the only surviving person in my life from that time; well, surviving in body only. As I watched him today I tried to make believe it was that Saturday morning all over again. The reality is that he can't even remember that house anymore. He's pretty much confined to a chair with a respirator on. He's in a chipper mood however, and for that I am thankful. Now that one who was responsible for providing me with many a happy memory in my early years is depending on visits from me for his happiness.

How things change...

Fibromyalgia

Read about it here... http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/bones-joints-muscles/fibromyalgia/fibromyalgia?section=section_01&msc=N04814&s_kwcid=TC-3979-98780487512-S-8006280012

Some doctors think this is all in the mind.

Let them walk a mile in the shoes of someone who has it.

Some pastors think that the attending depressions can be traced to the sin of unbelief in one's life.

How cruel.

The violent mood swings.

The intense desire to die.

The daily feeling of the aches and pains as if to have the flu; accompanied by joints swelling and tremendous stiffness.

Such is my experience.

My poor wife. She and I can be talking, when suddenly, right in the middle of the conversation, without warning, and for no reason at all, my mood swings. At this point I become mean, and very angry.

In the early days of our marriage I would just let go with inconsiderate behavior towards her. Naturally she'd be stunned and hurt; and understandably so. After all, she had neither done or said anything to have deserved that treatment.

In the later years I'd been counseled to gently let her know when my mood was swinging, so as to be able to take up the conversation again at another time. I've done this, but still she is hurt and doesn't understand. Still the division between us widens as a result of my problem.

Every morning I wake up unrefreshed. I've been to the sleep clinic five times. I have sleep apnia. The clinic counted my having stopped breathing 90 times in a two hour period.

And, talk about waking up with either a hamstring or a calf muscle tying up in a knot...

The depressions are deep. Some people wrongly think that depression comes on as a result of the circumstances in life. I beg to differ. I say the depression just heightens the sense of the magnitude of those circumstances. It is an amplifier, not a result. The depression is always there, waiting for a place to light.

I have gone on to discover all of these things late in my life. The symptoms have been there since I was 8 or 9 years old. I just did not know the hows or whats.

As a result of these experiences I am now a very solitary person. Even my pastor and church mates don't understand. I guess I've made life unpleasant for them too.

These mood swings have it so that I have had to step down from the Eldership and Deaconate in various churches over the years. Understandably so. My family life has suffered, and, consequently, I am less than an example of the believer.

I hope someone reading this, who has these same problems, is comforted, knowing that you are not alone.

Title?

Last night, after work, I decided to drive past the old house. Well, not surprising, the new owners are chopping down a tree in the front yard that my late brother planted back in 1974.

Eeek!

It's a good thing my parents didn't see this. They would have felt terrible. It would have been like watching their son die all over again.

All I can do is roll with the blows here.

The Lord is good.