Songs of Praise

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Isaiah 12:2-3

I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH

Lord, I lift Your name on high
Lord, I love to sing Your praises
I'm so glad Your in my life
I'm so glad You came to save us
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way...
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord, I lift Your name on high (x...)

Our Redemption - The How

All have sinned & are separated from God:
for all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3:23

God's judgement & penalty for our sins is death:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23...

God's love for humanity propelled Him to do something:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one & only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

For justice to be fulfilled we needed to die but: 
No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—so that they should live on forever & not see decay.
Psalms 49:7-9

It was necessary for Jesus to die for Justice to be fulfilled: 
But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
Psalms 49:15

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just & the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:25-26

Be blessed.
Write Amen if you Believe in Jesus.
Share to make this message a blessing to someone else.

The Good Shephered

“I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERED; I know my sheep & my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me & I know the Father—& I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, & there shall be one flock & one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down & authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
John 10:14-18

Praise to God for a Living Hope

Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, & into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-5

Are You Condemned?

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, & will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be
exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:17-21

What is Love?

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:16

Death Could Not Keep Him

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Acts 2:24

Do You Believe In Jesus?

Jesus said to her, 
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26

Easter Message

The Power of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
In Philippians 2:5-11, Appostle Paul affirms that Jesus made an ultimate sacrifice for humanity. 

• He gave up His divine form.
• He sacrificed His divine privileges for the redemption of humankind.
• He left the glories of heaven & the highest position in heaven to identify with human beings & die for our sins.
• He gave up for a time the riches of heaven in order to fulfill his divinely ordained role on earth.
• He became our substitute, atoning for our sins which deserved a death penalty.
• H surely took our place. He took our sin, pain & failures so we could have righteousness, healing & victory.

The blood of Jesus Christ took away our grief, infirmities, insecurities, sins, transgressions, sickness & diseases, mental turmoil & pain. Jesus took our weaknesses & wickedness.

Because of what Jesus did for us, we can now enjoy security, forgiveness from guilt, health & wholeness, peace of mind, God's strength & provisions.

Through the blood of Jesus Christ the devil's legal right over our lives has been broken & we can now walk in freedom.

Philippians 2:5-11

5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in very nature^a God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature^b of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

To Know Christ

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection & participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, & so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Philippians 3:10-12

Dead To Sin, Alive In Christ

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. THE DEATH HE DIED, HE DIED TO SIN ONCE FOR ALL; BUT THE LIFE HE LIVES, HE LIVES TO GOD.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:8-11

The Resurrection & Life

Jesus said to her, “I AM THE RESSURECTION & THE LIFE. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; & whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26

Work Out Your Salvation

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-CONTINUE TO WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR & TREMBLING, for it is God who works in you to will & to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13

Sons Of God

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, THEN YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED, & HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE.
Galatians 3:26-29

Faith Workout

Through him we received grace & apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.
Romans 1:5

Whoever believes Jesus has eternal life.

Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
John 6:47

No Judgement

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one & only Son.
John 3:18

Made Alive In Christ

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions & sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world & of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh & following its desires & thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. BUT BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US, GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN TRANSGRESSIONS—IT IS BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED. And God raised us up with Christ & seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. FOR IT IS BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED, THROUGH FAITH—AND THIS IS NOT FROM YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD— NOT BY WORKS, SO THAT NO ONE CAN BOAST. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 
Ephesians 2:1-10

Taste & See The Lord

Taste & see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak & hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Psalms 34:8-10

Garments Of Salvation

I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

GOD'S WAY vs MY OWN WAY

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “THIS IS THE WAY; WALK IN IT.” 
Isaiah 30:21

My Peace I Give You

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times & in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

Jesus Cancelled It All

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Colossians 2:13-15

The Great Commission

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:16-20

"Is anything too hard for me?"

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Jeremiah 32:26-27

We Shall Be Like Him

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 
Dear friends, now we are children of God, & what we will be has not yet been made known. BUT WE KNOW THAT WHEN CHRIST APPEARS, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS. 
All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3

Search For Jesus With All Your Heart

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future.
Then you will call on me & come & pray to me, & I will listen to you. 
You will seek me & find me when you seek me with all your heart. 
I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations & places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14

More Than Conquerors

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? 
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? 
It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. 
Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God & is also interceding for us. 
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 
As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39

"Grace & peace to you..."

Grace & peace to you from God our Father & the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, 
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 1:3-5

Be Joyful, Pray & Give Thanks...

Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

No Temptation has Overtaken You Except What is Common to Mankind.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:11-13

He is the Rock, his works are perfect...

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
Deuteronomy 32:3-4

“You are worthy,..."

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Revelation 4:11

Those Who Hope in the Lord...

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31