FollowingJesusUS.com

“Arise & Shine” !

All Glory & Honor to God. And Peace to His people on earth. Inspired by God.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you”-Isaiah 60:1-2

We were not meant to hide our light, but to share it!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready 🙂

Is Heaven simply on the other side?

Maybe. We don’t know for sure where Heaven is-exactly. But I look at this picture, and think…

“No Weapon Formed Against You Will Prosper”!

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”-Isaiah 54:17

We live in frightening times, which are about to become even more so. But we need not fear, No weapon formed against us will prosper 🙂

But the second part of this verse is important too:

“And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”

One of the things that will happen is that those who are Christians will be criticized and mocked. But we need not fear this. Not only will the Holy Spirit give us the words that we need at the time, God Himself will protect us for “This is the Heritage of the servants of the Lord” 🙂

Practice Trusting the Lord NOW, so you will BE READY when the time comes…

What Really Matters :)

“Each of us has been created by God. In the likeness of God. And after His image. Let us make a man (male and female)”

“In our Image, According to Our likeness. We are three in one –spirit, soul and body.”

“The most important thing about us Is our immortality –our everlasting soul”

“Paul said that he was called to preach (see 2 Timothy 1:10-11)”

“Each of us, no matter the color, Shape, size intellect or gender , are human beings (being human)

But our real label is not who we are,”

“What really matters is that we are immortal”-Garry T Ansdell, born in 1946

“Seek The Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” – Isaiah 55:6

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

“Let brotherly love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.“-Hebrews 13:1-3

^”Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. ⁵Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶So we can confidently say,”- Hebrews 13:4-6

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?” – Hebrews 13:6

It can be hard to love some people. Especially right now. But remember, we don’t have to agree with everyone and we don’t have to condone everyone’s behavior. In fact, loving someone also means being honest with them.

And Loving someone is being kind to them, listening to them, encouraging the good in them, hugging them and helping them when they are in need…We can all do that 🙂

Our beloved country may never be what it once was, but Jesus’ Commands have not changed:

^“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.“-Matthew 22:36-38

^”And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” – Matthew 22:39

Welcome Seychelles

Do Not Fear!

“Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame” – Isaiah 54:4

We all fear some things; it’s just part of being human. But the stronger our faith; the less we fear.

One of our fears can be whether or not we will know what to say when we are called upon to stand up for our faith. But we need not worry about this. God has already Promised that the Holy Spirit will place the words in our heart that we need to say. We will not be “confounded” or “put to shame”.

A time is coming for all of us in which we will need to make some very hard choices. Choose Christ 🙂

And do not worry about the future, for God always Keeps His Promises 🙂

Be “Blessedly Assured” :)

I met a marine today. And it reminded me once again how brave and selfless they each are. And how grateful I am.

This particular marine served in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War and the Hostage Crisis. 220 marines were killed in just one day.

Personally, I can’t even imagine that much suffering and that much fear! Nor can I imagine all of the suffering he must have witnessed! Those who serve in the military don’t just risk physical harm, they risk emotional, mental and spiritual harm. And so do their families.

The marine I met was shot in the leg. And as he lay there bleeding profusely, he could not help but wonder if he would die. The saddest thing for him was that although he went to church, he didn’t even think to call out to God.

The church was something he attended, but it was not alive in him. And neither was the Holy Spirit!

How many human beings is this true for? Just that thought gives new urgency to sharing the Gospel with those we meet!

However, 10 years later, he accepted Jesus and the Holy Spirit came alive in him. And he received the “Blessed Assurance” that all Believers have.

For those who do not know, “Blessed Assurance” is a hymn written in 1873 by Fanny Crosby, who was blind. The first two sentences are:

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!”

The “Blessed Assurance” IS Jesus.

For because of Jesus, we are reunited with our Father and we are definitely going to Home to Heaven one day 🙂

When Bad Things Happen.

When bad things happen. When someone we love becomes ill or even dies, when someone who is just so very good, who seemed to do everything right, suffers, it can be a real test of faith.

But it is also when we need our faith the most. And while we are praying so hard for the person we love to be healed; we also need to be praying for ourselves and those we love. We need to Pray that our faith will not fail, but grow. We need to ask Jesus to hold on to us, even if we fail to hold on to Him. And we need to ask God to strengthen our faith and not allow it to weaken. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to Help us. To Comfort us. To lift us out of the pain we are in, if only for a while, so that we can recharge and comfort others.

And we also need to be honest in our prayers. If we don’t understand why these horrific things are happening, it’s okay to tell God that. I do. And it is okay to be angry and sad. But it is also important to end our prayer with “Thy Will Be Done”.

We only know what we want now, but God knows all of our tomorrows. In fact, God knows all of the tomorrows of every single human being and He loves us. We can Trust His love; we need too.

And perhaps most important. Faith is not about how we feel every day, but who we choose to follow. There have been a number of times in my life where I have been on my knees praying, teeth gritted, tears flowing, and forced myself to pray. And that is exactly how we sometimes get through really difficult times with our faith intact. We keep praying, even when we don’t feel like it. And even if God “feels” far away, He is not. He’s right beside us. Holding us up.

This is not Heaven. Bad things happen on earth. God does not stop them all, but He does help us walk through them. And unfortunately, with pain, that is the only way to deal with it. We have to walk through it to the other side. With God holding our hand every step of the way!

Trust God; He loves us and will not let us down. And God will never leave us.

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Children Playing In Heaven :)