The Blood of Christ

Without the shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 9:22

Why does forgiveness require the shedding of blood?

There is no greater symbol of life than blood. Blood keeps us alive. Jesus shed his blood and gave his life for our sins so that we would not experience spiritual death, eternal separation from God. Jesus is the source of life, not death. Jesus gave his own life to pay our penalty for us so that we might live. After shedding his blood for us, Christ rose from the grave and proclaimed victory over sin and death.

...so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28

Jesus is coming back. Are you prepared? Are you waiting?

Cindi's ( artist ) comments:

The picture of Jesus on the cross...I chose to do the final death on the cross as it is the exact position we would have been in if Christ did not die for us. We are all sinners, without Christ we're truly "dead."The striking contrast between the bold red (blood) color and the black background paper is the same as the contrast between life (blood and living in Christ) and death (no life, total darkness, no hope).

Jesus Prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane

They Didn't Know What to Say!

Again he [Jesus] returned to them and found them sleeping, for they just couldn't keep their eyes open. And they didn't know what to say. Mark 14:40

Sometimes we just fail. Maybe it's because we don't understand the gravity of a behavior. Maybe it is because we are just too weary and distraught to do what we need to do. Maybe it's because we are weak or lazy.

The bottom line is that we are flawed people living in a fallen world. Despite our best intentions, our flesh sometimes triumphs over our faith. I can't think of anything that reminds us of our desperate need for Jesus to be our Savior more than Jesus' closest followers' letting him down in his moment of greatest need. Yet he dies for them and then calls them back to his service.

What a message of grace triumphing over sin, disappointment, failure, and death.

I pray in your name so often to praise, thank, and request things from the Father, that I sometimes forget to thank you for your incomparable love, mercy, and grace to die for us -- to die for me --when I have let you down and hurt you with my failure and sin. Thank you, dear Father, for such a divine plan to deal with human weakness and sin. All praise be to you, and to your Son. Amen.

My Body

As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it, for this is my body."
Mark 14:22


For Jesus and his followers, bread was the "staff of life" -- the essence of food and nourishment to people in Jesus' culture in Jesus' day. Jesus had already taught his closest followers that he was the bread of life. (John 6) Now, Jesus was providing these followers with a
way to remember him, his life-giving place in their lives, and the sacrifice he was about to make for them. In addition, he was providing his followers with a way of understanding their role in the world -- they were to be his bodily presence.


When we take of the Lord's Supper on Sunday like the early followers of Jesus did, we do so to remember him and to commit to keep his ministry to the world alive as we pledge to be his Body. We must never take this meal for granted.

Father,

Thank you for leaving us a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice, hislife-giving grace, and our responsibility to keep his memory andministry alive as his Body, the Church. In Jesus name we remembered,

Amen.

Three Times A Day...

Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10

Daniel had a disciplined prayer life. Our prayer are usually interrupted not by threats, but simply by the pressure of our schedules. Do not let pressures or busyness cut into your prayer time. Pray regularly, no matter what, for prayer is your lifeline to God.

Daniel knew how to pray. As he prayed, he fasted, confessed his sins, and pleaded that God would reveal his will. He prayed with complete surrender to God and with complete openess to what God was saying to him. When you pray, do you speak openly to God? Examine your attitude. Talk to God with openness, vulnerability, honestly, and be ready for God's reply.

Are you willing to pray by pouring out your deel feelings to God? What would it take for God to get your attention? Do not wait until you are in a tough situation to learn about prayer.

Prayerfully live out your convictions in everyday life and trust God for the results.

Dedicated Service

A Living Sacrifice...

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

I present my body to you, O Lord, as a living sacrifice. May it be holy and pleasing to you. Let this be my spiritual act of worship constantly, moment by moment, day by day, night by night.
Let me be transformed by the renewing of my mind, so that I may be able to test and approve what your holy will for me is - what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

Teach me to notice others and value them just as you do. I know you loved me when I was not lovable, and redeemed me when I was not worthy. Help me to take my eyes off myself and see others as you see them.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

Search Me

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

Make this verse your prayer. If you ask the Lord to search your heart and your thoughts and to reveal your sin, you will be continuing on God's "way everlasting."

God loves you dearly, and he has called you to be his very own people.May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Happy Valentine's Day to my precious girls - Cindi & Kayla.

Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!

Snow!

Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! Isaiah 65:18

It's about time about we have SNOW in Maryland/D.C./Virginia area! It is truly a beautiful sight that the Lord has given us on Sunday. God wanted us to enjoy His creation.

Praise the LORD, everything he has created, everywhere in his kingdom. As for me – I, too, will praise the LORD. Psalms 103:22

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts. 1 Timothy 4:4

We had a good day of bible reading and reading children's bible stories with Cindi and Kayla yesterday morning before we played and shoveled and shoveled and shoveled and shoveled!

Thank you, God, for opening up your heaven to give us the beautiful white snow. God, when's the next blizzard?!

Mark Lowenstein is right - Spring is just around the corner!! :) It's suppose to be near 60 degrees on Thursday & Friday! http://marklowenstein.blogspot.com/2006/02/noreaster.html

The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. Psalms 145:9

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

Have a great week. Pray without ceasing. Please continue to pray for Hazel Taylor.

To Know and To Love God

What does God wants?

"I don't want your sacrifice - I want your love. I don't want your offering- I want you to know me", says the Lord. Hosea 6:6

Instead of trying to do and say all the right things to make God love you, you need to realize he already loves you. You just need to learn how to love him back. God wants to help you to know him and love him more. All you need to do is ask.

So help me, Father, to know and love you more today.

The first purpose of your life is to know and to love God because that gives God pleasure. The most important thing you can know in life is that God loves you.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness," says the Lord.
Jeremiah 31:3

The most important thing you can do in your life is love him back.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:37-38

God knows everything about you and he still loves you. His deepest desire is for you to know him and love him in return.

God, if I do not get anything done today, help me to know you a little bit better and love you with a little bit more. If, at the end of the day, I know you a little better and I love you a little more, I will have not wasted this day.

Lord's Supper - Examine Yourself

I posted a blog back in Saturday, August 06, 2005. It's important to understand the Lord's Supper and we need to examine ourselves before we take the Lord's Supper. This will help me focus when I take the Lord's Supper on Sundays.

Paul's Letter - Examine Yourself
http://denniscesone.blogspot.com/2005/04/examine-yourself.html

Pray For Other Christians

Pray for other Christians.
For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory. Colossians 1:27

Be thankful for their and changed lives.
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:3

Ask God to help them know what He wants them to do.
So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.
Colossians 1:9

Ask God to give them deep spiritual understanding.
So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Colossians 1:9

Ask God to help them live for Him.
Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better. Colossians 1:10

Ask God to give them strength for endurance.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy. Colossians 1:11

Ask God to fill them with joy, strength, and thankfulness.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy. Colossians 1:11

So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.

One day soon afterward Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. Luke 6:12