"Twas The Night Before Jesus Came"

'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house Not a creature was praying, not one in the house. Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care In hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed. Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap. When out of the East there arose such a clatter. I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash! When what to my wondering eyes should appear But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here. With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY! The light of His face made me cover my head It was Jesus! returning just like He had said. And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself. In the Book of Life which He held in His hand Was written the name of every saved man. He spoke not a word as He searched for my name; When He said "it's not here" my head hung in shame. The people whose names had been written with love He gathered to take to His Father above. With those who were ready He rose without a sound. While all the rest were left standing around. I fell to my knees, but it was too late; I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate. I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight; Oh, if only I had been ready tonight. In the words of this poem the meaning is clear; The coming of Jesus is drawing near. There's only one life and when comes the last call We'll find that the Bible was true after all!

written by Unknown Author

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Woman The Determiner

Ge 2:21-24 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.


The Lord chose to compare a family with the Trinity. In so doing, He called the head of the family, the man, after His own name, Father. Then He likened the children in the family to His own Son. The second named person in the trinity. So, we have in the family a person who represents God the Father, and we have a person who represents God the Son. By process of elimination, we come to realize who represents the Holy Spirit in the family. There is only one person left, and that’s the lady. That means that you-the woman, wife, mother—represent the Holy Spirit. If you would like to find your duties in life, just find in the Bible what the Holy Spirit is supposed to do. He comforts; so does Mother. He teaches; so does Mother. He instructs; so does Mother. He leads; so does Mother. Think of all the ministries the Holy Spirit has in the world. He’s the unseen One; so is Mother. He is the one who gives the others attention; so does Mother. If you want to know what your duties are in the family, all you have to do is find out the duties of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, for you are the Holy Spirit of the home.



All that God had made before man was made for man. Man had not yet learned to sigh and weep. This was the Garden of Eden. God had made it and the entire universe for one person—man! Man had everything he would need, it seemed, in this world of his, and yet something was missing.

Adam needed someone to share with him these beauties. Adam needed someone to whom he could say, “Look at the stars! Aren’t they pretty?” Adam needed someone that he could share the beautiful garden with. He longed for fellowship with a kindred soul; one who had wants and joys like his own. Adam needed sombody, and God made her, and here she comes dressed in all the beauty that a human being can possess.

I’ve heard it said before that woman was not taken from man’s head to lord over him, nor from his heel to be crushed by him. But this magnificent creation of God was taken from man’s rib, near his heart, so she could be loved and protected by him.

There she is Miss Universe! She was created because all of the perfection of the Garden did not give Adam what he needed.There she stands with the beauty of Sarah as she made Abraham her lord, with the courage of Deborah as she stood beside Barak in the battle against the enemy, with the unselfishness of Hannah as she prayed for and reared her son, with the devotion of Rizpah as she vowed to protect even the dead bodies of her own, with the royalty of Esther as she stood before the king and spared a nation. There she is again with the grace of Lydia, the poise of Mary, the humility of Phoebe, the friendship of Dorcas, the faith of Rhoda, the ambition of Salome. The patience of Anna, the loveliness of Rachel, the love of Jochebed, the gentleness of Elisabeth…I’m sure you get the idea.



Take all the good from all the good women of the Word of God and there ladies, is what God intended us to be. However, we must be very careful because in the loveliness of this woman is also the potential for ugliness. In her joy is the potential for sadness. In her grace is the potential for selfishness. In humility the potential for pride. In her submission is the potential for rebellion. In her faith the potential for doubt. Though she is lovely and though all the good qualities of all the women in the Bible are potentially hers, there is another potential that she possesses. She bears in her the potential of Michal who hated her husband and laughed at him because he got happy and shouted when the ark of the covenant came back to God’s people.

She can if she chooses, possess the rebellion of Jezebel, who fell and with her took a nation. She owns the seed of the selfishness of Athaliah, who could kill her own grandchildren for her own rights and privileges.To me it is just as hard to believe that this beautiful queen of the garden could possess in her the hatred of Herodias, who had John the Baptist’s head served in a platter! Or like Rahab, who could sell her body to the hands and lusts of wicked men. What I’m saying here is behind that smile dwells the possibility of hatred OR the disposition of Abigail.



Ladies it’s up to you as it was to Eve, to decide, for there is in your being all the loyalty of Sarah, the loveliness of Rachel, the tenderness of Mary the servitude of Martha, and on and on. BUT there is also a bit of Jezebel, Athalia, Michal, and others …It is up to you to decide. Whether it be good or bad, there is one thing that woman always does; she determines the spirit and the atmosphere of any place where she is present.

We were not made to build the house, run the store, or office..It is the woman’s job to determine the atmosphere while the house is built…..Though it is not her job to run the store, it is her duty to make happy the one who does build the house and run the store. Ladies I don’t think we understand completely how the atmosphere is determined by us. A womans spirit determines the peace of the home, the spirit of the office, the unity of the church, the reputation of the pastor.. the health of her husband and the joy of her children. We are not the one whose name is put in the headlines on the paper. We are the one who makes man have a delightful place to be. It’s our spirit. Our attitude, our disposition.



I can’t tell you how many women have told me in all seriousness that they have no self worth. I tell them this; Some women are not mentioned by name in the Bible—the Shunammite woman, the little maid that pointed Naaman toward the man of God, the widow who gave two mites, and others. I tell them that the truth of the matter is we are not made to have our name in headlines, break the records, win the wars and fight battles, God made us for a specific purpose.
Jesus Christ is the one who is exalted in preaching, but the Holy Spirit is the one who causes our attention to turn toward Him. The Gospel gets people saved, but the unseen power of the Holy Spirit is felt in the services. And that’s what we are! The determiner- the unseen one.

The next time you are prone to think, “ I’m not important, nobody appreciates me,” remember that you are the one in the family that typifies the One in the Trinity that nobody appreciates either. His job is as the spotlight that is covered by the bushes, but it shines upon the building so that all may see the building. It is our job to be the unseen one, that comforter, that Holy Spirit.



Take your Bible, look up the term Holy Spirit, and find all He does. Then decide that you are going to do what He does. Get alone somewhere with God and tell Him…”Oh God thank you for making me a woman…help me to be the kind of woman you need. I’m satisfied with being a woman. That where I go things will become brighter.
 

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