Jesus, only Jesus!

^{1 Thessalonians 5:} 

¹⁶ REJOICE always, 

¹⁷ PRAY continually, 

¹⁸ GIVE THANKS  in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; hold on to what is good, ²² reject every kind of evil.

²³ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, 

and he will do it.

Who has the power to raise the dead

Who can save us from our sin?

He is our hope, our righteousness

Jesus, only Jesus!

Who can make the blind to see

Who holds the keys that set us free?

He paid it all to bring us peace

Jesus, only Jesus!

Holy, King Almighty, Lord

Saints and angels all adore

I join with the and bow before

Jesus, only Jesus!

Who can command the highest praise

Who has the name above all names?

You stand alone, I stand amazed

Jesus, only Jesus!

You will command the highest praise

Yours is the name above all names

You stand alone, I stand amazed

Jesus, only Jesus!

[Tony Wood, Nathan Nockels, Chris Tomlin, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Redman, and Christy Nockels]

IF ... THEN ... I'll WAIT for His WHEN

If …

So I don’t know what’s happening in your lives right now but I’ve got several “what if’s” going on. For example when I look in the mirror I see a woman who’s getting older and older and good grief … what if I get so old and wrinkled that people think that I’m ugly and stop talking to me … or worse … start patronizing me. Ugh! Or for another example … what if these lesions on Larry’s brain are serious … like life threatening, like what if he dies? Then what in the world am I going to do? Emotionally? Financially? Socially?

What if my world falls apart? What if there are wars and rumors of wars? What if my family is killed? What if there is no place for me to live? What if there’s nothing for me to eat? What if God is not God? What if I can’t trust God?

Emotionally, mentally, when I go to the place where I’m wondering “what if” about anything, I’m toying with temptation; the temptation to believe the lie from the Garden of Eden, the lie that God is somehow holding out on me, the lie that God doesn’t really love me and doesn’t have my best interest in mind for me … He doesn’t even have an interest in me at all.

Soooo …

I have decided, I’m going to live like a believer,

Turn my back on the Deceiver, I’m going to live what I believe

IF life happens THEN I have decided that I will choose to believe that God is good and that He has plans for me, “plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future”. I have decided that I believe that God loves me and that anything that He allows in my life is for my good and that as I trust Him I will bring honor and glory to His name. I have decided to WAIT for God’s WHEN … to wait for Him to come and rescue me. It is my express desire to live my life in front of you in such a way that you will be attracted to my very gracious and loving Lord. God help me to be faithful to do that. I ask that if you see me wavering that you encourage me to be faithful to wait for God’s WHEN. 

LONE RANGER

by Barbara Chadwick

 

The whole family gathered around the radio in the living room and listened as that deep, sonorous voice boomed “Out of the path comes the thundering hoof beats of that great white horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger Rides Again!” and the plot developed.

The word “lone” sounds forlorn and lonely. The Lone Ranger was not really alone. He had Tonto and his horse, Silver. And as Christians we never have to feel alone. Wherever we go other Christians embrace us; and more than that we have the assurance that Christ will always be with us.

 

There are many names that include the word “Lone”; Lone Pine Lake, Lone Wolf court, Lone Peak, Lone Prairie, Lone Pine, etc.

But you know God doesn’t call us to be “Lone Christians.”  In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus instructed us to, go into all the word and preach the gospel baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you and I will be with you to the end of the world.

Consider this scripture: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

 

Go and meet with other christians. You will be encouraged and inspired; and you will not be alone!

Looking for a "Nevertheless"

I hope you've have a wonderful week. Our church had a church called prayer meeting on Wednesday. One at 12:00 noon and one at 6:30 p.m. I so enjoyed that prayer meeting. There's nothing like hearing someone else pray to give you a peek into heaven and into their heart. I'm excited to see what God is going to do with a people who want to pursue Him. 

Nevertheless ...

Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; 

The last few days have been kind of rough for me and I wondered if they have been for you as well. Temptation to do and say things that I don't want to do or say, voices in my head telling me how UN-worthy I am and feeling like someone was holding a mirror in front of my face and saying, "See you're too old to ________ ... You're too ugly for ________ ... you will never be able to ________ ... you might as well. quit."

But God...

but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, 

because the Lord thy God loved thee. 

Deuteronomy 23:5

When [notice I didn’t say “If…”] when the enemy begins speaking negativity and defeat to you like he did to me, I encourage you to start looking for a “nevertheless” and a “but God” in your situation.I won't tell you all the ways that I responded that weren't right but I will share with you some right responses and perhaps they will encourage you as well. 

• I prayed and called out to God and asked Him what in the world was going on. I spoke out my feelings honestly to Him and He heard my cry. 
• I forced myself to sing songs of praise and truth until praise flowed freely from my mouth.
• I read His word until He spoke to my heart. And when I found something that moved me with conviction [not accusation] in a specific area, I repented. And when I found something that encouraged me I just read it over and over again and thanked God for loving me.
• I call a good friend and shared my struggle.

I'm so looking forward to meeting you my sisters in brothers in heaven some day. And we'll be laughing and sharing about how "in the end ... we won!" but oh how scary it was at the time. I'm so grateful to those of you who've held me up in prayer and I feel so privileged to have been able to pray for you as well. And as my brother Kerry would say, "Be strong and courageous and go forth in the name of the Lord."  Amen!

VICTORY WON!

by Kenneth and Barbara Chadwick


"Jesus has won the victory but the battle is not won yet. That's why you still have to be in the army, dad,"  Five year old Aethne said to her dad from the back seat of the car.

While militarily that's not true, there's a lot of good thought here. For Christ has won the victory and the battle belongs to Him: This is what the Lord says, Do not be afraid or discouraged because the battle is not yours but God's. 2 Chronicles 20:15  Judah still had to go out and fight but they did so with the word of God ringing in their ears and even before they entered into battle the victory was won.

But in our world today our battle is different,

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Just like Judah we have to enter the battle but we have the assurance that the battle is won.

Our victory today can only be accomplished through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

We can celebrate this Easter with full assurance that through His death and resurrection Jesus has won the victory. We can live and work knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide us in our personal battles.

We trust and pray that as you celebrate this Easter you do so claiming the victory that has been won in Christ for you.

SIGNS OF SPRING

by Barbara Chadwick

 One day recently my husband, Kenneth, brought this little twig

that he cut from a pussy willow bush on his two mile walk in our mountains. He said, “Let’s put this in water and see if
it will open up.” 
So, sure enough, about three weeks later voila!

At this time of year our eyes are always searching for signs of spring. It comes late at our altitude of 8,870 feet. We watch the lakes for the ice to thaw. We look and listen for robins. We get excited when we see the ground squirrels peeking their heads out of their holes in the dirt. As we drive down the mountain we smile when we see tiny shoots of green poking up between the dead grasses of winter.

In every area of life we look for signs:

Pain:  We either call the Dr. or we try to figure out what is causing it to know what pill to take.
Water leak: We examine the pipes.
Brakes quit: We jack up the car, examine the stuff (my word :)) underneath and go buy a part or just have it towed to the mechanic.
Flashing lights in eyes: We look on internet and discover it can be the start of a migraine or a torn retina!

Jesus told the disciples to watch for signs:  Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Mat 24:32 

During winter our spirits are in a kind of hibernation or waiting, if you will. Signs of spring encourage our hearts, lift our spirits and fill us with hope. A life without Christ is quite like winter – waiting for something but not knowing what it is. When we give our hearts to Jesus Christ we are filled with  …the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven… that the Apostle Paul talks about in Colossians 1:5.

So today, at our house, even though it is snowing and 15 degrees, we see the signs of spring everywhere. We are encouraged that God sent the moisture to our dry Colorado mountains and we are excited that  warmer days and flowers are soon to come.

Isaiah said, Forget the former things; (we could say, “forget about your winter times”) do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

And just as we look for these signs of spring, we also look for signs that Jesus will soon return. Hosea 6:3 says, Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

WHAT CAN GOD DO WITH YOU?

by Barbara Chadwick

 

 The Blue Spruce is a beautiful tree. It is one of my husband Kenneth’s favorite trees.  It has a deep penetrating root system so it is resistant to being blown over.

We, humans, need such a root system to support and sustain us through the storms of life. Life can sometimes break our lives into pieces. Look at King David after he had an affair with Bathsheba. He arranged for her husband to be killed and then the prophet Nathan confronted him. He could have rolled over and given up. Instead He called on God to forgive him and restore “the joy of my salvation.” God did not give up on him but used him as a mighty force in the Israelite nation.

Look at Peter after He denied even knowing Christ three times in one night. God didn’t say, “Well then I can’t use you anymore.”   Jesus called him again to follow.

I heard this week about one more young person who had killed himself. He didn’t have a root system. He didn’t have anything to hold on to. What a tragedy! We will never know what amazing things God could have done through this young man if only he had turned his heart and mind over to the God of the ages.

That same day I heard that people all across our country are coming out on the streets dressed and acting like Dracula. A professor said that the reason we are seeing this happen is because, “all of us are miserable.” Oh my goodness! If only these people knew that they could find joy and strength in God, the Father. God, the Rock, the source of Comfort, the Giver of Grace, Who sent His beloved Son to bring life, peace and joy into the world.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, “If you haven’t found something worth dying for, you haven’t found something worth living for.” God will not give up on you. Don’t give up on yourself.

“You can’t know what can become of your broken pieces until you give your broken pieces to God.” Nick Vujicic. Born with no arms or legs, he was a throw away; a heart with half a body. But his parents didn’t throw him away. They loved and taught and encouraged him.  He has an amazing love for people. He speaks to groups of people around the world encouraging them and urging them to give their lives to Christ. God had a plan for Nick. When Nick gave himself to God, God began to do incredible things in Nick's life.

I encourage you to go to the link below. You will see how God showed the world what He could do with these broken pieces through this amazing man.

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org