Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 

Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 

The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” 

Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 

And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

Genesis 35:9-15

Praise the Lord! What a beautiful encounter Jacob has with God Himself, who not only blesses him but blesses all his future generations. Praise the Lord!

The point I wish to bring to your attention this morning is how God introduces Himself to Jacob. He says I am God Almighty, which when translated in Hebrew is El Shaddai. 

Let us pause right there. If our God is Almighty God, should we fear anything in our lives folks? Our medical reports or sicknesses or symptoms? Isn't it all under His might to over throw? Just like that! Yes it is!

I therefore encourage you all to really focus in on God's ability to handle your need. Wondrously He will prove Himself as God Almighty - El Shaddai - to each one of you also. No doubt!!

 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:5-11

 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21

How are we faring with the few things entrusted to us? You may ask what few things? From who?  

I am talking about anything and everything you are blessed with here on earth. Your spouse. Your children. The family. The job. The house. Food. You name it.

How are we managing them all? Are we serving one another in sincerity? Are we caring for our friends and family with love? Are we grateful for our jobs? Are we content with our house?

What is our attitude like on a given day? Are we mostly cheerful and thanking the Lord for our blessings - the few we have. Or, are we grumbling and mumbling about what we could have had but do not?

Let us develop a grateful heart, being faithful and doing good. In due time God will raise us up if we do. Praise the Lord!

 A good name is more desirable than great riches;

favor is better than silver and gold.

The rich and the poor have this in common:

The LORD is Maker of them all.

The prudent see danger and take cover,

but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD

are wealth and honor and life.

Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse;

he who guards his soul stays far from them.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

The rich rule over the poor,

and the borrower is slave to the lender.

He who sows injustice will reap disaster,

and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

A generous man will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor.

Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart;

even quarreling and insults will cease.

He who loves a pure heart and gracious lips

will have the king for a friend.

The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge,

but He frustrates the words of the faithless.

The slacker says, “There is a lion outside!

I will be slain in the streets!”

The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;

he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich

will surely lead to poverty.

~ Proverbs 22:1-16

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

1 Peter 2:1~12

Let us therefore live according to our calling... Happy Sunday my friends. Thank you for stopping by for some Coffee with Jesus!

 1Praise the Lord. ^a

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how very beautiful!  Song of Solomon 1:15

Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27

Isn't that a beautiful experience to be seen as flawless? That too by none other than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself?! 

Let us remain worthy of His love by first acknowledging it and next by reciprocating it...

Happy Friday folks! Continue to glow in His love!

* Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning. Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. 

* Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them. 

* Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed. 

Luke 12:35-38

So, as the scripture says, let us be alert, expecting our King's return. Let us not ignore the fact that His return is imminent even though it may seem like every generation said the same thing and nothing happened yet. 

Let us keep our lamps burning, which is nothing but being filled with the Holy Spirit at all times. In this dark and dirty world we need the constant help our our Lord the Holy Spirit to live a holy life. Seek Him, Then you will find Him.

Let us love our Lord with all our might and heart and soul and also love one another. 

That's all it takes to be ready folks. Hard to believe I know, but His burden is easy to bear. Praise the Lord!

 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:36-44

Now the question remains how to be ready? Let's save it for tomorrow... 

 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

Matthew 9:34-38

Let us add one more prayer point to our list today. Let us ask for more laborers to do God's harvest. Let us all be willing to step in and fill the gap ourselves. God bless you all! 

 “But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

you descendants of Abraham my friend,

I took you from the ends of the earth,

from its farthest corners I called you.

I said, ‘You are my servant’;

I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:8-10

Praise the Lord! 

Here's a timely promise for someone who needed to hear these exact words. 

Do not fear. God is with you!

I was told lately by a young man who had been in Scotland, that he came one day to a gate, when the gate-keeper's little girl ran down and shut it, saying, "You have not to pay anything to pass; you have only to say, 'Please allow me to go through.'" The young man did as he was directed, and simply repeated, "Please allow me to go through," and the gate was immediately opened. The owner just wished to preserve the right of entrance; that was all. So, simply "ask, and it shall he given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Make a joyful noise to the LORD,

all the earth.

Serve the LORD with gladness;

come into His presence with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and bless His name.

For the LORD is good,

and His loving devotion endures forever;

His faithfulness continues to all generations.

~ Psalm 100

 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

You have made my lot secure.

The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places;

surely my inheritance is delightful.

I will bless the LORD who counsels me;

even at night my conscience instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me.

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will dwell securely.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence,

with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Psalm 16:5-11

For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations. Psalm 22:28

For God is King of all the earth; sing profound praises to Him. Psalm 47:7

God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. Psalm 47:8

Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. Jeremiah 10:7

On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth--the LORD alone, and His name alone. Zachariah 14:9

If it is true that dominion belongs to Lord and that He is the King of all nations, why do we not allow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to rule and reign our hearts and minds?

Can we completely surrender our "crowns" at His feet this morning, giving Him the rein to lead and guide us?

Trust me my friends; it will be worth the ride, the rest of our journey. Praise the Lord!