Month: September 2017

TeacherStudent

The Lord Will Come Again–Is It Time?

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens

 will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat,

and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10)

 NOTE: The world will end on the day this blog is posted. It has been predicted by a man. The times are said to be right to justify this prediction with earthquakes occurring around the world, nations thrust against nations vying for power and greed, immorality and narcissism increasingly the norm, signs in the sky with the eclipse of the sun, the seas raging against the lands in hurricanes. Surely, the time has arrived for the Lord to come again:

 1 This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God . . . (I Timothy 3:1-4)

 25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21: 25-27)

NOTE: You may– or may not– read this post before the end of the world. The Lord could come before the publication of this blog. “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”(1 Thessalonians 5:2) And, yet, He, also, could not come until sometime in the distant future of human time. Jesus clearly states that only God knows when His Son is coming again:

But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven,

 but my Father only. (Matthew 24:36)

It is dangerous for men to presume to be the predictors of God’s timing. He is God. Our lives are in submission to His plans. We must always be prepared for the Lord’s coming:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:25-28)

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The clock hands move to the clockmaker’s timing,

Winding down when the lifespan wanes,

Stopping when a man-made power source dies,

While the planets move in motion set by the Creator,

Continuing until He speaks the end of time,

The Words of His choosing, of His day and His hour.

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Let us watch and pray always. Let us live for Him every moment of time given to us.

(Sharon G. Tate blog 09/24/17)  teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

THE GRACE OF BIRTHRIGHT– ABBA FATHER

ABBA Father

Hands clasped

Prayers lifted

Words spoken

Child requests

Patient Parent

Love listens

 ABBA Father.

EL SHADDAI, Almighty God, is also ABBA Father. He is the One with awesome power controlling the seas and the storms that we fear. But He is also the Father protecting His children from the storms of life. Magnitude of power with one hand and gentle intimacy with the other hand, EL SHADDAI and ABBA are one.

ABBA is Love personified: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

ABBA adopts each of us as His own son or daughter:  Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Galatians 4:6)

 ABBA gives us understanding and comfort: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort . . . (2 Corinthians 1:3)

 ABBA provides strength and support: 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6 )

ABBA sends the Holy Spirit to watch over us, His children: 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  (John 14:15-17)

ABBA has love enough for everyone: You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. (Psalm 86:5)

ABBA Father

Quiet talking

Soul connect

Heart whispers

Love listens

Safe slumber

Ever present

ABBA Father.

(Sharon G. Tate blog 09/17/17) teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

Surviving the Storms of Life

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

(Isaiah 43:2)

THE WATERS

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (Isaiah 43:17-23)

SURVIVAL

9Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways . . . 17 “I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.”   .  .  . 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.                        (Isaiah 43: 9-12, 17-19, 22)

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THE FLAMES

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10)

SURVIVAL

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:11-13)

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Do we wait until the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the forest fires, the outside storms threaten before we seek refuge and safety in God? Do we only become desperate for safe harbor with Him when the winds assail, the waters rise, and the flames roar –endangering our very existence?

The storms are not just perils from the elements. We face our internal storms daily, hourly, every minute and every second of our lives in this world. The refuge is only found in God. The safe harbor is walking as God commands, so we can meet Him one day in the promise of “a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

(Sharon G. Tate blog 09/10/17)  teacherforjesus.com  Meditations on God’s Word

TeacherStudent

The Comfort Place–With God

“In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you…”   (John 14:2)

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The hallways full of laughter, students shoving and pushing to get through, talking and texting simultaneously, gazing up at lists posted outside the school office.

“What homeroom do you have?” shouts one fifteen-year-old girl above the din.

“Same as last year. Same as next year!” the sixteen-year-old boy yells back.

Heading to his homeroom, the same one he had in his freshman year, this tenth grade student enters the room, locates the seat he occupied last year and sits down. It’s a comfortable spot, one he is familiar with, a place with a view he recognizes, one that feels safe—but he knows he can’t remain here. He will have to walk out of that room and enter new ones and sit in different seats with views that he doesn’t recognize or feel comfortable in.

Ten minutes pass and the door opens to a bustling crowd, loud and boisterous. He rises, but lingers. As others push past him, he remains, still looking at the seat.

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In 25 years of teaching, I regularly saw former students gravitate to the same seats they had the previous year. Nothing was assigned; they were just drawn to a place that was known to them. It was comfortable; it was something to hold onto in a time of change with new classes, different teachers, and difficult challenges.

Like these students, we also tend to choose conditions and places that are more secure—a “home room” that feels safe and familiar, where a sense of belonging exists. “I have a place here. I’m home.”

In an ever-changing world, such a place is hard to find. Job transitions take us to different cities, neighborhoods we live in change with new people, children grow up and leave—and yet we all, at some point, tend to make the journey back to that comfort area we call “home.” It is a place, however, that will always be transient here—the “throwback Thursday” phenomenon of nostalgia that we try to return to but can only visit in memory.

This secure place can only be found with God. His Home is ever-stable, always open, never-changing. It is the comfort place, the one with that familiar seat, the one we want to linger in always. “I have a place here. I’m home”—eternally.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.   (John 14:3)

(Sharon G. Tate blog 09/03/17) teacherforjesus.com Meditations on God’s Word