Nobody Owes Us A Gift Or A Gift Of Our Choosing!

We Have Surely Lost Our Way! 

In The Name Of The Lord Jesus

Why Would We, As Committed Christians, Believe That 

A Free-Will Gift Of Almighty God 

Should Be Returned To The Sender Expressing Our Dissatisfaction 

Because 

It Is Not A Brand Name

It Is Not What We Wanted

And 

It Is Not To Our Taste Since Only Money Excites Us!?! 

Beloved, 

Yes, There Are Gifts That We May Specifically Ask The Lord For 

But

Think Carefully About All The Gifts, Benefits

And 

Blessings That We Have Received Of The Lord 

Without Our Prior Knowledge And Approval!?! 

Was Calvary A Part Of Your Desire Or Aesthetic!?! 

The Cross Was Not By Gucci 

And 

The Holy Spirit Is Not Prada! 

Dear Ones, 

If We Blindly Continue 

In The Despicable, Entitled, Attitude 

Now Being Publicly Expressed

It Is Certain That We Will Not Want Or Accept 

The Now Available Gift Of Everlasting Life! 

It Is Also Certain That We Will Also Roundly Reject 

The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit 

Because 

They Do Not Come Wrapped 

In A Warhol Or Michelangelo Hand-Drawn Wrapping Paper! 

No One Owes Us A Gift

And For Sure

Nobody Owes A Gift Of Our Own Choosing! 

The Gifts Of God Should Be To Us

"Thank You, Jesus!

Bless You, Lord, For Thinking On Me!" 

The Good And Perfect Gift From God To Us 

Is 

Good And Perfect, As Is, For Us ... Always! 

Let Us Not Behave Like Idolatrous Ingrates 

Treating The Lord's Bounty Like Hog Food! 

Let Us Gladly Accept The Best Of Heaven 

Like We Know That 

We Are The Blessed On Earth! 

Peace!

COMPLETE THE TRANSACTION: Cooperate With The Lord Christ!

Even Though Jesus Christ Paid 

The Full And Final Price For Our Souls' Salvation

There Is Something That Each Of Us Must Do

To Complete The Transaction! 

Beloved, 

An Unopened Gift 

Is 

Just A Present Present! 

An Opened But Unutilized Gift 

Is 

A Dust-Catcher 

Because 

It Makes You Work But Pays No Salary! 

An Opened And Utilized Gift That 

Is 

Despised, Disparaged, And Discounted 

Will Ultimately Be Discarded 

And

That Person Who Acts So Disrespectfully 

Towards Almighty God's Good And Perfect Gifts 

Will, On The Day Appointed, Be Destroyed! 

Dear Ones, 

Let's Back-Up To Go Forward! 

The Lord Always Gives Us A Part To Play 

In The Receipt Of Our Own Blessing: 

Ask ... To Receive

Obey ... And Be Blessed

Be Perfect ... As Your Father In Heaven Is Perfect

Turn Ye ... At My Reproof! 

When We Ask The Lord To Lead Us

We Are Informing The Lord That 

We Are Willing To Follow Where He Leads! 

When The Lord Says 

"Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor ... And I Will Give You Rest ...!" 

It Is Because He Has What We Need 

And

Our Recognizing 

And

Accepting This 

Gives Us Wings, Energy, Desire To Reach Out 

And 

Touch The Living God 

Who Hears Our Cries

Heals Our Hurts 

And 

Blesses Us In And For Our Belief In Him! 

There Is No Profit In Useless Pride 

And 

No Benefit In Base Behavior! 

Please Wisely Accept The Gift Of Grace Gratefully:

Cooperate With Christ! 

Peace! 

Salvation Is Not A Gamble!

There Is No Gambling With Jesus Christ The Lord! 

Beloved, 

A Word Of Caution! 

We Do Not Get A Chance At Salvation: 

There Is No Risk Involved! 

We Do Not Have An Opportunity For Salvation: 

There Is No Investment Involved! 

We Have Been Given The Gift Of Salvation: 

There Is The Matter Of Acceptance Required! 

Dear Ones, 

If I ... A Mere Mortal

- A Finite Being With A Published Expiration Date -

Am Your FFL Aka Friend For Life 

And I Alert You To Expect A Wonderful Gift By Special Delivery

Same Day Service, Signature Required

And Provide You With The Tracking Information

And Sign You Up For The "Delivery In Progress!" Package Notification

Wouldn't You Be At Your Front Door Waiting

Big Smile, Arms Outstretched

Itching To Have That Package In Your Hot Little Hands 

Because 

You Have Faith In Our Friendship, Our Relationship 

And 

You Want Whatever It Is That I Have Sent 

Because  My Gifts Never Disappoint!?! 

I Can't Give You The Breath Of Life

Seal You Against The Day Of Vengeance

Nor Give You The Crown Of Life 

But

You Trust Me And Believe Me

A Fallible Human

At My Imprecise, Changeable Word! 

What's Wrong With This Picture!?! 

Think About It And Do The Necessary! 

Trust, And Trust In, The Eternal God 

Who Always Gives Good And Perfect Gifts! 

Peace!

Faithfulness Encompasses Your T.O.E.S.

Wisdom Says That A Friend In Need 

Is 

A Friend Indeed! 

The Elders Said That It Is Good To Have A Friend 

And

Bad To Want One! 

Are You A Friend!?! 

Can Your Friendship Be Trusted ... Tested!?! 

Will Your Friendship Be Validated, Cemented, Strengthened

By, With, And In Adversity!?! 

Beloved, 

The Living God, Himself, Called Abraham 

The Friend Of God! 

The Lord Spoke To Moses 

Just As One Speaks To A Dear Friend! 

To Be The Friend Of Almighty God 

Is 

To Carry The Weightiness Of A Burden 

And

Be Like A Bird! 

Friendship With The Lord 

Is 

A Privilege And A Pleasure! 

We Know Of A Surety That 

We May Wholeheartedly Trust Our Dearest Friend

The Lord Of Life! 

He Is Rich In Houses And Lands

And 

He Gives Good And Perfect Gifts

And

He Is  Available Day And Night

And

He Always Has Healing, Blessings

No Matter How The Tides Of Life Swing! 

Question Is: 

Are You Giving As Good As You Are Getting 

In Your Friendship With The Lord Christ!?! 

All The Lord Wants From You 

Is 

Your Faithfulness Which Encompasses 

Your Trust, Obedience, Endurance, And Sincerity 

Aka Your T.O.E.S. 

Which Always Follow Your Committed Heart! 

Can The Lord Count On Us

Count On You, Me, Now, Today!?! 

Please Join Me As I ... By The Inward Look

Inventory My Heart! 

Dear Lord, 

Please Grant Us Peace With You 

Through Friendship

Forged

Through Fire!

AMEN!

YOU OWN IT: Give The Lord Real Praise!

If We Look Closely

We See In This Text Ownership! 

Peace Belongs To The Lord: 

He Gives To Us A Gift Of His Peace! 

Praise Is Ours To Freely Gift To The Lord! 

Interesting Thing, Though

All That We Call Ours Comes To Us As Gifts From Our God 

So, In Truth And In Fact

What We Are Substantially Giving Back To Our Lord 

Is 

Gratitude! 

What The Lord Gives 

Is 

Given For Good! 

How We Choose To Use It ... By Our Free Will

Says An Awful Lot About What We Have Learned

- And Are Practicing - 

From This God Who Only Gives Good And Perfect Gifts 

To Bless Us! 

Giving Our God Praises Blesses Our God 

And

Blesses Us 

Because

By So Doing

We Are Rising Up Higher And Higher! 

Beloved, 

We Can't Fool The Lord! 

Feint, False, Praise 

Is 

An Abomination 

Because 

It Minimizes The Recipient 

And 

Brands Us As Deceitful 

And 

Untrustworthy

And 

Stagnant In Our Growing In Grace 

As Recipients Of Unmerited Favor! 

We Can't Earn The Lord's Favor 

And

We Can't Buy The Lord's Gifts 

And For Sure

We Can't Exchange The Lord's Good And Perfect Gifts 

To Receive Better From Another More Profitable Source! 

There Ain't None! 

Please Let Us Endeavor Today 

To Abundantly Lavish Praise Upon Our Lord And God

Savior, Redeemer 

And 

Forever Friend 

Like It Is Going Out Of Production 

And 

You Desire To Be The Last Giver Of Praise 

Left Standing At Power Down! 

Giving Praise To Our God Brings Peace!

HAPPY SABBATH + THE LITTLE TIME OF TROUBLE: The Anchor For The Believer's Soul!

In The Life Of Man
The Anticipation Of Trouble
Is 
Often Worse Than The Experience
But
In The Coming Little Time Of Jacob's Trouble
The Experience 
Is 
Worse Than Anything A Man Would Have Marked As 
His Thing-Most-To-Be-Avoided-At-All-Costs Goal!

Let Us Look At The Grudging Repentance
- Displaying Sorrow For Their Personal Pain
But Not Their Sorrow For Doing Wrong -
Of Esau, Prophet Balaam
King Saul And Disciple Judas Iscariot
And
Then Let Us Look At The Abject Sorrow 
For Their Known Sin As Displayed 
In The Genuinely, Heartfelt, Repentance Of 
Jacob-Israel And King David!
Therein In These Examples
Is Our Real Story Told!

All Who Will Stand Enduringly Faithful
In The Little Time Of Trouble
Will Have Made A Practice Of Leaning On
Believing In
And
Trusting In The Living God
And
Will Have Confessed All Their Known Sin
And
Repented
By Turning Away From Doing Sin
Acknowledging
The Filthiness Of Sin
Almighty God's Abhorrence For Sin

And
Our Father's Great Willingness 
To Forgive Repented-Of Known Sin! 

Beloved, Be Warned ...

We Cannot Fight The Adversary ... Our Adversary
- Who Has Nothing To Lose -
In Our Own Strength!

Remember,
The Word Plainly Says:

Satan Has But A Short Time
And Is As A Roaring Lion
Walking About ... Seeking
Whom He May Devour!

Time To Get Real ...

We Need The Savior
The Lover Of Our Souls
The Redeemer Of The Saints
The King Of Glory
Our Creator
And
Our One True Friend
To Render Assistance, Comfort, Aid
And
Keep Us In Hope
And
To Provide Help!

We Are Blessed ...

Our Hope In Christ Jesus
Is
Not A Burnable Flaxen Cord
But
Is A Solid Red Rope
Made Of Innocent Blood
Alive
Able
From The Life Of Fallen Man
Sin ... Cold
Hotly To Drive!

Let's Bless The Giver Of All Good
All Perfect Gifts
And
Strive Valiantly
In The Faith Of Belief
To Arrive Safely In Hill Zion
When Ends The Mortal Strife!

Jesus Christ ... For Us Believers

Is

Eternal Life:

Hold On To This Blessed Hope!

Ingrates Are Never Anonymous!

Vertical And Ventilating
Was Conversing With
Horizontal And Belly-Aching
Who Always, Always, Always
Has A Reason To Explain Away
His Perpetual Vegetating!

Vertical And Ventilating
Loves, Loves, Loves
To Give Thanks And Praise
To His Maker, His God
And
Absolutely Refuses To Act The Ingrate
Like The Adversary Of Souls ... Satan
The Known God-Fraud!

Verti Has Much For Which To Be Thankful!

Apparently, Fluffy-Belly Does Not!

Imagine This ...

The Family Of Man ... Created By Almighty God
Lives On Earth ... Created And Maintained By Almighty God
Enjoys The Lord's Bounty ... Created And Provided By Almighty God
And Yet
Most Of Its Members Are Card-Carrying

Practicing, Unapologetic, Ingrates!

Lord,

Please Spare Us The Ingrate's Fate!

Let's Hear Truth ... For Today!

Thanksgiving 

Is 

Very Thin On The Ground 

Where We, Humans, Are Concerned! 

We Ask For

And

We Receive Our Petitions Of The Lord

And 

In A Revolting Display Of Ingratitude

We Dine And Dash

We Grab 'N Go

And

We "Forget" That 

We Are Surely Going To Need His Help Again! 

We Behave Like We Are Doing The Lord A Favor 

By Accepting His Gifts Of Love 

When, In Fact, He Owes Us Nothing! 

We Owe Him Everything!

And Then ...

There's That Phrase:

"... And Call Upon Me In The Day Of Trouble...!"

How Do You Feel Calling Upon The Holy God

Whom You Have Roundly Disrespected

Ignored 

Taken For Granted

Gainsaid

Doubted

Denigrated

When You Are In Sure-To-Come Trouble!?!

Do You Experience Any Pangs Of Remorse 

For Your Oversight

For Your Past Lack Of Thankfulness

For All The Good And Perfect Gifts

That The Loving God Holy Has Lovingly Given Unto Us!?!

Brethren, Beloved,

Gratitude, Thankfulness, And Appreciation 

Are Graces To Be Cultivated Carefully 

And 

Offered Up Joyfully 

No Matter Where We Are 

Or Who Is Watching! 

We Have A Debt

Which We Can Never Repay

But

We Surely Can Show True Appreciation

Express Heartfelt Gratitude

And

Give Joyful Thanks Now 

And 

Always

In All Ways!

Give Almighty God His Praise!