IF ADAM DID NOT SIN.....

I have not been well these past 3 weeks. I have been fighting a bad cold and have been weaker then I have ever been. Weeks before this I was saying how I never get a cold, I never get the flu. Never says never..... I am slowly starting to get back on my feet and my breathing is getting a littl better. I was reading some quotes at "Grace Gems" and came across this on by J. C. Ryle,"Christ in the Sick Room". If you can find the time to read this, please do. It is a bit long but so worth reading.
We are so dependent on our Lord, as you read this you see that God is in control and thank God He is....

Isaiah had said—"Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover." —Isaiah 38:21

Sickness, disease, decay, and death are the common lot of all mankind without exception. You have a striking proof of this in the chapter from which my text is taken. The Holy Spirit shows us a king and ruler of men, a dweller in palaces, a possessor of all that money can obtain, a good man, a holy man, a friend of God—laid low by disease, like the poorest man in the kingdom. Hear what the Holy Spirit says, "In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death."

This is the old story. It is the history of every child of Adam for the last 6,000 years—except Enoch and Elijah. It is as true of the infant who only lives a few hours, as it is true of Methuselah who lived 969 years. The story of every patriarch in the 5th of Genesis concludes with the simple words "and he died."

There is no discharge in this war. Sooner or later all die. There is no exemption for any rank or class or condition. High and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, learned and unlearned, kings and their subjects, saints and sinners—all alike are liable to disease and all must submit to the king of terrors. The admirals and generals who have left behind a world-wide reputation, the statesmen who have swayed senates and made indelible marks on the history of their own time—are all carried one after another to the grave. Rich men, in spite of all their privileges, enjoy no immunity from sickness and death.

No medical skill can prevent death. Our physicians and surgeons are unwearied in their efforts to find new remedies and modes of treatment. They compass sea and land in order to prevent disease, and discover remedies, diminish pain, and lengthen life. But in spite of vaccination and quinine and chloroform, in spite of all that medicine and surgery can do—there is something which your ablest doctors find beyond their reach. When the time appointed by God comes, they cannot keep men and women alive.

After all, there is nothing amazing in this. The tabernacle or tent in which our soul lives, the human body, is a most frail and complicated machine. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is not a part of us which is not liable to disease. When I think of the variety of ailments which may assail our frame, I do not wonder so much that we die at last—as I do that we live so long.

But whence comes this liability to sickness, disease, and death? How are we to account for it? This is a question which will arise in many minds—and it is one which ought to be answered. Perfection is the ordinary mark of all God's handiwork—perfection in the heaven above us and the earth beneath us—perfection in the movements of a planet like Jupiter—and perfection in a fly's wing or a blade of grass.

Look through a telescope or microscope at anything which God created and you find nothing defective. How then can we account for the power of disease, decay, and death over the body of man?

There is only one book that supplies an answer to this question. That book is the Bible. The fall of man at the beginning has brought sin into the world, and sin has brought with it the curse of sickness, suffering, and pain. These are not things which God created at the beginning. They are the consequences of man's transgression. To suppose that a perfect God could deliberately create imperfection, is a supposition too monstrous to be believed. It is man that is to blame—and not God. The countless bodily sufferings that we see are the just consequence of man's original disobedience.

Here to my mind lies one among many proofs that the Bible is given by inspiration of God. It accounts for many things which the Deist cannot explain. When I see a little infant, too young to know good from evil, convulsed with bodily pain and hovering between life and death in a weeping mother's arms, I would be utterly puzzled and confounded if I did not believe the Bible. I would ask myself, "Where is the justice and mercy of allowing such distress? Where is the wisdom and love of the Creator?" But when I turn to the Bible the mysterious problem is solved. I learn that suffering is the result of Adam's fall. That infant would not have suffered if Adam had not sinned.

In the next place I ask you to learn from this chapter that sickness is not an unmixed evil.

That King Hezekiah received spiritual benefit from his illness I think there can be no doubt. The beautiful and pathetic language of his "writing," which Isaiah was inspired to record, places that beyond question. The good man saw things in his sickness which he had never seen clearly and fully in the days of health. "By these things," he says, "men live." He might have added, "By these things men learn."

I do not say that sickness always does good. Alas! We ministers know to our sorrow that it frequently does no good at all. Too often we see men and women, after recovering from a long and dangerous illness, more hardened and irreligious than they were before. Too often they return to the world, if not to Sin, with more eagerness and zest than ever; and the impressions made on their conscience in the hour of sickness are swept away like children's writing on the sand of the sea-shore when the tide flows.

But I do say that sickness ought to do us good. And I do say that God sends it in order to do us good. It is a friendly letter from heaven. It is a knock at the door of conscience. It is the voice of the Savior asking to be let in. Happy is he who opens the letter and reads it, who hears the knock and opens the door, who welcomes Christ to the sick room. Come now, and let me plead with you a little about this, and show you a few of the lessons which He by sickness would teach us.

1. Sickness is meant to make us think—to remind us that we have a soul as well as a body—an immortal soul—a soul that will live forever in happiness or in misery—and that if this soul is not saved we had better never have been born.

2. Sickness is meant to teach us that there is a world beyond the grave—and that the world we now live in is only a training-place for another dwelling, where there will be no decay, no sorrow, no tears, no misery, and no sin.

3. Sickness is meant to make us look at our past lives honestly, fairly, and conscientiously. Am I ready for my great change if I should not get better? Do I repent truly of my sins? Are my sins forgiven and washed away in Christ's blood? Am I prepared to meet God?

4. Sickness is meant to make us see the emptiness of the world and its utter inability to satisfy the highest and deepest needs of the soul.

5. Sickness is meant to send us to our Bibles. That blessed Book, in the days of health, is too often left on the shelf, becomes the safest place in which to put a bank-note, and is never opened from January to December. But sickness often brings it down from the shelf and throws new light on its pages.

6. Sickness is meant to make us pray. Too many, I fear, never pray at all, or they only rattle over a few hurried words morning and evening without thinking what they do. But prayer often becomes a reality when the valley of the shadow of death is in sight.

7. Sickness is meant to make us repent and break off our sins. If we will not hear the voice of mercies, God sometimes makes us "hear the rod."

8. Sickness is meant to draw us to Christ. Naturally we do not see the full value of that blessed Savior. We secretly imagine that our prayers, good deeds, and sacrament-receiving will save our souls. But when flesh begins to fail, the absolute necessity of a Redeemer, a Mediator, and an Advocate with the Father, stands out before men's eyes like fire, and makes them understand those words, "Simply to Your cross I cling," as they never did before. Sickness has done this for many—they have found Christ in the sick room.

9. Last, but not least, sickness is meant to make us feeling and sympathizing towards others. By nature we are all far below our blessed Master's example, who had not only a hand to help all, but a heart to feel for all. None, I suspect, are so unable to sympathize as those who have never had trouble themselves—and none are so able to feel as those who have drunk most deeply the cup of pain and sorrow.

Men and brethren, when your time comes to be ill, I beseech you not to forget what the illness means. Beware of fretting and murmuring and complaining, and giving way to an impatient spirit. Regard your sickness as a blessing in disguise—a good and not an evil—a friend and not an enemy. No doubt we should all prefer to learn spiritual lessons in the school of ease and not under the rod. But rest assured that God knows better than we do how to teach us. The light of the last day will show you that there was a meaning and a "need be" in all your bodily ailments. The lessons that we learn on a sick-bed, when we are shut out from the world, are often lessons which we should never learn elsewhere. Settle it down in your minds, that, however much you may dislike it, sickness is not an unmixed evil.

TRUST

Do you ever sometimes wonder why some things happen in your life? Do you question God and ask,"Why?" I have to admit it, I do at times. Sometimes my faith is not as strong as it should be. The weakness of my flesh comes out and I worry or fret over things. Life sometimes with throw you a hardship and you will go through afflictions that you have no control over and He wants us to trust Him. He knows all about it, He planned it for what ever purpose, He has control of it and it will bring Him glory as you trust Him. There are no accidents in the life of a child of God. Even in the darkest moments in our lives, we have a light that shines through it. Knowing that I am not in control and He is comforts me.

Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."--Corrie Ten Boom

When the world smiles upon us, and we have got a warm nest, how do we prophesy of rest and peace in those acquisitions, thinking with good Baruch, great things for ourselves, but Providence by a particular or general calamity overturns our plans (Jer. 45:4,5), and all this to turn our hearts from the creature to God.

He wants us to trust Him in every situation, even in those times of clamity. Meditate on His word and find peace....

"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end" (Ps. 73:17).

Those circumstances, which to the dim eye of Jacob's faith wore a hue so somber, were at that very moment developing and perfecting the events which were to shed around the evening of his life the halo of a glorious and cloudless sunset. All things were working together for his good! And so, troubled soul, the "much tribulation" will soon be over, and as you enter the "kingdom of God" you shall then see, no longer "through a glass darkly" but in the unshadowed sunlight of the Divine presence, that "all things" did "work together" for your personal and eternal good.

—Arthur W. Pink

"And God placed all things under His feet and
appointed Him to be head over everything,"
Ephesians 1:22

How vast, how numerous, how complicated are
the various events and circumstances which attend
the Christian here below, as he travels onward to
his heavenly home!

But if all things are put under Jesus' feet, there
cannot be a single circumstance over which He
has not supreme control. Everything in providence
and everything in grace are alike subject to His
disposal. There is not . . .
a trial,
a temptation,
an affliction of body or soul,
a loss,
a cross,
a painful bereavement,
a vexation,
a grief,
a disappointment,
a case, state or condition,
which is not put under Jesus' feet.

He has sovereign, supreme disposal over
all events and circumstances. As possessed of
infinite knowledge He sees them; as possessed
of infinite wisdom He can manage them; and
as possessed of infinite power He can dispose
and direct them for our good and His own glory.

How much trouble and anxiety would we save
ourselves, could we firmly believe, realize, and
act on this!

If we could see by the eye of faith that . . .
every foe and every fear,
every difficulty and perplexity,
every trying or painful circumstance,
every looked for or unlooked for event,
every source of care, whether at present or
in prospect—are all at His sovereign disposal,
what a load of anxiety and care would be
often taken off our shoulders!

-(J. C. Philpot, "Meditations on Ephesians")

HE KNOWS MY NAME

He knows my name, before time began. He calls me His own, I am a child of God and His love, He has promised forever. He knows my every thought and sees my every tear.
He knows me, for who I am and loves me still. When life throws you a loop, it is so comforting to know God knows all about it and is in control of it. When the tears fall down, you feel His presence.

THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY

Life is a journey, often a short one, and always uncertain.
But there is another journey.

The believer is traveling through a waste howling wilderness, to another and a glorious region, where ineffable delight and happiness await us.

The road is narrow, the entrance strait, so strait that thousands miss it and perish in the wilderness. But true believers, under the teaching and convoy of the Holy Spirit, find it and walk in it.

The King, in His infinite love and compassion, has made a hedge about them, separating and defending them from the many beasts of prey that lurk around them; and although they hear their howlings and behold their threatenings, they are safe from their power.

But their strongest foe is within themselves; a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. From this there is no escape but by constant watchfulness,and earnest cries to their best Friend and Guide for protection.

Were it not for this faithful Guide, how often, discouraged by reason of the way, would they turn back!
But He....
watches over them by night and by day,
strengthens them when weak,
upholds them when falling,
encourages them when cast down,
defends them when attacked,
provides for them when in need,
leads them by living streams, and
causes them there to lie down in pleasant
pastures, and on sunny banks.
And as they advance they obtain brighter views of the good land they are nearing, and they long to see the King in His beauty, and the land that is yet very far off, and to meet those that have already arrived on that happy shore.

WHAT IS THE LORD'S PRAYER

"In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my
God for help. From His temple He heard my voice;
my cry came before Him, into His ears." Psalm 18:6

"In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He
answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5

I found this interesting

Question: "What is the Lord's prayer and should we pray it?"

Answer: The Lord’s prayer is a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Matthew 6:9-13 reads, “This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'” Many people mistakenly understand the Lord’s prayer to be a prayer we are supposed to pray word for word. Some people treat the Lord’s prayer as almost a magic formula, as if the words themselves have some specific power or influence with God.

The Bible teaches us the opposite. God is far more interested in our hearts when we pray than He is in our words. Matthew 6:6 teaches us, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:7 goes on to say, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” In prayer, we are to pour out our hearts to God (Philippians 4:6-7), not simply recite memorized words to God.

Instead, the Lord’s prayer should be understood as an example, a pattern of how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray. It gives us the “ingredients” that should go into prayer. Here is how it breaks down. “Our Father in heaven” is teaching us who to address our prayers to, the Father. “Hallowed be your name” is telling us to worship God, and to praise Him for who He is. The phrase “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a reminder to us that we are to pray for God’s plan in our lives and the world, not our own plan. We are to pray for God’s will to be done, not for our desires. We are encouraged to ask God for the things we need in “give us today our daily bread.” “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” remind us to confess our sins to God and to turn from them – and then also to forgive others as God has forgiven us. The conclusion of the Lord’s prayer, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is a plea for help in achieving victory over sin and a request for protection from the attacks of the devil.

So, again, the Lord’s prayer is not a prayer we are to memorize and recite back to God. It is only an example of how we should be praying. Is there anything wrong with memorizing the Lord’s prayer? Of course not! Is there anything wrong with praying the Lord’s prayer back to God? Not if your heart is in it and you truly mean the words you say. Remember, in prayer, God is far more interested in us communing with Him and speaking from our hearts than He is in the specific words we use. Philippians 4:6-7 declares, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded, or rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true mother would not have the child divided. God loves a broken and a contrite heart, so He loathes a divided heart. God neither loves halting or halving.- Thomas Brooks

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABE

MADE AN ERROR

Please be patient with me as I correct my mistake. I removed all my links from the side bar. Leave it to me. I will be fixing it this weekend when I have more time.

Cristina

HE THAT JUSTIFIED THE WICKED

I sometimes wonder how far we should go when we are spreading the gospel, at what time is it when we should cease speaking with someone and leave it up to God and His will in the matter.I believe satan will use folks to bring division umong the brethern. It bothers me when I see a christian putting down another christian when they both are trying to reach a lost person, when the other christian stands up for the lost, I think they have crossed over the line and I believe that those that are haters of Christ love to see division festering and satan loves it even more. The haters of christ are conniving and even come across that they actually have an interest in what we are saying but in actuality their main objective is to bring division and they meet their goal many of the times. I am not saying we should not share the gospel with everyone, but we need to be decerning. I looked up Proverbs 17:15 and found this and found it interesting. Brothers and sisters need to stand firm together.When we lift up the world and put down each other what are we saying? When a believer shares that gospel it is offensive to the world and no matter how lovey dovey we present it they will battle you on it and be disgusted with it. When a brother or sister stands firm I find some christians find fault and say your not being loving enough, the bible tells us the Truth offends and that means anyway it is presented. Let us all remember not to justify the wicked....

King James Bible
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD

Proverbs 17:15 (New International Version)
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
the LORD detests them both.

New American Standard Bible
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.


He that justifieth
tsadaq (tsaw-dak')
to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense) -- cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just(-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be turn to) righteous(-ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the wicked
rasha` (raw-shaw')
morally wrong; concretely, an (actively) bad person -- + condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and he that condemneth
rasha` (raw-shah')
to be (causatively, do or declare) wrong; by implication, to disturb, violate -- condemn, make trouble, vex, be (commit, deal, depart, do) wicked(-ly, -ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the just
tsaddiyq (tsad-deek')
just -- just, lawful, righteous (man).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
even they both
shnayim (shen-ah'-yim)
two; also (as ordinal) twofold -- both, couple, double, second, twain, + twelfth, + twelve, + twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
are abomination
tow`ebah (to-ay-baw')
something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol -- abominable (custom, thing), abomination.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to the LORD
Yhovah (yeh-ho-vaw')
(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God -- Jehovah, the Lord.