THE SECRET PLACE

TO APPRECIATE THE SANCTITY OF LIFE AND THE DEPTH OF LOVE OUR LORD HAS FOR US , WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT EACH OF US HAS BEEN KNOWN TO GOD EVEN BEFORE OUR PLACEMENT IN THE WOMB "Before I formed you in the womb i knew you , before you were born I set you apart ; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. " JEREMIAH 1:5 .....IT IS IN THIS VERY FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS OLD TESTAMENT BOOK THAT WE DISCOVER THAT OUR GOD KNEW JEREMIAH BEFORE HE WAS EVEN FORMED , WHAT A DELIGHT TO FIND OUT THAT WE HAVE A GOD THAT LOVES US SO MUCH THAT WE WERE ON HIS MIND EVEN BEFORE WE WERE FORMED .....FOR WE HAVE EACH BEEN GIVEN A SPECIFIC TIME OF ARRIVAL AS WELL AS AN APPOINTED TIME TO DEPART ..... WHEN WE COME TO UNDERSTAND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD WE ALSO BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE THAT OUR PURPOSE IS TO GIVE HIM THE THE GLORY AND HONOR THAT HE DESERVES ..... SHOULD WE SAY THAT WE KNOW AND LOVE OUR LORD WE CANNOT DENY OR INTERFERE WITH THIS , AS IT WILL ONLY LEAVE US UNSETTLED IF WE DO .....THEREFOR AS THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS , " let us draw near to GOD with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith , having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water . Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess , for HE who promised is faithful . " HEBREWS 10:22 ..... TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE VALUE OF EACH AND EVERY LIFE , WE CAN TURN TO THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES , " For YOU created my inmost being ; YOU knit me together in my mother's womb . I praise YOU because I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; YOUR works are wonderful , I know that full well . My frame was not hidden from YOU when I was made in the secret place . When I was woven together in the depths of the earth , YOUR eyes saw my unformed body . All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be ." PSALM 139 :13-16 ..... SUCH POWERFUL AND CONVINCING WORDS TO REMIND US THAT WE ARE ALL VERY VERY VALUABLE..... EVEN BEFORE OUR ARRIVAL , BEFORE SELF-ESTEEM..... AND BEFORE ANY ONE EVER TELLS US THAT THEY LOVE US .....AND EVEN IF NO ONE EVER TELLS US THAT THEY LOVE US ......LET US REMEMBER THAT WE MEAN A LOT TO GOD YESTERDAY,TODAY AND TOMORROW ..................................SUMMER

HOW AM I MADE

BECAUSE WE HAVE A GOD WHO HAS CREATED EVERYTHING FROM NOTHING THE ANSWER THAT WE SEARCH FOR MOST OF OUR LIVES IS PLAIN TO SEE IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS ....... GOD TELLS US THIS , "For YOU created my inmost being ; YOU knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise YOU because I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; YOUR works are wonderful , I know that full well .My frame was not hidden from YOU when I was made in the secret place . When I was woven together in the depths of the earth , YOUR eyes saw my unformed body . All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be . " PSALM 139: 13-16.......... WE ARE GODS MOST PRECIOUS CREATIONS AND IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS HE REVEALS TO US JUST HOW MUCH LOVE HE HAS FOR US WHEN HE SAYS , " Then GOD said , " Let us make man in our own image , in our likeness , and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air , over the livestock and over all the earth , and over all the creatures that move along the ground . So GOD created man in HIS own image , in the image of GOD HE created him ; male and female HE created them . " GENESIS 1:26-27 ........ WE CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE KNOWING THAT GOD LOVES US DEEPLY BY READING THE SCRIPTURE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT , " For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS one and only SON , that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have eternal life . " JOHN 3:16 .........WE CAN ALSO REST IN THE WORDS OF HEBREWS 2:5-8 WHEN THE LORD JESUS REVEALS , " It is not to the angels that HE has subjected the world to come , about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified : '' What is man that YOU are mindful of him , the SON of man that YOU care for HIM ? YOU made him a little lower than the angels ; YOU crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet . " ......... HAVING A FATHER IN HEAVEN WHO HAS FORMED US WITH HIS OWN HANDS AND BREATHED LIFE INTO OUR VERY EXISTENCE AS WELL AS PROMISES US THE GLORY OF ETERNAL SALVATION IS A COMFORT TO US WHEN WE TAKE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AT OUR SIDE ......... IF WE TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE MADE THEN WE REST IN THE COMFORT OF HIS PROMISES .......... IF NOT WE ASK FOR GOD TO DRAW US NEAR TO HIM AND THEN WE BEGIN TO READ HIS HOLY WORD , THE BIBLE ............................................SUMMER

PASSING THROUGH ON OUR WAY HOME

ALTHOUGH WE MAY CALL THIS EARTH OUR HOME AND WE MAY SET UP HOUSE AT A PARTICULAR STREET ADDRESS , THE LORD REMINDS US IN HIS WORD THAT OUR TRUE RESIDENCE IS WITH HIM IN HEAVEN ........" PASSING THROUGH " IS A WAY OF DESCRIBING OUR LIFE HERE ON EARTH ........ DEFINITELY FILLED WITH A VARIETY OF TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES WE ARE CONSTANTLY UP AGAINST CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LEAVE US AMAZED, BEWILDERED, CONFUSED AND EVEN FRIGHTENED.......AT TIMES "LIFE AS KNOW IT " CEASES TO BE , CHALLENGING EVEN THOSE MOST MATURE IN THEIR FAITH....... AS PROFESSOR AND THEOLOGIAN D.A.CARSON SAID , " THERE IS NOTHING IN SCRIPTURE TO ENCOURAGE US TO THINK WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE FREE FROM THE VICISSITUDES THAT PLAGUE A DYING WORLD. " ........ SO , HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE TO PERSEVERE WHEN THERE ARE NO WORDS ........ IN THE 2nd BOOK OF CORINTHIANS 4:17-18 GOD'S WORD DESCRIBES OUR TROUBLES AS SUCH , " For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all . So we fix our eyes not on what is seen , but on what is unseen . For what is seen is temporary , but what is unseen is eternal . " ........TO UNDERSTAND THIS SCRIPTURE WE MUST BELIEVE AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A HEAVEN ....... JESUS CHRIST RESIDES IN HEAVEN WITH GOD OUR FATHER AND HIS MOST HOLY SPIRIT ......... WHEN WE COME TO KNOW JESUS AS OUR SAVIOUR WE FIND OUT THAT WE SERVE A LIVING GOD WHO IS ALWAYS PRESENT WITH US IN TIMES OF JOY AND SORROW AS WRITTEN , " Be strong and courageous . Do not be afraid or terrified because of them , for the LORD your GOD goes with you ; HE will never leave nor forsake you . " DEUTERONOMY 31-6........ THEREFORE SINCE GOD HAS CREATED US WE WILL SOMEDAY RETURN HOME TO HIM ........ "Do not let your be troubled . Trust in GOD ; trust also in ME. In MY FATHER'S house there are many rooms; if it were not so , I would have told you . I am going there to prepare a place for you . And if I go and prepare a place for you , I will come back and take you to be with ME that you also may be where I am ." JOHN 14:1- 3 ......THE HOPE OF HEAVEN ALLOWS US TO PUT THE DARK TIMES OF LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE ....... AND ALTHOUGH THE BIBLE ENCOURAGES US TO ENJOY THE BLESSINGS THAT GOD BESTOWS UPON US AS SAID IN THE 1st BOOK OF TIMOTHY 6:17 , IT ALSO REMINDS US , " Do not love the world or anything in it . If anyone loves the world , the love of the FATHER is not in him . " 1st JOHN 2:15 ......... KNOWING JUST HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US GIVES US THE COURAGE AND THE STRENGTH TO OBEY HIM AS APOSTLE PAUL DID WHEN HE SAYS ," I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which GOD has called me heavenward in CHRIST JESUS . " PHILIPPIANS 3:14 ....... AND ALSO WHEN HE SAYS , "Rejoice in the LORD always . I will say it again: REJOICE! Let your gentleness be evident to all . The LORD is near . Do not be anxious about anything , but in everything , by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving , present your requests to GOD . And the peace of GOD , which transcends all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in CHRIST JESUS . " PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 ........AS THE NEW YEAR BEGINS THERE WILL BE TRIALS AND THERE MAY BE TRAGEDY AND YES , THERE WILL BE JOY AS WE ARE PASSING THROUGH ON OUR WAY HOME ........MY PRAYER IS THAT THE LORD BE WITH YOU..........................SUMMER