WHAT DID JESUS DO?
WWJD?
My little WWJD bracelet has caused me to stop many times and think of what Jesus might do in any given situation. What Would Jesus Do (WWJD)? A very good question if it was something Jesus hadn’t faced during his short time on this earth but Jesus has already been through everything that we will ever go through. So I will have to change my bracelet to read WDJD (What Did Jesus Do)?
Jesus came to pay for all the sins we ever had committed or ever would commit. He took all of the punishment for those sins upon Himself and forgave us for putting Him through it. So Jesus came to redeem us. He also showed us how to Forgive, Love, and is the perfect example of how we should live. He never asked anything of us that He Himself had not already done. You see He always does it first.
Jesus had the same temptations that we have. He even came face to face with the devil himself and came out victorious. He resisted the devil and the devil left him (fled from him). Matthew 4:1-11
In Jesus name you can do that too. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
God bless you.
Asst. Admin. Earl
Ann and James
I would like to relate the story of an incident that happened to my wife Ann some time ago that had a profound effect upon our lives.
After struggling with a very severe skin infection for several years, during which time she had also been referred to and seen a dermatologist, she was still having quite a problem with it. I took her to see her primary care doctor for a regular appointment. He knew that she was allergic to penicillin but thought this new one would be ok for her so he decided to try to see if it would help.
After she had been given the shot, and while we were waiting for them to make her next appointment to come back, she became quite ill. I ran to tell the nurse that something was wrong. By the time the nurse, the doctor and I got back to her, my wife was screaming that she was burning all over and then she just passed out and slid out of the seat and to the floor. The doctor called for another shot which was an antidote for the first one, but by the time they gave her that one she had stopped breathing and they called a code blue for her.
The doctors office was in the complex of buildings that made up the hospital so, after working on her for nearly half an hour and getting her to start breathing again, they put her on a gurney and took off with her to the emergency room. By the time I got there I could not find her and no one would tell me where she was. They took me to a room and told me to wait and someone would come and get me. I became very alarmed and called both of her boys and told them what was going on and for them to get to the hospital ASAP. About the time the boys showed up, someone finally came and got me and took me to where she was.
The doctor in the emergency room told me that when they had got to the emergency room with her that she had then gone into full cardiac arrest and died. They had been able to resuscitate her with CPR and whatever else they had done, but it was still touch and go.
After spending all day in the emergency room, another 4 days in intensive care, and another week in a private room, the doctor let her come home. I was already scared by what had happened, but after I found out that she had actually died and they had brought her back, the seriousness of the situation really hit me. We all spent several days in sobering thought and reflection.
After Ann came home I thought to ask her if she had gone thru a near death experience or if she had any memory at all. She said that all she could remember was climbing up a long white staircase, and that when she got to the top, someone told her that she could not come in because they were not thru with her yet and she had to go back down the stairs. That was when she woke up.
The only thing that I can add to this story is to say, I hope that all who read this account will join with us in thanking God that he was with us that day and for his mercy and grace in her hour of need.
James Houchin
Thank you James for this wonderful testimony. How near Jesus is to us when we think He is so far away. Thank You Lord Jesus for being there with Ann. Thank You for the faith that You instilled in James and Ann through You're healing power of Love. In You're precious name, Thank You, Amen and Amen.
Asst. Admin. Earl
A Burning Bush
God bless my family in Christ our Lord. May you always know the joy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We all love the Lord and want to do what He calls us to do. That is exactly what God expects of us, that we do what He asks... just as He does for us (He always goes first). How many times in my life have I been called to do something and didn’t bother with it because it was beneath me to do a job like that or because I thought myself not capable of doing it? Often! So I missed it.
Many times in the Bible God has picked a person that was less suited for the job at hand and made him the best person for the job. Who would have been less suited than Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt or receive Gods Ten Commandments? No one, considering all the circumstances, or God would have picked them. Moses argued with God that he was not capable and a poor choice for the assignment. God loves to pick the least likely candidates for the work of the kingdom so He can exalt them. By this He is glorified. Glory to God.
God came to Moses in a burning bush. The bush was burning but wasn’t reduced to ashes. This was not to see if God could do it, of course He could. It was burning in that way to get Moses’ attention. How did this bush catch fire way out there in the desert? Why wasn’t it burning up? Moses stopped what he was doing to pay attention to the bush and find the answers to these questions. Many times in my life I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
I have seen a burning bush. We all have. Okay it wasn’t a bush that was burning but it was something, maybe big or maybe small, that got my attention. Did I act on it as Moses did? Actually, I paid little attention and passed it off as nothing. Most likely we all have done this.
My burning bush was as unlikely as all the other warnings I had received but this particular one got my attention (God wouldn’t give up). Many of you may or may not know that I am an alcoholic. Glory to God I am a healed alcoholic since September 4, 1974. I have as much reason as anyone ever did to be thankful to our Father. Thank You, Jesus.
I was sleeping on the couch one morning after being out most of the night partying. That was not uncommon for me. Lately I woke up wishing I hadn’t. I didn’t want to face anything or anyone. This particular morning when I woke my oldest son Earl Jr., who was 4 years old at the time, was standing watching me. The other children were playing quietly near by. For some reason the others stopped their playing and stared at me too (they were so innocent). I don’t know what made them do it. Maybe they were used to me being in a bad mood after a night out or maybe it was because their older brother seemed concerned, or maybe God told them to. This one time it got my attention. It really hit home that they were staring at me and there was something wrong. Had I been yelling at them in the night in my drunken stupor? Were they afraid they had made too much noise which woke me and that I would be angry? This was my burning bush. I could sense God wanted me to do something. But what would God want with a drunk? What could I do for Him? Glory to God, He showed me. I could be a Daddy to my children. I could even be a husband to the most beautiful girl in the world.
Father, I thank You that although the devil caused me to be a drunk, You made me sober. I understand it now. Glory to God. The Creator of the entire universe loved me so much that He stopped what He was doing and came after me. Glory to God.
How many times in life has God showed us something and we didn’t pay attention to it: Many times. No matter how small it is, it is there because God put it there, and He doesn’t do anything without a reason. If He chose you to see a burning bush it is yours, your responsibility, and you are the best person in the world to deal with it. God loves you and He won’t let you fail. Pay attention and be willing. Pick up on the little things. It may be a skinned knee, a chance to show a child how much you truly love them. No matter what it is that gets your attention give God the Glory. Give Him thanks for all that was in your life and all that is to come.
Be watching for your burning bush and be ready to deal with it as The Holy Spirit instructs you. You are a great person. God made you, and He doesn’t make anything He can’t use. He loves you so much that He will use you many times. Glory to God He loves us.
Asst.Admin. Earl
Love Question?
by
Rev. Sandra J. Ephrussi
I became a Christian at the ripe old age of twenty-one. It was the year 1973 right in the middle of what has become known as the “Jesus Movement.” I wasn’t raised to read the Bible or to know certain scriptures. What I knew of church was the traditional special services of Christmas and Easter. My fondest memory of church was my dad passing out the hard candies and my mom giving the “keep it down” signal as we loudly unwrapped our candies.
I write this to say to you, who wonders if there is a God and if there is in fact a God of love. I had these very questions and in fact I was just starting my journey with the God of Love when I needed to know.
I used my concordance so much in the early days because I didn’t have childhood Sunday school lessons to rely on. I prayed and asked simply: “What is love?” I looked in my concordance in the back of the Bible and looked up the different verses on love. I would try my best to look up scripture and verse and it was difficult not knowing what was the Old Testament and New Testament. I found these verses and I will never forget my whole being seemed like I was immersed in the most luxurious and soothing oil. I read the Love chapter 1 Corinthians 13 for the first time.
It was absolutely complete! As the last words of this scripture reads: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
I truly wanted to believe all of what was written in these verses. I would read this over and over again and I thought I would almost wear this out! The words were so pure.
“Dear Lord, (I prayed), I understand now there is love, how do I know that I actually have love, because I don’t always feel like loving?”
Umm, I thought this was a pretty tall order for the Lord. I was kind of stuck. I was like a yoyo, on the mountain top one day in the valley the next. I couldn’t understand why 1 Corinthians 13 could be so real and I just didn’t feel it. There was such a struggle going on inside of me. I had genuine agony over this.
One day, when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore my friends came over. They were new Christians also; they had been reading and just wanted to come over with a verse that they had been reading. The verse was Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
What a REVELATION! Thank God, I really began to see and understand that even if I didn’t feel love, the Bible’s words said that love is never ending in my heart. There is abundance of love being poured out.
These scriptures were like walking on a soft woodsy path during a perfect summer day only to come to a remote crystal clear lake. It was like I had been the only one to ever make this discovery. The Lord was revealing His heart to me.
So, as I went on with my daily living these words were life lines to me. I came to a point however where I still had some questions about: “this thing called LOVE.” I know now what the description of love was and I knew I could have love in a never ending supply. There was a question on how to love. I would be in turmoil over my feelings toward some people. I had some people in my life who I just didn’t like. My turmoil was that I thought there was something wrong with me. I thought I had to be a super smiley person all the time, I thought that If my car was rear ended (for example) I had to be happy about this. Yes, I am stretching this some. The point is, I just COULDN’T do it.
My future husband Steve and I went to the third Jesus festival in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1975. He just became a Christian. We were sitting on a hill at the festival praying and I started to cry and said to him; “I might as well quit this walk because I am a failure as a believer in Christ.” I just couldn’t like all the people and their different situations they were in. Steve in his young faith said... “Sandi, look at your favorite preacher, do you think they feel like always preaching or listening to everyone’s problems?” I said “Of course not!” It’s not our FEELINGS that dictate to us; it’s the living word of God! So my husband and I looked in the concordance again, we found another scripture of “love.” Matthew 5:43-48. It tied all these words on love together, this really lifted such a burden off of me, and it makes perfect sense. These scriptures in Matthew 5 speak that love is not only loving those that love you and are kind to you, the greater love is reaching out to the unlovable, not with FEELINGS, WITH THE WORD OF God to back you and give you the strength to do this. By doing this God is pleased. He blesses you even more. Every time God blesses you he lifts another cry of your heart off of you and makes you more free and thus happier!
