My Journey 7/8/2010

God's insight to me:

As I was reading Adrian Roger's devotional this morning I thought of trying to write a poem to God using a letter from the alphabet to give praise and also a way for me to describe Him. Of course the challenge came with using "x". I loved the story about the violinist named Fritz Kreisler. Reading this devotional made me think how awesome it is as Jesus is strumming the strings of my heart. Just as the lyrics from the song, "Here I Am to Worship" states, Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that Your my God!

Amen, yes You are!

An Alphabetic Poem To God

An Abundant life for us You give,
with all the Beauty that there is.
Always Caring for each of us,
as a Father Devoted to His kids.

Everlasting home You prepare for us,
because You’re Forgiving of our sins.
A gift because of Your Grace,
Your our Healer and our friend.

Always Interested in all we do,
Jealous if another god we chose.
Kindness You always pour out to us,
Loving no matter what we do.

A Mighty God You definitely are,
Never far and always Near.
Over and over forgiving us,
with a love so righteous and Pure.

You never Question what we do,
just Reassuring us along the way.
Staying close by our sides,
showering us with Tender mercies everyday.

The Ultimate price You did pay,
With a Value that stirs within.
You are truly the Worthy One,
that X-ed out all our sin.

Praise to You Heavenly Father,
may our hearts always Yearning to be,
sharing our love and Zeal,
with You throughout eternity!

E. P. Shagott
7/8/2010

This devotional by Kenneth Copeland has in it something that I have told many times to God's wounded in various nursing homes, "I love you and God loves you." Can you just imagine how those words touch a person who may be thinking, all is lost, no one cares, I'm all alone? God's love means, Jesus is there to show them the way, He cares for you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. How strong is God's love? Click on this link to learn more about Nicky Cruz that David Wilkerson wrote about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Cruz

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
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July 8

He Alone Is Worthy
by Adrian Rogers

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:12

There's an interesting story about how a gifted violinist named Fritz Kreisler acquired a Stradivarius violin.

Kreisler heard about the violin owned by an old Englishman and offered to buy it, but the old man said it wasn't for sale. One day Kreisler ventured to the old man's house and said, "If I can't buy it, may I touch it?" The old Englishman invited him in and even allowed him to begin making music with it. Great tears welled up in the old Englishman's eyes, and he said, "It is not for sale, but it is yours. You are the Master and alone are worthy of it!"

That is what worship is all about. God is the Master, and He alone is worthy.

Starting with the letter "A," and going through the alphabet, find something to praise Him for with each letter. Praise Him for all that He is, has been, and will be!
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Protected by Love
by Kenneth Copeland

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
– Matthew 5:44-45

Love your enemies...turn the other cheek...to most people that sounds like a pretty weak way to handle somebody who's causing them trouble. But, the truth is, it's the most powerful way there is. It's the way Jesus did it-- and His way never fails.

Do you remember when Jesus went back to Nazareth and the religious folks were angry with Him and wanted to push Him off a cliff? What happened? He just walked right past them, and no one could lay a finger on Him. Another time they decided to stone Him, and He didn't retaliate that time either. He just walked off. No one could touch Him.

When Jesus walked through that crowd, He wasn't afraid. He knew they couldn't hurt Him because He was walking in the love of God.

When Jesus said to turn the other cheek, He didn't mean for you to stand there and have your brains beaten out. He meant for you to stand there in love and in faith believing that the protecting power of God that accompanies that love would keep you safe. He meant for a man to swing at you and not be able to hit you!

The story of Nicky Cruz as recorded in David Wilkerson's book, The Cross and the Switchblade, is a perfect example of that. Nicky was reputed to be the most ruthless gang leader of his time. Yet, when David Wilkerson stood in front of him, telling him about Jesus, Nicky was totally unable to hurt him. He thrust his knife at David several times. But every time he did, David just said, "Nicky, you can cut me into a thousand pieces and every piece will still say, 'I love you and God loves you.'" Because of love, Nicky couldn't get his knife close enough to David to hurt him. A supernatural force always stopped it short.

"But I don't have that kind of love!"

Yes, you do. Romans 5:5 tells us that the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is make the decision to be motivated by that love rather than your own human feelings.

My friend, love never fails! You don't have to be afraid of failure anymore. In fact, you don't have to be afraid of anything. If you're walking in the love of God, you're living the most powerful kind of life there is.