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Abiding
by Janie Buck
Date: 11.28.2006

Rest in the Lord 

            Oh! Is there was anything that is permanent! Something I can trust that will last forever! Do you ever feel this way? Most people do so don’t worry. Everyone needs a safe place. Home should be that place where one can shut out troubles and rest, but often it is not so. We all get weary tired. Our body requires rest and sleep. Also our soul must find a resting place.

            A song that you may have sung in church describes this place. “My faith has found a resting place, not is device or creed. I trust the ever living One….” That is the answer – trust the Lord. Faith in Him and trust in His care are bedrock to built our life on.

“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all” (Isa. 7:9). The Lord said this to one of the greatest prophets, and we would do well to take it to heart. No one likes a “wishy washy” person who is blown about with every fad that comes along. Stand firm in faith! Trust the Lord in spite of what is going on in your life. He will see you through all you problems.

 

Forgiveness of Sins
by Janie Buck
Date: 01.16.2007
The closest physical picture of our union with the Lord is Siamese twins. Maybe that is why God allows their unusual birth! We need familiar examples to help us understand invisible reality. Doctors now have the knowledge to sperate most of these twins. Aren’t you glad that those who are joined to the Lord will never be separated form Him! We are two persons in one body. We don’t become Him and He doesn’t become us.

The Lord Jesus lives in your body with you if you have believed He died for your sin and have asked Him to forgive you and come into your heart. We never become sinless so we must confess our sins to our Lord when we are aware we have done wrong. He doesn’t ever say, “You knew better than that.” Or condemn us. He forgives us and washes the sin away with His precious blood. The reason He had to die for our sins is that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. A life must be forfeited to pay the penalty of sin. “The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

So give thanks that Jesus died for all your sins - the ones you have done already and the ones you will do. No one can live a perfect life so confession must happen daily. Pray something like this, “Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins. I (admit what you have done). Thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me from all bad actions.” Then you will experience the abiding presence of the Lord.
Depending upon the Lord
by Janie Buck
Date: 02.06.2007
Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). The reason He said this is not that we are innocent as a child, but that we should be dependent upon the Lord like a child is dependent upon his parents! This was a new insight for me.

The problem is that most Christians are like teenagers who think they know what is best and don't want parents telling them what to do. They want to be independent. “I'm not a baby anymore!” is often heard. That is correct but they are not mature enough to always make good decisions.

Don't wait until you are at your wits end to cast yourself upon the Lord. Or be like a two year old who cries, “Do it myself!” or an immature teen. An old song puts it this way: “'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word; Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know “Thus saith the Lord.”

Verse to memorize: “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37) And “Cast your burden upon the Lord.” Throw yourself in the Lord's lap. He is the greatest comforter in the universe.
Jesus lives in believers
by Janie Buck
Date: 02.11.2007
Do you know what an artesian well is? When I was a little girl I visited a school friend who lived with her grandparents on an old farm. They had an artesian well that was a great mystery to me. We called it an “over-flowing well” because they did not need a pump to bring the water to the surface. It flowed constantly out of a pipe into a large wooden box.

I learned that below the layer of dirt there was solid rock that had been drilled through to the next level where there was a stream of water. The pressure of the rock made the water come up through the pipe continually. That artesian well helped me understand what Jesus meant when He told a woman that if she had asked Him for water He would have given her living water and the water He gave would spring up to eternal life. Another time He said, “Whoever believe in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Anyone who has believed that Jesus died for their sins and have asked Him to forgive them and come into their heart can rely upon Him as the every Living One who fills the heart with love, joy, piece, patience, goodness, kindness, and self-control. These characteristics of Jesus are as satisfying as a cool drink of water on a hot day.

When you know you have sinned you must confess it to God and ask Him to fill your heart again.

He promised He would never leave us but we lose the consciousness of His presences when we continue to do sinful things. To restore your relationship with Him you must confess your sins to Him and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit.
Giving and receiving
by Janie Buck
Date: 01.29.2008
A wonderful thing that God has built into life is that when we give to the needs of others He gives to us. Paul wrote to the the Phillppian church that he had received their gift and was well supplied. And what they sent was a "fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God." This is an insight into how the Lord looks upon our gifts to Him via the ministry of missionaries.

And Paul adds that "my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." When we give the Lord keeps giving to us so we will have enough and be able to help others who teach and preach the Word.

Remember Jesus' story of the rich man who tore down his barns and built bigger ones to hold his wealth? He called him a fool. Choose to be "rich" toward God and let His approval be your highest goal.

Ultimately we are made righteous by faith the the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. We don't earn heaven. It is a gift received by faith in the death of Jesus for our sin.
Guidance
by Janie Buck
Date: 02.06.2008
Our basic guidance comes from the Scripture, the Bible. As we read and think about (meditate) on what it says we will know the will of God for living life here and now, and how to be sure we will spend eternity in heaven.

We also receive wise counsel from mature Christians who know the Scriptures.

Jesus could have lived and done all His miracles in His own power for when He was born into a human body He was still God the Son. But He laid aside His personal power and depended upon the Father.

Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing." When I first became aware of this verse I though, yes, I can. I can do a lot of things. Then I considered Jesus words again and realize that I couldn't even breath unless He supplied oxygen and healthy lungs to take in good air and exhale bad! That is how helpless we are. He gives us human life and eternal life so we can live with Him forever in heaven. Now, "ain't-uh that Good News!" as the old spiritual says.
Handling Stress
by Janie Buck
Date: 01.13.2009
Everyone seems to have a lot of stress, and no wonder. The world is "going to hell in a hand basket" was an old saying I heard in my youth, and its still true. But Christians can have peace no matter what is happening. Why? Because Jesus Christ lives in their very body if you have asked Him to come into your heart and forgive you sins - "Christ in you the hope of glory."

Do not forget that He will never leave you or forsake you! So, What should you do? Abandon your anxious thoughts. Give them to Him. And remember "one little word will fell him." Fell who? The enemy of our souls! What is the one word? JESUS!

Them quietly pray and praise and thanks to God who lives in you and in heaven for being your King.

Take you sticky hands off the control button of your life and turn it over to the Lord Jesus. He is Lord and He is in control so get out of the driver's seat and allow Him to drive. Although you may not see it now, He is working all things for good.

Read the New Testament for it is the Word of God and is food for your inner being. You will grow strong in faith if you "eat" the right food - the Bible. In all you do at work or play turn your mind to Jesus and talk to Him. That is all prayer is, talking to Jesus. He talks to you from the page up. That is the Bible.
Home
by Janie Buck
Date: 04.15.2009
When Jesus died on the cross He didn't just stop breathing. He went into the terrible night of rejection and eternal seperation that all unrepent people enter at death. It is a homelessness so complete that there is no place you can call home. It is hell.

Even while Jesus lived on earth He said foxes have holes and birds have nest, but He had no place to lay His head. He and the disciples slept in the olive garden. Think on that!

A fuller impact of this hit me today and I give thanks and praise that He did it for me, but not just for me. He suffer and died for the sins of the whole world!

God requires a response from us. We must believe. How can a person believe who has never heard that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him will have eternal life." And how will they believe unless someone tells them. That's where you and I come into focus. "Faith comes by hearing" and we are His witnesses. Let us "gossip the gospel" and tell everyone "Christ died for our sins" and each person must believe and receive Him into their heart as Savior and Lord.

"How great the Father's love for us that He would give His only Son to make a wrech His treasure." My heart Christ's home on earth.
Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
by Janie Buck
Date: 02.23.2010
We are commanded to "Be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). And we should because we can not please the Father in our own strength. The Holy Spirit enables us to have true communion with God, guides us into all truth, leads us in the path of righteousness, convicts us of sin and shows us the Savior who cleanses us from all sin.

The Holy Spirit indwells us when we repent of our sins and ask Christ to come into our life. But His work is not completed then because we would flounder trying to "do it myself." After we become a Christian we still need the Spirit to give us power to live life pleasing to our Father.

We can rely upon the Spirit to guide us and convict us of our sin. We need this because we would make excuses for our bad behavior unless He made it clear that we sinned. And He enables us to understand what God is saying to us as we read and study the Bible.

Every Christian is indwelt and baptized with the Holy Spirit at the time of their salvation. Paul is giving the command for believers to live continually under the influence of the Spirit by letting the Word and the Spirit control them.

We must pursue pure lives, confess all known sin, die to self, surrender to God's will, and depend on His power in all things. Being filled with the Spirit is living in the conscious presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, letting His mind, through the Word, dominate everything that we think and do. Being filled with the Spirit is the same as walking in the Spirit. Christ exemplified this way of life (Luke 4:11), and by grace we can be more consistent in our walk with the Lord by ask Father to fill us with the Spirit.
"You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins"
by Janie Buck
Date: 08.10.2010
When the angel was sent to tell Mary that she was to be the mother of the Savior he also told her, "You shall call Him Jesus for He will save His people from their sins.".

Think deeply about the meaning of Jesus' name. It is a great treasure to know He will save us from our sins.

We celebrate Jesus' birth every Christmas and His death every Easter. But do we realize that God wants to hear our prayers every day?

We should not be like a two year old who tells his mother "Do it myself." It doen't take long before the two year old crys for help. Our Father longs to reveal Himself to us, but if we insist on running our own life He will allow us to do it But praise that He will come to our aid when we get ot the end of our rope. He desires for us to bring Him our love and adoration every day. And commands us to walk in the Spirit.

Take time ever day to pray to our Father. He thinks about us each day and longs to reveal Himself to us. Bring him your love and adoration as well as your problems.

It is through personal fellowship with Jesus that we are able to quite doing the things we know are wrong. We must come to Him with all our heart and ask Him to fill us with the Holy Spirit who will be the power we need to walk worthy of the Lord. All God's holiness dwells in Jesus. We commune together in mutual love and desire, The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and brings to our rememberance that Jesus died for all our sins are cleansed. His love will expel and conquer at our sins.

Learn the wondrous blessedness of each day fellowshipping with Jesus. It is the secret of happiness and holiness.

As we learn to go apart with Him we will experience His presence to love and to walk in His ways. Through this unbroken fellowship we will learn the secret of the power of a truly godly life.
"Our inner man is being renewed day by day"
by Janie Buck
Date: 08.10.2010
Every day we must remember the absolute necessity of fellowship with Jesus. We speak to Him by prayer and God speaks to us from the page up - that is the pages of the Bible that is the written Word of God.

The grace we have recieved of forgiven sins, and acceptance as God's child, and joy in the Holy Spirit grows stronger by daily renewal of our fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ!

Ask our Father for the gift of knowing that the Lord Jesus is always with us. He works in us on the condition that we give Him time each day to impart His love and grace in our heart. Time reading the Bible is the one conditon of spiritual growth and power to live pleasing to our Father who is in Heaven.

Jesus said, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest. Learn of Me and you shall find rest for your souls." We learn more about Him by daily reading the Bible.

Prayer: "Lord, I bow before You and ask that Your love will fill me. Please let Your love rest in my heart. I want to please You in all I do and say, and I want to spend time each day in fellowship with you, my dear Lord Jesus Christ."

In this way our inner being will be renwed day by day.


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