Wishing You a Happy New Year 2022!

You know how things can fade over time?

a shirt fades

A piece of jewelry

Your favorite shirt

An old photograph

A memory

Aren’t you thankful that God’s love for us never fades?

He does not and will not ever fade with time.

In fact, God is timeless.

His majesty is eternal.

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength.
Indeed, the world is firmly established; it will not be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from eternity. – Psalm 93:1-2, (NASB).

No doubt the year 2022 will come with a lot of challenges to our country, and even more importantly, to our faith.

Don’t let satan rob you of your joy.

The evil one will strike you where you are most vulnerable.

Our faith in Jesus and God’s Word are our strength.

With that in mind, you might want to consider reading the Bible all the way through this year with a good commentary.

You can also memorize verses in Scripture so that they’ll come to mind and encourage you when you’re under a spiritual attack.

We will all suffer for a time, but we have the return of our Savior to look forward to.

He will end all suffering and pain and, with His return, our sorrowful tears will turn to tears of joy.

For this reason, friends in Christ – we must stay strong!

From our home to yours, we wish you a very happy and safe New Year 2022!

Happy New Year 2022

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Our Exceptional God

Have a Merry Christmas 2021!

Merry Christmas 2021

Dear friends in Christ,

May Christmas 2021 fill your hearts with happiness and joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ around the world.

How awesome it is to know that our Savior and King will be with us again!

The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for His own people – that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas, may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce His return, when we shall always be with Him. – Alan Redpath, pastor, author, and theologian.¹

Many people this week are singing the beloved Christmas hymn, “The First Noel.”

Have you ever thought about what the word “Noel” actually means?

Besides the association with the well-known song, an older version of Webster’s dictionary defines Noel as “A Shout of Joy.”²

You and I have a life-changing reason for our shout of joy.

Jesus Christ was born, and He is coming back for us!

God with us

Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel, which translated means, “God with us.” – Matthew 1:23, (NASB).³

He is with us!

Merry Christmas 2021! God With Us

Have you ever read Psalm 66?

If you haven’t, please take the time to read this glorious psalm of praise to our Heavenly Father.

You can even make it your prayer.

Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. – Psalm 66:5, (ESV).⁴

This psalm is not just for Israel, or for the specific and true events that occurred in Biblical times, but for all of us.

We praise Him for all that He has done and for all that He will do.

The following Chris Tomlin song gives me chills – of the good and humble kind.

As it says in the Psalm, “All the earth worships You and sings praises to You.”

May we never lose our Joy and childlike wonder

over what God has done!

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¹Alan Redpath, Christian pastor, author and theologian (1907-1989)) quotation, courtesy of and as quoted from Christian quotes.info

²Webster’s 1828 Dictionary definiton of “Noel” as cited in Got Questions.org.

Our Exceptional God

The Hope of Christmas

We got a surprise visit the other day!

This beautiful deer showed up right behind our back fence.

an early Christmas surprise

He spotted us and froze, but then he went back to grazing.

Within minutes the rest of his herd showed up, including two playful fawns chasing each other around the pasture.

We could have watched them for hours.

Christmas deer

Christmas and deer seem to go together, don’t they?

All you have to do is look at the Christmas shelves in any retail store.

But we all know that, in truth, Christmas isn’t about Santa Claus, or the presents around the tree, or even eight tiny reindeer pulling a sleigh.

Around the holidays, as we scramble to prepare food, decorations, parties, and presents, friends or relatives may ask us, “Are you ready for Christmas?” It’s an innocent question. But now, in light of God’s self-revelation, we are a little readier to answer in earnest: Yes, I am ready. Jesus has washed me, saved me, made me new. The new life I have in Him can never fade. And now the hope of Christmas has grown into the eager expectation for His second coming, when the good news of great joy, peace, and love will reach its climax and we will truly, wonderfully live happily ever after. – Alistair Begg, Christian pastor and author.¹

From The Hope of Christmas to His Second Coming

Who are we to deserve such a precious gift as Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world?

⁹This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him. ¹¹He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him. ¹²But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, ¹³who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. – John 1:9-13, (NASB).²

The Christmas season winds to a close in a few days.

Even so, Child of God, let us continue to worship and adore Him the rest of our lives.

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¹Quotation from Alistair Begg, Christian pastor, author, and founder of Truth For Life Teaching Ministry. From Web, The First Advent: Four Reasons Christ Came.” November 30, 2021., para. 23. Web. Accessed 5 December, 2021., Retrieved from https://blog.truthforlife.org/the-first-advent-four-reasons-christ-came

Our Exceptional God

God Is Not A Politician

December 7, 2021 Gracie

God Is Not A Politician

God is not a politician

Anyone else out there sick of politics?

Too many hands to count, I expect.

I’ve never seen such political vitriol and intentional division-causing in my life, perpetuated by the media and so-called entertainment television.

I pray that you are seeing through all of it.

I’m thankful that our hope is in Jesus, aren’t you?

People disappoint us all the time.

Therefore, politicians will disappoint us all the time.

Only Jesus will never fail us.

Can I get an amen?

As our pastor said in a recent sermon, God is not running for the office of God.

He is God, and will always be God.

God is not a politician, and He doesn’t have to fight for any of our votes.

Christ is to be THE priority, our reason and purpose for living. Scripture calls us to live as living spiritual sacrifices, not conforming our behavior to the sinful practices we see in this world but to be transformed by the Word of God and the Spirit of God in order that we might live holy lives (Romans 12:1–2). We are called to do everything we do with all our hearts as unto God, to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9; Colossians 1:10). – from Compelling Truth.org.¹

Time is Short – How are People Missing This?

Time is short.

The way things are going, is there any doubt that our world is plunging into darkness?

With that in mind, I urge you to reach out to your lost loved ones, and tell them about Jesus.

Tell your story!

There are people desperate for the Truth of His saving grace.

Jesus, more than anything, wants to spend time with you. He invites you to return to heaven with Him to enjoy an eternity with no more tears, pain or suffering. What would keep you from accepting the invitation of Christ? What would keep you from putting Him first in your life? What would be more important than saying, “I want to pattern my life after Jesus and soon live with Him forever?” – https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/second-coming-jesus-christ

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¹Compelling Truth quotation from “Putting God first – How can I do this?” n.d. para 4. Web. Accessed November 29, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.compellingtruth.org/putting-God-first.html

²Bibleinfo quotation from “Second Coming of Jesus Christ” n.d. para 15. Web. Accessed November 29, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/second-coming-jesus-christ

Our Exceptional God

A Post Thanksgiving Prayer

November 30, 2021 Gracie

A Post-Thanksgiving Prayer and Reflection

post-Thanksgiving prayer

This post-Thanksgiving prayer is on my heart . . .

Heavenly Father, we come to Your throne with both reverence and gratitude.

Thank You for who You are.

Thank You for all that You have done, and for all that You will continue to do in our lives.

In Your great big universe, we are small in nature, but we are not insignificant.

As Scripture says so beautifully in Psalm 8:4,

What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?¹

Thank You for thinking of us.

We remain awestruck by Your grace.

Even though we fail You again and again, we have forgiveness through Your Son.

Our hope rests in Jesus, not in our works or any politician or religious leader.

Only Jesus!

He alone is our Savior.

Any one person proclaiming lordship or being treated as such is a false teacher.

We look at how our world has changed – where Your name is despised by many, even mocked openly in all forms of media.

We deserve Your wrath, and yet You remain patient.

In Scripture, 1 Timothy 2:1-6, tells us that You want “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.²

Your timing is always perfect.

We know that you will one day return and those of us who are Your children will be with You for eternity in paradise.

Only God can do that!

All glory and honor to You, our Lord most High.

Hallowed be Your Name above all the earth.

We praise You in your Son’s Holy Name,

Amen.

^{Praise His Glorious Name _¯ A Post-Thanksgiving Prayer}

As David said in his address to the assembly,

Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. – 1 Chronicles 29:11, (NASB).³

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Our Exceptional God

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Happy New Year 2022

Wishing You a Happy New Year 2022!

Merry Christmas 2021

Have a Merry Christmas 2021!

Merry Christmas 2021! God With Us

The Hope of Christmas

The Hope of Christmas

From The Hope of Christmas to His Second Coming

God Is Not A Politician

God Is Not A Politician

Time is Short – How are People Missing This?

A Post Thanksgiving Prayer

Praise His Glorious Name ¯ A Post-Thanksgiving Prayer

^{Praise His Glorious Name _¯ A Post-Thanksgiving Prayer}