Rejecting God's Help?

For all those people who are bashing prayer, saying things like "**** a National Day of Prayer" such as seen in this article, for those who don’t want God’s help, who want Him to get out of our country, who want to handle this crisis themselves, in their own strength and wisdom …

Be careful ... because you might just get what you want!

A very timely sermon from Tony Evans: Divine Disruption  (It's only 23 minutes long.  You can spare 23 minutes!)

A "Quarantine Workout" Video to Make You Smile

This link was sent to me today.  Have fun watching this "Quarantine Workout" video.  It's nice to see a couple having so much fun at home by themselves during this crazy time.

https://www.facebook.com/laura.clery/videos/225096745348394/

Whether this is "The End" or "God's Wrath" (or neither), it's Getting Late and Time to Choose!

To start with, here is a post worth reading and taking seriously right now:

A World Turned Upside Down by Jan Markell from the Rapture Ready website

To be honest, I am not surprised at all by what's going on right now.  Not necessarily about the virus itself, but about the changes and potential changes we are seeing in the near future because of the virus's impact on the world and society.  To me, we are watching all the pieces fall into place.  Rapidly.  And I don't think there's much time left.  As Pastor Tony Evans said in a sermon I recently watched, "It's getting late!"  (And that was from several years ago.)  

So Earth Was An Ancient "Water World," Huh?

Did you read the article about how scientists think earth was a “water-world, with no continents” billions of years ago?  https://www.livescience.com/waterworld-earth.html

Or how about the one that said that Mars used to be covered in water billions of years ago?  https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/water-on-mars-the-story-so-far/

Interesting … because …

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.… And God said ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’  So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.  And it was so.  God called the expanse ‘sky.’…  And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let dry ground appear.’  And it was so.  God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’” (Genesis 1:1-10)

Do scientists even realize that they just supported the biblical account of creation, minus the “billions of years ago” part?  About how there was water all throughout, before the “sky” was created, which could definitely account for evidence of ancient water on Mars or other planets?  About how the earth was just water in the beginning, before God created the land?  

It doesn’t take a genius to see it.  And yet scientists come up with many creative, confusing, implausible (unprovable) explanations to explain creation ... just so they don’t have to say “God did it!”  Because if they admit there is a God, then they know they will be accountable to Him.  A reason that keeps many, many people from admitting that God is real.

(And here’s a scary thought for most people: If the Bible’s right about the beginning, it’s right about the end too!)

Also along similar lines: 

Maybe Millions of Years is Actually Just 40 Days

If It's Not Natural, Maybe It's ...

Tony Evans Preaches on the End Times

I posted this on another blog in 2018, but it seems like a good time to repost it.  I haven't listened to all of these yet (and there may be repeated info in some of these), but here are some "prophecy and end times" sermons from Tony Evans, my favorite pastor to listen to.  

Prophecy & End Times

The End Times, the Rapture, and the Church

The Coming Tribulation part 1

The Coming Tribulation part 2

Prophecy and the Rapture

The Second Coming of Christ part 1

The Second Coming of Christ part 2

The Great White Throne Judgment

The Millennial Kingdom

What Happens When We Die?

The Agony of Hell part 1

The Agony of Hell part 2

What is Heaven?

The Glory of Heaven part 1

The Glory of Heaven part 2

What I Stocked Up On, in case of Lockdown or Quarantine (with simple recipes)

(The memes are from here.)

This is some of what I stocked up on (with a few recipes at the end) as the Coronavirus panic took hold of our country.  I made sure to only buy what I knew we would use up by the expiration dates, and I spread it out over several shopping trips.  I'm not stocking up out of concern that we'll be on lockdown or quarantined.  (We're homeschooling homebodies anyway, so as long we don't get the virus, we'll be fine.  Which is good, because - surprise! - we just got put on lockdown.)  I'm stocking up more out of concern that this will have economic repercussions, affecting the country's future food supply.  Maybe not huge repercussions, but ones that will make us realize how much we took for granted before.  (My bedroom looks more like a fall-out shelter, full of food and supplies.)  

43 Memes to Make You Giggle (Or Groan)

Because we could all use a smile right now!  Some are about current events and some are just because they made me giggle.  And yes, I have a slightly twisted sense of humor.  Keeps me young.  (I didn't write these, but I found them at https://imgflip.com/memegenerator.)

Not Too Farfetched Now, Is It?

With all the craziness that's going on in the world, this doesn't seem too farfetched now, does it?

I Wish We'd All Been Ready    (And my prayer: In The Sky)

I know what you're thinking: "Well, that's terrible.  What are you trying to do, scare me?"  

Yes, it is terrible and, yes, I am trying to scare you.  I'm trying to scare the hell out of you.

You know, I think there will be many people on earth who, after they see the rapture, will complain that God never gave them a chance.  They will say things like, "If God is real, why didn't He prove He is real?"

Well, He did ... it's called Creation.

"Oh, that's just evolution.  It's nature," they'll say.  "If He's really real, why didn't He send us a clear message, in black-and-white?"

He did ... it's called the Bible.

"No, no, that was just written by men.  An interesting old book.  Nothing more.  But if He was really, really real, why didn't He come down here and show Himself to us physically?  Then we'd really believe!"

Once again, He did ... and His name is Jesus ... and they still don't believe.

No one will be able to say, "But I didn't know God was real."  That excuse will not work with Him.  Because He made Himself abundantly clear in many ways, giving us enough proof that He's real and that we need to seek Him and find Him.

Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Acts 17:27: "God did this [created people] so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."

God will hold us all accountable for the choice we make (or don’t make).  And in the end, He will give us what we wanted.  If we wanted a relationship with Him, we'll get it, eternally.  But if we wanted Him out of our lives, He'll allow it.  He won't like it, and it will grieve Him, but He'll give us what we wanted - a life, eternal life, without Him.  The choice is ours.

For more songs, click here.

When God Breaks You To Remake You: Encountering God Through the Hard Times

A great sermon by Tony Evans: "Encountering God's Process," about how God breaks us of our self-sufficiency to remake us stronger in Him.  I've been there before.  I totally understand. 

And here are some more "Encountering God ..." sermons worth watching.  (Come on, now, I know you've got the time, stuck at home, "social distancing."  You've got plenty of time for a "God encounter"!):

Divine Encounters

Encountering God's Promise

Encountering God's Provision

Encountering God's Promotion

Encountering the Power of God

(And how about a 2-minute video, "Jesus is offering you life.")

It's All About The Toilet Paper! (And other random things this Coronavirus pandemic is teaching me)

(All memes are from here.  So you can make your own too.  Some of these memes are mine, and some were made by other people.)

In no particular order:

1.  We waste a lot of things and take a lot of things for granted.  The old, almost-empty bags of cereal and chips and the nearly-expired cans of soup sitting in my pantry.  The large container of barley I bought but never really intended to use.  The frozen food sitting in the bottom of the freezer that I forget about until the power goes out for days and everything thaws.

My "Every Day" Essential Oil Diffuser Blend for Staying Healthy

I have been using this essential oil blend every night all winter in the diffusers I keep in everyone's bedrooms.  Last winter, I used a similar one every night all winter.  (And I run one during the day in the living room.)  

Last winter, we only had one mild cold go through the house for the 6 of us, and this winter we got the flu once in February and a small cold this week.  Last winter was the first time I put diffusers in everyone's bedrooms and ran them every night, and last winter was the first time we didn't get the several sicknesses and the really bad, week-long flu (almost always between Christmas and New Year) that we got practically every winter before that.  I would like the think the diffusers made a big difference!

This is the blend I made and used all winter:

The Most Terrifying Book in the Bible: Jeremiah! (A Warning for America)

(Reposted from my other blog, 2014, updated slightly)

Okay, there are other terrifying parts of the Bible, particularly when hell is talked about - being separated from God forever, eternal fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But Jeremiah has got to be one of the most terrifying books there is.  Because it blows our Western idea of God’s "unending love and patience" out of the water. 

Of course, we all know that God is love and that His love is abundant.  And we know that He is incredibly patient, pursuing sinners over lifetimes and history so that He can draw as many people as possible to Him.  But we – especially in America – seem completely unaware of the other side of God: His justice and holiness and judgment against sin.  We are all about His grace and mercy, yet we forget His wrath and discipline.  

The thing is, we want to live the sinful, selfish ways we want to live ... but we still want to be able to call out to Him when things get too rough for us or when we face the consequences of our sinful, selfish choices.  We want Him to step in at the last minute and save us, after we have had all the ungodly fun we could have.  And we think that this is really the way God works.  That because His love is so great, He'll let us get away with our disobedience and will always step in when we call out to Him, regardless of how we have lived. 

Starting Your Own Relationship With Jesus

(Updated 3/11/20, to simplify it, add new stuff, and make it cleaner-looking.  I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.)

John 3: 16: “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God so loved the world.  He didn’t just love the world; He so loved the world.  He so loved the world that He (Jesus) would die in our place before He would miss out on an eternal relationship with us.  He knew that we would disappoint Him and hurt Him and fail Him, but He still so wanted a relationship with us that He made a way.  He knew that there would be many, many people that would reject His gift of love and salvation, but an eternity spent with those who would choose Him was worth the price of dying on the cross.  That is some amazing love!

Let me ask you something: If you were to die today or if Jesus came back today, would you be ready?  Seriously.  This life as we know it isn't going to go on forever.  And we are not invincible.  People die every day, in every kind of way.  Are you ready to face eternity, whatever comes the moment after you take your last breath?  Have you figured out who Jesus is and why He matters so much?

Because this will be what matters most the moment after you die.  Actually, it's what matters most in this lifetime, too, because it greatly affects what happens the moment after you die.

The Hand You're Dealt

You can't always choose the hand you're dealt ...

But you can choose how to play your cards

Homemade "Spiced" Hand-Sanitizer with Essential Oils

Two Posts in One:

Post #1: Homemade Hand Sanitizer With Aloe
This is a repost of a recipe I posted almost exactly 3 years ago, to the day - 3/3/17.  (How funny!  I had no idea it was almost the exact same date when I decided to repost it now.)  With the coronavirus going around (and the panic surrounding it), it seems like a good time to share this recipe again.