JESUS= Hope ( a thread for encouragement)

Thanks for reminding us.....

WOW!!!!! Have we dropped the ball on this tread. Sorry I have not been around. Had some health issues and was getting the Crawl 4 Christ event finished up. the 2013 Crawl 4 Christ went off GREAT. It was held in Disney, Ok. this year over the July 4th weekend and had about 135 rigs and better than 300 bodies attend. Besides wheelin, we had a lot of activities for the kids. Swimming pool, water slide, inflatables and lazer tag. Also had a HUGE raffle and Great Entertainment with a top of the line entertainer that has a couple of CMT videos running now. Here is one to enjoy



[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j5vOpVyvPM#]Chris Hester Highway 96 Music Video]

Chris Hester Highway 96 Music Video

I wanted to start a thread for daily encouragement, kind of place for folks to share what is going on in their life and JohnG referred me to this thread. I have spent a good amount of time reading it and was very encouraged myself. I am going to do my best to post up what God is speaking to me through my daily Bible study or devotions I read. Some days it may be something I write and some days it may be a cut and paste thing, but if you guys have any prayer requests or encouraging words, by all means post it up. I hope all is well and look forward to seeing what is going on in yo lifes.

Thought this was cool. Couple of the 10 commandments that Jesus himself said are the biggies. Think these are the hardest as well

Great thread to bring back because I certainly need encouragement in coming back to serving God and stop self serving so much. I'm a type show me a sermon rather than preach one and this last Sunday I went to morning service first time in months and since I sent the preacher a thanks but no thanks text. I was pissed over the invitation taking so long and let out a low and under my breath gripe to my wife, which I right away felt like crap for, because the kid behind me walks down to accept Christ. I know I need a lot of change and have made some positive growth or change in my life but I'm far from perfect and running away from something I know God has called me to do........

Man, this thread makes me miss home even more. I miss the south, the good people, the down to earth country people that I grew up around. Living in AZ isn't bad, it just ain't the same. The people aren't as friendly and inviting as they are in south. This is the best thread I've seen in a while. Makes me proud to be from an area in our country that's not ashamed to admit they pray, believe in Jesus, help one another, and lift each other up.

Coincidence.. Prob not.. Sister had sent me this text this morning!! I've never seen this thread before on here.. Just thought I would share. So weird that this thread comes up today. Wow.
My nephew made the big one!!!! Yeeee hawwwww

What happened to the guy who started this thread?

I hate it took me all day to actually post something, just got distracted!

I had something happen to me a few years ago that, looking back on now, had a huge impact on the way I live my life. I posted a Bible verse on the facebook and had a friend come up to me and say "Man that's neat, I didn't know you were a Christian". How weak is my walk with Christ, if someone says they didn't know I was a Christian? I keep my insulin pump in my pocket for convenience and folks will say "I didn't know you were diabetic" and that is because I keep my pump stored away where nobody can see it. If you look closely you may see a clear hose sticking out of my shirt, or I may leave a bottle of insulin in my office, but still nothing that clearly shows I am a diabetic. Sure I explain to folks I am a diabetic when I order a diet coke or when I have to go check my blood sugar but that's about it. I say all that to say this, How much have I hidden the fact that I am a Christian? Sure I have a Bible verse in my signature, a bible on my desk and I say a blessing every night, but am I doing it right if I have to tell people I am a Christian? For about the first 6 years of my walk with Christ I would have to put a really good sales job on you for you to believe I was actually a follower of Christ. I was challenged that day by that person to not just say I was a Christian, but to live life as a Christian for people to see. I love this piece of scripture: 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Let your light shine, you may be surprised who needs that light in their life!

money_pit_yj said:

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

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Guess I am old school, I much prefer the King James version over the New International Version.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

JohnG said:

Guess I am old school, I much prefer the King James version over the New International Version.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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Not old school at all! I was in my office and didn't take time to change it from NIV. When I preach I usually try and use King James because most folks are used to it. As long as it a Bible its good!

JohnG said:

Guess I am old school, I much prefer the King James version over the New International Version.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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I'm a fan of KJV as well old school and still the best translation as noted by many scholars, yet there have been times in my life where I just couldn't read it.

money_pit_yj said:

Not old school at all! I was in my office and didn't take time to change it from NIV. When I preach I usually try and use King James because most folks are used to it. As long as it a Bible its good!

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JohnG said:

Guess I am old school, I much prefer the King James version over the New International Version.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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After seeing this it reminded me of a conversation my dad and I had today. We were talking about the different translations and where/how they are used. My family recently (6-7months ago) started attending a different church and moved our membership (4 months ago). About 6 weeks ago there had been some illnesses arise and the church asked if I would teach a 3rd-4th grade boys class which I accepted. In our class we have several different translations and the boys look at the verses and how they are different but the same, and they can understand different verses from different translations better. My dad and i were talking about how Moses worked on the ark(it was Noah) and how Paul didn't have the different translations to teach from. This boys class keeps me on my toes, and to top it off my son is in there too. I am glad I have the opportunity to teach him in the class setting but it amazes me how much he learns from our small nightly family devotional. To be honest he definitely gets his smarts from his mom though.

I was pleasantly surprised when I ran across this thread. It is a blessing to me to see others that share a common goal of serving Christ. I am not a perfect person and I never will be on this earth. The only time I get to be perfect is when Jesus calls me home. I was 16yrs old when I accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour of my life. I have tried and failed to live for Christ, but though His love I continue to strive to be more like Jesus. A verse I learned in college that has stuck with me is Luke 9:23:" And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me".

Wow, Don't have a lot of time to read this thread tonight, but I'm glad to see this out there. I am a believer in Jesus Christ, I'm far from perfect and still screw up way more than I would like to. But his mercies are new every morning and As long as I'm breathing, I have another chance to show him to somebody else. I have always like the quote "Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.........."

Hey I got a email on evangelism from Voice of the Martyrs I think it's url is www.vomclassroom.com

mikeparker said:

A verse I learned in college that has stuck with me is Luke 9:23:" And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me".

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That is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. That whole passage just speaks volumes to what Christ wants from us.

3 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

I think so often we are ok with just doing the minimum to get by. We have our fire insurance so we don't go to hell, but we have never denied our self and taken up our cross. Then, when we do "deny our self" we do it on such a shallow level. We think because we modified our behavior or changed a few bad things in our life, we have done what Christ commanded us to do. In reality we are called to deny control of our life, to take every aspect of our life and offer it up to God on an altar and say "here, do with this what you please and may you be glorified in my life". Each night I pray for God to use me and my family for his glory. It is such a scary thing to pray because I am not real sure of how God will be glorified in my life, could it be through me facing a huge storm in life and turning to him for survival? Could it be losing a job, child, spouse, home, etc. and letting folks see how I let God get me through the storm? Im not sure what it is, but I am sure that daily I try to take control of my life and put my cross down and have to remind myself that Christ couldn't put his cross down. He couldn't put his cross down because God loved me to the point He was willing to send His son to pay for our sins and in order to pay for our sins and defeat the death that I deserve, Christ HAD to carry that cross.

Men, please be in prayer for the family who is requesting them for the loss of their child. There is a post somewhere in here from this morning asking for prayer.

Hey guys, sorry I have abandoned this thread. I really never thought it would be this big when I started it. I went through a huge spiritual warfare full of conviction last year. I was serving my self and my hobbies more than my LORD. I actually deleted my account here and totally quit the rock crawling hobby for awhile. Then after living 15 years convinced I was saved, I truly committed my life to Christ on March 14,2014. Life has been much different since then and I am much closer to Christ than ever. Sorry for not posting here, we do a small group bible group study at my house and I have been focused on that and family. But I'm glad to see it back alive and will make time to post here.

Simply put- each day make it your goal to please God with your life. If you do your very best to walk as Christ would, you will be pleasing God. In know we can't come close to the way Christ would carry himself daily, but it's the EFFORT that you give that counts. Keep your priorities straight, GOD (Christ), your wife, your kids, loving others and then what time is left yourself and all will fall into place.

Thank you for this thread.

Keep fighting the good fight.

I'm glad this thread has come back around. I definitely need Christ in my life. I haven't lived the way I need to. Putting myself before others and I really want to get right and commit to being a good Christian, husband and father.

4 Cell said:

Hey guys, sorry I have abandoned this thread. I really never thought it would be this big when I started it. I went through a huge spiritual warfare full of conviction last year. I was serving my self and my hobbies more than my LORD. I actually deleted my account here and totally quit the rock crawling hobby for awhile. Then after living 15 years convinced I was saved, I truly committed my life to Christ on March 14,2014. Life has been much different since then and I am much closer to Christ than ever. Sorry for not posting here, we do a small group bible group study at my house and I have been focused on that and family. But I'm glad to see it back alive and will make time to post here.

Simply put- each day make it your goal to please God with your life. If you do your very best to walk as Christ would, you will be pleasing God. In know we can't come close to the way Christ would carry himself daily, but it's the EFFORT that you give that counts. Keep your priorities straight, GOD (Christ), your wife, your kids, loving others and then what time is left yourself and all will fall into place.

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<~~~~~ Thats my hardline version of AMEN!!