Every person reading this has been the recipient of bad advice. You listened as someone gave it to you. You followed the counsel you received and then suffered the consequences. We have all benefited from someone's good advice too. We were unsure and confused, so we reached out to somebody we trusted. We received good counsel, followed the advice, and enjoyed the benefits.

Take for example Proverbs 12:15: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel." You and I have experienced those very words. We have been foolish, thinking we were right, and along came a parent or teacher, perhaps a friend who talked some sense into our heads, thankfully. As a result we benefited from wise counsel.

"As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man" (Proverbs 27:19). I'm sure you have known such occasions. You've had something deep in the well of your heart you've not been able to pull up. Along comes someone who loves you and has the ability to drop a bucket in that deep well of yours, pull it out, then splash the contents around for both of you to see it clearly.

I need to add that wise counsel is not always easy to hear. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy" (Proverbs 27:6). The Hebrew uses an interesting verb stem here. It's known as the "causative stem," which allows us to render the statement: "Trustworthy are the bruises caused by the wounding of one who loves you." The bruise that comes after the verbal blow of one who loves you is a trustworthy bruise. In genuine love, your friend confronts you with the truth—you're alone, in private, and you hear the hard thing that needs to be confronted. That bruise stays with you, and you're a better person for it. Such bruising is much more helpful and reliable than a phony embrace, the "kiss" of a flatterer whom Solomon calls our "enemy." Good counsel is a good thing, even if it hurts to hear it, whether you are the receiver or the giver of that counsel.

~~Chuck Swindoll

https://www.crosswalk.com/devo....tionals/todays-insig

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𝐃𝐫. 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬

“‘Does the LORD speak only through Moses?’ they said. ‘Does He not also speak through us?’ And the LORD heard this. 3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:2-3).

“Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 ‘I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3 You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ 5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes'” (Job 42:1-6).

Over the past few weeks, if you have been reading along as I wrote, there has been a lot of death in and around me. My mom died recently, the former senior pastor of the church I pastor died last week, and just yesterday, one of my dear clients from the car dealership died. Those of us who know Jesus as Savior have a security in Him and what He did for us that gives us peace. It makes me wonder what the first few moments in Heaven are like. It may seem that we can’t know on this side, but I suspect that we can have a very good idea.

There is a popular meme that one sees on Facebook, and it depicts the first few moments in Heaven; there is a lady with her arms wrapped around Jesus and just this sheer look of joy on her face. I am not sure that is how it will be. Too many of us read the New Testament, and we see the Man Jesus as humble, poor, meek, and lowly. In the pages we read, we see Him taking the form of a servant, as we are reminded in Philippians 2:1-5. But the Jesus we will see in Heaven, although still in a human body, will be glorified, bright, and shining, the One who is on the Right Hand of God to judge the whole earth, and we will see Him in His glorified state when we get there. We will see the One who commands the angels and before whom all Heaven bows.

When we read the passages in the texts above, we see Moses’ and Job’s response. When we take the time to read Isaiah 6:1-9 and see the fear of the Holy God that humbles these men and brings them to their faces to the ground, when we see their sheer sinfulness exposed and brought to light in the presence of Jesus’ perfection, we can get maybe an idea of what our reaction will be like.

Job saw his sin, and he hated himself; he humbled himself in ‘sackcloth and ashes.’ Isaiah was ‘undone,’ and only God could help him. In Luke 5:1-8, once Peter reluctantly obeyed God and let down a net, once he saw the great miracle and understood that Jesus is God, he saw his own sinfulness with great clarity. Over and over again, we see that those who come to see and understand the majesty of Jesus are humbled and broken in His presence. They come to understand, maybe for the first time, how sinful they are versus how holy Jesus is, and it scares and humbles them to the act of abject humility before Him.

Moses spent a lot of time with God in ‘face-to-face’ conversations, and it totally humbled him. Job had a ‘conversation’ with God, and that caused him to abhor himself. I don’t think we will be running up to Jesus and hugging Him like the picture depicts. We will understand what it really took to redeem us for the first time ever as we see His scars and imagine what the pain must have been like. We will be humbled by His majesty and totally broken in spirit by His grace. A sense of true gratitude will envelop us like it never has before, and we will be quiet.

While many think there are no tears in Heaven, we are told that He will wipe away our tears. We are 7 chapters into Revelation before the tears are wiped away. Revelation 7:17, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

Even as I am writing here, I cannot truly fathom what those first few moments will be like. Whether by death or rapture, the first sight of my Risen Lord will be breathtaking. I am but a sinful dog, a broken man at best, and yet, by His loving kindness and grace, by His loving gift of Himself, I can get to see him and live with Him forever. I could never get close to God, so Jesus came and made the way. Have you put your faith in Him and His shed blood to wash away your sins, and have you believed that He was raised from the dead? Only Jesus, no other way.

https://www.raptureready.com/2....024/04/23/when-we-se

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𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥

Monday night in Israel, as Jewish families gathered around the Passover table for their first Seder since the tragedy of October 7, there were too many empty chairs. Some held hands, still hoping for the release of their hostage loved ones. Thousands of others tasted the meal’s bitter herbs with a fresh wave of grief for the ones who will never return. Across the country, Jews and non-Jews hold their breath, wondering what next year’s holiday will look like. More than that, wondering whether the world, a place rocked by hatred, conflict, and chaos, can survive it.

“Why is this night different?” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked poignantly as dusk fell. “On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions,” he said somberly. “… And why is this night not different?” he prompted. Because Passover, of all holidays, recognizes that the Jewish people have been oppressed and hunted throughout history. “In every generation they rise up to destroy us,” Netanyahu reminded his people, “and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from them. This time as well,” he insisted, “we will overcome those who seek our lives.”

But it will not be because Israel’s friends have stood strong in their defense. Here at home, the Biden administration has all but abandoned America’s strongest, most significant Middle Eastern ally. As the Jewish state stands on the brink of war with the entire Islamic world, this president and his party seem more intent on placating his radical, anti-Semitic base than supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. After Iran fired more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles at the tiny nation in an unprecedented attack, what did the president demand? Restraint — not from the ayatollah, but from the country the religious dictator sought to destroy.

Even as President Biden declared his “ironclad” support of Israel Monday, the world knows he’s simultaneously tied Netanyahu’s hands and made the Jewish state vulnerable to greater hostilities. As Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and I talked about last week on “Washington Watch,” the best way to contain this global threat is for America to stand with Israel. “The only thing the ayatollah and the thugs of the world appreciate is strength,” Graham emphasized. “They’re not normal people. Quit treating the ayatollah and his regime as normal. The whole reason they live is to … destroy the Jews and Christians.” But, he pointed out, if they believed America would truly support Israel, “they would think twice [about trying to] wipe them off the map.”

Instead, what every evil opportunistic leader in the world sees is an America whose president is vacillating in his support of Israel. Joe Biden is so afraid of the young pro-Hamas, extremist protestors in his party that he refuses to send a message of resolve to Iran — and anyone who would prey on the Jewish state. And frankly, that’s what got Israel into this mess in the first place. The White House invited this aggression and emboldened Israel’s enemies by projecting weakness and uncertainty. ............

https://harbingersdaily.com/th....e-best-way-to-contai

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

The Gospel is easy to understand.

The difficult work in man’s salvation was done at the cross by the Lord Jesus.

Any sinner can believe and be saved. And we are all sinners, (For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God Romans 3:23).

But the Good News about the Good News is that we can understand the Gospel because we have been elected by God...

The Bible repeatedly stresses that salvation is wholly God's work. Consider these passages:

In Acts 13:48 we read, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."

Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia was saved when, "... the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul."

Romans 8:29-30 states, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

Ephesians 1:4-5,11 tells us, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will ... also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."

Ephesians 2:8 says even our faith is a gift from God.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the apostle Paul tells his readers, "God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation."

Second Timothy 1:9 informs us that God "has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity."

The Gospel that reaches the heart of one who has never heard of the Saviour is the power of God. Because God Chose you and gave you to Jesus before the Beginning of Creation...

God loved us so much that He chose us for life and The Holy Spirit is a powerful influence in preparing hearts to receive the Gospel.
If you think about it take a few minutes to read about how Rebekah was prepared to marry Isaac, the Father sent a servant to find and prepare a bride for his son. It's found in Genesis 24

God has chosen us for Jesus, prepared us with the Holy Spirit to hear and accept the Gospel... So that We will become the Bride of Christ.

Share John 3:16 with someone you meet.

The simple Gospel is God's means of bringing us into His family!

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