What's to Come

A couple weeks back, Tim and I traveled down out of Pennsylvania,  into the western part of Maryland, then into Virginia, then West Virginia for just a brief  stretch and then back into Virginia.  We drove just a bit farther and ended in Front Royal, a really pretty part is what we saw.  The campground is along the Shenandoah River, a lovely area.

 I made my first attempts at trying to capture our adventure, and holy smokes, kudo's to all of you who do this.  Not an easy task.  By any stretch of the imagination.  

However as you can see I was able to take a few pictures.
                            
We were staying at a Coast 
to Coast camping area called 
West Fork .  A very nice 
campground, however we now 
have a better idea of which sites 
we may like better the next
time we come.

As you can see by some of the pictures
we took our 10 almost 11 year old puppy, by the name of Louis, along with us.  He and I did much better this trip than we did on our first trip. Louis isn't used to walking on a leash, so that makes my life quite interesting, since I am Louis' caregiver.  Tim isn't quite up to walking Louis anywhere.  While we were there we went to the dog park.  This was really great fun for Louis. He made friends with two delightful English Bull Dogs.  And they all really seemed to get on must pleasantly.  It was fun to watch.

Can you tell Louis was pretty well played out by the time we arrived back at the RV.

 This is what we saw from one of our windows in the RV.  A nice little view. We really did have a nice quiet time.  I was able to spend time in the Word.  Spent some quality time with my husband, and I did a far amount of knitting. 

A sweater for Hannah.

         It was all very pleasant!

And this was on our way home.   And once again I took my wonderful husband on a tour of little tiny town, and I mean tiny.  To me the streets were really not much more than a big alley with parking on one side.  We have an eight foot wide motor home, let me tell you, Tim is GOOD!

Sanctification and Salvation

7/29/17                              rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com                                                        

Dear Father,  

I was having a conversation  the other day with a gentleman about the two words in this title.  And although I know what salvation  is, I realized I really didn't know what sanctification is and/or what part if any it plays in our Christian lives.   So I decided I needed to take a closer look at this word, what it means, what it means as far as our Christianity, does it have a baring on us and if so what is that baring.

According to Bible Study Tools,  at http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sanctification/  The Greek word translated "sanctification" (hagiasmos [aJgiasmov"]) means "holiness."   So this word means to become holy, the process of becoming holy.  Now we all know there is but one who is Holy and that is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, our Triune God.  
So when we become born again, when we invite Christ to abide within us, we are to become like little Christs. So how do we do this? When you read the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:18-20King James Version (KJV)

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

We have also been taught that God is Love.  If we look at 1 John 4 there is so much great instruction from the Father, I was going to copy some here for you, but it would be better to just look it up and read it. To put it quite simply, we are to love.  You all do know this is a choice, right, just like walking with Christ is also a choice.  The big choice is do you, I, us, walk with Christ always, every day, every minute, that is what "always" is?  

Being born again and asking Christ to come into your heart is really the most wonderful gift we can ever receive from God.  I was actually going to say something different, but I was prompted by the Father to say what I just said instead.  Now what is the best gift we can give to the Father?  How about being sanctified? As our gift to the Father.  Leviticus  11:44 For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

That's pretty clear, wouldn't you say? Or there is Matthew 5:48...(a little more difficult) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.  

Father you are the ultimate example of sanctification. Thank you Father for this  example of what we are to look like.

Love you Father,

Rebecca 

The Begining of Christ's Teaching

7/22/17 for 7/5/17              rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com

Loving God Greatly ~ Sold Out, Bible Study, Week 3

Read: John 1:35-42 SOAP John 1:40

John 1:35-42King James Version (KJV)

35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Dear Father,
What must have been going thru John's head when he saw Jesus approaching? A thousand thoughts  I would think, here He is, He's here, what will His life be Like? How many will be saved? I would think that there would be an absolute myriad of thoughts just going round and round and round in his head, all vieing for being in the center. 
This was the begining of the earthly reign of Christ.  But what most of us do not realize is that His reign is still proceeding forward. We still celebrate His birthday.  
You and He and the Holy Spirit love us all so much.
God is so good, God is so good,  God is so good,  He so good to me.
He answers prays, He answers prayers, He answers prayers,  He's so good to me.
That song just jumped into my head.  Thank you Father. Or was it the Holy Spirit that prompted that? Not really sure, but wouldn't you prefer to have positive wonderful thoughts of Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit filling your brain? I would.
Well it is time for SOAP...
S - John 1: 40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
O - this particular scripture to me is a digger scripture.  For any of you who are aware of how my quizzical brain works, you probably understand, for those of you who don't know me, it is simply this.  This scripture makes me want to dig.  If you continue reading you will find that this man, Jesus renames Cephas, which means "A Stone."  That is in verse 42.  Okay so now I have a done just a little more digging and I believe that Cephas is also the same Simon Peter. On this rock I will build my church....something like that.  More work to be done on this One!
A - so how do we apply this?  We hear many speakers.  But their goal should be to have their audience want to follow Jesus, not them.  On Sunday or the occasional Saturday  or sometimes on Wednesday's  when I go to church I hear Pastor Don Wolabaugh's wonderful teaching, and lately I hear him and he tag teams with others and the messages are "off the hook,"  so much so that I have to frequently relisten to the teachings. When I listen live, I can not pause and write down important stuff, but when I relisten, I can do just that.  Listen to speakers, but spend time in the word, and follow Jesus.
P - Thank you Father, you constantly supply us with wonderful words.  Teachings that are all right there in front of us. Just dig a little bit.  Father I pray for my family, especially today.  My baby's birthday is today.  And she has a wonderful family, as I do have many more children and grandchildren and one great grandchild.  My cup runneth over and I pray that you will teach me so I can teach them and just love them as you would.  Father place your hedge of protection around each and every one of them, keep them safe from everything and guard their eye gates, and ear gates and mouth gates.  Just please keep all safe and sound and help us all to follow You, not man.  Amen and amen.

"If You Love Me."

7/21/17 for 7/4/17              rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com

Loving God Greatly ~ Sold Out, Bible Study, Week 3

Read: John 14: 15-26, SOAP 14:22-23

John 14:15-26King James Version (KJV)

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

King James Version (KJV)

Dearest Father in Heaven,

Sometimes when I read your words, I am completely blown away.  I do not know if it's because there is a moment of lucidity, or just what it is.  But sometimes things just become very clear...You have so much love for us, love that is not based on how we perform, love that is just love.

All of these verses attest to this, and they also speak to the issue that the disciples had to deal with.  You had told them that you where leaving.  Albeit just for a time, but they didn't understand this.  They didn't have the book, like we do.  You told them that you would leave a comforter for them, a comforter that would live inside of them, inside of us.  And again they didn't understand.

Thank you Father for these words, words that speak to our open hearts and minds. Words that you give to us, that when we open our mouths we might speak the words that you give us to speak, that we may attest to the love that you have shown us and the love that lives within us.

In Matthew 22 it reads: 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

S ~ John 14: 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. KJV

S ~ John 14: 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “Lord, how can it be that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them.  GNV

S ~ John 14: 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”

23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me. MSG

I think sometimes having various versions right in front of us gives us a better shot at truly comprehending what our Lord is trying to convey to us.

O ~ What do I observe about these verses, that the disciples are concerned, plan and simple. Oh let's not leave out a bit of confusion.  But I must say this for the disciples, they were capable of accepting what you were saying to them and accepting it, with a thought, they just accepted. 

A ~ How might we be as accepting as the disciples?  Have you ever considered how a person breaks a habit.  They replace it with a new habit.  I have heard it said that if you do something three times that that will make it easier to commit to doing it again  as a habit. Also this form of thinking allows us as people, to just do it.  Make up your mind to just accept and just do it.

P ~  Father God you are so good to us, give us the wisdom we all need and the ability  to make our minds work for us as you would have these minds to work.  I know Daddy that you gave us the freedom to choose, help us to always choose you.  In your precious name I ask you these things.  Amen

Can You Be Counted?

7/15/17 for 7/3                         Rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com

Loving God Greatly ~ Sold Out, Bible Study, Week 3

Read Matthew 10: 2-4, Mark 15: 40; Soap all.

S ~ 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;


Dear Lord,
O ~ I read these scriptures, and I cant help but think, if I was living in this time period, where might I fall.  Would I be among those that counted as the Christians? or not.  Now in all honesty, this is a very difficult question to answer. (How would you all answer?)

We look at this list of mostly common people, I myself would have to consider myself as common, I am not an executive, nor am I a nurse or a doctor.  I read alot, but I never went to college. so am I educated, yes to some degree, but mostly self taught. So through me in with the commoners.  Not a problem for me Lord.  You made me a very special me.  I am your daughter, so therefore I am a princess. Since my father is a King, that is what I have to be.  This is my pedigree.

A ~ Since I have designated myself as a princess. I had better live as such.  Not materialistically, but rather in my character.
I am quite sure that if we were to look at the character traits of some nobility of current times it could be quite scandalous.
But I am looking at what should be considered character traits of my King's children, you and me.  I don't think I need to list them.  We have Bibles, there's the rule book.  Read it and learn what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to behave.

P ~ Father, am I living as you would want me to live?  I know I am far, far, from perfect. I will keep on believing and trusting, that with your help and your guidance, I will be able to be a trusted member of your family.  In Jesus precious Name, your son, I pray....

Rebecca

Which Side of the Battle Are You On?

6/29/17  for  7/14/17               rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com   

Dear Lord God,

Will I ever be more on time with my writing?

Today I will read Rev. 1: 1-11, Acts 12: 1-4 and I will soap 

Rev. 1 :9  and Acts 12: 1-2. (Loving God Greatly)

Revelation 1:1-111 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 

Acts 12:1-4 1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.

2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions (a set of four people or things, so it would be 16 total.) of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Father, why is it that the Book of Revelations is a bit complex?  Why do we as your children have a hard time comprehending it?  I, after reading the few verses from Revelations and the verses from Acts, decided to look to the internet for a bit more understanding.  So I went to youtube and looked up, "the visual bible the book of revelations."  It is constantly an amazement to me how you draw the books of the bible together for us to have a better understanding of the things you are trying to teach us.

Also, and this is a rabbit trail...I honestly don't know how it is possible to just read these four verses from Acts....I want to keep reading and I did! It's really good!

What is happening in Acts is also representative of what is happening in the book of Revaltions, I think.  (You all out there can correct my thinking if you believe it should be corrected.)

S ~ Rev. 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle of Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Acts 12:4 And when he had aprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

O ~ so what do we observe here in these scriptures? I feel like John is telling us that he was in Patmos, spreading the Word of God, and talking about Jesus and staying alive. And Herod had captured Peter and was intending to persecute him as well...however... This last little bit didn't quite work out as planne, (if you read farther) and it was really upsetting Herod.  Oh Well.  I think that even in our time here in 2017 there are so many Herods.  But thankfully Father we have you on our side.

A ~ so is the Bible telling us that we need to tell people about Jesus and about God?  I think so, this is actually a commandment, and John is telling us that he is our brother and our companion in this fight for Christianity.

Which side of the battle are you on.  Are you living for Christ? Are you living in such a way that others see Christ in you as a living example?  

P ~ Oh Father I fail so miserably in this realm...please give me wisdom and strength to prevail!  Help me Lord to be more positive, if not for myself, then help me to be more positive for you.

I love you Lord,

Rebecca

Unconditional Love

6/28/17-7/5/17                      rebeccacreates2012@gmail.com

A Grand Father's unconditional love.

                                      

Reading for Thursday  6/22/17 from the LGG teaching on being "Sold Out" John 13:23; 19:25-26; 20:2; 21:7 Soap is John 19: 25-26.

Dear God, 

Thank you for these words that when read in their entirety there is a much clearer picture of what may have been going on around the time of Christ's Crucifixion.

Well this study is about being "Sold Out" for Christ; to my way of thinking I would say that all of these people listed here in these verses were definitely sold out for Christ.  

But just what are these verse saying....

Alright lets go thru one at a time. 

John 13:23 

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 

This verse is taken from within the telling of who was going to betray Christ. And Christ was still at the Passover table and the Disciple that Jesus loved was sitting with his head against Jesus' chest. Peter encourage this disciple to ask Jesus who it was.  Now is this showing what it's like to not be sold out for Christ?  Oh just the thought of this breaks my heart for the sadness that this person must feel, maybe they don't feel it right away, but they will know they betrayed Christ. Such utter despair.

John 19:25-26King James Version (KJV)

(S)25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! (James or John, my thoughts) 

(O) Oh how a mother loves her child.  We, I think, if we are being honest, must admit to ourselves...will I be able to love my child enough? And what is enough? I honestly don't think enough is the correct word, but I am not sure that I actually have a word to use here. And then there was Jesus' sister, also called Mary, and Mary Magdalene. Sister Mary had a special love for her brother of that I am quite sure. And the last Mary, Mary Magdalene, I feel loved Jesus so deeply, but in a strictly platonic way, she returned the love to Christ that He gave so unconditionally to her.  Now how special is that? (A) There are times when I am around people that don't know they are being watched, per say. And I just observe the way that they are with their children, do these parents love their children unconditionally or do they only love their children when they behave in a certain way.  How must those children feel, verses the way a child feels when they are loved unconditionally ALL the time?
That's the way I want to love not just my children but everyone.  But oh this is not easy!

John 20:2King James Version (KJV)

2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Unless you read the verse preceding this one you don't know who it is that is speaking to Simon Peter and the other disciples. Then we see that it is Mary Magdalene, you know this woman had a very special love for Christ.  She was, I think very aware, of what love could be like at least the kind of love she had grown up with.  And it wasn't the kind of love that Christ had shown her, was it?  So she was frantic!  Who wouldn't be?  This teacher of hers was gone!

John 21:7King James Version (KJV)

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Can you imagine, you are hard at work, fishing and a man appears on the shore and starts carrying on a conversation with you and your crew. Well one of the crew announces to the rest that it is the Lord, Simon  Peter has to go to him.  The rest of the men are doing fine, they are following the Lord's directive, so he grabs his fisher coat and jumps in the water so he can get to the Lord.  I would say he was sold out!

Now normally I would do my soap here at the end, but I already did it when I went thru the verses.  so since this is already so late Father I will allow all to reread up above my SOA part of the soap.

P Father God, I thank so much for the countless blessings you bestow upon me and my family. Continue to bless me with wisdom and courage to do what needs to be done, even if it makes me unpopular with those I love.  The only one I want to please is you  Poppa.  (And even though I haven't written here for a couple days, please don't feel I haven't been speaking to our Lord) Father I ask that you bless everyone here and everyone not here.  Help them to know your unconditional love. In Jesus precious and most Holy Name I ask these things, Amen.