Christmas With a Capital C

We should live this way~

Philippians 2

New Living Translation (NLT)

Have the Attitude of Christ

2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God,^[a]
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges^[b];
    he took the humble position of a slave^[c]
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,^[d]
8     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 1:20~30 

Paul’s Life for Christ

²⁰ For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. ²¹ For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. ²² But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. ²³ I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.²⁴ But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

²⁵ Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. ²⁶ And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

Live as Citizens of Heaven

²⁷ Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. ²⁸ Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. ²⁹ For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. ³⁰ We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

Your Love Oh Lord (Psalm 36) - Third Day - Worship Video w. Lyrics

BORN AGAIN by Third Day

My Thoughts are not your thoughts; Neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways and thoughts higher than yours. Remember who I AM when you spend time with Me.Marvel at the wonder being able to commune with the King of the universe- any time and place. Never this amazing privilege for granted! 
Though I am vastly higher and grater than you,I am training 

you to think My thoughts. As you spend time in My Presence, My thoughts gradually form in your mind. My Spirit is the Director of this process.
Sometimes He brings Bible verses to mind. Sometimes He enables you to hear Me "speak" directly to you . These communications strengthen you to prepare you for whatever is before you on your life-path.Take time to listen to My voice. Through your sacrifice of precious time,I bless you far more than you dare ask.

Isaiah 55:8-9
King James Version (KJV)
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Colossians 4:2
King James Version (KJV)
2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Psalm 116:17
King James Version (KJV)
17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

Jesus Calling :by Sarah Young Dec. 4th

A New Touching Song By Nicole C. Mullen - One Touch

Call on Jesus -Nicole Mullen Lyrics

Do Not Be Surprised by the fiery attacks on your mind. When you struggle to find Me and to live in My Peace, don't let discouragement set in. You are engaged in massive warfare, spiritually speaking. The evil one abhors your closeness to Me, and his demonic underlings are determined to destroy our intimacy. When you find yourself in the thick of the battle,call upon My Name: "Jesus,help me! " At that instant, the battle becomes Mine; your role is simply to trust Me as I fight for you. 
My Name, is properly used, has unlimited Power to bless and protect. At the end of time,every knee will bow ( in heaven, on earth, and under the earth) when My Name is proclaimed. People who have used "Jesus" as a shoddy swear word will fall down in terror on that awesome day. But all those who have drawn near Me through trustingly uttering My Name will be filled with inexpressible and glorious Joy. This is your great hope, as you await My return ~ "Jesus Calling

" Sarah Young

Ephesians 6:12
King James Version (KJV)
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Philippians 2:9-10
King James Version (KJV)
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

1 Peter 1:8-9
King James Version (KJV)
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Sidewalk Prophets - Live Like That - Lyrics

When i pass on don't cry for me, i will be with Jesus, 
please don't wear black or dark clothes, wear white and pastels.
Dont have a black hearse, i want a white one. 
I dont want my passing to be a mourning time, I want everyone to
praise God, for Jesus dieng on the cross for my sins so i can have eternal life in heaven. I wont be dead, Ill just be going home. 
Thank you Jesus for Saving me!

Big Daddy Weave - Redeemed with lyrics

Because of Who you Are-Vicki Yohe

As You Turn Your Attention towards Me, feel the Light of My Presence shining upon you. Open your mind and heart to receive My heavenly smile of approval. Let My gold-tinged Love wash over you and soak you in to the depths of your being. As you are increasingly filled with My Being, you experience joyous union with Me; I in you and you in Me. Your Joy -in-Me and My Joy -in -you become intertwined

 and inseparable.I suffuse your soul with Joy in My Presence; at My right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17 :20~23 Kjv

Psalm 16:11 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

All to Jesus I Surrender

I cant imagine having to sacrifice one of my children to anyone, But Jephthah made a promise to God.If God helped him to win a battle he would sacrifice the first person who came to meet him afterwards and it was his only daughter. and she

 was so willing because he dad had made a promise to God and she wanted to keep that promise, God sacrificed His only Son Jesus for our sins, we are so unworthy, and also how many times do we make promises to God that we dont keep. Wow this story is so strong and teaches us so many lessons.

Judges 11 (Contemporary English Version)

Jephthah

11 ^1-5 The leaders of the Gilead clan decided to ask a brave warrior named Jephthah son of Gilead to lead the attack against the Ammonites.

Even though Jephthah belonged to the Gilead clan, he had earlier been forced to leave the region where they had lived. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, but his half brothers were the sons of his father’s wife.
One day his half brothers told him, “You don’t really belong to our family, so you can’t have any of the family property.” Then they forced Jephthah to leave home.
Jephthah went to the country of Tob, where he was joined by a number of men who would do anything for money.
So the leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah and said, ⁶ “Please come back to Gilead! If you lead our army, we will be able to fight off the Ammonites.”
⁷ “Didn’t you hate me?” Jephthah replied. “Weren’t you the ones who forced me to leave my family? You’re coming to me now, just because you’re in trouble.”
⁸ “But we do want you to come back,” the leaders said. “And if you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you the ruler of Gilead.”
⁹ “All right,” Jephthah said. “If I go back with you and the Lord lets me defeat the Ammonites, will you really make me your ruler?”
¹⁰ “You have our word,” the leaders answered. “And the Lord is a witness to what we have said.”
¹¹ So Jephthah went back to Mizpah^[a] with the leaders of Gilead. The people of Gilead gathered at the place of worship and made Jephthah their ruler. Jephthah also made promises to them.
¹² After the ceremony, Jephthah sent messengers to say to the king of Ammon, “Are you trying to start a war? You have invaded my country, and I want to know why!”
¹³ The king of Ammon replied, “Tell Jephthah that the land really belongs to me, all the way from the Arnon River in the south, to the Jabbok River in the north, and west to the Jordan River. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole it. Tell Jephthah to return it to me, and there won’t be any war.”
¹⁴ Jephthah sent the messengers back to the king of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they told him that Jephthah had said:

Israel hasn’t taken any territory from Moab or Ammon. ¹⁶ When the Israelites came from Egypt, they traveled in the desert to the Red Sea^[b] and then to Kadesh. ¹⁷ They sent messengers to the king of Edom and said, “Please, let us go through your country.” But the king of Edom refused. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he wouldn’t let them cross his country either. And so the Israelites stayed at Kadesh.
¹⁸ A little later, the Israelites set out into the desert, going east of Edom and Moab, and camping on the eastern side of the Arnon River gorge. The Arnon is the eastern border of Moab, and since the Israelites didn’t cross it, they didn’t even set foot in Moab.
¹⁹ The Israelites sent messengers to the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. “Please,” they said, “let our people go through your country to get to our own land.”
²⁰ Sihon didn’t think the Israelites could be trusted, so he called his army together. They set up camp at Jahaz, then they attacked the Israelite camp. ²¹ But the Lord God helped Israel defeat Sihon and his army. Israel took over all of the Amorite land where Sihon’s people had lived, ²² from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north, and from the desert in the east to the Jordan River in the west.

²³ The messengers also told the king of Ammon that Jephthah had said:

The Lord God of Israel helped his nation get rid of the Amorites and take their land. Now do you think you’re going to take over that same territory? ²⁴ If Chemosh your god^[c] takes over a country and gives it to you, don’t you have a right to it? And if the Lord takes over a country and gives it to us, the land is ours!
²⁵ Are you better than Balak the son of Zippor? He was the king of Moab, but he didn’t quarrel with Israel or start a war with us.
²⁶ For three hundred years, Israelites have been living in Heshbon and Aroer and the nearby villages, and in the towns along the Arnon River gorge. If the land really belonged to you Ammonites, you wouldn’t have waited until now to try to get it back.
²⁷ I haven’t done anything to you, but it’s certainly wrong of you to start a war. I pray that the Lord will show whether Israel or Ammon is in the right.

²⁸ But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.
²⁹ Then the Lord’s Spirit took control of Jephthah, and Jephthah went through Gilead and Manasseh, raising an army. Finally, he arrived at Mizpah in Gilead, where ³⁰ he promised the Lord, “If you will let me defeat the Ammonites ³¹ and come home safely, I will sacrifice to you whoever comes out to meet me first.”
³² From Mizpah, Jephthah attacked the Ammonites, and the Lord helped him defeat them.
³³ Jephthah and his army destroyed the twenty towns between Aroer and Minnith, and others as far as Abel-Keramim. After that, the Ammonites could not invade Israel any more.

Jephthah’s Daughter

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, the first one to meet him was his daughter. She was playing a tambourine and dancing to celebrate his victory, and she was his only child.
³⁵ “Oh!” Jephthah cried. Then he tore his clothes in sorrow and said to his daughter, “I made a sacred promise to theLord, and I must keep it. Your coming out to meet me has broken my heart.”
³⁶ “Father,” she said, “you made a sacred promise to the Lord, and he let you defeat the Ammonites. Now, you must do what you promised, even if it means I must die. ³⁷ But first, please let me spend two months, wandering in the hill country with my friends. We will cry together, because I can never get married and have children.”
³⁸ “Yes, you may have two months,” Jephthah said.
She and some other girls left, and for two months they wandered in the hill country, crying because she could never get married and have children. ³⁹ Then she went back to her father. He did what he had promised, and she never got married.
That’s why ⁴⁰ every year, Israelite girls walk around for four days, weeping for^[d] Jephthah’s daughter.

                                   "I Have Fallen and I Can Get Up"
               
                    I have heard the saying, "I have fallen and I can't get up", This is me, I know if I was to die today, with no doubt, I would be in Heaven with my Jesus, but sometimes in life, we fall,(I am not talking about backsliding)I am talking about just feeling like life has got you down.  I feel like I have fallen and can't get up. I was walking a strong path with Jesus, then all of a sudden I tripped and fell and I try to blame it on different things in my life, like not being able to get a job, I am no good, I'm a loser. but none of this is true, it is  Satan trying to put things in my head, but I am a child of God and nothing can change that, so if I'm His child and I  was created by Him and through Him to be in His image, I'm not any of these things, I did fall but I am going to get back up and stand strong and walk with Jesus. I am back in His Presence and when I fall Jesus will help me up, and He can help you up too. So turn to Him and reach out your hand He is there waiting to help you up. If you fall how will you get up? 

Genesis 1:27

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁷ So God created human beings^[a] in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

Tracy Huntington 

"Not Guilty"....... just saying.

I was surfing the web on how felons get their life back after all they have been through.

After reading a story of another person who was arrested for trying to defend himself, I started crying because I know exactly where he is coming from.

The crime I was supposedly involved in, I had no idea even happened till 2 years after  My ex-husband and I had been divorced. The investigator was giving him a lot lesser conviction if he had someone he could blame or "made him do this" and that's how I got involved after he had admitted to doing the whole thing.

He and I both were to have no contact with our children for 2 years but he did and they found out and he went from 5 years in jail to 15 yrs to life prison, on that day his lawyer called him in and told him it had changed, Child Services found out he had been talking to his kids and he went home and committed suicide. 

I did my time, my family hired a lawyer, but my family did most of the work for him. I went to court many times just to be postponed which led to a longer time to serve. 

I really have been trying to make a whole new life to repair the hurt, distress, pain, mental stress, and more mental stress and of rebuilding my life for a crime I didn't even know about.......

I am still trying to make sense of it all, and it has been 3 years since probation. I was on probation for 3 1/2 years. Jobs are impossible because nobody wants to hire a prior felon.

The most important thing about all of this is Jesus was with me through it all. When  I went to jail I went through the fingerprinting and the whole works. I had never been in trouble at all, not even in school. 

I was terrified. When I got arrested I was taken in a police car in handcuffs. My husband was standing at the door, tears rolling down his face, and said "God is in control". When I got to jail they gave me that famous orange suit. They were very low on supply, so the pants had these words "Jesus loves you", which comforted me so much, especially since the only place they could put me was in a holding cell with a girl who had just beat somebody up.  

God knew I was going to jail that day before the day ever got there. I was arrested on a Thursday, the jail always had Bible study on Wed but God had her doing something else because He knew I was going to be there Thursday and I would need her and yes, she came Thursday night because she couldn't make it Wed., she had something else she had to do. 

The next morning we went before the judge. There were 4 of us, one girl wasn't getting a bond, she had been in trouble way too much, she was there for a while. The other 2 had very small bonds, but mine was 2500.00 that's only 10 % of the bond, that's what I had to come up with to get out. 

We went back to the cell. One of the girls was so cocky, and she said I'll be there first to get out then pointed to me and said you'll be the last, I said “No, I have a God who can do anything” and I was the first one to leave. I made a phone call to my husband, he called our church and he was there shortly after that and I got out.

  We went to court, I was facing life in prison, if I went to trial and they found me guilty, (which I had 3 people telling lies on me, 2 kids and 1 adult) so my Public defender (before the lawyer) advised me that the jury will believe the kids 99% of the time, so when I went to court I agreed to a plea. I got 5 years probation and got off in 3 1/2 because I had all my fines paid and for good behavior. God is so good. 

 We are to forgive and forget, do I forgive, yes because it would be a sin if I didn't, 

My prayer is that the 2 kids that told the lies, is for them to find God and to get saved. 

Forget, it's hard to forget when it is still following me around, I'm over all of this except how God showed up and showed out, which was the best part, He never left me nor forsake me,

• Hebrews 13:5-6 "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things that you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you,' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.'" (emphasis mine)
  (Many, if not most, of us have probably been in physical need at some time. All of us are in spiritual need, and will remain that way as long as we live in this body of flesh with its carnal nature, its lusts, phobias, hatreds, jealousies, and myriad other sinful proclivities. But God does not abandon us. Never.
  We can always trust in him to be there for us, no matter how hard and how far we fall. The word "never" in this passage is from "ou me", in Greek what is known as an emphatic negative . In other words, "never" means just that! Never!) 
• 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 "But we have this treasure (speaking of the truth of the Gospel and the knowledge

It destroyed all the dreams I had for my life, as far as me not able to find work. I had dreams to be an EMT, a nurse, or a police officer but now I can't be none of them, that will be on my record forever, all I can be is the person sitting at the computer telling all of this..... why am I saying this? I don't even know, except to give God the glory through it all, because it could have been a lot worse, and my faith in God grew more than it ever has and  I have been in church all my life, I got saved when I was 12, and God has blessed me with an amazing family.

 So now I just stay in His Word, and trust in Him, 

Jeremiah 29:11

New Living Translation (NLT)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope

 I love you all! 

     Faith~

Loving One Another 1 John 4:7~12 (NLT)

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we lo

ved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other[b] because he loved us first.

20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister,[c] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.[d]

Psalm 140
New Living Translation (NLT)
Psalm 140

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Protect me from those who are violent,
2 those who plot evil in their hearts
and stir up trouble all day long.

3 Their tongues sting like a snake;
the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude
4 O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.
Protect me from those who are violent,
for they are plotting against me.
5 The proud have set a trap to catch me;
they have stretched out a net;
they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God!”
Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!
7 O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,
you protected me on the day of battle.
8 Lord, do not let evil people have their way.
Do not let their evil schemes succeed,
or they will become proud. Interlude
9 Let my enemies be destroyed
by the very evil they have planned for me.
10 Let burning coals fall down on their heads.
Let them be thrown into the fire
or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.
11 Don’t let liars prosper here in our land.
Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.
12 But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;
he will give justice to the poor.
13 Surely righteous people are praising your name;
the godly will live in your presence.

EL SHADDAI BY AMY GRANT

http://www.decaturbaptist.org/media/archive_player.php?service=20120805AM

This is Decatur Baptist Church, hope you take time to watch this service, it is awesome~
You will not be sorry!

Ephesians 4 (New Living Translation)

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Ephesians 4

New Living Translation (NLT)

Unity in the Body

4 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. ² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. ³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. ⁴ For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

⁷ However, he has given each one of us a special gift^[a] through the generosity of Christ. ⁸ That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights,
    he led a crowd of captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”^[b]

⁹ Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.^[c] 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Living as Children of Light

¹⁷ With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. ¹⁸ Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. ¹⁹ They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

²⁰ But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. ²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
²⁵ So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”^[d] Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
²⁸ If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. ²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
³⁰ And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,^[e]guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

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