FireQuill Blog.com

Instead of writing something myself today I want to share some great words from a friend of mine – Sam Parsons. At the end of the article will be a link to Sam’s page. I hope you will go there and sign up for his weekly newsletter. it’s well worth the time to see what God is teaching this brother. Sam Parsons ministers to those “forgotten folks” in so many nursing homes. He sings (he even writes some of his own music), does a little Bible teaching and gives lots of encouragement to these people that their families have forgotten but who are certainly not forgotten by their Heavenly Father. Even in their 80′s and 90′s Sam has been able to lead lots of these people to Jesus.  2 Peter 3:9 says “God doesn’t anyone to perish (die without knowing Him) but desires all to repent and come to Him. (My loose paraphrase). Here’s Sam’s article:

Recently, my wife and I traveled north from Southern California to speak at a couple of churches. On our trip we had an opportunity to stop and visit a couple of dear friends. They live in central California, in a laid-back country setting, far from the hustle and bustle of city life. In fact, they live in the middle of their 57-acre property, surrounded by nature: a quiet simple life. Oh I’m sure they have their problems too, but it felt to us that in that peaceful setting, one could truly feel and hear the still small voice of God. On our trip, we drove below the speed limit, marveling at God’s artistry amongst flower-covered meadows, and the beautiful granite rock of the pine covered Sierra mountain foothills. We enjoyed watching dozens of various species of birds, wild turkeys, a chubby little squirrel or two, fat happy cows seeming to smile as we pass by, and the beautiful horses grazing in wildflower covered pastures. We also enjoyed meeting and sharing encouragement with a few folk from our friend’s home group. (A home group is a bunch of like-minded Christian friends who have chosen to walk through life’s ups and downs together.)

A few days later, on our way home my wife and I noticed the distinct difference of pace and stress as we re-entered the traffic flow of Southern California. You could feel the pressure starting to swell. It occurred to us, as the traffic stopped and started again and road rage seemed to be the norm, that all the stress related illnesses, heart attacks and suicide statistics that our hurried and harried society has embraced, is truly slowly killing people. We’ve seemed to have lost our way: the peaceful way of trusting God. Millions of people have been lulled into thinking this is just the way life is suppose to be, ‘hurry here, hurry there, take it all in as fast as you can.’ And rest has become an expendable commodity that takes a back seat to achieving and money grabbing. Maybe its time to think about taking our stress to God and finding our peace in Him, for He is sovereign and has a perfect plan for us. I’m not sure if you have carved out quiet time alone with God each day but it is worth the effort. Taking time to smell the roses is great, but taking time to get to know the God who created the roses is even sweeter. He patiently waits. The statistics are alarming at how stress is killing us: 34% of Americans report headaches and feelings of sadness or depression, 60% report feelings of irritability or anger, 53% report fatigue and 47% report lying awake at night worrying.  But, God has a better way.

“make it your ambition to lead a quiet life (a simple life) and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

1^st Thessalonians 4:11

Whenever I take my stress to God He always lifts me up and encourages me.  His Word lifts my countenance and HE gives me rest. (READ:  Philippians 4:6-9)  Oh I like the country as much as the next guy, probably more than most, but we all can’t just pack up and move to the country. For most of us, our work is here in stress city, but there is solace in the presence of the Lord.  Our only problem seems to be when we are not taking time to go to Him.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “

Matthew 11:28

Statistics are man-made, but we are God made. Go to the source of life for life issues.

www.SamParsons.org

by David Wilkerson

Once a year, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for Israel’s sins. After sanctifying himself — bathing (purifying) himself thoroughly — he took with him the blood of a bullock and a golden censer (or cup) held by three chains. The priest then removed some coals from the altar, put them in the censer, took a handful of incense and went into the Holy of Holies.

Inside the Holy of Holies was an ark. Atop it was the mercy seat and on either side of the seat were two golden cherubim, whose wings spread over it. The mercy seat represented the very presence of God where the Lord sat on His throne.

The high priest took the handful of incense and threw it on the fire in the censer. Suddenly, a beautiful aroma filled the tabernacle. The priest waved the censer in front of the ark until the mercy seat was enshrouded in a cloud of aromatic, sweet incense.

This is a perfect illustration of what Jesus has done for us and is doing right now. First, it signifies Jesus’ death and ascension to the heavenly Father as our High Priest. Second, this scene of atonement further signifies the time when Jesus began to pray for us, interceding to the Father on our behalf.

The initial work of Jesus’ intercession was the sprinkling of His blood on every bond and debt we owed. A bond is “a sealed note of debt or obligation that is binding upon the debtor and his heirs.” The devil once laid claim to you because you were dead in trespasses and sins.

There must be a cavern somewhere in the bowels of hell containing a mountain of records that are due, including your note and mine. The notes read, “You must pay with your life — and the price is eternal damnation.” But Jesus was given the keys to hell’s vault! Our High Priest went down to the very pits into that place of records and opened up the vault. He began flipping through the records and pulled out our notes — all the bonds, debts and obligations of those who believe in Him and who will yet believe.

Jesus gathered all those notes and took them to glory. There, in the presence of the Father, He sprinkled His blood over them, announcing, “These debts are paid in full by My own blood.”

Do you know him? You can right now. The choice is yours.