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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Jesus Is The Way

It is not the Christian religion we follow,
but Jesus Christ Himself.

It is not the way to God
but the way of God
that is our salvation.

It is called Grace
It is called Love
and it brings Hope.

Cathy Orrick Luders
7.28.2011

Friday, July 22, 2011

a new day will arise

"for now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." (I Corinthians 13:12)

a new day rises
the earth is freshened
with rains from above
the darkness of the preceding day
retains its hold
but God sees all.

To and fro
He goes as we go
and as our gaze
settles on Him
and Him alone
-- not darting or questioning or
taking too quick action --

another day will rise
tomorrow perhaps
or the next.
the darkness
will not keep us
secluded and fearful.

Our God
who sees
all
and knows
all
our comings and goings
will show us
what He knew
in the beginning.

We see oh so dimly now
as in a mirror
fogged over.

Another new day will rise
the darkness will fade
We will be in the Light
and it will be good.

Cathy Orrick Luders
7.22.2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Faith IS the Victory

Faith is the Victory.

Our faith is what is tested when the waves of doubt and despair announce themselves at the open door of our heart and mind.

Do we live within the world and fall prey to how the world lives and conducts its business?

Success -- failure ... a fine line exists.

We all live in the world, but we who have been reborn - not recreated, but born anew from old ways to new ways, from without to within, from alive to sin to dead to sin and alive to Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, we are not of the world.

We take up residence in the world, just as Jesus did when he walked the streets of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and elsewhere (Acts 1:8). But our residence is not permanent. We come, we stay awhile (to us it may seem a long or short time), and we go.

Life is not permanent. Do we "curse God and die" (Job 2:9) as the wife of Job said to him in the midst of pain and suffering when Job did not know why?

Struggles do come and stay awhile and go.

The timing is ALL in God's hands, not ours.

How we cope with the struggles and calamities that strike us from every side and angle tells, shows others where our faith is, where our strength to go on comes from.

When Job was beset with problems did he blame God? He did not understand the why of any of it. But he did not curse. Instead, he praised and worshiped the Almighty.

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

Satan can only destroy us if we allow him to.

Our covenant, our pact has been made with the Lord God above.

He sees everything. Nothing escapes Him. He sees all our ways. He sees our destruction, our disasters, false statements made to ourselves and another. He sees the steps we make backward and forward. He sees our integrity and our lack of it.

God knows everything and it is His purpose, His plan for us that is vital, NOT how much we know, not how our plan or purpose goes.

Faith is the Victory.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not faith in me.

What can "me" do?

We think we can do much, but it is only what God has enabled us to do that is real and comes to fruition.

Remember what God's servant Paul says in I Corinthians 15:58, "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Faith IS the Victory. .... the assurance of things hoped for in great anticipation, but not seen.

We must persevere .... in Christ. 

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What is Love? ... God

"If I do not have love, I gain nothing." (I Corinthians 13:3 NRSV)

Speech
becomes
meaningless,
obnoxious,
without thought,
noisy like a clanging bell.

Predictions
foretold
of a future time
Fortune tellers
they are -
past
and present -
for personal gain.

Feed
clothe
fund
the poor
the less advantaged.
Do it all

But,
without God,
without Love,
you and I gain nothing
we are of
no value.

Love Is God
It is
more than what may unfold between man and woman
more than friendship
more, much more.

Love Is
God's gift of His Son, The Christ, to mankind

Love Is
patient

... kind

Love
seeks after the truth

.... rejoices in the truth

Love
builds up another,

... encourages

Love Is

... Unselfish

... Unending

... Unfailing

... Undeserved

... and without thought of return.

Love Believes
Love Hopes
Love Endures

What is love?

God.
By Cathy Orrick  Luders
7.19.2011

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Godlessness

 “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father – God,” the Jews said to Jesus in John 8:41.

  I. We are ALL born of fornication. You think not? From the beginning when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, all generations following were cursed.

“So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you will be punished. You are singled out from all the domestic and wild animals of the whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel in the dust as long as you live, crawling along on your belly. From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’  Then he said to the woman, ‘You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though your desire will be for your husband, he will be your master.’ And to Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit I told you not to eat, I have placed a curse on the ground. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from dust, and to the dust you will return.’ ”   (Genesis 3:14-19 New Living Translation)

You may be born of parents married to each other, but that fact alone does not make you sinless. Fornication goes beyond sexual immorality. It encompasses all godlessness, physical and spiritual.

“looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator (godless) or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” (Hebrews 12:15-16)

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

 
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (Galatians 5:16a – 17)

II. We do not ALL have one Father, that being God. For some, our father is the devil.  

“Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”             (Galatians 5:24-25)

Recently, coming before the spotlight is a clinic (Bachmann & Associates, Minneapolis) owned by Marcus and Michelle Bachmann, who is campaigning for the presidency of the United States.  Reports show the clinic offers a service called “reparative therapy,” which apparently claims gay people can be cured of their homosexuality.

I do not believe any one person can lay claims to curing another. Homosexuality is a sin, not a disease like cancer. Only Jesus can transform a sinner. The goal is not homosexuality to heterosexuality, but homosexuality to the transforming faith of God.

God created us man and woman to unite, to become one (through marriage) in Him, not man and man nor woman and woman. Men and women who think and believe they are something other than what God has created and commanded are fooling themselves, living to themselves, following another.

If we profess to be a believer of Christ, we will give up old ways. For as a believer:
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We give up the old, we follow Christ; we have a new life. It is not easy. The path does not instantly become clear and stumble free. It takes work. Work through prayer, through studying His Word, through fellowship with other believers in Christ, through living and being obedient to Him and His commands.

When we are baptized, it is a representation of dying with Christ and being reborn to new life in Him.

If we are unwilling to give up the old, if we prefer to remain fornicators, godless, immoral people, then we will.

Believers in Christ can pray for you, show you the way to righteousness, but it is between you and God the way to go.

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”   (2 Corinthians 5:20)

But if you are not One with God, One with Jesus, One with the Holy Spirit, then you are most definitely one with Satan.

Jesus says to us:
 “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” (John 8:42a)

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
(John 8:44)

“He who is of God hears God’s words, therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
(John 8:47)


 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:31-32)

All Scripture is taken from the New King James version of the Bible except Genesis  3: 14-19 which is taken from the New Living Translation. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

With or Without ... God?

Without God we are nothing
Without God we have no purpose
We simply exist,
go about, here and there,
aimlessly.

With God our lives take root
We have a reason
to be,
to do
to live.

Without God
love and obedience
is too much effort.

With God
we see His love for us
through His Son
who died for us.

Without God
our focus is on self.

With God
our focus -- heart, soul and mind
is on Him.

Without God
death is the end of life.

With God
death is only the beginning
-- the beginning of life eternal.
Cathy Orrick Luders
7.14.2011

Where are you ... Who have you joined forces with ... Has Jesus extended His hand toward you ... Have you heard His call ... Have you ignored His tug ...  Are you true only to yourself ...?    Don't wait too long. Act now. Be now. Live now.

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Therefore, you be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him." (Matthew 24:42, 44)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Jesus is our example

Why are there some people who think and thereby believe once they have accepted Christ they are above reproach?

They can do no wrong. They can accuse and judge. They can condemn another for their wrongdoing. They can proclaim, You Are Wrong.

And that makes Mr./Mrs./Miss High and Mighty right?

We are all one, assuming the "we" is those who have come to know Christ, have accepted Him as their personal Savior, have a walk of love and obedience with and to the Lord.

Love -- that means everybody, not just those you personally select.

Obedience -- total commitment to the Lord.  ... But do we always know all that entails?

Jesus gives us instructions, but because of our imperfections, our discernment is not always right on the mark.

Yet, perhaps you think it is. You know right from wrong. But it's not all about what or who is right and what or who is wrong.

It's about Him -- His relationship with you, your relationship with Him.

It is not your responsibility to remind a fellow Christian of their faults, their shortcomings, to continually point out to them what they cannot do, where they cannot go. We hinder God's work when we take things upon ourselves.

Jesus shows us how to live and be responsible. He is our example. If we do not follow him, but our own thoughts, we are not being ALL that God has called us to be.

Even as Christians we are not above getting off the path. We still have sin in our lives. The Lord Jesus knows us and wants to show us how to stay on His path and not wander off. But we do stray. ALL OF US.

We seek God's love, His forgiveness.

He gives. He is. Love. He does not condemn. He saves us from condemnation, for unrighteousness. We are reborn, renewed.

To do what?!

To be and do as Christ
To love as Christ
To suffer as Christ

If/when/since God has forgiven me, why do you still hold over my head my guilt? Should not you also, whom God has forgiven, forgive another?

We must show love
compassion
gentleness
patience
forgiveness
to each other, every one.
We must show Jesus.

Remember -- it is to Jesus we belong. It is not to ourselves we are to strive, but to Jesus. We are His children, His disciples.

We must walk in the Word. Our mission must be to Christ toward all, unbeliever AND believer.

"Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." (Philippians 2:14-16 NKJV)

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:12-17)

Without Jesus there is no unity, no peace, no promise, no hope.

"With Him (God), all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

Let us live as believers.

Friday, July 8, 2011

The strong and the weak, together

Within the community of believers, no Christian should be made to feel useless and unusable. The strongest and the weakest belong together. ... the lion and the lamb. They are dependent upon each other.

When one is excluded because of personal agendas the Christian community is not being and doing all Jesus has commanded ... disobedient children.

Dying not to self but instead reaping rewards solely for our own benefit.

It is to be for the glory of God. But, where is His glory if it is not to Him we gaze?

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Where are you headed?

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearer. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. Therefore be followers of God as dear children And walk in love, as Christ has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." (Ephesians 4:29-32, 5:1-2)


We, who profess to be Christ's followers, must renounce our lives, our self-seeking desires and wants, and live the life Christ set out for us.

Who are we to pronounce judgment on another, believer and non-believer, determining in our hearts our way is the only way ...

How can we possibly think we know exactly what is right and true ...

How can we condemn another just because there is disagreement, disunity ...

When did Jesus say you have no sin, you may throw the first stone ...

"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone ... first." (John 8:7)

When did Jesus make you a god ...

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Jesus is the light of the world and we as His believers are to follow Him, walk in His ways, obedient to the end.

You, Mr. Above Reproach and Mrs. Know It All should rethink who you are and who you follow. Where do your true loyalties lie ... Is Jesus your commander-in- chief or are you listening to another ...

"You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world." (John 8:23)

"If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)

"He who is of God hears God's words" (John 8:47)

To be fully obedient to the call of Christ is to follow His path that He sets us on wherever it leads, within the body of believers and within the world. The Christian life is to be lived within the world. We are to renounce secular worldviews for Christian thinking. We are to live our life, follow Christ's walk for us anywhere and everywhere. There is no perfect place, and even if there was, that is not where God would purpose us to be.

Following Christ is God's divine command for all.

Grace is God's gift I received when I accepted Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, when I accepted through faith that Jesus died for me, my soul, that He forgave me of my sins, because He loved me, loves me still. God gives me this gift. Who I am, what I am, what I do with this gift shows Him where my life is or isn't in His Son, Jesus. My answer should be one of following Christ at any and all costs.

Friday, July 1, 2011

I pledge allegiance to the lamb

On Wednesday night, June 29, my husband and I attended the 10th annual Voices of Hope concert at New Covenant Bible Church in Cedar Rapids. The final song - "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb," brought many, myself included, among the hundreds in attendance to their feet... standing for Christ, our Savior. Do you too stand ... and will you stand still in the last day?

Video by Ray Boltz:

It is God's gift

It is God's gift of grace
that found us
and through the shed blood of
His Son,
gave us new life.

It is God's gift of grace
that brings us,
His followers,
into fellowship sweet,
a source of
incomparable joy and strength.

It is God's gift of grace
in the midst of sorrow
wherever we are
to gather
gaining nourishment
for the weariness
that seeks to overcome us.

It is God's gift of grace
that destroys
the tall gangling weed
or short stubby one
and replaces it with
roses and lilies.

It is God's gift of grace
His very love
that encircles us
renews us
enhances us
in the home
in a letter
in a phone call
in a prayer
in a Bible Study
in the workplace
in the food court
in fun and games
in community worship.

It is God's gift of grace
that reminds us
without Him
there is nothing,
we are nothing,
But
with Him
All things are possible.

It is Go's gift of grace
that binds us --
our compassion,
our kindness,
our humility,
our gentleness,
our patience,
our forbearance,
our forgiveness,
our love for the Lord --
together as One.

Cathy Orrick Luders
7.1.2011
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6