On April 20, 1987 I was one of the best in my field, that morning at 6:05 AM was the end to a beginning. On the outside I looked like I had it all together, but I was a mess. I had a house, wife, two children, dog, cars and a motorcycle. The problem was I smoked pot, and drank. I hid it from the world outside of my home. I had a father that prayed for me for 30 years for the Lord to keep me safe and make me prosper. That is what the Lord did, because He loved my Dad so much. As a result I would fall deeper and deeper into sin the more I prospered. The problem was I was creating a path of destruction as ugly and wide as a category 5 hurricane. But one day Dad changed his…
Life is a River, deep and wide,
Sometimes filled with peace,
Sometimes filled with joyous songs,
Sometimes unfilled needs.
Sometimes its waters overflow
With endless health and strength
That dwindle to a narrow creek
Of weakness and decay.
Sometimes the waters rush into
A gaping waterfall
And suddenly a life can change
To what is there no more.
Ever rolling onward,
Onward to the sea,
With each dawn the River brings
Us to another journey.
And how we all respond
To what the River sends
Is all that really matters
When we come to the River’s end.
May we honor God
With all that the River brings
Wherever the River takes us
Till we reach Eternity.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, help us to understand that it’s not WHAT we endure in this life that matters, but HOW we choose to endure it. May You give us the grace to honor You in every situation, no matter what may come our way, thank You, Lord, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
Philippians 4:3
“And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Revelation 20:11-15
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” ~St. John writing in his vision
The Book of Life
God cherishes each one of us. The bible says that “God our Savior…wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, a religious leader who came to Him one night, “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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” ~(John 3:16-17)
The Lake of Fire mentioned by St. John in the book of Revelation was prepared by God as an eternal punishment for the devil and the angels that rebelled against Him.
Gustave Dore Lucifer The Fallen Angel
It was never intended for man whom God made in His own image.
Yet, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, fell away from God when they rebelled against His command. The result was spiritual death and a loss of divine fellowship.
Gustave Dore Adam & Eve Expelled From Paradise
All of their children would, like them, be sinners or rebels against God. They would never be able to enjoy perfect fellowship with God because God is holy and cannot dwell with sin.
God’s word says that sin must be paid for with a sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22 says: “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”
The only One worthy to pay for our sins, to redeem our souls from eternal destruction and to bring us back into fellowship with God, was God Himself, for He alone is perfect among all His creation. He is sinless, spotless, without blemish.
God the Son, Jesus Christ, came to earth clothed in flesh so that He could become a living sacrifice and shed His holy blood to pay for our sins. He loved us that much.
Christ on the Cross ~ from the San Xavier del Bac Mission
God could not die unless He became human. That is why He had to be made like us. He suffered a horrible death on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and so that we could live in Paradise with Him forever.
Not only did He want us to enjoy eternity with Him, He wanted us to be able to enjoy fellowship with Him now.
Once we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, we become God’s own children. The Father sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts to seal our salvation as a sure sign that we belong to Him. We will never be alone again from that point because He will never leave or forsake us. His love will keep us firmly in His strong grip. He will help us weather every storm. He will meet our every need. He does not promise freedom from trials-for “many are the afflictions of the righteous,“ God’s word says, “but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
The moment I invited the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart I felt a beautiful peace envelop me and a warm glowing presence filled the room. I heard the Lord speak to my heart. “All will be well, You are going to be all right.” I was only 16 years old.
As I lay in my bed that night filled with Christ’s peace I saw an image in my heart of an angel writing my name in a huge book. Though I had gone to Catholic school, I had never heard about the Book of Life. I wondered what the vision meant.
Not until I began to read the bible on my own through the discipleship of our neighbor did I learn about the Book of Life and what that vision meant.
God was showing me that He had recorded my name in His book of life that night when I had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart.
It comforted me to know that my name was written up in Heaven.
When I grew up and my children were in Sunday school I created a picture of an Angel writing in the Book of Life. I made it into a Sunday school book cover for the children in the church we were attending. I wanted it to comfort them to know that after they had accepted the Lord as their Savior, their names were written in Heaven, and when the Last Day comes, and the books are read, they will be judged “Not Guilty,” because they are wearing the righteous robes that Jesus has given them. Their sins have been washed away by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God.
How do our names get into God’s Book of Life? The Book of Romans says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” ~Romans 10:9-13
That night when I was 16 years old I simply called upon the name of the Lord and He came to me. God is no respecter of persons. The Lord Jesus said He would never reject anyone who called upon His name. (John 6:37) And once a person receives Him into their heart, He will write their names in His Book of Life.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, may You bless all those who call upon the name of Thy Son Jesus Christ and write their names in Thy Book of Life. May they live with You forever. Thank You, Lord, In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Prayer Song “The Book of Life” is from my new Album “Paths of Peace”~available on Itunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and on my music website http://www.peacefulprayersongs.com
Prints of the Angel Writing in the Book of Life are available in my Etsy shop as Notecards and as a Triple Matted Fine Art Print.
Trust means placing both of our hands in the Lord’s hand and allowing Him to lead the way
even though we cannot see the path His light shines upon,
where our footsteps will go,
when we will move,
when we will rest
or know how long it will take to go
where we don’t know where we are going
how we will be able to do what He has planned for us,
how to say what He would have us say,
how to listen when He would have us listen,
how to give when He would have us give
or how to receive what He has in His treasure house for us.
We can trust though, because His love enables us to flow beautifully in the peace of knowing that in His care, we are safe.
Peaceangel Song 
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