BLESSING GOD!!! AMEN!!! (the last 3 words of Luke)
Today’s Reading: Luke 24
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
This is the exterior of Saint Lazarus Church built just 50 metres from where Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus. Special thanks to Reynold Mainse for two years of photographs. He spent over three months in the lands of the Bible just to bless us with his profession. He is also an ordained minister of Jesus Christ. The cost of his travels were covered apart from any offerings sent to the Crossroads charity. These photographs are a gift of love to Jesus and to us. “Thank you, David Reynold!”
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Luke 24:47
… and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
What was Luke’s reason for writing his Gospel? Here it is! “That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed!” (Luke 1:4). Amen!!! Luke had two whole years to travel in the footsteps of Jesus. He was an assistant to the Apostle Paul, and Paul spent two years as a prisoner in Caesarea under the authority of two Roman Governors, Felix and Festus, as well as under King Agrippa (Luke was also writing a major portion of the book of Acts during those years…read Acts 23:23 to Acts 26:32). Luke’s writing style in his Gospel is obviously the result of personal interviews with people such as Mary, family members of the Bethlehem shepherds, several of the Apostles, perhaps Zacchaeus, people who participated in the celebration on Palm Sunday, Jewish religious leaders who later came to faith in Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 6:7), and the women who first visited Jesus’ empty tomb. Just imagine Luke trying to write down the stories of many of the approximately 500 people who saw the risen Jesus!!! (1 Corinthians 15:1-6).
Now, here comes the orders to all of us from Almighty God, the risen Christ! Preach (this includes one-to-one personal witness…probably the most effective way of preaching) “TO ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM!!!” True Christians have no alternative but to proclaim to one and all by direct witness, by public preaching, and by sacrificial giving so others can share the Gospel in person or by the media (TV, radio, print, the world wide web, billboards, etc. etc.). Let’s do it together!!! Ready! Set! Go!!!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I join the prophet Isaiah who wrote so very much about a person who could be no one other than Jesus of Nazareth (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, chapter 53), and I say to You in answer to Your question recorded in Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? …’HERE AM I, SEND ME!!!'” I’m available now, today, and every day until I die or until You return in glory and the work is done! I pray for the grace of total obedience to Your will for my life. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I know, first hand, the interview style of writing. It has been my privilege, since 1962, to interview approximately 15,000 people. This is why I can assert with certainty that Luke interviewed the people who told him the facts of the life of Jesus! I have 100% confidence in these many eyewitness accounts. Of course there will always be slight variations in the way witnesses see an event. Take a court of law for example. People look at things from different angles and choose to emphasize certain elements over others. If their testimonies were identical, it would prove collusion and would destroy the credibility of the witnesses. This explains why the four Evangelists sometimes recorded different views and memories of the same events…yet there are no contradictions. Put all the testimonies of the Gospels together and we have the fullest possible description of what really happened!
Yours for never, never, never keeping the Good News of Jesus to ourselves!
David
Inside the Saint Lazarus Church is a beautiful mosaic of Lazarus coming forth from his tomb. I’ve spent time in that tomb. “LAZARE VENI FORAS” is Latin for “Lazarus come forth!” This event is recorded in John 11:44-45, “And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him and let him go.’ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary (sister of Lazarus), and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” The “Mishna” (minutes of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jewish leaders) records the arrest notice of Jesus of Nazareth, but nowhere in the official records of religious or secular governing powers are there any denials of the mighty acts of Jesus. Jesus is the most thoroughly documented figure in all of ancient history!!!
Just beside Saint Lazarus Church is an ancient building with a very large wine and olive press. It’s interesting how this wine press is in the shape of a cross. As the operator would press down, the olive wood screw would turn.
ALL PRAISE AND THANKS TO OUR LORD GOD! The young man Jason that I asked for prayer has connected with his Pastor! Again, all praise and glory to God our Father for this happening! I heard that Jason may be moving to day shift! It seems he will be available to attend church on Sundays with his family! Again, all paise and glory and thanksgiving to our Lord God!
Please pray for another employee Roger! He indicated he would like to start a day care and I felt he would be very good at this work! He has taken courses in Winnipeg a few years back in regards to child care and I encouraged him to check about upgrading these courses and begin to plan for a day care! I really think he would be very good at that work! He loves his daughter very much, wife is an accountant, and they also need a home that is much less rent then what they are paying for now! Again God has provided very interesting people and I am so happy to pray for them and again thank you to all who are also praying!
Please pray for a friend Eva, she has colon cancer! I truly believe God will heal her and there will not be any need for surgery! She is such a sweet gal and loves the Lord and is so positive! I am very blessed to have such a nice friend!
And again thanks to our Lord God for swimming! Very enjoyable! A lot of fun! Wonderful lifeguards! Thank you Lord, in Jesus Name I Pray AMEN!
God bless you, Sah!
A wonderful answer to prayer, Sah. May God continue to open Jason’s eyes, heal, and, open his heart and mind to the Great God of heaven and earth. Prayer for Roger and for Eva, that God will minister to them in their need. Father, bless Sah also for standing in the gap for his friends. Amazing pictures today. Thanks all for your wonderful contributions.
Amen!
That is a good report about Jason praise God he works in marvelous ways.
I am praying for your friends Rodger , and Eva . God has good plans for all
of us. God bless you
Lianne Hogg
Sah, praise God from whom all blessings flow. Wonderful news about Jason. Praying for Rodger and a miracle for Eva.
Thank you Pastor David for being such a great encouragement to all of us. May all our lights shine as brightly as yours. Amen.
Amen Eleanor!
David you are a true leader and man of God. Your family, Canada and the world are blessed because of your leadership and unwavering love for and commitment to
God. Listened to the clip of your grand daughter praying for your health. It was touching. Your heart for God glows on your face. Good to hear God is not finished with you and has healed you. I am recovering from major health event in 2016 with many serious complications but am recovering. But just had another diagnosis with prognosis of “no hope”. Not cancer but this diagnosis will only continue to bring more discomfort. pain and dramatic limitations to my daily activities of living as wife and mom for the duration of my life. My younger family and husband are suffering with me. More diagnostic testing will be happening to see if there will be more things wrong with my body. I am in my early 50s and have been healthy all my life until now. Struggling with the brevity of my health and the effect not only on my life but also on my family’s. I am not wanting to continue on and want to save my family from what is yet to come. I know God heals snd Jesus had a healing ministry. I know the one who hung the stars and moon can heal my body but I don’t believe that this healing is for me. I have lived the straight and narrow but not of focused faith and devotion. David had a faithful and praying family, friends and a nation believing and praying for a miracle. God is silent for me. i do not have a faithful, praying family, friends and nation petitioning heaven on my behalf. God is silent for me. Confused why a loving father would allow so much to happen medically to his child. I would like the peace i see in others and I would like to have the joy others have. I would like a miracle healing but for me God is silent. I want to spare myself and my family from what the future holds for me. Is heaven for those who accepted Christ as a teenager but have not been faithful through the years but personally decides the hour of their leaving this earth? The future for me is dark and I want to be spared and I want my family to be spared. Will heaven be there for me?
Amen! Lianne. We pray for Roger and Eva. Saints of God, I have a question. Is this arrogance or a good honest question? Why should we suffer a lifetime with some sickness and accept it as our fate, mine being high blood pressure and cholestral when the one we serve, Jesus Christ has already suffered and paid the price for our healing. Personally, I am going to start asking for healing and not give up even if I have inherited them from my parents. Is there anything too hard for the Lord?
Ger: God is never afraid of our questions. For me, I see the Sovereignty of God over my life.. how God uses everything that happens in our lives to make and mold us in His image. I love the poem “The Weaver” (Author Unknown) that again reiterates that “He sees the upper (the heavenly perspective) ..”and I the under side” (the earthly perspective) which is not always self-explanatory.
“The Weaver”
“My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors. He worketh steadily.
Oftimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget that He sees the upper and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvass and explain the reasons why!
Why the Dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern HE has planned”
I often go back to Isaiah 64:8, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the Potter; we are all the work of your hand”. Whatever is happening, I pray that I will be pliable in His hands for God to continue to perfect his plan in my life for we are “His Workmanship” (Eph. 2:10) or as someone described it, “we are His work of art..”created in Christ Jesus to do good works”…through our struggles, pain, sickness we become a blessing and encouragement to others who are going through difficult and painful times…like Paul’s thorn in the flesh”. God is always doing something precious in our lives. I believe we continue to pray standing on Scripture ..then surrendering…surrendering..surrendering…to keep the door open so God can continue shaping us as His instruments of love. Through all of these experiences, we are in “God’s special school” where he is teaching and training us…See Heb.12:7 “endure hardship AS discipline; God is treating you (and me) as a son (or daughter)…and 9:-10-12 “that we may share in His holiness…for those who have been TRAINED by it” etc. (at least, this has been and is my experience and I simply want to share this with you). Blessings!
Oh amen, Pastor Samuel, amen! That stirs my soul!
Thank you for sharing this poem of the weaver and your thoughts, Samuel. Very inspirational and rings so true.
David N.
Go to it Ger, I’m in agreement with your prayer!!
Yes Ger continue to ask for healing! That is a good thing, I may have shared before but will share again:
TY Ger for asking questions? we learn so much from questions! I inherited my mental illness, I have been through hell-hell and more hell! I was diagnosed at 47! I started to find out what was wrong with me when I was 18! NO ONE KNEW WHAT I HAD!
I even signed myself into the Mental Hospital in Alberta and then in British Columbia! I NEVER HAD AN EPISODE, NO ONE COULD TELL ME WHAT WAS WRONG!
Finally a Doctor asked me this question: when you have come through one of your whirlwind highs, how do you feel? I told him, when the whirlwind is over I then have the strength of 10 men! The Doctor leaned forward, put his arm around me and asked if I had ever heard the term BI POLAR? I said no! He said you are a classic case for BI POLAR! Really! I was put on lithium and was on it for 10 years then I had to stop HOWEVER GOD INTERVENED AT THAT TIME AND I BROKE MY LEG AND GOD GAVE ME SWIMMING AND THAT HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING FOR MY ILLNESS..plus God removed smokes-alcohol 20 days before I broke my leg (April 1995)
Ger all I can say is that you try and find out as much as you can about your health situation, find out what can you change, you need to be your own advocate and keep asking questions, ask God for healing, and keep sharing your isues; that was a very strong message for me from a Pastor 10 years ago: He insisted I start talking about my mental illness, don`t hid it and it was a very good thing to do! HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE ALSO SHARED ONCE I SHARED. I truly believe the devil wants us to keep quiet, well, I am the wrong person for that challenge! I do talk, plenty, at the pool, at the place where I hang out in the evenings and I have been truly humbled by the responses! Men need to be encourage to talk about health issues, women also, but men more so…….Thanks again Ger for asking questions, keep asking, Lord God You know Ger`s helath issues, Your DNA is inside each one of us, Lord I ask in Jesus Name that You would heal Ger, completely, from head to toe, bring her great comfort and peace, thank you Lord AMEN
Nothing is too hard for our LORD in HIS time & in HIS WAY. As we wait upon HIM to do HIS will
Ger, there are so many scriptures backing up what you are pondering. There is no need for you to feel guilty or stricken because of family genetics of illness. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isa 53:4-5. You are worthy of being healed. You are a child of God and daughter of the Kingdom. Amen!
I have started a new habit of reading the daily scripture from my Bible while listening to the audio of Biblegateway at the same time. It is much more powerful and meaningful. I felt especially blessed by Luke, this morning. He was such a privileged and blessed apostle–to study with Paul (my favourite) directly and gain instruction from him about Jesus–how incredible!! Blessings saints, in the Lord!
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jer 29:11, NIV
Ever Be // Kalley Heiligenthal // We Will Not Be Shaken Official Lyric Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhasSpSBdEE
June, Echoes of Eternity, Helms:
Open My Eyes That I May See
by Clara H. Fiske Scott, 1841-1897
“Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready my God, Thy will to see,
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine.
Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.
Open my mouth, and let me bear,
Gladly the warm truth everywhere
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.”
I am so inspired by the positive feedback I am reading from the comments.
Praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for His blessings to all of us.
He is only a prayer away! Thankyou Jesus for answering our prayers, Amen!!
Amen!“Thank you, David Reynold!”
Praise God for the news on Jason. Sah you are a wonderful encourager and witness for Jesus. Praying Jason will continue to be led by God.
Also ringing Roger and Eva before The Throne .
Blessings dear fellow saints.
Hi. For the second time this week, I did not receive 100words. I re:registered a few days ago; yet it was again missing for June 1. Not sure why this happens. Samuel
A link to 100words.ca and creating an icon has worked fine every day for the past 4 years. No need to do it through e-mail.
Yes, that is what I do, too. I have 100words.ca saved on my favourites bar and it is right there to click on when I go to internet explorer.
Yes, thank Rev. Reynold Mainse for the great photos you have posted in the daily blog for us to enjoy…thank you for that gift to us!!!
What a blessed time of sharing and prayers…Thank you Pastor David for providing this daily fellowship.
This is evening now and I just read through all of your responses to my question this morning and they are all very good and I agree with them all as you present different perspectives and personal experiences. Thank you for taking the time to answer and I will meditate on them. Like Job I will give my answer; it must have been the Lord who put that thought in my heart and also being inspired by Pastor David’s healing that no affliction or disease is too hard for the Lord so we should never give up asking that Jesus may be glorified. Amen(So be it)? In the meantime, I will rest in Him or I’ll make it worse. God blessings on all. Ger
Thank you for the scripture, poems and song Samuel and Beverlee ; for sharing personal experiences Sah and for your encouraging word Irene. It is appreciated.
Blessing to everyone for sharing their personal experiences. This song comes to mind I am the God that healeth Thee by Don Moen
https://youtu.be/27DWeA6GhYk
Thank you Thelma!
Please tell Reynold how much we appreciate the photographs. They add a visual aid and richness and depth to what we are reading in God’s Word. May the Lord bless Reynold and Kathy in their ministry for Jesus
Dear Karen, l am so sorry that you have had to endure such a bad time in 2016, after years of good health, and for the bad prognosis given to you. First of all l want you to understand that God has no favourites, and loves you as much as any one else.You are very precious to him, and it sounds as though you are beating yourself up because of your back-sliding. Today you are back in the fold, and God has a plan for you and your family. The devil loves to encourage negative thoughts and try to help you give up. We have all heard your cry, and will be remembering you in our prayers. In the scriptures we are told to keep our eyes on the Lord and he will keep us in perfect peace. Don’t let your mind hold you hostage. You are valuable and although you think God is silent, he is speaking to you and to all of us, all the time. l pray we will all learn to recognize his voice and not listen to the voice of the enemy of our souls. Remember Jesus died for you and to destroy the works of the devil. You are Loved!
God bless you Karen! I am so glad you posted your blog! I am absolutely convinced when we share deep personal thoughts the devil takes off running! He would rather we suffer in silence! Like I said I am not that person and Karen neither are you! TY again for posting your blog! Everyone will be praying for you and be ready for God’s response, He’s got something wonderful planned for you! Our life experiences all come from God and I believe He wants to see how will we respond! Praise the Lord we share on this blog1
God bless you Karen! I am so glad you posted your blog! I am absolutely convinced when we share deep personal thoughts the devil takes off running! He would rather we suffer in silence! Like I said I am not that person and Karen neither are you! TY again for posting your blog! Everyone will be praying for you and be ready for God’s response, He’s got something wonderful planned for you! Our life experiences all come from God and I believe He wants to see how will we respond! Praise the Lord we share on this blog! I believe God wants to see if we turn to Him in prayer? Or sometimes people turn to drugs/alcohol to drown their sorrows!
This blog was determined by God and He used David Mainse and his life experiences to bring us to the point of hearing his story and this enables many more to share their stories! I AM SO THANKFUL THAT WE CAN DO THIS ON THIS BLOG! It gives me goosebumps! BLESSINGS TO EVERYONE, KEEP PRAYING, IT IS WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO! turn to Him, trust in Him; lean on Him! Karen God loves you and has always loved you and will continue to love you! SMILE, you are beautiful!
What a glorious way to end this night, thank you Lord God for ALL the blessings of this day!
Karen, I did not see your post until now and you have had good responses to your questions. I can only say that the Lord Jesus understands your questions and He will be there for you no matter the circumstances. God is not a respector of persons and He loves you as much as He does any one of us so don’t give up on Him. No, don’t consider ending your life but give it to Jesus and with His help you can make it. I just remember that was a song Norma Jean used to sing. This reading and blog will help you and keep in touch with us here so we can keep praying for you and help you through this. Amen?