Tag: Salvation

Solid Ground

On By KateIn Devotionals, Thoughts and MeditationsLeave a comment
Photography by Linda Dunlap

(Deu 32:4)  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

There are many titles for Jesus Christ. Today I am looking at the verses which contain the word “Rock” (capitalized) and how it applies to Christ. The Holy Spirit put these words in the Scriptures for a reason. It’s when we dig for gold that we find the nuggets, amen?

When we look at this verse in context, we find that this was part of a song of Moses. Each of the different names for God meets a specific need in man. What need does today’s verse provide for us? What do you think of when you envision a rock? I think of the coastline at Heceta Head Lighthouse in Florence, Oregon.

The rocks and mountainsides are so beautiful! They remind me of strength, stability and longevity. These rocks take the crashing of the waves without falling apart! When visiting there, they had pictures from when it was first built. The same three rocks are there today and they have not diminished throughout the years.

There is no better way to honor God than to recognize His strength in our lives. The believer needs to wholly lean on the Lord in times of desperation. It is these times that He draw us to Him. He is our strength. So how can Jesus Christ be the Rock in today’s verse? Let’s take a look at:

(Psa 27:1)  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

David says that the LORD (when capitalized like this, it refers to Jehovah, the Lord) is his light and salvation. We will not only find Jesus here but we will also see that Jesus is God. All Scripture fits together and there are no contradictions found in its pages.

(Joh 8:12)  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

David said that the LORD is his light. Jesus said in the verse above, that He is the light of the world.

David also said that the LORD was his salvation.

(Act 4:10-12)  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (11)  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. (12)  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. There is no other but the LORD, Jehovah the Lord, Jesus Christ the Saviour of man! He is our Rock!

(Deu 32:4)  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Jesus Christ’s work is perfect – He came to earth in human form and lived a sinless life. He lived the perfect life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sins. Only His sacrifice can forgive sins.

(2Co 5:21)  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

(1Pe 2:22)  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

(Heb 4:15)  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

So, dear reader, we know that our LORD, the Rock, has the strength to save us – to guide us – to help us in our every need! Because He is our Rock, we don’t have to rely on our own strength but wholly lean on His strength! Praise be to God in the highest! Thank you, LORD Jesus, our Rock and our Deliverer!

The Lord Reigns

On By KateIn PoetryLeave a comment

Jesus, the Holy Saviour
For mankind He bore our sin
This sacrifice is priceless
It provides a peace within

Our Lord who reigns in Heaven,
Clothed in love and majesty
Will return for all believers
We’ll forever be with Him

Look above all you Christians
Your redemption draweth nigh
Be ready for the Rapture
When we’ll meet Him in the sky!

Don’t delay, believe the Word
The pages reveal the way
Through Him has salvation come
And our sin debt He did pay

The Rapture is soon coming
Look to Him and not the world
Keep strong on His foundation
Share salvation from the Lord

He’ll be called Omnipotent
There will be no other King
And He’ll reign from Jerusalem
Trumpet sounds and bells will ring!

Kate Plourde
3/8/2022

The Rapture – Day 7

On By KateIn Devotionals, End Times, Rapture, Salvation1 Comment
Photography by Bob Sabo

2Th 2:6-8  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.  (7)  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  (8)  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Good morning! It is currently snowing really hard right now and the ground is covered in a beautiful white blanket. I stand amazed at how quiet it is when it snows. You don’t hear it fall to the ground but you see the evidence of it. It is no different than the topic we are discussing. We don’t see the Holy Spirit but we see the product of His work. He works through born again believers and is responsible for stirring the hearts of the unsaved. His holy presence is what is standing between the Rapture and the Tribulation.

As we ave learned, there is no timeline for the Rapture event. In the verses above, we see that “he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” The Holy Spirit resides within every born again believer. Without Him, evilness will dominate the world just as in Noah’s days. All the people at the time were evil and God destroyed them all, except for Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives. Eight people! Wow!

The Holy Spirit is restraining the Antichrist from his “coming out” to the world at this time. When the Rapture occurs, the Holy Spirit’s “job” will return to the way He worked in the Old Testament. The Tribulation time is the time of Jacob’s Trouble – what began in the Old Testament with the Jews will end in the Book of Revelation with the Jews. The church age will be finished once the Rapture occurs.

Jer 30:7  Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

This time period revolving around Israel and the Jews will be like no other for them. The Church will be removed in the Rapture, along with the restraining force of the Holy Spirit.

The revelation of the Antichrist can only come after the Rapture. We see in today’s verses that the “mystery of inquiry doth already work.” War and destruction just don’t happen overnight. It is an event that builds over time. The Antichrist’s “evilness and spirit” is already at work in this world and we are seeing the results of it daily on the news. The only reason he is not revealed is because the Holy Spirit is holding him back. Once the Holy Spirit is removed via the Rapture, the man of lawlessness will be revealed and he will have free rein.

Friend, born again Christians will not see the Antichrist in his role as Revelation describes. The epitome of the evilness of this world is hindered right now thanks to the Holy Spirit. But once He is removed through the Rapture of the church, the church age will end and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble will begin. The Antichrist will cut loose his evilness.

I am trying to describe these events as simply as I can so that it is easily understood by those who are not born again. It may sound strange to you but with even just a little faith, you can be saved. This event is not something believers have to worry about because we will be in Heaven with Christ! But to the one who is not saved, it is a different story. Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Are We in the End Times? Day 6

On By KateIn Devotionals, End Times, SalvationLeave a comment
Photography by Chris Michaud

(2 Ti 3:2)  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

Good morning, dear reader! It’s still dark outside and the house is so very quiet. It’s a wonderful time to sit and write what weighs heavily on my heart. My heart aches because those bygone years of “The Andy Griffith Show” are gone and we are seeing our beautiful world not getting better but rotting from sin.

As we go through mankind’s attitude and sinful displays, I see that today’s word has seriously grown worse with time. I walk into a store and music from a rap artist is filling the air with cursing and explicit sexual content. My goodness, what has this world come to? I have grandchildren growing up in these end times and this weighs on me so heavily! Oh how I beg the Lord to protect their innocent hearts and ears!!

Blasphemy is no small matter. The original meaning means to blaspheme God. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines this as:

BLASPHE’MER, n. One who blasphemes; one who speaks of God in impious and irreverent terms. 1 Tim 1.

Blasphemy does not just surround God but anything involving Him, such as an unborn child. Christian, do you actually see any reverence of God in your life other than at church or amongst your Christian friends? Television, radio, podcasts, etc. are filled with indignation. All of these have a root problem and that is sin; in this case, blasphemy. They don’t have to speak a blasphemous word – their actions speak volumes! We see this indignation in the laws that are being past in our own country as well as around the world. God Almighty destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality. Yet, mankind has grown so cold toward sin that it is now law that allows this to be legal, along with marriage. Furthermore, the liberals now claim there are 112 genders! 😯 The Bible says differently:

(Gen 2:7)  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

(Gen 2:18)  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

(Gen 2:22-24)  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
(23)  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (24)  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The fact that this has taken over our country proves that the Bible is the furthest thing from people’s minds. God created male and female – none other. Period. Only a female can bear children – none other. Period. Only a male can provide the seed to create that baby – none other. Period. Set aside the fact that adoption is out there for these people who claim otherwise. Get to the root of this issue and it comes down to male and female. Period.

This liberal belief blasphemes God. They defy what a Holy God created by being deceived by the father of lies, Satan. Satan is rejoicing because of the downhill spiral of morality on this earth. Friend, God would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for destroying them. God is righteous and would not contradict His word.

You may say this is my opinion. But let’s see what the Bible says as it is the Final Authority on what is sin and what is not. Some say that this condemnation was in the Old Testament and not stated in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul said the same thing in the New Testament:

(Lev 18:22)  Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

(Rom 1:26-27)  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
(27)  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

God can and does help homosexuals to forsake this sin. I know this from experience. I shared the gospel with a co-worker in 1984 and she kept insisting that God could not possibly forgive her and that she had to “clean herself up” before He would forgive her. As I continued sharing the gospel, she finally admitted she was a homosexual. I explained what salvation is and where she spends eternity was the most important thing at this point. God’s Holy Spirit would clean her life up after she was saved. She accepted Christ that evening and bit by bit, I saw her change before my eyes. She set aside living with her roommate and began to blossom into a beautiful Christian woman, growing in God’s word. Today, she’s married with four children and a grandchild! Today’s homosexual battles leaving their lifestyle because they will be harassed and their name, phone number and home address will be published by those who don’t want to admit their sin. This is a scare tactic but nothing is more disturbing than spending eternity in Hell, where there is burning and gnashing of teeth.

(Mat 13:42)  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

It may seem as though it is too difficult, but it is not impossible. God can and will help anyone with any addiction or sin!

Is it any wonder we are discussing the state of mankind today? Can you not see how sinful our nation (and world) has become? In no other time in history has it been this bad! God’s Word is in print in every language and is available everywhere, including the internet. Yet, with His Word being everywhere, man is becoming more depraved. Mankind will be without excuse because God places people, even His creation, before every single person on earth so they can see who He is and how to have a relationship with Him.

(Rom 1:20)  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

If you happen to be reading this and are not saved, it is no coincidence. God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!

Jump to Day 7.

Ponderings

On By KateIn PonderingsLeave a comment

What do you think about when you do your devotions? Do you simply read and walk away? Or do you sit there and think about what you’ve just read? We should be walking away with something that will carry us through the day, don’t you think? I wrote this 26-day devotional series beginning in 2013 and finished it in 2014. It covers various blessings from God’s word. As you look at this picture, think on a Bible verse and really ponder over it. That is how we glean from God’s Word. I pray it is a blessing to you!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Hymns

On By KateIn HymnsLeave a comment

The hymns of yesteryear were actual gospel messages. The writers were God-fearing Christians who knew the cost to living for Christ. This is a 30-day devotional, originally written in 2007, which covers hymns (prior to copyright laws), their authors and how they tie in with the Word of God. This series will be a blessing to my soul and I pray to yours! In a world of contemporary music and PowerPoint presentations used in church services, the old hymns and favorites are slowly fading away. My prayer is that we will be exhorted to go back to the old paths of our fathers and renew these hymns in our own daily lives. These are hymns written prior to this backslidden, emerging church called the Laodicean church. These are words written by those who have met with their Saviour in their prayer closets and have been moved by the Holy Spirit to pen the words which in turn have moved the hearts of men.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

For the Master’s Use

On By KateIn For the Master's Use2 Comments
Photography by Bob Sabo

Are you a Christian ready for the Master to use? Do you allow yourself to be used of Him? So many are aching and in need of a tender touch or kind word in today’s world. This is a two-week devotional originally written 2008 in hopes that a Christian would come across it and find it helpful!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Thought for the Day – Peace and Rest

On By KateIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Sunset_June 25 05

~Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Not one person can truly say he has experienced true peace, rest and freedom from life’s burdens until they have been born again and entered into a genuine Father/child relationship with the Heavenly Father. This comes only through salvation.

Do you have this kind of true peace and rest? If not, I challenge you to question the path you are on and read the Gospel of John through three times. Please contact me when you are finished :-)

No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.

Thought for the Day – Away from the World

On By KateIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

DannSeagull

~Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Christ did not want us to be like the rest of the world. His ministry was consistently pointing people to their sin and encouraging them to forsake their worldliness. He did not just make a suggestion but also gave us directions as to how to accomplish this task. Renewing of our minds comes as a result of having a new nature.

~2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Our old worldly nature can only become new if we are born into a new nature – if we are born again.

~John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

~Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

~1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

God’s Word lives and abides forever and is what pierces the heart to lead us to salvation. Once we are born again, the Holy Spirit guides us to live righteously and not like the world!

~Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

This isn’t to say that we will be “sinless” but after salvation we will desire to grow and “sin less.” Herein lies the difference between those who are born again and those who are not. The new nature we receive at the time of salvation nudges us, through the Holy Spirit’s leading, toward righteous living. That is why we are different from the world … we do not desire the same things we did prior to our salvation. We are now children of the King, and as any parent guides and teaches his child, so does our Heavenly Father!

~2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Thought for the Day – The Samaritan Woman

On By KateIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Elk River Road

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. John 4:6-39 (KJV)

Wretched sinner that this Samaritan woman was, having had five husbands and was living with a man, the Lord Jesus Christ saw fit to include her in the Scriptures so that we would be able to glean. Just what is there in this wonderful account that would be a blessing to us? Can you imagine yourself in the same position? I know I have. I may not have been married five times but sin is sin (James 2:10). I have been in a place where I have longed for the words of life to speak to me. Every born-again woman can place herself at the well if she desires to learn.

I can only imagine how this Samaritan woman felt as she approached the well to fetch water. When we are deep in sin and in search of truth, we are not “right” in our shoes. Life is not the way it should be and we are in search of “something” that will bring happiness. She arrived at the well and her life would never be the same. She was at the right place, at the right time! Just like all of us, her encounter with the Lord Jesus would forever change her.

The Samaritan woman’s first obstacle was religion, in my opinion. Here was a Jew speaking to her, a Samaritan. She knew her place as a Samaritan and was surprised that this Jewish man was talking to her. Not only was this not heard of, but here He was telling her He wanted her to get Him something to drink. It must have spoken to her heart to see a Jew (who was not afraid of public opinion) speaking to her. That left an impression, I’m sure.

The Lord Jesus had living water to give to her (the Gospel). This patient Saviour explained to the Samaritan woman about the precious gift of God. She must have been weary of her life style because she was very ready to receive Christ’s words. Her heart was prepared to hear what He had to say. Like all of use, her second hurdle was repentance from her sins. When Jesus pointed out her sin in verses 16-18, she was fully aware she was in need of a Saviour and she was not offended by what He said (Psalm 119:165).

Our Samaritan lady was truly saved that day. It was evident in the fruit that she produced thereafter (verse 39). Many from her village were saved because of her testimony alone! People knew she had been married to five different men and was living with another. There must have been a change in her life for these people to see the change (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Who have you told about your salvation? Who have you told about what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you? There’s someone out there who needs to hear :-)