Monday, December 15, 2025

THE GOSPEL ALPHABET(2)

 THE GOSPEL ALPHABET

   Ruth Graham used this fun, easy method to help her children memorize Scripture. Franklin Graham and his wife, Jane Austin, carried on that tradition with their own kids, who in turn have used it to teach God's Word to their families. (Kid's alphabet blocks)

A   ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. [Romans 3:23]

B   BEHOLD! the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! [John 1:29]

COME to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.                    

[Matthew 11:28]

D   DRAW near to God and He will draw near to you. [James 4:8]

E   EVEN so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little              

ones should perish. [Matthew 18:14]

F   FOR by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is          

the gift of God. [Ephesians 2:8]

G  GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever                        

believed  in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16]

H  HIM that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. [John 6:37, KJV]

  I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.       

[John 14:6]

JESUS answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in             

Him whom He sent." [John 6:29]

K  KNOCK, and it will be opened to you. [Matthew 7:7]

L   LOOK to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! [Isaiah 45:22]

M  MY grace is sufficient for you. [2 Corinthians 12:9]

NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. [2 Corinthians 6:2]

OPEN my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. [Psalms 119:18]

P    PEACE I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to       

you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. [John 14:27]

Q   QUICKEN me according to thy word. [Psalm 119:154, KJV]

R   REST in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. [Psalm 37:7]

S   SEEK, and you will find. [Matthew 7:7]

 THE blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [1 John 1:7]

U   UNTO you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.           

[Luke 2:11, KJV]

VERILY, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.

[John   6:47, KJV]

W  WHAT will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?                

[Mark 8:36]

X   EXCEPT a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [John 3:3, KJV]

Y  YOU are not your own . . . For you were bought at a price. [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]

Z   ZEALOUS for good works [Titus 2:14]

Let's pray-


   Father, may these words challenge us to learn the verses available for teaching about the

Salvation offered to us through Jesus. Enlighten our hearts to Scriptures that support our faith,

and help us share these truths with others, especially those who don't yet know Him. 

   We pray in Jesus' name, that He will use this blog post to teach many how to memorize Your

Words and to use them effectively. Amen.



My weekly advice from the book, "We All Married IDIOTS, by Elaine W. Miller:


"Married couples are on the same team. They aren't opposing fighters in a boxing ring, a goal

to come out fighting, but to come out loving, realizing that every thoughtless word spoken

devastates both marriage partners." (p. 82, 83)



#116 Testimony- Christopher B. Adsit


   Jim Gibson was a fellow-member of the Colorado State Track Team while I was there. After

helping this half-miler begin his walk with Christ, I started to disciple him. I couldn't get Jim

nailed down to an actual week-by-week meeting, but we spent a lot of time together on track

trips, and had occasional bursts of consistent discipling encounters on campus.

   When we went our separate ways after graduation, however, I didn't feel that I had done a

very good job with him. He hadn't responded the way I had hoped, and I felt primarily at fault.

   Years later, out of the blue, here comes a letter from Jim! He'd deepened his commitment to

Christ and was enrolled in Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville! He eventually graduated,

is on fire for Jesus and is now a pastor in Canada. My glum thoughts about Jim were totally

unfounded, and they demonstrated my lack of faith in God's ability "to will and to work for His

good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

   Don't let Satan drag you into the same useless trap! 

(Taken from p. 340, Personal DISCIPLE-MAKING, By Christopher B. Adsit



1631-1635 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or

to review them from when they were first posted- 

 

1631- Ps. 25:2a "O my God, I trust in thee; let me not be ashamed."

1632- Prov. 20:13b "Open thine eyes."

1633- Is. 37:16b  "Thou art the God, event Thou alone. . . thou hast made heaven

          and earth."

1634- Job 16:17b "My prayer is pure."

1635- Is. 49:13a "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing." 



 #116 Hymn-  Abide With Me

 

   Henry Francis Lyte, vicar in the fishing village of Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England,

ministered faithfully for twenty-three years to his sea-faring people. His lung condition hanging

over the home like a blackening cloud. Lower Brixham suffered damp winters, and while in his

early fifties, Henry realized his lung disorder had deteriorated into tuberculosis. On September

4, 1847, age 54, he entered his pulpit with difficulty and preached what was to be his last sermon.

He had planned a therapeutic holiday in Italy. 

   That afternoon he walked along the coast in pensive prayer then retired to his room, emerging

an hour later with a written copy of "Abide With Me." Shortly afterward, Henry embraced his

family a final time and departed for Italy. Stopping in Avignon, France, he again revised "Abide

With Me"—it was evidently much on his mind, and posted it to his wife.

   Arriving on the French Riviera, he checked into the Hotel De Angleterre in Nice, and there on

November 20, 1847, his phthisic lungs finally gave out. Another English clergyman, a Rev. Manning

of Chichester, who happened to be staying in the same hotel, attended him during his final hours.

Henry's last words were, "Peace! Joy!"



 Some encouraging words- Words by Amy Carmichael


   "Don't be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to

speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he sat before the

Lord, and in that stillness, assurance will come to you.

   You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you, yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment."



Church Notes: 


      PRESSING THROUGH STORMS


We're to lean into Jesus. Something special is waiting after a storm.

God comes to us in a storm. 

We're not to try to go around them, as we'll have an opportunity to see God work!

We're to "get out of the boat" and go to Jesus (like Peter did).

Jesus will give us the courage and boldness we'll need to obey.

He wants to do something in us and for others.

In our storms, may Jesus is glorified!

Let's press in!



Upcoming posts:


12/20-  GOD REALLY LOVES YOU- Kelly Balaire

27th-   GUARDING OUR THOUGHTS- Nancy Geilanes

1/3rd-  A TOWER GARDEN- Mary Southerland

Saturday, December 6, 2025

A NEW HEART IN CHRIST

    

  Amy Boucher Pye- Brock and Dennis were childhood friends, but as they grew up, Brock showed little interest in Dennis' faith in Jesus. Dennis loved his friend and prayed for him because he knew the path he was going down was dark and depressing.

   In praying for Brock, Dennis adapted the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "Please God, remove from Brock a heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh" (see Ezekiel 11:19) He longed that Brock would walk in God's way so he would flourish.

   Ten years later, Dennis was still praying faithfully. Then he received a call from Brock: "I just gave my life to Jesus!" Dennis rejoiced, tears brimming, to hear his friend exclaim that he'd finally come to the end of himself and trusted God with his life.

   In his prayers, Dennis focused on God's promises to His people through Ezekiel. Although they'd turned from God with detestable practices, He said He would change their hearts: "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (v. 20).

   No matter how far we've turned from God, He delights to give us warm and loving hearts. We need only to turn to Him with faith and repentance as we trust in Jesus to save us from our sins.

Our prayer: "Loving God, thank You for releasing me from my sin and shame." 
In Jesus' name we pray! Amen.


My weekly advice from the book, "We All Married IDIOTS, by Elaine W. Miller:

(p.75) "God is aware of what we need, what His Kingdom needs, and how He will orchestrate it all out for our good and His glory. We must learn to settle down, trust Him, be content, and let God work."

#115 Quote by- William Culbertson

   "Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:11)

  "The Word of God has great power in itself. Used effectively, it brings victory to the child of God. As a matter of fact, lodged in the heart of the believer, in it Our Lord said to His disciples, 'Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you' (John 15:3). The apostle Paul, led of the Holy Spirit, spoke of the church as having been 'cleansed . . . by the washing of water with the word' (Eph. 5:26). 

    If there is in our hearts any aspiration for holiness  If, implanted by the Holy Spirit, there is a deep desire for Christlikeness  then we can be absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit will lead us to make much of the Word of God. No one who has at his disposal the blessed Book of God and who neglects that Book can be a strong, holy Christian. 

   Surely it must have been this conviction which caused D. L. Moody to inscribe in the front of his Bible, "This Book will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from this Book."


1626-1630 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted- 
 
1626- Jer. 43:8a "Then came the word of the LORD."
1627- Is. 41:1b "Let the people renew their strength."
1628- Is. 17:13b "God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee."
1629- Song of Solomon 1:4c "The upright love thee."
1630- Ps. 144:15b "Happy are those people, whose God is the LORD."


 #115 Hymn- He Leadeth Me


The information about this song,  is taken from the book by Robert J. MorganTHEN SINGS MY SOUL   (p. 145)

    Dr. Joseph H. Gilmoreson of a Governor of New Hampshire, gave this account of writing his famous hymn, "He Leadeth Me." "I was supplying for a couple of Sundays the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the midweek service, on the 26th of March, 1862 I set out to give the people an exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm, which I had given before on three or four occasions, but this time I did not get further than the words "He Leadeth Me.' those words took hold of me as they had never done before, and I saw in them a significance . . . of which I had never dreamed.

   It was the darkest hour of the Civil War.  . . I relized that God's leadership is the one significant fact in human experience, that it makes no difference how we are led, or whither we are led, so long as we are sure God is leading us.
   
   At the close of the meeting, Deacon Watson, kept on talking about the thought I had emphasized; and then and there, on a blank page of the brief from which I had intended to speak I penciled the hymn, talking and writing at the same time, then handed it to my wife and thought no more about it.

  She sent it to the Watchman and Reflector, a paper published in Boston, where it was first printed. I did not know until 1865 that my hymn had been set to music by William B Bradbure. I went to Rochester to preach as a candidate before the Second Baptist Church. Going into their chapel . . . I picked up a hymnal to see what they were singing, and opened it at my own hymn, "He Leadeth Me."

Encouraging words- by John Wesley

   "The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness. 'We have not because we ask not.' Oh, how meek and gentle, how lowly in heart, how full of love both to God and to man, might you have been at this day, if you had only asked! If you had continued instant in prayer! Ask, that you may thoroughly experience and perfectly practice the whole of that religion which our Lord has so beautifully described in the Sermon on the Mount." 


Church Notes: 

         Stand and be Counted!

The 30 men of David, came broken to him in the cave.
The Lord says to us, "Come as you are!"
We need to admit our brokenness to the Lord, for He is near!
In Jesus, we'll find rest and our purpose in life.
God sees the way we take. The trials are to test and strengthen us.
We sharpen one another, too!
We're refined and become like Jesus - we can reflect Him!
As people are added to our churches, the Kingdom is built.
What are we living for? What is our vision?
Are we ready to stand up and be counted?
Are we praying for the lost souls around us?
Let's listen to the Lord's directiions!

Upcoming posts:

12/13- THE GOSPEL ALPHABET- Ruth Graham
20th-   GOD REALLY LOVES YOU- Kelly Balarie
27th-    GUARDING OUR THOUGHTS- Nancy Gavilanes