T.J.I.F.A.

THANK JESUS IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN!
PASS IT ON ...& ON...& ON...& ON

JULY 11, 2003

ARE YOU PROUD TO BE A CHRISTIAN-AMERICAN!!!


SUBJECT: NOAH'S ARK  THIS ISN'T A PARABLE NOR AN ALLEGORIC STORY.  
NOAH'S ARK IS A VISUAL OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN A MAN AND GOD.  IT BRINGS OUT OBEDIENCE, LOVE, HOPE AND FAITH/TRUST. THIS HISTORIC PORTRAIT REVEALS THE ONLY POSITION FOR A CHILD OF GOD IS IN THE COVENANT.  HOPEFULLY, YOU WILL GAIN NEW SIGHT WITH THE READING OF THIS  OLD TESTAMENT  BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.  

NOTEWORTHY: QUOTES  - BMCC; HEALTH NEWS - TER

FRIDAY'S WORD:  PUTATIVE

IN THE MIRROR:  REMEMBERING  LAURA

O TASTE AND SEE! PAT'S GOOIE GARLICKY CHEESY GRITS.  WHAT A MOUTHFUL!

LOOKING FORWARD

SEE YA NEXT TIME

TER NOAH'S  ARK


Genesis 6:17 "And behold, I, even I, do bring a  flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die."
 
With all  the rain that we've had across the country for the past month, Noah's ark must have been a topic of conversation at one time or another.  In large stabilized cities, the Infra-Structures have collapsed and caused flooding of immense proportions.  In some coastal towns, the Dams have been overloaded and as a result, flooding has ensued.

Creeks and Rivers are out of their places; as well as lakes and ponds. People  are slightly looking into the heavens for just a hint of a RAINBOW, to confirm the covenant, and assure themselves that GOD has not  forgotten His promise,  "And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I will look upon it, that I may  remember the everlasting covenant between GOD and every living  creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."  Genesis 9: 16 .   

In all of this the best that we can do is prepare to move out of our uncomfortable homes to...WHERE?  

Genesis 6:18 " But with thee I will establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee."

GOD prepared a place for Noah and his family. They didn't have to worry about WHERE.  They followed the instructions of GOD to the letter so that they, and all they brought into the Ark were saved.  

Knowing that you are in Covenant with GOD Almighty should bring a sense of Peace into your life.  The Peace that causes you to look within, instead of without. A covenant assures you that in your weak places there is strength.  

This Covenant that was working between GOD and Noah, wasn't a one sided ordeal.  GOD knew the inability of Noah to go through the flood; and He needed the help of a man to save His Creation.  So, the Covenant was being worked and mutually all parties benefitted.  WHY?  


Genesis 6:8,9,10:   "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.  And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."   

Wickedness was paramount on the earth in Noah's day, and the Lord looked upon the earth and saw corruption and violence.  He was sorry that He had made man and grieve in His heart. [Genesis 6:6.]    It is not hard to imagine that when GOD chose Noah, whose credentials were   that of a righteous man, He placed on him the ultimate burden of ‘obedience.'    

Note: Many of us think that we could have been in the Ark also.  We believe that our righteousness could have slid pass the unwavering gaze of GOD.  But, if we examine the atmosphere of Noah; the  earth was wicked and the hearts of men were evil.  Could you have stood?  

In this time and age we contend and compromise with  evil continually.  Compromise and giving in to wrong only makes evil strong and good weak.  

In our culture, ‘Good' is ‘Politically Incorrect,' while ‘Bad,' is a matter of acceptance.  Once ‘Bad' is incorporated into any situation,‘Bad' becomes the ultimate determining force.  (The Bible says that ,"A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.")  

Genesis 6:14 "Make thee an Ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the Ark, and shalt pitch it within, and without with pitch." vs. 15, " And this is the fashion which thou shall make it..."
 
Genesis 6:22 "Thus did  Noah;  according to all that  GOD commanded him, so  did he."
 
These verses tell the world that Noah was OBEDIENT to GOD.  Every small detail of the Ark and its contents were adhered to by Noah.  And GOD knew that He could depend on Noah.  

Looking at the instructions of the Ark, you will find that there is no steering apparatus; no throttle; no rudder or sail.  There were no known oars to help the Ark along, and of course, there was no motor.  

This Ark was built as a DEPENDENT OBJECT.  Dependent on the Hand of GOD  to navigate it  over the flood.       

With what you know about storms, hurricanes, boating, lakes and floods... Would YOU make a large box and put your most valued possessions into it? Would you be obedient to the Word that told you NOT to place one instrument of control in this box?  How comfortable would you be if you only had one window, eight people and thousands of creatures and NO KEY!?

Noah's Ark wasn't a fly by night agreement.  

This Ark tells us of the absolute SAFETY of the Word of GOD.  It tells and shows us of His loving kindness to those who TRUST Him.  Noah's Ark explodes with the love that GOD has for His creation.  

Can we take time to imagine the ridicule that Noah and his family suffered?  Being obedient to GOD will draw out criticism,   persecution, shame and mockery.  The power of obedience is only understood in this illustration of SAFETY.  It is only recognized after removing all doubt about the intentions of GOD in and on your personal life.    

Genesis 7:   Now the flood was on the earth forty days, the waters increased and lifted up the Ark and it rose high above the  earth.  The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth and the Ark moved about on the surface of the waters.  

GOD wants to be able to move us around as He moved the Ark, and its contents around on the surface of the waters.  He wants to hold you in His sure hand with you having confidence in His will for your life.  

Many times we won't be able to see the immediate outcome to a condition  in life.    But, therein rests the beauty of being in covenant with GOD; remember, that where you are weak, He is STRONG!  Where you are clueless; He is ALL KNOWING; and where you couldn't steer, even if you had a steering wheel; He moves us and leads us to our destination.  

The waters dried up after one hundred and fifty days, but none of the mocking and jeering crowd were there to see Noah and his family emerge from the crude Ark that GOD instructed him to build.

Today, many openly mock the history of Noah and GOD's Ark.  Engineers have said that it couldn't have carried the load that it is purported to have carried.  Others brush it off as an old wives tale.    BUT!   All gaze upward and are glad to see..."The Rainbow."  

Looking Forward
See Ya Next Time

TER  


NOTEWORTHY:  

People forget how fast you did a  job,  but they remember how well you did it.  

GOD always gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him.  

There is no right way to do a wrong thing.  

Quotes from "My Mother's Wisdom" by Carolyn Coats
Submitted by: BMcC



 

DEPRESSION - A FEW FACTS:  
Depression can increase the risk of chronic illness.
Worsen existing illness.
Cause slow recovery after surgery.
Depression is a key factor in suicides and the elderly have the highest suicide rate in the nation.  
Almost 20% of all suicides are persons 65 and older.  
In people 65 and older three out of every one hundred have depression.  
Sixty percent of all Americans mistakenly  believe that depression is a normal part of aging.     


Winston Churchill suffered with depression most of his life.  He called it his, "black dog."  

SIGNS  OF Depression:
General fatigue.
People with Depression may often lose interest in hobbies and friends.
Difficulty sleeping.
Over sleeping.
Early morning awakening.
Unexplained sadness or weight loss.
Concentration problems.
Loss of self confidence.
Feelings of worthlessness.
Recurrent thoughts of suicide.
If a person has five or more of these symptoms and hasn't been functioning normally for most days during a two week period, the likelihood of depression is high.   

TRIGGERS:
Medications; Personal loss: Loss of loved ones; Loss of Independence; Disease,  Lupus, Arthritis;  or Genetic Component may be the cause.  A family history increases risk.  

RELIEF:
Two acceptable approaches by Professionals;
Medication - See your physician.
Counseling - See your physician.
ECT - Electrode Convulsive Therapy - See your physician

From: "Johns Hopkins Medical  Letter Health After Fifty" for May 2003

FRIDAY'S WORD: putative; pu*ta*tive;(adj.)  supposed, reputed, commonly accepted or considered; deemed to be so, but not proved


IN THE MIRROR:
Question: Have you ever had somebody share something with you in your Christian  life, so significant  that you just  can't seem to stop talking about it?

There's been much encouragement for prayer lately, and I've been more than determined to keep up with where God would have all of us in this particular area. My prayers run out, or short sometimes, as perhaps you may have had much  the same experience; which leads me to tell you about Laura.

I had the privilege of knowing Laura for quite a few years before she passed away, but before she went home to be with the Lord, she left me with a message that I desire to pass on to everybody that will dare to listen.

Laura was confined to a wheelchair every since I knew her. She was paralyzed on the right side of her body, which never seemed to stop her from making her way down the hall in the care facility where she knew that church service would be going on. She would always look just as nice as possible for her service, and she had the most beautiful white hair. Her illness made it very difficult to speak, and testimony time presented such a challenge for her, that many Sundays you just had to best interpret what she was saying to the glory of God.

Well do you think that made her give up? The hopefully obvious answer; NO!   

Before Laura's home-going, when testimony time came, she would excitedly raise her left hand just as high as she  possibly could and utter the words, "I PRAY FOR EVERYBODY,  I  PRAY FOR EVERYBODY." I could never ever forget those words, because she gave them so much meaning.

What it taught me, simply put; You can come  into a certain point in your Christian life, where you are so confident of who you are in Christ Jesus; and can then  afford to use your testimony, and your prayer life, to "pray for everybody," because God ,through His Son Jesus Christ  has so sufficiently and adequately met your needs.     

If you run into an area in your Christian life that you think you've prayed for all you know to pray; why not ‘pray for everybody,' and see what God does for your heart.  
S.L.C.

O TASTE AND SEE!  

PAT'S GOOIE GARLICKY CHEESY GRITS

USE MICROWAVE OR STOVE TOP:

1/3    CUP GRITS (FOR ONE PERSON)
1 CUP WATER
½   TSP   SALT
1    TSP POPPY SEEDS
1   TSP GARLIC
PEPPER TO TASTE  
BIG DOLLOP OF BUTTER
CHEESE TO TASTE ( CHEDDAR OR KRAFT OR YOUR CHOICE)  

DIRECTIONS:

MIX ALL DRY INGREDIENTS TOGETHER IN LARGE MICROWAVE SAFE BOWL.
POUR WATER IN AND STIR SO AS TO ELIMINATE    LUMPS.  
STIR GOOD BEFORE PLACING IN MICROWAVE.
PLACE IN MICROWAVE ON HIGH FOR 4MIN AND 30 SEC.  
AFTER FIRST TWO MINUTES STIR WELL AND REPLACE INTO MICROWAVE
AFTER ONE MINUTE STIR AGAIN.
AFTER LAST MINUTE STIR IN DOLLOP OF BUTTER AND CHEESE TO TASTE.
PLACE BACK INTO MICROWAVE FOR 1 ADDITIONAL MINUTE.  

LET COOL SLIGHTLY (BE CAREFUL! GRITS HOLD HEAT FOR A LONG WHILE.)  

ENJOY!

CONTRIBUTED BY: PAR