Forgive

Forgive 

The easiest thing in life to do, 

Is for one not to control their emotion of anger for another, 

We all have done it, 

That comes from within, formed from pride of self, 

Related to one's psychological interpretation of having been offended, 

Wronged or denied and results in a tendency to undo that by retaliation. 

The sin that comes with it, 

Unforgivingness, 

Indifference for another, for it is the result of hurt, 

Concealed deep within, built entirely of hate, extreme dislike for another, 

That becomes the heart felt sting, 

Which creates the scars that covers the wounds, 

And in time builds disbelief in God's Word, the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Formed within when one allows the deceiver to control the soul and instruct the mind, 

Built of his fear, be it fact or fiction, it is an awful thing to live in or with, 

He will make you hear, see, feel, and believe things that are not there, 

He will in time make you mentally unstable and destroy self from within, 

For another's transgression against you or others, 

The payment of unforgivingness for another! 

The Lord, tells us to pray for those who trespass against us 

And forgive their sins as God has forgiven ours, by His Loving Grace. 

The hardest thing in life to do is to forgive, 

Then bury those emotions and feelings forever 

At the Foot of the Cross, forgiven and forgotten! 

Christ paid the price in love for all sins upon the Cross of Calvary, 

That day long ago, to heal and build all believers within Him. 

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Lord, make me like You, cleanse me from the inside out and make me a forgiver and giver, 

Martin Lee Vance 

3/30/2013

Eternal Life comes through Christ

Eternal Life comes through Christ 

Life Ends! 

Death is a part of life as much as birth is a part of life. 

Jesus gives us insight into the real process of dying, 

How to view death in a healthy way as Jesus died enduring the hardship of the Cross, 

By viewing the seven statements, Jesus made upon the Cross of Calvary that day. 

"Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."  Luke 23:34

Express forgiveness, dying with a heart, unburdened with hurt or hate, Holy. 

To the thief on the Cross, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43 

Extend grace at death's door to those who have wronged you. 

Express love, transmitting that they were and are important to you and always will be! 

To His Mother, "Woman behold your Son.  Behold your mother."  John 19:26-27

Remember family and engage family at death's door, 

For all will face death and eternity, by God's Word,
Prepare all to hear and by their free will believe,
For death is just a moment away. 

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Matthew 27:46

Jesus was as human as all of us are and expressed Human Feelings. 

At death life’s connection, love, to the living is terminated, 

And leaves the void of tomorrow's unbearable emptiness 

To replace with memories of the past wrapped within the Hope in Christ for tomorrow. 

Express fear, I fear, battle fear with Faith, knowing the Word of God, 

And the promise God will never leave or forsake you.

"I am thirsty,"  John 19:28, 

Jesus exhibited His humanity and expressed His feelings.

"Father, I entrust my Spirit into Your hands." Luke 23:46

He leaves bodily, knowing you and I are stable and complete in Him,

By God's loving Grace.  

"It is finished." John 19:30

Jesus says, God's Word is complete,
And it will be okay, endure My closure here with you, 

For all in the Family of God will meet again at God's Table of Grace.

Lord, give me the strength to bear my Cross and face death in You,

Martin Lee Vance

3/15/2013 

Money

Money 

"The love of money is the root of all evil." 1 Timothy 6:10 

Your ability to earn money is a gift to you from God by His loving Grace. 

Your ability to enjoy money is a gift to you from God by His loving Grace. 

Christ paid the price in love by God's loving Grace for you and me, 

That day so long ago, 

Upon the Cross high above all on Mount Calvary, 

So all would see His love given for you and me, 

As His blood flowed to cover all sins forgiven, and forgotten forever, 

That day, when on knees of humbleness before Christ 

And acceptance in faith's belief and complete repentance of all sins, 

Received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, 

Sealed forever by God's integrity by His Loving Grace in Christ, 

Eternity with Him in Heaven and there to look upon His Face at God's Table of Grace. 

Money has various effects on all God's Children and their health and well-being, 

Be it either physically or mentally. 

You can either share or hoard money. 

"For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also." Matthew 6:21 

By sharing, it forever builds the character within in truth and integrity, 

And opens the heart to share in love to give to the needs of others, 

And grows within, for love returns to give again and build complete in Him, 

When used to help, build, and encourage others. 

By hoarding, self sees no need to build or change the character within, 

For the heart is closed by pride, in love of self, 

And is void of truth and integrity to change within one thing. 

Therefore, self sees no need to help, build, or encourage others, 

For the heart and character within is wrapped within and values, 

The more you have the more you want, 

The more you have the more you spend, 

The more you have the more you worry, 

The more you have the more you lose, 

The more you have the more you leave. 

When you give away what you receive from God as a gift to you in love, 

The Holy Spirit within will build your character in Truth and Integrity, 

To become more like, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior in love, 

And release you from the bondage of pride to encourage and build complete in Christ.

The more like Christ you become, 

The more love you give the more you receive in return to give to others. 

Lord, make my heart as one with You and build me to see all as one in You, 

Martin Lee Vance 

3/20/2013

Salvation!

What do you think? 

Salvation,

The Reason for the Birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
And His death upon the Cross of Calvary. 

May God bless you everyday 

As you complete your journey of Life with the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Take the time to review and renew your Faith in the Lord daily,

Start and End everyday of Life in prayer with God and His Holy Word. 

All have and will stumble from time to time in life. 

By the Faith from within and prayer daily, God will keep the path of life straight, 

Build daily within with God's Word, 

Salvation is by His Grace, then you are sealed forever by His Integrity. 

Remember, the Ones that have gone on before, 

That have paid the ultimate price of their life, 

To bring God's Word to the Lost of the World. 

By their faith in Jesus Christ the hope for tomorrow, 

That long line of Faith continues on today, because of their courage from within in Him. 

Never forget the reason for the Christmas Season and the purpose of the Lord's Birth, 

- Salvation - 

By way of the Lord Jesus Christ, 

The Lord paid the price, of all sins for all, upon the Cross of Calvary. 

That all may follow forgiven, forever free within Him, 

For all that believe and receive Him, eternal life will be with Him. 

Review and renew your faith in the Lord daily, 

Build with God's Integrity from within to without. 

The Virgin Birth of Christ 

The Curse of Jehoiakim, the problem, and God’s solution.

An unusual curse in Jeremiah 36:1-32 gives insight into the virgin birth of Jesus. 

The Curse:

Jehoiakim was a king of Judah, 

He angered God by burning a scroll that Jeremiah the prophet wrote,

God cursed Jehoiakim by indicating 

that none of his children would sit on the throne of David (Jeremiah 36:29-31). 

Although Jehoiakim had children, 

scripture shows that none of them ever reigned as King David had! 

The Problem:

Joseph, the father of Jesus, was one of Jehoiakim's descendants (through Jeconiah). 

Joseph's offspring could not claim David's throne because of the curse. 

Jesus laid claim to the throne of David (Luke 1:32, Acts 2:30, Hebrews 12:2). 

If Jesus had been born of Joseph, the curse would have been contradicted. 

Also, God had promised David that one of his physical descendants

 would reign on the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). 

As explained above, Joseph was excluded from being the genetic father of the future king of Israel. 

It was impossible to fulfill the requirements of both curse and promise by natural means. 

One man had to be both heir to and offspring of David, without being the genetic descendant of Jehoiakim. 

This problem required a divine solution. 

The Solution:

God created a solution through the miracle of the virgin birth. 

Although Joseph was one of Jehoiakim's offspring through Solomon, 

Mary was not, She was a descendant of Nathan, one of David's other sons (Luke 3:31). 

God's promise to David was fulfilled, because Mary was the biological parent of Jesus.

The virgin birth also addressed the curse God had pronounced upon Jehoiakim.

 Kingship was an inherited right, 

By Joseph, Jesus inherited a legal claim to the throne of David, 

However, he was exempt from the curse of Jehoiakim, because Joseph was not his genetic father.

So the miracle of the virgin birth accomplished God's will in two ways, 

First, it granted Jesus a legal claim to the throne of David,

And second, it maintained the integrity of the curse God had pronounced upon Jehoiakim. 

Indeed, Jesus was not one of Jehoiakim's offspring. 

"Three days after being crucified and buried, Jesus was missing from his burial tomb." 

From Josh McDowell's book "More than a Carpenter." 

Some say Jesus' disciples stole his body and concocted a story that he rose from the dead. 

If that's true, why would they die for something they knew was a lie? Would you? 

And theirs wasn't a mass suicide, where they bonded together in some delusional facade. 

Each of them left family and jobs, traveling to distant countries,  

preaching that Jesus died and came back to life. 

If the disciples were making it all up, 

each of them chose to die prematurely for something they knew wasn't true. 

Doesn't make sense. 

What does make sense are the historical facts. 

Even while being tortured, the disciples insisted that they, 

as well as hundreds of other Jews, had seen Jesus alive. 

When some were arrested and ordered not to speak about Jesus' resurrection, 

they responded, "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!" 

They knew Jesus had been beaten, whipped, nailed to a cross, where he died in public display. 

A spear was thrust into his side to confirm his death. 

Roman soldiers were stationed at Jesus' tomb, 

because Jesus had stated that three days after being crucified, he would rise from the dead. 

On that third day, the guards fled, the two-ton boulder sealing the tomb's entrance was up a slope, 

and Jesus' body was gone. 

Inside the tomb, Peter and John saw the burial cloths still lying there, empty. 

After that, the disciples saw Jesus physically alive multiple times. 

They even had lengthy conversations with him and ate with him--all after his death by crucifixion. 

These disciples went to their deaths proclaiming what they had no doubts about--that Jesus had risen from the dead,  proving that he was everything he claimed to be...the Son of God. 

Jesus Christ, Crucified upon the Cross of Calvary 

The Twelve Apostles: 

1. Andrew - Crucified 

2. Bartholomew - Beaten then Crucified 

3. James, son of Alphaeus - Stoned to death 

4. James, son of Zebedee - Beheaded 

5. John - Exiled for his faith; died of old age 

6. Judas (not Iscariot) - Stoned to death 

7. Matthew - Speared to death 

8. Peter - Crucified 

9. Philip - Crucified 

10. Simon - Crucified 

11. Thomas - Speared to death 

12. Matthias - Stoned to death 

(Source:Fox's Book of Martyrs) 

Since the last Apostles death, thousands have given their lives, 

To carry on the long line of Faith in Jesus Christ to bring the Word of Salvation to the World. 

Thousands will continue on,  just like those who have gone on before, 

Until eternity's day begins with the Lord at God's Table of Grace, 

For Jesus Christ was the Completion of the Word of God. 

What do you think? 

Lord, I pray that whosoever reads believes to follow You,

Martin Lee Vance

4/10/2004