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A Word From
Sister Freda 5-13-2012 Mother's Day
“He
maketh the barren woman to keep
house, [and to be] a joyful
mother of children. Praise ye
the LORD.” Psalm 113:9
If you have children then you
know what it is like to be a
mother. When you held your
child for the very first time
you fell madly in love with
them. Nothing can take away a
mother’s love. Sometimes it’s
a hard, when your children are
unruly, but you still love
them. When your children are
young you are the one who tends
to them when they are sick. You
are the one who protects them.
You were the one they run to
first if they need help. As
they grow your responsibility
changes, but your love never
changes. You would still bear
their pain if possible, and take
away all the hurt if it was
within your power to do so.
As mothers we are not
perfect, we make mistakes and
may miss the mark from time to
time during our parenting
experiences. As I grow older I
really appreciate my Mother so
much more than I did when I was
younger. She nurtured me
through my childhood, she put up
with my sassy ways during my
teenage years. She was always
there to encourage me when I
made a mistake and tried very
hard to never let me see
disappointment in her eyes. My
Mother was my labor couch for
the births of both my children.
As I began my role of being a
mother, she was there to give me
good sound advice.
When I was a young mother, I
worried how I could ever fit
into my Mother’s shoes. But I
realized that I had to “wear my
own shoes”. I would never be
just like my Mother. She gave
me a foundation from which to
build on. If you have a Godly
mother like I did, then you can
bring up your children in the
ways of God, so that when they
grow older we have the assurance
that one day they will live for
God. Proverbs 22:6 says
“Train up a child in the ways he
should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it.”
If your mother is living
today, do your best to make this
a wonderful day for her. Show
her how much you love her. Take
her out to eat, give her a gift
or flowers. Do whatever it is
that you know she will enjoy.
If you can’t physically be with
her, try to talk to her today.
The most important thing is to
make sure she knows you love
her.
M - Messenger,
relaying God's Word
O - Outpouring of genuine
Love
T - Trusts in God
H - Heart set on things above
E - Earthly saint
R - Rescuer of the Wayward
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 5-6-2012
When my children were young, if
we were in a busy place or had
to cross a busy street, I would
always tell them to hold my hand
and stay close to me. As they
grew older they would try to
resist holding my hand. They
felt they were old enough to
walk alone without my help.
What they didn’t realize was
that I was wiser and more
knowledgeable about the crossing
than they. I had “been there
and done that” many times
before. Due to my experience I
knew where to look and what to
do if I was faced with a
dangerous situation. Sometimes
they made it fine, but there
were times when they were faced
with a situation that frightened
them, and they wanted to run
back to me asking for my help.
They knew they could trust me to
help them to cross and to take
care of them.
When I reminisce on times like
these, I realize that our
relationship with God is very
similar. He is saying
"Stay close to me and trust me."
There are times when we make
excuses for why we are able to
handle this on our own. But He
continues to say
"Just stay close to me and trust
me."
Often, we still pull away from
Him and attempt to handle the
situation on our own. But we
have a limited perspective of
the situation. We can’t see the
whole picture, but God does.
He knows the danger. He knows
the future. He is our Father
and He is watching over us every
day. He wants to guide us along
the “road of life” if we will
just hold on to His hand and
trust Him.
You may be going through some
difficult situation today, but
remember He is with you, even
when you can't see Him. He's
guiding you and watching over
you. You are in His hands, and
He will protect you. All you
have to do is stay close to Him
and trust Him.
When I was writing this article
I remembered an old song I
used to sing many
years ago. I wanted to close my
article with the words from this
song.
THE UNSEEN HAND
There's an unseen hand to me
That leads through ways, I
cannot see
While going through, this world
of woe
This hand still leads me as I
go.
I'm trusting to the unseen hand
That guides me through this
weary land
And some sweet day I'll reach
that strand
Still guided by the unseen hand.
I long to see my Savior's face
And sing the story of his grace
And there upon that golden
strand
I'll praise him for his guiding
hand.
I'm trusting to the unseen hand
That guides me through this
weary land
And some sweet day I'll reach
that strand
Still guided by the unseen hand
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 4-29-2012
We want to thank our Alabaster
COG family for the Wonderful
Pastor Appreciation Day that you
had for us last Sunday. It was
an AWESOME day. The love,
kindness, generosity and support
you show
to
us
is overwhelming. We realize a
lot of hard work went into the
planning of this special day,
and we thank all those who
helped with the planning of the
programs. We love our church
family and can’t imagine our
lives without you all being a
part of
it. We are
GREATLY BLESSED
!! Love Pastor and Freda
Stroup.
A Word From
Sister Freda 4-22-2012
Several days during this past
week I
have been praying for a friend
who
is going through a very bad
storm in her life. One night I
fell asleep praying for this
friend. I woke up in the night
singing the old song “Rock of
Ages Cleft for me, Let me hide
myself in thee”.
After I
was
fully awake I started to picture
in my mind a visual
of my friend finding shelter
from this terrible “life storm”
in the ROCK of AGES, which is
Christ Jesus.
The next day
I looked up the following
scriptures;
Psalm 18:1-3 “I love you, O
LORD, my strength. The LORD is
my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer; my God is my rock, in
whom I take refuge. He is my
shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is
worthy of praise, and I am saved
from my enemies
“.
Isaiah 26:4 “Trust ye in the
LORD forever: for in the LORD
JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.”
In
Exodus 33:22 God said to Moses “I
will put you in
a cleft in
the rock.”
I remember watching a television
documentary
program
about birds of prey.
There was
one
large
bird of prey chasing
a little bird. The larger bird
was hunting down the smaller
bird with the intention of
killing it and eating it.
The small bird
desperately
darted here and there
as it tried
to escape the large bird.
All of a sudden the little bird
flew into a cleft
in the
side of a huge
rock face.
The large bird
flew around the rock for a while
trying to find a way to get
to the smaller bird, but
the large bird eventually
gave up and flew away. The
little bird had found shelter in
the rock, out of reach
of
the one who was trying to kill
and devour it.
I thought of when we are being
pursued be the
devil and he is trying to harm
us. We can
find safety and security in the
Rock of Ages ” Jesus Christ “.
He is our strong tower, our
refuge and our strength. When
call out to the Lord, we are
saved from our enemies.
Let the Rock of Ages be your
strong tower,
a shelter, and a fortress.
Let Jesus be your deliverer.
Let him be your Rock in whom you
take refuge. In the cleft of
the Rock JESUS CHRIST
you will find security, safety,
peace and the presence of God.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 4-15-12
Those
who have been around me for very
long know that I am a planner. I
usually have today and many days
ahead already planned out. But the
truth is none of us knows what the
next moment will bring. The phone
could ring either with an unexpected
opportunity or a major crisis. It’s
also possible that today could just
be very normal. Regardless of what
happens, as the old saying goes, “We
don’t know what tomorrow holds, but
we know who holds tomorrow.”
The
promise that I hold on to each day
is that God has promised to guide me
all along the way. We read in Psalm
32:8, “I
will guide you along the best
pathway for your life. I will advise
you and watch over you.”
How
does God guide us? For one thing,
God directs the circumstances of our
lives. We read in the Bible of a
young man named David, who while
tending his father’s sheep one day
was suddenly called to come to the
house and there anointed to be the
next king over Israel. We also read
of a man named Job, who received the
news that everything he held dear in
life had been suddenly taken away.
Secondly, God guides us through His
Word. We read in Psalm 119:105 “Your
word is a lamp for my feet and a
light for my path.”
God’s Word is full of biblical
principles given to help us know and
do the will of God. Though these
principles are old, they are not
outdated. They are timeless because
they come from God who never
changes. He is eternal and they
were decreed before the foundation
of the world. Proverbs 3:19 says,
“By
wisdom the LORD founded the earth;
by understanding he established the
heavens.”
Thirdly, God guides us through our
personal relationship with Him.
Consider Isaiah 30:21
“Whether
you turn to the right or to the
left, your ears will hear a voice
behind you, saying, ‘This is the
way; walk in it.’”
My experience has been that when God
speaks, it is always based upon His
Word. That is why David said in
Psalm 119: verse 15 “I
will study your commandments and
reflect on your ways”.
Verse 16 “I
will delight in your principles and
not forget your
word.” Verse 11 “ I
have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.”
God is always
guiding us, even when we are unaware
of His presence. He will never leave
us nor forsake us. Many times in
life events happen and at the moment
we wonder why; yet my God, who knows
the end from the beginning, is the
one guiding our steps. Our duty is
to submit our lives to Him and to
allow Him to accomplish His perfect
will in our lives.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 4-8-2012
This past
Sunday evening, as we were getting
ready to start the Youth Service, I
received a telephone call from one
of my sisters telling me that my Dad
had fallen and was injured. As she
talked to me on the phone the
ambulance was arriving to take my
Dad to the hospital. I left
immediately and headed to the
hospital to be with my Dad and Mom.
Most of you know that my Dad has
just recently been through a very
difficult surgery and recovery
period, and our church has called
his name out in prayer each service
for the past three months. This
past Sunday morning as my husband
called my Dad’s name out, I thought
that I should tell him to remove
Dad’s name from the prayer list
because he was doing so much better,
but then tragedy strikes again. In
the very early hours of the morning
on Monday as I stood by my Dad’s bed
side and heard him screaming out in
terrible pain, my heart broke into a
thousand pieces. I was standing
with my hands on my Dad’s head and I
was praying to God that he would
ease my Dad’s pain. While I was
standing there I realized I was
angry because God allowed my Dad to
fall and be injured. I realized He
didn’t cause the injury but He had
not prevented it. I did not
understand why God would allow my
sweet daddy to go through so much
pain and misery in his life.
But as I sat in
the chair during the night, thinking
about how I felt I realized that I
had forgotten about the suffering
Jesus endured for our sakes. We get
angry when life is painful and
forget that nothing we will ever
endure could even begin to compare
to His suffering on the cross of
Calvary. We forget that God lovingly
and willingly offered His Son to
suffer the punishment for our sins,
spill His precious innocent blood,
and die in our place… and Jesus
lovingly and willingly accepted the
task.
We often forget
that much of our pain comes from the
consequences and is the result of
mankind’s rejection of God. It goes
all the way back to the Garden of
Eden, when God offered mankind a
life free of pain and suffering, but
mankind wanted a life free of God,
instead. Mankind chose to rebel
against God, and pain and suffering
was the consequence.
“For
the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans
6:23
NKJV).
“For
when we were still without strength,
in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die; yet
perhaps for a good man someone would
even dare to die. But God
demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then,
having now been justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him” (Romans
5:6-9
NKJV).
While I sat in the hospital room
that night thinking, I remembered a
song, “In the Shadow of the Cross”.
I want to live under the Shadow of
the Cross. When I am living under
the shadow of the cross it is hard
for me to blame God when something
bad happens in my life. It is when
I am under the shadow of the cross
that I realize how much he loves me
!!!
In the shadow
of the cross let me hide,
There the Savior for my sins bled
and died;
There the precious, cleansing fount
Flows so free from Calvary’s mount,
In the shadow of the cross let me
hide.
In the shadow
of the cross I will rest,
For with everlasting peace I am
blest;
Here I dwell in love unknown,
Streaming down from heaven’s throne,
In the shadow of the cross I will
rest.
In the shadow
of the cross, safe retreat,
Ever sitting lowly at Jesus’ feet;
While His presence is so near
I shall never, never fear,
In the shadow of the cross, safe
retreat.
In the shadow
of the cross, here I meet,
In communion with my Lord, oh, how
sweet!
And my soul is borne above,
While I revel in His love,
In the shadow of the cross, here I
meet
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 4-1-2012
This past
weekend our choir sang one of my
favorite songs about the blood of
Jesus. A lot of churches today do
not want to hear songs or sermons
about the blood. Some people say
the subject is too offensive. But I
have a different opinion. I think
the Blood of Jesus is an awesome
indication of how much God loves
us.
We are saved by
the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of
the flesh is in the blood: and I
have given it to you upon the altar
to make an atonement for your souls:
for it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul.” In
this scripture the Bible is
referring to the blood and the life
of an animal.
The key to this
scripture is that
“the life…is in the blood.”
The animal’s life is in the animal’s
blood. My life is in my blood. It is
as simple as God laid it out. If
each creature’s blood has energy, a
life in itself, then the Blood of
Jesus Christ has the life of God in
it. The life of God is something
devils cannot face. They cannot
overcome. When a man sins, he has
been transferred from light into
darkness. God made Adam and Adam was
in the light. Adam sinned and Adam
fell from the light into the kingdom
of darkness. Because God wants to
translate us from the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of light,
there is something WE MUST DO. We
must have the blood of Jesus applied
to our heart and soul.
In Romans
10:9-10, God said that all that call
upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. God saves us by touching our
souls with the Blood of Jesus
Christ. As the Blood of Jesus Christ
touches the soul, we become a new
creature. We were dead in trespasses
and sin, and when we are saved by
the Blood of Jesus Christ we are now
alive.
What do
I mean alive? Your soul becomes
conscious and now wants something
different than what it has existed
on before. It no longer wants the
things of the world. You will want
a new life! Just like any new life,
you will need nourishment. The TREE
OF LIFE, which is JESUS CHRIST,
begins to feed you through the Holy
Spirit. New energy begins to flow
into your life. Your mind will begin
to think differently. Your emotions
begin to feel differently. You will
notice that your will is changing.
Has your soul
been touched by the Blood of Christ?
Then feed on a different food than
the world has to offer; feed on the
Tree of Life, which is Jesus Christ.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 3-25-2012PM
"I will call on
the LORD, who is worthy to be
praised: so shall I be saved from
mine enemies."
2 Samuel 22:4
Recently I was
reading a praise report from a
friend and while reading this praise
report, I was reminded how powerful
a weapon our praise can be. When I
am in the middle of my trouble, I
often get so bogged down in all the
worries and problems that I forget
to do the one thing that will lift
me up out of that miserable place I
find myself.
One of the most important times to
Praise the Lord is when you find
yourself facing battles or
difficulties. When God hears your
praises, it will bring Him near to
your situation. In this way praise
is like an "SOS" cry.
Often during
times of battle, the Lord had Israel
send out the Praisers first. When
Paul and Silas were in prison, they
praised the Lord and the prison
doors were opened. What are we doing
when we praise the Lord? We are
magnifying Who He is. We are
rehearsing His goodness. We are
being reminded of how powerful and
awesome He is. If you will praise
the Lord in spite of your
circumstances you will begin to
notice a difference in them. When
you praise the Lord (magnify Him) He
begins to look bigger than your
situation.... He
IS
bigger than your situation, praise
just reminds us of that and brings
everything back into perspective.
What once seemed like a mountain has
been reduced down to size compared
to the magnitude and majesty of the
Lord.
Stop looking at
the problem, your enemy, the battle,
the size of the mountain, the
darkness; instead start praising the
Lord. Praise will cause Him to show
up every time. When He does show
up... He can fight the battles for
you.
This week when
I was thinking about this article I
was also reminded of an old song I
used to sing a lot. I wanted to
share the lyrics with you at the
close of this article.
“From Heaven’s
Point of View”
Today I face a
mountain that I have no strength to
climb. And the struggle of this
journey leaves me weak, both in body
and in mind. Where I stand, the
peak is a distance that on my own I
cannot reach. So this journey of a
thousand steps begins right here on
my knees.
Soon I’ll soar
like an eagle high on wings of
praise, far into the heavens where I
can almost see God’s face. Rising
in His splendor to heights I never
knew. What once looked like a
mountain is just a hill, from
heaven’s point of view.
I may
face things tomorrow I can’t
comprehend today. Circumstances so
uncertain make it hard to find the
strength to pray. But I’m living in
the promise, “I’ll never leave you,
I will always see you through”. So
what’s this mountain to an eagle
flying high, from heaven’s point of
view.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 3-18-2012
I enjoyed the “Revival” series that
our pastor brought to us the in the
last few services leading up to this
Revival (Camp Meeting). When I think
about Revival I always think about a
scripture that is probably my
father’s favorite scripture in the
Bible. He quoted this so often that
it has been in my memory for many,
many years. This scripture defines
“Revival”.
2 Chronicles
7:14 If my people, which are
called by my name, shall
humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn
from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and
will heal their land.
Revival begins with 'the
individual'......"MY PEOPLE".... God
will use all of us to reach the
world. Some people put limits on
God’s ability to use them because
they feel their past is too bad or
they are not worthy to be chosen to
do a work for God. But just look at
some of the people God chose to use
:
Abram - to save his
own life, he said
his wife Sarai was
his sister - and
delivered her until
Pharaoh. Abram's
name was later
changed to Abraham
by the Lord -
meaning "father of
many nations".
Moses - his mother
sent him floating
down the river as a
baby to save his
life - he was found
and raised by
Pharaoh's daughter -
He was a murderer -
he killed an
Egyptian that had
slew a Hebrew, when
he thought nobody
was looking - yet
GOD still visited
him. He used him to
bring the people of
Israel out of Egypt.
King David - Jesse's
son - he was just a
child when he slew
the giant. He became
a murdered, liar,
and committed
adultery. Yet, God
said, David was 'a
man after my own
heart'......Acts
13:22.
1
Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an
holy nation, a peculiar people; that
ye should shew forth the praises of
him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light:
We
are His people, but we must humble
ourselves before Him.
True
humility is submitting to the right
authority - JESUS is the head
shepherd. We have to realize that
everything about us is because of
what God did for us - not what we
have done - being obedient to His
Spirit and his calling.
LIFE
is where revival is - first, it must
start with our humbling ourselves
before God - doing all he wants us
to do for Him - then the 'revived'
come together in the church house,
fill it with revived Christians, and
then true revival will start within
the walls
Then
God says, "seek my face" - not my
hand. Often, we go before GOD only
to see what HE can do FOR us, not
what WE can do for him - in His Will
for our lives.
We
must turn from our 'wicked
ways'.....which means we must "TURN"
to the path following Jesus.
Repenting is not saying, "Oh, I've
gotten caught, so I will change",
but true repentance is turning from
wrong to right and following GOD
with all our heart and soul.
Do
you WANT a revival? Then you must
count the cost - be willing to
humble yourself before God, turn
from 'your' ways to God's ways, pray
and seek His face .....and revival
will begin !
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 3-11-2012
This
past week during my Bible study I
came across the subject of living in
God’s permissive will rather than
His perfect will. When we live in
His permissive will rather than His
perfect will we have a life of
limited blessings and limited peace.
Only
when we live in His perfect will can
we receive the fullness of His
blessings.
We can only
understand God’s perfect will if we
are submitted to Him and have our
minds renewed so that we can hear
His direction for our lives. In the
book of Romans 12:2
Paul
asks the
Christians to
not be
conformed any longer to the world “But
to be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.”
Then you will
be able to test and approve what
God’s will is- his good, pleasing
and perfect will.
When I think of an example of living
in the “permissive will” of God, I
immediately think of the story of
the children of Israel and their
insistence that a king be appointed
over Israel. God had intended for
the
children
of Israel to be a nation of priests
who ministered to the rest of the
world and directed them to God. God
was their king and held sovereignty
over them. They had judges who
administered justice in various
forms.
However
the people of Israel
wanted to be like other nations
and
have an earthly king.
Prophet Samuel’s sons Joel and
Abijah were the appointed judges at
this time. Samuel’s sons were
however not upright before God “they
turned aside after dishonest gain
and accepted bribes and perverted
justice”
1 Samuel 8:3. The people were
offended
and
consequently they asked for a King
of their own “such
as all the other nations have”
1 Samuel 8:5.
Instead of the people praying
and asking God for a
solution, they looked to the world
for a solution. God asked Samuel to
listen to the people’s demands but
to warn them what a king would do to
them. Even after Samuel had warned
them they remained adamant about
their desire saying “We
want a king over us. Then we shall
be like all the other nations, with
a king to head us and to go out
before us and fight our battles”
1 Samuel 8:19-20.
The Children of Israel behaved like
most of us do when confronted with a
problem. Instead of seeking God’s
will first, we go to people who
advise us based on their own limited
worldly experience. We forget that
we all have our own unique calling
and only God can reveal His perfect
will for us. The writer of the book
of Proverbs says “Many
seek an audience with a ruler, but
it is from the Lord that man gets
justice”
Proverbs 29:26.
We need to pray for His perfect
will, and then when God’s reveals
His will to us we should ask Him to
teach us how to
walk in His will like King David did
in his prayer
in Psalm 143:10. “Teach
me to do thy will; for thou art my
God: thy spirit is good; lead me
into the land of uprightness”.
Sister Freda
A
Word From Sister Freda 3-4-2012
I saw a sign
this week that caught my attention;
the sign read “Hope
is Real”.
I agree and believe the words on
this sign but there are a lot of
people in the world who do not
believe Hope is Real. People who
are hopeless and alone usually can’t
help themselves. They need someone
to give them the “gift of hope”.
When I read the
sign this weekend it made me think
of my grandmother. My maternal
grandmother was a wonderful woman of
grace and lived a godly life. All
of her grandchildren called her “Ma
Cook”. Ma Cook lived to be 98 years
old. She was a spry little woman,
but she could work circles around
ten men. At 95 years old she was
still cutting her grass with a push
mower. She worked hard all of her
life, and although she never had
many worldly possessions, she was
rich in the only way that counted.
She knew from where her help came.
One of things that I remember about
Ma Cook was that she used the word
“hope” instead of “help”. I always
thought this was a little strange,
but I have often heard other elderly
people interchange these two words.
If Ma Cook needed help with anything
she would say “Come hope me with
this”…… This week when I started
thinking about “hope” and remembered
Ma Cook’s saying, I realized that
“hope” is the same as “help”. If
someone has “help” they have “hope”.
I did a search
in the Bible for the word “hope” and
came up with many, many verses. I
wanted to list just a few of them.
Psalms 39:7
"But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you."
Psalms 42:11
"Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me? Put your
hope in God, for I will yet praise
him, my Savior and my God."
Psalms 25:4-5
"Show me the path where I should
walk, O LORD; point out the right
road for me to follow. Lead me by
your truth and teach me, for you are
the God who saves me. All day long I
put my hope in you."
Psalms 25:3 "No
one whose hope is in you will ever
be put to shame"
Psalms 33:18
"But the eyes of the Lord are on
those who fear him, on those whose
hope is in his unfailing love"
I was reading
the newspaper this week and it
seemed on every page there was
terrible news. There are so many
hurts, problems, sicknesses,
troubles, financial woes, family
problems, world issues, political
concerns, etc. Apart from God, it
is an awful, hopeless place. But
with God's help, we can make it. I
want you to know that whatever
situation you find yourself in at
this moment, there is hope. You may
not be able to see or feel the hope,
but it is there for you. How do we
find the hope? There is only one
place where hope can be found, and
that is in Jesus Christ.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 2-26-2012
R2
Chronicles 20: 15 and 17: “Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of
this great multitude; for
the battle is not yours, but God's.
(17) You shall not need to fight in
this battle: set yourselves, stand
you still, and see the salvation of
the LORD with you.”
How many times
during our Christian walk have we
tried to fight our own battles, and
failed? The devil is real and he
is busy at work trying to destroy us
and make us feel defeat.
We need to realize, the only way to
defeat him is to rely on the Lord.
As you serve God, you will
experience opposition. When this
happens you need to know who you
are, who you are not, who is the
enemy you are facing and who is the
Lord you are serving.
Realizing who He is and who your
enemy is, and that the enemy has
already been defeated is an
important thing to remember. We may
say we know this but there are times
when we don’t walk in this truth.
If we are saved
and in a right relationship with
God, then we should never accept the
taunts of the enemy. When the enemy
mocks and attempts to intimidate us
it is important that we stand
against him in the authority of
Jesus Christ.
In verse 17,
although the Lord was doing the
fighting, He still required the
people of Judah to do a couple of
things. In this verse He tells them
to “station yourselves, stand and
see the salvation of the Lord on
your behalf.” Their obedience to
these instructions was crucial to
the outcome of the battle. Saying
that the battle belongs to the Lord
does not gives us the right to just
sit down and expect God to take care
of everything for us. God does want
to provide deliverance, but we must
listen for His voice and
instructions. We should learn to
listen for His guidance, wisdom, and
direction.
The Lord
deserves to be glorified in all
situations, but it is especially
important that we give Him praise
when we are going through a
difficult trial. In the chapter I
used for my scripture reference,
Jehoshaphat appointed certain people
to publicly declare God’s goodness
through singing and praise (verse
21). And then in verse 22 we see how
this was directly related to God
fighting the battle for them: “And
when they began singing and
praising, the Lord set ambushes
against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and
Mount Seir”.
How is your worship life? Are you
spending time just worshipping Him?
He deserves to be praised 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, for who He is,
not just for what he has done. We
were created to glorify Him. Give
God the praise He deserves and allow
Him to fight your battles!!!
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 2-19-2012
Of all the
names of God mentioned in the Bible,
the one that is the most powerful is
I AM. Moses asked God, “Suppose I
go to the Israelites and say to
them, ‘The God of your fathers has
sent me to you,’ and they ask me,
‘What is his name?’ then what shall
I tell them?” God answered, “I AM
WHO I AM. This is what you are to
say to the Israelites: I AM has sent
me to you” (Exodus 3:13-14.)
This past
Sunday the choir sang the beautiful
song “I AM”. This song ministers to
me each time I hear it, because the
words of the song are so true.
I am the One
I'm the Almighty God
I am the One for whom nothing is too
hard
I am the Shepherd, I am the Door
I am the Good News to the bound and
the poor
I am the Righteous One and I am the
Lamb
I am the Ram in the bush for Abraham
I am the Ultimate Sacrifice for sin
I am your Redeemer, the Beginning
and the End
I am Jehovah and I am the King
I am Messiah, David's offspring
I am your High Priest and I am the
Christ
I am The Resurrection, I am the
Light
I am the Bread and I am the Wine
I am your Future so leave your past
behind
I am the One in the midst of two or
three
I am your Tabernacle, I am your
Jubilee
I am Hope, I am
Peace, I am Love, I am Rest
I am your Comfort and Relief from
your stress
I am Strength, I am Faith, I am
Love, I am Power
I am your Freedom this very hour
Whatever you
need today, God is.
God is the great I AM, and
because of Him, everything is as it
should be. He always has been and
He always will be. He had no
predecessor and He will have no
successor. There was nobody before
Him and there will be nobody after
Him. He is indescribable,
incomprehensible, invincible, and
irresistible.
He is The Great I Am.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 2-12-2012
This past
Sunday night I had the chance to
participate in worship during
the “Souled Out” youth service.
During the service the youth
acted out a drama to a song that
portrayed Christ as he walked
through situations with people
who were suffering due to life
situations. The one stanza that
was repeated over and over in
this song was “You can lay
your burdens down”…..
This was a
very a soul searching drama as
it portrayed even church members
who refused to lay their burdens
down at Jesus’ feet.
This drama
made an impact on me and as a
result of this experience I
started to search the
scriptures. I found this verse
in 1st Peter 5:7 “Cast
all your cares on him because he
cares for you.”
As hard as
we try, we can’t control
everything. Circumstances
happen; situations arise;
trouble stares us in the face.
We are faced with a
decision…..anxiety or peace?
Because of God we do have a
choice. God makes all the
difference in the world! Peter
tells us to cast all our care on
God. We are to take our heavy
load of worry and anxiety, use
all our strength and faith and
cast it onto Jesus.
Why should we cast our cares
on Him? The answer to that
question is, because He cares
for us!!
“You will keep in perfect
peace all who trust in you, all
whose thoughts are fixed on
you!” Isaiah 26:3
Isaiah shared the secret to
peace. He said to fix our
thoughts on God and trust Him.
What is it that you are worried
about today? Cast it onto Jesus.
Fix your thoughts on His love
for you.
I’ve heard many desperate
prayer requests recently, due to
sickness, broken homes and
families, financial
struggles….Whatever the problem,
God’s promises are true. He
love us. He will provide for
us. That provision may come in
different forms, but HE WILL
PROVIDE….!!! His truth Never
Changes !!
Today I pray that you will cast
all your cares on Him. He is
able to keep you in perfect
peace. Turn your situation over
to Him, and trust Him with it.
Take your focus off your
worries and fears and put it on
Him and His love for you.
You Can Lay Your Burdens
Down !
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 2-05-2012
This past week
I heard an awesome song and I just
had to stop what I was doing and let
it minister to me. This was on a
particular day when I needed this
extra assurance from God that He
knew exactly where I was and what I
was dealing with at that particular
moment. The song was actually
scripture from Psalm 121 put to
music.
I lift up my
eyes to the hills—where does my help
come from? My help comes from the
LORD, the Maker of heaven and
earth. He will not let your foot
slip—he who watches over you will
not slumber; indeed, he who watches
over Israel will neither slumber nor
sleep. The LORD watches over
you—the LORD is your shade at your
right hand; the sun will not harm
you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all
harm—he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming
and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121
I often need to
be reminded that the Lord is my
helper. He is the awesome, powerful
God who created everything from
nothing, but He also cares about
me. He watches over not only the
entire universe… but He also watches
over me! He is always guarding my
life, day or night. He keeps me
from harm, He directs my steps, He
watches over me!
What comfort
this brings to me. When I’m weary
and feel like I’m in a valley, I can
look up and remember that the help I
need comes from God. When I’m
slipping, I have the promise that my
God will always watch over me. When
I’m discouraged and feel alone, I
know that God is with me, protecting
and guiding me.
It’s easy to
let feelings take control of our
lives. But we have promises of God
that do not change. These truths
about God are true no matter how we
feel, what we are experiencing, and
no matter what struggle we face. We
should find comfort in knowing that
our God never changes. My God is
faithful. He is bigger than my
trials, my fears and my struggles.
In HIM I put my Trust, because He is
My Help !!
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 1-29-2012
Acts 4: 32-33 “And
the multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul:
neither said any of them that ought
of the things which he possessed was
his own; but they had all things
common. And with great power gave
the apostles witness of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and
great grace was upon them all.”
What happens
when the church “Really” prays:
The Purposes of God are Accomplished
In the verse
above it says “them
that believed were of one heart and
of one soul; neither said any of
them that ought of the things which
he possessed was his own, but they
had all things common.”
When the people of the church really
pray we become a part of a bigger
body. We are now part of the
church, the body of Christ. We
should be willing to give up our
personal agendas to help accomplish
God’s Purpose. When we really pray
He will become Lord of our lives, as
well as our checkbook, and all our
personal possessions. If we put
more confidence and importance in
our earthly inheritance and wealth,
we will limit God’s use and work in
our lives. We must be willing to
allow Him to use everything we
have. Remember it All Belongs to
Him anyway if we are truly His
child.
God raised up
the church to be a display of Christ
to an unbelieving world. We need to
show the world what God is up to in
our lives and in our church. We
should be willing to witness to the
world and share our personal
testimony of God’s saving grace and
His healing power.
Our message to
the world should be:
He can forgive
ALL of your sin.
He can heal a
broken heart.
He can put
purpose back into an empty life.
He can deliver
you from the bondage of sin; drugs,
alcohol, immorality…..
He will give
you eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 1-22-2012
Acts 4: 24 – 33
“And
when they heard that, they lifted up
their voice to God with one accord,
and said, Lord, thou art God, which
hast made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and all that in them is: Who
by the mouth of thy servant David
hast said, Why did the heathen rage,
and the people imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth stood up,
and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord, and
against his Christ. For of a truth
against thy holy child Jesus, whom
thou hast anointed, both Herod, and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles,
and the people of Israel, were
gathered together, For to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done. And
now, Lord, behold their
threatenings: and grant unto thy
servants, that with all boldness
they may speak thy word, By
stretching forth thine hand to heal;
and that signs and wonders may be
done by the name of thy holy child
Jesus. And when they had prayed,
the place was shaken where they were
assembled together;
and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and they spake the word
of God with boldness.
And the multitude of them that
believed were of one heart and of
one soul: neither said any of them
that ought of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had
all things common. And with great
power gave the apostles witness of
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:
and great grace was upon them all.”
When the Church
Really
Prays:
The Power of God is Received
Because of all
the crazy things people have heard
and been told about being filled
with the Holy Ghost, some people are
afraid to experience this special
anointing from God. However, I
would be afraid to meet a new day
without being filled with the Holy
Ghost.
One thing we
should notice about the scripture in
Acts chapter 4. In the verses
listed above it is obvious that the
people prayed and they were filled
with the Holy Ghost as a result of
that prayer…BUT they were not
praying to be filled with the Holy
Ghost. They were praying for
boldness to witness, and they were
filled with the Holy Ghost because
with this special anointing God will
enable you to speak the word of God
with boldness.
The people in
this scripture knew they were facing
certain persecution, but they were
praying for courage and boldness.
God had commanded them to be
witnesses and they were praying for
enablement to do what they were
called to do. This is setting an
example for us as Christians today.
You can tell
from their prayer they knew God !!
They knew God
to be the
Creator
: “they
lifted up their voice to God with
one accord, and said, Lord, thou art
God, which hast made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all that in
them.”
They knew God
as the
Great Communicator:
“Who
by the mouth of thy servant David
hast said, Why did the heathen rage,
and the people imagine vain things?”
They
knew God as the
Controller
of all people: “The
kings of the earth stood up, and the
rulers were gathered together
against the Lord, and against his
Christ. For of a truth against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, both Herod, and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the
people of Israel, were gathered
together, For to do whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done.”
They knew God
as the
Conqueror
of all problems: “
Lord, behold their threatenings: and
grant unto thy servants, that with
all boldness they may speak thy
word, By stretching forth thine
hand to heal; and that signs and
wonders may be done by the name of
thy holy child Jesus.”
And when they
prayed they considered their selves
to be servants of God…”
and grant unto thy servants”.
We need to be aware that God will
not do a work
THROUGH
us until He has done a work
IN
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 1-15-2012
Acts 4: 31 –
33 “And
when they had prayed, the place was
shaken where they were assembled
together; and they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the word of God with boldness. And
the multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul:
neither said any of them that ought
of the things which he possessed was
his own; but they had all things
common. And with great power gave
the apostles witness of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and
great grace was upon them all.”
I heard a
minister share a story recently and
it struck me a little comical but
yet it rang so true, I wanted to
share it with you.
The children in
a young elementary age Sunday School
class in a local church were
encouraged to write letters to
missionaries to let the missionaries
know the Sunday School class would
be praying for them. The teacher
went on to explain that because the
missionaries were very busy and some
lived so far out in the jungle, the
children shouldn’t really expect a
return letter from the
missionaries. One young girls
message to the missionary read like
this “Dear Missionary, I just wanted
to let you know that our Sunday
School class is praying for you. We
aren’t expecting an answer……”
The wording in
this child’s letter is funny, but do
we really EXPECT an answer when we
pray?
Before the
holidays, I started a study on
prayer and I posted some articles
about praying like Jesus. I’m going
to continue for a few more weeks on
the study of prayer, but I want to
take it in another direction.
What happens
when a church REALLY PRAYS ?
Three things
will happen: 1.
The Presence of God will be
Manifested.
2.
The Power of God will be Received
3.
The Purposes of God will be
Accomplished.
The article
today will be on 1.
The Presence of God will be
Manifested
Verse 31 in the
scripture above tells us “And
when they had prayed, the place was
shaken where they were assembled
together”.
This doesn’t
necessarily mean that when our
church prays our building will
“shake” as a sign of God’s
presence. But I will say that when
God shows up there will be a
“shaking”. That shaking is
sometimes both on the inside and
outside. IF we want God to shake up
the world, He must start with us !!
God is looking
for an opportunity to show Himself
strong in our church. He is always
wanting an opportunity to show
Himself strong in our individual
lives. When the presence of God is
Manifested, He will be strong in our
church and lives. When God shows up
He will Show Out and you will
realize His presence is working !!!
In the
scripture above, when the church
really prayed God Showed UP !!
There was no human explanation to
what happened to those believers
that day. It was a “God Thing”.
When our church
REALLY Prays we will see “God
Things” happen in our church and our
lives.
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 1-8-2012
This past Sunday night we had the
privilege
to hear two young men speak during
the Youth Service. Although their
scripture text and outlines were
different, they spoke on a similar
topic. They spoke to us on how
important it is to let God lead us
and for us to follow his
direction and path. Even though it
may be hard at times, (the polishing
of the rod is not a simple or easy
process, and sometimes when we
disobey God’s direction we will be
faced with storms and
consequences)……God never promised
the direction and path he chooses
for us would be easy, but He did
promise He would never leave us and
He will
guide our steps if we put our trust
in Him.
This week when I started my Bible
study, even though the scripture is
different, the words are also so
similar to what these young men were
sharing Sunday night, that I felt
compelled to share my study with you
too.
Jeremiah 8:22
“Is
there
no balm in Gilead; is there no
physician there?
Why then is not the health of the
daughter of my people recovered?”
In the Old Testament, it speaks of
the balm, a general name for many
oily or resinous substances which
flow or trickle from certain trees
or plants when an incision is made
through the bark. This is a kind of
salve that can be put on cuts, etc.
But there is another healing balm,
one that can change lives and
nations when they are struggling and
nothing else can help. This is the
blood of Jesus Christ, the all
sufficient one. He doesn't put a
'bandage' on their 'wounds', but
applies His mercy and grace....to
bring them back to the place of
forgiveness, the changing of their
hearts through His applied blood. If
they will only heed his calling,
Christ will help them through all
the trials, the tribulations, even
the consequences of disobedience,
but they have to want His help. He's
a gentlemen; he won't interfere. But
we find that when we don't heed his
calling/warning, and go out on our
own, the consequences can be far
worse, had we just asked for his
help in the first place.
The way of the human is to want to
be 'self-sufficient'. GOD wants us
to come to him with our troubles,
cast our cares upon Him, for he
cares for us. But we, in our own
infinite mind, usually feel 'we' can
do it ourselves, and if we ask for
help, perhaps we are weak. But
that's what our Lord and Master,
Jesus Christ is there in our lives,
to guide us in making decisions, to
help us through our troubles, to
draw us closer to Him when we are
feeling low. HE and only HE, is able
to bring us through without a
'scar'. He is our BALM in Gilead -
the Healer and Great Physician.
Today, I thankful that I
have found that “Balm in Gilead”….He
is the
one in whom I put my full trust, the
one in whom I have confidence that
my needs are met.
I thank
God
for the healing blood of Christ. He
is my “Great Physician”,
He has healed my body so many times,
but even greater than physical
healing, I am thankful that
He has healed my soul.
As we start the new year of 2012, my
prayer is that if you haven’t found
the “Balm in Gilead”, you will find
Him !!!!
Pursue Him, Search for Him, Hunger
for Him. Become
Desperate for Him !!!!!
Sister Freda
A Word From
Sister Freda 1-1-2012
Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all,
If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me."
When I started thinking about
what to write for the bulletin on
January 1, 2012 I remembered a
illustration I heard a minister
share several years ago..... A
beautiful building was being
constructed in the middle of a large
metropolitan city. A journalist
decided to interview three of the
workers at the construction site and
ask them each this question “What
are you doing?” The first worker
replied “I am working for minimum
wage”, the second replied “ I am
putting in 13 hours of hard labor
each day”, the third worker replied,
“I am helping a famous architect
construct one of the most beautiful
buildings in the world “ !!!
All three workers were part of
the same crew working on the same
job. However, the last worker
interviewed had a different
perspective than the first two.
We may need to compare our
attitude about our work in God’s
Kingdom to the attitude of these
three construction workers. I wonder
how many of us need to change our
perspective?
Along with having the right
perspective about our work in God’s
Kingdom we must have a strong
commitment. When I was a young girl
I read one of my Dad’s books about
missionary David Livingstone. Dr.
Livingstone was a missionary in
Africa. A pastor wrote Dr.
Livingstone to tell him there was a
group of men who wanted to come and
help, but they asked if there was a
good road into the area where Dr.
Livingstone had set up his camp. Dr.
Livingstone replied “If you have men
who will only come if they know
there is a good road, I don’t want
them. I want men who will come if
there is no road at all.”
There’s a big difference between
just being interested in doing
something and actually making a
commitment to doing it! Making a
commitment to do something means
accepting no excuses and no
reservations — it means putting
aside our fears and reservations
moving forward till we see the end
result.
Let's give our
will and our life back to the Lord
today. Let’s evaluate our
perspective and our commitment to
our Lord, our families, and our
church. Let’s focus on doing great
things for the Kingdom this year!!
Sister
Freda
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