JESUS LOVES ME

 

 

JESUS LOVES ME

 

My Dearest_______________

 

I love you!

I shed my own blood for you…to make you clean.  Please, I don’t call common and unclean that which I called clean!  You are new…so believe it is true!  You are lovely in my eyes. I created you to be just as you are.  Don’t criticize yourself for not being perfect in your own eyes.  This leads only to frustration.

         I want you, trust Me,______________

One step…one day at a time.  Dwell in my power and love…and be free…be yourself.  Don’t allow other people to control you!  I will guide you…If you will let Me.

         Be aware of my presence in everything.  I give your patience…love…joys, and peace.  Look to Me for answers.  I am the Shepherd, and I will lead you.  Follow Me only! Do not forget this.

         Listen, and I will tell you My will.

Please understand I love you__________.  I love you!  Let it flow from you…spill over to all you touch.  Don’t be concerned with yourself…you are My responsibility.  I will change you without you hardly knowing it.  You are to love yourself and others…simply because I love you!  Take your eyes off yourself!  Be confident in My love.  Look only to Me!  I lead…I change…I mold, but not when you are trying; I won’t fight your efforts.  Let Me have the joy of making you like Christ.  Let Me Love You!  Let Me give you happiness!  No one else can!  You see________ you are not your own.  You have been bought with blood…now you belong to Me, and I love you…

Just because you are Mine.  It is none of your business how I deal with you.  Your only comment is to look to Me!  Never to yourself, never to others.  Don’t struggle…don’t fight…and don’t rebel…but trust Me!   I know what is best and I will do it for you.  How I long for you to allow Me to love you freely!  My will is perfect…My love is sufficient…I will supply your needs…for I love you.

Jesus                                                                  Author unknown

Israel's Shedding of Blood

 

Ezekiel 22:23-31

 

December 19, 2023

 

Israel's Shedding of Blood

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.  The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.  Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths so that I am profaned among them.  Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.  And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.  The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.  And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.  Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

 

Have you lived in a time of Fear?  If you were alive during COVID-19, you lived in a time of Fear.  Many false prophets, such as Dr. Fauci, told so many lies, like the mask would protect you, that we need to shut down our businesses and stay in our homes.  Then we would be safe, and the answer was to take a Covid shot, then you would never get Covid, and next came the booster shot, and we witnessed many who still got Covid, and many died from the shot, or got very sick, and are still sick.  

What about the little children who were required to wear a mask to school, and also the closing of schools? Yes, we listen to the false prophets and not to God.

And preachers who are supposed to listen to God, listen instead to the government, and doctors who were some of the biggest Fear providers, and did not allow their congelation to do as God had commanded, to assemble, and worship.

 

Many of us who were experiencing this Fear did not listen to the false prophets, and some of us got COVID-19, but we did not die. I got COVID-19, and cannot be sure if it was COVID or other things like blood pressure medicine, that removed the salt from my body, made my sodium drop way below 100.  I was told by my doctor that I had double pneumonia, and he was clear it was not from Covid.  My point, Jan and I did not get the shots, we were sure that after asking the Lord, he said not to do so.  We also did not stay home, nor wear a mask, but where it was required.  We did our best not to look at the Fear that was being sold, and look to the Lord for our direction, as many in the Church did.  And many others outside the Church also did not buy into the lies that were being told.

 

It is my understanding of Scripture that not one person died before the moment that God had numbered their days on planet Earth.  If I’m wrong, I’ll have no doubt someone will correct me.  Fear works, and in that it was so successful for those who want to control the public, it will be used again.

 

Fear is a tool of unbelief, and faith is a tool of God, so choose this day who you will serve. Scripture tells us to fear God, not man.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Dross has to be remove to have the pure thing

 

Ezekiel 22:17-31

 

December 14, 2023

 

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.  Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.  As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.  I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.  As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

What is God saying when He compares Israel to dross?   “DROSS is the scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of molten metal.”  And fire is used to remove it from the metal.

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.  The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.  Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths so that I am profaned among them.  Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.  And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.  The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.  And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore, I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

 

 Israel and her prophets are liars, and looking for personal gain, they have no regard for the people and are responsible for making many widows.  Is that not a close parallel to what is happening in our day?

 

God is not happy with the priests, because they were not teaching God's precepts and commandments.  Is that also a problem with the priest and preacher today, who do not teach the Scriptures, but are doing what 2 Timothy 4:3-4 said they would do?  “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  We, the Church, have seen many who have gone after teachers that suit their own passions, and truth is what they say it is, with no regard for what Scripture states.

 

Her princes sound a lot like many in the Congress and Senate of the United States of America; they seek only power and wealth, with no regard for the people.  Many have entered office with little wealth, but not many leave office that way.  And we, the people, have allowed this to happen.

 

The prophets had said God had spoken when they knew that God had not, and they would receive a special place in Hell if they did not repent and confess.

 

The people have no regard for the law of man or God and have done all kinds of evil.  And the Church as a whole is silent.

And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.   Have we forgotten that God often uses a total pagan to bring about His will? I do not know anyone's heart, but we sure need to be praying for our next President and remember that we have an election, but God puts whom He desires in office, to bless or to curse.  And often He allows the people to get the one they want.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Israel's Shedding of Blood

 

Ezekiel 22:1-16 

 

December 13, 2023

 

Israel's Shedding of Blood

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.  You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!  You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near; the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore, I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.  Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, everyone according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.  Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.  You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.  There are men in you who slander to shed blood and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.  In you, men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you, they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.  One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another, in you violates his sister, his father's daughter.  In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.  Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.  I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.  And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

 

A nation that is asleep, a sinful people who have rejected God, in their desire to live life on their terms.  I am not a Prophet, but a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe we, the Church, are more like them than we understand.  Were there not Prophets like and priests who saw and understood how Israel was becoming an abomination to God, and they kept silent?  That is what the Church has done.  Overall, we, the Church, have been witness to The Consequences of Roe v. Wade, 63,459,781 Total abortions since 1973. (Taken from National Rights to Life).  One evil woman was used by the devil to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of over 63 million babies, and as a whole, we, the Church, were silent.  We watched our nation get invaded by people who have no regard for our law and who lie when caught. They say as a whole, they are fleeing from persecution. We, the Church, have been silent and allowed our school system to fill our kids with untruths, and have told our children that God made a mistake, and they should be another gender.  And we have allowed some of the evilest people to be our representatives in Washington; they do not care about this nation or its people, they are in it for themselves.  And we keep silent, payday is coming, and the house of God will be the first to be judged.  You will find that in 1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

God's Judgment on a Rebellous People

 

Ezekiel 21:14-34

 

December 12, 2023

 

 “As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,  that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates, I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter.  Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.  I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I, the Lord, have spoken.”

 

We who have been so blessed should have a hard time grasping God doing this to Israel, His chosen people.  Let it be a wake-up call to the Church: our Father in Heaven will not put up with rebellion, even from His chosen, much less from His Church.

 

The word of the Lord came to me again: “As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.  Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem, the fortified. For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. But to them, it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.

 

The king of Babylon is using his 'idols', or 'household god(s for divination, but it is God who is pulling the string; he is God's instrument for the destruction of both Israel and Judah.  

 

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear, because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.  And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.  A ruin, ruin, ruin, I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.

“And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning—while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.  Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.  And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.  You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Lord Has Drawn His Sword

 

 

Ezekiel 21:1-13

 

December 11, 2023

 

The Lord Has Drawn His Sword

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.  Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.  And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.

“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. ⁷ And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.  And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: 'A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning!

(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.  Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.  For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?” declares the Lord God.

This is much different than the Psalm of David, where he talks about the rod and staff, he is following after God, He is seeking God, and he desires God to be his provider and protector.  The contrast between Israel and David is very clear, with David seeking after God, looking to God, and worshiping God, and Israel in total rebellion, seeking after the little gods of their neighbors. 

As I read this, one must wonder, when will we who have said no to God as a nation, the church have been silent as we allow the theory of God and State separation.  We, the Church, were quiet when they said keep God out of the government, out of our public schools, and even out of many businesses.  When will God bring judgment against our Nation? Are we seeing the beginning with the present animation?

I have once more gone to “Got Question”:

Psalm 23 is a beautiful poem that uses the image of God as a shepherd. David, who penned this psalm, had been a shepherd himself and understood the parallel between the task of a shepherd caring for his sheep and of God caring for His people. Sheep are totally dependent on the shepherd for food, water, leadership, and guidance as they move from place to place, just as we are dependent upon God for all that we need. Sheep depend on the shepherd for protection from a wide range of predators and dangers, just as we look to God as our Protector and Defender. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals Himself to be the Good Shepherd of His people (John 10:11, 14), fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy that God would come to shepherd His people (Ezekiel 34:7–16, 23).

 

From the Back Porch, 

 

Bob Rice

Two Plans for Your Life (Choose Wisely)

 Two Plans for Your Life (Choose Wisely)

 

 

Dear reader, this I do know: God has a plan for your life, and so does the Evil One.  You will find in John 10:10, Jesus laying out the plan of both.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  The problem is that many people have their own plans, and it is part of the plan that the devil has designed to lead them away from the truth.   Jesus has made it clear in John 14:6 that He is the truth, not some truth, but the Truth. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Jesus has made clear that He is the Word who is being referred to in John 1-1-3.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  Reader, in these three verses, one has to come up with the understanding that Jesus, the Creator, has the only plan that brings peace and joy into our lives.  A man I met twice, Major Ian Thomas, often said the following: “I can’t, you never said I could, you can, and you promised you would.”

 

Reader, I hope you understood that God does not need your money, but He desires His children to honor Him by doing what He has requested of them.  As a dad, you expect your boys to do as you ask of them.  In Malachi 3:8-10, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.  You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” 

 

You are not the first person to buy into the lie that you could not afford to give away 10% of your income.  I’m not the one who gave you the challenge to put God to the test. He made clear in verse 10 the offer.  

 

Dear Reader, I am praying for you and asking the Lord to give me the ability to share a clear word that will bring a new beginning in your life, and if married, to your marriage.

 

You are greatly loved,  and my prayer is that Christmas is about the Greatest Gift ever given by God, His only Son.

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice