Good evening everybody,
I have decided to read through the entire old testament in order. I know I haven’t read all of it, and I don’t want to miss anything. So anyway, I got up to Job and just could not go on for a few weeks. Tonight I decided that I could do it, so I got through fourteen chapters. What a depressing book! I know the end is ok, though. I am reading for the specific purpose of figuring out what the friends said that was wrong. You know, Job has to make sacrifices for their words.
So be blessed and thank the Lord for His mercy! 2 Corinthians 2:14 says thanks be to God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ. I love you all.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Rain in the Forecast
Good evening everyone,
I was so blessed tonight! My daughter had a choir concert and since it was raining off and on, and my breathing machine is not all weather, I stayed home. An old, not old! Long time friend came over and massaged my feet and legs. What a treat!
Anyway, I was reminded today with the rain, of all the times when it rained but the sun shined through. The Lord said it is going to be like that spiritually. In fact, it has already started. The rain of the Spirit will come along with the light of the knowledge of God. We will learn what is the height, depth, length and width of God’s love, and we will know, more and more, the love of God which passes knowledge, like Ephesians says.
So, come out into the rain! And no sunblock, these rays will not hurt!
I love y’all,
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
I was so blessed tonight! My daughter had a choir concert and since it was raining off and on, and my breathing machine is not all weather, I stayed home. An old, not old! Long time friend came over and massaged my feet and legs. What a treat!
Anyway, I was reminded today with the rain, of all the times when it rained but the sun shined through. The Lord said it is going to be like that spiritually. In fact, it has already started. The rain of the Spirit will come along with the light of the knowledge of God. We will learn what is the height, depth, length and width of God’s love, and we will know, more and more, the love of God which passes knowledge, like Ephesians says.
So, come out into the rain! And no sunblock, these rays will not hurt!
I love y’all,
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thomas
Good afternoon everybody,
‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed’.
Jesus said this to Thomas when he had to touch His hands and side, after He rose from the dead.
Of course, Jesus was talking to all of us. We all believe and yet have not seen Him. But, can we carry His words further? Can we also believe what he said even though we don’t see it yet? He has never lied to us. Not one time! You know, you can’t have faith for something you already see. Faith is only before you get results. Everything Jesus bought at the cross is paid for and has your name on it. So you are blessed (with eventual results) when you don’t see and yet believe. I love y’all.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed’.
Jesus said this to Thomas when he had to touch His hands and side, after He rose from the dead.
Of course, Jesus was talking to all of us. We all believe and yet have not seen Him. But, can we carry His words further? Can we also believe what he said even though we don’t see it yet? He has never lied to us. Not one time! You know, you can’t have faith for something you already see. Faith is only before you get results. Everything Jesus bought at the cross is paid for and has your name on it. So you are blessed (with eventual results) when you don’t see and yet believe. I love y’all.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Monday, October 26, 2009
Parable of the Wedding Feast
Good afternoon everybody,
In the past, I had some questions about this story. It sounded sort of violent to me. But we know that Jesus is right! What He says is not inaccurate in the slightest. He never exaggerated to make a good story. If He said it was like this, it is like this.
Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.
7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
What can we learn about our personal walk, today, from this parable? Always wear nice clothes to a wedding?? (-: I think there is more than that. (duh!)
First, it would be wise not to ignore the King when He invites you to a party, and this IS the party event of all time and eternity!
Second, it is even stupider to insult and beat down His servants (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, whether they agree with your doctrine or not).
So you are in the banquet hall now, fellowshipping and waiting for the ceremony to begin. You see a guy in there, not dressed properly. (what is ‘properly’? a robe of righteousness, given to us by the Son, washed in His blood). He is dirty and has filthy clothes on. You see the King coming. What will you do? You have three choices.
1. Bring him to the King. He has some nerve claiming to be a guest with no robe! And, he is stinking up the place, too.
2. Do nothing, because you are not supposed to judge.
3. Help him by standing between him and the King, and telling him where the robe room is. You can’t keep him hidden but you can buy him a little more time.
What will you do? Make people’s faults public, do nothing, or pray for them and show them Jesus if you get the chance? The King really is coming around. You are ready, that’s great, but what about your relatives, friends, coworkers? Are they still out on the street? Are they pretending, going through the religious motions but have not given their lives to the Son of Love? What can you do? Pray and love, pray and love!! And, enjoy the party!!
I love y’all dearly!
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
In the past, I had some questions about this story. It sounded sort of violent to me. But we know that Jesus is right! What He says is not inaccurate in the slightest. He never exaggerated to make a good story. If He said it was like this, it is like this.
Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.
7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
What can we learn about our personal walk, today, from this parable? Always wear nice clothes to a wedding?? (-: I think there is more than that. (duh!)
First, it would be wise not to ignore the King when He invites you to a party, and this IS the party event of all time and eternity!
Second, it is even stupider to insult and beat down His servants (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, whether they agree with your doctrine or not).
So you are in the banquet hall now, fellowshipping and waiting for the ceremony to begin. You see a guy in there, not dressed properly. (what is ‘properly’? a robe of righteousness, given to us by the Son, washed in His blood). He is dirty and has filthy clothes on. You see the King coming. What will you do? You have three choices.
1. Bring him to the King. He has some nerve claiming to be a guest with no robe! And, he is stinking up the place, too.
2. Do nothing, because you are not supposed to judge.
3. Help him by standing between him and the King, and telling him where the robe room is. You can’t keep him hidden but you can buy him a little more time.
What will you do? Make people’s faults public, do nothing, or pray for them and show them Jesus if you get the chance? The King really is coming around. You are ready, that’s great, but what about your relatives, friends, coworkers? Are they still out on the street? Are they pretending, going through the religious motions but have not given their lives to the Son of Love? What can you do? Pray and love, pray and love!! And, enjoy the party!!
I love y’all dearly!
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Faith to Faith - Choose Life
Good afternoon everybody,
I know you have all heard this before, but it was put in such a perfect way here. Plus it is an excellent reminder to refocus. It’s the ONE thing that is needful, the Word! I love y’all, (see below)
Choose Life
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
(Romans 8:6)
________________________________________
If you were given the choice between life and death, which would you choose? The answer seems obvious. But, in reality, it's not.
You see, choosing death doesn't necessarily mean jumping from the nearest cliff. It's much more subtle than that.
The Bible says death is being carnally minded, being entangled in this present worldly realm. The Bible also tells us what life is. "My son, attend to my words," says Proverbs 4:20-22, "...for they are life!"
To be worldly-minded is death. To be Word-minded is life.
In Luke 10, there's a story that illustrates this principle extremely well. It's the story of Mary and Martha. You probably remember it. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him teach while Martha was bustling around in the kitchen cooking dinner for everyone.
Finally Martha couldn't stand it anymore. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her to help me!" Jesus answered, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42).
Mary had set everything else aside, so she could hear the Word. But Martha had let the seemingly important business of living take priority over the Word. She'd chosen death, not life.
You see how easy it is to slip into that?
"But Brother Kenneth," you say, "if I didn't spend all my time taking care of the business of living, my life would fall apart!"
Oh, really? Martha probably thought that too. She probably thought if she didn't cook dinner for all those folks, they'd go hungry. But they wouldn't have. Jesus had miraculously fed multitudes before and He could have done it again in Martha's home. She could have plopped herself down at Jesus' feet, and they could have had a banquet at God's expense!
Don't make the mistake that Martha did. Don't get so entangled in the business of living that you choose death by default. Decide to put the Word first place. Choose life!
________________________________________Scripture Study: Romans 8:5-13
I know you have all heard this before, but it was put in such a perfect way here. Plus it is an excellent reminder to refocus. It’s the ONE thing that is needful, the Word! I love y’all, (see below)
Choose Life
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
(Romans 8:6)
________________________________________
If you were given the choice between life and death, which would you choose? The answer seems obvious. But, in reality, it's not.
You see, choosing death doesn't necessarily mean jumping from the nearest cliff. It's much more subtle than that.
The Bible says death is being carnally minded, being entangled in this present worldly realm. The Bible also tells us what life is. "My son, attend to my words," says Proverbs 4:20-22, "...for they are life!"
To be worldly-minded is death. To be Word-minded is life.
In Luke 10, there's a story that illustrates this principle extremely well. It's the story of Mary and Martha. You probably remember it. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him teach while Martha was bustling around in the kitchen cooking dinner for everyone.
Finally Martha couldn't stand it anymore. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her to help me!" Jesus answered, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42).
Mary had set everything else aside, so she could hear the Word. But Martha had let the seemingly important business of living take priority over the Word. She'd chosen death, not life.
You see how easy it is to slip into that?
"But Brother Kenneth," you say, "if I didn't spend all my time taking care of the business of living, my life would fall apart!"
Oh, really? Martha probably thought that too. She probably thought if she didn't cook dinner for all those folks, they'd go hungry. But they wouldn't have. Jesus had miraculously fed multitudes before and He could have done it again in Martha's home. She could have plopped herself down at Jesus' feet, and they could have had a banquet at God's expense!
Don't make the mistake that Martha did. Don't get so entangled in the business of living that you choose death by default. Decide to put the Word first place. Choose life!
________________________________________Scripture Study: Romans 8:5-13
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Dual nature of light
Good evening everyone,
Following up on yesterday’s email, shadows have neither substance nor power, but light has both particles (substance) and energy (power, sort of). That is, light is made up of electrons. They travel just like any other object, in straight lines. You know, until they are bent by something like glass or water. Or they bounce off something like a mirror. Or until they are cut off by something opaque, creating a shadow. Those are the particle properties of light.
Colors are made by the wave properties of light. Each color has a different wavelength and frequency. Light waves, like water waves, vibrate at right angles to the direction of the wave. Higher frequency waves are higher in energy too.
Remember that physical things are copies of spiritual things. God Himself said He is light, and He created light with its properties for us to discover something about Him.
God is a just God. He ‘follows the rules’, so to speak. He will not pervert justice for anybody. But He wrote the rules, and He wrote in mercy. God is also a merciful God. From before the beginning, Jesus was the just sacrifice for all time. So mercy could, and can , and will, triumph. Thanks be to God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ! I love y’all.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Following up on yesterday’s email, shadows have neither substance nor power, but light has both particles (substance) and energy (power, sort of). That is, light is made up of electrons. They travel just like any other object, in straight lines. You know, until they are bent by something like glass or water. Or they bounce off something like a mirror. Or until they are cut off by something opaque, creating a shadow. Those are the particle properties of light.
Colors are made by the wave properties of light. Each color has a different wavelength and frequency. Light waves, like water waves, vibrate at right angles to the direction of the wave. Higher frequency waves are higher in energy too.
Remember that physical things are copies of spiritual things. God Himself said He is light, and He created light with its properties for us to discover something about Him.
God is a just God. He ‘follows the rules’, so to speak. He will not pervert justice for anybody. But He wrote the rules, and He wrote in mercy. God is also a merciful God. From before the beginning, Jesus was the just sacrifice for all time. So mercy could, and can , and will, triumph. Thanks be to God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ! I love y’all.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Spiritual Light
Good evening everyone.
What?! Two emails in one day?? Well, this is a follow up to the previous one, so you will get more from it if you read the other first.
There is a song by Petra from the 80s, The Road to Zion, that has a verse that goes like this…
Sometimes a shadow dark and cold
Lays like a mist across the road
But be encouraged by the sight
Where there’s a shadow there’s a light.
The Lord started putting physics concepts together about light. While shadows have no substance or energy, light has both.
The bible has a lot to say about light. God is light. We are children of the light. Walk in the light. You are the light of the world. In fact, the first thing God created physically was light. So He could see to work, I guess. (-:
Physical light is a copy of spiritual light, and it works in much the same way. So spiritual shadows also work like physical shadows. They are caused by something cutting off the light source. Did you know the scientific term for cutting off the line of sight to a heavenly body is occulting? Interesting… Psalm says thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Satan uses anything he can to cut off the truth, the word, from your heart.
But you have a flashlight inside you! It is as powerful as you make it. It gets brighter as you commune with the Lord in prayer and the word. The power supply is the Holy Spirit within you, but you have to stay plugged in.
If a light is small and dim, there can be large, scary shadows. But bright lights dispel darkness, so the shadows are small and not very scary. The shadows (spiritual) are really there, but our perspective changes and brightens as we plug into the Source of light. Remember the homework assignment from August? God, our Source, is light!
I love y’all.
What?! Two emails in one day?? Well, this is a follow up to the previous one, so you will get more from it if you read the other first.
There is a song by Petra from the 80s, The Road to Zion, that has a verse that goes like this…
Sometimes a shadow dark and cold
Lays like a mist across the road
But be encouraged by the sight
Where there’s a shadow there’s a light.
The Lord started putting physics concepts together about light. While shadows have no substance or energy, light has both.
The bible has a lot to say about light. God is light. We are children of the light. Walk in the light. You are the light of the world. In fact, the first thing God created physically was light. So He could see to work, I guess. (-:
Physical light is a copy of spiritual light, and it works in much the same way. So spiritual shadows also work like physical shadows. They are caused by something cutting off the light source. Did you know the scientific term for cutting off the line of sight to a heavenly body is occulting? Interesting… Psalm says thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Satan uses anything he can to cut off the truth, the word, from your heart.
But you have a flashlight inside you! It is as powerful as you make it. It gets brighter as you commune with the Lord in prayer and the word. The power supply is the Holy Spirit within you, but you have to stay plugged in.
If a light is small and dim, there can be large, scary shadows. But bright lights dispel darkness, so the shadows are small and not very scary. The shadows (spiritual) are really there, but our perspective changes and brightens as we plug into the Source of light. Remember the homework assignment from August? God, our Source, is light!
I love y’all.
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