VIDEO Near Death Experience after a Car Accident, Gary Wood

Oct 10, 2012

Gary Wood got involved in motor vehicle accident and he died. His spirit left his body and he was at the gate of heaven. He saw angels and his friend who died earlier. His friend took him to the body-part room. At the time his sister for him in the name of Jesus, he came back to his body. He had severed vocal cord which was healed by Jesus. He is telling us God’s message!

Life After Death

So many people have have out of body experience and near death experience because there is life after death. After you die, you will go to heaven or hell. Jesus wants you to go to heaven. We all should go to hell because of our sins. Jesus died for our sins. He took all humans sins and died for our sins.

In order to go to heaven, you have to repent your sins. You have to turn away from sins from now on. You also have to believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord!

From Grief to Joy

You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. John 16:20

Kelly’s pregnancy brought complications, and doctors were concerned. During her long labor, they decided to whisk her away for a Cesarean section. But despite the ordeal, Kelly quickly forgot her pain when she held her newborn son. Joy had replaced anguish.

Scripture affirms this truth: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (John 16:21). Jesus used this illustration with His disciples to emphasize that though they would grieve because He would be leaving soon, that grief would turn to joy when they saw Him again (vv. 20–22).

Dear Lord, we long to be in Your presence, especially when we face pain and sorrow.

Jesus was referring to His death and resurrection—and what followed. After His resurrection, to the disciples’ joy, Jesus spent another forty days walking with and teaching them before ascending and leaving them once again (Acts 1:3). Yet Jesus did not leave them grief-stricken. The Holy Spirit would fill them with joy (John 16:7–15; Acts 13:52).

Though we have never seen Jesus face to face, as believers we have the assurance that one day we will. In that day, the anguish we face in this earth will be forgotten. But until then, the Lord has not left us without joy—He has given us His Spirit (Rom. 15:13; 1 Peter 1:8–9).

Dear Lord, we long to be in Your presence, especially when we face pain and sorrow. Yet You have not left us on our own. The Holy Spirit lives within us—and gives us joy.

One day our sorrow will be turned to joy!

By Alyson Kieda 

INSIGHT:After Jesus told His disciples about His coming betrayal and death (John 13), they were discouraged (14:1, 27). Jesus comforted them with the promise of heaven and the coming Holy Spirit (14:1–21; 15:26–16:15). Like the pain a woman experiences in childbirth, their suffering was temporary (16:21). The baby that causes the pain also provides the occasion for celebration. Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe writes in The Bible Exposition Commentary: “God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation. In birth, God does not substitute something else to relieve the mother’s pain. Instead, He uses what is there already but transforms it.”

How has Jesus transformed your pain into peace, joy, and victory? Sim Kay Tee

Staying in the Light

1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:1-2

John used the metaphor of darkness and light to describe a life of sin versus a life in Christ (1 John 1:7). God is pure and perfect light (v. 5) shining through an obedient person. However, when we invite darkness—sin—into our life, there is immediate conflict. Darkness and light cannot mix.

The way to keep a pure spirit in this world is to confess sin. We are made clean by Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, and nothing can change a redeemed believer’s identity as God’s holy child. However, wrongdoing does interfere with the fellowship between us and the Lord (Isa. 59:2). Left unchecked, sin can so thoroughly choke our spirit that only thin shafts of the light of Christ can squeeze through.

What breaks the stranglehold is confession, which simply means we agree with God that our actions, thoughts, or words are in violation of His law or will. While it is tempting to confess in a general sort of way—“I’m sorry if I’ve sinned against You”—that isn’t a helpful method for chasing darkness out of our life. We must be specific about our wrongs. The Holy Spirit isn’t general in His conviction; He points to the exact problem. And God expects us to deal with sin promptly so we are neither tarnished by it nor tempted to continue on that path.

Believers who honestly acknowledge their sin and take responsibility for it stay in right relationship with the Lord. John’s letter confirms God’s desire to cast out darkness and keep us fully in the light of His love. Our job is to deal promptly with the dirt that Satan throws at us.

Have Unanswered Prayer?

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12)

There are many wonderful promises of answered prayer in the Bible, some of which seem both unlimited and unconditional. On the other hand, there are also many warnings of unanswered prayer. This seeming anomaly merely cautions us again that every Scripture must be interpreted in context—both the immediate context and the broader context of all the Scriptures.

For example, Jesus said, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” But in the same upper-room discourse, He also said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 14:14; 15:7). This is a very significant condition, attached to what—out of context—might have seemed an unconditional promise.

Our text indicates that overt sin in one’s life will certainly hinder God in answering our prayers. So will selfish praying: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). And so will unbelief: “When ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). Poor home relations also could be a factor. “Husbands . . . [give] honour unto the wife . . . that your prayers be not hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).

Even when we are confident that we are fully right with God, the desired answer must still be in His will. “If we ask any thing according to his will . . . we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

Finally, there is the question of timing. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). Therefore, the believing prayer of a man righteous before God surely will be answered in God’s time and way. HMM

“Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.”

1 Samuel 17:1-12, 14-18

1 Samuel 17:1

Israel had sinned, and her king had cast off his allegiance, and therefore chastisement came. God. has the hearts of wicked Philistines in his hands, and can move them to be a scourge to his offending people.

1 Samuel 17:2, 3

For forty days they remained gazing upon one another. O, had Israel been faithful to her God, she would soon have been delivered, for then the promise would have been fulfilled, “five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight.” When God is gone, the strongest are as weak as water.

1 Samuel 17:4, 5

whose height was six cubits and a span or about ten feet.

1 Samuel 17:10

Goliath is called “the champion,” or, in the Hebrew, the middle-man or Mediator, he typifies Satan, our great enemy. Where could we have found another Mediator to meet him if the Son of David had not stood in the gap?

1 Samuel 17:11

Time was when Saul, who was himself gigantic, would have accepted the challenge, but when God departs from a man he becomes a coward. “Without me ye can do nothing,” is a great truth. Many have learned it to their sorrow.

1 Samuel 17:12

When made feeble by old age it is a great blessing to have vigorous sons to fill up the ranks of the Lord’s army. O ye young men, fill the places of your godly sires.

1 Samuel 17:14, 15

Probably he had long before left the courts of Saul for the solitude he loved so well, just as our Lord after going up to the temple went back to his parents, and was subject unto them.

1 Samuel 17:16

Even as for forty days Satan tempted our Lord.

1 Samuel 17:17, 18

The great Antitype of David visited his brethren below, his Father sending him to us with heavenly food, and messages of love. Alas, like David, he met with a churlish reception, “he came unto his own and his own received him not.” The Lord grant that in our hearts he may ever find a welcome.

 

O Son of Jesse come

Into our camp to day;

Bring with thee much-loved food from home,

And bear our pledge away.

 

Goliath’s threatening words

Oft make thy people fear;

Vain are our numbers, and our swords,

Till thou art with us here.

 

Recognize and Respect Your Limitations!

Romans 12:3

Have you ever been so anxious to do something big and powerful that you rashly offered to do a job you later discovered was way above and beyond your abilities?

One summer when I was a university student, I was hired by a man who had a lot of confidence in my writing abilities. His firm was creating highly specialized computer programs for a steel corporation. They needed a good writer to document all the steps they were taking, so he hired me to write these reports. At that time I had never worked on a computer, nor did I know anything about computers. Therefore, I obviously didn’t have a clue about what I was getting into when I agreed to take that job!

Soon I found myself seated in an executive office filled with computer programmers who spoke computer jargon that I had never heard in my life! This was a long time before people owned personal computers. Most common people had never placed their fingers on a computer—including me! And here I was, assigned to write a lengthy report about these extremely specialized computer programs. It only took a couple of hours for me to figure out I was the wrong person in the wrong place!

Finally, I had to say, “Hey, could someone please help me? I don’t mind doing the job, but I can’t do it without help.” As it turned out, I asked them to reposition me in another job where I felt more qualified. I simply wasn’t able to do the job because I wasn’t equipped for the task. In the second position, I worked very well and was very successful. Had I refused to admit that the first assignment was too much for me, it would have been a very long summer of frustration for both me and my employers.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a similar place, you know it’s overwhelming to be in so far over your head. There is nothing worse than feeling like you’ve been put in a position you aren’t qualified to take. It can be so difficult for the flesh to admit that it can’t do a job. Yet there is such great wisdom and peace in learning to recognize and respect your limitations!

This is why the apostle Paul told the Romans, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

If anyone could have thought highly of himself, it would have been Paul, yet he admonishes believers that a person should not “… think of himself more highly than he ought to think….” This phrase comes from the Greek word huperphroneo, which is a compound of the words huper and phroneo. The word huper means above, beyond, or way over the top, and the word phroneo means to think or to consider.

When these two words are compounded into one word, it means that Paul is urging us not to over-think about ourselves, or not to think over-confidently about our abilities. Instead, he commands us to think “soberly.” The word “soberly” is the Greek word sophroneo, which means to think sensibly; to think reasonably; to think realistically; to think rationally; to think practically; to keep in proper measure; or not to think beyond the set boundaries.

One Greek expositor says this word means to recognize your limits and respect them. In other words, don’t pretend to be more than you are! Recognize your God-given abilities and use them. But when you come to the edge of your limitations, be willing to say, “This is too much for me.”

If you act like you can do everything, you’re going to find it quite humiliating when you fail miserably in front of everyone. So instead of thinking too highly of yourself and attempting to take on tasks and projects that are too daunting for you, realize that some jobs are meant to be assigned to someone else. You need to be very realistic about your limitations. If you have tackled a job that is too big for you, there is nothing wrong with admitting that someone else should take over the project.

If you refuse to admit you’re over your head because you don’t want to be embarrassed, you’ll probably end up a whole lot more embarrassed later on when everyone else has to tell you that you can’t do the job! When you fail and fall flat on your face, you’ll regret that you didn’t say, “I think someone else can do this job better than I can. This is simply not where I’m most gifted. Does anyone else on this team want to help me out with this project?”

When Paul said we were “… to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith,” he was reminding us that there are other gifted members of the Body of Christ, and we must make room for their gifts as much as ours. God has gifted His entire Body with faith, spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities. Therefore, rather than try to do it all, which we can’t do anyway, we need to learn to think “soberly.” In other words, we’re to recognize our limitations and allow other people to be used by God too!

This principle applies to the church, to the workplace, to school, and to every other sphere of life. Yes, we should respect our own gifts, talents, and callings from God, but we should also respect the fact that it takes all of us to get a job done! So learn to recognize and respect your limitations—and learn to embrace others who are just as needed as you are!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, help me recognize and respect my gifts and limitations. Forgive me for the times I’ve been too prideful to admit I was in over my head and as a result did an inferior job. I’m so sorry I didn’t step out of the way so someone else who was gifted for the job could take my place. Help me specialize in those areas where I feel confident that I will be a blessing. Teach me to embrace and appreciate those who are more gifted than I am in other areas.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I think soberly about myself and about my gifts and abilities. I thank God for the gifts and talents He has placed in my life, but I also recognize and respect my limitations. Just as I appreciate my own gifts and abilities, I am also grateful for those who are more gifted than I am in other areas. I need them; I embrace them; and I appreciate what they have to contribute. I can’t achieve alone what can be accomplished in partnership with others. Therefore, I choose to partner my gifts and talents with the God-given gifts and talents in other people.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

1. Have you ever found yourself in a job or position that was way over your head? Did you feel like you were drowning, desperate to find a way out of your commitment without being embarrassed? If your answer is yes, what did you do to remedy the situation?
2. Have you ever seen someone in leadership whom everyone else on the team knew was in a position that was way too high for him? Did that person struggle, make mistakes, or constantly try to cover up his lack of ability?
3. If the team members recognized the source of the problem with their struggling leader, how did that knowledge affect their attitude toward him?

 

Two Reasons We Resist Times Of Solitude With God

The excuse we usually give for failure at spending time with God is time. “There is not enough time.” The truth is, that for the most part, time has nothing to do with it! We make time for what is of paramount importance to us. If we want to play 18 holes of golf badly enough, we will find the time!

 

So why do we resist times of solitude with God? Let me propose two of many reasons:

 

1. We don’t want to change.

 

If we are brutally honest, we find “a stubbornness within ourselves. A hardheartedness that will not yield to transformation and change.” Because exposure to the Word of God in an atmosphere of solitude discloses our corruption, we find ourselves resisting the pain of truth, and the pain of change.

 

“His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon‘s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God‘s Word. We can‘t get away from it—no matter what.” (Hebrews 4:12, 13 – The Message)

 

When we insist on living a marginal Christian existence by dabbling in and out of sin, our appetite for solitude with God can be numbed to the point of revulsion. We do not want Him to get that close!

 

2. We don’t want to give up control.

 

We are accustomed to being at the center of the action. We seem to need to be around people. Influencing them, managing them, or seeking their approval. We want to feel indispensable! After all, if we are not there for them, they might not grow – or “make it.” Remember the parable of the sower? “Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.” (Mark 4:27) God brings the growth! Not us! (1 Corinthians 3:6 )

 

The fact is, God would have us resign as CEO of the universe in order that we might begin to comprehend the truth that our greatest need is not for pleasure, but for intimacy with Him. Is it not the nervous activity of our lives that reveals our little faith while serving to crowd out those much needed times of seclusion with God?

 

QUESTION: Are you up to the challenge of choosing to become great with God through a regular pattern of solitude with Him? Then, if He so determines, He can make you great in spiritually influencing others. Be assured that the latter will not happen without the former.