Ephesians 1:3

Senses

Stones and metal

Ashes and dust

Blood and fire

Iron shatters.

Shame and grief

Dirt and discord

Words and thoughts

Cruel actions.

Hands and heart

Taste and vision

Bread and wine

Overflowing oil.

Christmas Tree

Prism

Meet his eyes

Compelled to love

That transcends expectations

Drawn into unison

So speak to the dead

Look for a sign

To reclaim my inheritance.

Released from bitter condemnation

Everything at once

Committed to seeing

Miraculous words

Spiritual immersion

So step into the light

When grace appears

Without preconceptions

Into an inspiring prism.

Whose Guilty ?

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas

Sing by Josh Wilson

The Christmas song comes from Josh Wilson.

This is an excellent song and contains some brilliant truth. The story of Christmas is the story of redemption, freedom, hope and salvation.

The free gift of God, given without measure, requiring us to do nothing but believe and receive all the grace provided.

Love and mercy combined in an infinite act.

  

Every bit of history and every single breath we breathe

Has led us here and brought us to our knees
From carrying the curse we bear and praying that He's heard our prayers
To set us free, oh, set us free

'Cause we could never get back home with broken hearts
So home has come to meet us where we are

So sing God is with us, sing He has come to save us
Sing He will never leave us, glory in the highest
Everybody sing to the One who is our King

He has come to bring redemption to us, God is with us
Glory in the highest, everybody sing

We have found our hope again in the Son of God and Son of Man
This Savior King is changing all we know
By carrying the curse we bear for everybody everywhere
He lived and died and brought us life and we will rise to meet Him in the sky

So sing God is with us, sing He has come to save us
Sing He will never leave us, glory in the highest
Everybody sing to the One who is our King

He has come to bring redemption to us, God is with us
Glory in the highest, everybody sing, everybody sing, sing

Jesus, Jesus, our Emmanuel, God is with us now
Jesus, Jesus, our Emmanuel, God is with us now

'Cause we could never get back home with broken hearts
So home has come to us

Sing God is with us, sing He has come to save us
Sing He will never leave us, glory in the highest
Everybody sing to the One who is our King
He has come to bring redemption to us, God is with us
Glory in the highest, everybody sing

God is with us, sing He has come to save us

Sing He will never leave us, glory in the highest
Everybody sing to the One who is our King
He has come to bring redemption to us, god is with us
Glory in the highest, everybody sing

Destiny

He was ready

And it wasn't a choice

Gazing into eternity

Gloomy shadow of man.

He danced with flesh

Held this beautiful spirit

Drawn with kindness

Broke through the void.

He was the light

Surrounded by darkness

Moaned in agony

Felt the anger of men.

He called out to me

I heard his voice

Met his blood-red eyes

Realized He was my destiny.

Isaiah 9

This Child Is Love

They kneel before him

The finest prize

Born in weakness

With living breath.

The Spirit reached out

Touched the tender cheek

Where sorrow meets hope

This child is love.

If only I understood

A little better

And believed you cared

Safe in your grace.

The Christmas Truce 1914

Private M. L. Walkinton, a 17 year old Rifleman in the Queens Westminster Rifles took part in the famous Christmas Truce in 1914. Reflecting back years later, this is what he has to say about that famous event in his book 'Twice in a Lifetime':-

“On a quiet night, when the trenches were near enough, we used to sing to each other, sometimes alternate verses of the same tune like Hail though one despised Jesus and Deutschland, Deutschland liber alles. They often sang their own words to the tune of God Save the King. Then an officer of one side or the other would come and stop it by ordering a few rounds of fire. We used to be sporting and fire high with the first round – and so did Brother Boche. We used to shout remarks to each other, sometimes rude ones, but generally with less venom in them than a couple of London cabbies after a mild collision……

Well, goodwill and good fellowship at Christmas-time were bred in the bone, so to speak and in spite of orders and warnings one kept thinking about it. The way this Christmas feeling persisted is interesting as one of the few victories of the teaching of the Church over the teaching of the State during the whole war. It persisted with us until the word ‘Truce’ crept into conversation. It grew so strong that not a shot was fired on our bit of front after midnight of December 24th/25th until midnight of December 25th/26th.

It was weird and unearthly for everything to be suddenly still. For some time we were suspicious and careful. We were afraid that some low-down trick might be played upon us by those ‘dirty swine’ (a phrase learned from newspapers printed in the far-off security of England – not our own coining). But after half an hour nothing had happened and both sides started singing carols. We wandered about a bit, rather nervously, on the parapet and shouted across to the Germans, who were doing the same. After a time a German who spoke English came half-way across and offered to meet one of our men to arrange a twenty-four hour truce. One or two bold spirits went out to meet him and they shouted an arrangement for no firing for twenty-four hours. Dawn came and with it a return to nervousness. But no one fired. We exposed ourselves a bit and so did the ‘enemy’ and nothing happened, so everybody got up out of both lots of trenches and walked about and shouted and waved.

Then the men of the opposing sides began to drift towards each other, first as far as the barbed wire and then a few of each side scrambled through. Timidly they approached each other – unarmed, of course - until finally a German and an Englishmen met and shook hands to the sound of a happy little burst of cheering. Within a few seconds hundreds of people were shaking hands, laughing, exchanging drinks of rum and cognac, cigars and cigarettes, chocolate, sausages and so on.

I talked to a German-American who seemed a very pleasant sort of lad. He had never been to England actually, though his ship had anchored off Plymouth. We tried talking war, but I found he was full of newspaper propaganda, as I suppose I was, and we couldn’t make any sense of it. He thought that the Germans had made a successful landing in England and were marching on London. I told him that we were expected to beat Germany by Easter and he roared.

After that I think we talked about food and our respective family histories. He introduced me to his battalion sniper who had just received an Iron Cross from the Kaiser. The sniper showed it to me and seemed very proud of it. I tried to beg it, but he gave me a button of his tunic instead! Several people exchanged addresses and promised to write to each other after the war, but I don’t know if any of them did.

Christmas cards from the King and Queen were handed to every man in the battalion; a greatly appreciated gesture.

At some time during the day I went back to our lines and cooked myself some sausage which I had brought back from a local butchers the night before when on fatigue duty in Chapelle D’Armentieres. There was about eighteen inches of it – they didn’t divide it into ‘links’ like they do in England – and it was rather a disappointment owing to my poor cooking. Just before dusk we all returned to our lines and during the night we were relived by the 1st Royal Fusiliers. My platoon spent the next night or two in comfort in some newly-built and unfurnished workmen’s house in Chapelle. We were dry, we were warm and we had uninterrupted sleep. Bliss again!"

Angels All Around

Angels all around

As paradise shakes

Transcendent descent

Astonishment!

Emptiness answered

Mystery kissed

Love echoed

A divine spark

Eternal tension

With a flourishing cry

Peace to all men!

You make all things new

A saviour is born

The war is over

Reconciliation. 

Our Glorious King by Dave Thorpe

Our most glorious King, who’s robed in splendour,

Is Jesus Christ my great defender.

Angelic beings worship around His throne,

As praise and honour to Him are shown.

Glory to the Lord Most High, the living creatures sing,

While the four and twenty elders, their adoration bring.

This gloriously awesome, holy Son of God,

Took on the form of man, and on the earth He trod.

He came to be a sacrifice, to bear the sin of man,

Lived a holy spotless life, throughout His earthly span.

Took upon Himself our sins, in love He took our place,

So that all may have salvation, throughout the human race.

Just turn to Him and ask, forgiveness from your sin,

And He will grant you your request, and bid you enter in.

So that you may share His glory, be clothed in His great love,

And at His appointed time, you’ll be raised with Him above.

For He will keep His gospel covenant, for it is forever true,

This glorious assurance is sealed for me and you.

Emmanuel by Chris Tomlin

This is one of my favourite Christmas songs, Emmanuel by Chris Tomlin.

The awesome truth that God took on flesh and became man. Breathed the same air as me, walked dusty roads, felt the same sun on his skin, experienced the same dust.

Christ is the hope of nations, the guiding light in the darkness, the answer to all our prayers, the bridge that expands over the void.

He came to dwell, firstly in flesh, then by the Spirit in my flesh.

What a hope, what a guarantee, what a overwhelming union

What hope we hold this starlit night
A King is born in Bethlehem
Our journey long, we seek the light
That leads to the hallowed manger ground

What fear we felt in the silent age
Four-hundred years can He be found
But broken by a baby's cry
Rejoice in the hallowed manger ground

Emmanuel, Emmanuel
God incarnate, here to dwell
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
Praise His name Emmanuel

The son of God, here born to bleed
A crown of thorns would pierce His brow
And we beheld this offering
Exalted now the King of kings
Praise God for the hallowed manger ground

Emmanuel, Emmanuel
God incarnate, here to dwell
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
Praise His name Emmanuel

Oh, praise His name Emmanuel
Oh, praise His name Emmanuel

Songwriters: Christopher Tomlin, Edmond Martin Cash

Evolved

A Promise

A promise

A wonder

Sovereign splendor

Heavens brightness.

 Come at last

Here is the seed

Sweet aching toil

Hope richly planted.

Every despair

Bygone grief

In starved desires

Earth bound frame.

The universe understands

Where silence stirs

This is the place

Great mystery revealed.

The Man by Bill Thomas

I had a glimpse of a man in glory,

Resplendent in majesty, seated on a royal throne.

A cross on a hillside, an agonizing death,

Abandoned by God, suffering alone.

I saw a man walking on the street with his friends,

A hesitant woman touching his coat;

Rebuking his disciples, rebuking the waves,

Calming the storm and keeping them afloat.

A man besieged by demons praising the Lord,

Demented swine flying to the sea at his word.

A temple in uproar as he sets about his foes,

Upsetting the tables everywhere he goes.

A girl, still in death, opens her eyes,

A perfumed jar of nard poured upon his feet,

A man, lame from birth, ordered to arise;

A man, just like me, at the mercy seat.

A man seeking righteousness, lamenting at the cost,

A man giving everything to seek and save the lost.

A woman at a well, many a man's wife,

Given living water, drinking everlasting life.

A man, blind from birth, a man with leprous skin,

Healed at a touch,and forgiven for their sin.

Thousands on a hillside, amazement in their eyes,

Pharisees and scribes rejoicing in their lies.

A barbarous crown of thorns, a cruel cross of wood;

Angels stand in silence, hardly understood,

A tomb lying empty. Rolled away, the stone,

Now seated in glory, this man upon his royal throne.

By Bill Thomas

                                                               

Welcome To Our World by Michael W. Smith

The wonder of Christmas is the glorious gift of Christ.

God entered this world, took on our flesh, felt our pain, experienced our frailty, cried our tears, dwelt with man.

He became our healing.

He became our salvation.

He became our manna,

He became our new wine.

He became our communion with the father.

Michael W. Smith captures this beautifully in Chris Rice’s song, Welcome to our world.

  

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long awaited Holy Stranger
Make yourself at home
Please make yourself at home

Bring your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
World now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Forgotten Heroes - Sergeant George Howell. V.C.

Sergeant George Julian (Snowy) Howell VC MM, 1st Battalion, AIF.

Sgt Howell was awarded the Victoria Cross as a Corporal (Cpl) for "conspicuous bravery" on 6 May 1917, near Bullecourt, France.

Cpl Howell climbed on...to the top of a parapet and under heavy fire proceded to bomb the enemy, pressing them back along the trench. After he exhausted his stock of bombs, he continued to attack the enemy with his bayonet, before being severely wounded.

A month before this action he was awarded the Military Medal "for courage and devotion to duty while leading a rifle bombing section" during the battalion's capture of the village of Demicourt.

He returned to Australia and was discharged on 5 June 1918.

He later served as a Staff Sergeant at Headquarters, Eastern Command, during the Second World War before joining the United States Sea Transport Service in August 1944. Note he has three wound stripes on his left sleeve

In Christ by Joseph Prince

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

I remember going through a terrible time of depression when I was 18 years old. Believing that I was demon-possessed, I sought out a great man of God to have him cast the devil out of me. But when this man of God laid hands on me, he began to prophesy over me. He said, “Joe, I see you preaching to thousands and used by God to impact thousands of lives. Joe, you are called by God and the devil is attempting to stop you.”

“What? I came here for deliverance! I am only interested in saving my own life, not preaching nor impacting lives,” I thought to myself then.

You see, what happened was that at that moment, God allowed this man to step into the timeless zone He exists in to bring my future before me. As far as God was concerned, my future had already happened, though I was only 18 years old then. Today, I am a pastor of a church which has more than 30,000 members. Today, I am seeing what was told to me long ago.

God does not see as we see. Abraham was a childless, 100-year-old man. His wife, Sarah, at 90 years old, was doubly dead in her womb. (Genesis 17:17) Yet, God saw him and talked to him as if he were already the father of many nations.

My friend, God wants you to see the way He sees. Right now, you may see yourself going through a trial in your marriage, work, finances or health. But God sees a blessed marriage, success at work, supernatural provision and a healed body because He tells you that you are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

You see, God sees you in Christ. So when you see yourself in Christ, who is outside time, you step into the timeless zone. In that timeless zone in Christ, whatever needs and trials of yours are already removed, repaired, restored or resurrected! In that timeless zone in Christ, you are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places!

In The Shade

Secluded

Hidden in the shadows

Enchanted

In the shade

My protection

Standing alone

Twisted darkness

Scaled and broken

Needing to be

Secure and protected.

My confessional

I stand in the stillness

Holding images and words

Held and kept and treasured within

Like precious stones

Haunting my past

Black seriousness demanded.

The forest ends

Memories depart

My future

Molded with prayer

My attention

Scaled and aware

Illuminated

Alight with the Divine

Always....

Always God is good

Always God makes me happy and produces surrendered joy

Always live by my new nature

Always live by God’s desire

Always walk in the Spirit’s covenant

Always remind myself of the finished work of Christ

Always declare that I am the righteousness of God

Always see his ridiculous, scandalous grace

Always all righteousness, life and goodness are found in him

Always let my heart be overwhelmed by my outrageous oneness in Christ

Always declare my absolute forgiveness

Always incline my ear to God’s word

Always I am immersed into Christ

Forgotten Heroes - Sub Lieutenant Roderick Dallas. D.S.O., D.S.C.

Sub Lieutenant Roderick Stanley (Stan) Dallas, No 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in the cock-pit of his aircraft.

Born in Queensland, Dallas sailed to England at the start of the First World War, seeking flight training and after being accepted into the RNAS, was commissioned as a Flight Sub Lieutenant, joining No 1 Squadron in December 1915.

During his service on the Western Front, in 1916 and 1917, he proved himself as an exceptional pilot and on 14 June 1917 he was made Commanding Officer of his Squadron. In 1918 after the amalgamation of the two air services to form the Royal Air Force (RAF), he was transferred to 40 Squadron RAF and held the rank of Major. ...

While on a reconnaissance operation, Dallas was struck with 3 bullets to his leg, after his safe return to base he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) having already been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) and Bar and the French award, the Croix de Guerre and Palm.

Major Dallas was killed in action on 1 June 1918, aged 26, while engaged in combat with Fokker Triplanes over France and is buried at Pérnes British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Major Dallas is officially credited with shooting down thirty nine enemy aircraft.

From A Park Bench - My Adoption Papers

Ephesians 1:5

‘He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.’

At work I have been in the process of upgrading our internet banking system, the helpful bank consultant took time with me explaining the alterations that would be put in place and confirmed all the critical information. It was an almost painless initial information gathering session and at its conclusion, he informed me that I would be receiving all the relevant paperwork which he would prepare for me. All that I need to do is read it, check it, sign and return it.

Before the world was created and before light was created, God had written and completed all my adoption papers, signed them, sealed them and kept them in his safe keeping.

There they waited, for Christ to come and die for me, because he took my place, all my sin, sickness, depression, shame, separation, so I could receive all His goodness,

And when I believed in Christ I was crucified with Christ because Christ died As me. I died with Christ, I was buried with Christ and I was resurrected In Christ and now I am a new creation and Christ lives and works inside and through me.

My adoption was made complete In Christ, but only when I believed and received His righteousness.

Now the adoption has been accepted I can never be separated from all the blessings that God has freely given me. He is mine and I am his, eternally and my adoption is complete.

The full revelation of what the Cross accomplished by Kris Vallotton

The full revelation of what the Cross accomplished in history is so dynamic that those who experience it are literally translated from the province of bondage to the gates of “Graceland”. Leaving the old country of death and despair behind, these folks come into the new world of mercy and hope. The people who successfully leave the old paradigm and begin to live in this new reality are those who understand that there is a dramatic difference between the ministry of the Old Covenant and the supernatural ministry of the New Covenant. While the ministry of both covenants is marked by divine demonstrations of power, the driving purpose behind these displays is completely different. 

Christians who come to the shores of this new world, called the Kingdom, but persist in walking in judgment have brought the stone tablets of the old country with them. These folks have a B.C. mindset—they understand the fact that sin requires judgment, but fail to realize that the wrath of God poured out on the Cross of Christ quenched the fires of judgment, unlocking the treasure of mercy in the heart of God Himself. People who don’t believe that the blood of Jesus altered Heaven’s perspective towards this planet scare me! They create a schizophrenic culture because they bring the cold steel values of the Old Covenant into their grace-filled life in Christ. This usually results in a strange mixture of judgment and mercy that is not only confusing but is also self-mutilating, faultfinding and often downright heartless.

Psalm 91

Held and Kept

It is an awesome thing

That God is our shepherd

And we are his sheep

He always speaks

The truth of promise into our hearts

I know His voice

A quiet whisper

A gentle message of love

Then as I dwell, meditate

In his presence, spirit

Depression, trouble,

Stress, status,

Are lost at the cross.

A bruised and broken life

Made new by His Spirit

And where He is

I am safe and warm

Held and kept

By His power

Alive inside

He is always here.

When Did The New Covenant Start by Zach Langhamer

When did the new covenant start?
- When Jesus died, not when Jesus was born.


"For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives." - Hebrews 9:17


So what covenant was still in effect while Jesus was alive teaching and preaching?- The old covenant


Does that mean we lump everything Jesus said and did into an "old" category that doesn't touch the new?- No, we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Neither do we administer certain medicine for one person's sickness to another without that sickness.

Jesus was the master physician and knew the entire purpose of the law was to break anyone of their self-righteousness so that they would cry out for a savior - it was the schoolmaster that pointed us to our need for Christ. (Gal 3:24)


So you see Jesus doing 2 things during his ministry:


1) Raising the standard of an already unkeepable law (613 commandments) to the very thoughts & intents of hearts. Pharisees thought if they never murdered, they were righteous, Jesus raises it and says if you are angry, you're a murderer. If you lust, you're an adulterer. You're only forgiven if you forgive. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off (this one gets washed over as hyperbole and exaggeration.)


What is he doing? Bringing the law back to its pristine standard and purpose - the intention of God was never that men keep the law - it was to break anyone of their ability to trust themselves - it was perfect medicine for the self-righteous heart so that the new covenant of grace would be received with humility, not with entitlement.


2) Ministering grace, love, unconditional forgiveness & acceptance to those who were already humbled, & broken. The woman caught in the act of adultery - by standards of the law was to be stoned, but Mr. Grace (Jesus) showed her grace & chased away every condemning voice against her. It was in this pure environment of no condemnation (no law but grace) she was empowered to go and sin no more.

The stories continue with lepers, tax collectors, cheats, the low caste of society - he had a much different message for them - the lost coin, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, than he did for the self righteous.


Was Jesus mixing covenants?- No, he preached law to those whom it was made for - the self-righteous, and prophesied of the grace that was to come after his death for those who were already broken. God in Christ was resisting the proud (law), and giving grace to the humble. (James 4:6) , What he taught his disciples was notably different than what he spoke against Pharisees. That comforts me.

Concerning responsibility for sin - if we are conditionally forgiven based on our forgiveness of others - I find it funny that Paul never once mentions it. Yet there are a whole slew of scriptures that attest to all of our sins being laid upon Christ - past present and future, and all sin being forgiven by God in Christ. My present position is that God has imputed all of my sin upon Christ with all of sin's punishment, wrath etc.. and IF I do sin, then my job is to get my eyes back on Jesus, not focus on my sin. Holy Spirit convicts me of righteousness, not sin. God has promised me under the main clause of the new covenant:

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." - Hebrews 8:12


The hot point of this statement makes people assume one is giving license to sin & they can just go do whatever they want if you tell people all of their sins are forgiven (even future sins)


*If that is all that you preach - unconditional forgiveness - that Jesus died for you (took all of your sin) and you DON'T preach the other half - that Jesus died as you (your old sinful self is dead and the new you is resurrected in Christ with a new clean, sinless nature) - then yes, you are setting people up to fall into licentiousness.


The message of finished works is 2-fold:


1) Jesus died for you (took all of your sin, sickness, poverty, shame etc..) so you could have all of his good


2) Jesus died as you (included you in his death, burial and resurrection to kill the old man and resurrect you into new life with a new heart and a new spirit - his law already written on your heart.)


Without both sides of this message - the grace covenant will continue to get discredited by preaching the incomplete gospel and creating grace hippies that don't know they have a new set of desires conducive with their new nature. Or we create people who know their old life is dead - but still relate to God on a performance-based relationship instead of grace-based where we "earn" (for lack of a better word) blessing from him rather than receive freely, and steward well in thanksgiving.


I'm so sorry this is so long. For sake of explanation on some of the above stuff I included a link to notes I made of a word I taught with a lot more scriptural references concerning law & grace, distinguishing covenants, and our role in them if anyone is interested.
http://tiny.cc/lawvsgrace

Forgotten Heroes - Captain George Wilkins M.C & Bar

Captain George Hubert Wilkins awarded bar to Military Cross.

Captain G H Wilkins, official AIF photographer, rallies United States troops at the battle of the Hindenburg Line, while taking photographs. For this action he was awarded a bar to his Military Cross, becoming the only Australian official photographer to be decorated for bravery in the field.

George Wilkins, explorer, war photographer and cinematographer, was born on 31 October 1888 at Mount Bryan East in South Australia. He studied electrical engineering at the South Australian School of Mines, mechanical engineering at the University of Adelaide and music at the University of Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium. At the same time he developed a keen interest in photography and cinematography.

In 1908 he moved to England to work for the Gaumont Film Company as a 'cinematographic cameraman'. Soon afterwards he began work as a reporter for the London Daily Chronicle, travelling to report on events overseas. He learned to fly and take aerial photographs and, in 1912, he left England to report on the Balkan War, becoming the first person to take motion pictures in the front line of a war zone. In 1913 he accepted a place on a Canadian Arctic expedition and was still there in 1916 when he first heard that the world was at war.

On returning to Australia he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Australian Flying Corps but was prevented from operational flying because of colour blindness. In July 1917 he was appointed as an official photographer with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and reached the Western Front in time to photograph the Australians during the Passchendaele campaign. By mid 1918, now a captain, he was given command of No. 3 (Photographic) Sub-Section of the Australian War Records unit. More adventurer than photographer, Wilkins was sometimes a participant in, as well as an observer of, war. In June 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross for helping wounded under fire and, in September, earned a bar to the award for leading a group of inexperienced American soldiers through a dangerous action. He is the only Australian official photographer to have been decorated.

In January 1919 Wilkins travelled to the Gallipoli Peninsula as a photographer with the Australian Historical Mission under the official historian, Charles Bean. His appointment with the AIF ended on 7 September 1920.

In later life Wilkins set out to explore the Arctic by air and flew from Alaska to Norway, for which he was knighted. Wilkins won a number of awards for his pioneering exploration work. In November 1928 and January 1929 he explored the Antarctic by air, and in the 1930s, made five further expeditions to the Antarctic. In 1931 he unsuccessfully attempted to take a First World War submarine, the Nautilus, under the Arctic ice to the North Pole. He subsequently worked in defence-related positions with the US Weather Bureau and the Arctic Institute of North America.

Wilkins died on 30 November 1958 in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was so highly regarded in the United States that his ashes were scattered at the North Pole by the crew of an American nuclear submarine. His output is represented in the Australian War Memorial collection by eight films and hundreds of photographs from the First World War.

From A Park Bench - God Chose Me In Christ

Every promise of God finds its completion In Christ. God chose me to be holy and blameless in Him before the foundation of the world and before I had done a single thing to earn it but rather through his glorious grace in which he makes me acceptable to himself. It was predestined that Christ would be the cause of my adoption not me.

God predestined me to relate to him by his righteousness and not my own. Before time God chose me. In time he justified me. After time he will glorify me. Neither my adoption, justification nor my glorification has anything to do with me. Only God can qualify me. The only thing I am called to do is have faith in Jesus and that faith is a gift given to me by God, I did not even have it. Faith is just my positive response to all God has provided for me by grace.

God called me to him because I was incapable of qualifying myself to respond by faith, it was all His ability to qualify me. Because he called me in Christ and He justified me In Christ, I will be glorified because I am In Christ. Likewise, those people who trust in their own self-efforts to be qualified will be lost for eternity.

I am now filled with the sunlight of God’s grace. God delights in me  because he sees Christ in me, I am the apple of my fathers eye and the joy of his heart. As a chosen child of God I have all the riches and glory of heaven living now inside of me. The overflowing waterfall of all heavens grace flows and cascades over every part of my life.

Grace Notes - Matthew 26:28

Matthew 26:28  "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

The amazing, wonderful reality of the New Covenant  is that God has now come to live inside man. We have access to God through Christ every second we live. As long as we breathe we can touch and know the presence of God.

Jesus will never leave us, by the Holy Spirit he is interwoven into our Spirit and Christ in all his fullness dwells within us.

We are never alone, we are never separated, the only barrier to living in the fullness of Christ is us. It is all there for us to receive and live in but it is limited by our response to his grace. God will not force himself upon us the more we enjoy, revel and depend upon his grace the more it will overflow out of our lives.

As Andrew Wommack explains the New Covenant is all about what God has done for us and made available to us.  

The principle of the Old Covenant was "do" and you shall live. The principle of the New Covenant is "it is done," and includes redemption, reconciliation, righteousness, and sanctification. The work is finished! We are complete in Him!

If the Old Covenant had no defects, there would have been no attempt to institute another (Heb. 8:7). In the Old Covenant, men found themselves unable to abide in its agreement, for it was based upon a man's performance.

The new agreement, however, is based totally upon God's grace. Under the Old Covenant, men approached God through a priest, while under the New Covenant, we have direct access to the Father through Jesus Christ. Under the Old Covenant, a man's sin led to his death while under the New Covenant, God is merciful to our unrighteousness. Under the Old Covenant, man could not be cleansed of a consciousness of sin while under the New Covenant, our sins and iniquities are remembered no more, and our guilty consciences are cleansed.

Prior to salvation we are incomplete and there is a constant striving in every person to satisfy their hunger. Through the new birth we are complete in Christ and our hunger now should only be for more revelation of what we already have in Christ.

In the same way that Jesus had the fullness of God in Him, we also have the fullness of Christ in us. That makes us complete or perfect in Him,  that is speaking of our spiritual man. Our born-again spirit is identical in righteousness, authority, and power to Christ's spirit, because our born-again spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). It has been sent into our hearts crying "Abba Father" (Gal. 4:6).

The Bride by Bill Thomas

As clear as crystal and shining like jasper,

She comes to take her place.

How long has she waited, how long has she yearned

To see her bridegroom’s face.

Her beauty like diamonds, her purity clear,

She waits for Him to appear;

No longer in thrall to the confines of earth,

For she’s waited many a year.

But who is this bride, this beauteous one,

Who waits for her suitor with pride?

Who is this queen, this princess of grandeur,

Who takes her place at His side?

She’s the true bride of Christ, she is every believer

 Made new in the Saviour‘s own blood;

Now gathered together, their lives changed forever,

As His mercy came in like a flood.

She is you, she is me, she is my family,

She’s that  girl with the long, curly hair,

She’s that man in the pulpit, that woman in tears,

That young man on his knees deep in prayer.

Every tongue, every nation takes part in her station,

And none her honour can smirch,

Her righteousness safe in the true arms of faith,

For she now dwells in Christ;  she’s The Church.

By Bill Thomas

                                             

Wonderful Grace

Helpless to raise, ungodly my heart

Drawing of favour, daily the mercy

The endless grace freely given.

So take his love

With undeserved heart, in our sin

He took my place, act of free grace

You the unqualified, rebellious and dirty,

Qualify by his grace,

There his salvation, his love, his atonement,

And his precious blood poured for me

And his life forever given

Unconditional love, undeserved and free,

Found in Christ, wonderful grace.

Life by Andrew Wommack

Already.....

Already he has poured out all that heaven has to offer

Already I have died and am one with Christ

Already I am seated with Christ in heavenly places

Already I have access to an open heaven

Already His breath fills my lungs

Already His life flows through my veins

Already He animates my heart, gives it life and vitality

Already He has provided by His grace everything I need before I needed it

Already He forgave all my sins before I exisited