Matthew 6:20-21 NIV: But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If your house is like mine, it may be filled with the typical creature comforts that seem to make life a little easier. In every room are likable things, comfortable furniture, appealing things. There are things for fun, things for relaxing, things for exercising, and things for apparently no reason at all. But what are all these things? How important are they? What if they were suddenly gone? How willing would you or I be to give them up? In regards to some things, I can´t help but think that there is a little child in me clinging to some things for dear life—ready to unleash a major tantrum if someone tries to take a particular something away. Perhaps the child in me doesn´t yet realize that if I let go of what I hold on to, that Jesus is ready to replace it with something far greater—something eternal.

Well, it is hard being a parent sometimes. On one hand you want them to grow up, but on the other hand you wish they were still small; no talking back, no arguing, baseball, basketball, boyscouts, well, you get the picture. My oldest son is planning to move to Kentucky. That is hard on mom and I. We are very excited that he has meet a sweet christain youg lady and he is excited about that too. I guess it's just hard letting them make their decisions instead of them being made for them. Mom and I have raised are boys to put God first in eveything. But we also know that as mear people, not worthy of HIS love, we can't help but worry about our choices that we make. Jason has a very good head on his shoulders. As parents we don't want our children to get hurt in any way. But when life knocks us to our knees, we are in a perfect position to PRAY!!!! Just rememeber Jason, everything will work out!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU, SON!!!!!

(enough rambling, sorry)

Andy Rooney

DID YOU KNOW? As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view ... it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!




.

DID YOU KNOW?

As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.




DID YOU KNOW?

As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall,
right above where the Supreme Court judges sit,
a display of the Ten Commandments!






DID YOU KNOW?



There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.


DID YOU KNOW?



James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement:

"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."


DID YOU KNOW?




Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".

DID YOU KNOW?

Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.


DID YOU KNOW?



Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.


DID YOU KNOW?

Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law . an oligarchy .
the rule of few over many.


DID YOU KNOW?

The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:




"Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."


How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
.

Lets put it around the world and let the world see and remember what this great country was built on.






Chamber, US House of Representatives



I was asked to send this on if I agreed or delete if I didn't. Now it is your turn...
It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, it is very hard to understand why there is such a mess about having the Ten Commandments on display or "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the other 14% to Sit Down and SHUT UP!!!

In His Presence: One who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1:25).

The final step in being transformed into the image of Christ by the Word of God is maintaining a relationship with the Word. James said the one who looks into the mirror of Scripture intently will not only read what it says, he will do it.

Prior to the fourteenth century, mirrors were made of metal instead of the glass ones we have today, and because of the metal, they were not very clear. The users had to move the mirror around in the light until the light hit it just perfectly and they were able to see a clear reflection of themselves.

James described the user of the mirror of Scripture in this same way. One who looks intently at Scripture must work with it, turn it, move all around in it in order for the light of the Word to illuminate all aspects of their being.

The psalmist said: "I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word" (Psalm 119:16). He prayed that God would hide His Word inside him.


James said that he who looks into Scripture intently also abides in it. To abide means the new nature should feed off this Word of God. Abiding in the Word means staying in the Word relationally, like a baby who is nursed by his mother. The child doesn't just eat; he eats the milk his mother provides.


Verse 25 also tells us the Word of God is the perfect law of liberty. Scripture will set you free, and it has no flaws in it. This perfect Word from God will totally transform you if you live in daily relationship with it.

I feel that this goes along with my sons post. We must examine ourselves; look inward at our TRUE hearts.

Don't give up the fight.

In His Presence: The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword . . . able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

If we want to be transformed by God's Word through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must behold it correctly. Second Corinthians 3:18 says we must behold with unveiled faces. When a woman gets married, she often walks down the aisle with a veil obscuring her face. Then the bridegroom removes the veil so that she is visibly exposed.


When you come before God's Word, your goal must be to be conformed into the image of Christ. You must be willing to be exposed to God's Spirit. You cannot come with fake prayers or fake spirituality. First John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We need to confess our sins before the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. We must be honest about our sinfulness and repent of anything that is keeping us from intimate communion with the Lord. If we are interested in being like Christ, we must expose the things that aren't like Him in our lives.


You cannot hide from God. That is why He tells us that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we will have fellowship with Him. He is all light, and He sees everything. When you go before the mirror of God's Word with unveiled face, exposed and nothing hidden, you are going into God's presence. When the Spirit works in the heart of a believer with an unveiled face who comes before God's Word, that believer is transformed from glory to glory, from one level to the next level.