Free Republic

In the fall of my 29th year I was married to my second husband. He was a mechanic at a local car dealership, which was handy because I worked as a part-time rural mail carrier and my 2 vehicles often needed repairs. I also worked nights at two different jobs; one was at the neighborhood country store, and one was as a bartender at a mid-range restaurant, known for its beer selection, in the same town where my husband worked. The restaurant policy was to give the workers a free shift drink at the end of the night. One night...

15 Reasons Why Jesus Came 1. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 2. Jesus Christ came into the world to call sinners to repentance. Mark 2:17, When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 3. Jesus Christ came into the world to seek...

The Revelation details how the world in the end times will be deceived by BIG PHARMA and vaccines. What is happening worldwide with COVID-19 is no accident. Evil men with a globalist totalitarian agenda have done this. One of them is probably the antichrist, or the antichrist is just about to appear on the scene. It seems so easy to figure out, now that a little more of the enemy's hand has been revealed. All one needs to do is follow the headlines and do a word study of the original Greek in passages of the Revelation that mention sorcery,...

BREAKING: It is 10:40am here in Israel and more than 400 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza in the last few hours — more than on any other single day in history. The IDF is retaliating. Children and their parents have had to sleep in bomb shelters all night. More rockets are coming in as I write this. High risk of even further escalation. Please pray for calm to be restored. Pray, too, for all who are being traumatized on both sides to experience the supernatural comfort of the Lord.

    Nearly four years after winning the Iowa caucuses — and derailing Mitt Romney's express train to the Republican nomination for president — Mike Huckabee is returning to Iowa in the homestretch of the 2012 caucus campaign. The former Arkansas governor and current Fox News host is providing a forum for candidates to discuss their pro-life stance. Huckabee will premiere a 60-minute documentary produced by Citizens United, called "The Gift of Life," Wednesday night at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. GOP presidential candidates Michele Bachman, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich will each give a five- to...

Do You See Your Calling? " . . . separated to the gospel of God. . . " —Romans 1:1 Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell— it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is...

The Dilemma of Obedience " Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision " —1 Samuel 3:15 God never speaks to us in dramatic ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand. Then we say, "I wonder if that is God’s voice?" Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him "with a strong hand," that is, by the pressure of his circumstances (Isaiah 8:11). Without the sovereign hand of God Himself, nothing touches our lives. Do we discern His hand at work, or do we see things as mere occurrences? Get into the habit of saying, "Speak, Lord,"...

How Could Someone Be So Ignorant! " Who are You, Lord? " —Acts 26:15 "The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . ." (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances. God has to destroy our determined confidence in our...

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus! " Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? " —Acts 26:14 Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of "the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and...

Look Again and Think " Do not worry about your life . . . " —Matthew 6:25 A warning which needs to be repeated is that "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches," and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult...

Look Again and Consecrate " If God so clothes the grass of the field . . . will He not much more clothe you . . . ? " —Matthew 6:30 A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that "if God so clothes the...

Leave Room for God " When it pleased God . . . " —Galatians 1:15 As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him— to give God "elbow room." We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way, but do look for Him. The...

God’s Overpowering Purpose " I have appeared to you for this purpose. . . " —Acts 26:16 The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was not a passing emotional experience, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him. And Paul stated, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:15-19). Our Lord said to Paul, in effect, "Your whole life is to be overpowered or subdued by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine." And the Lord also says to us, "You did not choose...

Transformed by Beholding " We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image. . . " —2 Corinthians 3:18 The greatest characteristic a Christian can exhibit is this completely unveiled openness before God, which allows that person’s life to become a mirror for others. When the Spirit fills us, we are transformed, and by beholding God we become mirrors. You can always tell when someone has been beholding the glory of the Lord, because your inner spirit senses that he mirrors the Lord’s own character. Beware...

Am I Looking To God? " Look to Me, and be saved . . . " —Isaiah 45:22 Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, "Look to Me, and be saved . . . ." The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and...

Recall What God Remembers " Thus says the Lord: ’I remember . . . the kindness of your youth . . .’ " —Jeremiah 2:2 Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can...

Are You Fresh for Everything? " Jesus answered and said to him, ’Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ " —John 3:3 Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes? Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born...

Vision and Darkness " When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him " —Genesis 15:12 Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in "the shadow of His hand" (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a "darkness" that comes from too much light - that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time...

"It Is the Lord!" " Thomas answered and said to Him, ’My Lord and my God!’ " —John 20:28 Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ " (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. "You shall be witnesses to Me . . ." (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may...

The Call of the Natural Life " When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me. . . " —Galatians 1:15-16 The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the...