Notes On Baptism

Baptism is a sacrament we do in the manner Jesus Himself was baptized. It should be done in “the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” We are instructed in such a fashion as described in the Scriptures, but unlike the Old Testament we do not only do it for the clergy, because under Christ we are all in the priesthood, so all believers need to be baptized. What follows is a short summary of things to understand about baptism. Followed by an outline which can be used in a bible class on Baptism from

And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
Matthew 3:14-15

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Romans 6:3-5

Would You Like To Hear About My Best Friend Jesus?

When you give your life to Jesus, HE should become everything to you. Your strength, your joy, your comfort, and the insatiable desire of your heart. Everything we learn about our Savior offers us more satisfaction, more faith, more rest. Jesus is a never ending, never exhausted banquet of Mana that will fill our souls. HE is the water of life that will quench our thirst forever. Nothing tastes better to our hearts than him, and because of the Gospel we can keep eating of HIS goodness for all of eternity.

This Psalm I Sing To Christ, Our King

by Chuck Ness

I got angry, and I stepped out in the flesh in my response to something that I perceived as a wrong. However, it is not my place to correct the World, for the World is lost, and so who am I to fix that which I cannot. All I can do is share the truth, while remembering to do so in love, or else I will be a poor ambassador for Christ Jesus.

I understand it's OK to get angry at those who act as the Pharisees did, because Jesus got angry with them. For they walked around in a way to be seen for their good deeds, while in truth their hearts only cared for the worldly profit they could gain. Those men who claim to teach the Word of GOD, but are just wolves deceiving others with their words of silk and songs of love, truly deserve our wrath but those lost in the World do not.

Lord my God, my Savior, my King, forgive me for stepping in the flesh by chastising the lost. Yes, I allowed myself to walk in the flesh by ridiculing one lost in the Lord, by doing so, I put a stumbling bock that could keep them from coming to You my LORD. We are called to give an invitation to those lost in the World. An invitation to come to You my LORD so they can be healed, not to chase them away as the Pharisees did.

This Psalm I Sing To Jesus Christ, Our King

Forgive me O'LORD, and wash away my guilt so I can again enter into YOUR presence with a pure and forgiven heart.

We are but the dirt YOU formed from Adam's seed, yet when YOU came down to us through Eve's seed, we found forgiveness through Your Blood on the Cross for our evil deeds.

We have been reborn as new creatures, and now we walk down the path towards Your Celestial City, and when we arrive O'Lord we shall receive a crown of righteousness, which we will gladly toss at YOUR feet, and live eternally in YOUR presence.

My Lord, my God, upon Your Name I stake my claim, for upon the Cross You took my blame, now all I have is Yours O'Lord, because all You had you gave to save my wretched soul.

O'LORD, my GOD, my Savior, my King, to YOU this Psalm I sing.

Amen

What Happened to The Virtuous Woman? Proverbs 31:10-31

Many women believe that their charm and beauty is what makes them the person who they are, yet as the proverb tells us,

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised

Proverb30:30

Peter tells women;

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes--
rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Some of the worst lies told today are that we are all the same. We are told that regardless of what plumbing you were born with, you can be whatever sex you so desire to be. The Bible is just a bigoted, homophobic, anti-woman book and Western religious values are stupid and wrong.

Plus, girls have been taught from kindergarten through college that men are just a bunch of stupid, boorish, vile creatures who only care about sex. Which is interesting since, the more liberated women gets, the more they want to be creatures who only care about sex themselves.

The effects of these lies on modern women has been devastating. They lead women into poor quality relationships, unhealthy eating and lifestyles, shacking up instead of marriage, many more women are victims of rape today than ever. This is especially a problem with attractive women, who are often times spoiled by their parents, by men, and by society, in general.

Beautiful young girls are given more breaks and end up in the most popular clubs, they end up pampered and praised for their beauty by being chosen for cheerleader teams while the popular most handsome boys who play sports pick them as their girlfriends in their teens. Even as they get close to graduating high school their parents shower them clothing that enhances their beauty, In college and adult life, their looks can open up doors for them to get jobs that less attractive women may not get, All the while the money and benefits that come with money makes the path for their future more bright just because the world classifies them as one of the beautiful people.

All this does not make their life easier, in reality, more times than not it is more harmful for these women, because it could make them more angry. How, few take them serious because of the easy ride they had, and they begin rejecting the idea that they are what you see, not what they are. This type of adoration though is not love, In so many women it only leads to unhappiness, depression and plenty of anger. Not to mention what it does to the psyche of the less good looking women of our society. The ones who go the extra mile, just to lose out to those who are automatically classified above them because of the looks dept.

Instead of a society of woman raised on the Word of God to be virtuous loving wives and nurturing mothers as spoken of in Proverb 30, we have raised a society full of angry women more aligned with the women of Proverbs 14:1 and 30:20;

The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands. Proverb 14:1

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
And says, "I have done no wickedness." Proverb 30:20

Proverb 31 (NKJV)

The Words of King Lemuel's Mother

01 The words of King Lemuel,
00 the utterance which his mother taught him:

02 What, my son?
00 And what, son of my womb?
00 And what, son of my vows?
03 Do not give your strength to women,
00 Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

04 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
00 It is not for kings to drink wine,
00 Nor for princes intoxicating drink;
05 Lest they drink and forget the law,
00 And pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
06 Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
00 And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
07 Let him drink and forget his poverty,
00 And remember his misery no more.

08 Open your mouth for the speechless,
00 In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
09 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
00 And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The Virtuous Wife

10 Who can find a virtuous wife?
00 For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
00 So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
00 All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
00 And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
00 She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
00 And provides food for her household,
00 And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
00 From her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
00 And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
00 And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
00 And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
00 Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
00 For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
00 Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
00 When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
00 And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
00 She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
00 And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
00 And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
00 Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many daughters have done well,
00 But you excel them all."
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
00 But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
00 And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Lord Jesus Come Quickly

by Chuck Ness

The times we are entering, will be full of evil and deceit. It is already creeping in like a fog over the waters of a small creek, but soon it will engulf the entire valley.

As we all walk through this valley of evil which we have allowed ourselves to be entering, we must remember not to fear the desires of the evil one. Even though it may abound and encompass everything around us, we must remember that our LORD will protect and guide us as we traverse the fog.

Even though our very bones will feel the evil, our Lord will give us the courage to continue on through the shadow cast amongst us in this valley of death. His rod and His staff shall comfort us, and with His strength and righteousness we shall overcome the evils we are facing.

LORD, forgive us our sins, and give us wisdom and courage to do that which we must do to ensure that our path will be clear and straight as we follow You through this fog of deceit.

LORD Jesus,,,,,,,,, come quickly.

A Desire for The Lord's Guidance

I wrote this Psalm in my morning journal many years ago. After spending a few hours reading
the Word in the morning, the Holy Spirit will sometimes move me to write something
that is beyond my own expectation. The Psalm below was one for those moments.

by Chuck Ness

My Father my Lord, show me the way to Your paradise, guide my steps so that I may not fall into the quagmire of sin. Show me my faults Lord, so that I may correct them and be restored into Your imperial court. Instruct me in the ways of Your will O' Lord, so that I may not be defiled or corrupted by my own selfishness.

When I walked in the dark I found myself lost in the alley of despair, not realizing that my way was one of ruin and constant failure. I now follow You, my Creator, my Savior, the Infinite One who breathes the life I inhale.

Lord, my soul continually craves for the manna from Your plantation of plenty, while my heart thirsts for the pure water from Your Rock of Salvation. I shall sit back in Your chariot of fire and accept Your tutelage while You chauffeur me on my way to paradise.

O'Lord, Your way is straight and the guidance You give me is exceedingly perfect. I shall praise Your name daily as I thank You for keeping me safe while you continually wash away the filth that I allowed myself to be corrupted with along the way.

Amen

Proverbs NKJV

Book Of Proverbs The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. Through Solomon, God shared His Wisdom, and He made sure that no topic was left to question. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings. Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly. One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings. We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of appointing God fearing men in positions of power, we chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us. It is incumbent upon us to chose leaders who have faith in Christ, then and only then can we be assured that they will make wise decisions. Paul tells us that Christ is the Wisdom of God, so if you do not have Christ in your heart, it is impossible to make wise decisions. Instead our leaders continue to make decisions based upon man's wisdom. Yet we know that God uses foolish things to bring man's wisdom to shame. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.1Corinthians 1:26-31 Now of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel's mother wrote Proverb 31. Many scholars believe Lemuel was in fact a nick name Solomon's Mother, Bathsheba, gave him. If so, then Proverb 31 would have been written by Bathsheba. Solomon wrote over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs of Solomin that God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24. Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject, and no one can be sure of the dates. Other than to say that Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs in his younger years, and as he got older his many wives led him into idolatry. He did return in his late years, and that is when he wrote Ecclesiastes. Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.