Graduation: Where Will It Take You? Whoever Forgives. Pentecost: God Gives the Holy Spirit. D-Day: Taking On the Impossible. Update.

 

For Scripture Sunday:

Graduation: Where Will It Take You?

"For many young people, the end of May and into the month of June is graduation time. As they leave high school and university many horizons are open to graduates; more schooling, maybe a time to gain skills and experience, possibly a job or internship.
Graduation is a gateway; a door is opened just as the experience of school is finished. A change occurs and a new stage of life begins.
Another critical event also takes place about this time of the year, actually just over a week away. The Feast of Pentecost, a biblical Holy Day listed in Leviticus 23, falls on June 8th this year.

During the time just after the death of Jesus Christ, this particular festival took on added meaning for early Christians. The followers of Christ, who had repented of their sins, been baptized and had hands laid on them in prayer, received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God, which works with and in the human mind to develop and change it to become the mind of Christ. Jesus Christ is the first of the spiritual firstfruits that the Day of Pentecost represents.

Baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit is kind of like graduation. It begins a new stage of our life and it signifies a commitment to a new way of living. It has a deeper meaning, too, because it also represents our first steps into the ultimate, eternal family of God. This family is brought to fulfillment when the faithful of God are resurrected at the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. For more information about this incredible potential for humans beings to become on the same plane of existence as God, please read The Gospel of the Kingdom."

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Proverbs: Whoever Forgives

Wisdom that sticks with you - straight from God's Word.

Source: freeimages.com/Valsilvae

“Whoever forgives an offense seeks love, but whoever keeps bringing up the issue separates the closest of friends,” (Proverbs:17:9, GW).

This is a good lesson to remember about relationships—knowing how to forgive and forget.

George Washington Carver, the famous African-American inventor, was refused admission to a college because he was black. Years later, when someone asked him for the name of the college, he answered, "It doesn't matter!" He had completely overcome the offense.

Can we do the same in our lives?"  From: http://www.ucg.org/youth/proverbs-whoever-forgives/

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Pentecost: God Gives the Holy Spirit

"Pentecost marked the giving of the Holy Spirit and the founding of the Church. What does this harvest festival show about God’s plan of salvation?

"Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, is one of the harvest festivals that represent the plan of salvation.

Jesus’ crucifixion on Passover was a pivotal event in history. And just over seven weeks later, another watershed event occurred on the Feast of Pentecost.

Pentecost of promise

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4; for more about the miracle of speaking in tongues, see the article “What Is Speaking in Tongues?”).

During His ministry, Jesus Christ had told His disciples about the power of His Holy Spirit that they would need and would receive. By faithfully obeying God’s command to gather on His feasts, they were ready to receive this miracle.

God used the accompanying miracles to draw a large crowd to hear Peter preach a powerful sermon:

“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’

“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. …’

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:36-38, 41).

More at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/pentecost/    by Mike Bennett 

And more at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/pentecost/the-sermon-that-launched-the-church/

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The Importance of Pentecost

Acts 2:1 - When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

"What would have happened if the disciples hadn’t all gathered together to celebrate God’s Feast of Pentecost? The fact that God used this annual festival as the date to start His New Testament Church is no accident. Neither was the fact that Christ was crucified on Passover.

Each of the “festivals of the LORD” has great meaning to Christians today. Learn more about these festivals and their meanings in our free booklet From Holidays to Holy Days: God’s Plan for You.

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D-Day and Eternal Life: Taking On the Impossible

Source: freeimages.com/babykrul

"Can you achieve the impossible?

Next week, on June 6 ^th is D-Day, the commemoration of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France on the Normandy coast in 1944. It was the largest coordinated invasion in history. It made the Spanish Armada look like toy-boats.

It’s been made into so many movies and included in so many storylines since the Second World War that those of us born in the interim think of it in those terms; Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The War by Ken Burns, or The Longest Day (for old movie buffs), among so many others. Countless books, interviews, and accounts of the experience have been recorded, but if we can step back to the months leading up to that day we’d realize that it was probably the most audacious military plan in modern history."  More at: http://www.ucg.org/blog/d-day-and-eternal-life-taking-impossible/

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Update:

We have gradually been sorting out and packing up the yard sale items.  Several boxes of stuff have been donated.  Then we had a lot of rain, and even though under cover, the cloth items got damp, so they can't be packed up until completely dry.  I have had to wash some of them, too.

Thursday, I saw the lung doctor to get the results of my lung ct-scan.  He said I was in great shape.  I no longer have the shortness of breath that I did when I came out of the hospital, as the infection in my lungs has cleared up.  Also, no lung cancer even after 60+ years of a pack a day, which I stopped when I had this heart attack!  Now I don't have to spray Fabreze on my clothes before I go into church. I feel great about that, as I always knew it was biblically wrong to smoke, but never could get around to quitting.

Yesterday, Ray, Jay and I went to church.  The readings from the Bible were Lev.16-19 and Eze.22:1-19.  The message was about how God is our provider, and how he provided clothes and shoes that didn't wear out, for all those thousands in the big exodus for 40 years. He also provided poultry for them to eat and manna.  He also provides for us, but often we don't realize or acknowledge it.  The service and potluck was enjoyed by all.

Jay found a young Siamese male cat crying under his Mom's house.  We brought it up here, and I have it in my grooming room.  It seems very friendly, and there was a notice at the mail boxes about a lost Siamese.  But when I left messages at the number, I have still have not had a reply after two days.