Reset Button Time

~ What Will You Do Differently in 2024? ~

 

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General ~ I have enjoyed great years, mediocre years, and survived some very difficult years.

 

Some things happen that are beyond our control. However, we can choose to control our reactions to events in our lives.

 

Each new year provides a fantastic opportunity! 

 

2024 provides a reset button so that we can become more like Christ.

 

Scripture ~ “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

 

“We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~~~~   

3 Views of the Church, 3of3

~ 3 “B” Word Pictures from Ephesians; Bride ~

 

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Bride  ~  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:25-33).

 

The true Church of Jesus Christ is the bride of Christ and Christ is the Bridegroom.

 

How about you? Are you excitedly waiting for the divine wedding feast?

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

 

For Specific Information about individual books go to:

https://www.booksrlr.com/

 

* * * * *

Fool Characteristics, 40

~ Fools Don’t Learn From Mistakes ~

 

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Series Note  ~  In this series we look at some of the passages in the Book of Proverbs – wise sayings that are generally true – that describe a fool from God’s perspective.  Some may surprise you. 

 

Chapter Note  ~  Eleven of the first twelve verses of Proverbs 26 contain a comment about fools (only verse 2 does not).

 

Scripture  ~  “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11).

 

Important Truth  ~  “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~~~~   

Newness In Christ, 8

~ Christians Have A New Destination ~

 

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Scripture  ~  “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:1-4).

 

Comment  ~  It has been said by many secular individuals that life is a journey, and that is true.  For the Christian his final destination has changed from hell to heaven.  Where is your final destination?

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~~~~   

God Attribute, 100

~ Righteous ~

 

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This Series  ~  This series of posts looks at some of the many attributes of God.  Generally, we move in alphabetical order.

 

Scripture  ~  “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright” (Psalm 11:7).

 

“Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments. Your testimonies, which You have commanded, are righteous and very faithful” (Psalm 119:137-138).

 

“The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked” (Psalm 129:4).

 

“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works” (Psalm 145:17).

 

“Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’? Surely there is no one who shows, surely there is no one who declares, surely there is no one who hears your words” (Isaiah 41:26).

 

“Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You about Your judgments” (Jeremiah 12:1a).

 

“The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His commandment” (Lamentations 1:18a).

 

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice” (Daniel 9:13-14).

 

“Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame” (Zephaniah 3:4-5).

 

Jesus said, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:25-26).

 

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

 

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 2:29).

 

“And I heard the angel of the waters saying: ‘You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due’” (Revelation 16:5-6).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~

Why Trust God? 74

~ God Can Protect You Even In A Furnace ~

 

|||* BOOKS EXTRAVAGANZA: See Below *|||

 

Introduction  ~  “Abundant Life Now” previously provided a list of Biblical of examples of fearing / reverencing God (217 posts).  In this current series we look at Biblical accounts that demonstrate that we can fully trust God.  Initially we posted seven general reasons for trusting God.  We are currently looking at passages from all 66 books of Scripture which demonstrate a reason for trusting our Creator. 

 

Scripture  ~  “Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.  And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.  Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.  Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

 

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’  They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’  ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’

 

“Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.’  Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.  And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

 

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!  Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.’  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3:19-30).

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~~~

Something To Consider

~ A Reversal ~

 

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*****

A thousand times in history a baby has become a king to rule a nation. 

 

Only one time has a King become a Baby so save ALL nations.” 

 

*****

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages 

~~~~~~~~~~~   

In Jesus We Have… , 48

~ In Jesus We Have Eternal Life, 15 ~

 

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Introduction ~ In this series we look at a few of the verses which state what we have when we are “in Christ.”  Consider our series theme verse: 

 

“God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

 

Currently we are posting some of the many verses which talk about eternal life?

 

What is your definition of “eternal”?

 

Scripture ~ “But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor’” (John 12:23-26).

 

Comment ~ I like to consider one-word descriptions of the Bible.  There are many but my favorite is “forgiveness.” 

 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

AWARD-WINNING CHRISTIAN NON-FICTION

Half-Price eBooks ~ Right now you can obtain any, or all, of my eBooks for half-price (epub). Only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=robert+lloyd+russell 

 

Choose From:

          Christian Concepts Series

GOD’S CHURCH: Christ’s Pearl

GOD’S NATURE: Sonlight Sunlight

GOD’S CHILD: Like A Tree

 

                     Christian Growth Series

GOD’S DESIRE: How to Finish Strong

GOD’S LIGHT: How to Respond

CHRIST’S DISCIPLE: How to Finish Strong

 

                     Christian Theology Series

CHRIST’S BLOOD: 7+ Amazing Benefits

PRIDE: Good and Bad

TEMPTATION: 50+ Tips

 

                     Bible Character Series

SAMSON: Spirit-Controlled to Self-Centered

PETER: Failure to Faith

 

                     Missions

JIM ELLIOT: Recorded Messages