TEARS IN A BOTTLE

At Church yesterday Todd brought up a verse that I have never heard before.

Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.

Man, that verse just blew me away. Our minds are so small. To try and figure out God is impossible. God's love is so amazing and so awesome to try and understand God's love or just how big and powerful He is would be impossible. Our minds can't do it. To think that He keeps track of ALL my sorrows and collects ALL my tears in a bottle and then records each tear in His book. WOW!!! We should never ever feel alone. In (Deuteronomy 31:8), The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. In (Psalm 139:7-10), Where can i go from Your Spirit? Where can i flee from Your presence? If i go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
(Proverbs 5:21), For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths. Whatever you might be going threw in your life right now, just know that God is right there with you and He will never leave you. I found this awesome blog that somebody else wrote. I would love to share it with you. It's pretty amazing!

Tears In A Bottle
Aren’t tears a mysterious part of what it means to be human? It is strange that we have the capacity to cry—to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose—although science can explain the physiological “why” and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.

That still leaves the question of “why” tears—why were we created with that capacity?

Perhaps this psalm provides a clue. Maybe they are to remind us that God cares about the things that make us sad enough to shed tears. So much does he bear our sorrow that he collects our tears in a bottle, as the New Living Translation says, or as other versions put it, “he records them in his ledger.” In other words, God takes note—implying that he is not only aware of our sadness, but he will not forget it.

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over?

It is likely that no one truly knows the depth of what you are feeling right now. Maybe no one will ever see those tears that have rolled down your cheek—and the intense hurt that caused them. Even if they do see your tears, how sad it is that long before your pain is healed, people will forget and move on.

But there is One who sees…and One who cares…and One who never forgets…and One who will never move on! And He wants you to know that, my friend. And that One, your Heavenly Father, simply asks you to take comfort in His compassion for you
(Psalm 103:13, and to place your trust in him. In fact, so strongly does he desire your trust, that he extends the invitation twice just to make sure you really know his heart for you. (Psalm 56:4,10-11)
I hope you will do that. Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

God vs. Capital Punishment

On the show this morning Buck started talking about the paper he is writing in school about Capital punishment and if it's right in the eyes of God. I havn't studied this subject before and I really didn't know how to answer it at the time. Well, the best way we can find out about what is right and wrong in God's eyes is to open up the word of God and see what it has to say.

The commandment that we find in the bible, "Thou shall not murder" Murder is taking someone's life in a selfish, unrighteous sort of way. There is also the idea of taking life in a righteous way, which is not frowned upon in scripture but is actually commended in scripture. In the book of ROMANS 13:1-4
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. THERE IS NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD. SINCE HE ALONE IS THE SOVEREIGN RULER OF THE UNIVERSE, HE HAS INSTITUTED 4 AUTHORITIES ON EARTH. 1.(THE GOVERNMENT OVER ALL CITIZENS. 2.(THE CHURCH OVER ALL BELIEVERS. 3.(THE PARENTS OVER ALL CHILDREN. 4.(THE MASTERS OVER ALL EMPLOYEES. HUMAN GOVERNMENTS AUTHORITY DERIVES FROM AND IS DEFINED BY GOD. HE INSTITUTED HUMAN GOVERNMENT TO REWARD GOOD AND TO RESTRAIN SIN IN AN EVIL, FALLEN WORLD. SINCE ALL GOVERNMENT IS GOD-ORDAINED, DISOBEDIENCE IS REBELLION AGAINST GOD. NOT GOD'S JUDGEMENT, BUT PUNISHMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR BREAKING THE LAW.


The death penalty was first instituted by God Himself in Genesis 9:6: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."Man is the highest form of life on this earth, created in God's own image, and crowned with glory and honor (Psa. 8:5). God has given man the MORAL DUTY to execute those who choose to take the lives of others.



Another question we had this morning was "Can a christian serve in the armed forces?" When John the Baptist started his ministry there were a number of groups of individuals that came to him, that wanted to know what God required of them. And some of the individuals that came to him were soldiers. When they came to John the baptist they had this question for him. Luke 3:10-14 What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 14Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay." John didn't tell the soldiers, "You evil men, you do violent things, drop your sword and start growing daises." He didn't say that. He said do your job and don't abuse your position and don't grumble about your pay all the time. We are to follow Christ as we serve in whatever He has for us to do.



Exodus 21:12 says, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death."
Someone says, "Well, that's just the Old Testament law. The New Testament doesn't support the death penalty." Read Acts 25:11? Have you read Roman 13:1-4? What about Revelation 13:10? God has never changed His law of Capital Punishment for murderers!


In Acts 25:11 the apostle Paul says, "For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Paul admitted that some things were "worthy of death," and that he was willing to "die" if he was guilty of such an offense. If the death penalty is not for today, then why didn't Paul tell us?


Those in authority are ordained by God (just as in Genesis 9:6) to "execute" wrath upon evil doers. Paul said, "...he beareth not the sword in vain..."A sword is used for one thing: KILLING! Killers are to be killed, and God's will has not been fulfilled until our governing bodies have executed wrath upon those who have killed others.

This is what I found in the word of God "The Bible" about God's view on capital punishment. If anyone would like to respond to what I found in the bible I would love that. I am going to take what I found and send it over to some people that know more about the bible than I do. I will let you all know if I find anything else.

Dex