Blessed, We Are!

Yes!  Blessed!

One of the hymns we sang at the Pastor's Fellowship today was Man of Sorrows, What a Name.  What a message!

1 Man of sorrows what a name
for the Son of God, who came
ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

2 Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
in my place condemned he stood,
sealed my pardon with his blood:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

3 Guilty, helpless, lost were we;
blameless Lamb of God was he,
sacrificed to set us free:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

4 He was lifted up to die;
"It is finished" was his cry;
now in heaven exalted high:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

5 When he comes, our glorious King,
all his ransomed home to bring,
then anew this song we'll sing:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Who else would do this for you?  If you said, no one, you are correct!  If you are a Christian, you KNOW you are blessed!  If you are not a Christian, this song tells you what the Son of God did for the sinner when He became the Son of Man!  He was sinless, yet he became sin for me.....for you!  I was the guilty one.....you are guilty of sin against a holy God!  Yet He was willing to be sacrificed for me.....for you.....to set us free!  Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

Blessed?  Oh, YES!

My sweet friends, Ilene and Carolyn!  (Clearly, Carolyn is trying to escape the picture!)  

Today was the first Pastor's Fellowship I have attended since my sweet husband went home to heaven on August 8, 2017.  It was a sweet reunion!  I have so missed the fellowship with the dear men and women of God who faithfully attend these meetings!  This is the first meeting of its kind that Ilene has attended.  She thoroughly enjoyed it!  We will go again, I am sure!  Thank You, LORD, for these dear, faithful servants!  Thank You for the bond we share in Christ! 

We were talking about that special bond on the way home tonight.  It is so wonderful!  There is just NOTHING on earth like the bond we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ!  What encouragement we give to one another.  What support in times of sorrow!  What enjoyment we have in one another's company!  What love we share!  And it is all because HE first loved us!

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

One of the proofs that we are Christians is that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ.   1 John  4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.

Where would I be without the love, friendship, encouragement, prayers and support from these dear people?  I don't want to know!  I am just so thankful for this gift from God!  What do the unsaved do in times of great sorrow and no hope for the future?  My hope is built on Jesus Christ and nothing less!  There is no hope apart from Him!

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Will you be found in Him when the trumpet sounds and He gathers the Christians from the four corners of the earth?  I pray you are in Him!

Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ!  Thank you for your wonderful words of encouragement!  Thank you for your prayers!  Thank you for your love!  Thank you!  I love you dearly and cherish every minute we can be together!  May God bless you richly is my prayer!