the redemption story

Good evening people of God and everybody who is seeking the truth. This is Reverend Mary coming to you from Along The Way Ministries in the holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This ministry was given to me by Heavenly Father August 14, 2006 as a disciple of Christ. I am bound in the spirit of love and obedience to do the will of God to go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost as scripture can be found in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19. Good evening people of God and people who are seeking the truth. I have something to say this evening. It's been a while. It's been a few weeks since I was talking about the redemption story and I want to do a little bit more talking about the redemption story. I want to do a little bit more reflecting on the redemption story this evening. This story has nothing to do with time as we know it. Time does not govern our God for He is timeless. He is Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. You know He put time in place for us. We human beings. We are the ones who need time for the purpose of learning self-control, discipline, obedience, justice, you know and to keep God's laws for reflection, to keep ourselves straight. All things with us take time brothers and sisters. When it comes to redemption do not take time for granted. The Bible tells us that the day is the day of salvation. We are given one day at a time as we breathe. This is the time to reflect because tomorrow is not promised to us. So we need not take time for granted. Ephesians 5.15 says, see that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise circumspectly. It means to be careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences because there are consequences to all our actions. We want to be wise. Verse 16, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Verse 17, wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is. This is how we are going to stay on the right track. Knowing what God expects of us and you know what, caring about what He thinks and how He feels, showing Him that we love Him because He has bent over backward to show us how much He loves us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, His only begotten, oh my goodness, He gave the best, the very best He had for us to forgive us, to redeem us, to set us free. God is good. All His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures through all generations. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 54 verse 10, just to show you just how good God is, to expound on how God loves us. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Oh, how precious and uplifting those words are to a tired and weary soul. Oh, people of God, those who are seeking the truth, be refreshed people because God has a way that is mighty sweet. He is able to lift your burdens, glory to God. He knows what terrible conditions this world is in, folks. He knows what we go through, He knows what we have to endure, but He told us that we will have trials and tribulations, but He also said, I will not forsake you. He is saying, I will not leave you, I will not leave you nor forsake you. You know, our Heavenly Father knew that we needed a champion, a real superman, a savior, someone with the heart of a revolutionary, radical, ready to change things, to shake them up. But not with swords and weapons of war, that's worldly stuff, that's where the enemy is coming from. It's happy when you put a weapon in your hand and destroy somebody's life with it. When you destroy somebody's life, it's like a snowball effect. You can't touch one person without affecting someone else, amen? You can't do it. It's almost, it's almost totally, in my opinion, and I speak because I believe what the Lord tells us, that no man is an island, no man stands alone. You know, everyone, everyone cares about someone else, everybody does, and everybody needs somebody else. So therefore, you know, it's just, oh my God, oh, let me get back to this, let me, let me, let me say this, whereas the enemy promotes weapons of war for the destruction of mankind, God uses powerful weapons of spiritual warfare. Our Savior came using the words of His mouth, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing and the sunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is concerned of the thoughts and intents of the heart. His name is Jesus, Jesus, the name that's above all names. The only way, His name is the key to the throne of grace. His name is the key to healing by faith. You call on the name of Jesus by faith. God said He would not withhold not one good thing from us. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, oh, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, Savior, I am everlasting light, wonderful, Counselor, Son of God, He is the Bread of Life, oh, He is the Ancient of Days, He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, unto our God be all glory and majesty in the name of Jesus. Folks, let's go to Isaiah, chapter 54, verse 10 again. Let me read this again, because this is just so beautiful, for the uplifting of the Spirit to give us hope, to keep us excited in Christ. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that have mercy on thee. Praise the Lord, He is mighty, mighty good, and Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6-7, tells a redemption story, and I love the way the redemption story is told in the book of Isaiah, preparing the way, preparing us for the coming of the Savior, and then, as we know, that story, that redemption story goes on into the Gospels, but right now, I want to read this, for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, and henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the host, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this, and the word zeal, it means eagerness, how about that people, praise God, God is eager, He is eager to bless us, that is so wonderful. The scripture tells us, therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a son, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, meaning God with us, people, God stepped over into Jesus, into that human form that He took, He became a human being, left mighty throne, left all that beautiful surrounding, and came to this earth, walked amongst us as a man, because you see, God is spirit, He is mighty, immaculate spirit, and in order for Him to come down to our level, and understand the fleshy, human part of us, He stepped over into Jesus, and became a man, but more than just a man, He's a perfect man, and dwelt among us, glory to God, how wonderful, that is the revelation of Christ, revealed to us by salvation, and in the New Testament, the revelation of Jesus Christ, it continues, starting in Matthew, and Matthew is my favorite, when it comes to a lot of things I've learned, and caused me to grow, and grow closer to the Lord Jesus, but the redemption story is told in Matthew, it's told different, it even tells you about Herod, and how Herod did some really, really bad things, because out of fear, out of jealousy, because he was just not wanting to give up that throne, because he knew he stole it, he knew it wasn't his, he knew it wasn't rightfully his, he knew the true King was coming, and he knew when the true King came, you know, hey, he would have had to take a back seat, but you know what, that is another story, that is another sermon for another day, the redemption story, you know, we call that part of the redemption story, and in the Gospels, the Christmas story, especially one in Matthew, we always refer to it as the Christmas story, and I love that, that particular story just transports me back in time, and I can just feel, I can feel every word, everything that transpired, it seems like the Spirit just transports me there, and I love it, Mary, Joseph, the Christ child, the angels, the shepherds, you know, it's a beautiful story, the Christmas story, as the Lord speaks to my heart, we will talk about this at another time, at a later date, because the story is truly magnificent, God willing, our hearts will meet here again, somewhere along the way, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, let us love one another, let us bless one another, in Christ, until we meet again, people, God bless you and keep you, in His perfect will. Amen.