Family and Friends,

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This is the time of the year when people are thinking about their

New Year’s resolutions, perhaps taking them out of the mothballs

from last year or bygone years.  It’s time to polish them off and use

them again because they are still good for the coming year, but

maybe that’s only true in my case, not yours.

Many times people make New Year’s resolutions, only to find them

by the wayside in the days and months that come.

However, this is a resolution to adopt and cling to throughout our

entire lives.

Resolution n. 1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. 2. A resolving to do something. 3. A course of action determined or decided on.

Psalm 27:4

One thing have I desired of the Lord,

that will I seek after;

that I may dwell in the House of the Lord

 all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the Lord,

and to enquire in His Temple.

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David’s whole heart was to live with the Lord

in His House his whole

life, and forever.

Psalm 23:6

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the House of the Lord for ever.

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  David yearned to be in God’s presence –

wherever God was,

that is where David wanted to be –

he was after

God’s HEART!

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Acts 13:22

…I have found David the son of Jesse,

a man after Mine own heart,

which shall fulfil all My will.

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“The greatest opportunity of life is life itself.

Here and now is your chance and mine to make for ourselves the kind of life

we would like to live forever.

Far greater grandeur and magnificence than the mind can conceive;

peace, joy and soulful satisfaction

far beyond the power of man to measure

is ours now to provide.

In a short life here to make happiness for a long life hereafter

is our present opportunity.”

E. L. M.

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We have sung this song throughout the years and I was astounded

when I discovered its history.  It is very stirring and it touched

my heart deeply bringing tears to my eyes and a prayer to my lips.

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The accounts of the family that had been martyred in Assam were

so astonishing and widely circulated

that most Indian believers were familiar with it.

So Sundar Singh, the famous Indian evangelist,

took the martyr’s last words, and put them to traditional Indian

music in order to make one of the first uniquely Indian hymns.

The song immediately became popular in Indian churches,

and remains a mainstay of worship music there to this day.

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In 2001, Barrett and his colleague Todd M. Johnson, started

collecting statistics on martyrs. In their seminal work  World

Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200 (Pasadena: William Carey

Library, 2001), they assessed that up to the year 2000 there had

been some 70 million Christian martyrs, of which 45 million were

concentrated in the 20th century. The book explained the

methodology used, and defined Christian martyrs as “believers in

Christ who have lost their lives prematurely, in situation of

witnesses, as a result of human hostility.”

Being “in situation of witnesses,” the authors explained, means

that one can become a martyr “consciously or unconsciously.”

They counted as Christian martyrs those killed because of their

status of “Christian believers” ascribed to them by those who

killed them, irrespective of whether they were at the time of their

killing “actively proclaiming” the faith. But the count did exclude

those killed for national, ethnic or political reasons who just 

happened to be Christian but were not killed because of their

being Christian.

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Revelation 6:11

 And white robes were given unto every one of them;

and it was said unto them,

that they should rest yet for a little season,

until their fellowservants also and their brethren,

that should be killed as they were,

should be fulfilled.

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Live for today but hold your hands open to tomorrow. 

Anticipate the future and it’s changes with joy. 

There is a seed of God’s love in every event,

every circumstance,

every unpleasant situation

in which you may find yourself.

~Barbara Johnson

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As a child I remember well how Dad and I, and maybe my Uncle

Willie,  were talking about the subject of martyrdom.  In my child’s

mind, I reasoned it would be okay to deny Christ to save your life,

but my Dad said,

“You NEVER deny Christ!”

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I had no idea this post would go in this sobering vein,

but the song

“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,”

led the way here.

This should be every Christian’s testimony from here to eternity.

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Please pray for Christians, our brothers and sisters  who are being

persecuted for their

confession of following Jesus.

I read “Foxes Book of the Martyrs,” I believe in Bible college.

 I will never forget a mother of many children prayed that her

children would be given the high honor of being martyrs for Christ.

 Her prayer was answered.

I have never prayed this prayer,

but I know God’s grace will be sufficient for the future,

as it has been in the past.

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Thank you for stopping by. 

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