ABOUT THE PRAYERS
To learn about the written Prayers, click on this link: About the Prayers.
PURPOSE IN THIS WEBSITE
My purpose in creating this website is to highlight this often-overlooked psalm and to encourage all people, especially those who are already believers in Jesus as the Son of God, to “take up and read the Word of God” for yourself. Romans 10 forms the apologetic for this hope. READ FOR LIFE! — Tamara
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a wife and mom, Orton-Gillingham-trained tutor, online discipleship coach, and counseling friend. My degree is in the field of educational psychology with a focus on ADHD and related learning difficulties, with studies in biblical counseling. My greatest accreditation is the power of God to proclaim His Word, the gospel of Christ.
I gladly and gratefully admit a great debt to those who have gone before me in wisdom, scholarship and understanding. It is my utmost desire to represent the body of their insight responsibly. Of course, unintentional error is possible by nature of variance in wording, or the insufficiency of accessing or interpreting scholarly sources, or my own nature of sin.
Therefore, I urge visitors to follow up on what I’ve written by prayerfully reading for yourself the truth of God’s Word. If I have erred or have missed an important point, I encourage you to contribute further thought or corrections through the comment section provided at the end of each page or resource.
PERSONAL STATEMENT OF FAITH
I have been a child of God since my public confession of faith in Jesus, my Savior, by cognizant and voluntary baptism at the age of 9. My knowledge of God is first-hand, forged in fire (Psalm 66:10) and cooled in refreshing springs of Living Water of the Spirit and the Word (John 4:13-14).
I receive as fellow believers any who have come to the sure belief that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of the Living God, fully human and fully God, perfect and sinless, being made incarnate on our behalf to willingly pay the price for our sin through his substitutionary death on the cross and to bring liberty to all mankind from the slavery of sin through his victorious Resurrection.
I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, to seal believers to eternal life and to teach, comfort and keep us in this life.
I believe that Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and that he will gather from both the living and the sleeping ones those who have placed their faith in Him. We will rise in the last day and rule with Christ forever in perfect and eternal joy and in glad, eternal adoration of Him who reigns as King of Kings.
I also believe in the eternal condemnation by God of all who hate (reject, turn their back on) this saving grace offered by Jesus.
I believe that the Word of God is God’s very expressed mind and will written for us so that we may believe and be saved to eternal life. I believe God’s Word guides us and helps us persevere in our faith until that Day when Christ comes again and completes in us the purpose for which we have been made—to glorify Him and live in peace with Him forever. I believe that the Word of God survives untainted by the human element in its message and power and will accomplish all that it says and purposes (2 Peter 1:20-21).
I also believe that the Church of God exists in fellowship with Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit to obey God’s Word and to share the gospel with as many as the Holy Spirit prepares to hear. All believers are called to fully participate in the unity of this fellowship as distinct and valued members of the one, corporate Body of Christ.
Finally, I freely admit, personally, the human condition of doubt, anxiety, depression and corrupting sin as conditions of life in this fallen world. Moreover, I confess adoringly and passionately of the efficacy of the Word of God to show us The Way of escape through the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
FURTHER STATEMENTS OF FAITH
I believe God has given us wise, practical help in this world through empathetic human counsel (Proverbs 11:14) and through scientific observation and study (Proverbs 14:15; 2 Timothy 1:7; Ecclesiastes 1:12-18*, 12:13-14), yet without the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross, there is no forgiveness of inner sin, there is no salvation from the guilt and shame of our sin or fear of eternal damnation, and there is no lasting comfort for this present or eternal life. Just as true sin begins in the perversion of man’s heart, true healing begins in the correction of the heart toward God, made possible by Christ’s atonement (saving death). All man is “embodied soul” and only the healing of Christ is effective for both body and soul.
I believe God’s Word requires both love for God and love for ALL others; hatred is not of God. It is not hatred to proclaim God’s Word, for all God’s Word speaks truth in LOVE (Ephesians 4:15), not wanting that any should perish, but that ALL should have Christ’s gift of everlasting life (John 3:16). Such admonishments are like the surgeon’s tool, cutting away the cancer in order to provide for healing. All discipline is painful at first, but the discipline of the Lord produces the fruit of righteousness and peace with God for those who will accept it (Hebrews 12:11). I believe that both the proclaimer and the receiver benefit from this discipline, as we are all sinners by nature (Romans 3:23; Colossians 3:15-17).
I believe that, regardless of personal decisions, the human dignity and sanctity of life is for ALL mankind on this earth, both born and unborn, believers and unbelievers, obedient and disobedient, all races, and all who are infirm of mind or body (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 127:3; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Exodus 20:13; John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Job 31:15; Matthew 25:31-46; Jeremiah 22:3; Revelation 7:9-17).
I believe that civil justice is ordained by God for order in this world, because of the destructive effects of mortal sin, and should be just for all without prejudice, in keeping with the principle of sanctity of life (Leviticus; Isaiah 32:18; Romans 12:17-13:7). Civil justice is not to be confused with spiritual justice in the determination of the consequences of breaking civil law. Those incarcerated are due both the fair and appropriate punishment of their crime, and also the dignity and value of human flourishing and the hope of civil and spiritual restoration (Mark 2:17; Matthew 25:34-40; Hebrews 13:1-3).
I believe that spiritual (eternal) justice has already been satisfied through the gospel of Jesus Christ for eternal judgment. To accept Christ’s gift of salvation or to reject it is a personal decision, a right given by God to choose one’s eternal life or eternal damnation.
When civil and spiritual justice collide, when obedience to God is obstructed or disobedience to God is commanded, it is incumbent on God’s people to obey God without concern for fear of man (Acts 5:29; Matthew 10:28-29).
Evangelism, the proclamation of the Good News (gospel) of Jesus Christ’s salvation, is a commandment of God for His children in order to persuade mankind toward life in Christ (Matthew 28:16-20), and to avoid the second (spiritual, eternal) death. Evangelism, then, is an act of God’s grace and hope for our fellowman, and is to be enacted with respect and prayerful hope (Titus 3:1-3). Evangelism falls under the right to free speech in free societies.
IN summary, I confess that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of our Sovereign God, given freely to all to forgive all who come to Him for cleansing, and to continually revive the human, erring, desperate and REPENTING soul, for eternal life. He is all.
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Note: *Solomon’s striving after worldly wisdom won for his kingdom much good in his lifetime. Solomon does not say that these pursuits are wrong or to be avoided. Solomon says they are insufficient for peace in the eternal soul. This world is temporal; properly enacted and honestly interpreted scientific study is for good in this world. But this world will end, and all that “ought” to be in this world, is not. Scientific study does not yield any gain toward eternity. This is the Preacher’s sigh. His final summation, therefore, is given in Ecclesiastes 12.