Happy New Year! (12/27-31)

December 27-31, 2015 - Pressing Toward the Goal – Manna by Dorothy Callies

 [Revised from 12/31/2013]

Philippians 3:13 “… I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (NLT).

Paul said that his goal was to know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all Christ had in mind for him. This goal took all of Paul’s energies. Paul gave us an example that we are to set our eyes on the goal—knowing Christ.  Paul said, “… I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be” (Phil.3:12 NLT).

Paul said, “I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven” (Phil. 3:13,14 NLT).

Paul had reason to forget the past—he had held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:57, 58, Paul is called Saul here). Paul was not proud of what he did. When he accepted Christ, many Christians were not able to accept Paul then. Paul went away for a while to get to know Christ. Later on, Barnabas went to find him and became his friend. Barnabas introduced Paul to the Christians to hear him preach the gospel. They were amazed that Paul became a different man. They forgave Paul and learned to forget what Paul had done in the past.

We have all done things for which we were ashamed of. But our hope is in Christ, and we can let go of past guilt and look forward to what God will help us to become like Jesus. Don’t dwell on your past. Instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on your relationship with Him now. Realize that you are forgiven, and then move on to a life of faith and obedience. Look forward to a fuller and more meaningful life because of your hope in Christ.

Song: My Lord Knows The Way

My Lord knows the way thro’ the wilderness,

All I have to do is to follow.

My Lord knows the way thro’ the wilderness,

All I have to do is to follow.

Strength for today is mine all the way,

And all that I need for tomorrow.

My Lord knows the way thro’ the wilderness,

All I have to do is to follow.

(Inspiring Choruses)

Greetings from Callies (12/22-26)

FROM TONY AND DOROTHY CALLIES WITH CHRISTMAS' GREETING:

CHRISTMAS IS A BUSY TIME OF HOLIDAYS! BAKING COOKIES! ONE DEAF FRIEND SAID, "BAKING COOKIES WILL KEEP HER BUSY ALL WEEK".  THINKING ABOUT COOKIES, I REALIZED THAT CHRISTMAS COOKIES ARE THE POPULAR TIME OF OUR "SWEET TOOTH" WITH ALL KINDS OF DESIGNS. I REMEMBER LEARNING HOW TO MAKE "NO BAKE DROP COOKIES" FROM MY DEAF SISTER, ANNA WHO LIVES IN CALIFORNIA WITH HER GRANDDAUGHTER, SABINA WHO HAS A SON NAME, ELIJAH. MY DEAF SISTER IS 84 AND SHE IS DOING WELL.

TONY TOLD ME A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS STORIES ABOUT HIS THREE BROTHERS AND HIS PARENTS. HIS MOM WAS SO GREAT WITH BAKING SO MANY DECORATIVE HOLIDAY COOKIES. THESE BOYS JUST LOVE THEM, ESPECIALLY TONY. WHEN ONE GETS OLDER, THE MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS FAMILY GATHERINGS WHILE GROWING UP ARE PRECIOUS. ESPECIALLY BAKING HOLIDAY COOKIES TIME!

IT MAKES ME THINK OF GOD, OUR CREATOR WHO LOVES TO SEE THE CREATIONS OF ALL KINDS OF IMAGINABLE 'COOKIES.' WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE OUR CREATOR WHO BECAME OUR SAVIOR AND A CHRISTMAS TIME IS A TIME TO REMEMBER JESUS' BIRTHDAY. SO "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!"

Memory of Crisis 2008 (12/17-21)

17-21 December 2014 - Memory of Crisis 2008 – Callies’ News

Psalm 34:7-8 “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”

Memory of Christmas crisis was seven years ago on Dec. 19, 2008. After reading the crisis news, the Lord reminds me of how He is always with Tony and me. I wrote this news in December 22, 2008 for Fresh Manna.

[As for news, we had no power last Friday, Dec. 19th until Dec. 21, 2008 when we came home to check the power on late Sunday morning. We stayed at Double Tree Hotel which is across the lake from our apartment. It was like a special Christmas date on Saturday night when it got too cold to stay in our apartment on the second night with no power.

I had the Fresh Manna ready but no power and something urged me to go to Panera. I remembered they had wireless free so we were there on Saturday morning for breakfast. I was able to transfer from document saved to Fresh Manna. Awesome to me, there was a way to do that when power went out.]

O taste and see that the Lord is good. You are blessed when you trust in God! Maybe you had some crisis time in the past or recently, but you learn to trust in God in all things that we don’t always understand. When we trust God, notice something? We feel good! That is a feeling of God’s blessing on you when we trust in Him! I am reminded of a . . .

Song, ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word.
Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know “Thus saith the Lord.”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus! Oh for grace to trust Him more.

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood.
Just in simple faith to plunge me ‘Neath the healing, cleansing flood.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus! Oh for grace to trust Him more.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me, Wilt be with me to the end.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus! Oh for grace to trust Him more.

(Lyrics: Louisa M. R. Stead, Sing His Praise)

A Story of Arthur & the Cross (12/13-16)

13-16 Dec 2015 - A Story of Arthur & the Cross – Manna from Jan. 2008 Revised. God used Arthur to carry the cross, around the world and to spread the Good News about Jesus.

Cheer-leading by Arthur Blissit
Give me a 'J'!
J
Give me an 'E'!
E
Give me an 'S'!
S
Give me a 'U'!
U
Give me another 'S'!
S
What's that spell? Jesus!

In December of 1969, Arthur Blissit began to carry a twelve-foot wooden cross on a journey that would take him around the world and in every nation on earth. Since that time, he has walked over 37,000 miles with the cross in more than 300 nations and territories. Website to order the book, "Give Me J". www.tbn.org.

Arthur and his wife were carrying the cross in Sri Lanka--a predominately Buddhist nation. A story about a man who met Arthur and his wife, Denise, carrying the cross. A man asked question about the cross and Arthur. He told of how he was dying and a Man came to him, but the man didn't know His name. The man recognized the cross from the bookstore. Arthur had introduced Jesus to him and that His name was Jesus. Arthur told him about the Bible. The man gloriously welcomed Jesus in his life. Jesus had revealed Himself to this man.

You might ask, "What exactly happened when he carried the cross?" On page 168 summary story: On a warm day in the early 1980's, during a long cross walk from Warsaw to Czestochowa, Poland, he stopped to rest. His interpreter, an English-speaking Polish school teacher, was sitting near him and they were eating as they sat in the grass. People were all around him, when suddenly through the crowd came a young woman who sat down in front of him. The girl name was Anna.

Beautiful and 24-years old, she had lovely clear eyes and short blonde hair. But she sat there with tears running down her face, and her legs were covered with blood. Through the interpreter, he explained that Anna had heard that Arthur knew how to find Jesus. The girl's legs were bleeding and he asked what was wrong with her legs. Interpreter pointed toward the hill where they could see the people climbing up on their knees.

Anna has been climbing that hill on her knees to show her love for Christ and has been trying to find Jesus. Someone just told her that the man with the cross knew how to talk with Jesus, so she came to see if he can tell her how to find Him. Arthur explained to her, "Jesus loved you before you ever started up that hill, and He loves you now that you have come down. All that blood was not necessary; he has already shed His blood for you.

Now I know He appreciates your desire to show your love, but you don't have to do that to prove you love Him. He can live in your heart." He explained how Christ had died for her and had offered her the gift of salvation. She prayed and invite Jesus into her heart and He became her Savior. Anna cried, hugged, laughed and smiled, and said, "I have found Jesus. I found Him. Now I know Him--that is all I need. I've found Him! I've found Him!" And she ran away.

Dorothy: It reminds me of a song:
Reach out and touch the Lord as He walked by.
You'll find He's not too busy to hear your heart cry.
He's passing by this moment, your need to supply.
Reach out and touch the Lord as He walked by.

(Inspiring Choruses)

The Love of God (12/9-12)

09-12 December 2015 - The Love of God – Manna by Dorothy Callies

Oh, I pray that this fresh manna will open your heart, mind, and soul to grasp the true love that God has for you as He has to me. Sigh!!! How awesome to experience His loving Word, His Presence!

Question: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Roman 8:35a) Paraphrase: “I am persuaded that ‘nothing’ shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39 See below).

Theme: THE LOVE OF GOD . . . IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.

*Only “in Christ Jesus” has God’s love been manifest, and only in Him do we experience it. Only as we abide in Christ Jesus as “our Lord” can we have the certainty that we will never be separated from God’s love. **If anyone fails in his spiritual life, it will not be from a lack of divine grace and love (v.31-34), nor from external force or overwhelming adversity (v. 35-39), but from his own neglect to remain in Christ Jesus.  [*Commentary from The Full Life Study Bible].

Dorothy: God had already loved us so much that nothing would stop God from ever loving us. Now the next question, what are the things that could make a person give up on God even though God still loves this person very much? I wrote the list of things from KJV, Romans 8:35 to give us the idea. Then NLT from Romans 8:35, 37-39 explained more clear that nothing could keep God from loving us so much through Christ. Then comes the famous song called: The Love of God written by Frederick M. Lehman 1917.

1. Shall tribulation?  When you are going through so much trouble that you felt like you had enough trouble? So you give up with God? Our answer should be “No way.” Why? Because God still loves us. Our troubles doesn’t stop God from loving us. Hallelujah!

2. Or distress?  When you are in deep depression, does this mean that God gave you up because you are feeling depress? The answer is no because God’s love has never left you.

3. Or persecution?  Many Christians of the world are going through persecution. Ivan, the Russian Christian Soldier went through terrible torture yet Ivan knew that God still loved him and Ivan didn’t stop loving God because of torture. What a testimony!

4. Or famine?  Would shortage of food makes a person to give up God? When there’s famine in another world, does it mean God doesn’t love them? No, God still loves them.    

5. Or nakedness?  If a person lack clothing for certain weather like winter, would that make a person to give up God thinking He doesn’t loves this person enough? God’s love is still there. 

6. Or peril?  In time of danger, will we continue to be faithful to God? God’s love for us remain the same. God does not change.

7. Or sword?  We hear stories of Christians being “threatened with death” when they stand up for Christ. Their love for God was very strong because they know in their hearts, God still loves them.

The New Living Translation from Romans 8:35, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’ love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?” v37) No, despite of all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

V38) And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. v39) Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 Song: The Love of God

1.      The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin. 

o    Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

2.    When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

3.    Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Frederick Lehman tells us that verse 3 “had been found penciled on the wall of a patient’s room in an insane asylum after he had been carried to his grave.” While it is only supposition that he was the one who adapted the Jewish author’s poem to leave us these well-known lines, if the account is true it shows in any case that he highly esteemed the message.

[From Timeless Truth, Free online library on music]

To You that Overcome (12/5-8)

05-08 December 2015 – To You that Overcome – Poem by Dorothy

Romans 8:37 KJV: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. NCV: But in all these things we have full victory through God who showed his love for us.

1. To you that overcome I will give to eat the tree of life.
2. To you that overcome I will give thee a crown of life.
3. To you that overcome shall not be hurt of the second death.
4. To you that overcome I will give to eat of the hidden manna.
5. To you that overcome I will give you a white stone with your new name on it.
6. To you that overcome I will give you power to rule over the nations with a rod of iron.
7. To you that overcome I shall give you clothing in white raiment.
8. To you that overcome I will not blot out your name out of the book of life.
9. To you that overcome I will confess your name before My Father & before His angels.
10. To you that overcome I will make your enemies to come and bow before your feet.
11. To you that overcome I will make your enemies to know that I have loved thee.
12. To you that overcome I will make a pillar in the temple of My God.
13. To you that overcome I will write upon you the name of My God.
14. To you that overcome I will write upon you the name of the city of My God.
15. To you that overcome I will write upon you My new name.
16. To you that overcome I will grant you to sit with Me in My throne,
            Even as I also overcome,
17. I am set down with My Father in His throne.
[Poem written from Revelation 2 & 3 by Dorothy Callies in 1980’s]

What is conquer? The dictionary says: 1. get by fighting; win by war: conquer a country. 2. Overcome by force; defeat; get the better of: conquer an enemy, conquer a bad habit. 3. be victorious; be the conqueror.

Reading from Romans 8:31-39 would give the whole picture of what the key verse of Romans 8:37 was about.  (Manna from 2008 revised to Dec. 5-8, 2015)

Dorothy: Reading this, boy! That is a lot of promises Jesus had already made for us who are overcomers. The same God who knows the number of your hairs … care that much to reward you a lot. That should really encourage us to rejoice in all things and be able to overcome things when they are bad. Just review all the rewards that Jesus has promised us would be enough to sing, “It would be worth it all.”

Song: When We See Christ
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,

Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;

One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase,

So bravely run the race, till we see Christ.

[Lyrics & Music: Esther Kerr Rusthoi, Sing His Praise]

Nothing But the Blood (12/1-4)

01 04 December 2015 Nothing But the Blood – Manna by Dorothy C.

Song: Nothing But [except] the Blood  (Music & song by Robert Lowry)

1. What can wash away my sin?-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus: Oh precious is that flow -- That makes me white as snow;
No other fount (way) I know -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2. For my pardon this I see- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing, this my plea-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus: Oh precious is that flow -- That makes me white as snow;
No other fount (way) I know -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

3. Nothing can for sin atone-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Naught of good that I have done-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus: Oh precious is that flow -- That makes me white as snow;
No other fount (way) I know -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

4. This is all my hope and peace-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness-- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Chorus: Oh precious is that flow -- That makes me white as snow;
No other fount (way) I know -- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Christ's Death Takes Away Sins - Hebrews 9:23-28 NCV

23) "So the copies of the real things in heaven had to be made clean by animal sacrifices. But the real things in heaven need much better sacrifices. 24) Christ did not go into the Most Holy Place made by humans, which is only a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself and is there now before God to help us.

25) “The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once every year with blood that is not his own. But Christ did not offer himself many times. 26) Then he would have had to suffer many times since the world was made. But Christ came only once and for all at just the right time to take away sin by sacrificing himself.

27) “Just as everyone must die once and be judged, 28) so Christ was offered as a sacrifice one time to take away the sins of many people. And he will come a second time, not to offer himself for sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him."

(Manna from March 22, 2008 revised for Dec. 1-4, 2015)

Dorothy: Last Sunday, Nov. 27, 2015, Tony preach at First Assembly of God Deaf Church as a “Guest Speaker” and used Roman 3:23 to explain what the ‘short of the glory’ means. The skit was about Eve (Actor: Dorothy) wearing white coat as covering of the glory of God. She ate the fruit and lost her white coat to the floor so ‘all have sinned and all have lost the glory of God.’  Eve wore black shirt to represent her sins. Then Tony preach to where Christ’s blood covered Eve and Tony as Christ put on the red jacket over her black shirt. And then came to the part about Christ’s Robe of Righteousness. 

Tony represents as Christ went to pick up the white jacket from the floor and put it back on to Eve as her covering, but this time it was “Christ’s Robe Righteousness.” Hallelujah! One Deaf asked, “Where does sins go?” Tony picked up the long black shawl and said, “I represent Christ.” Tony put the black shawl over his shoulder. He said, “I had your sins on Me. I took your sins with me to the cross. God’s judgment was on Me, not on you.” Now you have the blood of Christ on you, showing Eve (Dorothy) wearing the red jacket and wore white jack over it. Wow! What a vivid picture!!! 

Then we all sang, “Nothing, But the Blood of Jesus.” Awesome!