Happy Tuesday

Roof Maintenance
"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1, NASB

It’s bright outside. It’s beautiful and the sun’s shining, but it’s very cold. So I’ve taken refuge in a warm little room in the Ellel Centre in Ireland. It’s warm because there’s the remnant of a fire burning, the sun is shining through the window and I have a roof over my head. It’s also very peaceful. I can hear the clock ticking and the crackle of the odd ember in the fire.

However, there’s also another noise, a persistent whirly, buzzing, humming sound. It’s not unpleasant but, for sure, could become annoying if you let it invade your thinking for too long. So what is this noise exactly? Well it’s the sound of the motor pumping water under pressure up to the roof, so the men can clean the roof of several years of accumulated moss and other debris. When the front door opened this background noise became a roar. The men are up there on the roof in the biting cold, getting chilled even further as they are sprayed with a fine mist of water, to a background of intense noise, and all because roof maintenance is so important.

Where roof maintenance is ignored the consequences can be devastating. The other day we passed a house with no roof, no covering, and it was in a sorry state. Much repair work would be needed to restore the building to its former glory.

How is your ‘roof’? Have you checked recently? Maybe you’ve felt roofless, uncovered and in need of major restoration. The accumulation of daily worries and concerns can weigh us down to the point of breaking. The above scripture says our earthly tent can be torn down, but it goes on to say we have a building from God. We are covered by God. Under His covering has to be the safest place to undergo ‘roof maintenance’ and restoration.

Prayer: Father God, thank You that You cover me. Thank You for understanding where the ‘moss of worries and daily concerns’ has damaged me. Please help me to have the courage to seek You for the ‘pressure washing’ of revelation and truth that I need, in order to be fully restored to all You intended me to be. Amen.
Today's Writer : Alison Scarborough

My Faith Looks Up To Thee
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine!

May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,
Pure warm, and changeless be, a living fire!

While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread, be Thou my Guide;
Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.

When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold sullen stream over me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love, fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above, a ransomed soul!

Daily Smile:
A forester and a lawyer were in car accident and showed up at the pearly gates together.
St. Peter greets them at the pearly gates and takes them to the homes where they will spend all of eternity. They get into St. Peter's holy vehicle and head on down a gold road, which turns into a platinum road, which turns onto an even grander road paved with diamonds, to a huge mansion where St. Peter turns to the lawyer and says, here is your home for the rest of eternity, enjoy! And if there is anything you need, just let me know.
Then St. Peter took the forester to his home, back down the diamond studded boulevard, down the platinum highway, down the street of gold, down an avenue of silver, along a stone alley and down an unpaved footpath to a shack. St Peter says, "Here you go" and goes to leave when the forester says "Wait minute! How come the lawyer gets the big mansion and I get this shack?"
St. Peter says: "Well, Foresters are a dime a dozen here, we have never had a lawyer before."

Xtra Devotional:

What If You're Wrong???

Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Some of you are wondering whether or not you ought to give your heart to Jesus Christ. You may ask, “What if Adrian Rogers is not right? What if the Gospel is not true?” Let's suppose that what I believe is wrong—that the Bible is a bundle of blunders. Let's suppose there is no God and that Christ never died for our sins. Well, you're going to die anyway. So you're no worse off. But suppose I'm right and you're wrong. By coming to Jesus, you've got everything to gain and nothing to lose.

ACTION POINT:
Now, it takes more than that kind of rationality to come to the Lord, but you need to do a little spiritual calculation. The Holy Spirit will prove to you that what I say is true.


In The News: 
Obama Says He'd Strike Down All Bans on Same-Sex Marriage

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  (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
  President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the White House in Washington November 28, 2012.

By Katherine Weber

March 1, 2013|4:47 pm

In an impromptu White House press conference on Friday, President Barack Obama spoke on his administration's recent decision to file an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8, saying there is "no good reason" for a ban on same-sex marriage.

He was responding to a reporter who asked the president why he doesn't "just argue that marriage is a right that should be available to all people of this country."

Obama responded by saying: "What we've said is that same-sex couples are a group, a class that deserves heightened scrutiny. The Supreme Court needs to ask the state why it's doing it, and if the state doesn't have a good reason, it should be struck down. That's the core principle, as applied to this case.

"Now, what the court may decide that if it doesn't apply in this case, it probably can't apply in any case. There's no good reason for it. If I were on the court, that would probably be the view that I would put forward. But I'm not a judge, I'm the president."

He continued, "The basic principle, though, is let's treat everybody fairly, let's treat everybody equally, and – and I think that the brief that's been presented accurately reflects our views."

Obama also told reporters at Friday's press conference that he felt it was important for his administration to become involved in the Proposition 8 case because he found the amendment that was passed by voters in 2008 to be unconstitutional. The amendment defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

"... when the Supreme Court asks, do you think that the California law, which doesn't provide any rationale for discriminating against same-sex couples other than just the notion that, well, they're same-sex couples, if the Supreme Court asks me or my Attorney General or Solicitor General, do we think that meets constitutional muster, I felt it was important for us to answer that question honestly – and the answer is no," Obama told reporters.

The Obama administration filed its amicus brief late Thursday, the last day for briefs to be filed in the Supreme Court case.

"The exclusion of gay and lesbian couples from marriage does not substantially further any important governmental interest. 

Proposition 8 thus violates equal protection," wrote Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. in the brief favoring the overturning of Proposition 8 in California.

Obama, who initially took office supporting civil unions but not same-sex marriage, came out in support of its legalization last year.
Many critics note Obama has previously stated that he does not believe in federal intervention regarding same-sex marriage, and that it is an issue which should be left to state jurisdiction.

In a statement to ABC News, Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, a proponent of Proposition 8, called Obama's brief "unprecedented" and "hardly surprising, but nevertheless disturbing."

"In his first term as president, Obama clearly stated that Americans can choose a special designation of marriage between man and woman, and that supporters of traditional marriage can hold that position without animus," the statement on behalf of Protectmarriage.com read, according to ABC News.

"He later remarked that it would be a 'mistake' to make the debate over redefining marriage into a federal issue," the statement continued.

"Yet today, by stating that the traditional definition of marriage is rooted only in irrational prejudice, the president has impugned the motives and actions of millions of Californians and turned his back on society's long-standing interest in both mothers and fathers raising the next generation."

Opening arguments for the Supreme Court Proposition 8 case will be heard March 26.

During this term, the Supreme Court will also be hearing a case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman on a federal level.

Source URL : http://www.christianpost.com/news/obama-says-hed-strike-down-all-bans-on-same-sex-marriage-91086/