Journey Home Daily

Am I a Soldier of the Cross? -Issac Watts

2011-05-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

Am I a soldier of the cross,

A follower of the Lamb,

And shall I fear to own His cause,

Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;

Increase my courage, Lord.

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war

Shall conquer, though they die;

They see the triumph from afar,

By faith’s discerning eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,

And all Thy armies shine

In robes of victory through the skies,

The glory shall be Thine.

Do You Have A “Microwave Mentality” Or A “Slow-cooker Spirituality”? by James Petticrew

2011-04-26T10:15:00.000-05:00

After trying to find the source of the quote for a friend, I have been mulling over some words of from my spiritual mentor from three centuries ago, John Wesley and I thought I would share some thoughts. The quote is Wesley's warning of the danger of expecting ". . . the end without the means; the expecting knowledge, for instance, without searching the Scriptures, and consulting the children of God; expecting spiritual strength without constant prayer and steady watchfulness; exp ecting any blessing without hearing the word of God at every opportunity."

I think what Wesley is warning against is what I would call a “Microwave Mentality” when it comes to spirituality, to living as a Christian and specifically spiritual growth. You know the scenario when it comes to ready meals, you bung the food in the microwave hit the button, it gets zapped and it’s ready. He never encountered a microwave but its pretty obvious Wesley must have met a few Christians who had a microwave understanding of spiritual growth. They wanted a “zap” from the Holy Spirit and for everything to be put right or put in place in their lives almost instantaneously. They wanted to know God and His ways without having to put up with or put the effort into the painstaking effort of reading his word and struggling with its meaning and implications. They wanted a deep relationship with Christ without having to bother with time consuming prayer. I know as a pastor I have met believers with this kind of “microwave mentality” when it comes to spirituality. People who think like this just want the right kind “move of the Spirit” to bring about the desired affect in their lives without having to contribute any effort themselves. The outcome is that they constantly chase "experiences" as the answer to all their problems and that often leads to frustration and imbalance.

Wesley very wisely said that there were “appointed means,” ways in which God had in His wisdom given us, to help us grow spirituality. Today we call them “spiritual disciplines” or “means of grace”. So, for instance, He has given us His Word and prayer as the primary but not exclusive way we are to hear His Voice. He has connected us in Christian fellowship as the normal way for us to receive support, care, encouragement and accountability. The problem for some of us is that these “appointed means” require time and effort and they don’t usually give instantaneous results. This just doesn’t suit many of us today very well. Even more so than in Wesley’s days we want the “end without the means” we want quick results with no effort, we want microwave spirituality, zap and its done.

We need to remember that Wesley certainly wasn't against powerful personal touches from the Holy Spirit. In fact he often spoke of his own “heart warming” experience of God and theologians have recognised that one the unique characteristics of his theology for his time was an emphasis on experience. Wesley recognised that God does some times touch our lives in a powerful way and that such moves of the Holy Spirit are helpful and even at times necessary. However he understood that these "experiences" were not replacements for the normal spiritual disciplines and means for grace through which God shapes us and deepens our relationship with Him but supplements.

Thinking this through I have come to the conclusion that God has more of a “slow cooker spirituality” in mind for us. Ann quite often bungs some meat and veg in our slow cooker and over the hours it slowly cooks becomes tender and releases its flavour. I know that I prefer a meal from the slow cooker rather than something from the microwave, it seems to have a deeper fuller flavour. Similarly, “slow-cooker” spirituality might take time and effort buts its results are worth the time and effort. So let’s not avoid those moments when God comes and touches us in a powerful and personal ways, we should accept those precious moments as gifts from God but at the same time let’s not chase them as effortless substitutes that allow us to bypass the adventure of getting to know God through the ways He has provided for us.

Will To Be Faithful

2011-04-25T10:34:00.000-05:00

Due to my resurgence from a dark period in my life, I feel the need to post this entry from a website dedicated to Oswald Chamber's, "My Utmost for His Highest". Widely recognized as a greatly inspired devotional series of Christian thought. The website to be credited is : http://utmost.org/will-to-be-faithful/. This entry is from Jul 08, 2011.

. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . —Joshua 24:15

A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.

“. . . choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . .” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.

Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves . . .” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.

Oh Grave, Where is Thy Victory!

2011-04-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

Tis Easter, dear Christian! and all the Christian world gives lip service to the King. How is it Monday comes and all seems forgotten? But in reality, we are called to a much higher calling than to give only lip service to Jesus. It is our solemn duty as those who were formally bereaved with sin, to proclaim with the story of our lives the precious promises that we have been freely given, the cost of which shall never be equaled. Our Sweet Lord left his glorious position with the Father to be born a mortal man, to live among the sea of temptation and corruption that so plagued the world at the time of His birth. He moved and lived in obedience under the Father and through the perfect guidance of the Holy Spirit. He made his life an example of how we might live, the better and more perfect according to the degree we allow our will to be broken.

Jesus Learned Obedience, Shouldn't We?

2011-01-27T06:53:00.005-06:00

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;"- Hebrews 5:8

Christ was the physical Son of Yahweh God, He had a humanity by living here in the flesh with mortal man. His humanity had to learn to submit to the Spirit of God in places that it was not natural, due to the fall of man, to be in submission to the Spirit. It was not that the flesh sinned but rather was subject to sin or else obedience would not have been an issue at all, nor could have salvation come through such a man ( one that was not subject to temptations and weakness of the flesh).

Praise be unto Jesus for learning obedience and fulfilling His purpose on this earth, completing our salvation through such a difficult life. Why is it that we struggle with understanding our need for submission, emptying ourselves and filling our bodies with the fullness of the Father's Spirit that has been sent to His own giving us comfort, encouragement and direction for walking in his life? Many times it is because we are bound in the flesh to live for it's comforts and pleasures. We must choose to die to our wants and desires as Christ died to His and ultimately gave all He had, that is, his flesh for all mankind to be saved unto salvation, wholeness of body,soul,and spirit. It is therefore, impossible to please God apart from humility of mind and body, that, that is submitted unto His Life. It is His desires, not our own that we must seek. We must allow the love of Christ to totally transform our lives, our heart given freely through love to His service. We must love Him more than ourselves or we will live a life most miserable.

Praying Through

2011-01-18T12:05:00.000-06:00

The following is from a blog site from a few years ago, I think. It was such a powerful message and written so well, I wanted to share it wih you, the dear Christian that sees so much defeat in the walk of faith, take heart there are old- time secrets to fighting the enemy through prayer. This was taken from this website:
http://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=praying-through-issues-all-the-way-through

One of my supporters is quite old now. She has been a prayer partner with my mom for years. She was there in Long Beach with Dawson Trotman at the founding of the Navigators after WWII. When I asked her what one truth about prayer she’d like to pass on to me, she said, “The secret of praying through an issue.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“That means praying about an issue until God gives you peace in your spirit that it is accomplished.”

Turns out, this is a discipline that former generations understood better than we do.

Missionary to China, J. O. Fraser practiced this powerful reality. He said this:

"We must be prepared for serious warfare, 'and having done all, to stand,' we must fight through, and then stand victorious on the battlefield. Is not this another secret of many unanswered prayers, that they are not fought through?

If the result is not seen as soon as expected, Christians are apt to lose heart, and if it is still longer delayed, to abandon it altogether. You know the name they give to places in England when the building (or whatever it is) is abandoned, when only half of it is completed- So and so's 'Folly'. I wonder whether some of our prayers do not deserve the same stigma.

Luke 14: 28-30 applies to prayers as well as towers. We must count the cost before praying the prayer of faith. We must be willing to pay the price. We must mean business. We must set ourselves to 'see things through' (Eph. 6:18, 'In all perseverance')."

We must particularly learn to pray through issues of spiritual warfare. David Smithers writes, “Wrestling with demonic spirits is a daily reality of spiritual survival. Spiritual warfare is not learned in our leisure time, but is thrust upon us as we begin to threaten the kingdom of darkness.”

Today's Lessons from Jehu

2010-11-24T06:58:00.003-06:00

¹ And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Get yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead. ² Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his associates, and take him to an inner room. ³ Then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.”-2 Kings, chapter 9.

We can see here that Yahweh God sent his servants to anoint Jehu to be King over Israel. As the story goes, Jehu did indeed destroy all vestiges of demonic BAAL worship and cleaned away the terrible treachery of the house of Ahab and Jezebel, however, he did continue to keep the false worship of Jeroboam in place with the symbolic, "golden calves" and the priests that were not from the family of Levites.(1kings, 12:25)

³⁰And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

³²In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

³³From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.- 2 Kings, chapter 10

This, of course was an attempt to keep control of the people, It seems he wanted to preserve his authority and control, leading to the gradual destruction of Israel. What can we learn from this lesson?

Even though we are mostly obedient and serve the Lord in part, if we do not allow Him to complete the work in our lives then there will be an eventual falling away from the overcoming victory we have in His presence. A constant struggle to maintain our walk in Christ. It was the desire to maintain control that allowed the substitute calf and false system of worship to continue by Jehu that led to the gradual destruction of the kingdom, bit by bit. We may say the same thing, we didn't set up the false system, we just go with the flow.

Jehu didn't establish the idolatrous system, Jeroboam did that. He just allowed it to stay in place, likewise, we may not have intentionally caused a sinful stronghold to gain ground in our lives, but we are responsible when we continue to play with it or use it for our selfishness. Clean the kingdom of your life totally, not just in part, start a fresh and new walk with the Lord, today!

Taking Care of the Truth of the Gospel

2010-10-25T06:12:00.002-05:00

In the first chapter of Romans, the first epistle of Paul that We are introduced to in the doctrinal section of the Holy Bible, there is a statement that goes overlooked by our modern western society, yet is most important to our Holy Faith, the faith that must be preserved blameless, and without spot to the next generation of Believers, not only that, but to All that are New Creations in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The scripture focus for today is found in Romans 1:25;
^"who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." We almost always overlook this principle as we tie it almost exclusively to the previous verse, most egregiously passing over a concept that should be understood by All who are Christ's bondservant. The consequence is listed first and then the principle behind it. We must NOT exchange the Truth of God for a lie, the lie that seduces us into a materialistic world of bondage to a system of selfishness and a myopic view of God. We must keep the Truth in our heart as precious gold, and allow our Father to deliver us from the evil that has defined our lives until we come to Christ Jesus. There is no place for covetousness and greed in the Gospel message. Many will preach a false gospel for personal gain. They will always get the best airtime, the best seat in the house, and the best they can from the pockets of those that are hungry and thirsty for the gospel of Christ. Fame is subject to vanity and must be fought with diligent prayer to dissuade the enemy. Fortune is a millstone that should be resisted by any true Believer in the Lord's providence. Let us consider the example of John Wesley, who having millions come through his hand, invested it all into the gospel and changed lives. Some may have done well in business and coming to a true rebirth in Christ, will have a tool to help further the cause of Christ in this world. Some may gain much through a Ministry of God. I pray you use it wisely as understanding your responsibility to give account for the stewardship of the gospel of our most blessed Savior,who died and gave Himself for us all.

The truth of Christ is precious and has been paid by many Saints before us to preserve it in it's entirety and depth. I pray we consider this in the days ahead. Maranatha

Have You Bitten Off More Than You Can Chew?

2010-09-29T05:50:00.004-05:00

Now, that's quite a concept, isn't it? This idiom best describes the overloading of oneself to the point beyond what can possibly be managed. While organization of our personal life can have a lot to do with our ability to manage more than we could before, there is a point of overload that is not acceptable for our daily lives. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a place temporarily that cannot be helped,due to external factors beyond our control,but we cannot and must not live in such a state as this. Our daily spiritual life must not be ignored or marginalized to the point of quick snatches and grabs, here and there. We must eat each day and allow the spiritual food to process throughout our being. We see Jesus teaching of the importance of allowing his life to be absorbed into our life in the gospel of John, chapter 6:
⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed,^[h]⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” and My blood is drink indeed.

We understand from the first chapter of John that the "word became flesh and dwelt among us", therefore this word must be absorbed and understood, and only time can accomplish this goal. Our prayer for today must be: Lord, please help me to not forget your word today, teach me how to organize my day to allow for meditation and study of you, dining and chewing my spiritual food in bites that I can chew, Amen.

There is Healing in His Wings

2010-09-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.-Malachi 4:2

Truly, I tell you a glorious mystery, there is a wonderful healing within our total being when we present ourselves humbly and without pretense, to the Father. Having a glorious washing from our Savior, there can be a total restoration of not only our mental, but physical being as well. The problem many experience in walking the path of the supernatural is that they sometimes get caught up in the physical manifestations and lose faith rather quickly if they don't seem to get their way in a short time, of course, this is not true faith anyway. We are to be His servants, ready and willing to go where He says go and do what He says do.
The physical manifestations will follow the well established Christian, those that believe in the totality of the gospel message and are busy being about His work. Preach the gospel! Live the gospel! Be a part of the gospel witness unto your generation! We must learn humility, and what a wonderful state to live within.We must remember the previous verse of the above referenced scripture that tells the the proud and wicked shall be burned as stubble with no root or branch.

Let us read and meditate upon one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 91:

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
         Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
         My God, in Him I will trust.”

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
         And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
         And under His wings you shall take refuge;
         His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
         Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
         And ten thousand at your right hand;
         But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
         And see the reward of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
         Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
         Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
         To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall bear you up,
         Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
         The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
         I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
         I will be with him in trouble;
         I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him,
         And show him My salvation.”

Hate or Love (A Burning Question)

2010-09-08T07:15:00.002-05:00

How is it that our Lord says to love those who hate us? In fact,we read in Matthew 5, verse 44, the following:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

It would seem the message is clear, we, as true believers (I am speaking to those who have the seal of regeneration of their Spirit, by the acceptance of the atoning work of Christ Jesus) must display the love of Christ within our Life or we live in vain and make a mockery of our precious Lord's sacrifice to a lost generation. It is to our shame when we display hate for hate, and a joyful snare set by the enemy to confuse and seal the fate of those who are spiritually lost in this world. Divisive circumstances will come when we take a stand for Christ, of this we have no doubt, but our life must always be lived and given in the heart of compassion and love for our fellow man (and woman), take courage in righteousness and in the joy of the life we now have (a glorious fellowship with the Father of all life). I will leave you with this passage from 1 John 4,verse7 :
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
They shall know we are His disciples by how we love each other, not an acceptance of sin or tolerance of wickedness in our midst, but grace and love to the lost, revealing a clear way to the Father, exposing the darkness with the pure light of love. We will not accomplish anything but deeper hatred by burning books of worldly religion. I would that you rather exposed the differences through loving clarity. We must not allow fear to rule our members and react in ways that are not wise or prudent.

Yahweh God's People of Faith

2010-08-16T08:27:00.001-05:00

Are you a person of faith? What does that mean exactly? We hear that asked quite often, and it seems that today it could be referring to almost any kind of thought process toward the spiritual,and not necessarily a Christian perspective. In fact, the term Christian is just about a derogatory word among many in our society and around the world. I'm afraid popular misuses of trust and famous deceptive "ministries" are the cause of much of this.

There is a true faith, of course, and it may not be what you think it is. I think the best definition of faith is what the book of Romans 4:3 says about Abraham: "For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Now, if you believed something or someone in the day of the writing of Romans or even in Abraham's day, a person would follow that belief until they died . It is not as it is today, people following something for convenience sake, or selfishness, next week on to something else. It was an acting upon with everything He owned and did, making a habit of doing right in God's eyes. AHA, you might say, I've got you there, Abraham lied and even took another woman and had a child. Of course, you are right. He did these things,but He did not live a habitual life of deception nor adultery. These incidents were isolated occurrences of failure that were corrected quickly upon hearing the words of correction from Lord. The body of work is what is definitive here. A steady life of living a pure heart, will overcome those times of failure, as long as the person does not stop to dwell within that state and turns back to lovingly following the Father within their heart, they can still be said to be living a, "Faith Life".

Unfortunately, most men and women of faith recorded for us in the scriptures had temporary lapses of judgment or sinful behavior. This should be a point of hope for us all. We can live a life of faith in Christ, because He has forgiven us. As we read in Romans, chapter 8: ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Playing the Harlot? Gideon and the Ephod

2010-08-15T07:41:00.002-05:00

Judges 8:24-27 (nkjv)

²⁴ Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
²⁵ So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶ Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

What does it mean when the bible talks about playing the harlot? Many times in the Old Testament accounts, men that were used of God at one point were shown to have done something outside of God's will and set up an idol of some form or another to worship and lead other Israelites into the same errant path. Is it possible in a day such as this, that is, under a New Covenant, to have similar occurrences?

Unfortunately, it is not only possible, but does happen. As the title implies, it is a good example to use the ephod of Gideon for us to examine several points so as to understand how this relates to our situation today. Firstly, the victory over the Midianites was accomplished by whom? Yahweh, of course. The victory wasn't accomplished through the strength of numbers or might, but by the authority of God Almighty, Himself. Secondly, the mechanism that allowed the victory to come about was a few men willing to stand up against overwhelming odds and see the victory of God. Courage, where there is no courage. Strength, where there is only weakness. Gideon, Chief among the army, was standing upon the word of God, only after having been shown several times a seeming impossibility from the Lord. Once He was convinced of the Lord's directives, He began to act.

So the victory was won by the Spirit of the Lord, and through His servants. It is here that the next challenge presents itself to us: Maintaining humility after a great victory or accomplishment. It is at this point, the great work of faith can be turned into a mockery of God. We may foster the idea that either we had something to do with the victory or it is up to us to maintain the state of victory. Either thought is incorrect. It is neither by our strength the victory was won, nor is it up to our strength to hold the ground. We are to only be the Watchmen. We watch and pray. We live humbly and in fear serve the Lord and others. Each day we proactively study the word of God, pray and listen to our Lord for His guidance and direction. It is through this availability, we may maintain a consistent Christian walk. It is this method that allows the Spirit of God to flow through His beloved believers into the society around us. Strength and Power are His. Weakness and Brokenness are mine. It is through my weakness and brokenness that I walk by His power and might.

I must not build any work of my own imagination or good intention, unless it is directed by our Lord. Programs and Projects must be breathed into by the Father of all life or it is most certainly a dead work. I cannot keep a move of God or blessing going by my own strength.

Trained By Painful Chastening

2010-08-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

There is a hidden truth from most new version believers that because they have not known it, has caused many to fall away from the faith. This is the principle of the loving chastening of the Lord for his own beloved. We somehow don't understand or want to understand sometimes that there must be a change in us as believers to reflect holiness, and this reflection is brought about through violent friction,as in polishing a stone to bring out it's glory. We may glory in the Lord through our productive suffering, once we understand it is only a temporary phase we must go through as believers and is not a permanent position. If you are moving with God as a Christian, you will be trained by the Holy Spirit. Rejoice in these light afflictions as it will bring out the shining pearl of grace in our lives. We must not quit, we must not turn away from the heat, but courageously face our trials head on. The balance is we must not be lazy Christians laying down when adversity comes, but facing it head-on and walking in faith clinging to the promises of our Heavenly Father and trusting in His word to bring us through the fiery trials as He has always and always will care for His own. Do not wallow in the place of darkness in your life, but seek to bring the light into it. An embracing of the correction of God is not an acceptance of a defeated life,but rather it is a patient endurance of faith. A Christian should never be in a state of hopelessness, we have One that has died to give us hope, not only hope, but grace and life. Don't we know the Lord is preparing us for such a time as this, the glorious harvest of righteousness upon the earth. Thanks be unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We find in Hebrews this principle of loving correction, please take time to read it meditatively. Endure my beloved, these times of judgment is a time of rejoicing for believers for we shall see our Lord soon, Maranatha.

Hebrews 12

The Race of Faith

¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Discipline of God

³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

       “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
      Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
       ⁶ For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
      And scourges every son whom He receives.”

⁷ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸ But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

"Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way"

2010-08-07T08:20:00.001-05:00

This quotation from Thomas Paine has even more significance today than when it was first uttered or penned. We have a crisis in leadership today, in the world and most certainly within the church. The modern teachings of evolutionary thought have trained students and now adults that whatever is best for me is okay,and I must look out for myself over weaker individuals, it is taught as just a law of nature. This thinking, coupled with the social pressures to not make a clear distinction between a persons right to live a life pleasing to them, no matter the consequences to society, have led to anarchist behaviors that cannot be sustained within the political structure or church structure. A generation lost and feeling very confident and well about wandering around with no clear vision or structure. It is a disaster waiting to happen.

Will there be someone who will stand up in a time of crisis and say, "The Emperor has no clothes"? Young Christians must be taught,they must have understanding of the ways of Christ, the codes of conduct that are acceptable, and those leading to destruction. Christian families must be taught how to communicate,with the Lord and with each other. We must consider those weaker among us as preferred above ourselves, this is the humility of our Savior. A humble life must be lived by the Christian or a Christian life is not lived at all. We must love others enough to tell the truth, or it is not true love at all. This is not to say we have a license to be disrespectful, but rather truthful in love. We all need to bend our knees and ask for forgiveness from our heavenly Father and guidance for the future. The days ahead will continue to be a struggle for the Christian, but we must not become weary or quit. Have you had a crisis? Have you found yourself in an impossible situation,whether a result of moral failing or prideful choices? You are not alone, there is one that is stirring up a cauldron of trouble and sorrow for those marked by Christ, but we must not forget the word,"Pantokrater". (the absolute and universal sovereign) He is not sleeping, nor is He not paying attention. These sorrows are here for a fulfillment, the days will be shortened, but we must remain watchful and patient. We may have peace because we know the author of peace. Rise up and lead, or follow a Godly leader, or get out of the way.

Keeping Your Ministry Rightly Focused

2010-08-05T06:16:00.000-05:00

There are many "Ministries" in this world and a few of them are effective in reaching the lost for Christ. Others, while maybe starting in the Spirit of God and good intentions, are quite ineffective in spreading the gospel message. There cannot be a schism between the message of salvation and healing. The entirety of the gospel must begin with the salvation message. The Lord wants a people He can work through, a people dedicated to following Him in humility and compassion. We must be a people that live for Him and yes, die for Him. By dying I am not necessarily speaking of a physical death, but a death to my ways of living, resurrected with His ways. I must surrender my life and take on His life. A cross for me and a cross for you. We find Him at the place of death ( death to self, death to pride, death to rebellion), and follow Him to a resurrected place of life. The mixing of worldliness and true Christianity is a poisonous activity. It leads to dead plans and activities, programs that lead to where? Numbers of attendees, do not always lead to increased wheat in the seats, you may be building a fertile ground for tares to grow quite comfortably.

It all begins with compromise, a self-review is critical in these perilous times for the Christian, and their ministries. Each day a prayerful review must be held with the Father of Life to determine the way forward. Of course, we know Moses spent much time in communication with the Lord for guidance and direction, even getting some godly advice from Jethro, the Lord speaking through his fellows. I also must remind those of you that are suspect of anything from the old testament that Jesus, himself while limited in His earthly body, communed with the Father for direction and guidance for His earthly ministry. He considered not His own will, but the Father's, humbling Himself not according to His own fleshly desires, but the Father's. In this way, He learned obedience to the Father and was able to fulfill the redemption for all mankind, to whomsoever will accept it with humility and death(to self). This is a mystery to those not born of the cross, but to you it is wisdom for a fulfilled life.

Hebrews 5:8-10

⁸ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ¹⁰ called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”

Pressing Toward the Goal

2010-08-03T07:14:00.003-05:00

Philippians 3:12-14

¹² Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

This portion of scripture is paramount for our understanding of just how we are to approach living this Christian existence and live in a victorious state of mind, even though we may find ourselves in seemingly impossible situations to have a consistently victorious walk with Him(Christ). We may always press onward with Jesus, we are in an age of grace and much grace has been given to this generation, even abused I must say. We do not want to be guilty of abusing our Lord, but we must not allow ourselves to stay in a state of condemnation and/or unforgiveness. This is a state of mockery of our Lord's sacrifice. We must deal with the besetting sin(s) and move where? MOVE TOWARD THE GOAL! We must move toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus(Our Lord). This is not to say we accept sinful behavior or desires,but we must not be sidetracked by them either.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.(Romans 8:1) We must not place our focus on sin, but rather ON CHRIST! We must move forward, pushing sinfulness to the side. I liken this to a defensive end in American football, his goal is to get the offensive blocker out of the way and rush toward the quarterback to tackle him and stop the offensive play with a loss of yardage. If he fails on one play he will try the harder on the next until he accomplishes his goal, sometimes there are many failures before success. We must accomplish our goal of modeling Christ in our lives, learning obedience through those things we have suffered (whether self-inflicted or not), and after asking our Lord's forgiveness for the failure(s), move on!

I am sorry to see so many that have quit living the faith in Christ because of guilt or just acceptance of fleshly pleasures. These are of most people miserable within themselves, knowing the physical world is no substitute for the life of obedience to our Father. Peace, joy, and assurance within are far more desirable for the believer than temporary belongings. There can never be anything in this world that will satisfy the true believer in Christ, except fellowship with Him. Even in His suffering, we find a glorious resurrection! I remember the words of a true man of God, Pastor B.H.Clendennen, "there is more in the resurrected life (of Christ) than in the original life." We must press onward toward that goal of the resurrected life.

Time For Renewal

2010-08-01T08:31:00.000-05:00

I have been away from posting these past weeks as the Lord has been working in me a living understanding of the teachings I have written by his revelation of the Spirit. It is time, now to begin another period of experience and knowledge in the Lord. This one thought has been with me this morning as I was reading in Philippians, and I shall state it as follows:

As we mature in Christ, we must learn to make lighter the things of this world and heavier the things of Christ and of Father God. As we pass through life, it is sad when we consider our physical circumstances over the needs of Christian service, part of the maturing process is the understanding of just how temporary our physical life is and the care for it must not override the care for the requests and needs of the Spirit life of God. There is no physical need that can separate us from the love of the Father. There is no physical circumstance that can keep us from his fellowship, unless we give it greater worth than Him. Loving temporary things more than Yahweh God will lead us into a fearful state of mind. Men's hearts fail today because of this fearful stress. Some are even nuisances to their fellow neighbors, begging for physical needs, all from fear, not knowing there is One who cares for His own. What a shameful state when we walk in fear ( I am speaking from experience). If we stand fast in the Lord,even though sins may befall us in the flesh, we shall overcome by holding fast our faith and humbling ourselves by asking forgiveness from our Lord and giving Him proper place. He will meet our needs and sometimes wants, but all should be considered as lost for the sake of the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philippians 3:8-11 (New King James Version)

⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Finding Honey in the Lion

2010-06-28T07:18:00.002-05:00

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. ⁶ And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸ After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. ⁹ He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.-Judges 14:5b-9

Samson, a Nazarite dedicated to the Lord, found many compromises in his desire to seek after physical pleasures. The example above could tell us something more about the Christian attitude of today than we might at first consider. The parallel concepts are these:

1. An unexpected attack came against Samson, as an unexpected attack comes against the body of Christ(either individually or corporately), but the Lord gave easy victory over a seemingly impossible situation.

2. After such a miraculous victory, Samson continues to pursue a sinful pursuit of fleshly desire and finds a delicious treat within the remains of the danger that was destroyed, albeit sinful to touch, it gave great refreshment and he even gave some unknowingly to his godly family, causing them to sin. The Church continues to pursue ungodly desires after the great delivery from danger, and then even finds something sweet in the remains of the danger that was destroyed by miraculous victory, even giving this same to the pure Godly believers, deceiving the very elect with these pleasurable philosophies or actions.

What we must take from this example is the understanding that everything that seems good to our own eyes, may not be the righteous pursuits of our Holy God. Compromise with the world may yield sweet temporal rewards, but we are called to a different pursuit, one of humility, patience, long-suffering and endurance until the end. A stand for righteous purity is not popular nor is it convenient in today's societies. Each program, every new movement, every pursuit must be sought with much prayer and thought. We must find a way to be separate from the world's system, yet witnessing the love of Christ to the lost.

Heaven and Earth Reflected In Mankind

2010-06-24T07:26:00.001-05:00

Man was designed to be a reflection of God and composed of earth to contain this Heavenly Spirit in a perishable body. We were created to be the head of this earth and to be an emissary of the Creator to ALL creation, a Holy, eternal reflection in a temporary world of earth and water. We were created perfect without deceit or unholy desires. This , of course, all changed with the fall of Man. Man was not made to sin, he was drawn away and enticed to sin. The enemy cannot simply force you to sin, he must trick you or entice you to be drawn away appealing to our base nature. Once a person gives his will over to the enemy, there is, of course, a loss of will, but in the beginning there is a choice. We are warned to not fear the one that can only destroy our earthly body, but rather to fear Him who is able to cast body and soul into hell. We must pursue the things of righteousness and so honor our creator and the heavenly portion of our creation. Acts of true righteousness and obedience reflect the glory of all of heaven, and so likewise, acts of rebellion and disobedience reflect the nature of the beastly portion of our fleshly nature. The pure physical being, no different than the Spiritless cattle or dog, consuming desires with no discipline or thought, no governance of lusts or desires. This reflection of the temporary life has for the beast of the field no consequence beyond death, but for the Spiritual Being there is always an eternal consequence beyond the grave. We must recognize our Spiritual self and accept the obedience and provision of Yahweh God for our eternal forgiveness and rebirth into the righteous life we were originally created to live, thanks be unto our Savior Jesus for His life of pure obedience and sacrifice so that we all may live an eternal life of fellowship with our Father and all of heaven as well.

The Voice Of One

2010-06-21T08:10:00.001-05:00

^{There in the beginning of the gospel of Jesus, we see a call from One man, filled with the Holy Spirit, showing all the world how to prepare their hearts to receive the Messiah. Today we must read this message and understand how far we have gone away from the beginning of the Great Message of Salvation. We too often do not make clear the fact that there must be a broken and contrite heart before approaching the Savior.There is no premium on preparing our hearts, we want Jesus to do all the work for us while we reap the benefits of a saved life. A lazy salvation. It cannot work that way, the Lord has prepared a table,but we must wash our hands and face before we sit at such a royal place, ALL are welcome freely, but there must be a preparation on our part to eat such a glorious bounty.We must respect our Savior. It's not salvation by works, but works because of salvation, so grateful a heart. It is a precious opportunity we have today, and it seems many of us squander our opportunity to sit at the table with the Creator and Savior of All mankind. Let us therefore, in these days of shortened time, also prepare our hearts to accept such a glorious salvation and preach this message to those around us. Let not the anchor slip into the sea! Stand up! Stand up, oh man of God and speak the words of preparation for the hearts to receive so great an out-pouring, perhaps once more the Lord may have mercy upon a generation and send a cleansing conviction to the hearts of man.It only takes one voice. Will you be that voice?}

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ² As it is written in the Prophets:

“ Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You.”

³ “ The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘ Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.’”

⁴ John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. ⁵ Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ⁸ I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”- Mark 1:3(NKJV)

We Must Die For Christ, Not Just Get Sick

2010-06-14T08:06:00.000-05:00

We must die(spiritually) for the sake of the gospel, not just become sickened. There are those that have died physically, but it had to be born first from the spiritual. From the time Abraham lifted the knife to the throat of Issac, we see the principle of what it takes to be fully committed to a blood covenant relationship with the Creator of All things. There can be only one response that is pleasing to the Lord, and that is a giving up of all we desire and hold dear. Our life exchanged for the life He gives. His life for my life, oh yes, the great exchange that produces the resurrected life of total commitment to the bedrock principles of righteousness. There can be no greater love than when a man lays down his life for a friend, we are Yahweh God's friend when we come to Him with a humble and pure heart that is broken to the point of death. Many times a talented person wants to change their life and comes to the Lord almost to the point of death, yet clinging to the talent that has given them identity and praise from men, they try to commit yet there is something not quite right, there has not been a true exchange of life. That person has yet to die and find the resurrected life of the Savior. They finally leave the attempt at a righteous life more frustrated than ever, because they only were sickened unto death for Christ, never truly dying for the sake of the gospel. A man of God once said," There is more in the resurrected life given from God, than in the original life." I think there is some paraphrasing of the quote, but the principle still holds true.

The commitment from Abraham allowed him to become the father of righteous faith, this act of obedience allowed God to send His only Son to be given as a ransom for us all. What are you being asked to do ?

Luke 17:32-33 Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

One's Own Deception

2010-06-08T08:13:00.000-05:00

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.- Proverbs 14:8.

When a man or woman walks with the Lord in truth they know God and are known by Him. When that same man or woman falls into deception and is drawn away by their own lusts into behaviors or thoughts that are not truthful, they begin to pull away from the One that has given them life and sustains their spirit. There are many ways to be drawn away from godliness today, none the lest of which begins with pride or a lie that says my way is more fair for me than God's ways. I must not allow myself to fall into the trap of self-indulgent thoughts or behaviors that lift me up either through self-pity or prideful foolishness. I must maintain the practice of humility in following my Lord and not be a self-promoter for the Kingdom of Me.

James 3:18-20 tells us the following:

Avoid Worldly Wisdom

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” ²¹ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. ²³ And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Humility says my Lord and others come before me and my life is to be lived as a servant of the Creator of All Life. To follow the example set by my Savior when living upon this earth. I cannot walk away from Him and follow after my own ways without disastrous results for my life and others around me. I must live my life for His glory not mine.

Let us be always mindful of the words from James, chapter 1:
²¹ Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
²⁶ If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Give Him all glory and keep your life in short account, remembering whose and who we are.

How Much To Give?

2010-05-25T08:05:00.002-05:00

Many times after Christians come to accept Christ Jesus as Lord, there is a point in which a question of giving comes to mind. The struggle with just how much is appropriate for me to give, is the question? There is a lot to be learned from this thought. On the one hand, we are to give ALL we have to the Lord, for His service and use, and that includes making our money available as well, but this lesson is not about just monetary giving. This lesson will discuss the concept of giving ALL to Christ Jesus. The parting of a sum of money on a regular basis is an act of faith, and it can indicate the level of commitment we have to the Lord. The how much part is a matter of our conscious to the Lord. Whatever you give, give with a pure conscious before the Lord. If we give with a pure heart it is a blessing to the Lord. There is no legalistic weight around your neck, nor should there be a giving from shame or pride.

There are two stories in the gospels that discuss different amounts of giving, the “Widow’s Mite” and the “Rich Young Ruler”. These two stories, while using money to make a point, are really not about money at all. Just as our giving is not about money either, it is about the state of our heart. Let’s read the first story from Mark 12:41-44:

“Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

What can we learn from this story? While there are whole doctrines built upon concepts that may be drawn from this story, I want us to focus on the heart of the matter. On the one hand, we see there is a lot of money being put into the treasury by those very well off. They were, no doubt, shown great respect and probably had a great deal of pride in the fact that they could point to the basket and have physical proof of their piety. Surely, such a giving person, God is pleased with and they are validating a deep relationship with the Lord. While this could be true in some cases, apparently this group was lacking in the giving from the heart category. The poor widow walked by and dropped two coins that equaled the smallest amount of money in the Roman currency and was singled out by the Lord as one who put in everything she had, her whole livelihood. She indicated a truly rich heart before God and a type of faith not understood by the others. She fulfilled the real meaning of the “burnt offering”, freely given and nothing held back from the Father’s use. One coin would have been a fulfillment of obligation, but two was above and beyond obligatory and moved into the realm of loving faith, not withholding anything from Yahweh God. This definitely was pleasing to Him and Jesus pointed her out as an example for all of eternity. We are to hold nothing back from the Lord’s service, if we are going to truly move in His pleasure and power on this earth.

The other story is a sad story of, what could have been, potential wasted, and a life that walked away from the Savior. This is the story of the “Rich Young Ruler”, from Luke 18:18-23:

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

There was a common practice in Judaism for a Rabbi to pick the most outstanding students for His disciple; He would pick the disciple based upon His dedication to the law. In some cases, the potential disciple would approach a rabbi and the rabbi would test the proposed student with asking Him to do something that was very hard or costly, to determine if the man was sincerely dedicated to following His teachings. If He was unwilling, then He could not be His disciple. This was the case with this rich young ruler, He was highly qualified from an outward standpoint, He had plenty of money to add to the treasury of Jesus ministry, and He had all the right ability to be an outstanding ministry partner. Jesus would have been able to take care of all that synagogue time with no problem, travel costs, etc.., why the sky was the limit as to the doors that this man's money could open for the Jesus Ministry of the day. Judas, the treasurer was probably ready to celebrate. It could have been said of Him, Look at what the Lord has done with His ministry, why surely He is endorsed by God!

This didn't occur though, why? Why would Jesus turn down this man's offer with so much to promise, after all, if there was a little problem with the man's heart, surely that could be corrected by Jesus powerful presence and mentoring in the young man's life? You might even think that Jesus would be doing the young man wrong by not bringing Him under His wing and teaching one with so much promise the right way to live. This didn't occur either, why?

Well, some might say that Luke 14:33 solves this problem,” So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Well, that answers it, right? Wrong! It was not the forsaking of all the worldly possessions that Jesus was necessarily after. Why would I say that?

Read the following excerpt from,"52 Sermon Starters", by Spiros Zodhiates, probably the world’s foremost Greek scholar. "The Greek verb in Luke 14:33 translated "forsaketh" explains the philosophy of a disciple of Christ. The Greek word is apotassomai derived from apo, "from, or away from oneself," and tassomai which means “to place in the proper category." The Lord never taught reckless abandonment of self, relatives, or possessions. He wants us believers to put them where they belong. They should come after Christ."

So we see that having the money and possessions was not the problem here, but the LOVE of them was the problem, there can be no love paramount to the love of Jesus in a believer's life. This love that causes us to pick up our cross daily and follow Him, the love that leads us to worship Him with joy each day, this love that passes all understanding, will cause us to put our temporary possessions in proper perspective. We may then say, "Rich or poor, I serve you Lord. With all my heart, I give my ALL!"
May we all have the heart to say with Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Living A Faith Life

2010-05-10T06:07:00.001-05:00

As we have discussed earlier, there are several key points that must be established for us to walk in our Christian faith as we should. Let’s look at these:

1. There must be a heart of humility, a heart of pride will never have fellowship with God, Proverbs 21:2-4 says, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
      But the LORD weighs the hearts.
      To do righteousness and justice
      Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
      A haughty look, a proud heart,
      And the plowing of the wicked are sin."

So we can see that no sin can be in fellowship with God, and He examines each heart to see the root desire motivation.

2. There must be obedience, and a willingness to be obedient to Him. This excerpt from a lesson from C.H.Spurgeon gives a picture of the importance of obedience to the Father:

“Fellowship with God was one of the richest privileges of unfallen man. The Lord God walked in the garden and talked with Adam as a man talketh with his friend. So long as he was willing and obedient, Adam ate the fat of the land, and among the rich dainties and "wines on the lees well refined," of which his soul was a partaker, we must number first and foremost, unbroken communion with God, his Father and his Friend. Sin, as it banished man from Eden, banished man from God, and from that time our face has been turned from the Most High, and his face has been turned from us;—we have hated God, and God has been angry with us every day. Christ came into the world to restore to us our lost patrimony. It was the great object of his wondrous sacrifice to put us into a position which should be equal and even superior to that which we occupied in Adam before the fall, and as he has already restored to us many things that we lost, so among the rest—fellowship with God.”- (taken from Fellowship with God Sermon, September 15, 1861).

We know that without obedience we walk in rebellion, outside of the pleasure of the Father( 1 Samuel 15:22- So Samuel said:
      “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
      As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
      Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
      And to heed than the fat of rams.”

Saul is a perfect example of a rebellious life in God’s service; the end is confusion and death.

3. There must be a knowing of the Father. We cannot have fellowship in any capacity unless we know the person and a loving covenant relationship requires a deep knowing and understanding of the one with which we are in covenant. This knowing can only take place through spending time and communing with that person. There must be a reading, eating and constant presence of the word of the Holy Scriptures inside of us. We are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit to allow an unlocking of the Spiritual truths of the bible that will build a powerful Spirit within us, if we properly consume it each day. We not only may mimic the truths in the scripture, but live within the power of the truths given.

4. The life of faith is a life of prayer. We must be a praying people! We must desire righteousness at all times ("If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me"-Psalm 66:18).But, we know He will hear us if we are in Him. (But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.-Psalm 4:3) ("The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."- Proverbs 15:29).

Just as 1 Thessalonians tells us to, “"Pray without ceasing.” we must live our lives in a place of open communication with God. We ask within His will and not as James 4:3 warns , we ask from a place of the Spirit and not the lusts of the flesh.

In short, if these conditions are met, we are ready to live a life of faith, to start by reason of use, to build reliance upon the Holy Spirit within us, as we know the Father and do His will through His blessed Son. It is in this condition that we begin to see the glorious manifestations of the Spirit following our lives as believers, things that are commonplace within the Spirit of our Lord. The foremost desire of that heart is to live and communicate the gospel for the entire world to hear and act upon, knowing our lives must be used to not only speak, but by example, live this gospel before others each day.

There's Good News and There's Bad News

2010-05-09T20:34:00.005-05:00

The good news is: If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you endure until the end, you shall be saved. The bad news is 1 Corinthians 16:22. Anathema Maranatha are actually two words: one from Greek and the other from Aramaic, meaning accursed and the Lord comes quickly. What a legalist, that Paul fellow. He didn't have the new revelations of today. We're so smart.

The Orchestra of the Mind ( A Concerto of Life, Death and Life)

2010-05-05T12:22:00.003-05:00

The mind is a wonderful,terrible, exciting place. Anything imagined can be made a driving force of the whole person. Is this good or is it bad? Therein is the age old question," Are we what we think or do we think and become who we are?" What is contained in the mind is an orchestra of ideas and imaginations, brought together in the way we train it to perform. The mind is the place where the instrument of our life song is contained. The heart provides the direction of our concerto and it is determined by the life or death of our Spirit man.

There are many temptations that are sown into the area of the mind, and many voices to try and drown out the true voice of our Father. The arias that are sung may sound beautiful at first until we hear the true voice of our Creator. The mind cannot be slightly altered for the true believer it must be totally transformed. The gifts and abilities must be brought unto the altar of sacrifice and death, and resurrected in the image of the Son. We cannot resurrect life anymore than we can create a new note or chord. We may assemble the notes and arrange them in some fashion, but only our Lord may create a new chord.

If He chooses to create an "H" chord it will be done, but no matter how hard we try to mimic it, we will not be successful in this type of creation. The death and resurrection principle of the life of the new creature in Christ is as old as the story of Abraham and Sarah. This principle states that there can be nothing new unless the Father breathes life into it, our endeavors to mimic this resurrection is futile. We can and must provide the death, but He must provide the life for the full greatness of that life to be revealed.

In order for a person to see the fulfillment of righteousness in their life there must be a physical birth and a spiritual death, then a spiritual resurrection followed by a physical death, then an eternal liberation of that person to live an eternal existence with the Father and Son. A life that believes also lives out the principles of purity and righteousness, following the behavior that is seemly, to give glory to Him who gave us so great a salvation.

Christ said it best in John 14:15-“If you love Me, keep My commandments." There is no other way to be a disciple of Jesus than to forsake everything upon the altar of death, so that His life may spring forth.

In Luke chapter 14, we read the following from our Lord:
²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."

I will leave you with the following from Romans chapter 6, beginning with verse 4:

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

The Many Faces of the Church

2010-05-04T06:40:00.004-05:00

Matthew 22:35-40

³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

There are many faces or personalities exhibited by what is called the Church of Jesus in today's society. There are legalists, super spiritualists, in-betweeners. There are head-shakers and finger-pointers, there are those that accept everything and those that accept nothing as pure doctrine. There are enough interpretations of the bible to confuse anyone not of a pure heart. There are compromisers and those that go beyond the bible into private interpretations. It seems as if we have what was referred to in Dr. Hook's song, as a regular "freakers ball", quite pleasing to the Lord indeed, NOT! How is it that the church started so pure and so right, only to find the sad situation of today, disassociation among Christian groups with as much difference as night and day, every body doing their own thing? This is how they know we are Christians, by what?

Do you love your fellow Christian? Do you love your enemies? Are we just interested in what feels right to us or are we interested in purity and holiness in the Lord? We can play mind games and word games and many other kind of games, but in the end we must walk in commitment to the righteous standard of our Lord and walk out our life within these standards. We may fall a thousand times, but we must get back up, not making excuses, not accepting moral failings, but holding fast to the pure principles of our Father's righteousness in LOVE. There must be love enough to forgive and to fight with each other until we reach victory over our moral failings. Tough love, but true love is needed in the Church, one that says a brother or sister is worth standing with and fighting with, because Jesus has made us righteous, and we must fight to maintain a state of obedience to Him and our Holy Father.

There is no problem walking the path of righteousness if we are totally obedient, but our fight is within our selves, fighting those lusts and pride that do so easily entice us to draw away into our own set of rules and way of living. There is but one way to walk with the Lord, and that is walking in truth of heart. A broken and contrite heart is what the Father uses, a heart of compassion and tender before Him. This truth in the inner man or woman is the very foundation by which anyone may continue to abide with the Lord.

Allowing this truth to continue to lead us into our life endeavors is what shapes Christian living. Missions, Benevolence projects, Ministries all must be borne of a true Christian heart of love or they are only dead works masquerading as Godly endeavors. We don't have to contrive a move of the Spirit, it will move from a pure heart as a natural consequence of righteous living. The living must be first, then the work. The foundation of righteousness must be true or the building will be built to fall.

John 4:23-24

²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Obedience, Nothing To Do But Pray?

2010-04-29T06:29:00.002-05:00

When I've done all I can do then I'll say there is nothing to do but pray. Throw that wet spaghetti on the wall and hope something sticks. This unfortunately, is my attitude sometimes, even though I say it isn't, God's man of faith! LOL! Help me, Lord to walk in the kind of faith that puts total trust in you, and does not rely on my own strength to accomplish the work that seems to be for the Kingdom. Let it rise and fall in the realm of the Spirit. Let my life walk in the faith of the Savior. Any work not prayed over, during and throughout is not reliably an obedient work.
Obedience means staying connected to the Father, following His directions, even when it seems to be something we can easily do without consultation and prayer, it may be that it turns out to be a trap or snare for us to fall into. The road less traveled is a harder road and requires us to follow our Heavenly Tom-Tom for the entire duration of the trip. Pray, read, study, fast, and also seek counsel from the Godly people. All these tools are ours as children to help us walk in our path as children of the Almighty Father of All.

Hebrews 5

Qualifications for High Priesthood

¹ For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. ³ Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. ⁴ And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

A Priest Forever

⁵ So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

      “ You are My Son,
      Today I have begotten You.”

⁶ As He also says in another place:

      “ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek”;

    ⁷ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁸ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ¹⁰ called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”

Sin Wallow or Hog Smart- Turn to the Temple and Pray

2010-04-28T06:08:00.002-05:00

What do we do when we find ourselves in a state of sin wallow, do we stay there and enjoy the fleeting pleasure of the moment or do we turn back to the washing blood of our Lord? It is important to note that what is smart action for a hog, ain't smart for a Christian. When we find that we ourselves have fallen into our former lusts and desires, we must not stay in the mire, but we must turn back to Jesus. The story of Peter during the crucifixion and after the resurrection of Christ was recorded for me(okay, you too) to understand the loving nature of our Savior's forgiveness. If it were up to us, we would require an arm and a leg , and then maybe, just maybe we would consider forgiveness for a fallen brother or sister, or we would pretend it didn't happen at all and just go forth in denial. Thanks be unto our most wise Lord. He knew just how to address the apostasy of Peter and restoration of the broken relationship with Him. We must see our following after our own ways(being drawn away from the intimate relationship with the Godhead) as a break of fellowship with our life source. It may be that we are still attending church or have all the outward appearance of Christianity, but in our heart, we are broken in fellowship. I heard someone say recently that they heard a Christian speak from Australia, that America's Christianity does not effect change in the people or society, we do not have our everyday lives affected. There are many who have come here to work in missions to show us true Christianity.
We do not need a slight correction, but a radical repentance in America. We have truly lost our way when it comes to serving our Lord with a humble and broken heart. Pride and Covetousness has replaced humility and meekness. We must repent and turn or we will see the end result of our arrogance.
Our Lord has smelled the stench in his nostrils and it is putrid. America, we must turn from pretentious ways and follow after Him as the poor and needy that we are. A little while and we will say it is getting better for us in our economy, and then the bottom will fall as a sack with a hole in the bottom, our wealth will be gone, and this will be a sign of mercy for us to take the opportunity to be humbled and turn back to our ultimate founding Father.
We don't have to wait for the consequences of our Pride to destroy us, we may turn and repent today and take the hand of our Savior to lead us once again, person by person. We need a grass roots effort of humility.
As in the words of Yahweh God in His second appearance to Solomon, one night after the temple was built, we see an eternal principle in dealing with Nations that was ultimately fulfilled in the Temple of Jesus himself, we may turn to Him as our Temple containing the presence of God, not only containing but IS the Temple not made with man's hands, as was once only accomplished in the earthly shadow of a physical temple, more on this teaching later.
2 Chronicles 7:
¹² Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice(Jesus). ¹³ When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and sanctified this house(Jesus), that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

Yahweh God Knows the Heart

2010-04-26T06:46:00.003-05:00

The following two verses have had significant meaning to me lately, as the Lord has shown me in no uncertain terms that only He knows man's heart fully and completely, so it is imperative that we stay in fellowship with Him as He knows how to continue to mold and shape our hearts to reflect righteousness from our rough beginnings as a new believer in Christ. (From Solomon's Dedication prayer of the Temple.)
2 Chronicles 6:29-30-
²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: ³⁰ then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men), ³¹ that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
May the reflections in our life be those of our Father through the Son Jesus(Yeshua, the Temple of God). There are many delusions today, many reflections of shadows, dim lights that do not reflect the brightness and glory of the true Father of All. Until we can understand that our life must be completely absorbed into the life of the Savior and our actions must come from a heart of pure motive, we will never be walking in true righteousness and piety. Contrived actions emanate from places of pretension. In other words we may pretend to walk and talk as a full spirit believer, so that we may somehow gain the fullness of the Spirit, before we Know the Spirit, this is an act of folly and will gain us nothing but deceit and hypocrisy. If we wait upon the Lord, study to show ourselves approved, allow our heart to be changed and build our relationship with the Father through our Savior, then and only then may we walk in the fullness of His Spirit. An obedient vessel gains the fullness of Heaven, and a dis-obedient vessel gains nothing but worldly, physical rewards.
We may give outward appearance of spirituality, say the correct words, do the correct actions but, righteousness comes from the heart, and God knows the heart. Live your life in righteousness from your heart and not just from the physical. The funny thing is, once the heart is right, the vessel then becomes right. Are you tired of the sacrifices you give to the Lord, maybe your sacrifices are not from an obedient heart? Are you sure your righteousness exceeds your neighbors, maybe it doesn't at all. Romans 10:10 tells us:

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

And we see from the words of Samuel to King Saul this most basic principle of righteousness in 1 Samuel 15, verse 22:

So Samuel said:

      “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
      As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
      Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
      And to heed than the fat of rams.

Faith without works is dead, and works without faith is dead also. Make believe spirituality will only lead to deception, with the heart man believes unto righteousness. Lose your life in Christ Jesus and you will find life. I will leave you with these words from a broken David in Psalm 51, verses 16 and 17:
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
         You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
         A broken and a contrite heart—
         These, O God, You will not despise.

Here's Your Sign (A One Greater Than Solomon)

2010-04-21T06:00:00.012-05:00

In Luke chapter 11, we find a most fascinating admonition from our Lord as He taught the people.²⁹ And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. ³⁰ For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ³¹ The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

"Signs ,signs everywhere a sign, do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign? Sign says you got to have a membership card to get inside." As this old folk song points out in frustration, we love a sign! People just love to have it all laid out nice and neat, to be directed without effort, to be living on autopilot. The effort to know, to relate, is replaced with directions on how to relate and where. No effort is required to live the cookie-cutter faith. The leaders have decided and this is what you must believe according to doctrine. Works great, except... there is no depth of understanding if one does not struggle, as the caterpillar struggles, to be transformed into the butterfly.Staying in the state of a caterpillar is safer than the the dangerous struggle to become the creature that it was designed to be, but the life is a mutation or corruption of the intended design of the creature of beauty. Now, nothing is wrong with pure doctrine from the word of God, but care must be taken that we do not formulate the paths of our Lord into a religious set of rules, requiring no personal relationship or responsibility for our own actions, giving guarantee for mindless ritual.

We, as Christians, are intended for beauty, a glorious reflection of our Father. A brother or sister to the Son of God, following His path, the one laid out by His glorious work. Christ blazed the trail for us to follow, making it possible for us to be in relationship with our Lord, but one that does not require a sign, it requires faith. Only by the faith in the Son of God may we be born into this great kingdom, a spiritual temple that contains the glory of the Lord as the tabernacle of old contained the shadow of things to come. We please God with faith and without it it is impossible to do so. Relationships do not always come with directions or signs, but they must come with love, respect and humility. The word of God contains a love letter that will guide us into this glorious relationship, if we are humble and faithful, struggling, if need be, to be the creature we were intended to be. Once the transformation has taken place, the reflection is apparent.

Solomon's Downfall

2010-04-20T07:19:00.002-05:00

How did such a leader as wise as Solomon, who talked with Yahweh God and saw his prayers answered in such a dramatic fashion, walk away from God and into his own stupidity and downfall? This is one of the greatest falls recorded in history, I believe, and one that is the saddest of all to me. Of course, this was the physical result of a spiritual battle for the soul of the man favored by God. Solomon chose to follow after his own lusts and pleasures, and being so powerful, wise and wealthy, everything he did seemed to be working out great, few would go against his decisions. The steps seemed to begin with small steps and then larger more broad decisions without seeking Yahweh and following His guidance. The wisdom he gained was a stumbling block to his relationship with the Lord. Many lovers would tell Solomon how great he was, and how much greater their gods could help him become, along with Yahweh, who could be also included in the group of worship(the thinking was since He was so powerful and helped Israel defeat so many enemies, why He must be the God of war). Now whether he was approaching this with a so-called open mind or allowing it to appease his women and the worshipers of these gods in a kind of melting pot such as the Romans later did, I guess we'll never know, but one thing is for sure, it ruined Solomon's reign and divided Israel.

Anytime one strays away from the word of God and begin to give heed to fables, it ruins that person and will ultimately destroy them(us). We must all give critical attention to the scriptures and follow the paths of righteousness set forth for us and live by, not only the concepts, but the reality of Jesus as being the only true way to the Father, and His teachings containing the pure paths for us to live. Fabrications of the imagination may seem to make sense in man's ways of thinking, but we as believers are to think as our Father thinks and directs us to think, wisdom begins and ends with Him and is laid out line by line in these scriptures He has given us to feed our lives. Our individuality is used by our Lord in a way that glorifies the kingdom, if we are willing to submit to His guidance and salvation for our lives. Solomon should have listened to his father's words:

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
         And He delights in his way.
²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
         For the LORD upholds him with His hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old;
         Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
         Nor his descendants begging bread.
²⁶ He is ever merciful, and lends;
         And his descendants are blessed.- Psalm 37

¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the ancients,
         Because I keep Your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
         That I may keep Your word.
¹⁰² I have not departed from Your judgments,
         For You Yourself have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are Your words to my taste,
         Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ Through Your precepts I get understanding;
         Therefore I hate every false way.
× NUN ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet
         And a light to my path.- Psalm 119

The Glory Fills The Temple

2010-04-19T06:21:00.001-05:00

In Second Chronicles we see a very powerful display of God's awesome power. In Chapter 7 verse 1 it reads: 1 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying:

“For He is good,

For His mercy endures forever.”

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

The King and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord, these sacrifices were the outward completion of the inward work that had taken place in the hearts of those in attendance. The prayer of Solomon in the previous chapter contains all the elements of what it takes to please our most Holy Lord, recognition of our sin and a humbling of our heart enough to turn back toward the place of the Lord and face Him with our corruption with a broken and contrite heart, not one full of deceit or pride. Jesus came so that we might have life and that life more abundantly, walking in the fear of the Lord.
So Solomon's prayer pleased God and He accepted the sacrifice in dramatic fashion and His glory filled the temple. It was then the people bowed and worshiped the Lord with a renewed sense of humility. There is no secret to pleasing God, there never has been. The way to please the Lord is to come to Him with a broken and contrite heart, one that does not hide behind sin or dress it up and pridefully try to make Him accept it.
Purity of heart is what He desires and only what is and ever has been acceptable to Him. Jesus came to fulfill a great final sacrifice of Sin's curse. He had to give His all to complete this most loving task, yet we so many of us, cannot even turn and repent when we are faced with our sins that cause a brokenness in fellowship with our Lord. Living in pride and boasting of a life filled with God's glory is blasphemy. Living a life of brokenness leads to the hand of God coming down to consume such a sacrifice and fill that temple with His glory. The secret to God's awesome power being displayed in one's life is the secret of brokenness and humility.

Faith By Knowing

2010-04-15T06:51:00.000-05:00

To know the Father is to use our faith to believe that He is and always will be because we have a knowing that uses our spiritual eyes to see beyond what our physical man may never see. No flesh can stand in God's presence. The glory of the Father is pure and we are full of impurity, though there is a constant move toward purity, if we actively pursue His life and direction for our lives. The warning in Titus says it best and we must take heed (To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work) - Titus 1:15. We must not allow our lives to be unbelieving and our conscience defiled. In Jeremiah chapter 24, God says that the people of Judah who submitted to His will and went into captivity would be given a heart for Him again to know Him, verse 7,"Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart". They yielded to Him and His will, they were finally obedient, and He was faithful to restore them.
Like the song, line upon line, precept by precept, He's changing you and me, if we endure and continue in His life and love. It is not fun at times to have spiritual cancers cut from our being, but if we are faithful, a change begins to take place in our lives; we begin to learn that we can rely upon God, building His character and reflection of Christ in us. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.-2 Corinthians 3:18 We walk softly and reverently giving a consistent Being for the Father to use so as to reach the lost of this world for Jesus Christ.
When we are baptized into His Spirit, we find an enduring comforter and helper in this endeavor. Healings, miracles, signs and wonders can occur, but it only follows a life that is fully committed to the Trinity. People will see the difference in such a life, and it will only manifest in a life that reaches the point of immersion in His Spirit, and yielded in humility, not loving this world and not self-seeking. The more we have been exposed and affected by this world, the more difficult the task to allow the Spirit to bring us to the point of full baptism. This person will be known by their love and humility, no self-promoter in this group. We must have self-discipline in our walk and love for reading His word, meditating upon it and praying to Him throughout the day. There is no substitute for time in His presence.
Nevertheless, we may walk in the obedience of the Lord and fulfill the scriptures in our lives. Let us consider Mark 16:20, "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen."

Many scholars have a problem with this section of scripture because it seems to be quite direct in saying that THOSE WHO BELIEVE will find these things following them as they walk with the Lord and it seems to vary in style from the other body of text, nevertheless it has endured in cannon and was in the texts given to the common man, not the cleaned up version of the scholars, it was also used by early church fathers and is consistent with the scriptures if you read from the spiritual perspective.
What did they do? They preached and the word was confirmed, they preached in the face of death and persecution, they believed, having a Knowing of God, faith by knowing.

In Christ Alone

2010-04-12T06:32:00.001-05:00

There is no other name by which men may be saved than Christ alone. We must be familiar with the early gnostic teaching that found it's way into the Church in the formative years of the first century believers. This line of thinking placed no value on purity in the physical actions of the man only the spiritual mental belief was what counted. A person believed and therefore was . All that was necessary was a mental agreement to the principles of the Lord and attaining a deeper understanding of enlightenment. In other words, a person would live according to all their own lusts and still be fine spiritually, as this only affected the corruptible(temporary) flesh man and not the true perfect eternal life that was spiritual. This, of course, led to many variations of the philosophy, along with many threads of eastern mysticism.
The problem is when you read the teachings of Jesus that requires something of the man or woman of God, such as in the beatitudes. This is where we find a great importance placed upon our physical actions and consequences. Everything we do has consequences, there is no other way to put it. We must be Holy as He is Holy, in reality, not just in mental trickery. How is this accomplished ? In Christ alone we find the answer, we have been justified by faith and redeemed from a curse, if we believe and act upon this great sacrifice. My life must pursue purity and holiness in Him, alone. My pursuit must be to reflect Christ's life, my actions in the physical must reflect His light and His glory in a situation. My pursuits must be based in what pleases Him. My independence replaced with total dependence on His life. We must understand Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Dying For Christ

2010-04-06T06:25:00.001-05:00

Today, it is hard to find anyone who has thought about dying for Christ in their everyday life and what that means. We don't really even want to sicken the old sin nature for the sake of the cross, but sometimes we may do it a little, expecting to be applauded by the Almighty recognizing our great sacrifice for the Kingdom. The truth is we must learn to kill the old nature every day, and take up our cross and follow Jesus in the newness of life we have been given by His sacrifice, not just wound it. In Leviticus, it was up to the one bringing the sacrifice to do the killing, then the priest would do His work. In like manner spiritually, we may understand that this is a type for us as New Covenant believers to see that we must kill our own selfish and natural flesh man to be able to take up our instrument of death and follow Him who already is walking ahead of us and preparing the way of righteousness. The work for our righteousness has already been accomplished, all it takes from us is obedience to His word through our actions, to follow in His footsteps as a little child and find the Kingdom of God that is available for us through our humility. Strength comes from weakness, love from hate. We understand our weaknesses from humanity, hatred for our sinful thoughts and actions, and the strength and love of Christ are manifested in us, from our weakness He is made strong, from our hatred of sin and it's effects, love for righteousness and justice. A merciful and patient life that is known by love, is the result of one who loves Jesus above all things, including their own life also. Love Him and be known by Him. The full power of God is manifested in such a life of obedience and humility.
Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Luke 9:
²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

The Cross and The Shedding of Blood

2010-04-05T06:01:00.003-05:00

Because Jesus died upon the cross our sins may be forgiven, if we accept the payment and act upon it. We sometimes think that just because we mouth a few words in the "sinner's prayer", we have said the magic words for salvation. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case, these words must come from a broken and contrite heart, the Holy Spirit must bring the conviction in your heart to be able to accept salvation or else you are still blinded by your old sin nature and cannot see that you are spiritually dead and in need of Christ's atonement. The job of any Christian should be to share about what Christ has done for us and boldly share the gospel message, the Holy Spirit will use our efforts and convict the sinner of their reality, once realized, we may lead a person in prayer, but the heart change occurs from within not without, the words must spring forth from the broken heart, not just as joining a club or fraternity, but as being pulled from drowning in a river or burning in a hellish fire. The Cross is central to the Christian life always has been and always will be. We first read in Leviticus the prescription for the sacrifices to cover various sins of mankind, the Jewish Nation was being shown the necessity of the shedding of blood to cover sins and allow for fellowship with Yahweh God, indeed the first shedding of blood was performed by Yahweh himself in the garden when skins were used for clothing to cover Adam and Eve, what a horror that was for them to behold, an indelible picture of the true horrendous nature of sin and it's consequences.
So it was that Jesus came to pay the ultimate sacrifice in due time, the perfect life that could only be lived by a man being born not into sin, but into the world, born fully God and fully man. What love our Father has for us, to send His only begotten Son into the jaws of sin to pay for our debts, so we may not be lost, but saved from eternal death. The power in the cross is that it was the ultimate act of obedience by Jesus unto horrendous torture, done out of unfathomable love for you and me. The death(sacrifice) paid the price, once and for all, the resurrection validated the work, it was a total package for redemption, there was no payment for us if there was no resurrection, yet there was no resurrection without a sinless life, what glorious tapestry of love our Father has woven for us.
How is it we say, we may live according to our own ways and desires? Are we not bought with a price? Don't we owe our very life to the One who saved us? Holiness and Purity must be the lifestyle we seek, changed precept by precept, line upon line, action by action. It must be the desire of our heart. It may take time to take root in our heart, but we must never quit moving toward the goal of a righteousness in our behaviors and actions, to live up to the work that has been performed in our hearts.
Behavioral changes sometimes take time, but there must be a change reflected in the man or woman after salvation, a light that reflects something of the Lord, a difference or witness to the change of heart. If you are uncertain in your heart, be certain! Accept Christ's payment and live for Him today.
Romans 10:

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

The link below provides good scriptural references about the cross:

http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/cross.htm

America Your Wound Is Fatal (Reprint)

2010-04-02T06:01:00.001-05:00

This was originally posted in April of 2009. I pray we all take this warning seriously.

You have said, “This too will pass, but it is the Day of Judgment. You are being judged for the innocent blood and harlotry that you said were not a problem today. Perversions unimagined and my people remain silent, not only silent but participants. Your false prophets say,” peace and prosperity will return”, but they WILL NOT! I have rejected you!

If you will turn and repent and honor your father’s ways, I WILL HAVE MERCY!

Tell my children JUDGMENT comes swiftly, BE PREPARED!

There is a small group of men that have been gathering for 9 weeks in the sanctuary on Saturday morning for prayer. This message was given to me yesterday morning as I was mourning and praying for America and our congregation. At the same time that I was writing this, another brother was compelled to open the scriptures to Jeremiah 2 and felt compelled to share that word with our group. I gave the message to another brother that read it for me as I was too heart-broken to even read it. The focus in Jeremiah was the following scripture:

Jeremiah 2:19-25 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁹Your own wickedness shall chasten and correct you, and your backslidings and desertion of faith shall reprove you. Know therefore and recognize that this is an evil and bitter thing: [first,] you have forsaken the Lord your God; [second,] you are indifferent to Me and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord of hosts.
²⁰For long ago [in Egypt] I broke your yoke and burst your bonds [not that you might be free, but that you might serve Me] and long ago you shattered the yoke and snapped the bonds [of My law which I put upon you]; you said, I will not serve and obey You! For upon every high hill and under every green tree you [eagerly] prostrated yourself [in idolatrous worship], playing the harlot.
²¹Yet I had planted you [O house of Israel] a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned into degenerate shoots of wild vine alien to Me?
²²For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity and guilt are still [upon you; you are] spotted, dirty, and stained before Me, says the Lord.
²³How can you say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baals [other gods]? Look at your way in the valley; know what you have done. You are a restive young female camel [in the uncontrollable violence of her brute passion eagerly] running hither and thither,
²⁴Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey used to the desert, in her heat sniffing the wind [for the scent of a male]. In her mating season who can restrain her? No males seeking her need weary themselves; in her month they will find her [seeking them].
²⁵[Cease from your mad running after idols, from which you get nothing but bitter injury.] Keep your feet from being unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, It is hopeless! For I have loved strangers and foreigners, and after them I will go.

I know this seems like another message from a misguided individual, but I know this was from the Lord, do with it what you will.
Please be prepared and pray, pray for America to turn now, we must act now!

Establish Your Heart

2010-04-01T07:10:00.002-05:00

Whatever a man establishes his heart upon, that will be precious to him and define his character. As a Christian, we must establish our heart upon the rock of Christ, as He is the cornerstone of all we believe and live. How we live speaks louder than our words. We may say that Jesus is the most precious thing in our life, but, if we fail to pursue righteousness in ALL we do then we are just talking and fooling ourselves and maybe others. It is in the secret place where our heart exposes us. We may mask our heart in righteousness for most to see and not really have it established in Christ, we may even deceive ourselves, consider what the prophet Jeremiah wrote in chapter 17, verse 9:
“ The heart is deceitful above all things,

And desperately wicked;

Who can know it? "
In the next verse the question is answered, "I, the Lord, search the heart,I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." We must maintain our fellowship with the Lord to allow Him to show us where our heart is established based upon His standards from the word and not ours. Consider Psalm 139, verses 23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

And again in Psalm 119:
⁹ How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to Your word.

¹⁰ With my whole heart I have sought You;

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

¹² Blessed are You, O LORD!

Teach me Your statutes.

There is a modern teaching that says the heart has been permanently changed by the sacrifice of Christ as we accept it unto salvation, in other words for those truly saved and regenerated, it is said that it is impossible for that heart to harbor sin any longer, in fact it has been said that it is absolutely blasphemous to say so. I see this as a misunderstanding of the two types of sins Christ came to forgive and die to make payment for us in our place. The first sin is the Adamic sin nature, the nature we were born into being from the bloodline of Adam, this Sin has been permanently forgiven in the Christian believer. The second type of sin is the trespass sins, those we fall into from our old fleshly nature, as we walk out our salvation, these occur as we make poor choices in our daily lives, hopefully, we keep short accounts on these and do not allow these to become a practice in our lives. We cannot practice sinful behavior and be joined to Christ and have fellowship with our Lord. We can have these sins forgiven as we confess them and move on to learn from these temporary failures. Precept by Precept, line upon line, He's changing you and I to reflect His glory.
The unbeliever cannot have these trespasses forgiven, until they have had the Adamic Sin nature changed into a new creation, born afresh. We have constant choices to make as new believers, if we only make right choices with our heart established, then it is possible to go and sin no more. If, however, we fall into sins, being drawn away by the lusts and desires of our fleshly nature(old nature), then there must be a repentance and correction unto righteousness. Consequences may or may not be required to be paid by us, but for the Christian, these sins are permanently forgiven and forgotten by our Lord and Savior, and should be by us. There is a responsibility for the believer to continue in His word and establish his/her heart for righteousness.
1 John 3 tells us the following:

¹⁸ My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. ²² And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

How is it that John says in the next verse(24) the following? "Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." We see that it is imperative that we keep this commandment to believe on the name of Jesus an love one another, these words were not written to those without salvation, but to children, already regenerated. They were told to keep or maintain their belief in Jesus by what means? In the next chapter, by testing and not believing every spirit, keeping yourself from idols (chapter 5). We must establish our heart on a continual basis or we will damaged by our wrong choices.

Avoid Heart Troubles

2010-03-31T06:30:00.002-05:00

There are many and various ideas and opinions as to how one should live his/her life as a Christian. Some involve doctrinal traditions that have become accepted as scriptural equivalent(the same importance as scripture), good works must be performed to ensure salvation. Some now believe the behavior of a Christian has nothing to do with that person spiritually, but it only affects the body and mental thinking of the Christian.(basic gnostic overtones). Yes, many and varied beliefs are shaped and fashioned to make our very own custom Christian belief system, scriptural truths may be shaped to fit our opinions and reasoning as to how it should be.
The truth is serving our Lord must start first in the heart of the man or woman. The heart must be given to serve the Lord in purity, even if the performance of the person physically needs much refining as to behaviors and habits. Looking at a Christian with the eyes of the world cannot see what is in the heart of that person, only with the eyes of the Spirit of God may we see the individual as God views them (us). We all must perform regular heart exams to make sure we have not been lifted up with pride or errant thoughts and behaviors based upon physical lusts and desires, being drawn away from a pure motive for Christ and Christian service.
Of course, this cannot be done without personal time and devotion spent with the Lord in scriptural reading, prayer, meditation and thought, and worship of our Lord each day. At times we all find ourselves in a dry spot when we don't feel like we are even in the right zip code for being part of the Kingdom of God, but thank God it is not dependent upon the way I feel. It is dependent upon what has already been accomplished by Jesus, and my role is as a faithful servant while here, just as HE set the pattern for us to follow. On that day of fulfillment of this life, we will have our place as sons and daughters of God. We must live and overcome by keeping our heart out of trouble, living the life prescribed in the bible and not the one customized to fit my personal life agenda. I am to live as His own, not my own.
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 28:14
Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Mark 7:21-22
For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22
greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
John 14:27
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot
give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Church of the Tares

2010-03-30T06:04:00.001-05:00

Is the Church of Jesus today the,"First Church of the Tares"? Are we so full of Tares and not wheat that anything is acceptable under the right circumstances? Are you confused by what I am saying? Let me explain.
Wheat represents the Christian believer, Tare is a type of grass that looks like wheat, but is nothing but a weed and will not produce a head like wheat, only at maturity can one tell the difference. An interesting note about wheat is that when the wheat grass begins to grow, if other grass or tares start to grow among the crop, nothing can be done about it until harvest or the good wheat will be destroyed as well.
The sad thing is that when a crop has become so full of tares then many times it will take up the water for growth and choke out the wheat so that, at harvest, the heads are very sparse or even dead, producing no grain at all.
Are we in danger of producing a group of church-goers that cannot bear fruit? A group that cannot reproduce the Kingdom of God, as they really have no understanding of it. Oh, they know what they see, but not what is the reality of the Spirit of God and the Christian life. How many young believers are shaped in their spiritual growth by such a group as this? There must be true growth in a Christian's life or there is only a dead plant taking up sustenance, with no capacity for producing life. We should all take a self-examination and see what is in our heart. If you are a believer, and have been living a life away from the Lord, repent(turn around) from that way of living and live for Christ who saved you. If you think you may be just living a "church-life", ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you, ask someone who you know is a Christian believer to tell you about salvation. There must be a recognition that you can never please God enough to be saved by your own works and are ultimately bound to die and be sent to a place reserved for the rebellious called Hell by the English language (those that choose to live a life of dis-obedience to the Lord, making a mockery of the death and resurrection of Christ). It does not have to be this way for you, we are still in the age of grace where sins of the truly repentant are forgiven. I pray you will repent if you have never done so, and live your life for Christ, then go and tell others what He has done for you.

Matthew 13:24-30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹³⁰ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Time For a Self-Examination

2010-03-29T06:15:00.004-05:00

We have heard a lot about performing self-examinations of one medical sort or another, and many people have found early stages of cancerous growths and as a result their lives were spared a lot of miserable treatments and multiple surgeries, just to survive. I would like to say that spiritually, We in the Christian community, must also perform a self-examination spiritually upon ourselves. One thing that is most effective about self-exams is that the person becomes familiar with his/her own body and therefore, will be able to recognize something that is unusual or doesn't "feel right". Spiritually, we should know our own tendencies and be able to recognize the attitude or thought-process that leads us into a spiritual spiral outward and away from our Lord. Being drawn away and enticed by sinful lusts many times begins with a thought that is allowed to germinate into outward action.
From the heart and mind to outward action, that is the process we follow for good or evil. Our eyes are the window to our soul, and either light or darkness will enter therein. I have former blogs discussing light and darkness in the life of a Christian, but I'll say here, light dictates to darkness, not the other way around. In other words, if there is Godly light in the Christian's life, then darkness cannot stay there. Don't you know if there is darkness entertained, it will multiply other darkness. I've never seen a Christian struggling with a sin problem that is fellowshipping( hanging out) with other believers and staying in the word of God, along with prayer and occasional fasting( as you have need).
In saying all this, I want you to know that we are struggling not only with our own flesh, but with spiritual forces greater than our natural man can handle, but with the power of the Holy Spirit in the committed Christian life, all things can be overcome. Don't see your neighbor as the enemy, understand that the enemy is the collective force of fallen angels that set and bait the traps for us to follow or fall into(spiritually speaking) in our heart and mind and then our heart. If we fall, turn around from the evil way and repent. If we stand, humbly praise and thank the Lord and don't think of yourself in a boastful manner, but walk out your salvation in a careful, watchful manner. We have great power from God to use, but it must be used with humility and cannot be used in pride, or you will fall( that's a promise). Keep your mind on Christ and you will have perfect peace.
Proverbs 4:

²³ Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.

¹⁸ But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.

2 Corinthians 13:

⁵ Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. ⁶ But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Fantasy vs. Reality

2010-03-26T12:21:00.001-05:00

There are not many realities today in modern philosophy or in the thought process of modern Christians. Many from the Church live morals that are reflective of fleshly practical urges and desires. Fantasies fostered by easy access to twisted and deeply provacative games, images and videos have shaped the imagination of many in the Christian community. Just knowing it is not real does not dampen the destructive capacity of allowing your mind to dwell upon these things. What enters the mind will work its way outward into our actions, and shape the way we view our Lord and our world view. We cannot turn our focus on and off like a faucet, playing with deadly spiritual forces will bear a distressing and bitter fruit in the life of the person submitting their mind to it.
Our faith must be strong to withstand the firey arrows of Satan's attacks. He sets the trap and we fall into it being drawn by our own lusts and desires, not the desires of Christ. Fear, lack of faith, problems of moral failures are all a result of keeping our minds away from thinking and meditating upon our Lord and His works in this world into which we were born and reborn. While it is still day let us change our ways, turn our affections toward Jesus and not something that will sap our time and efforts taking our time away from those things that are real but unseen.
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.-(Hebrews 11:1-3)

2 Open the gates,

That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

3 You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

4 Trust in the LORD forever,

For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.- (Isaiah 26:2-4)

Believing In Jesus

2010-03-24T06:01:00.002-05:00

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? The gospel of John in chapter 5, 24-25 reads, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live."
Now, this would read as though one could simply have a knowledge of belief in the concept of Jesus' teachings and accept that the Father sent Him and be passed into life, once and for all. This might be taken as a "free pass" to simply have the one-time experience and go back to the old ways of life, never disturbing the life-style or change in a way to keep people from knowing that there had been been any change whatsoever in the nature of the person, yet, stealthily gaining eternal life without creating any noticeable difference in the interaction with others. The only problem with this conclusion is verses 21- 23 of the same chapter. These verses blow the doors right off that line of thinking.
^"21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. ²² For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
We must honor the Son and the Father in all that we do as Christians, there is no place for "hidden lights". There are no invisible Christians in Heaven, nor silent praises. There will be joy unspeakable and full of glory, and yes the half has never yet been told(to borrow a few words). We must be a light set up on a hill for all to see, not worried about what we will eat or wear or how we will survive. These things are in the "provision package" for true believers. GO forth and shine your light today.

"Acting" As a Christian

2010-03-23T05:54:00.002-05:00

There used to be a commercial on TV that featured an actor that played a Doctor on a very popular program at that time. He would come forward on the screen with a lab coat on and say," I'm not a real Doctor, but I play one on TV". He would then go on to tell you about a medical product, acting as an expert spokesman for the product. How wonderful it would be if some of these money -fleecing TV evangelists would have to state something similar before making a pitch for your money to help in some "ministry".
You see, there is no end to the manifestations of heresies in the Church of Christ, but we must not be fooled or deceived into thinking someone is a true representative of Christ by how they talk or how they look, some will even preach a little truth, but in the end there is a corrupt seed that is being planted. Now, they are not all wrong or of evil intent, but We must be the one's responsible to discern what work we are supporting. In the natural we are shaped by the views of our society in which we live, but when we are re-born into the new Kingdom of Christ, natural boundaries must be broken down. No longer are we simply charged with thinking about our immediate surroundings, but we must have our minds renewed to consider God's work around the world. His desire is to reach everyone with the gospel message, while the age of grace is still open. We are the hands and feet of Christ to be used to reach the world, and it must not be an "act". There must be a genuine renewal in our being for us to be His true representative or else the work will end up a corrupt seed of worldly pollution.
Are you a true Christian? Do you even know? Now is the time to have a deep assurance of your salvation. There are no grandchildren in a relationship with our Father, only children. If you have attended church all your life, but thought you were a Christian because of your affiliation, but find yourself not really understanding spiritual things or have a deep fear of dying, maybe a dread fear of judgment, you may never have truly allowed Christ to renew your heart. What it takes is a simple belief in Him and His death upon the cross to pay for your Sins, and an acceptance of that work. A realization that you are a sinner and cannot make yourself holy by any works you may do, understanding that you are bound for a permanent death apart from the rebirth of Christ. You must confess that Jesus is your Savior and then walk a disciplined life in Christ, renewing your mind through reading the scriptures and listening to good Godly teaching, fellow-shipping( spending time) with other believers and spending time in meditation and worship each day with the Lord. Keep your mind away from as much worldly pollution as possible, and keep it on Him.
Romans 10:5-13-
⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Shocking Isn't It?

2010-03-22T06:06:00.003-05:00

It is quite shocking to realize that we may be in the setting of the age of the Gentiles and the beginning of a glorious work of our Lord. Of course, the enemy would like to preempt such a work with counterfeit works of his own. This counterfeit is something we all must guard against inside the Church. There are numerous factions rising up to split the Church into various groups that have no unity of core Christianity. We must be known by our love and unity in Christ Jesus, but not at the expense of the gospel or basic doctrine of Him. That is why it is so imperative that we KNOW the scriptures and KNOW Him! We cannot find ourselves living a life first for the people around us, our job or pleasure. We must be faithful to live first for Christ.

The bible tells us that there will be a time when we are actually put to death and those doing it think they are doing God service. If we are not grounded in Him we will not stand during such a terrible day. It will require a separation of those who are willing to love Him to the death and those who love what they can glean from church people and goodly associations. That is where the old saying," The rubber meets the road" comes into a reality. There will be choices to be made, and they will not be trivial. So, in order to prepare our lives for such a reality,( I pray it never comes in our lifetime), we must be grounded in His word! There is no easy way out in that day, we must stand upon His sure foundation. Be prepared, and pray you never see it! In the mean time, love your neighbors and acquaintances, let your light shine before men, be men and women of high moral character, the highest. Be honest in business and trustworthy. Be the character of Christ. Be ready!

Reading from Matthew 24:

⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Tablet of the Heart

2010-03-18T06:36:00.001-05:00

Bonnie Rait had a song several years go that she recorded, " I Can't Make You Love Me", a very difficult song about a one-sided love in a relationship that was about to end. The song title is one that could be said to depict our Savior's song to us in the Church of America today. He has done it all for us and loves us with everything He ever had to give, even His very life. Yet, He can't make us love Him if we don't. He has never forced love upon any generation, but that love calls, it pleads for those in darkness to heed the light of His love. Heart-broken at our condition, the Lord is calling today! He is doing all he can to reach the heart of this dark generation. This generation of pollution and corruption. The Church of Laodicia must repent and turn back to the One who loves us and live for Him in all that we do.
Why can't the Church see the corruption and sorry state of our leadership in many cases. The fleecing of the sheep, the lack of true missions, the voices are diminishing that call to repentance a world of ever increasing perversion and wickedness. Where are the new voices? I'm sorry we have a different gospel message today, one that is enlightened from our great wisdom that those poor fore-fathers of the faith just didn't know, bless their hearts. They tried, but they just had so much to learn, we've finally got it with the "latter rain", right?
The one thing that is different about this "move" is that there seems to be a lack of commitment to purity in the Christian life, Honesty is optional I guess. Repentance doesn't mean turning from a sinful life anymore it means modifying your life, not a 360 degree turn, but maybe a 30 to at most 90 degree turn. What? It is a comfortable change not a change that requires a death, just a sickening of the old man, and it is just a deception of Hell itself.
We must have the law of God written upon a new heart, one that loves in totality, immersed in the faith of our Father, a radical change from who we were. That old man must have been put to death and the new man fed with the word of God and nurtured in Godly teaching. The choice you make is to die to your old-self and live for Jesus.
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.-Jeremiah 31:33
⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:4-14

What Have We Given Away?

2010-03-16T06:04:00.002-05:00

I heard of a woman that once bought a painting at a yard sale for $5.00 mostly because she liked the frame and had a painting she wanted to use it for. One day she decided to tackle the project and started removing the canvass to find a painting underneath. In a deep curiosity, she decided to go to the local college and ask the Art Professor what it was, and to her amazement, it was an original Picasso worth approximately 3.5 million dollars. She had made the best investment of her life or anybody's life. What about the poor woman struggling to pay bills and deciding to have a yard sale to get rid of stuff around the house to help make ends meet? She had it all right there that she would ever need to live a comfortable life, she just didn't know it, so she gave it away.

What have we give away spiritually? What has been the greatest, most sound financially, most powerful militarily, most enlightened spiritually, nation on the earth is now facing bankruptcy, loss of power and darkness. What happened? I've heard some say that we have lost our way, this is not correct, we didn't lose our way, we gave it away. We gave everything pure, good and holy that we could to the dogs of pleasure and self-gratification. Pride and Greed replaced Humility and Charity. Love for children with hatred for new life, honor for marriage to mockery of the marriage covenant. The financial leaders can't seem to get enough, more and more money will never satisfy the deep hole within the soul, only Christ Jesus can do that. Our intellectuals have replaced godly wisdom with foolishness. Our industrial leaders took away jobs and gave them to poor countries so that the ridiculous wages could be exploited. I grew up in a small country store, and sometimes I would have to mind it while my Dad went on a brief trip somewhere, the one thing I can hear Him say now is , "Son, don't give away the store while I'm gone, I'll be back in a few minutes. I knew better than to give anything away while He was gone and I was "in charge".

I think the Church in America could take a lesson from my Daddy's words, both Daddy's. I know we feel better about ourselves than we ever have in the Church, but what we really need is a big old crying towel and a place to kneal and cry and repent.

Rev 3:14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Establish Your Word To Your Servant

2010-03-15T06:32:00.003-05:00

This beginning of Psalm 119,verse 38 ends with the words; "Who is devoted to fearing You". We read in verse 40; "Behold, I long for your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness." The psalmist knew an understanding that we have forgotten in many Christian circles today and that is this; Revival for the Church is in the precepts of God". We must preach His precepts so that others may hear and understand. We are not to preach modern philosophy or my interpretation or even a doctrine equivalent to the word of God, no it must be from God's word and that alone. My teaching must reflect His precepts in a way to make every effort to allow the hearer of the teaching to understand the word of Yahweh God, not the word of Hugh.

We must be revived today, and one key is found in previous verse #37 of the same chapter," "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way"( some versions say words). So much time is wasted on the worthless. We see things others have bought and covet, we see ads on TV and covet and then buy what should not be bought, we watch worthless shows that add nothing to my spiritual growth, in fact a great hindrance. No time, we say to read our bible or other inspired material, but time enough to vegetate in front of the flat screen. Ouch, that hurt me! I have learned many precepts from the word of God, and much understanding. The teaching of it has no power unless I live the precepts I know, and that is what God is busy doing in my life, boiling me into a character that is honest and pure of heart. There is no place for dis-honesty in our Christian walk (and talk). We must be above board and true in all of our ways. We must establish His word in our heart and lives as believers.

Life Is Truly A Vapor

2010-03-12T04:57:00.001-06:00

Life is but a vapor of time, we live and die before 30 seconds expire on the eternal time continuum. Where we ultimately reside (eternally) depend upon the decisions we make in this temporary vapor of time into which we are born. There really is but precious few nano-seconds within which we have to make an eternal judgment. It really is a very risky proposition to try and have our cake and eat it too. Many want to put off a decision to serve Christ until the last possible moment. These want to exhaust all possible avenues for self-indulgence or self-gratification and then make a final decision to take out a little "fire insurance". I once heard it put that those that have a change late in life is analogized in the phrase, "everybody brushes their teeth before they go to the dentist". In this statement the meaning is clear, we all want to go to our maker as clean as possible. This concept is age-old and one that has a very small probability of coming about. It is just very hard to live a life centered around selfishness and switch totally to one of humility, emptying one's self to be filled with the life of Jesus. It may be possible, but it also may be possible for me to shoot into the ground like Jed Clampet and become a billionaire overnight. The probability is very small to non-existent. Don't keep putting it off, make your decision today, choose life(your own). Don't wait until you are faced with a crisis, or when you are stuck between a rock and a hard place to take a stand,
I really dis-like the term making a decision, it really means taking a stand for righteousness, instead of living the deception that makes me think I'm doing it my way. There are other sinister forces that have the power to deceive, just as in the movie ,"The Matrix", when the character Neo discovers that the life He is living is not really real, but a simulated life that is very convincing from a huge web of Artificial Intelligence. The bodies of everyone are really being used for a type of living energy source. The forces of evil will spread a web of lies and deceit for us to believe so that we too, may choose a path that seems pleasant, fun and sometimes even the right way to live, but in the end leads to sadness, misery, loneliness, and ultimately spiritual death. Jesus taught us to take the path less traveled, the path that leads to life.
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it .-Matthew, chapter seven.
Yes, life is but a vapor as it reads in James 4:14- whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Jesus Never Said, "Give To The Rich"

2010-03-11T07:04:00.001-06:00

So far, I haven't found a version of the Bible that records where Jesus said to give to the rich, but who knows, they may invent one eventually. Hell has no lack of interpretation. Where ever did we get the notion that giving to support an opulent lifestyle was Holy and Godly? From which page does it say to multiply wealth in the name of the Lord? Now many people have gained wealth through hard work or wise investments, I do not speak to these, they have a result from honest endeavors. I am speaking to those that would take the last red cent from a single mother of 3 and put it in the coffers of a "ministry" that has so much overhead that scarcely a sentence can be found that does not in some way lead to manipulating money from the hearer.
Where is the uncompromising gospel message? The message of living a godly life carefully before the Lord? The children of Hell are at work in the church, and they want your money. Don't support any ministry in which the leaders mis-use your money for fine-living at the expense of the poor. Jesus was touched by the widow that gave her all for righteous purposes in her heart, He instructed the self-absorbed rich young ruler to go and give all He had to the poor. Jesus was showing all of us even unto this day the importance of serving God and not money.
Are you in a ministry that is struggling, even though you are doing all you know to serve the Lord, keep your faith, hold fast! The Lord will make a way for you. Serve the Lord with gladness, knowing your reward is ahead, even now let your heart build faith, learning to lean on the One who brought you thus far. Faith building is tough sometimes, but we must remember the words of Christ in Luke, chapter 12:
²² Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁶ If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
²⁹ “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. ³⁰ For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

Jesus Said,"Let There Be Light"

2010-03-09T19:31:00.003-06:00

Did you know that the Bible records where Jesus said to us that there must be light in His followers lives? Read Matthew, chapter 5 verses 14-15:

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Let your light shine so that others in darkness may know who you serve. There is no room for denial of Christ in the everyday course of living and still call ourselves bearers of the light. We do not emit light with our light hidden within our being, never being put upon display. The light is for others to see and be drawn into the blessed Kingdom of God, so that those who will receive it, may be residents of the heavenly kingdom as His children. Light that is not shown is by it's very nature darkness, and how can darkness have anything to do with light. We are not to be bearers of darkness, but of the light that came into the world to set men free from the bondage of sin and death, spiritual death.
The gospel of John tells us of such a man that came to bear witness of the light, as one who went before Christ to prepare the way for the light, we in turn must witness this light as a spectrum for all in darkness to see. We read the same in John, chapter 1:6-9:
^"6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world."
In 1 John 1:5-7, we see where John discusses the practice of declaring light, but in reality walking in darkness:

⁵ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Beloved, we must not declare light with our mouth and walk in darkness with our actions, even behind closed doors, nothing will be hidden, it will all be brought to light. Walk in righteousness and the light will shine as a witness.

What Does it Mean To Be a Christian?

2010-03-08T18:36:00.004-06:00

What is a Christian and what does a Christian Do? A Christian is defined as someone who follows the teachings of Christ, not some but all. That is to say, we may not choose to exclude certain teachings and accept others, of course, you may do that but then you would not be a Christian. Being a Christian is not a ticket to wealth, it is not a ticket to an easy life. We are not guaranteed that there will not be hardships in this life, in fact, you may face hardships everyday, but with the hardships there is a peace and an overcoming joy within you that can never be taken away.
Love is present with the Christian in a way that is not found with any other religion or faith. I am speaking of true Christians, not just those of lip-service. If it is not so, the person is not living a Christian life. This does not mean a person should not follow legal recourse in a theft or violent act, but we must always love the one that has committed such an act, there is no place for hate in the Christian heart. Loving means holding one responsible for wrongful actions, as it may lead to one's salvation in the long run. A Christian speaks truth and does not lie. If one lies and he is a Christian, he must confess that sin to the Father and ask for forgiveness to the one(s) wronged. If a Christian is busy in the task of completing the work for the Kingdom of God, then they are not idle and will have a hedge against falling into ungodliness. If a Christian empties himself or herself of selfishness and pride, they may experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit working mightily within them, it is there waiting on you dear Christian to allow it to flow out as a river to quench the dying thirst of many who are living in darkness and violence, not knowing the way out is in Jesus. We must tell them the way, if we are truly Christians. We must not only strive to just keep ourselves from falling, we must work to bring others in, according to our talents. There is a parable that Jesus spoke regarding talents that show to us how we must invest our talents, as our Christian life, that were given us, into the world of Sin, so that an investment for God may result. We may read the following in Matthew 25:14-30:
¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰ “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
²⁶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
²⁹ ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (NKJV)

The Changes of Sin

2010-03-01T06:49:00.004-06:00

The insidious thing about sin is that is pulls a person in with great excitement and promise for fulfillment or gratification for the flesh. It ends with a brokenness, death, and destruction. The most vulnerable among us are the very young, they have no experience dealing with such a thing, and so We, as Christian believing parents or guardians are responsible for instructing these young ones in the ways of righteousness and warning of what sinful behavior produces. Many parents want to befriend a child to the child's peril. There will be time for friendship once the child is an adult, but the relationship has to be much stricter in the formative years. These years are times of learning and trying for the child. Many will test the boundaries of the morals we live, it is a learning process. There is a recipe for raising children I read once and I'll pass it on to you. To raise a child you'll need the following: 3 cups of patience, one cup of justice, 2 cups of grace, 1 lb. of endurance, and 5 gallons of love.
There is no doubt about it, what we allow our children to be exposed to will ultimately have a hand in shaping the values they live by. How we live our lives is the largest factor, followed by the exposures we allow for our children to the things of the world around us. There is no substitute for time spent with them in the formative years. There are exceptions to the rule, but, if you keep a positive relationship with the child and expose them to a righteous environment, they will develop values based on truthfulness and not a lie, it is the only way righteousness can be restored in our's or any society. Proverbs 22:4-6 puts it this way:

⁴ Humility and the fear of the LORD
bring wealth and honor and life.
⁵ In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,
but he who guards his soul stays far from them.
⁶ Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Christians, please keep your children innocent as long as possible, allowing them to mature before having to deal with exposure to the deceitfulness of sinful behaviors. May the Lord direct us and guide us in this endeavor.

He Who Stands With Christ Never Stands Alone

2010-02-26T09:25:00.003-06:00

There is a remnant of believers today that have set their hearts to stay true to the Lord no matter the cost, no matter the place. These Christians are usually not seen out front, they are not given many accolades from man, in fact, many are just plain ordinary people who love extraordinarily, the Father and Son. In society, these people are often labeled as intolerant or unenlightened or fringe Christians, many living their lives feeling as if they stand alone in their deep desire to follow the bible literally. I pray that if you find yourself in this category that you will not lose heart. It is so easy to compromise what you believe, just accepting a compromised gospel will net many temporary rewards, allowing for a cloak of religion to satisfy the conscious enough to feel justified, and in many cases it may remove the struggling with sinful behaviors and give your mind a sense of peace.
I would have you to be reminded beloved, that we serve a God that is greater than anything this world has to offer and standing for His ways will always require a fighting against principalities and powers in the unseen realm of the Spirit. We must remember the promises to be found faithful until the end and overcome the traps of this world, to endure sound doctrine and true love, as long as we live. The fight we fight is to gain the place of complete death to our own selfish desires and allow the life of Christ Jesus to reign completely within our whole being. The flesh must die each morning, and the soul must continually be transformed into thinking of everything through the prism of the principles of the Holy scriptures, and don't be deceived into accepting a version that twists or distorts the meaning from the original writings, I am not totally advocating King James only, but the completion of this work is inevitably tried and true, albeit, I have seen misuse of this version by a mis-understanding of what was spoken in 1611 English. There must be an understanding of what you read, we must however, always be sure it lines up with the original intent, study to show yourself approved, don't accept everything you hear from any teacher. We are ultimately responsible for how we live and what we do, and it requires working to show ourselves approved. We, however are not alone, we have a comforter. A guide to enlighten us along our path, to not only help teach us, but empower us to live in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. The Holy Spirit will convict the sinner and give us the words to speak and tell them of the saving grace of Christ. As we walk faithful in the Lord, the power of Christ will be able to work within us to heal the sick and deliver the possessed, to protect us until our time is complete. This consistent life of faith only comes within the one that keeps his or her heart holy and righteous before the Lord. When we fall, we must keep short accounts and turn and repent, making arrangements to not find ourselves in that position again, if possible. Be watchful and sober, keeping all due diligence to walk in what you know.Know that the Lord is with you in your faithful walk, and His grace will uphold you in your times of trial.

My Limitations Are Boundless, His Bounds are Limitless

2010-02-25T01:10:00.002-06:00

One thing I have learned in life and that is my limitations are boundless. There are no end to my limits, even the things I do the best are only mediocre in comparison to the gifts of others. In other words, I have nothing whatsoever to brag about, save Jesus Christ. The only pearl in my heart that shines brightest and will always shine the brightest is the beautiful reflection of the Savior. I have no other hope for perfection except through the cross. My death produces something truly to brag about and that is the Love of our Father towards us. While I was yet in my sins, He saved me. One who had and has absolutely nothing of note to add to the table of our Lord, except a bag full of filthy works. He has had to make them whole and fresh and new, according to His Spirit and His will, not my own. I used to have a few things I thought I was good enough to "let" the Lord use, but now I know, I have nothing He needs, yet, He has everything I need. I want to be empty of my own pride and full of His humility. It takes time, but if we stay the course, we will, as Christians all come to the same conclusion: I am nothing, Jesus is everything. I thank Him for teaching me to be humble. I want nothing more than to be nothing anymore, then I may reflect Him in His glory! My soul, wait thou only upon the Lord! In 2 Corinthians 12:5-6, Paul says,
⁵ Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. ⁶ For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

We read further in verse 9-10:

⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
To the world this is a mystery, even to many followers of Christ. We must grow and know that He is our complete fulfillment, nothing else is ever needed.
I have come to realize that when I sing praises without my whole heart in it, He is not pleased. Whenever I pray for the benefits of others to hear, I am nothing but an orator, it counts for nothing. God hates lukewarm Christianity, as well as apathy. Worse yet, a heart filled with pride that pretends it is concerned with the things of His. Hypocrisy and hot air is anything apart from true heart-felt true worship of Him in everything we do.

The Cost of Sin Is Too High

2010-02-24T06:24:00.002-06:00

We don't often think of sin in terms of what it costs us monetarily, but I have a story to illustrate. There was a man that was married and had been for years to the same woman faithfully. There came a time when the woman of the house was going through a change of life and the man was not. The wife had lost her desire for the husband in a physical, intimate way, but the husband had not lost His desires. After some time and struggle, the righteous man was drawn into temptation when He saw an ad from a large city near where the rural couple lived. He decided to call and found a very inviting young woman on the other end of the phone. After some fighting within himself, He decided to make arrangements to meet the young lady. She told Him that the fee for being together was $550, as that would pay for a nurse for a sick infant for a period of time. Well, the man came to His senses right away and knew that He could not afford such an arrangement, the cost had become just too high. After talking with the woman, He found that the woman's husband had left her with a premature baby that had a dangerous medical condition with her heart. Being moved with compassion for the child, He prayed for her healing and left, a much wiser man. The grace of God prevailed in this righteous man's life and taught him a very valuable lesson.
It was a shame that it took a monetary sum to get the man's attention, but it sure worked. The man went back home to his wife and became a much more understanding husband. He realized the selfishness of his heart had almost cost him much more than $550. The bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, but we somehow don't understand this in our everyday lives. Many people work for years to build a business or kingdom or to have a certain lifestyle, only to realize too late, that it was all for nothing. The pay for righteousness is beyond measure, it is eternal life. For the Christian, we have a greater hope, if we continue in the way of righteousness the Lord will not forget us in the temporary trials we will face in life, consider 1 Corinthians 10:13:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
We are not the ones that are able to judge what we can bear, that is up to our Father. We must only follow in the way of righteousness and when we are faced with physical denials or emotional denials in this life, we must cry out to our Lord and allow these circumstances to mold and shape us into men and women of God. I will leave you with these verses to consider from Matthew, chapter 19:
²⁷ Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[a] or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

It's Not What You Know, It's What You Do!

2010-02-23T04:26:00.000-06:00

The early Islamic philosopher Abu Bakr said, “Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile.” This religion puts a premium on action, why don't We as Christians put even a 100-fold premium on action? We hold the keys to salvation for mankind within the scriptures and in our hearts. Christ and Christ alone is enough to save ALL mankind, we must fulfill the great commission.

It's not what you know that makes a difference for the Kingdom of God, it's what you do with that knowledge, or don't do with it. There is a creature that knows the word of God, backwards and forwards, and can quote it to you, he even did to Jesus. He knows all about spiritual things and believes, not only believes, but trembles. So, with that being said, we must continue to study so we also may know the scriptures, but the knowing is just preparation for the doing of them. We cannot be so caught up with pride that we think we are the wisest and most knowledgeable since Solomon, excluding Jesus of course, as He was God and man. Even if it were true, what would it benefit the Kingdom of God? How would your holding this knowledge be useful to our Lord? God could speak wisdom through a donkey, so what is the purpose for studying to show yourself approved?
We study to learn more of the Lord, and the principles for living a Christian life. We gain knowledge of Christ, so we may have it written upon our hearts and minds. We learn the truth so that we may not be deceived, too many in the Church are even deceived this very hour. This study is part of our preparation needed for witnessing Jesus to others, to give us understanding of the tools we have and are to use in the fields of mankind. The harvest is truly ready, are we?

^{Matthew 9:}
^{³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.³⁶ But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”}

Luke 10:
¹ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ² Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Wait For Me

2010-02-22T07:01:00.004-06:00

I guess the one thing that would aggravate me the most is when I would ride the school bus, we would go to someone's house and have to wait on them to come out, not just once, but every time. It didn't seem to bother me when someone was late on occasion, but that one or two that would drag around every time would be truly bothersome. It was as if they were saying, " Wait for me, I'm so important, your time is not as important as MY time."

I try to keep that in mind when I think about my walk with the Lord and my interaction with others, my desire is to respond when God says to move, and not wait on "MY" time. The parable of the 10 virgins should be a reminder to us all to be ready to move, to be prepared ahead of time, if possible. The 5 foolish virgins could not get into the wedding party, because they did not have enough oil to light their way, what a lesson. Little Sally couldn't catch the bus because she was busy playing records in the back room when the bus pulled up, nearly every morning, until one day the bus rode on, leaving her to the frustration of her mother having to take her 10 miles to school and sign her in. You know what happened, she was ready the next time the bus pulled up.

We don't always get a second chance to catch the bus, it's not guaranteed to us, even if we receive enough mercy to make it a time or two, we will eventually get left behind, if we are always asking the Lord to "Wait on ME, what I'm doing is more important than what you want me to do." The bus rides on, some don't even realize they missed it, till it's too late. Mama can't sign you in, Daddy can't pull any strings, you just missed it by doing your own thing. Maybe there will be another bus along in a little while, or maybe not. It depends on whether we are ready or not. The lesson is this: Prepare your heart to be ready to do the Lord's will when asked. Be humble and obedient, put the Lord and others above yourself in daily practice. If we get distracted temporarily from our daily practice of living for the Lord, turn and repent of the wrong as soon as you realize it, don't let the cares of the world allow us to get complacent and lazy, we may go to sleep and forget about the bus altogether, until it's too late.

Mirrors and Reflections of Light

2010-02-19T07:13:00.001-06:00

Mirrors reflect light and the images within that light that is projecting onto it. It projects and exact reverse image of the light leaving the image or so it seems. The fact is that the image is not really reversed at all it is our perception of that image that is reversed, so the actual light reflected is the same as the one going into it, if the mirror is clean. A dirty mirror results in a poor distorted reflection. Relating this physical physics principle to our spiritual understanding of reflecting Christ in our lives, we may understand that as we behold His image, it is a reflected image of the Father and we in turn, must also reflect Christ's image. We must walk by faith in this life as we can only see His reflection dimly in others and ourselves, it will be an unimpeded image we see when we are face to face with Him when our work here is finished.
If we are mirrors of Christ, our main job should then be as a glass cleaner, keeping our mirror as clean as possible so that the light of God may shine through us and reflect upon others so they can see their way out of darkness and into that light. The Holy Scriptures contain the Windex, and the we hold the squeegee. The Holy Spirit will help show us the areas we missed, if we ask Him. I must warn you, it sometimes hurts when that layer comes off, but when you hear it squeeky clean, then you will know you have done a good job. Your mirror will then reflect as much light as possible.

The Perils of Willful Sin

2010-02-17T22:32:00.002-06:00

There is and has always been considerable debate over salvation for the Christian believer, and cannot be solved in a blog entry such as this, but I would like for us to ponder this point. Whatever the final state, can a Christian really seriously debate the merits of such a thing as how much sin one can commit and be saved? Is that pleasing the Lord? I hope we, as Christians, don't consider living apart from pleasing the Lord because we think we have license to do so. This is a perilous circumstance. If you scoop up the red embers of a fireplace and hold them to your bosom, you will of a certainty, get burned. How badly is contingent upon how long you hold the coals and how tightly. If you want to play with a little sin, do it at your peril. If you want to live in righteousness, do it with the pleasure of our Lord. It comes down to the heart's desire, you will do what you want to do in one degree or another. Most of today's Christian wants to be relevant to the world and it's systems. We really don't want to totally sell out to the ways of righteousness, even if we proclaim that we do with all the fervor and emotion of a Jeremiah. We just simply don't have the same love for Christ that we do for that other thing ( football, computers, fishing, hunting, buying, selling, whatever it is) we fall so short of the goal of serving Him with our total dedication, I too, am disappointed in my state, upon occasion. I am learning to serve Jesus with all of my heart, as surely as I live each day in His presence, and that is the key. No relationship is carried out without each party giving of themselves. We know what our Savior did for us, what are we willing to do in return? The only thing that we are required to give is ourselves( a dead body of corruption exchanged for a life of incorruption). Live as if your body was the very Temple of the Holy Spirit, as if you contained within you the promise of eternity. A life that must be molded to the image of Christ Jesus.

When are we going to start to grow up and walk in the maturity of Yahweh God. Is it too late? Are we past renewal? Certainly not! Yet, there is an urgency, time is running out on this age, and we have so much work that needs to be done. This world must hear from a mature follower of Christ, making no apologies for the Holy Bible, no exceptions for ungodliness, yet no limit to extending mercy and grace. Working as one saved from certain destruction and death, humble in the presence of our Father. There is no place for sin in the Christian's life, it just must be put away from us as soon as we recognize it within us or in our midst. Leaven will spread within dough, causing irreversible changes overnight, so likewise will sin tolerated within the midst of believers. If we are not pure and holy, we are contaminated and sinful. Let us be found to be holy and pure, undefiled in our hearts. Let us be men and women of God, not impetuous children of destruction.

I will close with these verses from 1 Peter:

¹³ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
¹⁷ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ²⁰ He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ²¹ who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Struggling to Fly

2010-02-16T06:39:00.003-06:00

I remember a lesson from school that a poor caterpillar has to struggle to work it's way out of a cocoon that it spun around itself when developing into a butterfly, sometimes they don't get out all the way, but they must all struggle to break free. It seems so cruel for the poor creature to have to struggle so hard just to be able to survive, but there is a reason for the struggle. You see, the struggles allow the butterfly to strengthen it's wings, so it can fly, once free from the cocoon. All of it's beauty is on display, once it is victorious.
We may look to the butterfly to understand a principle in our Christian life of struggle, as it relates to growing in maturity in Christ Jesus. We struggle to break free from our own cocoon of self-absorption, narcissism of the highest order. We are taught as caterpillars that everything revolves around us and what is best for us and our lives, we must work to fulfill these dreams, but once we have been born of a new creation we must break free from this cocoon that insulates us from the life that our Lord has in store for us. The sad thing is, in order for us to exist and live as that new creature in Christ, we must struggle to break free from our own cocoon.
You see, if the butterfly were to get help breaking free, it's wings will not develop in the strength they need to fly and survive. The lesson is this: while it is difficult it is certainly not impossible, and it is part of the maturing process for the beautiful butterfly to be seen in all of it's splendor. We must also work to break free from our hardened heart, and allow our "spiritual wings" to develop into full strength for the mission we are given to fulfill in Him. We cannot even begin to live in the fullness of what we were created to be and do until we mature in Christ. Thank God, we have a helper within the cocoon to help us in our struggle, the Holy Spirit of God, that our loving Savior sent back for us to give us comfort and encouragement to continue with the fight. We know that we struggle against principalities and powers of the unseen, but all we must do is continue fighting and we will always be victorious in Jesus, of that there is no doubt.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.-1 Corinthians 10:13
Once you begin your life with new wings then put on the full armor of God and stand against the wiles of the enemy.

Eternity's Calendar

2010-02-15T11:34:00.003-06:00

Is it too late for me to do something big for God? My brother-in-the faith, Jeb, always brings out the point of Abraham and Sarah, the lessons learned and the inevitable success from the spoken words of our Lord. I would like for us to think about this also in the concept of all our lives being lived in an eternal timeline. Spiritually speaking, when we are born-again into the Kingdom of God, we have within us a non-aging life. It is at once transformed into an eternal existence, never deteriorating, reflecting the same image of Jesus as an offspring of the Creator, Christ being the first-born. This being the case, we are immediately transformed into living by eternity's calendar, a day as a thousand years. We must develop an understanding of who we are in Christ Jesus and that can only be understood through a meditation of reading and studying the Holy Scriptures. These enlighten us into a transformation of thought that reflects Christ in us, our actions and speech are changed to give only Him glory, not seeking our own. We want change to be reflected instantly or in an accelerated amount of time only because we still think as a man thinks, we measure by a temporal measure, God measures by an eternal one. If a day is as a thousand years, Abraham was what, 2 hours and 40 minutes old when Issac was born? A little help from a physics major would help here. In any way, not very old at all. We must stop judging the working of God in a person's life based upon our timeline, only God's timeline counts. It is never too late to do something for God.
"Annanias! Go to Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus, named Saul...". There is no limit to what the Lord may use us for, no constraints on the timeliness of His call, ask Zechariah, he had a son named John.

I Can Do Nothing Without Christ Who Strengthens Me

2010-02-12T09:03:00.003-06:00

What is the definition of nothing? Conversationally, when we use this word, the concept is often used to indicate the lack of anything relevant or significant, or to describe substance of no importance. Nothing, the absence of anything particularly real at all. We are full of nothing apart from Christ. Why do Christians spend a majority of our time trying to live in our own strength, multiplying nothingness. We work to gather things, overextend to keep up with the dead (spiritually). Without the hope of glory, these walking dead have only those things of the world in which to place a pitiful, false hope. Yet, we as Christians envy them, we who have been brought from death into life desire to hold these temporary possessions more than the permanence of those things in the Kingdom of God, when we work to multiply nothing.

It is not the possession of worldly goods that is necessarily the problem, it is the coveting, lust to have them above anything else, placing the greatest emphasis of our efforts into this endeavor. Forsaking our time with our Lord, study and prayer. In lacking time with our family and other believers, not strengthening and encouraging others with the gifts God has given you. We place ourselves in situations of bondage when we strive to follow after the things of this world, above Godly things. We retard our growth in the Lord and weaken our families, not teaching the concepts of faith to our children. We may speak "christian talk", but what we do speaks louder than our voices, they will understand what is important to us by how we live our lives, and they, in turn, will place their greatest effort to achieve these goals. How sad it is when we realize in our old age how we led our prodigy into believing the lie that possessing things is more important than following the things of righteousness. No wonder the knowledge of the Lord is dying and what is known of him has been twisted beyond recognition, even in "christian" churches.

No matter what we do, it is nothing apart from living and dwelling in Christ, who strengthens us and is our hope, and not only hope, but promise. How lovely is our Jesus! He is the sweetest Rose of Sharon, the bright and Morningstar. He is the Alpha and Omega, and He is coming soon! Be ready Church, don't worry about when or how, just begin by preparing YOUR heart and mind, study,pray, fast, keep short accounts. Walk out your salvation with fear and trembling, understanding the evil of today. Walk boldly in the faith, utilizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit to reach others for Christ, healing the brokenhearted, releasing the chains of the captives, standing firm in the full gospel of Christ. Let Christ strengthen your life with a power that only He can give.
In Philippians 4:12-13, Paul writes to us all the following:
I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Burdened By Many Things

2010-02-10T06:33:00.003-06:00

Today we are a people burdened by many things, the thought of losing those things burden us even more.How is it that the people of God become burdened by physical items from this world, enslaved and snared by material possessions? Many have received a call to ministry, but cannot afford to leave their present circumstance due to a bondage of debt or care for physical things they own, it is truly a burden. I remember Pastor Clendennen once saying that he had to refuse a gift from a wealthy man in his congregation, because it was a business that would cause him to be tied to something that could be distracting to his spiritual call for ministry. He was to be totally dependant upon the Lord for his provisions as he carried out the work of the Kingdom of God as well. We must divest from the physical world and be totally invested in the Kingdom of God. There is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey, remember that one?
The Lord spoke to me this morning that I must write this blog for all the Church to take heed. I know something big is on the horizon and we are not prepared, we must go and sell all that we have to purchase that pearl of great price, to buy that field with the hidden treasure, to go and sell all we have and give to the poor and then come and follow Jesus.We must take the words of our sweet Savior to heart in Matthew, chapter 11:25-30.
"At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
We must have our hearts and minds totally focused on the call of the Lord in these days, our allegiance must not be divided.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve(Yahweh) God and mammon(Money God)". -Matthew 6:25 Let us start today to Love Him more than anything else we own, have owned, or ever will hope to own.

Adjustments to Seasons of Change Produce Hatred From The World

2010-02-09T05:12:00.041-06:00

There are seasons of change in nature; Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. In each of these seasons there is a drastic change from the other, the two most dramatic of course are Winter and Summer, at least for most of North America. The changes occur in a set pattern for a reason, it is so plant life may grow and ground water for sustaining all earthly life may be replenished, in other words it is vital and necessary for life to exist.
We sometimes are inconvenienced when the heat or cold becomes unbearable for us to stay in uncontrolled environments, but nevertheless we adjust, there is no choice. As Christian believers, we must also adjust to the seasons of change that occur to our environment within which we live. We cannot tolerate extremes socially and morally that conflict with the sure foundation of the scriptures. There must be an adjustment toward righteousness, if we have fallen into one of the extremes of worldliness in which we live: hate, lust, pride, jealousy. All these represent irresponsible acceptance and tolerance of sinful behavior within us.
There is also an unwillingness to take a stand of righteousness regarding matters that will make us unpopular with worldly viewpoints, we call the compromises of sin as being loving and tolerate. How is it love when you decide which part of the scriptures to accept and agree with and which parts to ignore? The balance of scripture is there for a reason, many times to save us from sure destruction of our souls, but we dare not be labeled a trouble-maker or agitator, as it most surely would carry a price of some kind against us. We have so soon forgotten what our Savior said as recorded in John, chapter 15:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

We must be a loving people, but we must also stand for righteousness within our own behaviors, or we have nothing to offer a dying world but nice philosophy. The power of a transformed life only comes as a result of a strong witness given out of a loving heart from such as one with a sure character of Christ, molded in the refiner's fire, otherwise we are just mouthing words, talking about a grace we know nothing about. Cheap gospel messages and cheap shoes are a lot alike, they just don't hold up.
Thanks be to God that many of you know the grace blood of Christ requires a responsibility on our part, to be obedient to the doctrines of the word of God through scripture , living a humble careful life through prayer and fasting, adjusting to the seasons we find ourselves in as the Lord gives direction.

Endurance in the Christian's Life

2010-02-08T04:46:00.003-06:00

We are in the age of instant gratification, instant results and one hour shows that have the mystery solved before the end of the show, on to a new complex problem to solve next week, and it will, most likely, be solved in an hour as well. The exceptions are when there is a sweeps or ratings period and they want to ensure watchers. This generation can surf the computer, instantly chat or text when away from the computer, find information, share information, and solve many problems in a fraction of the time that it used to take highly skilled researchers to discover years ago. The problem that this instantaneous world has produced is a lack of patience and endurance for changes in lives to occur over a period of time. If a problem situation can't be changed in record time, we get very frustrated and want to move on to something else, something new.
This attitude has found a home in the Christian Church today. No reason to build a Ministry through the establishment of foundational Christianity, we may use a "New" move of the Spirit to shortcut laying the groundwork for a believers that have a firm grasp of Christian principles and the correct balance of living a life of sanctification for Christ. Many start with a heart that is full of love for the Lord and zealous to let the world know about Jesus, only to not be found in 6 months or a year. If they are still there the fire has wained and life's cares have built a crust around that excitement for the Lord. The realities of Christian endurance set in and many sit down, frustrated by the apparent lack of progress toward holiness in their lives or others lives.
How sad it is that we don't spend more time preparing people for a marathon, rather than a sprint. It takes time to see many changes in a Christian life. Most commonly, it takes time for us to have our minds renewed to accept the things of God, although there are some that are more obedient and submissive to Lord than others. These were probably more established in Godly discipline as children, or through being broken from life's harsh lessons. Whatever the state of the Christian at the point of conversion, one thing is for sure, we will all be changed into His likeness, if we continue to live in this life as His children, how fast we change is dependent upon our heart's attitude.
We are changed at the point of rebirth in Christ, our Spirit is birthed into the Kingdom, we are justified, but sanctification is a lifetime progress. Pray for those brothers and sisters who are struggling, encourage them with truth in love, not from malice or false sincerity or piety, but in God's true encouragement, remembering the parable of the unforgiving servant, and the story of the Disciples, Peter and James and John. Model a life of Christian morals and dutiful service to the weaker, admonish the proud in humility, and encourage those in fleshly battles with morality, remembering what the Lord has done for you and me. Patient endurance and humble obedience will take us into an overcoming life with our Lord.

Weep and Cry Fellow Christian and Rise Up

2010-02-05T06:35:00.002-06:00

How do you perceive the world around you? I am speaking to the Christian reader. Do you see great things ahead for us? Great revivals, a friendly government to worship and live out our faith without harassment from those that are "intolerate" of anything that does not give agreement to a "pantheistic" or "hedonistic" world view. Or, do you see great danger unless something drastic is done to curb the tide of social tyranny, that calls," evil good and good evil"? Does your heart break when you see the effects of sin in a innocent child's life? The downward spiral of the Church is a direct result of "buying in" to the current world views of personal pleasure and desire.
"If it feels good do it", and "Do it till your satisfied, whatever it is" rings in the subconscious of many of us, sometimes even without a conscious thought of it. When frustrations, even slight ones come, we are ready to be mad at God or throw a pity-party over our plight. We may even have thoughts of consoling ourselves as being "Martyrs" for Christ. It would be comical if it were not so serious. The sad truth is, many of us are nowhere near where we must be as Believers in Christ. No depth to hold us in the slightest storms, we run back to Egypt, to the place of physical comfort and ease. If we do suffer a slight injustice, we want to be lauded with praise as if we were suffering as poor Polycarp suffered in Rome, or William Tyndale, who stood in the faith until the end.

Weep and Cry, fellow Christian, weep and cry, then rise up! We must change our way of thinking or shame will continue to cover our face. A prideful heart of compromise will not lead us into an overcoming existence in this world. Inorder for us to endure until the end, we must have a heart of humility. We are faced with tremendous challenges even today, we have fallen far behind, but it is not too late, as long as there is breath, we may repent from our selfishness and work humbly in obedience to our Lord. Let today be a day of new beginnings for us, wake up and renew your faith in Jesus and strengthen yourselves in the Holy Spirit. Look to our Father for the correct direction for your life and He will show you what your were called to do. Let us put away our idols and call upon the Lord for our completion. Read, study, pray and fast, while it is still day, for the night is approaching faster than we realize.

The Marines, of the United States Military, are "looking for a few good men", and so is our Heavenly Father, men who will be found faithful until the end.

Self-Denial: A Christian Perspective

2010-02-04T06:44:00.004-06:00

There are some aspects of Christianity that are lost on many in this generation, the concepts seem almost strange to many, not understood by others and rejected by still others. There is a remnant, however small, that understands what it means to live a Christian life, and it is from these that the character of Christ is demonstrated. All true Christians must have at the core of his or her life a strong conviction of self-denial. A rejection of selfish wants and desires for Christ's wants and desires, they must become the desire of the believer. Anything that requires an entanglement with worldly compromise is wrong, no matter how noble or justifiable it seems at the time.We cannot serve two Masters, and we cannot put treasures in both worlds, the heart is wherever that treasure is located, let the reader understand.As a Disciple of Christ, we must reject a love for anything that is of no use for Kingdom purposes.
If we follow after the life of Jesus, we will be the most reliable and productive workers in the workplace where we are planted, there are in many cases a reward in this life through our obedience to the Lord that causes us to stand out among the others, but even if it does not occur, we are still obedient, knowing that our true treasures are awaiting us in our permanent home. The temporary is gone in a moment, and then the permanent, real eternal home is revealed to us. If you have not done so since you believed, today is the day for you to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus, taking no care for tomorrow, for it is enough to be concerned with today's evil snares that would entangle us, if we are not rooted in His word and life. We must continue to develop a life of purity as we are transformed through our pilgrimage in this world.

Living for Christ does not mean living to get, but dying to give!

Christian Conduct

2010-02-03T06:34:00.003-06:00

"I'm Free", "I'm Free, Carol proclaimed. She had just accepted and invitation to come down front and give her life to the Lord, she prayed and what a glorious day of rejoicing it was, there were enough tears to flow a river from her mother and sisters, who had been praying for her to be delivered from drugs and sex and the abusive lifestyle she was living. The Pastor who prayed with Carol told her to start reading her bible everyday, and have some time in prayer and meditation each day as well, and be sure to stay in fellowship with believers. He prayed with Carol to receive the Holy Spirit and she "prayed a little in the Spirit". She was set free indeed, or so it seemed. It was a few weeks later when Carol was found dead from an overdose of heroin, the needle still in her arm. What happened to Carol? Why had this tragedy occurred only weeks after being set free from her bondage. The Pastor consoled the family and congregation with the assurance of her salvation at the funeral, but there was still an empty feeling inside, what could have been done to prevent such a tragedy?

I believe there are some answers to such a situation as this, but the answers aren't quick or easy. A life such as Carol's must be placed in a strong environment of faith. A place where Jesus is not just given lip service, but where lives are challenged to live for Christ, such a life must be strengthened by strong mentors and great emphasis on the teaching of the principles of the 10 commandments, realizing that we not under the curse of the law, but we are still to abide by it's principles. Jesus reduced them to two, very interestingly, into a concept that involves the heart. If we humble ourselves and Love the Lord with ALL of our heart we will want to follow these concepts. If we find ourselves not meeting these standards, we must quickly repent and not linger in guilt, but there must be a correction of the problem that caused the failure, what a blessed tool we have in the Holy Spirit to help us through these difficult changes in our life. Sin does not leave us alone when we are born again, in fact, the struggle has just started. When we were once in Sin's domain, there was no struggle, after salvation, the great battle for our soul begins. It is not just a good idea to renew our minds through reading the Word of God, it is imperative for our ability to overcome the snares of this life.

Are we prepared to help such a person as Carol? Is our congregation established in such a way, as to encourage spiritual growth and a hatred for Sin and it's effect, or are we a tolerate people, very happy in our enlightened understanding that we are not under the law, sin is not treated as something to guard against, in fact, it is not even considered a problem anymore. There is a concept of love that is foreign to the doctrines of Christianity. We quote the scripture,"Love covers a multitude of sins", and take that to mean we should overlook sin in our midst. We make a mockery of Christ's atonement with such a belief. Yes, we must Love each other, even our enemies, but true love is not pretending there are no problems. Remember what is written in Hebrews 12:5-6 :
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
True Love means we, as loving brothers and sisters in Christ, will help each other through the difficult burdens until each life is strong enough to face the onslaught of the enemy. We play right into Satan's hands when we don't strengthen each other through love. This must be done in the balance of the Lord, as our entire walk must also be.

I pray your congregation is established on the understanding of the importance how a Christian must love the things of God more than compromising with the world.

Proclaim In Decapolis All that Jesus Has Done For You

2010-02-02T06:04:00.004-06:00

And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.-Mark 5:18-20

If you are a Christian and you are farmiliar with the story of the Gadarene Demoniac, as recorded in Mark and Luke, you recognize that the story hinges around one Man, in Matthew it is recorded as two men that were delivered. What of the other man? As Matthew was there and a very detailed scribe, I accept the fact that there were two men. The eyewitness account from Paul to Mark while in prison in Rome focussed on the one man of whom He saw respond to the Savior, Luke records a fine story as a great investigative writer after the fact, focussing in on the one that became a Disciple of the Lord.

In this, we see a farmiliar pattern of those delivered from such a great bondage, even today. Some respond in a way to be very grateful for the deliverance of the Father through the Son (most all of the time through Jesus' representatives in this world). That person was the one who said within thier heart,"If I am delivered from this bondage, nothing will keep me from serving Jesus, the others just take the deliverance as an opportunity to go back into the same sort of bondages, they were in before, never truly giving up the old sensory pleasures and lusts that they love. Like the heart patient that just had a by-pass and a renewed chance at life starting back on a diet of twinkies and lard sandwiches. We don't have to "judge" that man to see he's heading toward trouble again. This story is of the One that was grateful and took his opportunity to become a servant of the most-high Lord.

This man, once delivered, had a very loving and grateful attitude toward his Savior, naturally wanting to be with the One he loved the most, however Christ in this case wanted this man to go back to the ten city region of Decapolis, a Greek region, and proclaim the witness of deliverance to the Gentiles. We know this man believed and was obedient, doing just as Jesus told him to do. What about us?

How many of us have been delivered from such a great bondage and set free from habits that we could not break, apart from the Lord? All of us, as Christians, were delivered from certain death in our re-birth into life eternal. Our Spirit has been renewed so that we may serve the Father whom we love. His Son paid our price through His suffering and death, so that we in turn may not have to serve the wickedness any longer, but are free to willingly serve our Deliverer. We must do as the Gadarene Man was told to do, "Go home and tell all the Lord has done for us, and how He has had compassion us." What this means is not only witnessing with our mouth, but witnessing with our heart. Our life-song must be sung through our actions and deeds. There is no seperation of Christ and business, or work. It is a lifestyle change that must take place in the Christian's life that witnesses Jesus in all that we do,even with our mouth closed, we may still proclaim.

The Reason For Temptation by David Wilkerson

2010-02-01T07:10:00.004-06:00

This blog from David Wilkerson is a very good point to share this morning, I would like for us all to read this and be reminded once again of the importance of keeping our minds stayed on Him. We are all subject to various temptations and trials, but we should always take heart in the words of 1 Corinthians 10:13; No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Pastor David Wilkerson's blog may be found at: http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/. Here it is reprinted in it's entirety.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010

THE REASON FOR TEMPTATION

Temptation is an invitation or an enticement to commit an immoral act. Right now Satan is raging over the earth as a roaring lion trying to devour Christians through powerful enticements toward immorality. No one is immune and the closer you get to God, the more Satan will desire to sift you.

Sinners cannot be tempted—only true children of God can! Rain cannot touch a body already under water. Sinners are already drowned in perdition and as children of Satan, they do as he dictates. They do not have to be tempted or enticed, because they are already immoral—already condemned. As slaves, they are not free to choose. They simply go from dead, to twice dead, “to being plucked up by the roots.” Sinners can be teased by the devil but not tempted. Satan teases his own children into deeper and darker pits of immorality but they are already dead in their trespasses and sins and no longer fight the battles of the living. That’s why our Lord tells us to rejoice when we fall into diverse temptations. We are experiencing something unique only to maturing Christians.

Temptation is “training under combat conditions.” It is “limited” warfare—God limits it to the point of being “bearable.” He wants combat-seasoned warriors who can testify, “I was under fire! I’ve been in the battle! The enemy was all around me, shooting at me, trying to kill me, but God showed me how to take it and not be afraid. I have experience now, so the next time I’ll not fear.”

Temptation is not a sign of weakness or a leaning toward the world. Rather, it is a graduation, a sign that God trusts us. The Spirit led Jesus into the arena of temptation in the wilderness so he could learn the secret of power over all temptation. Actually, God was saying to Jesus, “Son, I have given you the Spirit without measure. I have confirmed you before the world. Now I am going to permit Satan to throw at you every device he has—so you will see how powerless he is—so you will never once fear his dominion—that you may go forth preaching the kingdom with faith that Satan is defeated—that he cannot touch you in any way.”

That is why Christians are tempted today. Temptation is allowed in the saintliest of lives to teach us the limitation of Satan. To expose his weakness. To reveal Satan as a scarecrow. We fear only what we do not understand.

Jesus Witnessed Even On the Cross

2010-01-29T06:03:00.003-06:00

I was reading this morning in Psalm 22, and it occurred to me for the first time that even when sin had had it's full way with the Savior, and there was a brief moment when His Father had to turn His back on Him because Jesus was laden with the sins of all mankind, He was still faithful until the end of His mortality. I believe He perhaps, cried out this Psalm for a witness to even save the few Pharisees and Sadducees that would remember this reference and believe. I would like to ask Paul what He had heard of this reference when He was getting His marching orders to try and destroy the remnant believers in this new "cult".
This is yet another example for us to follow in our Christian walk, you see there will be many who hate you for your stand and the inevitable judgment that an uncompromising stand, no matter how loving and gentle you are, will produce in the sinner's life. Many are perfectly happy and joyful in their life of comfort and ease with no moral boundaries, or conviction that there way is even wrong. When they are faced with truth sometimes for the first time, the uncomfortable feeling is a shock to them and will produce a reaction of hatred toward the representative of such a righteous life, sometimes without the righteous witness even knowing it.
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”-Luke 23:34
What a blessed Savior loving even His enemies, as we all were until the conviction of the Holy Spirit showed us the Messiah. The treachery of the leadership at that point, would have been enough for me to say," Destroy this wicked people, Father!". The love of Christ is unfathomable, His patience is timeless, but we must never reject the light once we see it, for darkness will surely become darker than before the revelation in our lives, hearts much harder than before that point.
Jesus not only said love your enemies, He lived and died, and ressurected it. Who are we to not also love those that dispitefully use us, and pray for them to be reconciled in holiness. Whatever Jesus thought at the moment He spoke the reference to Psalm 22, it was certainly an opportunity for those who were well acquainted with it to remember and understand. Yes, Jesus witnessed and loved, to the end of His mortal life, and continues through His righteous followers today. His current immortality and the comforter of the Holy Spirit should give us all the assurance and authority we need to witness to our enemies, and loved ones alike, loving them all enough to tell the truth without apologies or reservation. "Go Forth", Jesus said. It's your opportunity now to represent Me.

Psalm 22
¹ My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
         Why are You so far from helping Me,
         And from the words of My groaning?
² O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
         And in the night season, and am not silent.

³ But You are holy,
         Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our fathers trusted in You;
         They trusted, and You delivered them.
⁵ They cried to You, and were delivered;
         They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

⁶ But I am a worm, and no man;
         A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
⁷ All those who see Me ridicule Me;
         They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
⁸ “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
         Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

⁹ But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
         You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ I was cast upon You from birth.
         From My mother’s womb
         You have been My God.
¹¹ Be not far from Me,
         For trouble is near;
         For there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls have surrounded Me;
         Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
¹³ They gape at Me with their mouths,
         Like a raging and roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
         And all My bones are out of joint;
         My heart is like wax;
         It has melted within Me.
¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
         And My tongue clings to My jaws;
         You have brought Me to the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded Me;
         The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
         They pierced My hands and My feet;
¹⁷ I can count all My bones.
         They look and stare at Me.
¹⁸ They divide My garments among them,
         And for My clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;
         O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
²⁰ Deliver Me from the sword,
         My precious life from the power of the dog.
²¹ Save Me from the lion’s mouth
         And from the horns of the wild oxen!

         You have answered Me.

²² I will declare Your name to My brethren;
         In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
²³ You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
         All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
         And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
         Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
         But when He cried to Him, He heard.

²⁵ My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
         I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
²⁶ The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
         Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
         Let your heart live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the world
         Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
         And all the families of the nations
         Shall worship before You.
²⁸ For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
         And He rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth
         Shall eat and worship;
         All those who go down to the dust
         Shall bow before Him,
         Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

³⁰ A posterity shall serve Him.
         It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
³¹ They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
         That He has done this

If I Live, Let It Be For Christ

2010-01-28T06:46:00.008-06:00

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."- Galatians 2:20.

It seems clear from this statement that Paul was making an affirmation to the fact that, the life He would live would be not His own, but Christ's life, living within His mortal being, that is to say He had yielded Himself to be wholly used of God for His good pleasure. Paul had a tremendous gratitude for Christ's payment of His sins: hatred, murder and nasty ungodly pride. He understood that Jesus had washed away His sins with His life-blood payment, suffered, bled and died so that Paul might live, forgiven of unspeakable wickedness, even though done while His mind was blinded and in darkness, the terrible consequences were still there, but once He understood what the Messiah had done for Him, He loved very much His savior.
The words from the Savior in the gospel of Luke regarding the sinful woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears was made manifest in Paul's life also,"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” He had decided to follow Jesus and live His life for Him.

The life of following Christ is a humble life, one that is not self seeking or self-promoting, but rather, looks for ways to please the Lord, witnessing His great forgiveness and freedom to others. It is not in works that we are saved, yet it is not in total freedom that we live either, we are Christ's bond-servant. This is a place of true freedom in the constraints of His holy boundaries, where we are truly happy and free of guilt. There used to be a song on the radio, "Do it Till Your Satisfied", and boy I tried to do it, too. The problem was, I never got to be satisfied, living a rebellious sinful life is never a way to find satisfaction, only drinking the cool water from the well of life in Christ Jesus is satisfying, and how great is that blessed assurance. I thank God for His provision for me to be set free from my wicked life and I profess in the same mindset as Paul, "If I live, let it be for Christ, If I die, let it be for His glory".

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. ³⁷ And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, ³⁸ and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw with the fragrant oil. this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
⁴⁰ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
⁴¹ “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
⁴³ Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” ⁴⁴ Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
⁴⁸ Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
⁴⁹ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
⁵⁰ Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

You Must Kill Your Own Sacrifice

2010-01-27T06:12:00.005-06:00

In Leviticus chapter one, there is the beginning description of the "Burnt Offering" that was voluntarily offered to the Lord. The procedure for slaughter of the animal offered in sacrifice required the one presenting the offering to kill the animal themselves. The priest then performed His function of catching the blood, etc... . This is quite a picture for us as Christian believers today, we should learn from this procedure that in order for us to come before the Lord for anything, we must kill our own fleshly desires, hopes and dreams based upon the world's standards.

Many of us know that Jesus is our mediator and functions as our High Priest in the Spirit, but many of us never thought about the principle listed in sacrifice procedures given by Yahweh God to Moses. We are the ones that must bring the sacrifice to God and only through Jesus may it be accepted, but WE must do the killing of our own sacrifice. How often have I prayed in the past, Lord make me to cease from this sinful behavior, or take away my lustful thoughts. There certainly is a requirement for me to renew my mind through the reading and meditating upon God's Word, but if I am to be found a faithful and obedient servant of His, I must ultimately do my own killing of the old nature when it raises it's ugly head up in my Life, and the quicker the better.
James 1 tells us that no man is tempted of the the Lord:
¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

This principle of humility is also a must before approaching the Throne of the Lord . I must put that prideful man to death before coming to the Father, so that the power of Him may have a dwelling place within me. There is no other way to communicate with Father except in the Spirit, not with pure reason or flesh. My Spirit man talks with My Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ, releasing the power of the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and comfort. Kill your sacrifice today, Jesus will perform His priestly function so you may come before the Lord .

Is What You Believe, Worth Dying For?

2010-01-26T06:28:00.004-06:00

We are accustomed to seeing suicide bombers in various places and even in our own country, it is now a real concern. Many people are willing to die physically for the promise of eternal paradise and salvation. While the religious zealots of hate are busy trying to destroy lives through violent death, Christians are for the most part, are refusing to prepare themselves to bring forth our greatest weapon, Love. We attempt to fight force with force, ignoring the scriptures that tell us that our fight is with the Principalities and Powers of the air, in other words , the realm of the Spirit.

The truth is, we are all in the same position that Christ allowed Himself to live, for our redemption and example. We can do nothing, but what the Father tells us. Oh, we can do a lot of busy work, but in the end it is only a fading work of the flesh, if it is not from the mouth of the Father. This takes quiet time to "hear" what the Father is telling us. His plan and history for mankind is laid out for us in His Holy Bible, the plan by which we may understand the principles and strategies we must use to have victory over our circumstances. There have been attacks over the years to try and confuse or hide His word, but it has still yet survived. Many parse the meaning, or twist partial truths to meet their own private interpretation, only to come away with a popular heresy, that many will have great joy following, the resulting wealth from the holder of such a message entices many others to follow.
Yet, through all of this the truth somehow manages to survive. There is still a remnant that will allow the Father to teach us through the power of the Holy Spirit the understanding from this otherwise confounding set of books. We must come as a little child, having a faith in knowing that He is and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
There has been considerable debate over the years about the conversion of the lost to salvation, some say that there is a number of those who are predestined to be saved and the power of the Holy Spirit reaches those through the preaching of the gospel message. Still others say there is a decision first that must be made, and then a conversion is made in the sinner's life. The truth is that it is the heart of Almighty God that none perish, but that all humankind would live forever. The power of salvation is there paid for and ready for whosoever will receive it. The Holy Spirit convicts the heart, then the sinner must act upon the truth revealed, just as a trapped man under a dark pile of rubble must follow the beacon of light to find freedom, once He has the ability to move.
What do we believe as Christians today? Do we believe that our main focus is to work as ambassadors for Christ, to shine the light within us to set the captives free, bind the broken-hearted and show the way to salvation? Or is what we believe centered on trying to find a good place to dig and bury my talent so that it will not be lost when the Master comes and requires it of me? Are we busy using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to heal, prophesy and love only the saved?
I pray that we as the Church of Christ Jesus, will wake up and take the full gospel message to the lost, to stand firm in a sure foundation of faith, knowing that Love is our greatest weapon, and it is worth dying for. We must indeed die daily, there is no place for a Christian to live a life that follows only our five senses. We must renew our mind to be able to receive the understanding of our purpose in the Kingdom of God, to understand our true focus, no matter the circumstances.
Our seed must die so that the fruit tree of life may spring forth for others to eat and live, and they in turn may produce more seeds.
John 12:24-26
²⁴I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

What Price Freedom

2010-01-25T06:23:00.002-06:00

We may, no doubt, enjoy the freedom to serve our Lord as our conscious dictates. The problem is our conscious is corrupted for the most part, if we buy in to this worldly mentality of working to get, and serving to be recognized. Do we serve our Lord with contentment, or in driving desire? Is there a full-time fire kindled within us just looking for ways to break-out into this world to tell of our Dear Savior, and work to relieve the suffering of the lost and blind out of a hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be born in the midst of the misery and suffering that is the fruit of this world's promise for pleasure and self-gratification?
The truth is, Jesus told a story about different types of seeds that were planted and the outcome of the various methods of planting . We shall look to that parable as a warning for our lives to know that there is only one way that is the correct way to be planted in the Spirit of God, and many that lead to death. Luke, chapter 8:4-15-

The Parable of The Sower
4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables
9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘ Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’
The Parable of the Sower Explained
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

We search for easy ways to reach the depth of the Spirit in the Father, the ways that will allow us to fully partake of the best of this world and still maintain a growing strength in the Kingdom of Heaven( to gratify our worldly lusts and be a strong Christian too). This will never lead to true growth in the depths of our Lord. There is a prosperity that comes to us as we follow the direction for our lives, and whole-heartily submit to work in the place for which we are called. To take on the very pattern of life that Christ modeled for us and Paul expounded upon. But, it must be the Lord that dictates when we are prosperous and not some worldly formula for what it calls success. The principles for success is in the Holy Scriptures and will always lead to Godly success, if followed.
Godly success is defined as, "One who comes to live their life in the freedom of obedience to and love of the Father of All." All my needs and many wants may be fulfilled, but the hearts desire is to serve my Savior and fellow man as Christ served me. Whatever you lack today, let it not be in love for your Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus. We must divest the love of the world and invest the love of my fellow laborers in Christ. Too long we have been deceived into various divisions and seduced into following heresies that are presented as enlightened truth. We must now, WAKE UP! We must follow the path that requires much endurance and discipline, to study the scriptures and pray. To set aside a part of our day for the Lord is not just a good idea, it is mandatory or we will fall into deception and apostasy in these slippery times for the Church. What is the price of freedom in the Lord? All you have and ever will own.

Self-Sacrifice Is a Must

2010-01-22T08:01:00.002-06:00

Many today interpret what Jesus said about the two greatest commandments like this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and that is myself." We rarely remember the golden rule that many in my generation were taught in school: "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." It is truly now interpreted among many as, "Do unto others, before they do unto you." How sad we have become, spiritually and physically. While we value our physical appearance more than the character inside, we also value the one that has gained much in the way of temporary material wealth or fame much more than the one that has built a firm foundation spiritually through self-sacrifice and much study and prayer. An enlightened Christian will be one that has invested into the Kingdom of Heaven and not just on Wall Street. We must invest in the things of Yahweh God and His Son, our Messiah and Lord.

Why has the Christian community assimilated so much into the secular world when it comes to our value system and world-view.

Unfortunately, it is the product of spiritual laziness and selfishness that slowly found it's way into the Church over several generations. Certain men crept into the Church without being renewed spiritually and became leaders. Making the spiritual things so much mystery and focusing on the physical, because they could not understand what they did not themselves possess. Today, the hunger for those things spiritual in the Christian's life have led many to try strange doctrines to re-ignite that spiritual fire within, a pitiful attempt to reach the place of spiritual fulfillment in Christ Jesus.

The way to reach this place of enlightenment and power in the Holy Spirit is not a secret, and there is no short-cut to attaining that deep loving relationship with the Lord. It is the same principle that builds a deeply committed marriage, and that is the following:

1. Spending time with the one you love, communicating (talking and listening)

2. Giving up things that the other does not like and not regretting the loss.(putting them first)

3. Making everything you own available to the other without reservation.

4. No looking back to the life before commitment and dwelling upon it.

5. Do not long for other companions, through thought or deed.

6. Make a permanent decision to Love the other without reservation.

If we do these things we will be successful in any covenant relationship(marriage or Christian discipleship). It takes a self-sacrifice, are you willing to spend that time in study and prayer, giving up the things dear to you from the world and walking in humility, recognizing the leadership of the Lord? If you are, you will become a deeply powerful Believer and Disciple for Christ. We cannot serve two Masters, we must choose to make the commitment to follow Jesus down the long, narrow road, no matter the cost. It is then that you will experience true Holy Spirit power in your life, not merely an emotional experience.

Mark 8:34-35

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

³⁴ When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

It is accredited to A.W. Tozer as saying, "Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying, and all we want to hear is another sermon about his dying."