God is Not Going to Roll Over and Play Dead

Something to think about.

God is Not Going to Roll Over and Play Dead

God is not going to roll over and play dead. Our society has all but declared war on Christendom. We have been slandered, threaten, shamed and forced into the four walls of our homes and churches. We have allowed the doctrine of separation of church and state to become the tool of suppression and oppression of our beliefs and our expression of them.  We have conceded our voice and position to those who thought it better for us to take a step back from society in the name of peace and tranquility. Because we were taught, it is better to live in peace with everyone. We were taught, convinced the quieting of our beliefs would make us more acceptable to society. We were convinced becoming non-confrontational would be in the best interest and image of Christianity. Is it because we may taken the verse that says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" Romans 12:18 to mean we are to suppress our beliefs?

I want you to look at what Jesus had to say about peace.

⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53 Yes, we are to live in peace with everyone, if it is at all possible, but not at the cost of Christ. We are not to sacrifice Christ once again for the desire for peace. We are not to compromise the gospel for peace. We're not to intellectually, rationalize, away the truth of the word of God for the approval and acceptance of humanity.

Jesus himself said, ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. We have to come to grips with this. If you are a follower of Jesus you do not belong to this world you cannot live by the precepts of this society. You cannot abide by a doctrine that says you must be silent. You cannot abide by the doctrine of non-offensiveness for the purposes of peace. Please understand I am not advocating open resistance against a society of sin. I am saying if you are obedient to the word of God you will be offensive to those who oppose God.  If you are a follower of Jesus, you already are offensive. Just because you are numbered with the beloved, you are hated.  

God is not going to abide by the idea or doctrine of separation of church and state. He does not recognize or has He given the state the authority to silence Him. He does not acknowledge the sovereignty of any government to silence His word. We are the ones that must recognize His sovereignty about His word. We must go forward to the acknowledgment of His immutable word. Whether we like it or not God's word will never be put under a bushel.  

God is not considering compromise, he is not acknowledging the intellectual rationalization of the secularist or theologian. All who corrupt the word of God regardless of where they come from are an offense to God.  We should not be concerned with offending humanity, we should be concerned with offending God.  

Through all the mistakes the purposeful distortion of the word of God and the open intentional assault on His people His plan is unaffected. His son will return there will be a judgment day, punishment will be meted out and justice will be upheld. Every anti-God sentiment, action, distortion and defiance will not change the plan. It will not inhibit the final destination of man. God is not going to say oh I made a mistake humanity is right I am wrong you can have it your way. He is not going to roll over and acquiesce to humanities morality or supremacy. 

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Rev 21:35

God will not roll over, after the world and the heavens cease to exist God's words will still prevail.

Leia Mais…

No Middle ground.

Something to think about.

No Middle Ground

¹⁴ “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

So many of us live our lives in the middle ground. We want to be safe but not too safe. We want to be inconspicuous while being noticed. We want to be warm but a little cold. We want to be comfortable but always seeking comfort. We want to sin and be righteousness. We want to honor God and enjoy the pleasure of immorality. We want to define what is right and force God to accept it.


I as realist have always understood that we as a people live in this untenable and illogical lifestyle. Yet, I always hoped that we would come to our senses and return to God. I always believed that deep down inside everyone would come to the obvious truth of God. I recently realized I was wrong. Not everyone will choose God. Some having known God will knowingly reject Him. It is a concept the is unimaginable to me. I now understand people reject God not out of ignorance but out of choice, they believe they have a better way.


Joshua is asking a question that is as on time as any question being asked today. Whom will you serve? Will you serve the god of social justice, the god of female empowerment, the god of fiscal victory, the god of political right? Will you serve the god of nationalism, the god of science, the god of personal pleasure? The god of power? There are literally gods of all kinds asking us to serve them.



We are being inundated with so much information so fast we don't have time to digest it.  Our lives are moving faster than ever, and we are being left behind. Only a few of us have the capacity to harness a small part of the information that is coming to us, and we turn those few into gods. Information is coming so fast we don't have time to question it. We don't have time to critically analyze it so we succumb to those that are gifted with charm or a strong will who can scream the loudest. The information the problems are coming so fast we can only run on a continual sprint to keep up. As a result, we have lost sight of God. He is but a blur just out of focus in our disintegrating society.


Though life is moving at a pace never before experienced the question Joshua is asking is still pertinent. Back in Joshua's day and today the same situation exists there is no middle ground. God does not live in the middle ground. The middle ground we have created and have become comfortable with does not exist. God is asking you this day, today, choose this day who you will serve. This really is not a question it is a command of choice. God has only given you two choices. Choose Him an live or reject him and die. Please do not think you can negotiate with Him about your righteousness or your worthiness to be accepted that argument has been had and decided. It will not be revisited.

The middle ground does not exist it is not safe. It will lead to your destruction.  Choose this day who will serve; the choice is not optional.

Leia Mais…

Destination

Something to think about.

Destination

14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14 

One of the most famous inspiring verse in the entire Bible. Read in context this verse is about living through life's adversity and challenges to achieve the ultimate goal of living eternally with Jesus. I am not going to address this aspect of this verses. I want to talk about "the heavenly prize."   

I want to look at the goal, the heavenly prize. What is the heavenly prize? More than anything else it is a destination. It is not a mystical ideology or expression. It is not a metaphor for what our end result should look like. It is the end result. It is a real place it is a physical reality. It is something we will be able to touch, feel, smell and taste. Ok, so what? It is a place it has substance it has specific boundaries. It is something we can actually feel and interact with.  Again, so what? 

This verse is not just about the struggle it is more about the destination. Without the destination, we struggle in vain.  Without a clear result, why would you exert the effort? Our world right now is headed down an abyss of hopeless nothingness. Every move of society leads to where? No one is asking the question if we proceed on our present course what will it lead to.  Every path society is pursuing leads to an end of nothingness, and we are hopeless to stop it. The only path that offers hope is the path that leads to "the heavenly prize."

I have to ask you do you have a destination for your life?  If not, why not? We are famous for hearing and saying you can do anything you want. But no you can't. You can only do those things you define and have a destination. You have infinite choices, but you can only accomplish those things you can actually define. You are not going to become the leader in your industry or profession without somewhere along the line turning that dream into a destination.  

So you have a dream, so what? You've heard all of your life you must have a dream and you have one so what? Let me exclaim this as clearly as possible no one has ever accomplished a dream. You reach a destination. You do not accomplish a dream. I had a dream of becoming a professional baseball player, I never became one. Not because I didn't have the tools, I did but because it was never a destination. It was a pie in the sky dream that had no, landing strip. It never moved from the dream stage to the destination stage. What would have happened had I made it a concrete destination?  

What makes the destination so important is that it defines the course. Your dreams do not define the course that is why you can never accomplish a dream.  The destination defines the course that turns the dream into reality.

"The heavenly prize" do you want it? You must make it a destination.  The destination will determine the course. Then the dream becomes a reality.

Leia Mais…

A Good Steward

Something to think about.

A Good Steward


¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. 1 Peter 4:10

The sermons I've heard concerning stewardship have always involved the proper use of money.  It is almost as if that is the only thing that stewardship applies to, but look at context of this verse.

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:7-11

In this context, a reference to money is not made. It says "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. We are to use the gifts God has furnished us with as good stewards that God may be glorified.  It says "as good stewards of God's varied grace". Gods varied grace, could this mean that the gifts we were given are varied?

You have to ask what gifts has God given me? What has God endowed you with and how are you a good steward of that gift? Are you a teacher, an administrator, a  leader,  How many varied gifts has God bestowed on you and are you being a good steward of what he has given you.

We invest a lot of time in our businesses in our professions in our passions but what about the gifts God has given you? What effort are you investing in your gifts?  The strange then about your gifts is that your good at them without very much effort. For instance, I have the gift of writing. I don't possess good grammar or spelling skills, but yet it is almost effortless for me to sit and write. I've never had writer's block I feel there are more subjects I can write about than I will ever have time to complete.  But the truth is I have never spent very much time honing that skill. Maybe it is because it is a gift and is easy for me that I have not invested the effort in becoming outstanding at it.  But that confession in itself exposes my lack of stewardship in that area of my life.  Here is the question, if I pay more attention, more time more effort into my writing what are the possible benefits to my life to my wife's life to my children's lives. What benefit would my writing it be to the lives of people I don't know.

If you start to think about your gifts and you become good stewards of your gifts how much more alive would you be? The bible speaks of gifts with an "S" but if you are not a good steward of the obvious gifts Gods given you do you think God will give you another gift?

Stewardship is a wonderful thing not only in the financial realm but in every area of your life. A good steward of life will live an outstanding life. Because it will lead you to that place where you will be glorifying God with the fruits of your stewardship. And God will bestow on your life other gifts which will bring Him glory and you joy.

Leia Mais…

Blessed is The Man

Something to think about. 

Blessed is The Man

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Psalms 1:1
Proverbs 15:22 (ASV) Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed; But in the multitude of counselors they are established.
In Psalms one, one it says do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. In Proverbs, it says plan succeed with the input of counselors.  So which is it do we have counselors or do we go it alone?

The difference lies not in the use of counselors but in the use of Godly verses ungodly counsel. 
Psalms one is very simple don't get advice from sinners. Whatever they have to say as good as it may be will not come with the favor of God it comes at best with the wisdom of man. And we know that the wisdom of man does not compare with the favor of God. 

Proverbs says, Where there is no counsel, purposes are disappointed. What he is saying is when you do it all on your own you are limiting yourself to what you can think. By yourself, you will lack the resources to accomplish that which you desire. There never has been anyone that has been able to accomplish anything without the help and counsel of others. If we think that we can do all on our own, we are fighting against the will and plan of God. 

But in the multitude of counselors, they are established. The purposes are established. Look at what is it saying if you accept, and seek out Godly counsel your plans will be established. The verse uses the word "multitude"  it means we are to use many counselors, but not at the same time. It means throughout our lives we must continually seek out wise counsel.  Why must it be continual because we need different counselors throughout our lives? Because as we change in the stages of life, we need people who have already been there to help us navigate that stage in life. And so also with our businesses, we need to constantly be looking out for people who can help us as well as people who we can help.  

Our primary desire when seeking out counsel should be a Godly source. We spend so much time in the secular world we sometimes end up "sitting in the seat of the scornful" without knowing it. We end up standing "in the way of sinners" before we realize where we are. We can get so caught up in the counsel of the wicked we begin to support and endorse their sin.  If we choose to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, we will eventually become the one giving ungodly counsel while thinking we are standing for God.  That is how evil has become good and good has become evil too many of us have decided to walk in the counsel of the wicked.  

To be true to ourselves and to reach the highest of our potential we need to find people who not only like us and support us. But we also need to find those people who will help us to reach the next level in life and business that God has established for us. God never intended for us to live in isolation. He never wanted us to work alone, we were made created for the community with a need to help and to be helped.  In our endeavors, we were created to walk hand in hand with our brothers and sisters. Sometimes together sometimes to give a hand up sometimes to take the hand up. 

We have the favor of God, but the favor of God is not something we can hoard it is something that must be shared. The favor of God flows through the child of God for the child of God and ultimately for the glory of God. Another of those inestimable values of God dispensed to those call by His name.

Leia Mais…

In the Cool of the Day

Something to think about.

In the Cool of the Day 


8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

This is the most idyllic of verse in the entire Bible.  It creates for me a vision of walking along a cliff admiring the awesomeness of the open ocean with majestic mountains behind me and a comforting cooling breeze coming off the clear blue ocean water below.  That's what I envision walking with God would be like. The beauty of both the ocean and the mountains.  You may envision it just like it is described in this verse but I prefer to envision it my way. Why? Because that is my understanding of what perfection would be. Walking with God at any time in any place would be the definition of perfection. 

The way it is written gives me the sense that this is not the first time they had walked with God. For me, it leaves me with the impression that they had done this various times before. Imagine walking with God. Talking to God as a man speaks to a man.  We all desire to be here; walking with God speaking with God spending time with God.  I know we have the Holy Spirit of God but to walk with God as Adam And Eve did. It is what we long for. 

It only happened before sin came into the world. This is the last instance in the entire Bible where man walks with God as we might walk with a friend. Though walking with God is only mentioned once it must have been Adams and Eve's greatest regret losing that intimacy with their creator. Having known God face to face and then never seeing Him again what must that have been like?  

The entirety of the Bible is designed to take all of us back to that place where we can for the first time take a walk with God.  Its purpose is to restore us to a place of Holiness where we can walk with God in total Righteousness. As simplistic as it may sound God wants us all back in the garden. Back too a place where we can be with God cleaned of sin and restore to life in God. Getting back to the garden is such a simple thing to do.  

We but have to accept what God has already done for us. Accept the price He paid for us. Accepting the sacrifice of His son for our return to the garden to spend some one on one time with God.  I look forward to spending some time with my father. How about you? Do you long to spend some time with Him?

Leia Mais…

Sent

Something to think about

Sent

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you." 22 and when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:19-22

The key to these verses is "As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you." God sent Jesus to be the savior of the world He gave Jesus authority over all things. Jesus was sent to heal physically, spiritually and mentally.   He had the power to raise the dead He had the power to walk on water he could transport Himself at will.  He could teach, He could identify evil and deal with it. He was fearless,  He was all God. 

What it means for the believer to be sent is that we have been empowered in the same way Jesus was empowered. We have the same ability that Jesus did. We have been sent with the Holy Spirit to achieve all that God has set in our hearts to accomplish. We have unlimited power within in us. We have been told over and over again that Christ lives in us. Have we really tapped into the power of God within us? Do we really trust God with every facet of our lives? 

Are we willing to count on him for everything always? In your business are you turning over every area to Him? In your marriage have you trusted Him to lead your marriage to greater heights. Have we let go of the reins of control.  Have we opened up our lives to the possibilities of God? Do we look into the unknown future knowing that our all-knowing, omniscient God is waiting for us to unleash him in our lives?  

What did Jesus send us out with? He sent us out with His Holy Spirit to be with us every step of the way.  He sent us out into the world, but He did not send us out alone. He sent us with the power of God within. The same Spirit that hovered over the formless earth. The same spirit that took part in creation. The same Spirit that has spoken through the prophets. The Holy Spirit that is alive and vital in the lives of the believers.  

We have in us the power of the Spirit of God that is often untouched, underused, unnoticed. A power that is underutilized because we have been so attuned to the world that we turn to the Spirit of God as a last resort instead of a first choice.  We behave at times as if the secular world has something to offer. When it does not compare to the beautiful blessings of God. It is a mental shift we need to make. We need to see God as the owner of all things, we need to see God as the rich, good God that he is. We need to accept the reality that God wants to give you all of the blessings He has prepared for you.  And the only way to receive these blessings is to acknowledge Him in all the things we do. We must live a life of full expectation of God. In other words, we should believe and receive the blessings of God. We must be ready to accept what He has promised us with an expectation of His willingness and total capability of fulling his desired blessing for us.  

God is the God of abundance, not the miser God He never intended to give you just enough. He wants to give you all you can handle. But if you do not have a relationship an intimate relationship with Him how can He bless you. No stranger will continually bless you. If you are continually blessed by someone, that someone will quickly become a personal friend. 

God has sent you and me with the same power He sent Jesus. God has sent us to heal the sick mend the brokenhearted and to set the captives free. Only we the children of God have access to the Spirit of God, this the world has no idea, no access, no privilege, no favor. I implore you to remove everything in your life that is hindering the voice and spirit of God in your life and go out and change the world.

 

Leia Mais…

The Power of a Mustard Seed

Something to think about.

The Power of a Mustard Seed

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20 (KJV)

The size of a mustard seed. The sermons I have heard on this passage of scripture have always focused on our faith and the size of our faith. I would like to focus on the mustard seed.

A Mustard Seed

The mustard seed is small. I would like to bring a comparison between the mustard seed and the power it represents. Having read the bible, I do not remember another comparison of faith to a physical object.

Jesus said, "and nothing shall be impossible unto you." He did not qualify that statement by saying or eluding to an increase of faith.  He was still referring to a " faith as a grain of mustard seed."  I am trying to illustrate the power of faith not the size of the mustard seed or the size of your faith. Jesus is saying if you have the smallest of faith you can do incredible things. The question, then is, do you have faith?

Look at the last part of Romans 12:3 Paul is speaking to Christians.

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

Faith is not something that is acquired by action it is granted by God through grace.  In other words, if you are a child of God you possess the mustard seed. This is both exhilarating and daunting.  It is exhilarating, exciting and liberating to know that within me is faith to move mountains.  It is sobering to realize I have done so little with it.

You must understand faith is static it does not grow it does not increase it is not acquired. It can only be exercised.  By that I mean your faith does not increase, by applying your faith you begin to unleash its power.  The full potential of faith has always been in you the " faith as a grain of mustard seed" was sufficient to "move mountains" sufficient to do the impossible. This Faith that was given to you was complete when you received it whether you know it or not. The exercise of faith does not bring you more faith it brings forth what has always existed within you.

The level of your faith has nothing to do with the power of the mustard seed. The power contained in the mustard seed is the power of God to change all things for His purposes through you. We have been given the right the authority and the responsibility to use the power of the mustard seed to fulfill His calling in our lives.

The mustard seed is not about faith it is about power. You already have faith will you exercise the power within your faith.

Leia Mais…

What We Do Not See

Something to think about.

What We Do Not See

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12

This verse is an apt description of how we see the kingdom of God. We read and study the Bible, we listen to the biblically educated and still there is no complete clear vision of the kingdom of God. We understand some of the basics precepts of the God kingdom.  But we were never given a clear description of what the kingdom of God is.

We are given directions for our lives, but we were never given every detail of our existence. We are created, but every aspect was not disclosed. The mechanism of life is not explained. We can make conclusions based on educated deductions, but there is no concrete explanation of how life came to be. Yes, we know God breathed life into us, but how that worked and works is a mystery.

It is amazing how we accept suppositions with the knowledge that we lack pertinent information. We make assumptions about God without knowing Him fully. Other than Jesus there is no one that knows God. We don't know the rules of his existence if there are any. We cannot understand His limitless power because we can only thrive where power is defined. We can't understand an ever existing being because we are finite. We can't comprehend an ever-present God because we can only be in one place at a time. We can't understand unconditional love because we express love conditionally. Our present reality confines and inhibits us from seeing the fullness of God.

In life, we are bound by our natural understanding. We make educated guesses about every area of life, but even the best theories lack the definitive conclusion of complete knowledge. In any discipline, the same stubborn reality exists. We don't have all the answers. We may, in fact, have minuscule knowledge of our specialty. If we look historically at any discipline, this reality exists. In one hundred years our descendants will consider our vast wells of knowledge as ancient and misguided. We need to remember whatever our ancestors did was cutting edge in their time.

The one constant in life is our desire to be loved and love. God created us for this purpose to love and be loved. Throughout history, we have wanted more than anything else to be loved. Throughout all cultures, the desire to be loved has always been present. If you are loved, you are valued if you are not you are worthless. Love is at the root of all that is good the absence of love is at the root of all evil.

That is the central theme of the word of God. That is what makes it essential and viable at all times. It is the consistent call of the scriptures. God's love is why we are here.  Love is the message of the word of God. It is the attraction the magnet that draws humanity to God. It is not complete knowledge. It is God's love that drives humanity to Him. We all respond to God for our own selfish reasons, but we stay because of His love. Though we can only see the kingdom of God as through a dim mirror what comes across clearly is the love of God.  If you listen with your heart, you will hear, feel and know, God loves you.

Leia Mais…

The Anthem of The Lost

Something to think a about.

The Anthem of The Lost

And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' Luke 12:19-20

This so thoroughly describes the mindset of modern America. We are directed, persuaded, and encouraged to obtain an education. With this education, we can then acquire sufficient wealth to allow us to eat drink and be merry in our later years.  

God says to all of this you Fool!!!!!!

He is not raging against proper planning for future events. He is saying without Him all of your future planning will lead to naught. He is saying there is so much more to our existence. Do you want to waste your life with the worthless goal of attainment, constant entertainment, and temporal pleasure?  

We have an eternity to live. God is saying wake up, this is not all there is. There is an entire universe of adventure, knowledge, and pleasure on the other side of the door of this life.  You can attain wealth and all of your dreams, and still, you will die. All of your accomplishments will end up belonging to someone else. After eating drinking and being merry, you will still have to stand before God and give account. 

Living life as if this is it, is foolishness. If you have been sucked into "this is it" worldview I pity you. I can't fathom a life where we are all there is. Where humanity is the pinnacle of existence. We are slowly self-destructing and maybe not so slowly. If I look at the world and see the only hope being the combined intelligence of man it makes me cringe. Humanity throughout its existence has repeated the same sin. We have never learned and worse than that we have not changed. We are still trying to become God. Some of us actually believe we are the solutions to the problems we don't understand. 

Our lack of ability to see every repercussion of every solution has within it the seeds of the next problem. Because we can't know every effect of our actions, our action as well-intentioned as they may be will always lead to another problem.  Even those who appear to have it all, have problems. They have challenges and failures and regrets and pain. Appearances are but a facade covering the pain within.  

Without God, the hopelessness of human supremacy will not bring peace, but ultimately it will bring despair. We were not designed to live independently from God. We were never intended to be the pinnacle of existence. We were not given the ability to resolve all of the world's problems.  We were created to be dependent and in a relationship with God. God the pinnacle of existence can resolve all of humanity's problems. We were designed and intended to be His.

Leia Mais…

This time

Something to think about.

This Time

Esther 4:14 New International Version (NIV)

14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

The story of Esther is about being placed at a particular time in the history of Israel to deliver them from there enemies. It is a fascinating story. But what is the application to our lives?

In my lifetime in my country (USA) there have been significant changes. Abortion which was once a crime is now claimed as a right. Drugs which were once illegal have become legal. Virtually any sexual relationship being accepted as moral. Marriage has been stripped of its intended definition.   The list goes on and on.

We are living in this age.
Isaiah 5:20  (KJV)
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

It appears we are living out this verse. Our society is being turned upside down. One of the causes of this is we Christians bought into the ideology that separation of church and state meant we are to keep every vestige of Christian life out of public life. We bought into the idea that God should be kept out of public life. Then we allowed the secularist to dictate to us when and how we should express our beliefs, and by doing so, we have ushered in the apostasy we are experiencing in every area of public life.

For such a time as this, is why we are here. God chose to bring every one of us into this world at this time because he has specifically empowered us to take a stand against those who want to destroy and silence Christ.  We are the people God has chosen to be the soldiers who stand against the assaults of the enemy. If not us who? If not now when? We may be the final generations that can still change the course of the United States. It is up to us, not our children not the next generation or the one after that. It is now. It is here that we must make our stand. Just like Esther who had to put her life on the line to save her people, Israel, we are being to ask to put our lives on the line to save America.

I don't see anyone on the horizon that will be able to take this charge if we don't. Unlike Israel who may have had another deliverer if Esther failed. I don't see salvation coming from any other place for this country at this time. I don't see anyone coming to release the captives, to set free those in bondage, to bring light to the darkness. There isn't anything on the horizon that shows the promise of redeeming this country back to God.

We are Esther we are the hope of America. We must stand up and take our place in the army of God, doing what we were designed and created to do.  We were designed and created to show the world who God is.

Leia Mais…

The Essence of Christanity

Something to think about.

The Essence of Christianity

We recently went on a weekend getaway to New York we were there for 3 days. I was born and raised in the South Bronx and spent the first nineteen years of my in the city.  The city is teeming with people. There are people everywhere. As we travel throughout the city, I looked for churches invariably I saw small churches. 

We visited family who still lives there.  We visited the Freedom Tower went up to the observation deck took some beautiful pictures of the city. On Sunday we went to Hillsong Church. 
It occurred to me while I was in the Manhattan Center where Hillsong is currently holding their services that New York does not have a true mega church.  The Manhattan Center's capacity depending on configuration will hold 3500 people. When we visited, it was near capacity. Hillsong New York has several services on Sunday, so the Sunday attendance is in the thousands. Yet I say there is not a true megachurch in New York City. Why do I say that? The population of New York is 8 million plus. A few thousand is not a significant number compared to the total population. It was during the service with a couple thousand people in the church I was visiting that I realized the disparity of believers as compared to the rest of the population. 

It all resulted in this question, how do we Christians reach the lost of the world. The answer is apparent. The answer is in John 3:16, Matthew 22:36-40 and 1 Corinthians 13:13. 

John 3:16  (KJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love

The answer is love. The answer is not found in strict adherence to a particular set of rules and regulations. It is not in-laws or traditions, theology or doctrine it is in love.  If we are to reach the world we need to show them "Love." Not love as defined by man but love as established by God. 

 

Everyone wants to be loved this is the commonality that is shared by all humanity. That is how we exemplify Christ not through laws and traditions but through love. Love not as a license to sin but love as a gift of righteousness. The sinless love God expresses to us is the love we are to express to our fellow-man. 
The way to change the world does not come through political action, not through the struggle against immorality or unrighteousness it comes through love. A positive progressive movement will only come about when the passion of God's Love is unleashed through us that belong to him. If you want to see a change in this generation at this time, it will only come through love. From the spirit of love, from the God who is love, will all benevolent action spring.  We must show the world the motivation for the crucifixion. The motivation is love, not law. If we love our neighbor with the love of God, they will come to learn and love the law of God. Law without love is bondage. Love provides the liberty to obey the law. It must first be love. Always Love.  
The essence of Christianity is Love when we deviate from it we are lost. 

Leia Mais…

The Value of God

Something to think about.

Something of Value

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

What is the value of God? I have never heard that question before. What is God worth? We make value judgments regularly. Ironic, a question that is never asked is consistently answered by our choices.  We place a value on God by our expressions and behavior. How we value God is as apparent as the air we breathe.  

So let us discuss the value of God. Since I can only discuss the value of God from my perspective, let me share my vision of God.  First, my God is perfect. Which means there is no flaw in Him. Which means he never arrived at perfection because that would mean that at some time or place in His existence he was imperfect which would then make him less than perfect.  To be perfect implies that His existence, which lies beyond my comprehension has always been perfect. Which also indicates He will always be perfect. Secondly, my God exists outside the constraints of matter, time and space. He lives or exists outside our little bubble of existence. Thirdly, He is all-powerful, which is not a statement of power as much as it is a statement of our lack of understanding of what His power is. My God is all-knowing which by definition means He is always existent. He is present in every situation passed, present and future at the same time and is involved in every situation at all times.  My God is all-knowing, which means He knows things we do not. Which means whatever conclusions we come up with that are contrary to His nature are wrong. Regardless of the titles, degrees, and accomplishments of the one saying otherwise.  My God is the final authority there is nothing that can oppose his judgments. In every area, God is higher, bigger, stronger wiser than anything man can come up with. He is bigger and more powerful than all of humanity combined. God is the ruler of this existence.   

This is the God that created the world. He created the world solely for the purpose of communing with man.  He did not do for our intellect, our resourcefulness, our strength, our beauty or our adoration of Him. He did it because he loved us.   

He created everything we need to live from the environment to food, to shelter, to companionship to intellect. God is beyond what our feeble minds can comprehend.  He will ultimately make the final decision on our existence. His sovereignty is completed without the possibility of contention.

When He breathed into Adam, He shared a part of His immortal existence with us. We are alive because of His spirit of life which He breathed into Adam.  That same breath has ignited the life of every human being since the creation of Adam. 
He created it all, everything. How do you or I place a value on the being that brought everything into existence? Yet we do. We do it in a variety of ways by ignoring Him by denying Him by claiming we are self-created. We can also define His value by our adoration of Him our recognition of Him our submission to Him. By loving Him by obedience and by repentance. Realistically we cannot put a value on God because we do not know Him fully. We can't put a value on Him because He is priceless.  He is worth more than anything in existence because He created everything in existence including you.  Though we do not know Him fully, we know enough to recognize and grant Him the honor, obedience, reverence, and love he is entitled to.  Without fully knowing Him, He is at the pinnacle of value. He is to be glorified for what He has already done. He need not do anymore, and still, His value would not be diminished.  Recognized or not His value is not dependent on humanity. He is priceless and of undefinable value whether or not we acknowledge Him. 
Just because we can't put a definitive value on God is not a reason to dismiss Him. Or deny His value in our lives this moment, today.  He is our savior. He is the Alpha and Omega, He is what sustains us and gives us life. We exist because of His conscious decision for us to live. His value is expressed in our existence.  God is responsible for your existence. Everything you need to live to exist and flourish was made by God long before you came to be. The furthest planet the biggest star the unknown of outer and inner space was created so you could exist. He expended unimaginable power wisdom and creativity just so you could live. His value supersedes everything we hold dear.  The value of God is that He exists throughout, before and after time. 

Leia Mais…

First Love

Something to think about.

First Love

² “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³ I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Revelations 2:2-4

Have we become so busy in the doing that we have lost the reason for the doing? We have become too distracted in the doing of Christianity to even notice we have drifted from the cause of our doing. There are too many of us pointing out the shortcomings of others like us. Some of us are consumed with correcting the lot of us. We nick pick the leader, we question their motivations we condemn their methods. We demand perfect righteousness.

We should question our leaders and are ourselves against the standard of Christ.  We should put Christ at the head of all we do and use what He taught us a standard of behavior and morality. All of this should be employed;  this is what the church in Ephesus was doing. But even after doing all of this Christ says to them I have "this" against you. "You have abandoned the love you had at first." We need to stop nick picking each other on obscure or even flagrant disagreements in theology. We need to return to the reason we stay in the body of Christ. Why we identify with Christ. The reason is a love relationship. "The greatest of these is love" the bible does say.  It is through love that we understand who God is. It is love that explains and validates the word of God. It is love that is the fuel, the passion of God. It is the motivation for the sacrifice of His Son.

If we focus on the cause of our conviction, it will purify our actions. If love permeates our thoughts and actions, we will be righteous. There is no sin in love there is no injustice in love there is no selflessness in love. God prefers we become experts in love rather than in theology, doctrine, and righteousness. 

Let this not overwhelm you, you are not to love the world. Love, those around you, love those God has put in your life for this season for this time. Love those whom you can. If everyone loved those around them, then everyone would be loved.  

Let God be your first love, let Him be the receiver of your love. In this relationship with Him, you will find the love you need for yourself and all others. Love comes from God not from us. To receive the most from God you need to first love Him. We need to keep Gods love in the forefront of our minds. What is the greatest commandment? Love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul and mind, and the second Love your neighbor as your self. 

Leia Mais…

Perfect

Something to think about.


Perfect


48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mathew 5:48


Was Matthew in his right mind when he made this statement? I have read this verse many times and have blown right by it because the implications are mind-boggling.


God is perfect,  a concept that is as foreign to us as understanding the life of an ever existing being. To me, perfection is something that has always been perfect because perfection cannot come from imperfection. Because if it came from imperfection, it would then be imperfect.  It would mean that at some point in the perfections existence it was imperfect.  Regardless of the time spent removing imperfection from the would be perfection there would always be the smallest part of imperfection and as such perfection would forever be tainted by the one instance of imperfection.


Let's define imperfection as sin. God is perfect and has never sinned. Throughout His existence, He has not ever sinned not once, not by mistake, not unintentionally not by omission. Nope never ever sinned.  If the smallest of sin were to penetrate into Gods existence all of the perfection would be lost forever.  One sin one tiny insignificant sin would destroy perfection.  Perfection and sin can't coexist perfection must always destroy sin.


When I was in the Airforce, I work on aircraft fuel systems. This required climbing into aircraft fuel tanks. This process required purging fuel tanks of fumes. We purge them until they were at an acceptable level, expressed in parts per million.  The acceptable level was not perfectly clean air. If you applied parts per million to perfection, you would realize perfection does not allow for parts per million.  As soon as you let the smallest sin into perfection, it would cease to perfect.

The question is how does sinful man gain approved access to the realm of God? The answer is the complete and total cleaning of sinful man.  The problem is how does man become perfect so he can enter into the presence of God?  Perfection implies everything around God, everything in His presence must be perfect.  He is perfect in Holiness,  righteousness, love, power, and justice. Since God is perfect, He and only He is responsible for maintaining perfection. He is responsible for eradicating sin as to make it as it never occurred. The destruction and cleaning of sin is so complete that even the memory of it does not exist.


God's perfection does two things. First, it invalidates the ideology of attaining access to God through works or earning your way into His presence.  Since He is perfect and everything around Him must be perfect even the memory of your sin must not exit. Since you cannot remove your sin and you can not clean your sin. You at best can only dilute it your work is worthless. The stain of sin any wrongdoing will always destroy perfection. That is something God will not allow.

The second thing God's perfection does is it creates a wall of impenetrable separation between God and man. We can't cross over into His realm of existence, and He will not cross over into ours. If we were to enter into His realm as we are or He to enter ours, the result would be the total annihilation of humanity. The eradication of humanity would be so complete it would not leave a trace of evidence, a memory of our existence. You must understand God's perfection requires perfection nothing less.


If you understand, only perfection can completely clean and destroy sin. It is Gods responsibility to clean and destroy sin. If you comprehend only a perfect God can accomplish these things, you begin to understand the need for a Christ. Only perfection can clean sin. Only perfection can remove every vestige of sin only perfection can remove the memory of sin. In the simplest terms, it is God and only God that can purify us from our sin and grant us access to Him.


This is why Jesus. Because only perfection can clean the sin of humanity. A perfect sacrifice for our sin. The sacrifice and death of His son occurred for the destruction and cleansing of sin. That is the only way sin will not destroy us. Without a perfect sacrifice, we would be left alone to face a perfect God with the responsibility of maintaining perfection. That is why Jesus is the way the truth and the light. Because only through perfection can we gain access to heaven and that perfection in every way is Jesus, the door to our salvation.


We are not filtered through Jesus because every filter only collects dirt it does not cleanse anything. The filter must always be disposed of and changed. Because the perfection of  Jesus, we are made new, a new creation free from the stain of sin we are made Holy and acceptable to God. The perfection of Christ destroys and cleanses us from all sin. Only God Himself can completely and totally, remove, destroy and cleanse us of our sin.


Since perfection can't come from imperfection, imperfection cannot produce perfection. Our sin nature regardless of what we do within our own abilities can't eradicate the sin in our lives. Simply put sin can't make you sinless. Only a perfect God can eliminate sin entirely so as to remove even the instance of sin. 

Leia Mais…

Faith and Works

^{Something to think about.} 

^{Faith and Works} 

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:18

There is a profound theological principle in this verse. It is the juxtaposition of work and faith. Work and faith can you have one without the other? 

When I was in the hospital, and the doctor told my wife "I am going to do everything I can to help him." What he was saying was I will do all I can do, all that I have been trained to do but the outcome is not in my hands. He was promising to do the work, but where was the faith?

Faith is where the rubber meets the road for Christians it is where we experience God. What James is saying is, it is through faith that I have accomplished whatever I have accomplished. It is in the exercise of faith that Christianity will leap off the pages of the bible and come alive. What in your life which requires faith? What problem, dream, goal do you have that needs an influx of faith? I'm not talking about intellectual faith. That which defines faith but rather that which requires faith. If your living your life and  your endeavors do not require faith why not?  If you can accomplish all you want on your own, if all you do is within your capacity how can God be displayed in your life?

Everyone Christian or not is looking for the evidence of God. And faith is where we find it. Every accomplishment great our small is bathed submerged in faith. Every endeavor regardless of what it is, is wholly infused with faith. A few years ago the driverless car was a dream. That dream was not based in reality it was based in the belief that it could be done. Then from that belief faith had to be engaged in order for it to become a reality. We have a space program because someone employed faith. To bring something into existence that never existed before.

Faith does not remove obstacles it motivates us to find solutions to the problems which hinder us. Faith is not a belief system it is the fire which fuels the engine of what we believe in. The belief that we can accomplish the dream, goal, purpose we are striving for without knowing the outcome.

Are you activity engaging faith? Are you building your faith? Are you doing those things that require faith? Small things, big things, things and ideas that make other people think you're insane. Are you pushing the envelope of what's possible. 

If you are one of those people God has given the capacity to dream big dreams are you dreaming. Are you allowing the obstacles of your endeavor to define your faith or are you infusing your faith to define your dream. It is not ability that defines your accomplishments it is faith. Can you believe in something you have never done before?  Faith is required in your business, faith is required in your personal life. Faith is required for the future. 

Faith is required to delay the return of Christ. Faith is required for us to look at prophecy see it for what it is and work to delay its fulfillment. Just because we are living in the end days does not mean that we should be praying seeking welcoming the return of Christ. The return of Christ the second coming is not something that the majority of the world is looking forward to. It is not something we see coming throw up our hands and say yes Jesus come quickly. 

We as the body of Christ should not be celebrating the return of Christ. That day will be the best and worst day in the history of the world it will be a day of great joy for those of us that believe and the most fearful day for those that don't. We can celebrate Jesus return at the appropriate time, but this is not the time. We need to engage faith in bringing the gospel to the world. We need to engage faith to change the world toward Christ. Especially today when our society and the world is hell-bent on silencing us and trying to make the gospel of Jesus of no value. We need to engage faith to turn back the encroachment of sin into our society. We need to turn our lives to a basis of faith to fight the forces of evil which are assailing us on every side. Faith is the engine that will light the fire in our souls to make the change that needs to happen for the salvation of the world.

Leia Mais…

All things work together

Something to think about. 

All Things Work Together For The Good. 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NKJV

As a Christian can you say all things have worked together for the good? If you look at this verse from the perspective of the past, you will see it changes from a hopeful and uplifting verse to a prophetic and testimonial statement.

If you look back at your life as a Christian, you should be able to see the hand of God woven through it. I joined the USAF when I was 19 years old. The reason I joined the Air force was I wanted to get married and I had to support my future wife. I could have gotten a job and told her to get a job and started our lives together that way. But for reasons, I cannot remember I choose the military.

Because of the omission on my part of two letters I was assigned to Fairchild Air Force base in Spokane Washington state. I forgot to put down on my wish list of assignments D.C. The Air Force gave me my first choice, Washington without D.C. When I realized my mistake, it was much too late for me to request any changes. I was forced to go to Washington State. My fiance was not happy we were going to the opposite side of the country. From New York City to Spokane Washington a city we had never heard of.

All things worked together for the good. I was not a Christian when I left New York but shortly after going to Spokane me and my wife became believers and were saved by Jesus. Looking back there are two things my wife and I are sure of. If we had stayed near our childhood homes. We would never have accepted Christ and our marriage would not have survived.

Despite my mistakes, before we knew God, he orchestrated our meeting Him.  He used my desires and placed me where I could hear him. He took my wife and I away from the cacophony of noise surrounding our lives in New York and took us to the comparative silence of Spokane so we could hear him. He took a two-letter mistake and changed our lives for the better long before I would come to love him.

And the rest is not history. That instance is not the only time God has worked in our lives to produce a better more positively productive end. Throughout our lives, He has worked to turn our failures into victories. Thirty five years later I had a major heart attack. I all but died. Recovery took several years and financially we are still recovering. But that heart attack that took me to death's door had made me love God more than ever. Through that event, God has made me more productive and purposeful than any other time in my life. I am more alive today because of God turning a near death event to his glory and allowing me to fulfill my purpose in life. 

I could go on and on how God has turned adverse situations to wonderful victories. But unfortunately, this is but a short essay. What God has done in my life despite my mistakes and foolishness. Is a testament of God fulfilling this verse. It is also prophetic for you to know if he did it for my wife and I he will do it for you.

Leia Mais…

Love thy neighbor

Something to think about. 

Love thy neighbor

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40  (NIV)

The first commandment is about our relationship with God the second is an expression of our relationship with God. We can only fulfill the first command by engaging in the other. If we love God as we are commanded we will be compelled to share him with others.  

Loving our neighbor is at the core of what God does and is. God is love and if we understand who God is then we can understand that the heart of God is love. By loving our neighbor we are an extension of who God is. It brings us to our primary purpose. It really brings us to our only purpose.  

But how do we show love? In the story of the good Samaritan, we are instructed to care for our neighbor in physical ways. But is that the only way we are to express love for our neighbor. We express love to our neighbor in everything we do. In our business in our actions in our conversations. Loving our neighbor is manifested in our daily living.   

Are we living every day doing the best we can in everything we do? Thereby glorifying God by our actions. Are our actions showing our neighbor Christ? Loving our neighbor is not about how we treat them, it is about how God treats them. He sent his son to die for them. Remember John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The motivation for the sacrifice was not punishment for redemption it was love for salvation. 

God gave his best for man. We are expected to give our best to our neighbor. We are to care for our neighbor whenever we can. But more than anything else we are to exemplify Christ in our daily living. This is loving or neighbor. When by our actions people can see us and recognize Christ we are loving our neighbor. Jesus came to do the will of his father. We are to do the same. We are to do the will of our father and his will is that we love because he first loved us.  

God's primary characteristic is love. Not judgment or commendation. We need to invest all of us in love. In loving God then loving our neighbor. Love has a lot of faces but in the end, it is about caring about one another.  To fulfill the greatest commandment we must engage in the second. It is impossible to fulfill the first commandment without fully engaging in the second.

Leia Mais…

The Greatest

Something to think about.

The Greatest

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:36-37 ESV
 

Why is this the greatest commandment? Is it because God needs our love?

If you believe God is perfect, then you have to include in His complete lack of need. He is totally complete, without need. He does not need or want our love.  He is perfect without it. So again I ask why is this the greatest commandment? It does nothing for God.

Commandment,  is a rule. In this case, it is the single most important rule. It is a guiding principle as crucial to our existence as breathing. It is something we must do. If we must comply? If the recipient of the action does not need it why it's it so important? Since it is commanded, we can not assume it is not optional. We must love God completely. I've written all of this to ask one question. Who does loving God benefit? If God is complete and perfect our loving Him, it does not benefit Him. My love for my wife benefits her because it fulfills her need to be loved. Her love for me fulfills my need to be loved, but that is not the case with God. God will be perfect with or without our love.

We have to look at Jesus's answer in a different light.  The only way to understand the answer is by answering the question who does it benefit? Jesus's response is intended for our benefit, not God's. Jesus was not setting up a priority of laws. He is not putting the compliance of commandments in order of importance.  Even though that was the question and at first glance, it appears as a direct answer. . He answers the question with the commandment most beneficial to humanity.

All of Gods commandments were given for the benefit of man. None of them benefit God. This is no different. He answered the question in the single most important way in which man would benefit. 

So what is it about loving God that is so important?

Loving God provides us with the most beneficial existence available to man. By loving God, we receive acceptance, love, security, freedom. Our eyes are opened to realities and blessing that do not exist for blind humanity. We are set free from hopelessness and emptiness, we are adopted into the family of God we are recipients of all that God has made available to us. Our future in this life and the one that is to come is blessed for all eternity. Loving God sets us apart and allows us to enter into places only the family of God is invited to. We receive forgiveness. We are restored to our original intended existence. The benefits of loving God of obeying his commandments are that we are bestowed with all the beautiful blessings that are available to His children. It adds everything to us and nothing to God, but it is the greatest commandment because it allows God to bless us going out and coming in. Loving God is not about what we give Him.  It opens the door to us receiving the fullness of his blessing.

Just like every other commandment, it is for our benefit, not His. The only difference is that by loving God, we open the windows of heaven upon our own lives. It is the most important commandment because it is the one commandment that encompasses all the desires of God for our good.

Leia Mais…

The Rock

Something to think about.

The Rock

"For who is God, besides the LORD? And who is a rock, besides our God? 2 Samuel, 22:32

He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'
Psalms 89:26

A rock, God is described as a rock. This is an interesting metaphor for what God is. In my mind, the rock which is God is an immense structure of unchangeable quality. Something you cannot move. You can't change you can't go through you can't destroy. For me, my rock is indestructible, unmovable with a permanence that is everlasting. 

My vision of the permanence of the rock which is Christ is like this.  After the battle of Armageddon after the smoke clears, after the noise abates after all of the actions of war are ended. On the top of a hill in full view of all, there will be one and only one figured standing and it will be Christ. Everyone else, the dead and alive will be on their knees submitted before him. And he will stand as the salvation of all humanity. He will be the unmovable rock of our salvation.

He will be as he has always been the God who saves. He will be recognized as the rock which is referred to throughout the bible. The world will understand that he has been the secure, unmovable, permanent foundation of salvation. We will see with opened eyes that throughout all generations he is the one who had always been "the way the truth and the light." This rock which is Christ is not only the rock that was and is, He is the same rock that always will be. He is the rock of indestructible permanence that has always been and always will be.

The rock is used as a metaphor in the bible to symbolize the continuity of God. But it does so much more than symbolize it helps us to understand the immutable existence of God himself. When everything we know see and don't see ceases to exist there standing alone as in the beginning will be God. As he was in the beginning so shall he be at the end. The rock of our salvation.

This rock is not a new rock it is not a transformed rock. It is not a rock that came to be after the creation of the world. It is not a rock that is subject to the erosion of time or the forces of nature. This is the rock that existed before time began and will exist after time ends. This rock is our God. The God of all, for all, forever.

Leia Mais…

Accept Your Call

Something to think about.

Accept Your Call

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

Jesus, the son of God, came to serve humanity, even unto his own death. For this is why he came. Of all the ways Christ could have served humanity, He accepted the assignment of his father and came as teacher and leader and sacrifice for us.

What has God called you to? And have you accepted the call? We want to do what we perceive as being important. As being noticeable. We want to be recognized for our good works. But if we follow the example of Jesus, we will find that our call may not bring us the attention we desire. It is easy and desirable to be a leader and teacher but are you ready to be the sacrifice. Are you willing to give it all for what Jesus has called you to do?

I am not suggesting that every call of God requires you to physically sacrifice yourself for another. I am asking, you are you willing to accept the call of God for your life regardless of what that is? Regardless of what it would cost you.

The truth is you begin down the path of submission to God expecting and believing that it will result in your ultimate benefit. What you don't know is submission to God will lead you to a sacrifice of self. It will lead you to a place where you will accept the price that was paid for you and realize that price was not symbolic it was actual.  If you accept the sacrifice that Christ made for you and understand is not just a sacrifice but also a payment for you; you, in all honesty, will realize you are a slave of God.

The call of God on your life is all-consuming it will lead you too full acceptance of your position as a purchased slave of God. Better it is to be a slave of God than to be a free man of sin. The free man of sin will ultimately receive his just judgment. The slave of God will receive his adoption as a son of God. Our acceptance of the call of God will lead us into the freedom of our position as adopted children of the most high God.

The call of God is not one-dimensional. It is not simply a service to God it is the doorway to the full benefit of adoption. By accepting the call of God, we begin the necessary transformation into the kingdom of God. We begin to know God when we accept the sacrifice of his son and accept the call he has given us.  We will know God when we take on the full implication of the cross. The quilt, the payment, the sacrifice, and our position as slaves of God. 

As slaves of God we are not idle we are not without purpose. We are called by our owner to do His will. God would not have sacrifice His son for our redemption and salvation for us to be idle. He has a call on your life, a call, and a claim.   

Submission to God though difficult at times will lead us into His Kingdom as His adopted and transformed children.  Heaven will be populated by the transformed slaves of God.

Leia Mais…

Repayment

Something to think about.

 Repayment

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Deuteronomy 7:9‭-‬10 NKJV

In these contrasting verses, we find two opposite sides of God. On one side we see a loving patient, long-suffering God. On the other, we see a terrifying short-tempered judgemental God. In our Christianity, we have embraced the first and ignored our disavowed the second.

We want so much to show our loving, compassionate God we ignore or at the very least downplay the permanent judgment of God. We want to say listen God loves you more than anything. Which is true, however, need to also preach about the beginning of this chapter.  God utterly destroys seven nations. He destroys them because they will introduce sin to the nation of Israel. The judgment is permanent. It is harsh and merciless.

If we believe God is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever we must acknowledge the God who will judge entirely. I am not saying we need to preach fire and brimstone continually but we need to preach the complete picture of God.

We need to let the world know the judgment of God will be fierce, painful and permanent. We need to let them know if they fall on the side of unrighteousness the judgment will be severe.

No one responds to God because he first loved us, we respond to God because of what he offers us. Whatever that may be. We return to God because he fulfills a need in our lives. That need is always selfish and self-centered.

We all have a need for self-preservation we want to protect our selves and those we love. This is the primary source of motivation for the secular world. Their fear of loss motivates them to do whatever they believe is best to fulfill that need. They fear loss, they fear being on the street, they fear not having food to eat, they fear death.

We as a Christian community have ignored this reality. We behave as if what man fears should not be addressed by Christians. We behave as if God should not be feared. I've been a Christian for over thirty years and I cannot reminder the last time I read or heard a sermon on the judgment of God. As if this is not part of the character of God.

I love to be uplifted and edified as much as anyone but we need to tell the complete truth. Why? Because those who live in fear will respond to the full reality of God and yes that means preaching the God who will judge. And whose judgments will be terrible and final. I believe a real fear of God is healthy to our eternal life because His judgment will be eternal for everyone. For those who will spend eternity with Him and those who will spend eternity without Him.

Leia Mais…

A testimony

Something to think about.

A Testimony

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

This verse has been an expression of hope. It is uplifting, promising and edifying to His people. I am grateful that it provides hope for those who love him. I am thankful that He has turned my sinful life into something of value and joy.

But why did I entitle this "A Testimony?" As I look back at my life, I can clearly see where God has open and closed doors for my benefit. I can see where he has turned situations around for my good dispute my bad decisions.

I've seen His hand in large and small places of my life and find evidence of his resolution. I can see a young man who use to be me who for no more reason than the Grace of God did not end up a drug addict or a criminal. I can look back at the lives of people I grew up with and see them mired in the same sin for forty-fifty years. I see lives that have ended after decades of fruitless living. Who's legacy is; why was I here?

I look back and can attest to the hand of God leading us away from poorly made decisions. I can see when I joined the Air Force God's hand in my decisions. He used a clerical error on my part to bring us, my newlywed wife and I to a place of salvation. I can see how he brought us through one bad decision after another. I now see the footprints in the sand where he walked with me and when he carried me.

I can see how He turned a near catastrophic heart attack to my benefit and for His glory. I can see where he patiently and consistently taught me, healed me and saved me. I can not understand the depth of love he has shown me throughout my life.  I would have quit on me if I had been him. Yet through all of my sin, disobedience and wicked insistence, he has never abandoned me. He's never reached the end of his rope with me. 

That is not to say that he has exempted me from reaping the rewards of my sin, it means despite my self defeating actions he has found a way to redeem my life. He has been my savior throughout my life. I may not see it at the moment but as I look back the evidence of His work is undeniable. He has turned a poor, abandoned, confused, isolated, lost child into a member of his beloved family. I can now say and could have said over thirty years ago I am a child of the most high God. I now know the privileged of having a father who never abandoned me and never will.

I am a testimony of Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

I am a testimony of my life being worked out for good by God for his purposes. He called me according to his purposes before I loved Him. This is not an isolated testimony it is a common one. It is the testimony of every one who is called a child of God. The sin and rebellion might be different but it is the same God working things out for your good. It is the same God who saves you from yourself daily.

Leia Mais…