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Archive for February, 2011

You can’t win with people bent on evil

28 Feb

Luke 7:33-34 – 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

This was being said to the so called people who served God.  Clearly they weren’t looking for truth.  The people of this generation were looking for a King to come and rescue them from the Romans.  The Messiah was to lift the yoke that they had on them and once again Israel would rule the land.

What was the problem?  What were they missing?

The same thing many are missing today.  They want God to give them all their wants and what they think they need. 

The Jewish people back in the day of Jesus were looking for what they wanted.  Power and a place back on top in superiority.  They weren’t looking for someone to die for their sins.  Most of them weren’t looking at their own sins anyway, but mostly looking at others who sinned around them.  Basically acting like everyday sinful men.

Today we have those who want Jesus, based off what they want Jesus to do in their lives or what they want Jesus to be.  Isn’t this the same recipe of disaster that the Jews went through 2,000 years ago? 

What would have happened if the people who said they were seeking God had actually been truly seeking the scriptures?  What would have happened had they been seeking what God wanted instead of what they wanted?

Luke 13:34-35 –    34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Jesus is reminding us that not only this generation was rejecting Him and God, but they were killing the prophets sent by God by before Him.  More of the same.

So it shouldn’t surprise us that in the last days, the spirit of antichrist is ripe.  People are not seeking the scriptures for what God wants.  They are seeking out what they want.

We must read the Word of God and seek our Lord.  We need to live for Him, not ourselves.  Why do many new people get bored with church and quickly fade away?  Because at first it’s about them, their forgiveness, their comfort, their needs, something new.  Those that stick around are the ones who want to get to know God better and are forever grateful. 

Live for the Lord.  Seek the Lord.  Look for the Lord!

 
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Posted in Encouragement, Inspiration, Motivation, Reflections

 

Quote – C S Lewis

26 Feb

Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live for ever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever.
C. S. Lewis

The eternal soul.  Yes this is the reason people should be having an urgency when it comes to their eternal destination. 

I think there are people out there that have the attitude, I’m going to control what I can control and not worry about what I can’t.

This is the rub.  Each and every one of us do control our eternal destiny and it comes in the form of a decision.  Will you choose to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is the only thing that can cover your sins?  Will you choose the gift that God has provided so you can return back to being His child?

It is a free gift in the sense that God provided it.  You don’t have to earn it.  However, the bible does indicate that one is suppose to now walk towards God.  We are to die to ourselves and live for the Lord.  That in a sense is why it will cost you everything you got, but that’s because God knows what is best for you.

Seventy years will be only blip on the eternal time clock, but the decisions you make will make that blip of time the most important concerning your destiny.    

The eternal soul.  Yes this is the reason people should be having an urgency when it comes to their eternal destination. 

I think there are people out there that have the attitude, I’m going to control what I can control and not worry about what I can’t.

This is the rub.  Each and every one of us do control our eternal destiny and it comes in the form of a decision.  Will you choose to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is the only thing that can cover your sins?  Will you choose the gift that God has provided so you can return back to being His child?

It is a free gift in the sense that God provided it.  You don’t have to earn it.  However, the bible does indicate that one is suppose to now walk towards God.  We are to die to ourselves and live for the Lord.  That in a sense is why it will cost you everything you got, but that’s because God knows what is best for you.

Seventy years will be only blip on the eternal time clock, but the decisions you make will make that blip of time the most important concerning your destiny.   

 
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Posted in Quotes, Reflections, Salvation

 

Sounds Like An Ultimatum

24 Feb

Luke 9:25 – 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

I feel today too many people live by I want my cake and eat it too.

However, this verse doesn’t give that ultimatum.  We need to choose Christ, and Christ is not of the world.

John 8:23 – 23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

We need to adhere to the warning.  We have to be honest with ourselves.  We need to read the Word of God and obey.

 
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Once You Know God, Why Turn Back?

23 Feb

Galatians 4:9 – 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

Most of us have been there.  Find the Lord and then the spiritual battle is really on.  The devil and his demons do not want a believer to become strong.  We have no idea how much they don’t want that.  They have their hands full already.  Unfortunately the human race is making it easier on them when it comes to getting unbelievers to be further away from God also.

John 8:35-36 – 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We need to seek God and become strong in His Spirit.  We’re in a war and the darts in form of sin.  The enemy will try and throw anything at you that he possibly can.  However, we have the power in the Holy Spirit which is the gift from God.

You have a chance to either be a Christian warrior and soldier in God’s army or you can stay dormant.  There are two consequences for staying dormant.  One, others miss out on finding God, and two; you have to explain why you weren’t serving God to the best of your ability while you could. 

Today’s the day.  One step at a time.  Choose to serve your King instead of sitting on the sideline or making it difficult for others to even know who you serve.

Don’t go back to the sin of the world, it will cripple you and there’s nothing there anyway.  Don’t return back to your vomit.

Proverbs 26:11 – 11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

Do you really think if you choose to serve God, you’ll look at your life and be disappointed?

I’ll vouch that if you learn the bible and try to live your life according to God’s Word; you will be fulfilled and should be excited about the Kingdom you’ll be entering into.

 
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Posted in Inspiration, Motivation

 

Disputes Among Christians Need To Be Settled Amongst Believers

22 Feb

1Corinthians 6:1 – 1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?

Today too many Christians yoke themselves with people who are unbelievers.  The world encourages all people to do just that.  However, as a believer in Jesus Christ, we are children of God.  This isn’t children in the flesh, but in the spirit.

As children of God we are not suppose to selfishly only think of ourselves.  I work in the field where people are trying to work out disputes.  Today the American system is about self and greed.  This is not a good playing field for Christians to be… disputing in.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 – 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

   “I will live with them
   and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
   and they will be my people.”

Disputes among believers need to be worked out amongst believers.  The Word of God needs to be our guide.

What does righteousness and wickedness have in common?  They’re on the opposite sides of the spectrum.  I thirst for righteousness, and our judicial system is anything but righteous at this time.  It’s a greedy free for all. 

We need to seek God and His ways.  He is the ultimate Judge in life anyway, so we better be finding truth rather than ignoring it.

 
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Posted in Inspiration, Reflections

 

What Does It Mean To Love The World?

21 Feb

1 John 2:15-16 – 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

This is a very important question to answer especially in today’s world.

What does it mean to love the world?

Does it mean giving it all your time and almost none to the Lord?

Does it mean making all your plans for now and not for the Kingdom?

Does it mean putting it first before Jesus?

I think its yes on all three and especially the last one.  If we put anything concerning this world before Jesus, were loving the world. 

We’re not even supposed to put people in front of Jesus, let alone anything of this world.

 Luke 14:26 – 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

As I have stated in earlier posts, God is love, so the hate in this scripture means to not even come close to putting one’s family or oneself in front of their relationship with Jesus.  If we want to be a disciple, we need to make Him the first and foremost of our lives.

We put money away for the kid’s college.  We put money away for retirement.  We plan our vacations.  Yet most people have no plans on how they want to present in front of God and Jesus when they die.

If we aren’t spending enough time with Jesus, what’s taking up that time?

The world can be gone in an hour for people, or sooner.  A nuclear war, one’s own death, an asteroid hitting the earth, and all one’s worldly progress is done.

However, your love for the Lord and your relationship with God and Jesus are forever.

Shouldn’t we be investing into the most important thing in eternity, rather than a temporary world?

 
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Quote – A W Tozer

19 Feb

An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.
A W Tozer

I love this quote.  Look around.  We all have some serious issues.  This world is a fallen place.  Just check out the nightly news. 

Want the answers to what went wrong?  Read the Bible!  The Bible exposes man for what he is.

Just like Tozer said, if you’re honest, you’ll find out who you are real quickly.   It’s at that time you have to make a decision.  Do I want to keep on being the sinful, selfish, ungrateful, person I’ve been, or do I want to get back in tuned with my loving God and Savior?

Get in the Word of God.  You’ll figure out what’s wrong with you, others, the world, etc.

When you realize the fallen creature you are and how much the Lord loves you and wants you to seek Him, you’ll find the Holy Spirit and He will guide you back onto the path.

 
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Posted in Quotes, Reflections

 

More Than Conquerors – Part 6

18 Feb

Romans 8:31-39 – 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verse 36 explains being sold out for Christ.

36 As it is written:

    “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Rather we face death all day long to ourselves, or we do so in true martyrdom sense, we need to be dead to our old selfish sinful nature.

Galatians 2:20 – 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Here is our King and His example.  God and Jesus didn’t have to participate in our redemption.  They chose to do so out of love.  God gave His Son.  Jesus chose to die for us.  Sometimes it can be hard to grasp the three persons, because on one hand they work together and can’t stray apart and still are three Persons in One.   The Lord shed His blood for us so we may be saved. 

We need to now die to that old sinful nature and live now for Him.  Two good reasons exist right off the top.  One, sin destroys life.  Just look around you.  Two, we were wonderfully made in the image of God.  We need to get back to what that is.  Only through the Holy Spirit can we begin act right and help others get back to the Lord. 

Think of it like this.  There is a burning building and your one of God’s firemen.  We need to go in and help as many people out before the place burns down.  Yes, there is a chance we may perish, which brings us to the second part of our scripture.

We are sheep.  We certainly are.  Who are we going to follow?  If you’re following yourself, you just bought the lie that the devil fed to Eve.  If we choose to follow Christ, we need to do what’s best for the Kingdom of God, not ourselves.  Many have chosen to follow Christ and it cost them their life here on earth.  However, everyone on this earth will die to this earthly body sometime. 

Matthew 10:32-33 – 32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Your life on this earth without Jesus leads to an eternity without anything, but the things promised to those who have rejected God’s redemption.  As we all know life on this earth goes fast and there is no guarantee of what tomorrow brings.  However, if you are saved, we know it brings eternity with our Lord.

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord, please do so now.  Don’t hide in the burning building.  Come out and start serving the Lord, forever.

I have put a page on how to do so, as well as why we need to do so, on the right column of the blog page.

 
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Posted in Encouragement, Inspiration, Salvation

 

How Does One Become An Heir?

17 Feb

Do you do something special?  Is it earned?

Almost every time you see someone that is an heir, they’re in the bloodline.

Romans 8:16-17 – 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I never look at myself as anything but a grateful sinner that God loved and allowed me to be saved through the sacrifice of His own blood through His one and only Son.  So when I read those verses I tend to think to myself a grateful sinner who was a lost mess much of my life an heir?

Then it dawned on me.  What earthly son deserved to be the next king on an earthly kingdom?  Isn’t it just because he is next in the bloodline that he qualifies?  Now he may make a great king, but he didn’t do anything accept be the son of the king. 

Eureka!

When we choose Christ as Savior we become children of God.  We are in the bloodline of the King.  Nothing deserved but in this case we do need to choose to become part of that bloodline.

How is an heir of God supposed to act?  In the Spirit, not the flesh.  Seek God and leave the flesh and worldly desires behind.  We have a short time left to work for the King before he returns.  Make it count.

 
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The Popeye Syndrome

16 Feb

“I yam what I am.”

Too many people believe that they can’t change anything about themselves or are to prideful to change certain behaviors that could use some straightening out.

Changing Behavior!  We have to do so.  Romans Chapter 8 reminds us why it is so important.

Romans 8:5-  – 5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

We are sinful creatures of habit.  It says the sinful mind is hostile to God.  However, we can make an effort to form good habits.  Jesus paved the way for us to have victory in life and to be able to control our sinful desires with His Spirit.  

Romans 8:9-11 – 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

This world is full of the desires of the sinful nature.  Go to most movies anymore and it’s like Hollywood has a checklist.  That list is the 10 commandments and they have to break at least 7 out of 10 before the average movie gets released.  Secular music is full of either pain or behavior contrary to how were supposed to be living in the Spirit.

Romans 8:12 –   12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

It is our duty as a Christian to live in the Spirit and for Christ.  We have victory in Christ.  Even with this victory it takes an effort and “want to.”

The simple question we have to ask ourselves today is do we want to?  Because if we answering I don’t want to, are we being hostile towards God?  The sinful mind is hostile towards God.

Romans 8:13 – 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

The natural thing for any human to do in his sinful nature is whatever desires.  To do something contrary to that takes effort.  With the Spirit of Christ we have the ability.  Is God worth the effort?  Is God worth dying to our sinful nature and living for Him?  For the person who chooses no, they will be in the majority, but they won’t enjoy the final result.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Lake of Fire.  These are penalties of those who choose to ignore or be enemies of the One True Living Creator.  What about those who choose to love and obey God?

Romans 8:14-17 – 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Co-heirs with our loving King Jesus.  The flesh is always at war with the Spirit.  We have to die to the flesh and feed the Spirit.

 
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