Welcome to the idea center.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

If you say you can't believe in God because there is too much suffering, think of the opposite: The absence of suffering in this world wouldn't prove God exists because then bad people would never face any punishment. You wouldn't trust that kind of God either. “Well then”, you say, “he shouldn’t have created bad people”>Maybe if we stopped blaming Him we would see things differently. We wish things were perfect but originally they were, and mankind still messed it up. And what about the fact that God put Himself in our shoes? He watched His Son suffer at the hands of us! Yet he offers us not punishment, but forgiveness. Forgiveness is never possible unless it is preceded by some type of wrongdoing that involves suffering.

In the late 1940’s, the United States government commissioned William Francis Gibbs to work with the United States Lines to construct an eighty-million-dollar troop carrier for the navy. The purpose was to design a ship that would speedily carry fifteen thousand troops during times of war. By 1952, construction on the SS United States was complete. The ship could travel at forty-four knots (about fifty-one miles per hour), and she could steam ten thousand miles without stopping for fuel or supplies. She could outrun any other ship and travel nonstop anywhere in the world in less than ten days. The SS United States was the fastest and most reliable troop carrier in the world.
The only catch is, she never carried troops. At least not in any official capacity. The ship was put on standby once during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, but otherwise she was never used in all her capacity by the U. S. Navy.
Instead the SS United States became a luxury liner for presidents, heads of state, and a variety of other celebrities who traveled on her during her seventeen years of service. As a luxury liner, she couldn’t carry fifteen thousand people. Instead she could house just under two thousand passengers. Those passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators, and the comfort of the world’s first fully air-conditioned passenger ship. Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, the SS United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.
Things look radically different on a luxury liner than they do on a troop carrier. The faces of soldiers preparing for battle and those of patrons enjoying their bonbons are radically different. The conservation of resources on a troop carrier contrasts sharply with the opulence that characterizes the luxury liner. And the pace at which the troop carrier moves is by necessity much faster than that of the luxury liner. After all, the troop carrier has an urgent task to accomplish; the luxury liner, on the other hand, is free to casually enjoy the trip.
When I think about the history of the SS United States, I wonder if she has something to teach us about the history of the church. The church, like the SS United States, has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission. Yet we seem to have turned the church as troop carrier into the church as luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world. This makes me wonder what would happen if we looked squarely in the face of a world with 4.5 billion people going to hell and twenty-six thousand children dying every day of starvation and preventable diseases, and we decided it was time to move this ship into battle instead of sitting back on the pool deck while we wait for the staff to serve us more hors d’oeuvre.
Are we willing to obey the orders of Christ? Are we willing to be like him? Are we willing to risk our lives to go to great need and to great danger—whether it’s in the inner cities around us, the difficult neighbor across the street, the disease-ridden communities in Africa, or the hostile regions in the Middle East? Are we willing to fundamentally alter our understanding of Christianity from a luxury-liner approach that seeks more comforts in the world to a troop-carrier approach that forsakes comforts in the world to accomplish an eternally significant task and achieve an eternally satisfying reward?

Your attempts to do everything the right way, doesn’t mean you will get right results. Efforts to live a good life, going to church often, getting baptized, going to Christian school or being home schooled, living a life of purity until marriage, memorizing as much of the Bible as you can, and every attempt to become moral, ends in disappointment, just as a movie with a shocking twist at the end, the plot wasn’t at all what you expected. You thought getting stronger was the solution, but the real answer is being weaker so you can depend on what does work: the Life from Jesus given to you.
We thought the good news was “do everything you can so God will be happy with you.” But that’s a little bit like saying “Come over to my house...and when you get there, you have to paint it all and fix everything up”> That’s not good news! Good news is God in Christ has come to dwell in you, and that in itself is enough. You are complete in Him. Everything else is your attempt to establish righteousness.
Christianity is not your responsibility. It’s your response to His ability.

Odds of Christ Fulfilling Prophecy
The focus of this topic is to look at the probability of Christ fulfilling the prophecies in the Old Testament.
So, what is probability? Probability, also known as "odds", is a branch of mathematics that measures the likelihood that a given event will occur. To begin, let's look at some interesting "odds":
Being struck by lightning in a year = 7 x 105 or 1 in 700,000 
Being killed by lightning in a year = 2 x 106 or 1 in 2,000,000 
Becoming president = 1 x 107 or 1 in 10,000,000 
A meteorite landing on your house = 1.8 x 1014 or 1 in 180,000,000,000,000 
You will eventually die = 1 in 1 
As you can see, the probability of being struck or killed by lightning, becoming president, or having a meteorite land on your house, progressively increases, given the event; however, someone somewhere will be that 1 in 10x, and that someone could be you.
Now, let's look at one of the most amazing probability studies to be conducted. Dr. John Stoner, author of Science Speaks, applied the principle of probability, which states that if the chance of one thing happening is "1 in M", and the chance of another independent thing happening is "1 in N", then the chance that they shall both happen is "1 in M x N", as it pertains to fulfillment of Biblical prophecies.
The Bible is full of prophecies, either events that have happened or events that will happen in the future. In Science Speaks, Dr. Stoner looks at the probability that one man, Jesus Christ, could have fulfilled even 8 of the 300 prophecies that pertain to Him in the Bible. Let's look at these eight prophecies from the Old Testament pertaining to Christ, their fulfillment by Christ in the New Testament, the probability of one man fulfilling each prophecy, and the sum of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies. Keep in mind, the time span between the prophecies of the Old Testament and the New Testament fulfillment is hundreds, even thousands of years.
Old Testament Prophecy
Christ to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
New Testament Fulfillment
And Herod asked where Christ had been born ... they answered Bethlehem (Matt 2:4-6)
Probability 2.8 x 105 or 1 in 280,000
Old Testament Prophecy
Forerunner of Christ (Malachi 3:1)
New Testament Fulfillment
John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ (Mark 1:2-8)
Probability 1 x 103 or 1 in 1,000 _
Old Testament Prophecy
Christ to enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zech 9:9)
New Testament Fulfillment
Christ enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Matt 21:4-11)
Probability 1 x 102 or 1 in 100 _
Old Testament Prophecy
Christ to be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9)
New Testament Fulfillment
Judas betrayed Jesus (Luke 22:21)
Probability 1 x 103 or 1 in 1,000
Old Testament Prophecy
Christ to be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech 11:12)
New Testament Fulfillment
Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matt 26:15)
Probability 1 x 103 or 1 in 1,000
Old Testament Prophecy
30 pieces of silver casted down and used to buy a potter's field (Zech 11:13)
New Testament Fulfillment
30 pieces of silver used to buy a potter's field (Matt 27:3-10)
Probability 1 x 105 or 1 in 100,000
Old Testament Prophecy
Although innocent, Christ kept silent when on trial (Isaiah 53:7)
New Testament Fulfillment
Jesus kept silent when questioned (Mark 14:60-61)
Probability 1 x 103 or 1 in 1,000
Old Testament Prophecy
Christ crucified (Psalm 22:16)
New Testament Fulfillment
Jesus was crucified (John 19:17, 18)
Probability 1 x 104 or 1 in 10,000
To answer the question what is the probability of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies, the principal of probability is applied. Therefore, multiplying all eight probabilities together (1 times 2.8 x 105 x 103 x 102 x 103 x 103 x 105 x 103 x 104) gives us 2.8 x 1028, or for simplicity sake 1 x 1028 or 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Given this and the time span between the writings of the Old Testament and the fulfillment by Christ in the New Testament, the prophecies were either given to the prophets by God, or the prophets just wrote them down as they thought they should be. With Christ fulfilling all eight prophecies, what are the odds the prophets were just guessing?
AND ACTUALLY JESUS FULFILLED OVER 300 PROPHECIES

Jesus isn’t a “longshot”; He’s the “favorite”. image

The thing we need to repent of is believing that we are ok as is. Remember the notice on a used car "as is- no warranty"? This is a document put out by the seller to relieve them of all responsibility if you buy a car and something goes wrong. When we pretend we are good enough in the sight of God as long as we don't do anything too bad, we are living without a warranty (a written guarantee, issued to the purchaser of an article by its manufacturer, promising to repair or replace it if necessary within a specified period of time).
What God asks us to do is take the written guarantee of His word, because he purchased the title for you to be right with God. But have you transfered the title out of your name over to Him?? It's the greatest exchange you'll ever know. To give all that you are, for all that He is- this is the gospel according to Jesus. Now you can be new!

Adrian Rogers, a famous 20th-century Baptist pastor, once went on a mission trip to Romania. Over the course of two weeks, he bonded with his interpreter but hadn’t learned much about the man's thoughts. So toward the end of the trip, he asked the man, “Tell me, what do you think of American Christians?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” came the strange reply. This, of course, only made Dr. Rogers more curious, so he began to press the man for an answer.
After several attempts, Dr. Rogers finally said, “Why won’t you tell me? I really want to know.”
Finally, the interpreter capitulated. “Well, OK then, but you’re not going to like my answer. I don’t think you Americans understand what Christianity is all about. Back in the 1960s, you started to use the word ‘commitment’ to describe your relationship with Christ. However, any time a word comes into usage, another word goes into disuse.”
The man continued, “Until the 1960s, you Americans talked about ‘surrender’ to Christ. Surrender means giving up control, turning over all to the Master Jesus. By changing to the word ‘commitment,’ your relationship with Christ has become something you do, and therefore you are able to keep control. 'Surrender' means giving up all rights to one’s self. You Americans don’t like to do that, so, instead, you make a commitment.”
Have you truly surrendered—not just committed—your life to Jesus Christ? Maybe you have “prayed a sinner’s prayer". Maybe you've taken back control of your life. In any case, be sure to settle this issue before you stop reading this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq0sPX5l40c

Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives (Luke 6:26; Rev. 3:1; Matthew 23:5-7).
Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them. Lukewarm people don’t really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one (John 10:10; Romans 6:1-2).
Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers (James 1:22; James 4:17; Matthew 21:28-31).
Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives (Luke 9:57-62).
Lukewarm people love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. They would be quick to assure you that they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn’t really possible for the average person; it’s only for pastors and missionaries and radicals (Matthew 22:37-38).
Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached (Matthew 5:43-47; Luke 14:12-14).
Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God (1 Timothy 6:17-18; Matthew 10:28).
Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a “Christian nation” (Matthew 7:21; Amos 6:1)
Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers.

View Difficulty as a sign of God's Love image

Isaiah 59~
You and I are much like Israel. When life isn't working out according to our plan and when we're suffering in some way, it's very tempting for us to bring God into the court of our judgement and question his faithfulness, wisdom and love. That's what Israel was doing - they were questioning the character of God.
You and I would like to say that at all times, we trust in the sovereignty of God and we worship his good character. That may be true most of the time, but if you're honest, when the comfort and ease of life is interrupted, you begin to wonder if God is actually who he claims to be.
Here's what's dangerous about that doubt: you no longer seek help from someone you don't trust. Think about it. Would you invest in a company if you knew the CEO was corrupt and stole the money of the investors? Would you seek out advice from a fraudulent "doctor" who had no medical training whatsoever? Would you trust your child to a babysitter convicted of repeated crimes?
When you allow your heart to begin to question God's goodness, even in subtle ways, you’ll quit seeking him. That’s exactly what happened with Israel. Israel thought that God wasn't strong enough to intervene (his hand is too short) and that he didn't love his children enough (his ear is dull to their cries) to rescue them from the difficulty.
Here's what Israel didn't understand: the grace of God will visit you in uncomfortable forms. Difficulty in your life is not a sign that God's hand is too short, nor is it a sign that his ears are too dull. Rather, it's a sign of his love. God will wrap his arms around you and bring you through difficulty to make you more like him.
In other words, uncomfortable grace is at work to free you from you.
This Advent season, remember that the greatest expression of the love of God is found in the sending of his Son. You don't need to question His love when difficulty comes. In fact, you should view difficulty as a sure sign of God's unending love for you!
God bless

If God really exists, why in Heaven’s names does God not prove that he exists instead of leaving us here in our terrible uncertainty? Why does he not show his face so that at last a despairing world can have hope? At one time or another, everyone asks such a question. In some objectifiably verifiable and convincing way, we want God himself to demonstrate his own existence. Deep in our hearts, I suspect that his is what all of us want, unbelievers no less than believers. And I have wondered sometimes what would happen if God were to do just that. What would happen if God did set about demonstrating his existence in some dramatic and irrefutable way?
Suppose, for instance, that God were to take the great dim river of the Milky way as we see it from down here flowing across the night sky and were to brighten it up a little and then rearrange it so that all of a sudden one night the world would step outside and look up at the heavens and see not the usual haphazard of stars but, written out in letters light years tall, the sentence: I REALLY EXIST, or GOD IS. If I were going to try to write a story or a play about such an event, I would start, of course, with the first night that this great theological headline appeared there in the stars, with suns and moons to dot the i’s and the tails of comets to cross the t’s. And I would try to show some of the ways that I can imagine people might respond to it. I would show some of them sinking to their knees, not because they are especially religious people but just because it might seem somehow the only natural thing to do under the circumstances. They would perhaps do it without even thinking about it, just crumpling down to their knees there in the tall grass out behind the garage. Some of them I would show running back into their houses in terror – guilty ones in terror of judgment, sophisticated ones in terror at the stark and terrible simplicity of it – just GOD IS written up there in the fire just the sheer and awesome vastness of the Unknown suddenly making itself known.
There would be a good many tears of regret, I suspect – people thinking that if only they had known it before, what different lives they might have had. And in many a person the sudden, wild upsurge of hope – the sick old man lying in bed where he cannot sleep and looking through his bedroom window. On the table his clock ticktocks his time away, but there in the sky he sees proof at last of a reality beyond time. And I would want to touch at least on the peculiar astonishment of preachers and theologians who spend so much of their lives talking about God that unless they are very careful, God starts to lose all reality for them and to become just a subject for metaphysical speculation. For them too there would be this great affirmation in the night, and they would discover that they had been right after all, more right than perhaps they have every quite been able to believe, and they would marvel at the strangeness of it.
What I would be trying to suggest in my story would be that the initial impact of God’s supplying the world with this kind of objective proof of his existence would be extraordinary. But as my story ended, I am afraid that in honesty I would have to suggest something else.
Several years would go by and God’s proof of himself would still be blazing away every night for all to read. In order to convince people that the message was not just some million-to-one freak of nature, I would be tempted to have God keep on rewriting it in different languages, sometimes accompanying it with bursts of pure color or with music so celestial that finally the last hardened skeptic would be convinced that God must indeed exist after all. Then the way that I would have to end it might be this. I would have a child look up at the sky some night, just a plain, garden-variety child with perhaps a wad of bubble gum in his cheek. If this were to be a movie, I would have a close-up here of just the child’s eyes with the stars reflected in them, and I would have him spell out the message syllable by syllable. And deep in the heaves there would be the usual strains of sublime music. And then I would have the child turn to his father, or maybe, with the crazy courage of childhood, I would have him turn to God himself, and the words that I would have speak would be “So what if God exists?” he would say. “What difference does that make?” And in the twinkling of an eye the message would fade away for good and the celestial music would be heard no more, or maybe they would continue for centuries to come, but it would no longer make any difference.
We all want to be certain, we all want proof, but the kind of proof that we tend to want – scientifically or philosophically demonstrable that would silence all doubts once and for all – would not in the long run, I think, answer the fearful depths of our need at all. For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right there in the thick of our day-to-day lives who may not be writing messages about himself in the stars but who in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world. It is not objective proof of God’s existence that we want but, whether we use religious language for it or not, the experience of God’s presence. That is the miracle that we are really after. And that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.
I believe that we know much more about God than we admit that we know, than perhaps we altogether know that we know. God speaks to us, I would say, much more often than we realize or than we choose to realize. Before the sun sets every evening, he speaks to each of us in an intensely personal and unmistakable way. His message is not written out in starlight, which in the long run would make no difference; rather, it is written out for each of us in the humdrum, helter-skelter events of each day; it is a message that in the long run might just make all the difference.
Who knows that he will say to me today or to you today in the midst of what kind of unlikely moment he will choose to say it. Not knowing is what makes today a hold mystery as every day is a holy mystery. But I believe that there are some things that by and large God is always saying to each of us. Each of us carries around inside himself, I believe, a certain emptiness – a sense that something is missing, a restlessness, a deep feeling that somehow all is not right inside his skin. Part of the inner world of everyone is this sense of emptiness, unease, incompleteness, and I believe that this in itself is a word from God, that this is the sound that God’s voice makes in a world that has explained him away. In such a world, I suspect that maybe God speaks to us most clearly through our missing him.
Our days are full of nonsense, and yet not, because it is precisely into the nonsense of our days that God speaks to us words of great significance – not words that are written in the stars but words that are written into the raw stuff and nonsense of our days, which are not nonsense just because God speaks into the midst of them. And the words he says, to each of us differently, are be brave … be merciful … feed my lambs …press toward the goal.
The words that God speaks to us in our lives are the real miracles. They are not miracles that create faith as we might think that a message in the stars would create faith, but they are miracles that it takes faith to see – faith in the sense of openness, faith in the sense of willingness to wait, to watch, to listen, for the incredible presence of God here in the world among us.
~Frederick Buechner

If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. How is true value determined? Not by anyone's estimate- but by the price someone is willing to pay. In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if he be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. However no one on earth would allow their child to die for someone else. They don't value you that much. But God clearly proves His love for us: even while we were still sinners, His Son Jesus Christ died for us.This is equivalent of someone trading their son not just for a nice person, not even for someone that annoyed them, but for someone like a terrorist. And then inviting that terrorist to come and live with them forever!
God has payed the highest premium for you. Christ is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come (Ephesians 1:21). This King, royal & sinless, payed for you, not with gold or silver, but with His blood to ransom you & let you know your value has skyrocketed beyond measure! God loves you so much, even the angels are amazed (1 Peter 1:10–12). They witnessed the splendors of creation & the wonders of heaven. Yet they know nothing about grace and mercy and forgiveness. They’ve never experienced the wonder of deliverance from sin. That which we have experienced in Jesus Christ, the angels never knew and will never know. We are far more privileged than they.
It's as if God is continually pressing "Like" on the page of your life.

She mounts the platform for yet another award. The picture at the conclusion of the music award ceremonies will show her struggling to hold the arm-load of trophies she has received this night. But as she approaches the podium for the last time to a standing ovation, there is a seriousness of purpose dimly visible behind her gracious, winning smile. "I know you are probably expecting me to give God the credit for all these awards tonight, but I'm not sure He wants any part of this." She lets the shock settle in for a moment before continuing. "In fact, it occurs to me as I stand here, that God may not have had anything to do with these awards at all. It wasn't God who came up with a great production, it was my producer. It wasn't God who made me famous, it was my marketing company. It isn't God who is even remotely interested in my popularity, it's my manager. Business is business, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm fortunate to have some of the best around me, but when it comes to God, He's far more concerned with how I live my life than He is acting as my promoter or the reason for my success. For all I know, He might be fighting against my success right now. So thank you, all of you, for acknowledging the hard work of the people around me, and now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back home to my life as it really is, and right now - to tell you the truth - that life needs a bit of attention. You see, I've sacrificed my family for these awards, and I need to get home and made sure I still have one." No this didn't actually happen-outside my imagination, that is-but it is a way to dramatize a point. When we think of success and fame, the tendency has been to think that these things come as the result of some kind of blessing from God. I wonder. Why would we think of giving God credit for personal fame? What would lead us to believe that He is interested in such a thing? Isn't it more that we have bought into fame, and we think that since it is so important to us, it must be important to God? For all we know, God might be the most disinterested party of all when it comes to celebrity status. What if it's quite the opposite? What if fame is a curse? Or worse: What if it's idolatry? Are we rewarding the idol and thanking God for helping us create it? At worse, fame is idolatry; at best, it is a huge responsibility. Nowhere do I see it as a blessing - certainly nothing anyone would want to be glibly thanking God for in front of cameras. Fame is no blessing. That much has been made clear through the failure of those who have treated it as such. Fame carries a responsibility to tell the truth because the spotlight will not tell it for you. Fame works against the truth. It deals in myth, and those who have had any real impact on society from a celebrity role are those who have been strong enough to shatter the myth - politicians who have actually served their community, movie stars who have taken up causes away from the camera, or rock stars who have been quick to parody their own image. Now that Christian artists are cast in similar celebrity molds as the world, where they are set apart as more highly desirable than others, can we expect them to somehow be exempt from the lie of fame just because they are Christians involved in "ministry?" The light of the spotlight will always be a bent one, regardless of who it's shining on. This is true not only of those who shine the light and stand in it, but of those who watch as well. The general public wants an image to worship. It's us who have bought into this fame thing; I doubt God is involved. When He sent His own Son into the world, He shunned fame. At one point the god of this world offered Him the highest pinnacle of worldly praise, and He rejected it. And when it came time to seize the day in front of all creation, God has His Son humiliated on a cross. It is truly dangerous to think that one has been awarded some kind of special compensation from God due to a certain success in the world. It is equally dangerous to think that because of success, a different set of rules applies. Fame carries a responsibility - a mine field to be carefully and prayerfully navigated. It is far from being a blessing.
(John Fischer)

Agree to disagree? When we live and work together, we should agree on some things; If I think I’m flying to somewhere and the pilot announces otherwise, we need to talk and we can’t agree to disagree.Can the world’s religions all be pointing to the same God? If all the world’s religions are worshiping the same God, then most of them are mistaken about his traits. How can we sensibly commit to a God about whom we know nothing? We would never buy a house or a business this way. Should our religious beliefs be allowed a lower standard? What’s going on here? If I have a boundary dispute with my neighbor, no one thinks we can both be right. We don’t practice tolerance or respect and let both claims hang there, as if they are both equally legitimate. We hire a surveyor who settles the matter. No one gets offended; we are both grateful to find out the truth. But wait, believers say. Religious matters are not resolvable the way prosaic matters are. It would be nice to know the answers, but since we don’t (or can’t), we foolishly accept that everyone’s answers are equally valid. I understand the desire for harmony. I see the need for people who disagree to live and work together. But if we sacrifice intellectual honesty and consistency on the altar of Easy Harmony, we are doing ourselves no favors. We get a bogus, cosmetic unity; a nostrum that soothes but doesn’t satisfy. Worse, it supplants genuine solutions, which we will need to live together as we squeeze into lifeboat Earth.So, now we start to see the problem. For unity to work, the defining beliefs of a religion can not include exclusive claims. This is where Jesus messes everything up because He distinguished Himself as God in the flesh, not just someone who taught about God like the others. He is ideentified as the only one who never sinned and the only one who has the ability to forgive sin. If nobody else can do that, it shows they are not on the same level. In other words, they don't have Lordship, so where is their authority over us? Universalists say there is no hell, or, even if there is a Hell, no one goes there. Everyone attains salvation. What, then, is salvation without the threat of perdition? Salvation from what? This removes the need for Christ’s sacrifice and Christianity is eviscerated of its core reason for being. You can have a less specific view of God that is more inclusive, but then it means very little to believe it. For unity to work, the defining beliefs of a religion can not include exclusive claims. Since this is not the case, we simply can’t have unity between the various religions. That in itself proves that the majority of them have to be false. At this point many come to the place where they project their sentiments onto a God of their image. In other words, if I don't think God would do a certain thing, it can't be true! So we build a "God" compatible with our understanding. Those who take this perspective think it makes way more sense than the arrogance of pronouncing absolute truths. But actually it's more arrogant to tell God who He is and what He can do based on our preferences. Really, it is our prides attempt to try and make things fair for everyone. Need I remind you that we are not as in control as we think we are. It is futile to compromise truth to appease everyone, since the truth stays firm regardless of our feelings and wants. However, exclusive dedication to Jesus IS fair because anyone has a chance to receive salvation who calls on the name of the Lord.A person who disagrees with this (again, it doesn't look practical to agree to <strong>disagree) will ask "What about those who have never heard of Jesus?" And to me, this is a major question that few answer well. But it also implies that it wouldn't be fair to be condemned. Guess what? Mercy is a gift none of us should be getting. Lawbreakers shouldn't think they have a right to complain if the governor doesn't pardon them.

That's the wrong question. The question is: WHY HAVEN'T THEY HEARD? The only answer I can come up with is: because Christians don't believe in Christianity.

Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3).
The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.
~Oswald Chambers

These days we have attempted to replace the power of God with the power of positive thinking. The gospel of Oprah overshadows the teachings of Jesus. The problem is: the power of positive thinking is still self-effort. Two sports teams may have positive attitudes, but one of them is going to lose. Two countries may have noble reasons for going to war, but both of them cannot win. If you and a farmer in the same town both have positive hopes, but you wish for a sunny day and he wishes for rain on his crops, who wins?
Then I started thinking about poverty stricken 3rd world countries. They have little reason to think positive. But if they did, would we come running to their rescue- or are we too busy thinking positively about how we can become successful that we ignore bringing hope to others?
Positive thinking, again, falls short if you are being abused. You cannot control things with your mental prowess. When positive thinking becomes an attempt to engineer life's results so you always come out ahead, it borders on spiritual manipulation of heaven's blessings for your own purposes.
John the Baptist said "He must increase and I must decrease" (referring to Jesus). John the Baptist was in prison and Jesus never visited him. He was eventually beheaded. We must come to the point where we yield our will to His purposes. Is your attitude positive so that you can manage your own life better? Is it a source of pride or humility?
When does positive thinking ever lead to dying to self? Positive thinking which provides fuel to build yourself up so that you have more energy to build your kingdom instead of God's is called humanism. Denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus is the authentic way to surrender to God's will.

Politics & religion: 2 subjects many prefer not to talk about. Not sure why there is a fear of discussing them although I guess the reluctance comes from not being able to come to absolute conclusions without disdaining the other person.I'm open to talking about almost anything because it helps me discover the other person. I've got some strong convictions like many people. However, I am so, so tired of all the emails I get criticizing some politician or political party. When does it end? No really, answer that. Honestly there's something wrong with most politicians. Even if you are an honest one doesn't mean you can deliver the things you promised because they have to work with others that will never cooperate without strings attached. What if we didn't rely on the government to insure the quality of our lives? Because it will always be easier to point fingers at a politician and blame them as the reason why I didn't take personal responsibility! Let's look back at all the people in office and guess what? Whether it was a democrat or republican didn't affect our lives very much. That probably sounds sacrilegious to some of you, but investigate it. I know that their policies have an effect on our futures and I'm not saying not to be involved in the process. What I am saying is, do what you can to help things cooperating to solve things. If any of you send me an email putting down a politician for his view, I want your solution to the matter- not as just a theory, but what are you doing about it? Example: instead of people protesting abortion, why not go to an expecting mother and offer to support and assist them so they will know they are not alone. Laws don't drive out fear, but love does. What say you?

God uses willing vessels, not brimming vessels. Throughout the Bible, in order to fulfill His plans for the earth, God used many people from all walks of life. He used:
1. Matthew, a government employee, who became an apostle.
2. Gideon, a common laborer, who became a valiant leader of men.
3. Deborah, a housewife, who became a judge.
4. Moses, a stutterer, who became a deliverer.
5. Jeremiah, a child, who fearlessly spoke the Word of the Lord.
6. Aaron, a servant, who became God's spokesman.
7. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who became a defender of the faith.
8. David, a shepherd boy, who became a king.
9. Hosea, a marital failure, who prophesied to save Israel.
10. Joseph, a prisoner, who became prime minister.
11. Esther, an orphan, who became a queen.
12. Elijah, a homely man, who became a mighty prophet.
13. Joshua, an assistant, who became a conqueror.
14. James and John, fishermen, who became close disciples of Christ and were known as "sons of thunder."
15. Abraham, a nomad, who became the father of many nations.
16. Jacob, a refugee and a deceiver, who became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
17. John the Baptist, a vagabond, who became the forerunner of Jesus.
18. Mary, an unknown virgin, who gave birth to the Son of God.
19. Nehemiah, a cupbearer, who built the wall of Jerusalem.
20. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Hebrew exiles, who became great leaders of the nation of Babylon.
21. Hezekiah, a son of an idolatrous father, who became a king renowned for doing right in the sight of the Lord.
22. Isaiah, a man of unclean lips, who prophesied the birth of God's Messiah.
23. Paul, a persecutor, who became the greatest missionary in history and author of two-thirds of the New Testament.
All God needs to use YOU is all of you!

On His Plan For Your Mate
Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God says to a Christian, “No, not until you are satisfied and fulfilled and content with living, loved by Me alone, with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me alone. I love you, my child, and until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me, exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings.
“I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you that most thrilling plan existing, one that you can’t imagine. I want you to have the best! Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting that satisfaction, expecting the greatest things, and know that I Am. Keep learning and listening to the things I tell you. You must wait!
“Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Don’t look around at the things others have received. Don’t look at the things you think you want. You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
“And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than you would ever imagine. You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working this very minute to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have planned and prepared for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me … and this is perfect love.
“Dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty and perfection and love that I offer you with myself. Know that I love you utterly. I am God Almighty. Believe and be satisfied.”

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have heard other Christians say that the confession of our sins followed by a fervent commitment to repent of those sins is part of the daily duty of each and every Christian.
Did you know of the use of the word repent in the Old Testament pertains to God being the one repenting? Clearly, God has no need to repent of His sins, does He?! What a ludicrous thought! God is without sin. Yet, we have consistently tied repentance and sins together like Siamese twins.
Here is want I would like for you to consider in regard to what the Bible means when it speaks of repentance: If a man has changed his mind about how righteousness is attained from God and maintained with God, which is not by any works on his part but through faith in Christ alone, then he has repented and believed the gospel.
Friend, God has not made it more difficult for man to be saved. He has made it as simple and accessible as the nose on our face. Do not work for righteousness! Do not work to keep yourself righteous! If any man thinks that he has either earned righteousness through your works or kept himself righteous through works, according to the Scriptures, he must change his mind.
--He must think again about what it means to repent.--
The most religious people in Jesus’ day had the 1st 5 books of the Bible memorized. Not only did they attempt to keep all 613 commandments, but they added to them to be sure. When the self-righteous Pharisees wanted to know how Jesus could possibly sit and eat with the tax-collectors and sinners, Jesus told them that He had "not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13). What the blinded Pharisees could not see was that Jesus was talking to their need for repentance from their own self-righteousness. They were the sinners He was referring to who needed to change their minds about how God reckons a man righteous. He said there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.
When Jesus began preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to the Jews in Galilee he told them that "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Repent from what? From trusting in their own deeds for justification before God. And do what instead? Believe the gospel! And if they did not? Jesus warned them that "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5) NOT unless they clean up their act, perform at a higher level, or are even sorrowful over their transgressions of the Law, BUT RATHER unless they have a complete change of mind about how God brings a man into the Kingdom and trust Him, they will perish.
Are many who are part of the professing church today any different in their thinking than the Pharisees in Biblical times? Have we not to a large degree imposed the Jews religion upon the body of Christ? Are not many who name the name of Christ today zealous for God while at the same time seeking to establish a righteousness of their own? Can a man be double-minded, trusting both in his obedience and Christ’s obedience for righteousness, and still claim that he has truly believed the gospel?
So, what does it mean to repent? Biblically, it means to undergo a 180 degree change of mind whereby a man is convinced once-and-for-all that his works for righteousness are nothing but filthy rags before God. At the same time, he is equally convinced that justification only comes through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ…plus nothing.
We need to repent from what we think repentance is.
Legalism suggests we can get God to respond to us because of what we do. The truth is the Father acts in love towards us first and then we respond to Him. God’s goodness causes us to repent. We don’t repent to make God act good towards us. We repent because He HAS acted in goodness towards us.
The word ‘repent’ in the New Testament means “to think differently after taking a closer look at the matter”. The Bible says the love of Christ compels us. It does not say our love for Him does. The reason people in church are struggling is they think it all hinges on their ability to rehabilitate their behavior. Your effort is just another thing to repent of so you can rely that God’s effort towards you (through the Lord Jesus) causes the change that gives you 100% favor with Him. You have become aware of a new understanding and this realization IS repentance. This is far more good news than what we have been used to- the endless effort to pray more, confess more, rededicate more, “repent” more in order to feel right with God over & over again. It never ends, because it is a great deception to rob you of life in Christ!
Acts 11:18 shows repentance is a gift: “When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, "So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles."

Imagine when I arrive home one night, the neighbor kids playing in the yard with my children have been perfect angels. They have not thrown rocks, fought or used bad language. Yet suppose my children did all those bad things. At suppertime, who will be invited to my table to eat- the neighbor children, or my children? Mine, of course!
But the neighbor children who acted better, why are they not invited in? Because they have the wrong last name and are not my children.
One day there will be a great feast in heaven, and those who attend will not be there on the basis of their works but on the basis of their second birth. They must have the appropriate last name “Child of God”. Only our co-crucifixion and experience of His life in us PRESENTLY affords us this privilege.
All that is true about Christ’s life is true of the NEW YOU. Do you see the importance of this? Each person has taken it’s own peculiar form of events, temptations, and sins of the past. One has become a gossip, one a homosexual, another an alcoholic, one filled with arrogance, the other a loner, and the list goes on. But each one has the opportunity of exchanging what he has for what Christ is.
Example: Once a Christian man introduced himself as a recovering alcoholic. He was then asked, “Which would you rather be, a recovering alcoholic or a child of God?” There are 2 ways to be controlled by alcohol, one is needing it, and the other is having to stay away from it. Either way, one’s identity remains the same- an alcoholic.
Jesus did not come so we could remain the same and merely be sinners who don’t sin. He takes away the life in us that desires sin and replaces it with a heavenly one - His very LIFE. We possess a new identity. No person can live for God without it. If you try on your own you will always be aware of personal failure. But since Jesus Christ is alive, not just in heaven, but inside of you, HE lives and acts through you. There is nothing for you to do but rest in that and stay aware. This is what the Bible means when it says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.
(Oswald Chambers)

Is it rational to trust God even when we do not fully understand what he is doing? One of the most illuminating answers was put forward by the Oxford philosopher Basil Mitchell in his celebrated parable of the resistance leader.
The Parable of the Resistance Leader
Imagine you are in German-occupied France during World War II and you want to join the resistance movement against the Nazis. One evening in the local bar a stranger comes up to you and introduces himself as the leader of the local partisans. He spends the evening with you, explaining the general requirements of your duties, giving you a chance to assess his trustworthiness, and offering you the chance to go no further. But his warning is stern: If you join, your life will be at risk. This will be the only face-to-face meeting you will have. After this, you will receive orders and you will have to follow them without question, often completely in the dark as to the whys and wherefores of the operations, and always with the terrifying fear that your trust may be betrayed.
Is such trust reasonable? Sometimes what the resistance leader is doing is obvious. He is helping members of the resistance. "Thank heavens he is on our side," you say. Sometimes it is not obvious. He is in Gestapo uniform arresting partisans and—unknown to you—releasing them out of sight to help them escape the Nazis. But always you must trust and follow the orders without question, despite all appearances, no matter what happens. "The resistance leader knows best," you say. Only after the war will the secrets be open, the codes revealed, the true comrades vindicated, the traitors exposed, and sense made of the explanations.
Full understanding is not required for trust right now :)

Practice what you preach is a famous saying, but turn it around and you find out you end up preaching whatever you have been practicing. Here are words from Jesus calling:
YOU ARE MINE FOR ALL TIME. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM MY LOVE. Since I have invested My very life in you, be well assured I will also take care of you. When your mind goes into neutral and your thoughts flow freely, you tend to feel anxious and alone.
Your focus becomes problem solving. To get your mind back into gear, just turn toward Me, bringing yourself and your problems into My Presence.
Many problems vanish instantly in the light of My love, because you realize you are never alone. Other problems may remain, but they become secondary to knowing Me and rejoicing in the relationship I so freely offer you.
Each moment you can choose to practice My Presence or to practice the presence of problems.

In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair...the sin that believes in nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, and calls any human idea a "right" - except intoleration. In that case, you are accepting a sovereign truth, which by nature, puts others in error. Writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall said "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". Really? Why would you defend something if you know there is something wrong with it? Is ther some virtue in allowing a little bit of wrong prevail? Or do you think your right to present the truth is only permitted if you allow all ideas to be promoted? For example, if a person's motive for sharing their faith is only done in the name of freedom, when it is available to all, what happens if that freedom is taken away (or if they travel to a country where they are not free to do so)? Does that mean your message is now not worth hearing? If you really know what's right, you should be announcing it regardless, whether it means you go to jail, suffer, or lose your life. But it's much easier to accept no responsibility and tolerate a mix of ideas. You think it's being nice, but you lead people astray without a word.
"We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." - D.A. Carson

If Mary’s pregnancy, during her betrothal to Joseph, was not a miracle, then some man was involved. Their sin would have been classified as adultery, punishable by death. And yet, instead of concealing her circumstance, the first thing the she did was journey to Judea where she announced the event to Elizabeth, who was the wife of a Jewish priest, the official which could have pronounced her death sentence! Strange conduct for one in such a precarious position.
Also Mary stood by the cross and watched her son die the horrible death of crucifixion. What was the charge against Jesus? It was this: He made himself the son of God” (John 19:7). If Mary knew that Jesus was not the Son of God, but that some man actually was his father, she could have stepped forward at any time during the trials or multiple questionings, revealed this fact, and saved her son’s life. If she let him endure the agony of Calvary for what she knew to be a lie, then Mary becomes the most despicable parody on womanhood that degrades the pages of history, instead she is called most blessed!

If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. How is true value determined? Not by anyone's estimate- but by the price someone is willing to pay. In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if he be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. However no one on earth would allow their child to die for someone else. They don't value you that much. But God clearly proves His love for us: even while we were still sinners, His Son Jesus Christ died for us.This is equivalent of someone trading their son not just for a nice person, not even for someone that annoyed them, but for someone like a terrorist. And then inviting that terrorist to come and live with them forever!
God has payed the highest premium foryou. Christ is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come (Ephesians 1:21). This King, royal & sinless, payed for you, not with gold or silver, but with His blood to ransom you & let you know your value has skyrocketed beyond measure! God loves you so much, even the angels are amazed (1 Peter 1:10–12). They witnessed the splendors of creation & the wonders of heaven. Yet they know nothing about grace and mercy and forgiveness. They’ve never experienced the wonder of deliverance from sin. That which we have experienced in Jesus Christ, the angels never knew and will never know. We are far more privileged than they.
It's as if God is continually pressing "Like" on the page of your life.

The law of our land today is that any abortion is legal in America until birth if the mother can give reason that the pregnancy or the child will be an excessive burden or stress on her well-being. Founders of the constitution didn't address abortion because they didn't think we could invent something so horrible.
The fundamental argument for slavery was that they are not free and equal persons but the property of their masters. The ruling is comparable to Roe vs. Wade because today no state may make a law banning abortion to protect the unborn. The argument is similar: basically because the unborn are at the sovereign disposal of their mothers and do not have personal standing in their own right. But the issue was so fundamental that the states went to war, and in the end the Lincoln administration overturned the Dred Scott decision. And today, 130 years later, we look back with amazing consensus and marvel at the blindness of our forefathers.
In the Bible the word (child or babe) used for the pre-born is the same as the born. Even medieval authorities determined a person to be alive if there is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity.
Former Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop said, “In thirty-five years of medicine I have never seen one case where abortion was necessary to save a mother's life.” HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE C-SECTION?
Whether that baby was a product of rape, or whether that baby was in some way malformed, how could a woman think that child in her was an enemy ?
Are you willing to explain why most cities have laws forbidding cruelty to animals, but you oppose laws forbidding cruelty to human fetuses? Are they not at least living animals?
Are you willing to explain why government is unwilling to take away the so-called right to abortion on demand even though it harms the unborn child; yet government is increasingly willing to take away the right to smoke, precisely because it harms innocent non-smokers, killing 3,000 non-smokers a year from cancer and as many as 40,000 non-smokers a year from other diseases?
Use your imagination to see and feel what is really happening behind those sterile clinic doors. If you could see each little handiwork of God and what it looks like when it is being crushed or poisoned or starved, you would say, "This can’t be happening. Civilized people do not do this!" It was the same at Auschwitz. The dismembering of a human being routinely in 30 minutes on an outpatient basis is barbaric. Four blocks from our church all year long – like churches within smelling distance of Auschwitz or Dachau or Buchenwald.
How do you get from, “We do not know whether this is protectable human life,” to “Therefore, we will not protect it?” Why does the judicial uncertainty about the humanity of the unborn lead to unbridled license to destroy it?
Ways to be actively involved in the solution:
1. Consider adoption.
2. Be a regular giver of your money to Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
3. Volunteer in a Crisis Pregnancy Center.
4. Be involved in spreading truth with good literature.
5. Make your presence know at the abortion clinics in town by writing or phoning or visiting and talking, if you can, with those who work there.
6. Dream a new kind of ministry.
7. Pray for change!
I love you mommy

Random thoughts on abortion (formerly known as child sacrifice) image

We have many religions telling us what we ought to do. Some would say it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. On top of this I know some people who have no religious devotion, but they act more moral than some who claim to be Christians. So what is God looking for? Is it our degree of "niceness" that makes Him happy? Or will he be pleased if we have acquired the proper understanding of doctrine?
If it is dependent on how good we can be, my question is how good? Or does it make sense for God to demand we hold on to certain ideas to assure us a place in heaven?
Whenever I hear salvation presented it is offered with the stakes being your soul ending up at the future destination of heaven or hell. If there isn't anything more to God than that, i don't know if God will impact a lot of people's practical way of living.
Let's start out with the word "Savior". This implies we need saving from something. And it's more than hell. It's a condition of independence from God we need saving from- our pride to do whatever we want. Have you ever thought about this? We can be kind & generous but keep our lives distance from God. We see that God's name has been misused so much to manipulate others and justify wars, so why bother? Yet we have to deal with this question: Why did Jesus have to die for us if we don't need Him in a deeper way? What did the crucifixion accomplish?
It supplies us with something beyond our abilities, something higher than respectability. It provides RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We may believe a hundred things about God, but the question is are you right with Him? Is doing your best really enough? Well, yes & no. It is by our standards, but not by God's. And the standards of culture change over the years anyway.
But what I am showing you is good news. It's the best news. God isn't grading you based on your performance. He is watching to see if you will put your life in the hands of Jesus who accomplished the ultimate. You receive access to the Father and can actually develop a relationship with Him. When you receive His Spirit He deposits His personality in you. In a way, you exchange all that you were for all that He is and it changes you now. Knowing this, let your new life in Christ become less of a religious theory and more of a love affair. The best assurance for heaven in the afterlife is to experience His power now! Ask Him in.

You may have heard the most recent religious stir is the theory that either hell doesn't exist or the nature of hell is being redefined. The main motive is the belief that God would be too loving to condemn anyone there on what they consider a technicality. Before i get into the reasons why the traditional view of hell makes sense, I have to say God is not willing that any should perish, but some people resist Him until the bitter end. He isn't responsible if they want to reject him and He won't make them love Him (or else it's not real love).
A recent news story I read rebuffed "Gandhi is in hell? Really?" The better question would be: Was Gandhi a sinner? You see, our kindness doesn't automatically=righteousness. If that were so, we are saying "I'm so good I didn't need Jesus to die for me!", thus nullifying the importance of His birth on earth, death, and resurrection. For you to be an accurate Christian, that cornerstone cannot be ignored. It isn't narrow-minded or unfair because anyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved.
For those that do not call on the name of the Lord, God said this in John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Persisting in your non-trust policy of God's provision is what earns you eternal separation from Him, and it's basically because you insisted on YOUR way. It doesn't matter how good or bad you think you are. There is a law of cause & effect. All through history God has documented judgement for those who reject Him. Back in the day anyone who set aside the Law of Moses died without mercy. How much more severe if we insult the Son of God and disregard Him as holy? The ones who claim this is not true would have you believe there are no consequences. If we lived in a society like that it would be utter chaos. It would mean no punishment for criminal activity. Do you think the Lord is more foolish than us? If there is no hell, where is the devil going to be- our next door neighbor in glory?
2Peter 2:4-7 reveals a pattern:
"4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment."
Are we expecting God to suddenly change? If so, He needs to apologize to Sodom & Gomorrah.
But the good news is, these same scriptures also show that the Lord is a rescuer. He wants you with Him! He bought you with blood so you could be with Him. Why don't you take Him up on the offer before it's too late?

If I am wise, I dare not admit it since people would consider it foolish and never believe it..
If I am a fool, I dare not admit it since people would consider it true and never forget it.
If a wise man never speaks up, nobody knows he is wise.
If a fool keeps silent, people think he's wise (Proverbs 17:28).
I think this is the quandary we have that makes everybody fall back to the statement "well that's just your opinion".
But when you say that you are basically admitting that the absolute truth can't be known.
So we in a sense continue to try & fight our way out of a paper bag. Or we resign and just settle for our own faulty judgment as our guide based on our limited understanding.
There's another option that some take: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all of your ways and He will make your path straight (Proverbs 3:5-6)
The problem is, some consider this wisdom as foolishness. And others consider it "your opinion."
This also verifies another truth that a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, so that no one may boast before Him.
It boils down to us embracing God's wisdom even if at times it appears to be foolish. If we do not, we reside in the arena of pride (i insist my way is the way it should be) by default.
Are you the god of your own life?

He is the central theme of all of the sixty six books of the Bible:
In Genesis, He is the Creator God the Ram at Abraham’s altar.In Exodus, He is the Redeemer and the Passover Lamb.In Leviticus, He is our sanctification and our High Priest.In Numbers, He is our guide. He’s the Cloud by day and Pillar of Fire by night.In Deuteronomy, He is our teacher. He’s the City of our refuge.
In Joshua, He is the mighty conqueror; The Captain of the Lord’s Host; and the Scarlet Thread in Rahab’s window.In Judges, He gives victory over enemies. He is our Judge.In Ruth, He is our kinsman redeemer, the lover of our soul. In I Samuel, He is our Trusted Prophet and the root of Jesse;In 2 Samuel, He is the Son of David.In 1 Kings and 2 Kings, He is King of Kings and Lord of LordsIn 1st and 2nd Chronicles, He is our intercessor and High Priest.In Ezra, He is our temple, our house of worship, our faithful scribe.In Nehemiah, He is our mighty wall, protecting us from our enemies and the rebuilder of everything that is broken.In Esther, He stands in the gap to deliver us from our enemies. He is the Mordecai sitting faithful at the gate.In Job, He is the arbitrator who not only understands our struggles, but has the power to do something about them. He’s our Redeemer that ever liveth.In Psalms, He is our song-and our reason to sing. He is my Shepherd and I shall not want.
In Proverbs, He is our wisdom, helping us make sense of life and live it successfully.In Ecclesiastes, He is our purpose, delivering us from vanity.In the Song of Solomon, He is our lover. He’s the Beautiful Bridegroom.
In Isaiah, He’s the Suffering Servant. He is the mighty counselor, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father, and much more. He's everything we need.In Jeremiah, He is our balm of Gilead, the soothing salve for our sin-sick soul.In Lamentations, He is the Weeping Prophet, He is the ever-faithful one upon whom we can depend.In Ezekiel, He is our wheel in the middle of a wheel-the one who assures that dry, dead bones will come alive again. He’s the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.In Daniel, He is the ancient of days, the everlasting God who never runs out of time. He is the Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace.
In Hosea, He is our faithful lover, always beckoning us to come back-even when we have abandoned Him. He is our Lover that is forever faithful.
In Joel, He is our refuge, keeping us safe in times of trouble. He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.In Amos, He is the husbandman, the one we can depend on to stay by our side. He’s our Burden Bearer.In Obadiah, He is Lord of the Kingdom. In Jonah, He is our salvation, bringing us back within His will. He is our Savior.
In Micah, He is judge of the nation. He is the Messenger with beautiful feet.
In Nahum, He is the jealous God. He is the Avenger.
In Habakkuk, He is the Holy One. He is the Watchman that is ever praying for revival.In Zephaniah, He is the witness. He is the Lord mighty to save.In Haggai, He overthrows the enemies. He is the Restorer of our lost heritage.In Zechariah, He is Lord of Hosts. He is our Fountain.In Malachi, He is the messenger God. He is the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.
In Matthew, He is king of the Jews. He is the Christ, the son of the Living God.In Mark, He is the servant. He is the Miracle Worker.In Luke, He is the Son of Man, feeling what we feel.In John, He is the Son of God. He is the Door by which every one of us must enter.
In Acts, He is Saviour of the world. He is the Shining Light that appears to Saul on the road to Damascus.
In Romans, He is the righteousness of God. He is our Justifier.In I Corinthians, He is the rock that followed Israel. He is our Resurrection.In II Corinthians, He is the triumphant one, giving victory. He is our Sin Bearer.In Galatians, He is our liberty; He redeems us from the law and makes us free.In Ephesians, He is our Unsearchable Riches. He is head of the Church.In Philippians, He is our joy. He is the supplier of our every need.In Colossians, He is our completeness. He’s the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily.In I Thessalonians, He is our hope. He is our Soon Coming King.In II Thessalonians, He is our patience and discipline.In I Timothy, He is our faith. He is the Mediator between God and man.In II Timothy, He is our stability in perilous days.In Titus, He is the truth. He is our Blessed Hope.In Philemon, He is our benefactor. He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.In Hebrews, He is our perfection. He’s the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant. He is our Sacrifice. He is our High Priest.In James, He is the power behind our faith. He is the Lord Jesus that heals the sick.In I Peter, He is our example. He is the Chief Shepherd.In II Peter, He is our purity.In I John, He is our life.In II John, He is our pattern.In III John, He is our motivation.In Jude, He is the foundation of our faith. He is the Lord coming with 10,000 saints.In the Revelation, He is our coming King. Lift up your eyes, Church, for your redemption draweth nigh!

Once upon a time there was a church looking for people to lead their young people & children. And some adults said, "I don't want to leave the sweet fellowship I'm having in my adult class". But the drug pusher on the street said, " Not even the threat of jail will keep me from working with your children."
Other adults said, "We have to be out of town too often on the weekend." But the porno book dealersaid, "We're willing to stay in town weekends, too, to accommodate your children."
Still other adults said, "I'm unsuited, unable to work with youth & children." But the movie producer said, "We'll study, survey, and spend millions to produce whatever turns kids on."
Even more adults said, "I could never give the time required to plan and go to teacher's meetings." But the pusher, the porn dealer, and the movie producer said, "We'll stay open whatever hours are necessary every day to win the minds of the kids."
So....the adults stayed in their comfortable Sunday Schools and enjoyed the sweet fellowship and absorbed the good Bible study, and at times would go out of town or were available to do whatever they pleased instead.
Not long afterwards, the young people soon quit coming because they had gone to listen to others who did care about the things they did and what went into their minds.

Condemnation is putting faith in your sin.

It's Just as I am, not just as I better be.

Matthew 12:35 if we speak words that make others idle we will be judged.

If we told Jesus we obeyed the 10 Commandments He would answer "I don't care"

We don't know what we're doing but we want to be in control

Breath is the result of God's first kiss with man.

Repentance is receiving All that heaven offers you & trading it for your old self

Prayer is the wireless connection with the headquarters of heaven

Anyone who believes you can lose salvation is living under old covenant rules not the New covenant.

The sin action is only the symptom, but the captivity of pride is the sin the gospel gives opportunity to free people

Is prayer to help us see His presence or just a transition?

The inheritance and legacy that God gives is watched over by him!

Love and insecurity cannot coexist in a healthy relationship. This is true of earthly relationships and your relationship with God. So there is no reason to hear preaching motivated by insecurity of salvation

A double portion is the smallest blessing you can have because God multiplies not just adds!

Someone has to initiate the new normal. If you take the first step there's at least a chance things will get better. If you don't there's a good chance things will never get better. Are you willing to lose the relationship just because the first step might be painful?
But they're the one who hurt me you might say. Why should I initiate this? It's their responsibility. You might be 100% correct. They might be thinking the same thing about you which leaves the relationship in a stalemate. Someone has to take the first step so be brave and let it be you.

The devil never comes to someone and asks them to join him in an alliance of evil. He just allows circumstances of life, intellectual objections and deep emotional wounds to wear down people so they make an exception that they can't possibly be expected to follow God's way anymore.

We complain about sins of others we don't like instead of changing people with the gospel.

"Safe for the whole family" is baloney that we've been sold under a banner by Christianity that was intended to be dangerous.

Suspicion sets the stage for the thing you fear the most

There are acts of love built inside you. The kingdom of God is within

After you have been knocked down, what will you do when you get up?

Even if someone's disobedience affects you, God knows how to bring us to a better place.
Psalm 23:2 He leads away from disturbing places towards stillness & rest.

The early church was broke

You (God) woke me up today for your purposes

I'm not going to let people use their pain as Lord I will not let the devil take advantage of God's children they were bought with redemption

Christ in you is always the first responder to any difficulty

Prophetic revelation fortifies your faith. David knew he was chosen to be king so when he fought Goliath he knew he couldn't die.

Signs follow they that believe, not the people we pray for that don't!

The thorn in the flesh is not written to you to reinforce that God doesn't answer prayer.

Yesterday is not your identity

Do you decide when you sin or does grace decide you don't?

His armor fits perfectly.

God puts his people in impossible situations but...
40:27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me,
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?
40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.
40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength (they shall exchange their strength for Mine);
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.

We rule and reign by being servants

We only see a lot of people through their gift.
Athletes
Pastors
Singers
Actors

Other people's sympathy isn't enough because the highest grace they can give is feeling sorry for me.
Don't allow yourself to be deceived away from His grace in any situation.
You have heard He died on the cross for you but have you heard you died with Him?

Whether they know it or not, the congregation does ministry.

Disillusionment goes away when the authentic is unveiled

How am I doing? Better than my circumstances.

If you want people to be saved by grace, you better start living by it!

God deals with people all the time that think falsely.

You see the wounds now. God cannot leave you this way. In the future you will testify of a greater Grace. The scars cannot define you where He is taking you.
And you will testify that suffering is not the last word. Jesus is.

In what ways can I point out the attraction of Christ?

Sin is an unbelief issue. The Lord came to help us believe.

Adam and Eve's temptation wasn't evil intent. They wanted to "be like God".
The tower of Babel was built to reach heaven and achieve god-like status.

Every morning you preach to yourself some kind of gospel: a false "I can't do this" gospel or the true "I have all I need in Christ" gospel.

Israel wanted a Savior to knock down bad government. America wants the same thing.
But Jesus doesn't do things the way we want Him to.

We are under the power of the devil of self until the Savior enters

Satan owns the fence

Joy is enthusiasm in spite of circumstances

Adam was wounded on his side. So was Jesus

Exchange the false fulfillment for the inheritance from the Lord.

When you follow God even in difficult things, it's easy because you don't need your own strength.

We are created AND formed (genesis 2)
Formed is more personal.

The enemy doesn't have a countermove against praise.

Heaven is not saying *amazing X3
It's saying Holy,holy holy!

Being with Jesus doesn't always make suffering absent. But our suffering looks different because of Him.

Suffering makes us self focused. The central idea of God is that it's no longer I that lives but Christ in us.
The process of suffering is worth going through. He's the way, truth and life. The way includes suffering.
There's a hereafter. It doesn't end with suffering. It ends in triumph.

Don't get trapped in a confession when Christianity is an expression

Conviction is a good revealer but not a good motivator. Only grace and kindness.

The gift you have is not for self promotion but service

What is God giving you the grace to turn from & turn to?
God is offering an opportunity to exchange old ways for His new!

2 Corinthians 5:17
You are either a caterpillar 🐛 or a butterfly 🦋
You can't be both.

What can you do to gain God's favor?
Pray?
Read the Bible?
Serve?
Tithe?
Love?
Witness?
Nothing.

Maturity is not how you act but react
It's easy for Jesus (in you)

May we all be arriving at the place where our thoughts are intercepted by the mercy of God towards us and we begin to see the supernatural sparkles in the spirit world that make all things work together.

What we think about God is our theology. What he thinks about us is our identity.

God works through mistakes. Looking back on the past and trying to fix it is your attempt to redeem and not trusting in God's sovereignty.

Grace is MUCH MORE than forgiveness. We have been taught that grace is simply unmerited favor. If grace is only “unmerited favor” then why does God give it only to the humble? If Grace is only “unmerited favor” then why can you fall from grace? If Grace is just “unmerited favor” then why does the Bible say that the grace of God was upon Jesus (and he was sinless)? This word grace is translated not only means "unmerited favor," but really carries the deeper meaning of "an influence that produces a result." Another way of saying it is grace is supernatural enablement. That puts a whole different light on things. GRACE IS GREATER than what you think. You are not just released from a penalty but from sin’s power through grace! 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. In this instance, you can see that the scripture itself defines grace as God’s power. And here is an example of grace as your teacher: Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..." Do you see that? Grace, not Law, teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Grace isn’t permission to be worldly. It’s your Teacher empowering you to escape anything immoral. To sum it up, grace is: 1)God’s favor 2)God’s power 3)Your teacher Wherever you have saw the word grace in the Bible, now go back and read it with a livelier view, knowing that grace is the empowering presence of God enabling you to be who God created you to be, and to do what God has called you to do - right where you are. What’s amazing about grace is that it has already been bestowed to you through Jesus. It’s a gift you should embrace NOW. Law was not given in the expectation that we would keep it. It was given in the full knowledge that we would break it; and when we have broken it so completely that we are convinced of our utter need, then the Law has served its purpose. It has been our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that He Himself may fulfill it in us. What does it mean to be delivered from the law? It means that I am henceforth no longer going to try to do anything to please God; for if I do, then I immediately place myself under the law. But I put my trust in Christ, the only Law-fulfiller. And finally, I see that this alone is what is pleasing to God (Matt. 5:17). This is deliverance from the law!

Jesus didn’t complain about any of this-

The religious institution opposed me
In my day, religious leaders were very judgmental
A place of worship I went to was more concerned about making money than prayer
I was lonely
I was accused of being a drunk
People rejected me
People falsely accused me
I was arrested as a criminal
I was put on trial although I was innocent
Soldiers mocked me
Demon possessed people attacked me
I was homeless
People I loved turned away and left me
A close friend betrayed me
I helped everyone in need and it got me in trouble
I was tempted to reject God’s ways
My followers were sometimes hypocrites
I experienced suffering and injustice
They let a murderer go and condemned me
They stripped me in public
I was beaten and tortured beyond recognition
I was cussed out while I was dying
Life was unfair to me

At any point he could have become cynical or bitter and given up. But He thought loving you was worth it.

(By Joseph Prince)
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:13–14
When we consider the account of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, interestingly, the Bible is silent on what Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger in response to the Pharisees on the matter (John 8:6). But I believe that when He stooped down, He was writing the Law of Moses.
In Jerusalem at the temple precinct where Jesus would have met this woman, the Lord opened my eyes to see that the floor of the temple precinct was made of hard cobblestone. This means Jesus was not writing on soil. He was writing with His finger on stone.
Jesus was writing the law on stone. He was effectively saying to the Pharisees, “You presume to teach Me about the Law of Moses? I am He who wrote the law.” Jesus wrote twice on the ground with His finger, thus completing the typology, as we know that God wrote the Ten Commandments with His finger twice.
The first set of the Ten Commandments was destroyed by Moses when he saw the Israelites worshipping the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. God then wrote another set on stones and gave it to Moses for it to be placed under the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant.
I had never heard anyone preach this before—it was a fresh revelation straight from heaven. I love it when the Lord opens my eyes to see His grace!
Do you know why it’s so exciting to know what Jesus wrote on the ground that day? It’s so significant because it shows us that the very author of God’s perfect law does not use the law to judge and condemn us today. And it’s not because God simply decided to be merciful on us. No!
It’s because Jesus Himself fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and took upon Himself every curse and stroke of punishment for our sins on His own body at the cross. We are forgiven because He was judged. We are accepted because He was condemned!
Whatever your challenge today, your answer is found in receiving a fresh revelation of how much you are forgiven in Christ.

*Because it is finished you are free from the impossible burden of having to earn God's love & acceptance.
*Because it is finished there is nothing you can do to tempt God to leave you, forsake you, or stop loving you.
*Because it is finished you cannot sin beyond the coverage of God's forgiveness.
*Because it is finished the sins you can't forget, God doesn't remember.
*Because it is finished you are not defined by your worst moments or your greatest accomplishments, your struggles or your successes, your strengths or your weaknesses. You're defined by who you belong to.
*Because it is finished you can talk truthfully about the worst parts of you without being afraid of others' disapproval because the only approval that ultimately matters is God's and you already have it.
*Because it is finished you can endure rejection from others because you will never have to endure rejection from God - ever.
*Because it is finished you can freely admit when you are wrong because your value is not dependent on being right, but rather on the rightness of Jesus that covers you.
*Because it is finished you are loved unconditionally and that means you are free from needing everybody else to like you.
*Because it is finished you can love others without needing them to love you back because all of the love you need - you already have.
*Because it is finished who you ultimately are has nothing to do with you. Your identity is firmly anchored in Jesus' performance, not yours; His record, not yours. You are not what you do or don't do. You are what Jesus has done for you!
*Because it is finished we can join our voices with the song in Revelation 5 and say "We are not worthy but the Lamb who was slain is worthy and by the grace of His saving death we are what we are: beloved sons & daughters of God".
~Tullian Tchividjian

Now you know the REST of the story...

Have you ever wondered why we spend 1/3 of our lives asleep? It's because rather than preaching a message to us, God decided to give us a real life illustration about the importance of rest.
When we rest (sleep) it prepares us for the next day. When we rest (in Christ) it prepares us for anything. God never intended for us to chart our course on our own using our Bibles. He wants us to know Jesus as our Sabbath rest. "For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world." (Hebrews 4:10)
But what is the importance of works in the Christian life? The Bible says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Works spring from our embracing of rest in Christ. If not they become dead works. It's only through Christ, by rest in Him. This is why Colossians says Christ in you is the hope of glory.
Enter into His rest!

Born this way?

"God made me this way" is a statement often made by homosexuals who have honestly tried & failed to overcome the problem. Don't you wonder why would someone try to change a habit if there wasn't some conviction that it is wrong? And does the fact that one gives up make it right?
Should society adjust for others for other failures such as kleptomaniacs, rapists, alcoholics, or drug addicts and tell them this is just how God made you?
The truth is it's a question of accepting a false identity.
God didn't make you that way - ADAM did! When mankind was deceived into eating from the wrong tree it put us in the wrong arena. You are in one of two situations: You are either in Adam or you are in Christ. Each one give you an identity.
Adam's identity traps you in your own abilities and prompts you to justify it. Christ's identity gives you a new nature and justifies you by delivering you from the power of sin.
Which one will you put your faith in?

Some people become Christians just because of the culture. But let's look back in history and see how it all started. The Jews had been persecuted for 700 years (Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans). Some of these nations no longer exist but how did the Jews survive even when in captivity? They passed down their social heritage to each generation. These traditions made up the very fabric of their identity and they believed that if they didn't continue them with each generation that they would become extinct and be condemned by God.
So along comes a rabbi named Jesus and he teaches for 3 years and is persecuted by religious authorities to the point where they crucify him as someone cursed by God in their minds.
Around 40 Days later over 10,000 Jews are following him and claiming he is the initiator of a new way to find God. They are all willing to give up their social institutions and traditions and previous vows that they've been taught since childhood and were willing to accept being ostracized even by family members to follow this person. What could have possibly caused this dramatic following against all odds unless they actually saw someone come back from the dead? They would go on to live in poverty and life on the run under persecution for the rest of their lives. And yet it was all worth it because they found the Messiah. It's impossible for all of them to be under some kind of delusion and there was no corporate Church structure that was controlling them, so they all would have been better off maintaining the status quo. But many of them were willing to die for this newfound faith. Can you come up with any explanation, other than the resurrection, for this huge change in people's lives?
I think He's real.

We live in a world of social media. It’s very sad, but some people, even Christians, are looking for an opportunity to pounce onto others online:
“You’re an idiot and should know better.”
“You’re just looking to hide sins from God!”
“You have no right to be speaking about God. You need to study yourself approved! Reach out for wise counsel from a godly man!”
“Well my Bible says this!”
Rude, aggressive, insensitive comments can even come from those who have a Bible verse at the top of their page. It’s no wonder why the body of Christ has such a bad reputation. It’s because we aren’t expressing Him like we should.
As believers, the worst thing we can do is attack people for their beliefs or act like a know-it-all jerk toward those who are still learning the basics of Christ crucified. Sometimes, even when we know we’re right, the best thing we can do is respond softly or be quiet in response to hateful remarks. No matter if those remarks are coming from contentious unbelievers or legalistic Christians we decide how we’ll react.
Regrettably, there are even some who’ve become legalistic about the New Covenant. Information, information, information–“Shut up and listen,” disguised by a delicate tone, is all they want to give others. Refusing to express any type of vulnerability or relatability, their attitude is, “These are the facts, deal with it. I have no interest in what you think. I’m right. You’re wrong. Here’s why.”
These aren’t safe people. We don’t have to continually expose ourselves to them. We don’t have to keep giving power to individuals who act like they don’t love us. Even if they say they’re teaching the New Covenant their sarcasm and arrogance is a blatant enemy of the Cross. No matter how many degrees they have it’s gross when they attack others, especially when they make fun of someone’s accent or struggles as they attempt to be funny on stage.
It’s not funny. It’s pretentious. Get some new jokes.
Some have become bodyguards for pastors who act like their role model in the pulpit is the Wizard of Oz. “He’s my hero!” they bark.
“I thought Jesus was your hero?”
“Don’t worry about me. Get in line and learn what you need to learn. Don’t ever post, write, or say anything that sounds like my hero. God’s grace affords me to tell you this. You’ll only hear from me when I want something from you or when I need to correct your theology, and it will be via text or messenger. I’m not calling you.”
Pastoral gatekeepers who act as if their minister is Christ Himself. Even those who fully understand the foundations of the New Covenant are doing this. What they fail to grasp is their pastor learned from another pastor before them. And those pastors before them. And maybe they didn’t even learn the New Covenant truths from a pastor but from a regular person like me.
Who knows? Who cares? Ultimately it’s the Spirit who reveals all truths, no matter who’s expressing His message. Some need to step down from their high-horse and stop acting like a single person is God’s gift to mankind. Jesus holds that title.
Placing one man’s gifts higher than all things and all people? Protecting them with salty, uber-critical vigor? To me that sounds cultish. Too far? Probably, but so what. That’s how I feel when someone lifts up a pastor higher than Christ, follows all your posts and stories, yet never comments unless it’s to correct you or point out how their hero came up with the same idea first.
No, friend, the gospel is much older than your hero. The Spirit is eternal. He lives in everyone who believes. Those were His ideas, first.
I never thought I would see it but New Covenant cliques have formed. Count me out. Expressing legalism–not about Law, because they know we’re dead to the Law–but about the New Covenant. Many are quick to point out where someone is lacking in truth–brutally–just the same as those who mix Law and grace. It’s sanctimonious, just with a New Covenant hat on.
The issue is this:
THERE’S NO GENTLENESS OR RESPECT.
Peter said we should always be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have, but to do so gently and respectfully (see 1 Peter 3:15). Used to be, I’d go to war with anyone who was rude or aggressive, especially with a legalist or disrespectful unbeliever. But I dumped that immaturity a while back. If I find myself angry I won’t respond at all. I’ll set healthy boundaries to limit any future exposure to them. In some cases, with repeated disrespect, I’ll dust my feet and move along for good. Most of the time I think nothing more about it and move forward to enjoy my day.
I don’t even check to see who’s my “friend” any longer, nor pay attention to who likes my posts. I refuse to be a slave to the opinion of others, even if they decide to electronically shut me out of their life. If I don’t see someone’s posts or likes pop up any longer? “Oh well, I wish them the best,” is what I truly think.
It wasn’t always like this. I’d get upset if I was unfriended or blocked. I’d also stay up until the wee hours of the morning going back and forth, trying to prove my point to others. I’d miss a whole day of work attempting to convince a person they’re wrong and I’m right. Now, I don’t need to be right. I need to enjoy my peace. I’ll unfollow or even block a person if I see that my peace is in constant jeopardy. It’s just not worth it.
The Holy Spirit has taught me there’s plenty of people who actually want help and are searching for answers kindly. There are those who are willing to give me a chance to use my gifts to possibly steer them into the easiness of Christ. They are friends, and some aren’t even Christians. What a concept, right? Unbelieving friends? Who would’ve thought of such a thing?
Social media calls people friends but most are not. They’re contacts cloaked in a list of supposed friends. Really, it should be called a contact list not a friends list, but Facebook can make more money and collect more information from people when they cause us to believe we’re gathering friends. Their frustrating algorithms don’t even let you see your real friend’s posts very often, but they sure as heck won’t stop suggesting people you’ve never met.
The reality is, I have several true friends who know more than I do–in a scholarly way–yet they treat me with the utmost respect and care; not like a professor whom I have to constantly impress with no returned praise, and not like the intern for that professor who grades his papers.
I shouldn’t be wasting my time, effort, thoughts, and energy on those who attack me, treat me like I’m some stupid Christian layman, or that there’s something wrong with my ministry. I know what I need to know right now, at this exact moment in my life, just the same as I knew what I needed to know five years ago, at that exact moment in my life. I’m growing and maturing. We all are. None of us have made it to the peak of the Mountain of the Knowledge of God’s Grace. We’re not even supposed to be climbing it. We should be resting in the lush green pastures at the bottom of that mountain, in the valley with Jesus, being ourselves and enjoying our lives as saints.
Because Christ lives in me my knowledge is always good enough for God. He can use a donkey and illiterate fishermen to get His message out. He can use anyone or anything. I’m the first to admit that my grammar, spelling, punctuation, and theology isn’t perfect, but my spirit is. My God is. And I’m one with Him. So are you, Christian (see Hebrews 10:10,14, 1 Corinthians 6:17).
I refuse to shrink back and not be who I am, no matter the flaws in my actions, attitudes, and learnedness. I’m going to do the best I can to be myself while resting in grace. I will ignore all discouragement, no matter if it’s coming from Mosaic legalists or the New Covenant camp. I will set healthy boundaries to protect my mental well-being, confidence, and feelings.
My feelings are important, and so are yours, friend.
No matter where you’re at in your walk, you too are enough for God! You too can do amazing things! If someone tells you otherwise don’t believe it! Don’t let anyone sway you from the dreams you have within!
Believer or not, when someone disagrees with us and they aren’t attacking, we should consider engaging with them. After deciding to do this, over the years I’ve seen amazing results! Here’s what I’ve learned:

Pause and listen. This seems simple, but God always leads us toward empathy and patience. If I find myself speeding up in order to make my point, this is a red flag to STOP. Expressing patience with others, and with yourself, is much more important than knee-jerk, gotta-be-right reactions. We have nothing to prove. We simply have truth and love to share, Jesus. There’s no pressure on us and life will go on even if we don’t convince someone about Him. Christ saves, not us, so let others finish what they have to say and take a break.
Don’t tell people what to believe. Easy enough, right? With religion and politics, the unfollow and mute buttons have become very popular. Rightfully so. Our feeds should be enjoyable! When others are constantly pushing us to believe a certain way, snooze them or unfollow them altogether. Take a step back from the group. Leave the group if it’s ongoing. Juxtapose, with our evangelism, we don’t want to be like the Pharisees, severely disrespecting people. They even killed others for not believing like them.
Be sensitive. Triple-check the things you post before you post it. What we put on social media is the same as putting it in the newspaper. Others will see it. Be sensitive to them, yourself, and those whom you love. Before posting, ask yourself: Is this too personal? Will I feel the same tomorrow or next month? How will this impact my relationships, reputation, finances, and/or occupation? Am I dishonoring myself or someone who cares about me? Should I let my emotions calm down first?
Express gentleness and respect. Again, 1 Peter 3:15 reminds us to be organic in our interactions. We’re not faking these traits. We are gentle, we are respectful, we are new creations! (See 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:22-23).
Keep scrolling. We don’t have to comment on everything we disagree with. There’s no peace in that. Let people express what’s important to them. Some self-described devout Christians post things about God and our President which make me want to say, “Really?” But the truth is, they’re allowed to have their own opinion and I’m allowed to ignore it. If it gets out of hand I simply hit snooze, mute, or unfollow. People want to say what they want to say. I don’t have to butt-in or take offense all the time. We control what constantly shows up in our feeds by what we continually interact with. Nobody else does. So if our feeds and stories are splatter-blasters of crap, fear-mongering, and hate; if, once a month we post, “I’m done! I can’t stand what I see on social media any longer!” we have the power to change that. Keep scrolling away from that stuff and don’t engage with it. Begin interacting with gentle and respectful people, groups, and pages! Your social media experience will change for the better!

FROM THE DESK OF GOD

I wanted to drop you a little note. I want you to spend some time with Me. In fact I want you to spend eternity with Me. I sent you my Son so that we could spend eternity together. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Spend some time with Me and I will bless you. Come to Me and I will be your comforter, counselor, helper, advocate, intercessor, strengthener, and standby. I will reach down from heaven and help you. Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not; I will help you.’

I have given you the freedom to choose. You can do it on your own. Or you can seek Me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Look I already know all of your faults. Every single person has sinned. Your sins did not stop Me from reaching out to touch your life. Do not let your sins stop you from finding Me (God). Romans 5:8-9 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

I want you to find Me. I will come to you right NOW! All you need to do is ask. Ask Me to come into your life and I will. Ask Me to come into your heart and I will. Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

I am not going to force Myself on you. I love you. I want you to spend time with Me. But I am going to give you the right to choose. John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

Now you have power and knowledge. Use that power with wisdom. Come and spend some time with Me. Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.

Is there any reason why you can’t make Jesus the Lord of your life right now?
Say this prayer out-loud:

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe He died for me on the Cross of Calvary, bearing my sins for me. I believe that He rose from the dead and is alive right now. Dear Lord Jesus, come into my life, now! Come into my heart now. I believe in my heart. Therefore I say with my mouth that Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and Savior. And I am right now, born again.

LOYAL TO NONE

Years ago I met a man whose shirt read "Loyal to None". Immediately I thought about how untruthful that was. Everyone is loyal to someone. The most popular one to be loyal to is SELF. This is what God wants to undo. He wanted it done so badly He sacrificed His only Son. I don't think you'll find anyone else who is willing to be that loyal to you.
I have become aware of the worldly-dominated mindsets & philosophies being bought & sold by the masses. I thought, "God, how will this not overwhelm us?" How short the world's efforts come to meet any need adequately. How long can "our solution" numb the pain before we have to deal with the problem?
I was listening to a song entreating the Holy Spirit to fall down on us, and I knew it was the only way that we could come against the flood of selfish loyalism. I began to think of how God sprinkles inspirations throughout the day, when I realized that He can do that through the entire day! If only we would notice it. *Only the Christian who allows this to occur in their life will be able and equipped to counteract the world's false substitutions for God's provision. Begin immediately to apply this because you need this time now for preparation. "Look to the Lord and His strength;seek His face always."(Psalm 105:4)
In every life there are times of difficulty when we realize we are only able to stand by God's grace. In these times, we have opportunity to react in a multitude of ways. Our efforts may be exausted until we finally respond to the Lord in a way that always gets His attention: as we cease striving & say "Let God be God over me". It is in these times that it pleases God to uphold us by His grace.

A BETTER DEAL

Dealing with sins on your own is never easy. Not too long ago, my sin found me out... Numbers 32:23. I analyzed, scrutinized, confessed, strained, rebuked, ignored, excused, pondered, and prayed among other things, trying to find release of my sin- but to no avail. It was just like Psalm 51:3 (read it now, joker).
Realizing my inadequacy to deal with the situation, even suprisingly by Biblical means, I became aware that Jesus is my advocate and He ever lives to make intercession for me. You'll need to read 1John 2:1 and Hebrews 7:25.
Well, I cast my burden on Him. He is now dealing with it. I don't know how He does it, but I am determined to leave it in His hands & resist the tempation to take it back into my hands. Forever! He is sufficient! My means of dealing with sin is not.(And by the Spirit, you know what to do now.)

KNOWING GOD

HEAVEN COMES WITH GOD, NOT BEFORE GOD. Many only view salvation in the future tense. They see it mainly as escaping hell & going to heaven. This is a false conception of eternal life, and its consequences bring little, if any effect in the present life of those who adhere to it. If you'll turn to John 17:3 you'll find the Bible's definition of eternal life: that they may KNOW Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
This question came to me...What if the only glory in heaven is KNOWING GOD? Would the many who are expecting an overwhelming change bursting with bright lights & unimaginable mind-boggling sensations be disappointed if that's all there was to heaven - knowing God? Would the familiarity with the clamor and flashy appearances of this world cause them to be caught off guard when the transition of this life to the next occurred if all they had to look forward to was KNOWING GOD? I, for one, do not care how pearly the gates are, how sparkling the waters may be, or how much gold the streets are paved with- the sufficiency of my salvation is, and will be - knowing God.

IT'S NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY

The task God gave me became overwhelming to me. How could I perform it? How would I be able to do it? And if I tried, to what degree would I be effective? These also led to worse questions... Would I, in fact, be faithful & true to the task? Would I be like the servant who hid his talent? Yearning,praying,singing,reading, and hearing messages- none of these brought relief. Time went by slowly and gnawed at me. As a student in panic over a test, I began to try to cram spiritual truth in me, trying to prepare myself, on the assumption that I would at least make an effort to carry out my responsibility.
But the revelation of God brings liberation. He said, "It's not your faithfulness that is to be tested. It is Mine. It is not a question of you performing a task, but Me performing one. It is not a matter of your concern about what degree you will be effective, but that I, the Lord, will be effective in the fullest degree. Do not worry if you will be proven to be true to the task. It is not you who are to be tested. It is I. And I will be found to be true to the task. It is not your responsibility. It is Mine. So as, afterwards, it will be that all can point to My faithfulness."
Now I see that most of our problem is not the answers we seek, but that we ask the wrong questions! A preacher (Ed Gungor) once said, "Christianity is not my responsibility; it is my response to His ability." This insures that God alone will get glory. Any other way, we are preoccupied with the question of OUR faithfulness. Let us say with David, "With my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations."-Psalm 89:1
Praise God! All we need to do is point out what He's already done!

STANDARD PROCEDURE

The gospel of revival will be proclaimed throughout the land. And if so, why not through people like you & me? Some think of themselves as okay in God's eyes simply because they don't steal or murder. But there is a problem. "Okay" is not God's standard. Only perfection is. In old times, the sacrifice to God was to be without blemish or it was unacceptable. Our sacrifice of "I don't steal or kill" is below God's standard of acceptability. Only by relying on Jesus' sacrifice (which is perfect) are we made fully acceptable to God. Then we have access to Him (Romans 5:2 says so). That is, the purpose of God's Law is fulfilled in Jesus- as the means of righteousness for everyone who trusts & relies on Him.
Jesus=perfect conformity to God's will=righteousness to God for you (if you receive what you now read as true).

ARE YOU QUALIFIED?

Continuing the good news..."Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."-Colossians 1:12
The word "meet" is not referring to "meat" in which you sprinkle tenderizer on, although God has made us tender towards Him, so it would apply. But it does mean that we have been made to be up to par with God's standards. Thank you God! You made us 100% qualified to share in the inheritance! We've been given the gift of God (Romans 6:23). Jesus is the gift of righteousness. The Christian life is not a striving- it is a reflection of Christ's finished work!!!

YOU ARE ROYALTY

Heaven views Christians as ambassadors wearing glistening robes. The see us as annointed & adorned to fulfill a royal purpose. What a shame that we see ourselves so earthly that we quench the yearning in God's heart to assume our commission. I have learned that we do not need to think we are trying to cross a certain point to break new ground, but to accept the endowed truth that God has already imparted to us! We must change the thinking that we are always reaching for something, into believing and entering into what's already ours in Christ. We will fulfill our destiny when we believe what God says is our destiny!
Let me ask- what is the thing that is ever before you, that thing that comes to you again & again almost as if God is haunting you of it? Look for it to be something simple. You'll discover He's been speaking things that point to a certain burden. Come to emerge. Realize God's hand to perform it. It will be so! It will be like connecting dots to form a picture. And how beautiful that picture will be when you draw it. God's given you the dots!

BIBLE REVIVAL

Many expend endless amounts of energy trying to uncover how God will send revival. Remember this: at least you can call upon the Lord & He will answer. But here is the Biblical key to revival in Ephesians 4:16..."from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Ezekiel's example of the valley of dry bones shows how this can become a reality: by the power of the Spirit of God. And we must actually do our part. Realize God has a purpose & a call for you. Don't believe the lie of insignificance. Don't compare yourself. Don't disqualify yourself! For you are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has ordained that you should walk in them. He has prearranged it. He has made you ready to live it. Your equipped. Believe it.
Mindblower: God's grace to you has made it possible that you have the same kind of relationship to Him as Jesus has with Him! Rejoice!

ALIEN RESURRECTION

Get used to feeling like an alien when you desire God wholeheartedly. You can even be uncomfortable with those you are close to, because deep down you hate being conformed to the usual. It is your spirit's longing to be where God works as every believer knows He can. David's devotion led him to write: "I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons; for zeal for your house consumes me and the insults of those who insult you fall on me." (Psalm 69:8-9)
Many are called, but few are chosen. Those who do not become what God intends insult God. Please forfeit the things that beset you and live by God. Hasn't there been something within you knowing there must be more to life than what you've experienced? There is. It is the more abundant life(see John 10:10). And it is available for the asking. Have courage to pursue it.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Welcome to the Twilight Zone...This entry was inspired by an episode about a married man who is discovered cheating on his wife. The sin is too deep for her to forgive. But let me explain the story: Don is a miner instructed to check out an unexplored area of a mine shaft. As he is doing so, the ground suddenly collapses. There is another man named Roger trapped with him. But he is from the early 1900's. The scene suddenly makes the transition to a church. The secretary is insisting with a priest. She speaks of a letter enclosed in an envelope which was written 70 years ago. It is addressed to Don's wife. But how could someone back then know there was a Don's wife? The priest had forgotten to deliver it yesterday, so he gives it to Don's wife today & apologizes. When she opens it, she sees it to be a warning that her husband should not go into the unexplored area of the mine shaft on a certain day- yesterday. Although it was too late, it still described Don's exact location. She takes the letter to the rescue team which is on the scene of the accident. The scene goes back to Don & Roger. As the rescue team breaks through, they mistakenly grab Roger as the mine shaft caves in again. Don is left behind. When Roger is pulled up, it is the year 1912. He tries to tell everybody that there is a man from the future trapped in the mine. Of course, they think he's delirious. So Roger writes a letter & addresses it to be given to Don's wife at the proper day & year. The next scene shows Don rescued & carried to safety, rejoined with his wife. I forgot to mention- the last part of the letter asked that Don be forgiven by his wife. In light of this, they embrace and the story ends happily.
Here is the spiritual application: Roger knew Don had a need & met it by foreknowledge. That is what God does (Romans 8:29). Not only does He know who we are, He knows exactly where we are & how to meet our needs. Listen... Jesus is His letter of forgiveness to us. Through Him we are brought up out of a pit (Jonah 2:6). And His provision comes to us at just the proper time(Galatians4:4-5)! Now if that wasn't enough, God has a plan for us, not just destined, but predestined(Romans 8:29 again)! God doesn't just meet our needs, He does it according to His riches in glory by Christ(Philippians 4:19)! He displays the exceeding greatness of His power to those who believe! WOW!
The sureness of our needs being met is based on the sureness of Him foreknowing us!!! And God has been so good to deliver to us the letter of His Word (which He also preserved a lot longer than 70 years)! Now when one reads the letter & believes it, they become a member of a rescue squad to the perishing. But how will they hear without a letter carrier(Romans 10:14)? A life was affected because Roger sent his letter. But the carrier of the letter had to be faithful. Many lives are affected by God's letter, but His carriers must be faithful to deliver the message.

FOCUS

In order for a goal to be accomplished, two things must be: the proper tool & proper pursuit. Our tool is God's Word which is living & active. We must be holding forth the word of life (Philippians 2:16). Our efforts are not annointed- but God's Word is. He watches over it to perform it. Through His Word we get our true identity. So it is not advisable to be unfamiliar with it. Culture presents a warped view of Christianity. Even religious culture cannot be trusted as a resource.
Provide an atmosphere for God to speak to you. Read books, listen to music connected with the purpose God is dealing with you about. Do not involve yourself with much that dulls the mind. Put yourself in remembrance of what God has spoken to you earlier. Keep visible of what God proclaims over you or you'll begin to wonder and doubt. Then you'll be tempted to devise your own plans. Cast down human reasoning and do not forfeit God's benefits.
Will you pursue His call? Or will it be desires? I believe we automatically seek our own desires if we don't make God's will our chief pursuit.
So don't just have spiritual dreams, walk toward fulfilling them! God has stuff for us to obtain. If we could hear Him saying, "I'm with you, let's go for it!" obeying Him would be a lot better than facing the end and hearing Jesus say,"Oh, what we could've had on earth if you would have believed Me!" Our Father isn't satisfied until His children use His available resources that we have access to by His grace. The price to buy it for you was His Son!
Do not feel strange, young emerger; God's plans will be accomplished. It is as sure as His Word. After all, which is stronger- the things that appear to be a hinderance, or God's enduring purposes? He is, in fact, God, you know. So trust God. To do so you must continually reflect on His trustworthiness. Jesus accomplished what He was sent for in this way. Now you do it.

TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT

"As you have received Christ, so walk in Him." -Colossians 2:6
Was it hard to receive Christ? Only in the sense that you may have thought it was too good to be true! The simplicity of it overtook you! The sheer ability to attain was suprising enough; and God indicates that functioning (walking) in Him comes in just that same astonishing manner. Yielding to live in Him comes as no harsh task because the same pull that drew you to Jesus is of the same magnitude for you to walk daily in His ways! Glory to God!
It is within you to bestow yourself to the Lord just as easily as you could towards any other task - maybe moreso with the incredible Holy Spirit wooing you. So enjoy God today. Stop settling for just believing in Him and make it a pattern to enjoy Him!

Beware of the Counterfeit

"Beware of the leaven {teaching} of the Pharisees"- Jesus is speaking against the main religious establishment of that day. There are many followers of Christ allowing those of the religious establishment to define what following God should look like in terms of deeds, perspectives, convictions, disciplines, and routines. The system has failed. It hasn't produced in us the capacity to be disciples that effectively live as the Lord wills. And many do not hear the voice of God in trueness.
As God tears down the walls of spiritual idolatry, the worshippers of this counterfeit system will argue and justify themselves using scripture. It will not go quietly. But it seeks its own. Look around... are needs getting met?
It isn't enough to float along stroking our spiritual ideas. That doesn't demonstrate the extent of God's Kingdom. Jesus wept for people. But today, if He came to our churches, much of the words He would say would be dismissed. Because they've already been replaced by man's ideas of what Christianity should be like!
Religious people in Jesus' day shook their scrolls of truth in the face of the One who was the Truth. And then... they killed Him.
This proves that no matter how cleverly cloaked SELF is, it cannot co-exist with real true spirituality. We have set up a graven image before God, and dressed it in religious clothing- and God is about to bring it all down.
John 5:39-44
John 8:37-47
John 9:39-41
John 10:1-9

Attention please!

Right before Jesus died He showed us what kind of preoccupation or good deeds would be most advantageous... And as the Christian world tries to hail each of their causes, demanding our attentions, Jesus is quietly reaching for towels & washing people's feet.
Do you enjoy preaching? teaching? singing? Perhaps you are charged about some other endeavor. But Jesus won't be as excited about it unless He sees you practicing servanthood. He said where my servant is, there I am also.
Be careful that you don't substitute anything for being His servant. Take inventory now to identify what you are involved in. Have you placed it above servanthood? A servant is not above his Master.

THE PARABLE OF WAR

At the first sign of war a commander gathered his troops, giving them the choice of whether they would be first or last to go into battle. As the men looked on in astonishment, one came forward and asked to be one of the last to be dispatched. For this the commander signaled to his leutenant to shoot him on the spot. The stunned troops waited, as the commander questioned a second soldier, to which came the hasty reply, "I will be the first to fight". At the commander's word he was also shot down. The troops froze in silence as a third soldier was questioned. With hesitance the soldier finally responded, "What is thy bidding"? Ammazingly, the commander himself drew his weapon and killed the third soldier. Everyone including the leutenant was puzzled as the platoon jeered with paranoia. Suddenly an older, stern looking man approached the commander and spoke. "I will die for you" he said. Immediately, he was promoted and taken off to battle. The remainder of the army was told they would be questioned later. Thus, the commander retreated to his tent. Bewilderment overcame the troops. Even to the leutenant, the day's event was a riddle. As the afternoon passed, this mystery still haunted the leutenant and against his judgement he approached the commander's tent seeking answers.
"At ease" said the expecting commander. "No doubt you come seeking explanation; here is the reason for today's happenings: The 1st soldier was afraid of death. That is why he wished to remain behind.
The 2nd soldier was also afraid; that is why he made such haste attempting to avoid the same fate as the 1st."The leutenant's blank face bagan to show intrigue as the commander continued..."I suppose you're wondering about the 3rd man who asked my bidding be done." "Yes sir, was he not sincere?" asked the leutenant.
The commander replied,"Yes, a sincere soldier he was. But sincerety does not win a war. This man was trained for years for a specific purpose, and yet when his time comes, how is it that he should ask, 'What is thy bidding?' He should have known my bidding- to do that which he was trained for.
A man such as this who is blind or unsure of his purpose will not win a war; nor the likes of the first two who are afraid of death. But concerning the last soldier- these will lead us to victory. Find more of these!

"And they overcame him [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony; AND THEY LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO DEATH." (see Revelation 12)
When we become sure of the word of our testimony & unafraid of its consequences, then we will win the war. These characteristics must be ours before we win(they are not optional); and it can be apprehended through the blood of the Lamb.
The opposition you face is ordained to give you opportunity to win!

close encounters

Matthew 14:24-31..... In the midst of our storm-tossed life approaches a figure just off the horizon forcing us to reckon with our reality. We are troubled and in some ways scared as we hear a voice say "Don't be afraid, it is I"(Jesus).
Could it really be? If it is true, I want to know more...and then we hear "Come". So we move from our present circumstances, to the new. And it's all we ever hoped!
Journeying, we notice boisterous problems around us & our concerns mount. But you never effectively resolve a problem by focussing on it. You must keep your eyes on Jesus. But since you didn't, the problems begin to overwhelm you and you sink in them. But you cry "Lord, save me!" And IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretches out his hand and catches you. He does not wait for you to suffer ahile. Would you allow your child to struggle through an accumulation of problems before you intervened? When a child cries, is there any hesitation?
There is no "waiting period" with God necessary for you to endure just because your situation is more offensive than most. God preserved His Bible through history to let you know He is an ever-present help in times of trouble! That's God's true character - it's His nature! Even when He says, "O, you of little faith, why did you doubt?" He's not condemning us. He is entreating us:"Hey, I can be depended upon- trust Me." And He carries us (verse 32). Cry out to Him now.

I WONDER IF

It used to be the Land of the Free
All that we had was because of Thee
Now we move to the beat of a new drum
than the one that played when freedom rung
Our heroes sang "All you need is love"
But what went wrong?
Now they can't get along
Maybe love's not what we're made of
Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll - our pursuits for over a decade
resulting in "safe sex", a war on drugs, & appeals to censor what's played
revealing to us the mistakes we've made
But can we erase te foundation we've laid?
Who can we find to come to our aid?
And how will we ever remedy AIDS?
We can't find the cure
'cause we won't say for sure
that we got there by sin and our hearts are not pure
We want to save the panet, but not our souls
'cause we came from a monkey say our latest polls
Some time back we knew what it was
to respect a Creator for all that He does
But now we've grown tired
of hearing that old tale
preferring dreams that we hired
and saving the whale
Yet heartbeats don't prove there's a child in mom's womb
The environment's more important, so send that child to doom
Deprive a generation of life and youth
Convenience is "god" and not what's the truth
We taught ourselves to be the boss
and use any means to justify loss
Our new golden rule: "We can do as we choose
Leave us alone, the 1st Ammendment's our excuse"
"Give me your tired and your poor"
Our Lady of Liberty says that no more
We'll label the ones who won't think our way
If they don't agree then they'll have no say
We won all the wars but the one in our heart
destruction so silent, yet tears us apart
Daily we say,"We're doing just fine"
Our faces look happy, but our heart's not in line
Our churches look good
but not what's inside
We hear what we should
and still compromise
Listening intently to the latest in vogue
We've turned deaf to Jesus and made Him a rogue
Yet He alone to us has never lied
Oh, say, can you see? - Our country has died
The money we use says "In God we trust"
But we bought what we saw 'cause our god is lust
Will we be satisfied if we get what we crave?
O, where can I find the home of the brave?
If these words that you read don't appeal to you
it's only a sign that what I say is true
But soon what is hidden will be plain to see
America, America, God shed His Son's blood on Thee...

CAN GOD BE TRUSTED?

The expected response is a quick "Yes." But what we really want to know is "Should we trust God to bring all of His will down to us?" Note the remedy: Get to know God by reflecting on His trustworthiness. He made order out of chaos. He is not a God of confusion. He orders the steps of the righteous. He is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, which means this: He came through for them- He'll come through for you!
The rainbow is a reminder of His covenant.It is colorful with many facets just like His plans & blessings for us are. When all is said & done, God made us. In the first instance He created us from nothing but dirt and then He breathed life into us! At our regeneration He created us a lively hope in Christ! That hope gives us purpose. There are things that you can do that nobody else can.
What would you want to be doing when revival hits? Don't look to the future, the years ahead are NOW. So carry out your behavior as if you are in revival- because the Reviver is in you (if you trust Jesus)! Accept this destination power! Psalm 138:8 says the Lord WILL perfect that which concerns me...(He wills it)!

THE GULF

Miles of water separated me from my homeland on a visit to Mexico. I couldn't help but think of the huge gulf that Jesus spanned between God & I. In doing so He was saying, "Hope is brought near to you now." He gives us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Actually, every blessing that heaven itself enjoys is brought near to us (Ephesians 1:3).
So God is exclaiming, "Don't you think that if I went through all the trouble to span the gulf to be with you forevermore that I desire strongly to be near you now?"
He is here...now. That gives strength to say as Psalm 34:1 declares: I will praise the Lord no matter what happens.
Lord, I repent for acting like you're afar off. You're in me and I"m in you. I will go through my day with you. Thank you for your presence in each moment.

dance with the one who brung ya!

You need to be at the place of obedience before you do the works of obedience. God will show you how to touch people's lives if you get around them first. All of the stockpiles of wisdom you have does not replace the burden of the Lord. If you obey the burden, God takes the initiative! The Lord is responsible for orchestrating things. Just be where He wants & He will do something to make it work. You might not be able to be obedient without realizing this! What do you suppose God is organizing this moment? When we accept God He brings us great joy. If we allow Him to bring us where He wills, we experience unspeakable joy. Ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya!.

A.W. Tozer's observations

I have met a few of God's saints who appeared to have this holy brightness upon them, but they did not know it because of their humility & gentleness of spirit. I do not hesitate to confess that my fellowship with them has meant more to me than all the teaching I have ever received. I do stand deeply indebted to every Bible teacher I have had throughout the years, but they did little but instruct my head. The brethren I have known who had this strange and mysterious quality & awareness of God's person and presence instructed my heart!
This was written by A.W. Tozer and I am in full agreement with it. I do not have anything to add to it. It only makes me wonder why these types of Christians are few & far between.

FROM A DISTANCE

Have you been waiting too long for God to make a move? What are you hanging on to? Do something and see if God will bless it. I know that sounds presumptuous but I am not speaking of doing something blindly.
In the past I have been guilty of limiting God to the supernatural. Doesn't that sound strange? But He also works in the natural realm. The grave error is when we expect God to lead us sometime in the future and not in the present. If our faith and focus is only future-tense that leaves a whole lot of room for unbelief in the present! God will help you move now, and it won't be blindly.
Thomas Carlyle wrote: Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

THE GRAND DESIGN

There are so many diverse expressions of life in our world; so many emotions and experiences ones life can move in. Each of our experiences compose a different story. Each of our personal lives have an effect on others and play a part in shaping other people's stories. Everybody's life makes an artistic expression towards God. The combination of everyone makes a wonderous tapestry. I wonder what our Creator thinks when He views the brushstrokes of each one's portrait...
Then, suddenly, I realize He is artistically designing His own portrait- one of all of His children's picturesque lives combined!
Marvel at His majestic magnitude! And be ever mindful of the stories being painted around you every day.

In the wilderness

If you've been feeling like you're not quite "there" (at your expected ideal), get free by realizing you never will. God is adequate where you are not. God may not change your "wilderness" just yet- but He will work with you while you are in the wilderness! You will be complete if you let Him work while you are there. Better that, than getting out of the wilderness on your own & not having His presence. Just know He will minister to you there- where you are. The looming challenge you face is this: will you accept that as being enough?

THE BATTLEFIELD

One time God pointed my attention to someone and asked, "How would you feel if when you got to heaven, that person wasn't there?"
Of course I wanted to avoid the thought and the feelings that accompanied it. Worse yet, I wondered if I would truly take it to heart and adjust my actions or if I would just use it as a hypothetical story to relay to you here. It was a struggle.
We like to keep ourselves in controlled settings. But God need us to learn how to do well in non-controlled settings. Do you know why? Because the whole world is a non-controlled setting. Many who were used of God in the Bible were skilled at speaking & acting in non-controlled settings.
On this battlefield is where the unsung saint such as yourself wins or loses the entire cause of Christ.

little man (let my pride fall!)

I, in Jesus name, was the most analytical, critical, naturally-minded perceptive person I knew. I thought I was being like God, but it was constructed by me!
Lay down your pride & don't be wise in your own estimation. Although you may know the truth thoroughly, if you are not effective for God, throw away your pride & surrender your self to Him.
My mistake was receiving from God only through MY dicernment, MY analysis, MY spirituality, & MY judgement- which was clouded.
Pardon me while I ruin my self>
Previously, if you had walked through the museum of my mind you could have bowed & worshipped at the shrine of my spiritually intricate trains of theological thought. But walking through those hallways didn't make me an effective Christian person.
God uses foolish things to confound the wise. Sometimes He uses what is objectionable to us "smarter" people. The Pharisees objected to the Lord of All!
God will revive many, but will we receive it if He chooses to do it in a way that we don't want Him to use? Get this: If the thing God uses makes you fulfill the greatest commandments (Love God with all your strenth & your neighbor as yourself), then it is definitely of God and you'd better let your pride fall.

DISCONTENTMENT

Discontentment is covetousness in disguise. Often our desire for a different situation is the result of feelings of self-inadequacy. We can guard against this by knowing that God loves us before we love Him. His love is toward us before we accomplish anything significant. When speaking of Jesus, the Father said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased." That was before Jesus had done any great works or miracles.
Don't let the temptation of discontentment lead you to selfish ambition, which James says is earthly, sensual, & demonic. Make this determination: it is much better to trust the Lord & His direction than to be wise in your own eyes. 2Thessalonians 10-11 shows that when we do not receive the love of truth, we become victims of strong delusions.
Lamentations 3:19-28 says, "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness & the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this will I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; for it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.(NIV)
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke [of disciplinary dealings] in his youth. Let him sit alone uncomplaining and silent in hope, because God has laid the yoke upon him [for his benefit]."(Amplified)
You are in a place of divine providence where you can aggresively declare it is for your benefit. Romans 9:33 says the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame! The cross-reference from Isaiah 28:16 says you will not give way or make haste [in sudden panic]. And 1Peter 2:6 refers to the same text declaring "he that believes on Him shall not be confounded." Take that!

The way of Death

Proverbs 14:12 - "There is a way that seems right to a man but the end there of is death." And what way is that? It is the way of human understanding. It is the voice of natural rationalization. It is the guide of self-justification. It is the pride of life.
Mankind travels through life without the conscious realization they are doomed using the basis of their understanding as their resource. Man has become so accomplished in his "way" that even when the Almighty speaks, our hearts are too dull to listen to Him. - All the while, we feel we are preserving the highest ideal, when we are unknowingly reserving the heaviest judgement upon ourselves.
Rigormortis has set in; and a corpse is still dead even when dressed in the finest clothes.

God Proves Himself!

Some think it is the highest epitomy of human pride to definitely declare the identity of a Supreme Being. And this would be true if it were not for the fact that He has revealed Himself to us first, before we ever even thought about Him. Check out Isaiah 65:1-2, Romans 5:6, & 1John 4:19.
So what appears to be a high form of pride is actually the highest form of humility. The irony is that the naysayers are the ones blinded by pride. And the only possibility of coming out of that is for a personal God to come seeking after us first.

THE KEY

Whether we see a move of God in this country is not dependent upon if we stamp out homosexuality or stop abortion. It is not dependent upon our legislature or government. Hoping for the next politician to get in office is not the answer. We are not at the mercy of the world.
It all depends on "If My people, which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray, and SEEK MY FACE (not just pray), and turn from their wicked ways- then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -parenthesis mine
I'm telling you the annointing of Congress is not enough for the decisions & actions that need to be made in the near future! Christians: you had better be exerting your God-given ambassadorship to influence your world. Initially this pertains to prayer and ultimately full obedience.
So separate yourself; reprioritize things to get a burden alone with God and discover creative ways to impact your world. Surely the consequences, if we're right, outweigh the inconvenience if we're wrong!

HOT PURSUIT!

We are too focused on ourselves that we don't see or hear God pursuing us. Even when we know we need God, our efforts to seek Him block us from realizing He is seeking us! We read His Word and try to attain God's companionship by setting goals to adhere to His commands. But we have no hope unless we know that God's availability is ours BEFORE we make a commitment to Him. Think about that. John 15:16 says,"You did not choose Me, I chose you!" We are in relationship to God only because HE initiates. Otherwise, we make ourselves responsible to make & maintain something supernatural by way of human hands.
The way that we derive power to live out the Christian life is to actively remember that the Lord is in constant pursuit of us! This will activate us into realizing and living in His covenant of love. So read the Bible with the view that He is pursuing you. It will no longer be a book of standards that you are unable to live up to. It will become a passionate loveletter sent to you by the One who desires you most!!!

IF WE ONLY KNEW

We have no idea what great effect a lifetime of faithfulness to God has. It sets a chain reaction of uncalculatable ingredients into not just one or a group of people's lives, but countless ones, and generations to follow. Try to imagine it all. Had other followers of God in history been able to see the permanence that their faith accomplished, it would have inspired them to do even more. If saints of old could have peeked into the future & seen all the songs and writings attributed to them and the profound effect it has had on others for Christ, they would have derived even more confidence to live only for Him.
Not only should we be aware that our whole life will immeasurably influence the course of others; we also should never underestimate the value of one day's worth of living in the Lord, which is shaping destinies all around us. Their lives are tied to our obedience. We either confer or withhold blessings upon an innumerable amount of precious people due to our response or lack of response to God each day.
What if a nation is at stake through your prayers? When you begin to think of this as all too incredible, remember that God has already used many throughout history as examples for us. The landscape of society would be tremendously different if people like Christopher Columbus or Martin Luther King or Mary, the mother of Jesus did not rightfully embrace their pivotal place in time. And each of these could have pointed out their circumstances to excuse themselves from destiny!

GOD'S CLOSET

A futuristic movie portrayed exciting scenic exhibitions beyond today's technology. But even as manking graduated to areas I was suprised at, I couldn't help think how much above it all was God's glory! How puny our modern advancements are compared to God's closet. "Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."-1Corinthians 2:9
Yet in that set-aside fellowship time with the Living God, you will glean more spiritual supply, equipping, and stability than at any church service. In church, the minister speaks to a multitude of people's needs. But in God's closet, He will personally deliver customized spiritual nourishment for you. Would you risk passing up a gourmet meal from God?

Divine opposites

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways", declares the Lord. -Isaiah 55:8

Our ways of thinking & functioning make so much sense to us that we don't even know when they are opposite of God's ways. What we appraise highly is not usually on God's "top 10 list" (see Proverbs 21:2). The danger behind it all is that we've become so comfortable with our ways of thinking that we project them onto God and deceive ourselves into believing that He thinks the same way, too. Therefore we can justify nearly anything.
A careful study of the scriptures can clarify any contrast between our way of doing things and God's "higher ways" (Isaiah 55:9). Here are some examples:

1)When we are wronged, we think revenge is the answer;
God's answer is forgiveness.
2)We are of the mind that in order to get ahead, we need to get as much as we can;
God says it is better to give than receive.
3)We are told to hurry or the opportunity might pass us by;
The Bible says to wait on the Lord.
4)We value acceptance by our peers;
Jesus was despised and rejected.
5)Our society places a lot of importance on appearance;
Jesus had "nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" Isaiah 53:2.
6)It appeals to us to have authority over others;
Serving others pleases God.
7)We strive to have a trouble-free life;
God provides joy in adversity.
8)We would all like to escape death;
For the Christian, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).
9)Everyone deserves judgement for their sins;
God offers mercy in Jesus.
10)We naturally think we need to work hard to obtain favor from God;
God's Word challenges us to rest in the work of Christ which restores us to favor with Him.
11)When Jesus died on a cross it was considered shameful;
God made it the key to glory!
12)The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are bound for destruction;
But to those who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
13)We believe that God understands our desires for things in this world;
1John 2:15 says if anyone loves the world or the things in it, love for the Father is not in him.
14)We're all told to follow our hearts;
Scripture says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9
15)We think that we are generally good people;
The Bible says there is no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 14:3 *note: Why do we maintain that we are good when we know we've done bad things?
16)Nobody likes to be weak;
God can't be strong in us until we become weak.
17)The mindset of our culture says "I'm okay";
The mind of sinful man (which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit) is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6
18)We claim to have a right to live our life the way we want to;
If you try to keep your life you will lose it, but if you lose your way of life for God's way you will find it! Mark 8:35
19)The suffering servant becomes a victorious ruler!
20)By nature, we hate our enemies;
God says to love your enemies. When we were enemies of God, He loved us!
We can no longer continue to justify our ways under the guise of claiming to "believe in God" and expect no consequences. Unless we are right with Him, none of it matters. So, let's repent of inventing the wrong image of God in our minds and turn our lives over to Jesus- the precise image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

right here, right now

"You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. -John 5:39-40

On any given Sunday you will hear sermons that elevate the importance of the cross. But God does not want us to memorialize the crucifixion. It needs to be a present reality in us. Too often, we listen to Bible stories passively as if we've heard it all before without it applying now. Or we read His Word without contemplating Him! God does not tell us things merely to give us lessons. He does it so He can give Himself to us & we to Him. He does not want us to live off His memoirs, but His abiding Presence.
But it is strange how we can talk about God without realizing that He is there at that moment. Even the Samaritan woman said, "When Christ comes, He will explain everything to us." Then Jesus said, "I who speak to you am He." Another fantastic example are the travelers on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:15-32. For miles they walked and talked with Jesus without recognizing Him. And they carried on a conversation about Jesus while He was in their midst. I have often felt that the reason we don't overcome sin is because we fail to realize how near the Lord is. What a paradox that Omnipresent God can be so elusive to us!
Pause this moment and know that He is right here, right now.

God is not who you think

God is not a theory or a concept. He is a personal being that wants to be in contact with you. He is your Father.
How distant we remain from our Creator because we've identified Him as something other than Father. And what have you allowed to keep you from experiencing His love for you? When you are unsure about His good nature, it will keep you distant from Him. But when you realize "How precious are your thoughts toward me, O God! How great is the sum of them!", it causes you to draw near to Him.
He is there to meet your needs! You can't get forgiveness from an abstract concept. You only obtain it when someone is willing to dismiss what you've done. And that comes from to you from a personal loving Father.
The reality of God is not limited by our perceptions. But our experience of Him is hindered by our preconceptions. The truth is that we can know Him accurately when we lay aside our notions of Him because He is an exact reflection of His Son Jesus.

This is how God feels about you...

Behold what manner of love that we should be called the sons of God!
There is no need to de-genderize the word "sons" because they are the ones who got the birthright & inheritance. God is not excluding women; He calls us all sons.
It is a good thing to be a Christian. The stigma that the world attaches to Christianity comes from an anti-christ spirit. You're better of on your worst day as a Christian than an unsaved man is on his best day. On the days you don't feel qualified to be a Christian, God loves you. 1John2:1- My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. It's been said like this:
If you get hurt in an accident, you qualify for an ambulence.
If you get sick, you qualify to call a doctor.
If you feel bad about your sins, you qualify for a Savior.
Remember Colossians 1:12- giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 1Corinthians 1:30 says it is by HIS doing you are in Christ Jesus...
If you have regrets/mistakes in the back of your mind robbing you of God's approval, let it go. His love supercedes that. He doesn't love you less because after you became a Christian you messed up. He's the same. Why? Because God doesn't have love for you- God IS love. It's His nature! Fix yourself back on that! There is no need to fear the adversary when you have the advocate. And whenever you det attacked by Satan, the accuser, note this:
At the baptism of Jesus heaven was opened. The Spirit decended like a dove & a voice came from heaven saying, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
It was before Jesus did any miracles or good works. That's how God feels about you.
Do not disqualify yourself.

True Value

The value of something is determined truly by only one factor- the price that is paid for it. Often times, we feel bad about ourselves because of some imperfection within. But our value isn't derived from our own estimation, but by our God, who paid for us with His Son's perfect life. There have been times in history when a hero will sacrifice his life for another as a noble cause. You never hear about anyone willing to sacrifice their own child for someone else- it is too high a price. Yet that is exactly what God did for you.
So your value is beyond comparison.

1 Peter 1:18-19
You were not ransomed by such things as silver or gold that don't last forever. But you were purchased with the precious blood of Christ.

To belittle yourself is to ignore God's offer.

Keep In Touch

How often are we telling truths without touching them? When we say "amen" after our prayers, why does it seem like we are dismissing God instead of reaffirming His presence? It seems we'd rather get on with our business rather than be interested in the Lord's plans. We may not be aware of it, but it is due to our comfort to be governed by our self habits. The possibility of this happening does not diminish just because we label some of the things we do as "christian". When we surmise about situations instead of offering them to God WE REMAIN WITHIN OURSELVES. Ironically, we can do the surmising about things even while we are praying if we are not careful. Our prayer does not become an offering unless it is given over to God, knowing He is in command. Spirituality is not a self-imposed discipline... it is touching God.
Once when Jesus was on His way through a crowd of people who were pressing against Him so much that He was almost crushed, a woman subject to bleeding came and touched the edge of His cloak and immediately her bleeding stopped. Are we part of the crowd bumping into Jesus and receiving nothing, or do we really touch Him? Religiousity and personal pride prefers to keep Jesus at bay rather than experience Him totally. This is exemplified in Luke 7:36-39.
"One of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with him; He went to the Pharisees house and took His place at the table. A woman who was living an immoral life in the town had learned that Jesus was there and had brought oil of myrrh in a small flask. She took her place behind Him, by His feet, weeping. His feet were wetted with her tears and she wiped them with her hair, kissing them and annointing them with the myrrh. When His host the Pharisse saw this he said to himself,\ 'If this fellow were a real prophet, he would know who this woman is that touches him, and what sort of woman she is, a sinner.'"
He wondered why Jesus would allow this. Later, we find out the reason she did this was because she experienced the forgiveness of God. One is touching God and pouring out her love, while the other speculates within himself about religious matters. To have the Lord in our vicinity is not enough- we must touch Him. Unless this happens we render the presence of God impotent!
What should we do? We change our point of resource. God knows how to turn our hearts from ourselves into communion with Him.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20). The proof that we are touching God is that whatever environment we are in {whether the company of others that tempt us to place importance on the thoughts of men; or circumstances that urge us to turn our thoughts inward to address our feelings}, we still remain directly connected with the Lord of all, and thus act like Him.

Verge of A Miracle

Where are you on God's timeline? At one time in my life I had what appeared as a multitude of simultaneous uncertainties. Yet, I've never felt more secure than now. You may think you are in a crisis; But it doesn't look that way to God! Through different examples, God focused my attention on a certain point in my life. Then He showed me where I was now. He told me that in His timeline I am right on schedule. He is the same at all points in time! Then He told me I was going from glory to glory! This is an important lesson in security. If you feel like you are in the fiery furnace of life, there is a 4th man in the fire. It is the Lord. And you are more secure in the fire with Him than if you were out of the fire without Him.
If you are in the pit of life and it seems there are lions all around waiting to devour you- you are more secure there by the angel of God than a king ruling outside of the pit.
If you feel like you're being crucified by the circumstances of life I say to you with full confidence: you are more secure on the cross than those in the religious mockers not on the cross. Why? Because resurrection life has been issued to come to you. You're on the verge of a miracle!

The difference

Matthew 7:21-23
'Not everyone who calls me "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my heavenly Father. When that day comes, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out devils in your name, and in your name perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them to their face, "I never knew you; out of my sight, you and your wicked ways!"
Notice the phrase "in your name" in the above scriptures. If I introduce myself to a group, I have instantly divided you into one of two categories: those who know me, and those who only know my name. Here is the difference...
Suppose you were found guilty of a crime. The punishment is the death penalty. You don't agree with the severity of the punishment, but nevertheless it is reality. Your heart is pounding as you hear screaming sirens approach the building. The doors burst open and the S.W.A.T. team is converging upon you! Then suddenly, I (John) step in front of you and call out, "I did it. I'm the guilty man!" You stand stunned as the mob of law enforcers pounce on me beating and dragging me away. Outside the building you hear loud commotion with all kinds of banging and screaming going on. When the dust settles, you open the door to see that I have been executed in the most cruel manner. You see me fastened by nails up on pieces of large wood. You stand speechless, knowing full well that I was not guilty, that you were, and nothing can change the events that have just happened.
Before, we were just casual aquaintences, and when you heard the name "John" it was part of a normal day.
But now, when you hear the name "John" your heart and life is forever altered at the mention of that name! For every time you hear that name your being is impacted and your gratitude is immense. And it causes you to be different. This is exactly the difference of knowing Jesus by name only, and truly knowing Him. And the next time you hear the name "Jesus", if it does not impact your being, you probably don't KNOW the difference (even though you've heard about it).

Panacea

Romans 2:16- GOD WILL JUDGE THE SECRETS OF MEN BY JESUS CHRIST.
Last night I had a vision that wakened me to an awesome revelation of comfort. I saw myself in the heavenly realm. Surrounding me farther than I could see were different shaped objects I could not describe. But each one represented a thought, an action, a circumstance, a burden, or something else I dwelled upon in my lifetime. (It was actually more than the representation of it- it was the real item, but this is the easier way to explain it).And all of these were laid out as a diary of my life. And Jesus was near me in the midst of it all. I became soberly aware of the truth in Luke 12:2-3 which says, "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops."
Yet, with this realization I was unafraid. I also noticed that even though many of these objects representing my life's events were negative, naive, misguided, or just plain wrong, that everything was okay in the light of the Lord. In fact, I noticed that EVERYTHING was okay and was going to be okay in the future concerning all facets of my life. I could not resist having peace!
The word 'panacea' is defined as a healing remedy for all ills or difficulties. This revelation is panacea to me. Peace comes when you know God has heard your request and He is seeing to it that all will be well.It is a cure-all for you to understand that the sense of peace you get when you know God has answered your prayer is far more reaching than for just one situation- but expands throughout your entire life! Eternity sees the end result....and it is all good.

CULTURE

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you can prove what is good and acceptable, and the will of God". -Romans 12:2
The neglect of mind renewal means the world is conditioning us. When we grow up in our culture and allow ourselves to be shaped by the environment around us, it is not that every aspect of it is evil, but earthly. Culture is man's darkened understanding communicating itself outwardly. As time goes on and things worsen, one may realize that it is all the result of feeding from the tree of knowledge of good and evil(as it began in Eden)- or sadly, they may never realize it at all. In the latter case, they will use all their resources neccessary to justify their way(which is a chief evil also resulting from the fall of man). The magnitude of this deception is that it beguiles you into using your own means to seek "freedom" while the whole time you are running fast from it.

EARTH, WIND, & FIRE

The work of the Spirit has been likened to wind and fire. But there is another thing called EARTH that God uses as a travelling ground to bring us to His likeness. Some think their whole personality will change when they get to heaven. But it is not heaven that God chooses to transform us. Romans 12 shows He chooses for us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (while on earth). God's recipe for transformation isn't heaven, it's earth. He doesn't use eternity to change our character. We allow God to change us now to prepare us for eternity. If we let God cultivate our lives, He imparts His character in us. Some downplay the necessity of this, believing they can skip the process if they don't agree with the circumstances. They would rather avoid a process and accept a quantum leap into glory. This shortsightedness cheats one of becoming like God's Son who endured to receive His reward. Oh, we want to be like Him, but when He uses things that displease us to accomplish this goal, we quickly abort the procedure. It is like trying to bake a cake without including all the ingredients. Even worse, we then insult God's chosen methods with lenghthly complaints and questions of why He's letting us go through this whole ordeal.....BECAUSE WE ASKED HIM TO MAKE US LIKE HIM! BECAUSE WE ASKED HIM TO LEAD US! AND BECAUSE HE IS COMMITTED TO FINISH THE WORK HE BEGUN IN US!!!
When we get to heaven, we will be COMPLETE and there will be no need for transformation. But there is a difference between being complete and being transformed. It is the world of difference between heaven & earth.

THE THEORY

The theory is that in whichever way we live, that God will accept us into heaven regardless of our lifestyle or beliefs as long as He knows we tried and had good intentions. The truth is that God has spoken to us through His Word, prophets, and His Son. If we have not received what God said through them, we can't expect Him to make exceptions based on what we think is fair. He's been fair by speaking to us since the beginning of time. We have based our faith in OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD- not the Truth from God. That is not faith in God, it is faith in our perspective. Of all ways people can be deceived, this is by far the most common. It cons you in to convincing yourself that believing in God in your own way is sufficient. But it does not make you right with him because you have come to God on your own terms, not His. You have tried to believe in God without repentence. We have no right to ask for His blessing without following His way.
Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? -(James 2:19 Message) Isn't it time for a change? Wouldn't you like to experience all of God?
All of His life-changing power?
All of His relieving forgiveness?
All of His comforting Presence?
All of His hope for the future?
All of His purposes for your life?

Then give Him All of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you will see the difference!

CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION?

Hebrews 13:5
"Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with what you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'.
Making time to know God as our sufficiency leads to contentment. Neglect of taking this opportunity automatically will lead to thoughts wandering about how we wish we can rearrange our circumstances differently. The best set of circumstances won't take the place of cultivating faith and loving God. But making sure we take time to experience His sufficiency to fill our hearts & minds will make us feel able to live in any circumstance, even though not pleasing.And it guards you from discontentment. It protects you from coveting more. It shields you from temptation. Don't allow your heart to dull with the routine of life by missing your time with God. Time spent with Him willl transform your outlook and even the routine will seem full. He said He came that you may have life more abundantly (John 10:10). Abundance is found in Him, in His company- not outside of it.The heart that seeks things outside of Him is covetous and discontent. If your life is restless, trace your steps back to whether or not you obeyed this truth. For His comfort awaits you!

FATHER'S HEART COMMUNICATION

My Child...

You may not know me, but I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up…Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways…Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image…Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived…Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation…Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book…Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live…Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made…Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb…Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born…Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me…John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love…1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you…1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father…1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could…Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father…Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand…James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs…Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope…Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love…Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore…Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing…Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you…Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession…Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul…Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things…Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me…Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart…Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires…Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine…Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager…2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles…2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you…Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart…Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes…Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth…Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus…John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed…John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being…Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you…Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins…2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled…2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you…1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love…Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me…1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again…Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen…Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father…Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…Will you be my child?…John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you…Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad. Almighty God

The Missing Link

Matthew 5:13
"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14You are the light of the world--like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. 15Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. 16In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Why is society in it's current state with seemingly little influence being done by Christians? Don't we have enough resources? Isn't there enough books written about evangelism? Aren't there enough churches in the land? Have we not built our cases for truth effectively? Are not our arguments sound?Can't we prove our agendas? Do we need another seminar? More exposure on TV? Better preaching? More missionaries? Better singers? What do we lack to affect change in society? We have been making our case for years and raising our voices against depravity, shouting at the world over how wrong they are- AND IT ISN"T WORKING! Why?
I think it is this one thing: we have stopped short of knowing it could be any other way. Or at least if we do believe, we think it is much later in the future that it could be possible. But I don't think that kind of "faith" transfers God's desires into reality until we expect change much sooner, as in the next week, or the next day, or even now. Think of it. How would you function differently if you knew every good thing you did had a guaranteed success rate? Could it be that the only reason we don't see progress is because we never take time to picture it any other way as a direct result of our cooperation with heaven? And that it would happen soontime?We've tried everything else. Is this the missing link?
I know your mind is shouting, "be reasonable!", but it is unconscious dismissals like this that deactivate God's power being demonstrated! For example, the reason our family members won't receive salvation is because we factor in their freewill. The reason a person is subject to that wheelchair and not healed is due to a, b, or c. The reason my friend can't overcome their addiction is because _______. The reason temptation overcomes me is due to such & such circumstances. WE NEED TO GET THE LEECHES OF UNBELIEF OFF OUR MINDS! None of those situations would prevail if we KNEW we were enabled to make it different. Or do you think God's abilties are limited by them? Refraining from resolving those opportunities testifies so, because it is our actions that prove what we KNOW. Some would refer to the passage that says Jesus could not do mighty works in his hometown due to unbelief. Did you know that Jesus' ability is stronger than unbelief??? Numerous times he acted in environments of unbelief, because He cannot deny His nature. (Sometimes He even works within us despite unbelief). When the disciples feared death in the storm, Jesus still calmed it even though they did not have faith. Now this same Jesus has flooded us with light- and the darkness cannot comprehend it. Also, Je has not just empowered us for one particular task, but has made provision for victory on every avenue & level of our lives! Read Romans 8:37. The reason things aren't working is because we have made circumstances that are not from God subject to our reasonings, weaknessses, and misgivings, and not according to His might & resources! We don't KNOW for a fact that it will change at His touch (not at some future date). I know as you read this your mind can't accept the incredible truth, but your spirit is saying, "Could it be?" The mind is unfruitful, as it brings up factors and exceptions to short-circuit confidence in God, that WHATEVER you put your hand to WILL prosper.
Think of what would happen if after you heard a sermon, you immediately went out and practiced it. But what we've been doing is stashing it away in the religious files of our minds and if something comes accross our path we may remember to apply it. We have this casual attitude because we are not absolutely certain God in us will enact a cataclysmic change when we do them. My friend, we have grossly underestimated God's rule in us, to us, and through us to everyone around us. His sphere of influence is boundless and it's time to start acting like it! Repentence is a new mindset that causes you to see things God's ways, assured that His divine influence is actively taking effect the moment you cooperate.

Tithing (parts 1 & 2)

This is part of an olderwriting I did and it's how I USED TO understand tithing. *Afterwards follows my mew understanding*

"Money, money, money.... Why do preachers have to bother us about it all the time?"
Well, for some reason, we feel insulted when the church asks for money, but we forget that every other involvement in our life costs money too; but we take that as a given requirement.

I, too, used to feel bothered by the appeals of ministers to give. Oh, I knew it was the right thing to do. I just didn't like it being emphasized.

We all have ways of excusing ourselves from the responsibility to give. Maybe it was just an Old Testament command. After further investigation I find that not to be the case. Truth be told, if anyone wants to investigate the matter, they can know for sure, but many don't want the demand of the tithe put on them so they continue to point to reasons why they won't do it.

Hebrews 7:1 says For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

7:2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

This is a reference to an event that occurred in the Old Testament, but it is written in the New Testament. I could argue that it's inclusion in the New Testament along with Matthew 23:23 verifies the importance of the Tithe. But actually this above event occurred before the Old Testament Law was given to Moses. That means it has nothing to do with the Old or New testaments. It is just a godly principle.
The word "tithe" means tenth. That means you can't just "be led by the Spirit" on how much you give UNLESS it is above 10%, which would be your offering. Make the distinction. God is not a busboy we can "tip" with whatever change we have in our pocket. He expects deliberate obedience.
Now here is why this is near to my heart most recently: Early in my Christian life I struggled with giving money consistently even though I knew it was right. I knew someday I had to make it right, but I kept putting it off. I will share things that helped me and maybe it will help you. (That would be a lot better than hearing another lecture on why you heathens should stop robbing God.)
Keep in mind, that the work of the kingdom of God needs a financial base as a foundation to issue help and life to others. This cannot be overemphasized- although it is in some churches. No company succeeds unless it has the finances to function freely. It is more important in the church because people's hopes are attached to our obedience. We do not know the damage due to our negligence. But in order to influence the world we must settle this case in our hearts. We have allowed it not to be a priority to the detriment of progress of God's work. We are tied up with other things- and it is time to get untied from them, so that God can move through us. But before God move's through us, He has to move in us!
You have heard financial advisors say it, but now hear God say it: Make it your aim to get out of debt! To do this, you will have to be intent on laying aside some entertainment and rearranging other priorities. But do it at all cost( no pun intended) so you can gain a mentality that frees you to spend your increase on Kingdom endeavors.
The problem with your lack of giving money is not that you don't have enough. Even the poorest of you reading this in America are by far more rich than over 2/3 of the rest of the world. The conveniences in the houses we live in today would have shamed what kings had centuries ago. So the first enemy to deal with is a poverty mentality. We have to shift from thinking we are deficient into knowing we are richly enabled. That will help you pastors out there break down some walls. Stop attacking the symptoms and work on the disease. Tell your people to drench themselves in the promises of God that declare you are "enriched in every good thing".
Years ago I was in such debt because of irresponsibility, I declared bankruptcy. During my endeavors to rebuild my credit, I was forced to get a credit card with a high interest rate. I thought I had good reason not to tithe at this time because of circumstances. Then one night I heard a preacher say "Your giving 20% to Master card and you can't even give 10% to God?!?!". Well that settled it. I was putting men above the Lord!
Now things are different. Not because a minister made me feel guilty, but I just acknowledged that God was right. It does not matter about circumstances. It is just right to give to God. And when you give to God, you don't worry about where it went to- you just trust Him. I used to go to a small church where I didn't see many results, so I thought "why give here?". We are not "giving here" nor there. We are giving in eternity! We won't see all the results until we are in glory! What is it that you are building in glory by your giving today?
There's more. Recently I received a large sum of money that completely obliterated my debt. I was able to give to a couple in my church that is going through hard financial times. It really felt extraordinary to stand in the gap of a situation that I believed to be teetering on desperation. I look forward to more of these instances and that is the freedom I want you to experience. Last night in church the words of God rang in my head "You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth." I understood that God wants us to be world influencers- not just our families, neighbors, neighborhoods,and cities- but the whole world. I am not going overboard. Those are Jesus' words and He doesn't lie. So in order to expand your vision, you will need to become free financially. I plan on identifying all the countries of the world and giving in some way to one person in each country of the world. Many times it will be financially, sometimes a letter of encouragement or just to testify of our Lord, or maybe all of the above. But I intend to fulfill those words from Jesus, because I have the rest of my life to do so.
So now when I hear preachers talking about giving, it still bothers me. But not because I don't want to give. Now it's because I'm ready to give and I wish they would stop trying to convince me, because God already has!
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For sure the new testament encouraged giving all through the pages of Scripture. I didn't see any references to the tithe in the new testament other than what you cited in Matthew 23. Jesus classified it as something under the Law. Well then I looked up the example of Abraham because he tithed before the Law. I examined as much as I could. Though we might assume Old Testament Israel gave a total of 10 percent, some think the Israelites gave 14 tithes over seven years; others believe they gave 12. Regardless, when we add the required tithes together, the amount certainly exceeded 10 percent, probably somewhere around 20-23 percent per year. But one of the biggest problems is that tithing was never money. And the examples of Abraham and Jacob tithing never occurred on a regular basis. Tithes were given to support Levi priests and they no longer exist. There have been attempts to stretch and misapply the Malachi scriptures saying that pastors are Levites and that the storehouse is the church but that's not what they were in reality. It is taking old covenant principles which were only directed to Jews. Although Jesus affirmed the tithe, it was before the New covenant was in effect (after his death).
Of course there are many examples of people who have and became blessed. This is probably because of generosity, not adherence to the old Law . After all Mormons have demonstrated blessings too. However I know several people who tried to tithe and lost their business or went bankrupt, or lost their job (and it was not because there were sin in their lives). For all of these reasons the subject needs to be rethought.
Upon further review the covenants can't be mixed. We should not make the favor of God hinge on this issue. You can't be blessed & cursed at the same time. We are completely saved by grace from beginning to end. The tithe puts people back under Judaism.

The other 9-11 that changed history!

In the book The Bible of the Revolution which documents this nation's history, this is what was submitted to Congress on September 11, 1777: "... that the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great that your committee refer the above to the consideration of Congress, and if Congress shall not think it expedient to order the importation of types and paper, the committee recommend that Congress will order the Committee of Congress to import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere, into different parts of the States of the Union." (Previously the Colonies depended upon England for literature in their native tongue, but importation of such ceased because of The Revolutionary War.) Whereupon it was resolved accordingly to direct said Committee to import 20,000 copies of the Bible.
So much for separation of church and state!

This is another action of our early Congress that reveals their Christian values. The importance they gave to this legislation of importing Bibles is magnified when one considers the day upon which it occurred: September 11, 1777, the same day the Battle of Brandywine was claiming the lives of 1200 Americans which resulted in the defeat for the Colonial Army. Congress was meeting within earshot of the cannon fire of this battle.

God is not obligated to bless America, simply because we sing the song, or because we are the superpower of the world, or even because of the tragedy of 9/11 in 2001. He blesses nations and their people when they let Him rule their affairs. Get a revolution in your soul. No longer be ashamed to ask for His leadership in every area of your life! THAT'S HOW THIS COUNTRY STARTED. AND THAT IS HOW WE CAN REMAIN FREE.

How big is your vision?

How Big Is Your Vision? by Luis Palau
Have you ever tasted a nice, cool, refreshing Coke?
Congratulations! So have hundreds of millions of other people all around the world. And it's all Robert Woodruff's fault.
Well, not all his fault. But he's largely to blame.
You see, Woodruff, while president of Coca-Cola, had the audacity to state during World War II that "We will see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents wherever he is and whatever it costs."
When the war ended, he went on to say that in his lifetime he wanted everyone in the world to have a taste of Coca-Cola. Talk about vision!
With careful planning and a lot of persistence, Woodruff and his colleagues reached their generation around the globe for Coke.
Say, how big is your vision? Have you ever thought about what God could do through you to influence our own generation?
I'm not kidding. Neither was the Lord Jesus Christ kidding when He called His disciples to gain a vision of impacting the world for His name.
The Twelve (minus Judas) listened intently as Christ sought to prepare them for His imminent betrayal and subsequent death.
"No matter what happens," He told them, "believe in Me. I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. I am in the Father and He is in Me. We work in unity. If you can't believe My words alone, at least believe Me because of the miracles you have seen."
Then the Lord startled the apostles by saying:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it. If you love Me, you will obey what I command (John 14:12-15).
Don't underestimate those words. Read them again. Here in capsule form Christ challenges His disciples--and that now includes you and me--to dream great dreams, plan great plans, pray great prayers, and obey His great commands.
Dreaming Great Dreams
In the disciples' minds, time was fast running out. For more than three years they had hoped that Christ would be the one who would redeem Israel and reign as Messiah. But now He was saying that one of them would betray Him and deliver Him up to the Jewish leaders to be crucified.
They couldn't accept what He was telling them. "I will be with you only a little longer.... I am going to the Father.... I am leaving you."
Everything within them screamed, "No! This can't be true!"
So imagine what the Twelve thought when Christ went on to promise, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing" (John 14:12a).
Around the upper room table sat Peter, who had almost drowned trying to walk on water. And Philip, who waved his arms in exclamation when stating the impossibility of buying enough bread to feed the multitude. And Andrew, who with a number of the other disciples could not even heal a boy who was demon-possessed.
To each disciple Christ said, "You can continue the work I have been doing." And His promise is the same to you and me. He calls us to dream great dreams of what we can do to impact the world for His glory. How is this possible? The key is two-fold.
First, because Christ was going to the Father, He assured the disciples that He would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to indwell all believers. Christ would now continue His work through us!
Second, Christ qualified His promise with a condition. Notice that He said, "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing." The Lord challenges us to have faith--not necessarily more faith, but to have faith in Him. It is an on-going faith.
Renewing Your Vision
Have you stopped seeing great things happen in your life? Perhaps you have stopped believing that God can work in a mighty way in our generation. But what limits the work of God here on earth?
Is God somehow incapable of renewing the churches in America? Of turning the hearts of multiplied thousands to Himself? Of causing the fires of revival to spread throughout this country and beyond? Of course not! Yet God has chosen to limit His works, at least in some measure, to those things we trust Him to do through us.
Why is it that so few Christians ever accomplish great things for Christ? I believe it is because we lose the ability to dream great dreams. You see it happening all the time.
New believers are notorious for their enthusiasm and almost childlike trust in God. Accounts of such heroes of faith as Hudson Taylor, Corrie ten Boom, and Dawson Trotman inspire them to step out and attempt what others consider presumptuous.
But as time goes by, hardening of the spiritual arteries sets in and we become cynical. We lose the joy and thrill of the Christian life. We hear of something wonderful happening and say, "Oh?" as if it were nothing. How nonchalant we become about God's work around the world!
In order for God to use us again, we need to confess our unbelief and say: "Lord Jesus, renew my vision of Your power. Renew my confidence in Your abilities. Renew my trust in Your resources." Then begin to dream again!
Christ Himself never limited His disciples' vision. Even though He restricted His own public ministry to Palestine, He came and lived and died for all mankind. And after His resurrection, He commissioned His followers to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) and sent them first to Jerusalem, then to all Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
But the early church did what we all do--they hesitated to dream about what God wanted to do in their own generation. It finally took the stoning of Stephen and subsequent conversion of Saul to shake them out of their complacency.
While other believers scattered throughout Palestine, the Apostle Paul took Christ's great commission seriously and devoted the latter half of his life to traveling and proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles.
In Romans 15 Paul records a summary of his first missionary journey. He had already given detailed oral reports to the church in Antioch (see Acts 14:27) and to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:12). But here he simply states, "From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the Gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:19).
Now, the distance from Jerusalem to Illyricum is some 750 miles over land. Yet Paul could look back on that trip and say, "Mission accomplished. I have fully proclaimed the Gospel in that entire area." Paul didn't stop, however, and assume there wasn't anything left to do. Instead, he was already dreaming of the mission fields beyond.
Impacting OurGeneration
Where have your own dreams stopped? Have they been lost somewhere between your living room and the house next door? If your dreams aren't greater than finishing your education, paying your bills, or raising your children, then your vision isn't divine. Maybe it's time to consider how God could use you to make a difference in the lives of others.
Opportunities to serve Christ abound throughout the world. Let me take you on a quick tour.
In Asia, religions such as Buddhism, Islam, and other traditional beliefs flourish. Missions experts estimate that only a small percentage of the Asian population could be called Christian. The Church there faces many obstacles and needs our help and encouragement.
In Latin America, traditional religion has flourished for centuries. In recent years, many Latin Americans have come to know Jesus Christ personally after hearing the Gospel proclaimed in mass crusades and broadcasts by radio and television.
During the last couple of decades I have been thrilled to see the tremendous growth of the evangelical church in Central and South America. I strongly believe that several nations could become 51 percent born-again believers within 10 or 15 years.
In Africa, Christianity is growing at an incredible speed. Mission strategists say that some 16,400 people are committing their lives to Christ throughout this continent each day! The fields are ready for harvest, but Bible teachers are needed to teach these Africans about their new-found faith and how to share it with still others.
In Europe, secularism and humanism prevail. The very nations that once sent missionaries throughout the world are now vast mission fields.
A BBC newsman in London once asked me why I was wasting my time trying to preach the Gospel in a "post-Christian" society. "Aren't you just flogging a dead horse?" he wondered out loud.
"There is no such thing as a `post-Christian' society," I replied. "One generation may reject the Gospel for itself, but it can't reject it for future generations. And furthermore," I gladly added, "Jesus Christ specializes in raising the dead."
The Church in North America has been assisted by the growth of evangelical movements, Bible colleges, and Christian broadcasting. But we are still in danger of losing the vision that sparked this growth. If we drop the baton the previous generation entrusted to us, then we could become another spiritually dry Europe.
So the opportunities are great throughout the globe. But how can we impact our generation for Christ? Is it really possible to "preach the Gospel to all nations"?
I believe it is possible by taking God at His word and making plans to accomplish great things by His power working in us.
Plan Great Plans
Do you have dreams and plans of what God might do through your life? Or are you just busy with life's routine, ordinary tasks? Have you become bored--or boring?
The Lord Jesus Christ challenges us to abandon our complacency when He says, "You can do even greater things than I have done through my Spirit who indwells you." He doesn't intend for us to sir idly by and simply dream of what could happen for His glory. He wants us to plan great plans so that those dreams can come true.
William Carey upset the status quo of the church in his day when he proposed sending missionaries from Britain to evangelize other parts of the world. Older Christians told him to give up his preposterous ideas. Carey countered their boredom and doubt by writing, "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God."
That statement became the creed of the modern missions movement as men and women followed Carey's example and went to the ends of the earth with the saving message of Christ's Gospel. Like Carey, God wants us to attempt great things for Him to reach our generation.
Over the years, God has stretched my own vision. At first, God burdened by heart for the city of Cordoba where I lived as a young man, then neighboring areas, then all of Argentina. Finally I dreamed of preaching the Gospel throughout all of Latin America.
But God wasn't through with me yet. Today, in faith, my co-workers and I want to let the whole world hear the voice of God. With that dream, we are planning massive crusades, multiplied by radio and television, to reach large segments of the world's population. And by God's grace, as partners in evangelism with other Christians and their churches and organizations, we are seeing hundreds of thousands of lives changed.
What about you? Are you expecting great things from God? Or are you letting the opportunities pass you by? If it's true that the Lord wants the Gospel preached worldwide, than we can't remain passive. Whatever our gifts or abilities or resources, we need to work together as faithful stewards of what God has bestowed on us.
Dream a little. Envision the 4 billion people who have not accepted the Gospel in this generation. Many have never even heard it explained to them. What are you going to do about it?
Start doing something by making specific plans of action. Determine how God could use you to share Christ at work, at school, in your neighborhood--and beyond. Remember, God wants to use you. Let Him!
Are you willing to gain a vision of what God could do through you to win others to Himself? After all, God doesn't have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C for evangelizing the world. He only has one plan--and that's you and me.

AUTOMOTIVATIONAL LIVING

Unknowingly, we may be guilty of adhering to another gospel. Galatians 1 warns against this. You see, here in America, we preach a Jesus that you take along with you on your journey. But the Jesus of the Bible says, "If you will follow Me, you may accompany Me on My journey."
Look at God, not as someone who will get you through the day, but know that heaven awaits you to join an encounter with God each day. It's about His purposes, not our own. Functioning under God's automated system is better than trying to motivate yourself to get in gear. This shift in thinking gives a refreshing approach to life. The songs that were once background music come to have heart! We experience a whole new motivation for doing, and a joy in being. An anticipation of co-working with the Lord who goes before us brings delight and more accomplishment(Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord & He will give you the desires of your heart" does not become a pretense for selfish gain, because the desires of our heart become a yearning to delight in Him!).
Make sure when you pray, you are not asking God to strengthen YOUR EFFORTS for anything particular. He may be wanting you to realize your weakness so you can get your eyes off the task you've planned and put your eyes on a walk with Him in another direction.
Haven't you longed not to have yourself preoccupied with earthbound things here so you can attend wholeheartedly to His purposes? If God be for us who can be against us? He's been backing us with His Word this whole time to break free of the insignificant into His great big world where His plans dominate the agenda. It is not such a balancing act when you agree to lose your life. Christianity is only a struggle when you don't fully want to surrender. Any difficulty in moving ahead with God is due to a secret trust in ourselves.

MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD

by Clay Sikes
Jesus made a sacrifice sufficient enough for us to hear from the Throne Room for every major decision, to live our lives governed by His Spirit within us, to walk in a total victorious 'way.' Our enemy to this "way" is our old traditional "way" of natural thinking: this wide path is traveled by many and is the seed of Cain.
‘Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God’ (Romans 8:14). Notice that this scripture does not say “all Christians,” or “all preachers,” or “all church leaders” are sons of God…only those led by the Spirit of God. As the Spiritual Church continues to be birthed out of the Carnal Church, we are beginning to see the sons of God manifested – those men and women who have died to themselves and who are ‘about doing the Father’s business.’ A distinguishing characteristic of a true son is the continuing grace of God - the grace to pray, the grace to hear, the grace to move according to the plan of God. Grace and humility are virtually synonymous terms.
Humility, staying bowed before the Father, draws the grace of God like a magnet draws metal because God gives grace to the humble and resist the proud (James 4:6). Staying bowed before the Father means hanging onto His every word – the words He speaks to us. We can only have faith for what we have heard the Father say and if we are not hearing, it is safe to assume that we are not bowed, in a state of humility, before the Father (I Peter 5:6).
Our hearing (faith) is proportional to our humility. God desires a pre fall, Tree of Life relationship with His sons and daughters, those that are led by His spirit (the humble), those who do not live life on their own terms by the vanity of their own minds (the proud). God’s true sons live completely on His terms staying bowed before Him; spending time with him, hearing Him speak, and doing what He says. They do not live from the Tree of Knowledge where they judge from their own mind, but from the Tree of Life where men do not live by bread alone, but upon ‘every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ They have a great revelation and understanding of Jesus words, “I can of my own self do nothing” (John 5:30). They have come to the end of themselves and recognize that without Him, all else is fruitless; neither worth the time nor the effort.
We know that idolatry is sin and yet often commit it unknowingly. Often the idol we place between us and God IS US: our own intelligence, our own propensity to judge, our own way of doing things, our own traditions, our own theology, our own doctrine. Let us look at the consequences of this lifestyle in Jonah 2:8 – ‘Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.’
God is calling us to a place where we function effectively as tools in His hands. We must be about the Father’s business, accomplishing His will, NOT OUR OWN. We are to “Forget not His benefits” as we become (God’s) purpose minded, we will never again have to be resource minded (like the pagans in Matthew 6:32). If nothing else is remembered in this reading, remember this - God pays for what He orders…when we become purpose minded, we’ll not ever again have to be resource minded. In the process of doing God’s will all needs are met. What a unique and wonderful Kingdom dynamic. While we are busy doing His will (obeying His instructions to us), our needs are being taken care of, because the greater (doing His will), always includes the lesser (taking care of our needs). When we fulfill His desire, our desire is seen to - just one of the benefits of staying bowed before the Father, in a state of humility, obeying His every word.
When we continuously use the mind (the arena of reason) instead of the Holy Spirit for direction, we unconsciously forfeit the grace to hear God for His directed purposes. Galatians 5:1-4 further reveals the consequences of our actions.
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (the world’s system, man’s way – using the mind over the Spirit). Mark my words! I Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised (engage the old way of mind over Spirit), Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; YOU HAVE FALLEN AWAY FROM GRACE.’
‘You are made sons by faith in Christ Jesus…’ - (Galatians 3:26): ‘You who are trying to be justified by law (the old way of doing things) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.’ We are made sons by faith in the new way, Jesus Christ, hearing God and obeying him. We become alienated from Christ and lose the grace to hear the Father when we engage the old way (making major decisions from the mind). There is a right way with God and a wrong way as we see in Jeremiah 6:16-19 – There is a good way that God blesses and a wrong way that He does not bless.
Read Galatians 3:26 and 5:1-4 in the context of the following: THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO US IF THE DAILY GRACE HAS FALLEN AWAY. Engaging the old way (“the yoke of slavery”) will cause the grace that could be ours to fall away; we have re entered a form of idolatry, a form of the old law (way) by looking to self for answers… when we do this we lose the grace that could be ours to hear God for specific direction. Jesus made it possible for us to hear God individually for direction in our lives, yet we forfeit the grace to hear Him as we return to the vanity of our own minds for direction.
It is possible to be a Christian and live without the ministry of grace offered by the Holy Spirit. When Paul said the Galatians had fallen from grace he didn’t mean they had lost their ability to go to heaven. He meant they had fallen from their dependence on the Holy Spirit…they were reverting to other methods, and in so doing deprived themselves of the Holy Spirit’s ministry of grace for daily living. The letter kills, the Spirit gives life.
There is a prophetic sound that is being heard with clarity, “Ishmael can no longer live in the house with Isaac.” “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Galatians 4:30). Ishmael represents the child of the flesh, the original son (the original way). He taunted Isaac much the same as our natural mind taunts us as we begin to move in the things of the Spirit. We all began by using our mind (looking to self for answers) instead of God’s Spirit within us, yet now is the time for Ishmael to be put out of the house. “We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 5:31). It is time for the child of promise to reign: Jesus enabled us to walk by the leading of the Spirit.
Our inheritance is based upon our growing up and becoming mature in God (Galatians 4:1-7). We will never receive our inheritance until we grow up by trusting God, hearing and obeying, discerning Spiritually, spending time with God etc.,
Part of that maturation process is putting Ishmael out of the house; in fact, out of our house! Beginning in verse 28 of Chapter 4 of Galatians, ‘Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. BUT WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE SAY? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, FOR THE SLAVE WOMAN’S SON WILL NEVER SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE WITH THE FREE WOMAN’S SON.’ We have come to the time where the two cannot occupy the same house. We can no longer mix living from our minds with living by the Spirit. The two can no longer live in the same house. A little leven unleventh the whole lump.
I belabor this point because of its vast importance in understanding sonship. Those who allow human reasoning to rule their decision-making are the seed of Cain; they produce Ishmaels. Ishmael is a work of the flesh – the very essence of human reasoning. When we make decisions by human reasoning and do not seek the Lord for His will, we will inevitably produce another Ishmael. Ishmaels are always produced by a lack of patience, a fact which promotes the idea that it is always best to wait until we are sure we have heard God before we move. Again, we can only have faith for what we have heard God say, which not only includes His direction, but also His timing. When we follow exactly what God says, we will birth Isaac and Isaac is the seed of promise.
Ishmael and Isaac can no longer live in the same house because there is enmity between the two. Said differently, we can no longer allow human reasoning to stay in the house with being Spirit led. There will always be enmity between that which is born of the flesh and the true seed of God. As we know, Abraham eventually put Ishmael out of the house, recognizing the mocking and taunting nature of Ishmael toward the true seed -Isaac. As a wonderful Biblical example for us and to Abraham’s credit, he was able to recognize Ishmael as a work of the flesh, further realizing that every tree can will only bear fruit after its own kind, hence he chopped the tree down and got rid of it. So too should we when we recognize our works of the flesh. This if often a painful process, but must be undertaken for mature growth to come.
Even though God blessed our Ishmaels for a while, when Isaac appears, THAT WHICH IS BORN OF FLESH MUST BE DRIVEN OUT. Flesh cannot be an heir with that which is born of Spirit. If you want to be an heir you must drive out works of the flesh. Many make the mistake of using their mind (flesh) for the purposes of God and wonder why their work is not blessed. Many Churches today are governed by the seed of Cain and continue to flounder in a powerless state. If Sarah (Abraham's wife) could shout one phrase for all the Church to hear it would be “The Sin Of Presumption Often Hides Itself In Noble Purposes!” Take note of the fact that "presumption," even if it is for God is sin, and will produce a work of the flesh! Anything that is not faith is sin, and you can only have faith for what God has said to you!
We must begin to distinguish between the things that God blesses and those that He inhabits. Ishmael was a work of the flesh, having been born of the bondwoman and remaining in bondage (Galatians 4:21-31). Ishmael was not the promised seed, but he persecuted the true heir and does so to this day, yet God blessed him and made him a great nation. He blessed him because he had a covenant with Abraham, and he often blesses our works of the flesh, to a degree, because of the covenant He has made with us; however, he will not inhabit them.
The time has come when the child of the flesh must be cast out. We must now look beyond that which may have a blessing upon it, and give our attention to that which He inhabits. He inhabits what He orders, and if we cease from our own works and ways, He will be sure, by His grace, to give us His works and ways – the place He inhabits, the place of His blessing. The rest of God can only be found in obeying the work of God. This type rest is not necessarily the absence of activity, but rather the absence of anxiety. We find peace and rest in the middle of God’s assignment and specific purpose for our lives.

truth or consequences

Human sentiment says, What's the difference with all the world's religions? Don't they all have the same goal of being kind to your fellow man, and improving yourself to be a better person?"
Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But truly only a moral relativist can embrace that philosophy- because absolute truth ruins that whole idea. For instance, under the all-inclusive position, you rule out the possibility that false religion even exists. But if you acknowledge it does exist, you are also admitting there is a true religion from an absolute standpoint. This leads to the claim of Christianity that says Jesus is the exclusive way to eternal life.
Then how can that be fair? It's fair because God makes it possible for anyone to enter in through Jesus. He also went to the extreme by letting His only Son be tortured & die so you could obtain everlasting life. If anything is unfair, it's that He went through all that trouble and some don't honor it! God is not wanting to exclude anyone. But if you ignore His sacrifice that enables you to get to Him, why should He be accused of being unfair? THE FACT IS: WE DON'T GET TO PICK THE WAY WE CAN REACH GOD. If so, it is a human religion.
Not only does this type of thinking prevail in the world; you can also find it in the church. One Christian allows God to use his life under His Lordship. The other "christian" uses God only to add more to his own life. Will the real Christianity please stand up? Don't sons look & act like their Father? How in the world is it possible for many to claim they are Christians and yet they all have different value systems? The answer is that some are Christians according to the truth while others are "christians" according to their own understanding. I know many of you will ask "How can one possibly know for certain which belief system is the truth"? There are answers to the one who wholeheartedly seeks the truth, but most are not seeking the truth- they are seeking some way to justify what they believe!
The first indicator of sincerity is whether you want the truth to govern you or if you want to pick a belief system that serves your interests. Consider the way of Jesus. It is deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. A religion devoid of the truth does not do that. Here is more to ponder from A.W. Tozer:
Holiness before Happiness
A selfish desire for happiness is as sinful as any other selfish desire. Its root is in the flesh which can never have any standing before God. "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so" (Romans 8:7). People are coming more and more to excuse every sort of wrongdoing on the grounds that they are "just trying to secure a little happiness." Before she will give her consent to marriage the modern young lady may ask outright whether or not the man "can make me happy" instead of wondering selflessly whether she can bring happiness to her life partner. The lovelorn columns of the newspapers are wet with the self-pitying tears of persons who write to inquire how they can "preserve their happiness." The psychiatrists of the land are getting fat off the increasing numbers who seek professional aid in their all-absorbing search for happiness. It is not uncommon for crimes to be committed against persons who do nothing worse than "jeopardize" someone's happiness. That we are born to be happy is scarcely questioned by anyone. No one bothers to prove that fallen men have any moral right to happiness, or that they are in the long run any better off happy. The only question before the house is how to get the most happiness out of life. Almost all popular books and plays assume that personal happiness is the legitimate end of the dramatic human struggle. Now I submit that the whole hectic scramble after happiness is an evil as certainly as is the scramble after money or fame or success. It springs out of a vast misunderstanding of ourselves and of our true moral state. The doctrine of man's inalienable right to happiness is anti-God and anti-Christ, and its wide acceptance by society tells us a lot about that same society. The effect of this modern hedonism is felt also among the people of God. The gospel is too often presented as a means toward happiness, to peace of mind or security. There are even those who use the Bible to "relax" them, as if it were a drug. How far wrong all this is will be discovered easily by the simple act of reading the New Testament through once with meditation. There the emphasis is not upon happiness but upon holiness. God is more concerned with the state of people's hearts than with the state of their feelings. Undoubtedly the will of God brings final happiness to those who obey, but the most important matter is not how happy we are but how holy. The soldier does not seek to be happy in the field; he seeks rather to get the fighting over with, to win the war and get back home to his loved ones. There he may enjoy himself to the full; but while the war is on, his most pressing job is to be a good soldier, to acquit himself like a man, regardless of how he feels. The childish clamor after happiness can become a real snare. One may easily deceive himself by cultivating a religious joy without a correspondingly righteous life. No man should desire to be happy who is not at the same time holy. He should spend his efforts in seeking to know and do the will of God, leaving to Christ the matter of how happy he shall be. For those who take this whole thing seriously I have a suggestion: Go to God and have an understanding. Tell Him that it is your desire to be holy at any cost, and then ask Him never to give you more happiness than holiness. And ask Him to make you holy whether you are happy or not. Be assured that in the end you will be as happy as you are holy; but for the time being let your whole ambition be to serve God and be Christlike.

I've Learned the Secret

This is something astounding. You have heard the encouragement from the powerful verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", but the foundational reason for that gets overlooked in the verse before that one and I am finding it is the remedy for anything we face in this life: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." -Philippians 4:12
I recently lost my job. But God has provided such contentment I am amazed. I wake up every day with seemingly no evidence of direction on where I will be employed next. YET I've never experienced such an absence of fear in my life! I keep thinking to myself, "shouldn't I be worried? shouldn't I have a plan of action?". But the devil can't even penetrate my mind to follow through on those questions because the Lord is at hand. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter. He wants His children to be comforted always. This should not to be confused with complacency(it is a different matter when we are being challenged to "get out of our comfort zones"). And this is what I've discovered- Comfort does not come from getting your needs met! It comes from fellowship with the Spirit. Because it's possible to have all your "needs" met that you perceive need to be met, and still feel restless. That's what happens when you are "successful" but are not in daily fellowship with the Spirit of Comfort. It is also possible to have nothing and still feel content! That happens when you constantly abide in Christ through the Spirit. You may ask, "why did this or that situation happen?" But comfort does not come from knowledge. Even if you got an explanation for the questions bothering you, it would not bring contentment; because the mind of the flesh would still try to manage it!
Comfort comes from the Comforter and nothing else!
You just think about Noah for a minute. One day God told him he was going to destroy the earth's inhabitants. Now that is a bad day. Destroy the earth's inhabitants? Well, I live on earth. I can't have it being destroyed. What will I do? Where will I go? But God knew how to instruct Noah to preserve him. Same way with Lot. If your city is going to be completely destroyed wouldn't you say that's cause for alarm? But as fire rained down Lot was rescued. These are examples in 2Peter 2:5-9. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly....
Do you realize that Shadrach, Meshack, & Abednego were more secure in the fire (with the Lord) than the others outside of the furnace who did not have the Lord? Do you know that Daniel was better off & had more peace in the Lion's den than the restless King who had everthing at his command? Begin to recount examples from the scriptures and you will see the God who delivered Moses, David, Elijah, and others IS YOUR GOD, too! Then begin to reflect on the times God has helped you through difficult times in your past. HE'S THE SAME yesterday, today, & forever. He's done it all through history and will continue to do it. With that, you & I can learn whatever state we are in to be content (Philippians 4:11). Does God want you to prosper? Yes, but obviously everyone is not always in that state. But I have learned how to be abased, and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned the secret of being content. And I'm not going to let it be a secret now that I know!

Unsinkable

Mark 4:35-41 tells the story of how Jesus & the disciples encountered a great windstorm while attempting to cross the water in a boat. The disciples were upset and afraid that they wouldn't make it. Jesus, on the other hand was so sure that he was asleep in the storm! And this is what I have learned. You can rest regardless of any circumstance in your life- because there is a peace in EVERY storm. What this means is that (when you are with the Lord) nothing is EVER a threat to your well being!
Had the disciples known that God's words always come true, they could have had confidence when Jesus said at the start,"Let us cross over to the other side". Well this is not just an analogy for one instance. It applies to all of your life. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the Author and the Finisher. He said He who begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! The devil can't win! Even on your worst day, you are better off as a Christian than someone on their best day outside of God! As a Christian, even if the devil was able to kill you, you would go to heaven!!! From beginning to end, your entire life is a boatride. The only question that determines the plight of your journey is this: Is the Lord in your boat with you, or do you run the ship?

American Idol

There is a God we want and there is a God who is- and they are not the same. Because I think of you or any individual in a certain way, does not make it so. In the same way, my perception of God does not change who He really is. To base God on our own understanding is to make the mistake of molding Him into our image. The commandment says not to make any graven images. We do that in a spiritual sense when we define God on our terms. If our working knowledge of God is tied to our theories of Him, we redefine His character based on our wishes. By these standards, is He truly God? Not really. But it is the easiest way to deceive ourselves and still feel good about it.

To Serve Man

I'm a real sci-fi fan and years ago there was a Twilight Zone episode called "To serve man". It was about aliens that landed on earth with a book that had the title "To serve man" on the cover. Everyone was trying to figure out why aliens would be so kind to visit earth and bring people back to their planet.At the end it was discovered the awful truth that the book was a cookbook!
The majority of the time, we claim our goal is to serve God and "to serve man" when if fact we are cooking up something very different. Consider the following:
William Temple described the church as the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefits of its non-members. Is that how it is in your particular church? Too often the church's strategy for reaching those who "don't belong" is exactly backward. Priority goes to constructing an attractive ediface in a location near a growing suburb and as far from crime-infested downtown as possible. Next come the committees organizing concerts, covered dish suppers, Bible studies, slide shows, and the like. Then, with fresh welcome mat at the door, the members enthusiastically wait for all the lost and needy souls to come and join them. Of course they never do. What the church attracts are neighbors who are bored with their old church anyway, or those looking for a group with a bit more "status".
The folks "out there" have no iterest in the handsome sanctuary and progressive programs and wouldn't feel comfortable inside no matter what wonderful attractions were offered(And probably the church members wouldn't feel comfortable if they did come). But when the church fails to break the barrier, both sides lose. Those who need the gospel message of hope and the reality of love don't get it; and the isolated church keeps evangelizing the same people over & over until its only mission is to entertain itself.
Isn't it interesting that Jesus didn't set up an office in the temple and wait for people to come to Him for counseling? Instead, He went to them- to the homes of the most notorious sinners, to the places where He would most likely encounter the handicapped and sick, the needy, the outcasts of society. Our presence in a place of need is more powerful than a thousand sermons. Being there is our witness. And until we are, our orthodoxy and doctrine are mere words; our liturgies and gospel choruses ring hollow.
-from Chuck Colson's book Loving God
We can't force people to eat the bread,but we can make sure they have it.Yet for some reason we are reluctant to do so.It's much easier to stay in the bakery than to get into the truck. The Parable of the Beggar and the BreadA beggar came and sat before me. "I want bread" he said. "How wise you are" I assured him. "Bread is what you need. And you have come to the right bakery." So I pulled my cookbook down from my shelf and began to tell him what I knew about bread. I spoke of flour and wheat, of grain and barley. My knowledge impressed even me as I cited the measurements and recipe. When I looked up I was surprised to see he wasn't smiling. "I just want bread" he said. "How wise you are." I applauded his choice. "Follow me and I'll show you our bakery." Down the hallowed halls I guided him, pausing to point out the rooms where the dough is prepared and the ovens where the bread is baked. "No one has such facilities. We have bread for every need. But here is the best part- this is our room of inspiration." I knew he was moved as we stepped into the auditorium full of stained glass windows.
The beggar didn't speak. I understood his silence. With my arm around his shoulder I whispered, "It overwhelms us all. People come from miles around to hear our background music and to hear me speak, Once a week my workers gather & I read to them the recipe from the cookbook of life. By now the beggar had taken his place on the front row. "Would you like to hear me?" "No, but I would like some bread" he said. "How wise you are" I replied. And I led him to the front door of the bakery. "What I have to say to you next is very important" I told him as we stood outside. "Up and down this street you will find many bakeries. But take heed; they don't serve the true bread. I know of one who adds two spoons of salt rather than one. I know of another whose oven is three degrees too hot. They may call it bread, but it's not according to the book."
The beggar turned and began walking away. "Don't you want bread?" I asked him. He stopped, looked back at me, and shrugged,"I guess I lost my appetite." I shook my head and returned to my office."What a shame" I said to myself."The world just isn't hungry for true bread anymore."
-from Max Lucado's book A Gentle Thunder

Incredible that God gives us the keys to the delivery truck, the gas tank is full, we all have our licenses, we have a roadmap, we know the route, we know where hungry people are to deliver the bread to, but we don't go even when we have orders from the Boss.And even when we do, do we give them the bread?

GRACED

I have been able to sort through the huricane I've been in through many of your prayers and replies to my emails. God bless you all for that support, and most of all- glory to God for Jesus that always makes intercession for us!
I have been waiting on God to make clear his direction after much of the summer in unemployment. I had battled with the idea of going full time in ministry as that has always been on the "back burner" in my life and thought maybe now was the time. I also kept open the possibility of changing careers or seeking work in what I most recently was doing. Well, it turns out that none of that matters.
It took me to get to this point to honestly tell God that I surrender my plans and my career.
Yesterday a recruiter wanted me to interview with Anheuser Busch for a job that paid almost 60,000 a year. I had to turn it down knowing it was not consistent with my values, even though it was not on the brewery side of the company. Afterwards God spoke to me in 1Peter chapers 3 & 4 about suffering with less for righteousness. It is really good to read.
Then I was faced with many other opportunities to interview this week, some in telecom, some unrelated, some in Wisconsin where I am now, and others near St. Louis, and a couple more in other regions. Faced with this new problem of detecting God's direction I began to weigh the options. There were many pros & cons with all of them and i was getting nowhere making a final determination. I went to bed that night trying to come up with a solution, and I woke up with all the questions still there and no standout answer.
Later that day I was listening to a message from a preacher and God helped me understand something, although it had nothing to do with the sermon. Sometimes He interupts our endeavor for spiritual growth with wisdom. Isn't that strange?! He then reminded me that I had surrendered my career to Him and I was not to try and pick it back up and manage it again. He told me my focus needs to be on the spiritual need of the region. This is seeking first the kingdom and "all these things will be added." So my goal now is not to even decide on what course of action is best whether it be a position in the church or a job outside church.
God calls us to purposes, not positions. He wants me to focus on fulfilling the spiritual needs of the region and whatever job I am working is just a means to promote God's kingdom. It doesn't matter what job it is to me anymore. It's only going to last about 20 more years anyway compared to eternity! So whatever job opens up to me is fine wherever it is. And I am excited to be working for God if I end up staying here or going elsewhere. That area is going to be claimed by the Lord and I will be in His service.
I also recceived encouragement from Max Lucado's book A Gentle Thunder:hearing God through the storm. Take your time and read this exerpt:
Doesn't peace always follow obedience? Perhaps the disciples had the same expectation. They only did what they were told. Jesus told them to get in the boat so they did. What was the result of their obedience? "That evening Jesus' followers went down to Lake Galilee. It was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The followers got in the boat and started across the Lake to Capernaum. By now a strange wind was blowing and the waves on the lake were getting bigger". I can relate to the strange wind(italics mine).
What a chilling phrase "Jesus had not yet come to them". Caught in the storm of "not yet." They did exactly what Jesus said and look what it got them! A night on a storm tossed sea with their Master somewhere on the shore. It's one thing to suffer for doing wrong. Something else entirely to suffer for doing right.Again refer to 1Peter 3 & 4 & 5. But it happens. And when the storm bursts it washes away the naive assumption that if I do right I will never suffer. Just ask the faithful couple whose crib is empty and whose womb is barren. Just ask the businessman whose honest work was rewarded with runaway inflation.
And so the winds blow. And so the boat bounces. And so the disciples wonder, "Why the storm, and where is Jesus"? The disciples had been on the sea for about 9 hours. John 6:19 tells us they rowed 4 miles. That's a long night. How many times did they search in darkness for their Master? How many times did they call out His name?
Why does He take so long? Mark 6:48 tells us that during the storm Jesus saw his followers struggling.HE SAW THEM! He waited until it was time to come and then He came.
What made it the right time? I don't know. So what does God do while we are enduring pain and in the storm? He prays for us. Jesus wasn't in the boat because he had gone to the hills to pray(Mark 6:46). It's even more remarkable that Jesus didn't stop praying when His disciples were struggling.
So where does that leave us? While Jesus is praying and we are in the storm, what do we do? Simple. We do what the disciples did. We row. Much of our life is spent rowing. Getting out of bed. Fixing lunches. Turning in assignments. Paying bills. Routine. Regular. More struggle than strut.More wrestling than resting.
When Denalyn and I went to Brazil, we thought the life of a missionary was one of daily charm and facination. A Christian Indiana Jones. We learned otherwise. You have too? You thought marriage was going to be a lifelong date? You thought the company who hired you wanted to hear all the ideas you learned in college?Then the honeymoon ended. And the boss wanted you to spend a week in Muleshoe Texas. We have our share of feasts but also our share of baloney sandwiches. And to have the first we must endure the second. So don't bail out! Don't lay down the oars! He is too wise to forget you. He is praying the prayer that He himself will answer.

WHITE FLAG CHRISTIANITY

I am seeing the Word through new eyes. I will start off with some thoughts about the perspective I am talking about and how Paul demonstrates it.
In 1Corinthians 2:1 he says he is not trying to use carefully crafted words to express God to people. We are talking about someone who would be considered of the highest education in his time, and he decides not to rely on that to communicate God's truth. In verse 2 he says he's only determined to know Christ crucified. In other words, he surrenders everything he knows except that. Philippians 3 details things he surrenders: a)he was circumcised on the 8th day (which was a distinguishing mark of dedication), b)of the stock of Israel (his pedigree is noble), c)the tribe of Benjamin (another specific of loyalty), d)a TOP Hebrew (so within his people he is regarded highly), e)concerning the Law- a Pharisee (unparalled in insuring all his actions were in accordance with God's statutes), f)zeal (to the point where he destroyed enemies that he thought would damage the cause of God), g)righteous in the eyes of the Law (he was morally blame free). Then Philippians 3:7 says that even though he could have gained a lot from these credentials, he SURRENDERS his claim to them, for the excelling factor of knowing Christ. Verse 8 says he counts everything else as trash, so that he can know Him in power and sufferings (v.10). In verse 15 he tells everyone to have this attitude who is mature.

"Even if my world falls I will say, above all, I live for your glory!"
-Evermore (Hillsong United)
In 2004, my world fell. I lost 2 jobs, moved twice in 2 different states, and had no idea where to turn. The idea of God's guidance that I always relied on was a mystery. Every effort I made to get my life back on track failed. No expectations were met, even after fasting & praying. The faith I had led me into the unknown. Every time it looked like something was going to work out, it vaporized! I had no idea why & no explanations were given by the prospects I was dealing with. Well, I knew God was getting my attention. I wondered if He was telling me to let it all go and take up a work in ministry. (I had suspected this because in 1984 I was licensed for ministry and although remained involved on a volunteer basis, I did not follow through with it as a full time occupation.) Even as I contemplated this, I received no clear specifics from God on what to do next. But I did know the Lord was re-focusing me on it. I got some counsel from more than one person. I decided the best course of action was to stay open to it all, but not to push anything. Then one opportunity opened out of the blue, but it was hundreds of miles away and was not expected to be up and running for over a year. I held out hope for that but still needed a plan for now. Then something hit me. I. like many, had been developing plans while at the same time making room for God whenever possible. What I realized is that is not seeking first the Kingdom and then "all these things would be added to me"(Matthew 6:33). I was hoping these things would be added to me so I could seek the kingdom! Then I prayed that God would just take everything from me. I didn't care where I worked or where I lived. I resolved myself that wherever I ended up, I would seek to promote His kingdom and not care about anything else. Some extraordinary events led me back to my hometown of Collinsville, IL. This is the zone where I am looking for the spiritual prosperity of the city(I have a verse for that but can't remember where it is right now).

I know now the work God is doing in me and it is so freeing. I call it a "lifestyle of surrender". What I mean is that anything that comes your way is surrendered to God. There is nothing left for you to manage. Any thought that comes your way gets surrendered to God. And the big one for me- any expectation gets surrendered to God. That means you don't have to feel like you're ahead of the game to get security. Before all this happened I had a great career and was completely debt free. With the turn of events, I was determined to establish a game plan to recover from the effects.
A TIME of surrender is great. It frees you from the burdens you are dealing with. But God wants us not to accept it as a one time event, but a lifestyle of practice. Then whatever potential situation may occur is given over to God. The mind of the flesh does not try to manage it. {That alone is going to help someone out there} I don't make something work out when God has it.
So what do you do after you have surrendered everything?You do it again & again. But what do you do after that? The same thing Job first did. You worship. Read Job 1 and consider all he lost- and for no good reason! Verse 20 says he tore his robe & shaved his head [these are signs of repentence & mourning, but begin to think of repentence as SURRENDER. When you repent, you GIVE UP. The old way is surrendered to receive anew.] Then it says he fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (v.21). In other words Job was rich and was set. He lost all his possessions and children. When this happened, he didn't devise a new game plan. He affirmed that he was stripped of everything (naked!) and it was in God's hands. Then he blessed God's name. After you practice a life of surrendering to God, you also accept a lifestyle of worship. Again, it is not a one time or Sunday event that can carry you. That is key, as many have had their expectations dashed although they are regular churchgoers. Romans 12:1 talks about Placing Your Life Before God- "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him." Another version puts it this way: "Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.
I had heard the term "lifestyle of worship" before, but did not know how to fit it in with all of the other events in life. That's not how it works. You see, worship is not just music, it is ascribing worth to God through our life.You need to continually affirm you are surrendering to God. It becomes everything. You don't do the same things you used to do like wasting time watching mindless TV. Your preoccupation is surrendering your will, your habits, your fears, your concerns, others you are praying for, and so on. There is no time to do trivial things anymore. But you don't miss any of them- believe me! You become consumed to get away & express your surrender and then your worship. Your worship is an expressive outpouring springing from your surrender. It magnifies the authority of God and acknowledges that HE IS TOTALLY YOUR REASON FOR LIVING. THAT'S RIGHT- IT'S WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING FOR ETERNITY IN AGES TO COME. But you can begin and maintain it now! I'm telling you the peace that passes all understanding will surround you and guard your mind to where nothing that comes up will phase you!(Philippians 4:7) You will surrender it to God and worship. They work hand in hand. And I am seeing this principle throughout scripture and feel like I could write a book on it. I have been waking up every morning for weeks with a new song in my heart. What a joy it is to be refreshed with a melody from God, rather than thoughts about how I am going to deal with the cares of this world. Many christians have received God's word, but after they hear, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity(Luke 8:14). If you endure the chastening/discipline of God as written in Hebrews 12, afterwards it yields peace & gets you on the right track (verse 11). And back in verse 1 it talks about how a great cloud of witnesses surrounds us, so lay aside every weight & sin that could beset us. SURRENDER!
Remember when you first came to the altar? You said "I surrender all". Well this is the admonishing to follow through with it as your life! Practice surrendering every concern through the day. Then get alone and have your own praise sessions. As you do this, reaffirm the words you are singing and maintain the attitude of surrender. Also know that the reason you are worshipping is not so you can get anything- not even a higher level of spiritual maturity. You are doing it to honor God as Lord of ALL. You don't need to limit yourself to do this on Sunday. Have you ever thought of that? Worship is not something you let others dictate to you!It is your personal responsibility.You apprehend it and accept it as your life's goal. God is your obsession. If you are in public, put on some headphones with songs directed to God.{I don't mean tune everybody out. I am just giving you ideas on how to get alone with God}.But notice I did not say to just play christian music. Sometimes you can just turn on your car radio and whatever will be will be. No, I'm talking about being engaged continually with the Lord.
I always disliked the scripture in 1Thessalonians 5:17 that says "pray without ceasing" because I thought it was impossible. But through a lifestyle of surrender and worship, it becomes normal! The other scriptures in that context also become true in you. You begin to "rejoice always"(v.16). When you are surrendering, you can "in everything give thanks"(v.18). And you obey verse 19 which says "Do not quench the Spirit'. If you take in a fear, concern, ambition, thoughts about the future, or any other issue without surrendering to God, you are disrupting the lifestyle God has predetermined for you in Christ and the Spirit of God is quenched. So "test all things and hold fst to what is good"(v.21). A life of surrender will help you "abstain from every form of evil"(v.22). In other words, anything that is going to take away from the preciousness you have in Christ is something you avoid. Surrendering will help you have the right attitude to receive a necessary word from the Lord at the right time, even if it's prophetic in nature and you are not usually accustomed to it(v.20). Your life is like that of Jesus, who, though He suffered and prayed for that cup to pass from Him, He said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done". By this we know we can still pray for circumstances we believe beneficial, but we leave the outcome to God through surrender.
Now may the God of peace Himself set you apart completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
HE WHO CALLS YOU IS FAITHFUL, AND ALSO WILL DO IT.(v23-24)

THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Think of all the things you can be preoccupied with... If you take the time to isolate yourself from it all everyday and pour out your heart to God, you will be able to handle anything in life. But if you go your own way and only come to Him when the crisis hits, you may not even believe He is there to help you because you neglected Him all the other times. As Oswald Chambers writes:
"Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there. I should never say, 'I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.' Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all. In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point—a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory."
Everything hinges on giving it over to Him. Whatever time is spent otherwise dillutes the strength afforded by God. What is worth substituting for a full concentration of power in life? Ask someone whether they feel better about their spirituality now compared to when they first received salvation, and look into their eyes to see if they are telling the truth. The guage that measures the amount of satisfaction is their level of surrender.

ENDLESS LOVE

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!
Let's try to comprehend this. We know that Jesus loved us enough to die for us. Romans 5:6-8 testifies of it-
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
What this means is that not only were we not motivated to love God but we were impotent towards Him and yet Christ died for us. Even though one of us might muster up the courage to be noble enough to sacrifice our life for someone we really thought it would be worth it for, would we ever consider doing that for a regular guy that was just a face in the crowd? Or take it a step further, would you die for someone who was an enemy of the state? Jesus' death for us while we were yet sinners can be compared to us being asked to throw away our life for a world-wide terrorist. Perhaps you didn't realize His love was that strong. You see, the Bible says that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags". It doesn't say our sins are as filthy rags. It says that the best we can ever do- our goodness is trash to God. And in the face of that Jesus lays down his life because down through the ages he heard your cries. But now let's turn back to the original opening statement(Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us). Here is the extent of God's love... The sacrifice on the cross is greater than me giving up my life for you or somebody I don't like. It is like me being willing to let a terrorist break into my house & take away my son and let my child's torturing be broadcast for the whole world to see. I would never let that happen! But God did. Yet it doesn't stop there- He forgives the terrorist of everything and invites him to come live with Him forever!
God was willing to go to the extreme for all who will turn to Him, and even for those who don't turn to Him, He still wanted to offer Himself to them. You say you feel like you've been broken in pieces because of the awful circumstances of your life? God has felt that same pain & more... Isaiah 52:14 says [For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished at Him.] His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man's, and His form beyond that of the sons of men--but just as many were astonished at Him. He allows Himself to be battered & broken for you... 1 Corinthians 11:23-24:"the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me'..." It is significant that he allows himself to be broken knowing He is going to be betrayed! But it was not just something that happened in the past. God says,"Do you know how many times I have been broken? Every time a confused hurting soul unexpectedly loses someone precious to them and they cry out "Why, God?", I am broken again. I have been broken through all the tragedies of the ages. I am also broken because I have lost many who would not hear me, and they are in hell now, And I will always feel hurt over them. Do not think that because I am God, I am above all that. It is because I am Love that I can never escape that hurt & brokenness."
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! That love is willing to go out of it's way to take the bad, and to live with the ENDURING consequences, so you can have the good.

Needful Things

I want to hang my hat on something more than the trappings of this world. Last night I saw a movie called Needful Things. It is not a Christian movie, and it may be rated R but I saw an edited version on TV. But it was about the devil (in the form of a man) coming to a town and opening up a shop. Everyone that entered, he had some item that they had always envied, such as a Mickey Mantle baseball card, or other antiques. One drunk obtained a jacket like he had in high school when he used to be popular, and it made him feel young again. A priest got a chalice that the Lord drank from. There were other things too. But the catch was, every time someone got their desired possession, they were asked to do something bad. It started out to be just pranks, but it grew to where everyone hated & suspected each other.The movie even had 2 ministers at each other's throats, and when the devil destroyed one of the churches, the priest blamed the Baptist preacher. It was conspired to where the people that did the bad deeds did them to others but the victims suspected someone else that they previously had a grudge against. So hate was being directed to the wrong people. What I got out of it was this question: What desired thing does the devil have to offer us in order for us to be satisfied enough not to pursue God's will? Is it fame, money, success, a job, security, the well being of our children, a man or a woman we want to be with, an ambition we must accomplish, getting out of debt, health, that I am well-liked, that I have a feeling of vindication? The list goes on. You fill in the blank on your particular situation. Do we put our dream or "rights" before our dedication to God? Susanna Wesley said Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your consciousness, obscures your sense of God, or takes away the relish of spiritual things; --that thing is sin to you.

By His Doing

By His doing you are in Christ Jesus - 1 Corinthians 1:30

By His Word, we are.
By His gate, we have an entrance way.
By His embrace, we are no longer scattered or afar off.
By His resurrection, we have unlimited hope.
By His sight, we see.
By His strength, we are able and are no longer weak.
By His voice, we clearly speak.
By His wounds, we are healed.
By His gift, we can give.
By His adoption, we are a family member no longer orphaned, but named.
By His death, we live.
By His shame, we get dignity.
By His humiliation, we arise in exaltation.
By His walk, we follow in His footsteps.
By His poverty, we are enriched.
By His forsakenness, we were united.
By His brokenness, we are repaired.
By His grace, we are saved, though we were powerless without strength.
By His conducting and composing, we become a beautiful song and do not remain unsung or a collection of discordant sounds.
By His promises, we have faith.
By His propitiation, we measure up. (Propitiation: a sacrifice that satisfies a requirement)
By His reflection, we glorify Him.
By His authorship, we are no longer unintelligible phrases, but poetry.
By His acceptance, we belong.
By His release, we are not captives in a small space, but free.
By His hands, we have time.
By His unveiling, we behold.
By His forethought, we are no longer unimagined, but acquire vision and become His dream.
By His Spirit, we are no longer governed by the sinful nature.
By Him becoming a curse, we became a blessing.
By His leadership, we are no longer aimless, but can find the way home.
By His love, we are consumed!
By His choice, we are no longer passed over/unpicked, but claimed.
By His time, we are made beautiful.
By His exposing, we are not hidden, but found.
By His kingdom, we have a new government.
By His blood, we are atoned for, and made acceptable.
By His revelation, we worship!
By His arms, we are carried.
By His sorrows, we have joy.
By His building, we become stable and will not be destroyed.
By His Presence, we are full, and are never alone.
By His invitation, we can come.

Your Defining Moment

Faith implies helplessness. If you had a complicated business matter to transact you would want an expert in that subject matter to take care of it. The same need is there in our complicated lives. We can delegate our authority to the Agency of God. But if He is God, doesn't He already have the authority? Not automatically. In this world you are required to sign a document and have it witness by a notary public in order to legally delegate authority in certain matters. With God you also must consent; Otherwerwise are you not lord of your own affairs? It is like signing the power of attorney of your life over to someone else who can handle it. Usually when we complain to or ask God "Why?" about some matter, we forget we didn't yield control to Him at the start; we just supposed He would handle our leftovers. The great hindrance to faith is self-effort. So long as you have your own wisdom, thoughts, & strength, you cannot fully trust God. For until you come to the end of yourself you cannot begin to know Him. When you believe He is all you need, that will be your defining moment. The chief enemy of His Lordship is not the devil or blatant sinful acts, but self and our insistance to rely on our own resources.
This fact is usually met with the objection that we are not being reasonable or responsible to use the common sense that God gave us. But why use it as we see fit and neglect the guidance of our Creator? It is only because of pride- the very thing that God came to deliver us from, that we have not surrendered all. We have met the enemy and He is us.

Get Comfortable Not Knowing

Do you have a tendency to always want to be "in the know" about what's going on in your life? I used to. I was so addicted to reasoning that I felt obligated to try and figure out a solution for every situation I faced and even irresponsible at times if I didn't. But God in His mercy taught me some powerful truths that changed my life. I believe as you read this article, God will also help you to get comfortable not knowing all the answers.
Which Tree Are You Eating From?
The temptation to want to know everything has been around since the Garden of Eden. In fact, it's this craving for knowledge that caused man to sin in the first place. Genesis 2:8,9 says that God planted a garden, and in the center of that garden, He planted two trees—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (verses 16,17).
Well, most of us know the story. Satan came to Eve and got her to question God's word about the tree. Once his seeds of doubt were planted, he tempted her saying, ...You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity (Genesis 3:4,5). Satan tempted Eve to want to know things that God obviously didn't want her or Adam to know, or He would have told them Himself. What happened? They ate from the forbidden tree. What were the results? They died spiritually and fell out of fellowship with God.
I believe eating from the tree of life represents trusting God, and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents depending on our own knowing— relying on our ability to reason and figure things out for ourselves. Every day, you and I are constantly given choices to trust God or lean to our own understanding. The more we "eat" of our own insight and understanding, the more we experience the symptoms of spiritual death, which include anxiety, worry, confusion, and frustration. But the more we keep our eyes on Jesus and put our trust in Him, the more we experience the fruit of life, which includes righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Does this mean that God wants us to be ignorant? No. It just means that He wants us to live by heart knowledge and not head knowledge—He wants us to live by spiritual discernment and not off the top of our heads.
How Can You Develop Discernment?
One of the main reasons why we don't have more spiritual discernment in our lives is because we spend too much time trying to figure things out on our own. The more we try to figure things out, the more aggravated and frustrated we become. You know the routine—we start asking God a lot of "Why" questions like, "Why did this happen to me?" and, "Why did they get blessed and I didn't?" Then we begin to wonder: "Lord, don't You love me? What's wrong with me? I'm trusting You to help me. I guess I must have sin in my life or not enough faith, otherwise I would be getting a breakthrough, too." With each question we ask, we fall deeper and deeper into confusion and despair.
The only way you and I can have spiritual discernment is to stop trying to figure everything out on our own and choose to wait on God for the answers. He is the One Who directs our steps. Proverbs 20:24 says, Man's steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a man understand his way? Our minds are not always going to understand what's going on, but our spirits can. First Corinthians 2:14,15 says that ...the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him...But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things].... Instead of trying to figure things out in your head, begin to search them out in your spirit. Go to God in prayer and say, "Father I need an answer in this situation I'm facing. I know that I've put my mind to it long enough, I will come up with an idea of my own. But I don't want my will—I want Yours. I ask You to show me in my spirit what I should do. I'm going to go about my business and not worry about this anymore. In Jesus' name, amen."
How Does God Lead You?
No matter how long you and I have walked with the Lord, we are always going to have some unanswered questions. In fact, that's part of being a mature Christian. But not knowing what's going on can be very scary at times.
I remember when God asked me to leave my full-time position at Life Christian Center and take my ministry north, south, east, and west. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make because it didn't make much sense to my mind. At the time. I was teaching a weekly women's meeting to about 400 women Bible courses at our church college and preaching in my pastor's absence. On top of that nobody knew me outside of the St. Louis area Needless to say, I had a lot of questions, such as. "Where am I supposed to go? What about office spacer? and Where are we going to get the money?" With great anxiety I brought my concerns to the Lord. But He didn't say much, so I waited. Eventually I became so miserable that I knew there was nothing else I could do except step out and obey God. It was at this time that God led me to Hebrews 11:8, which says, "Urged on by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance: and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go."
God showed me that just as Abraham went not knowing where he was going. I was supposed to go. too. He didn't want me to wait for the entire blueprint of my life before I made a move— He wanted me to step out of my comfort zone and trust Him for further direction. That's the way God leads us—step by step. His kingdom functions on TRUST—not reasoning. When we are obedient to do the first thing He tells us, then He'll show us the next thing. Proverbs 3:5,6 says, Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. As long as you and I are trying to figure everything out on our own, we are proving that we are not trusting God. But when we choose to rely on God to let us know what we need to know, when we need to know it. we prove that we are trusting Him and we put ourselves in position for Him to move miraculously.
Will You Take the Thirty-Day Challenge?
So get comfortable not knowing all the answers and spend time getting to know the One Who does. I challenge you to fast from reasoning for thirty days—make a commitment to yourself and God to stop trying to figure things out. Every time you're tempted with the anxious desire to know what to do. stand firm and say, "No. I'm on a fast. I'm not going to try and figure this out. I've prayed about it, and now I'm waiting on God for the answer." I believe that as you do this, you will enter a new level of God's rest, begin to experience more of His peace and joy, and when you least expect it, He'll give you the heart revelation you've been searching for all along!

The model of ministry

Ephesians 4 shows us God's model of ministry:
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

But our model of ministry is to get people to come to church in hopes that the preacher will get souls converted. This is not only contrary to the Biblical pattern, it puts an undue responsibility on the pastor to do our share of the work. In reality, we should be winning more souls than the clergy, at least collectively, if not individually.
You never see the disciples going around inviting people to the synagogue so they could have an encounter. They were empowered to touch and change people. Afterwards they had all things in common (became a community) and shared things as each one needed (Acts 2:44-45). And even though they met in the temple daily (Acts 2:46), most of the "acts" of the apostles took place outside of the "church house". Because of this, the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).
If you want Bible results, you have to follow the Bible example.

1 thing

Have you ever had a conversation maybe when you were young and asked,
"Hey, ya remember that one thing?"
It seems like a great many Christians have forgotten that one thing....our romance with Jesus.
King David said in Psalm 27 that even if an army rises against him, he only wants one thing- to dwell in God's Presence all his days & to gaze on the attractiveness of the Lord. Here is a king who is able to command anything to happen at a word and the one thing he wants is to be consumed with God on a daily basis! "You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word]."-Psalm 27:8
How much we know really isn't the issue. Whatever we are giving our heart to is what we are worshipping. Even though the rich young ruler (in Mark 10) carefully observed all the commandments from boyhood, Jesus told him he lacked ONE THING- an abandonment of all he had so that he could pursue Jesus.
In Luke 10 we find Mary seated at the feet of Jesus. That's all we need to be occupied with. We're not doing it to get anything from God, not even stuff we think will make us better Christians. We are there to honor him. And if nothing seems to happen, at least He can say we were there with Him. Martha was distracted from the ONE THING Jesus said was needful. Ironically, the thing that distracted her was much serving. We can be so preoccupied with doing God's work that we miss His will. Forget about all the responsibilities you think you ought to be doing for God. The problem with trying to manage our spirituality is just that- we're the manager! He doesn't call us to things to do. He calls us to Himself. Only an overflow from that produces effective service. God is jealous for us/our time/our affection. He will not share His glory with another. And we have been involved in other loves. In 2Corinthians 11:2-3 Paul said we are betrothed to one Husband, to present us as a pure virgin to Christ. But he was fearful that just as the serpent deceived Eve, so to we might be seduced and deceived from wholehearted simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. May we fall on our faces, surrender all, like we said we did at first, and re-embrace our First Love. From this point on, pray that no situation or even a thought will be allowed to compete with the Glory of God.
Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all trash in order that I may gain Christ- the Anointed One. -Phillipians 3:8

Effects of revival

What would happen if revival were to break into our lives and our churches today? I am sure of one thing. At the heart of that revival would be a trememndous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. To begin with, people would have a new vision of the majesty of God. We must understand that the Lord is not only tender and merciful and full of compassion, but He is also the God of justice, holiness, and wrath. Many Christians have a caricature of God. They do not see God in all of His wholeness. We glibly quote John 3:16, but we forget to quote the following verse, "he who does not believe has been judged already"(verse 18). Compassion is not complete in itself, but must be accompanied by inflexible justice and wrath against sin and a desire for holiness.
What stirs God most is not physical suffering, but sin. All too often we are more afraid of physical pain than of moral wrong. The cross is the standing evidence of the fact that holiness is a principle for which God would die. God cannot clear the guilty until atonement is made. Mercy is what we need and that is what we receive at the foot of the cross.
In her book, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whiall Smith tells us "... what we need is to see that God's presence is a certain fact always, and that every act of our soul is done right before Him, and that a word spoken in prayer is really spoken to Him, as if our eyes could see Him and our hands could touch Him. Then we shall cease to have such vague conceptions of our relations with Him, and shall feel the binding force of every word we say in His presence."

MEMO FROM GOD

1. QUIT WORRYING

Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for you? Or do you just enjoy fretting over every little thing that comes your way?

2. PUT IT ON THE LIST

Something needs done or taken care of. Put it on the list. No, not YOUR list. Put it on MY to-do-list. Let ME be the one to take care of the problem. I can't help you until you turn it over to Me. And although My to-do-list is long, I am after all... God. I can take care of anything you put into My hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

3. TRUST ME

Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs, your problems and your trials. Problems with the kids? Put them on My list. Problem with finances? Put it on My list. Problems with your emotional roller coaster? For My sake, put it on My list. I want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

4. LEAVE IT ALONE

Don't wake up one morning and say, "Well, I'm feeling much stronger now, I think I can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It's simple. You gave Me your burdens and I'm taking care of them. I also renew your strength and cover you in my peace. Don't you know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where you started? Leave them with Me and forget about them. Just let Me do my job.

5. TALK TO ME

I want you to forget a lot of things. Forget what was making you crazy. Forget the worry and the fretting because you know I'm in control. But there's one thing I pray you never forget. Please, don't forget to talk to Me - OFTEN! I love YOU! I want to hear your voice. I want you to include Me in on the things going on in your life. I want to hear you talk about your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with Me. I want to be your dearest friend.

6. HAVE FAITH

I see a lot of things from up here that you can't see From where you are. Have faith in Me that I know what I'm doing. Trust Me; you wouldn't want the view from My eyes. I will continue to care for you, watch over you, and meet your needs. You only have to trust Me. Although I have a much bigger task than you, it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing your simple part. How hard can trust be?

7. SHARE

You were taught to share when you were only two years old. When did you forget? That rule still applies. Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joy with those who need encouragement. Share your laughter with those who haven't heard any in such a long time. Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry. Share your faith with those who have none.

8. BE PATIENT

I managed to fix it so in just one lifetime you could have so many diverse experiences. You grow from a child to an adult, have children, change jobs many times, learn many trades, travel to so many places, meet thousands of people, and experience so much. How can you be so impatient then when it takes Me a little longer than you expect to handle something on My to-do-list? Trust in My timing, for My timing is perfect. Just because I created the entire universe in only six days, everyone thinks I should always rush, rush, rush.

9. BE KIND

Be kind to others, for I love them just as much as I love you. They may not dress like you, or talk like you, or live the same way you do, but I still love you all. Please try to get along, for My sake. I created each of you different in some way. It would be too boring if you were all identical. Please, know I love each of your differences.

10. LOVE YOURSELF

As much as I love you, how can you not love yourself? You were created by me for one reason only -- to be loved, and to love in return. I am a God of Love. Love Me. Love your neighbors. But also love yourself. It makes My heart ache when I see you so angry with yourself when things go wrong. You are very precious to me. Don't ever forget that!

~~~ With all My heart,
I love YOU! God

The American Way

In spite of the rapid growth we see in many churches in this nation, I fear that it is due to the new attractive slick presentations, and not because people are being conformed to the image of Christ. Revelation 3:17 says, "Because you say 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." Harsh words that we likely won't accept (but indeed, the above verse says we do not know). So I will illustrate. Let's imagine what would happen if an American Christian was transported into real Bible situations. Had Moses been an American faced with the opposition of Pharoah, he would have said, "Well it looks like the Lord isn't opening a door for me here- I'll move on."
Had Daniel been an american, he would have backed down from regular prayer. How do I know? Because it isn't a high priority in our lives now, and the church didn't make a peep when our government removed prayer from schools.
American Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego would have bowed down, not wanting to make waves, and talked themselves into thinking God understands because of the difficult situation they were in.
Would an American have been true to the annointing of King David, knowing that the most powerful man in the nation had his army intent on killing you? Surely that couldn't be God's will for you to be in fear.
And what about Jesus? Sadly, had he been American, upon discovering Judas was going to betray him, I think he would have called this whole thing off.
Peter is probably the closest thing to an American "disciple". So eager to say "I'll do anything for you, Lord. I'll forgive people 7 times if they treat me bad, and well, I'm even ready to die for you". And shortly afterwards he's not just physically retalliating, he's using weapons, and then fleeing when that didn't work, and then denying with curses that he even knows Jesus.
I think these examples paint an accurate picture of how far we are from God's way. I invite you to place an American Christian in the character of the next Bible story you read and play out the outcome. I believe a godly fear will come upon you if you take it seriously. The one that scares me the most is that the rich young ruler would be accepted as a top member in every church in America. But he walked away from Jesus! And Jesus did not run after him or temper his words to win him back! Will you too be comfortable going to church, spending your life on pursuits kidding yourself into thinking God is with you? Will you leave it all to follow the Master? Will you meet the rich young ruler on the other side of eternity?

Hard Teachings of Jesus

In John chapter 6, Jesus was walking along and teaching his disciples. In verse 60, some of the disciples who were following Jesus responded to what he was teaching by saying, “this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?” I think that response is worth examining on both ends, the “hard teaching” end and the “who can accept it” end.
Let’s start with the hard teaching. Modern day theology of Jesus has portrayed him as a nice guy who loves us and is there to bless us. Modern day theology has made Jesus into a guy who is there to serve us and make us better people. At first glance, those seem to be good things. But the problem is that Jesus is more than that. Jesus is more than a guy, he’s God incarnate. And while he does love us, deeply I might add, and while he does desire to bless us and make us better people, his vision of a better reality for us is far beyond what we think it is. And when he speaks, he doesn’t just speak as a nice guy with some suggestions for a better life, he speaks with the authority, power, and conviction of God Almighty. He speaks as one who sees the truth, and who knows the truth will set us free. He speaks into the depths of our hearts where most of us dare not dwell for fear of what’s in there. He answers questions we didn’t know we were asking. And that’s why when we examine the teachings of Jesus throughout the New Testament, we are forced to stop chasing our own version of Jesus, the nice guy who is supposed to make us feel better about ourselves version, and start following the real Jesus, who loved us enough to die in our place, who speaks the very words of life into our thirsty souls.
He doesn’t always say things how we would say them. He doesn’t always walk in the direction we would walk. He doesn’t always respond the way we would respond. But that’s why He is God, and that’s why He is leading and we are called to follow. In an era of tolerance, where not offending people is a high virtue, we must ask this question, “Can Jesus offend me?” “Does Jesus have the right to offend me and call me to live differently?” The disciples said it was hard teaching and asked, “Who can accept it?” They were offended by what Jesus was teaching. They were taken back by the call that Jesus was placing on their lives, this great call to follow Him and not their own ways, and they were literally wondering not only if it was possible to accept it, but should they accept it.
When we hear the call of Jesus to repent and follow Him, our first instinct is not to obey and follow, but to be shocked that Jesus would say something that seems so radical and harsh. We then spend time debating if we like what we heard. Once we decide we don’t like it, we tell others what we think about it, to the point where eventually we convince ourselves that Jesus must not have said it. And then we start to paint a different picture of Jesus than the one given to us, one that we find manageable, one that we find comforting and doesn’t require us to change, but merely feel good. So we deceive ourselves into thinking that we know what is better for our lives than Jesus. Who then can accept the hard teachings of Jesus? Only those who are willing to let Jesus offend them; only those who have come to the end of themselves.

Escalators of Eternity

Last night at church I saw a disturbing image in my mind while singing "Halleluyahs" to God... Two escalators side by side, one going up and one going down. Both were entirely packed with people on their way to their destination of heaven or hell. As the ones were going up, when they reached the top they were ushered into eternity with the accompanying hosts from heaven singing "Halleluyahs" in harmony with us at church! At that moment those coming off the escalator also began to sing heartily the same "Halleluyahs" and the harmonious concert was glorious! I also sensed praise coming from saints in other parts of the world. This was occuring simultaneously, moment to moment, as new people reached the top of their escalation.
I also observed the people on the downward escalator. As they reached the precipice, the bottom dropped out from beneath them. Their voice was quenched as they attempted to vocalize something. A great realization that their hope was cut off overtook me. They could hear the "halleluyahs" from the people going upward, the heavenly hosts, and the christians on earth singing. All of this magnified their curse. Then I realized that this was happening in real time on a continuous basis and I wept uncontrollably.
Afterwards I realized this too: God's heart is so big that He can absorb watching this scenario re-occur every moment. It's happening now. I began to think of how my heart could not handle seeing one of my children go through success at all the stages in his life lifting him to a great destination, while my other child was constantly dogged with compounding failures that eventually led him to devastation. Remember the father who's prodigal son left home to waste his life? The father had his other son (who had everything his father had) yet they could not celebrate while the other one was away. The father's heart was looking for the return of the lost one.
There is a celebration for everyone to come to. Some are just on the wrong escalator.

Sacrifice is My status symbol

O my children, you go your own way as though you belonged to another; yes, you behave not as sons and daughters, but as strangers. You hold meetings in my name and give honor to men but not to me. You boast that you serve me, but in truth you serve your own ego; for that which you do is calculated to enhance your own position and advance your own prestige, and you give it all a sanctimonious cloak.
Get to the prayer closet! This is the reason I have taught you to pray in secret.: because there you are beset by fewer false motives and less temptation. He who does not habitually commune with Me alone is almost sure to find true prayer impossible in public.
You would make Christianity pleasant and acceptable. Your Savior did not find it so. You would make it comfortable and accommodating to your own schedule. He knew nothing of such a false religion. Lonely nights He wrestled in prayer nor spared himself physical discomfort.Yes, the more you pamper the flesh as to bodily comfort, the more it will demand from you, until you become its servant. Do not be deceived. I gave you no such commandment. Hear Me as I repeat what I gave to your fathers: "Deny your self and take up your cross and follow Me." Yes follow Me, not some worldy form of a backslidden church.

Do not think it becomes blessed because it bears the name "church". My church is a living body, not a dead form. My people may be recognized by their humility and sufferings, not by social acceptability and self-advertized successes; not by extravagent physical structures, but by the grace of God at work in their hearts. Sacrifice is my status symbol, and humanity has not been eager to recognize My type of spiritual leadership.
Do you desire to follow me? Look for the bloodstained prints at my feet. Go to the cold unyielding rock in the garden of Gethsemane, where self is put aside, and the cup of suffering is accepted. Die to your own treacherous and deceitful heart. Rise with determination to go unflinchingly not hoping to spare yourself. Save your life and you will surely lose it. Offer it up to Me, this very day in renewed consecration to sacrificial living and I will accept you- and you shall know joy as new wine.

-from the book Come Away My Beloved
by Frances J Roberts

Living for yourself is the same as living for the devil

I read an article about a parent who was appalled when his kid came home from trick-or-treat and found a leaflet in the bag discouraging him from reading books that lead to witchraft. But is it wrong to discourage kids from witchcraft? no one is going to be fooled into becoming a satanist from seeing a vision of a red guy with horns & a pitchfork. they would only be fooled if the deception was more subtle. for example, most witches think they are using their powers to do good. the biggest trick from the devil is we move on an idea and justify it with our selfish motives, not realizing this: you don't need to serve the devil as long as you are serving your selfish nature, because it brings the same result- alienation from God. Or even if we say we are including God, we sometimes are still calling the shots. So He's not involved as God practially, but only in name so we can once again justify OUR ways.
this is the deceptiveness of sin and we see the effect of it everywhere. repentence is the cure. before you cynicalize that statement, think. What is wrong with repentence, and why is our first inclination to minimize it's application to us? Because the sin-nature is so ingrained in us that we reject it as acceptable. Anything to let our pride prevail. But as the old song says, ya gotta serve somebody.

1 drop of pride

It would be easy for one to be self-righteous in their thinking that since they have lived the majority of their life for God, that making a couple of selfish choices would do no harm. Let us remember the words of Jesus when he said, "a little leaven ruins the whole loaf". We can easily see this when we reflect on the choic Adan & Eve made to eat from the wrong tree. On the surface it looked like no big deal. But one drop of pride ruined the whole human race! (Romans 5:12)
God testifies that He resists the proud (1Peter 5:5). Lucifer enjoyed the Presence in heaven until he let one choice remove him. And look what that has brought on:
Abel killed his brother because of it.
Annointed Saul plotted evil because of it.
Hezekiah became a madman due to it.
A whole city nearly didn't turn to God in repentence because of the prophet Jonah's pride.
Because of Peter's pride, Jesus rebuked him as Satan's agent.
There are many other examples but the point I'd like to make is that all these were doing fine, some holding highly regarded positions before they let in a little bit of pride to their demise. You can also see that in fallen ministers today that previously enjoyed good success. So we cannot place our security in any position, past victory, or any doctrine we archive in our heart. For they cannot rescue us from the opportunity of pride. AND IN FACT, they delude us into believing a little pride couldn't possibly do that much harm compared to our track record. History proves otherwise- even when it's outside the religious realm. From CEO's that were hailed on the cover of magazines and are now in jail for embezzling to gifted athletes that proclaimed their greatness and are now far removed from excellence.
The outbreak of so many fallen heroes is due to one missing ingredient which is seldom reinforced even in the church. That safeguard is: the fear of the Lord. When this sense of fear & awe returns to the church we will see amazing things like they did in the book of Acts, as they revered God. And in fact, when some allowed their one drop of pride to override their sense of fear & awe- they DIED (see Acts 5). As a result, greater fear came over the whole church. But when have you sensed that in your church? Hardly ever, if at all- which is why there is a lack of power and why the occasions of pride are tolerated. And it doesn't matter if you put a christian label on pride- it's still destructive. And it has blinded us. It has blinded us from accepting the humility of Jesus, to the point where we look on that as a weakness! But this pride is directly opposed to the ways of God and will never be deemed acceptable, even under the guise of building programs, or other great undertakings in the name of Jesus. When we seek to draw men to ourselves through our gifts & talents, or more subtly, our programs, pride is the default even if we call it a work of God. And we inwardly brag about how the Lord has used us.

PS- Confession: Even as I wrote this, I noticed the tendency to glee in its composition, while I should be weeping at how pride has brought erosion to our souls. For maturity in faith or expressions of gifts do not dismiss the occasion for the presence of pride. As Genesis 4 warns, "If you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door; and its desire is to master you, but you must master it."
Luke 22 reveals Satan has asked permission to sift all of you like wheat. The devil wants to impart his nature in you and his permission slip is our pride. Don't sign the papers!

What's the problem?

One day my son became frustrated over a toy that he couldn't get to function properly. In his world, it was a big problem that was growing more unsolvable as time passed. But when he brought it to me, it was nothing more than incidental. I had the understanding and ability to quickly fix it.
It reminded me of how we view our troubles as things that cause us grief that builds in us each day. However, God does not see the things that bother us as problems at all! From His perspective, it's no big deal. So what's the problem? To Him, there is none!
Corrie Ten Boom provides this encouragement: Once I had a burden that weighed heavily on me. I set it down and looked at it. Then I saw that everything about my burden was borrowed. One part belonged to the following day, one part to the next week. My burden was a big, stupid mistake.I realized that worrying is carrying tomorrow's burden with today's strength. It's carrying two days at once. It's prematurely thinking of tomorrow. On the calendar, there is only one day for action, and that is today. The sun will shine tomorrow on the problems that tomorrow brings. Why don't we look for something easier than anxiety? Worried people are like tightrope walkers trying to walk over a rope from the past to the future, balancing between hope and fear. In one hand they hold a bag with the disordered past, in the other a bag, the feared future. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's grief, it takes away today's strength. It does not enable us to avoid evil, but it makes us incapable of dealing with it when it comes.
Deuteronomy 33:25 says "...your strength will equal your days."

Vomit!

Revelation 3- 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
I've heard this explained that God would rather have us on fire with zeal for Him or be an unbeliever rather than we be half-hearted Christians. I always wondered why he would prefer coldness than to have at least a partial commitment. But upon second glance, this is not what He is saying. We usually view lukewarmness as someone who is on the fence trying to live both worldly and Christian lives, or just someone who is casual about their faith. But verse 17 actually clues us in: "17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—" This is scary because that describes the goal of most Americans and church people! Don't we make it our aim to obtain a lifestyle of accomplishment to where one day we hope to say, OK, I'm set now! In fact, we have enshrined a time period of our lives called "retirement". We accept this as a right even though there is no promise from God on the matter. What if He expects something else?
So to think this goal is a "given" in our thinking, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? I know you think, what does that have to do with my eternal security? That's not what I'm talking about. I mean there are aspects to our spiritual lives that has ramifications here & now, and our "salt loses it's flavor" if we accept lukewarm living and call it normal.
But is God really describing lukewarmness in verse 17? After all in Joshua 1 He says 8"This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful." Well, for one thing, God's definition of success is not the same as ours. The goal is to DO HIS WILL/act in accordance with all that is written, as it says above. The other thing is not so much the success, but the attitude of " I have need of nothing".The fulfillment of personal goals accompanied by a lack of hunger for God = lukewarm. We don't define it like that, but God does.Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men..

The old cross & the new cross

By A. W. Tozer
The following is an excerpt from The Old Cross and The New by A. W. Tozer. This wise saint went to be with the Lord in 1963. All his messages were written more than forty years ago, yet they are as relevant now as were then!

Unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique -- a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before. The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.
The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill-seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.
The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.
The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.
That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ....
Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we... alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.

The Church Dream

This is a dream I had 9/21/07. I was in a large fellowship hall trying to preach a message to a big group of people. I was trying to get across with urgency a description of different groups of people within the church by categorizing the way they thought and acted. I described the ones who were saved acted accordingly, and the ones who were unsaved by pointing out cartain things, and then described the ones who thought they were Christians but thought and acted in culturally acceptable ways were out of God’s will. During this time almost everyone was distracted by someone next to them talking or a child demanding attention or a concern they had prevented them from focussing. I repeatly had to backtrack and reemphasize my points but I still wasn’t getting through to the majority. My voice was growing hoarse and felt like even when I gained some people’s minds I would lose others. It was frustratingly tiring me out, as I did not have a microphone and the atmosphere was noisy. Eventually I climbed some steps to a platform where I overlooked the large group of people, but saw the same disarray occuring, even people moving around. I announced to the crowd I recently saw a slide presentation and wished they could have seen it to help them get the full impact, but that I would try to describe it (which was going to be hard since they already weren’t listening most of the time). The slide show opened with the questions “Where can you go to get your needs met?” I paused and hoped it sunk in. Next question “Where do you go to get you above your circumstances?” “Where can you go to meet new friends?” I threw out a few more examples like that. “Where can you go to enhance your life?” etc…. and then I added, “Where can you go to meet a beautiful woman”? I then answered “THE CHURCH” and before I could make the most important point of the message a group of people came in and said they needed to use the room, which brough further chaos to the whole auditorium and there were people moving around and shuffling chairs. I tried to raise my voice but after minutes there were only a very small amount of people left with a look on their faces like I needed to start all over or they wouldn’t comprehend what I preached. And the main point the Lord was trying to get over was that people come to the church to get all these and more things but not to love Him! That correlated to the beginning words I said concerning those who were saved and unsaved. However, I was not even able to relay this to the leftover people when my alarm clock went off, thus ending the dream! And the underlying truth is that the greatest part of the people in the church were not ready when the (alarming) Day of the Lord came.

The Word for the day (and beyond)

We can rejoice in this day because it is what the Lord has purposefully made (Psalm 118:24). But one day He will decide not to do that. The Lord spoke the earth into existence, and one day He will speak it out of existence. You see, He upholds all things by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). Heaven & earth will pass away, but the Word of the Lord will not come to an end (Luke 21:33). That means even if you didn't want to deal with His Word now, you would still come face to face with it in eternity, whether in heaven or hell, because it will still be there outlasting everything forever!

Scars & Excuses

If we have been offended or had a hard life with bad circumstances, does God give us a discount or disclaimer on obedience?
"Behold the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear."
For us to look for an escape clause in responsibility to God means we think He's inadequate. We become wise in our own eyes and hope God understands. We reason "God wants us to be happy", but we don't take into account our actions cause others to be unhappy. Suppose Jesus thought what was in his best interest on the way to the cross.
What, then, is a good way to deal with our pain? The truth is that life never goes how anyone expects it to. We will either face our pain or overcompensate to avoid it and anything in the future that reminds us of it. Facing it first involves allowing God the opportunity to heal us instead of feeling justified to handle it our way.
"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried."
Through His word, He communicates His ability & willingness to carry our burden. We then can gain encouragement that He is able. When we are tempted to relive the pain, His Spirit of power, love, and soundness overshadows the infliction. He has unfolded beauty from pain before and Jesus is living proof that someone with scars can emerge victoriously. He didn't just do it for Himself or to prove He could do it. He saw that He could provide hope for you.
Now He shows Himself to us every day and when we look upon Him knowing He has endured even more suffering than us, we know he can effectively handle the battle we face because we are not facing it alone. And that, my friend is grace to you! This certainty rests with us. Which will we ascribe more power to, our scars or His?

There is a phenomenon among Christianity these days. It’s called the seeker friendly church and boy, is it ever growing. I’m talking mega-church, mega growth. We know that God is all about increase, “not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.” Jesus’ command to go into all the world and make disciples and the prayer of Jabez, are some of many examples of increase. So we conclude; growth is good, growth is God. While it is true that only God gives the increase, it is likewise true that the flesh profits nothing.
So now we’re left with the challenge of defining true increase. When Jesus met the fleshly needs of the 4,000 and the 5,000, He had the multitudes. (fish/loaves) But when He spoke of “taking up your cross” and “a kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die”, a very different crowd was present. There is a great difference between being a follower and being a disciple. One is committed to the profitability, the other is committed to the sacrifice. The reality of humanity is that there is an attraction to the path of least resistance. Many are called, few are chosen. The seeker friendly recipe includes positive uplifting messages, recreational gatherings and easy believism. There is nothing wrong with those topics in and of themselves. Taboo topics include preaching on sin, hell, spiritual warfare, or getting extreme in any way. It’s sort of like telling God to be politically correct. While there are many wonderful people in the seeker camp, their focus is on programs and church. What’s lacking is seeking the face of God and desiring His presence. That’s why you’ll never see “snot-slingin’” repentance and the undignified dance of King David. I fear the seeker mentality is like that of the Israelites at Sinai telling Moses to go seek God and then tell us what He said. The highest priority of leadership is to teach the people to feed themselves. Even though one may do charitable acts and be a great giver, is he able to feed himself…or others? When the church incorporates worldly systems, then sprinkle it with a little bit of God, what results can we expect?
Sure, if you want to put the breaks on the prophetic, your services will be neat and tidy and your warfare will decrease, but so will your opportunity to grow spiritually. The seeker friendly appears to be cutting edge contemporary, but is in reality only culturally current tradition. Without the prophetic with all its warts and blemishes, church is a lukewarm history lesson. The prophetic is God’s true cutting edge ministry. With its positive, rational thinking, the people friendly church will struggle during tribulation and end time events. Only where the revelatory operates and God’s rhema voice is heard, can one be positioned for victory. Once you have tasted the prophetic, programs will no longer satisfy. Let us labor to be “God friendly” where He’ll get the glory and our increase will be true increase!
contributed by Mark Perkins

Dilemma

In today's world, a minister is only allowed to confess 2 types of sin. One of them I describe as the "shared category" such as getting a speeding ticket. A congregation can overlook that because many of them have had the same problem so they don't judge a pastor if it happens to him too. The other one is the "old sin"- something that happened years and years ago before anyone in the church ever knew him, especially preferred if he was not a christian at the time it occurred. Some of the worst sins are overlooked in this case because they are washed away upon conversion.
But what should someone do if they feel like God has called them to ministry, but they have committed one of society's taboo sins outside of these 2 categories? On one hand the Bible says the callings & the gifts of God are irrevocable. However in the real world you would be asking a congregation of people to trust someone with an amount of risk involved that they would rather avoid. And I doubt you would feel good about concealing your past mistake. How do you get out of the dilemma? It's too early to tell until you walk through it. (You're probably thinking: "EARLY? I've been dwelling on this for years and need an answer before I invest any more time with this!") Hold on. Moses knew there was something different about his life. It was supposed to take on significance more than what earthly royalty could bring. He tried to become a deliverer in his own timing and he ended up murdering someone. THAT's a BIG mistake. So he bails out and 40 years later the Lord brings him to a calling more huge than anyone can dream. I'm not saying it's going to take 40 years to figure it out for you, just that it's going to unfold in ways you don't yet expect. And it is probably going to be bigger than what your sins are limiting you to think.
I know of 2 prominant ministries in my area that employed a sex offender who came out of prison becasue they knew he was genuine in repentence. One of them is a world wide ministry that you would recognize if i mentioned it. I'm not saying there are no consequnces of rejection coming your way, but you will learn to handle it with grace and not angst. You are going to have to believe your purpose is more important than a position. You are going to have to believe a setback is really a set up with God. You are going to need to know all along the way, what appears to be a disappointment is really an appointment.

Lord of the dance

I went to a Jason Upton worship service recently. A lot of spontaneous moving in the Spirit occurred. It was one of those "ya had to be there" things. I remember towards the end they were doing a really upbeat song and there was this girl probably about 20 dancing wildly in the front row. I thought she was overdoing it but I didn't let it bother my worship to God.
On the drive home I was thinking about the whole night's experience and praying about certain things. Then I remembered that girl. Putting my best spiritual foot forward, I asked, "Lord, what was happening with her? She seemed like she might be overcompensating for some problems in her past. Does she need special prayer?" God said, "No, there's nothing wrong with her at all. I created her to dance that way. She was doing exactly what she was made for." Then God said, "If she wouldn't have been dancing before Me in church, she would have ended up doing it in a strip club." I was stunned. Then God broke my heart. He said, "Ya know John, there's a lot of girls that are in the clubs tonight, and they're supposed to be dancing in My church."
I started crying. Because I knew we are all so much trying to satisfy ourselves spiritually that we can't even see others in need. We don't know how to leave the 99 to go and save the 1. That is why you almost never see REAL dancers in the church.

Intimacy With Jesus

The way to get there: absolute surrender
· The way to stay there: recognizing His Presence continually
· Essential character ingredient: humility
· The by-product: worship becomes a lifestyle, not just an event
· Motto: anything that takes away the preciousness of Jesus to you is your enemy
Practical applications
Always primarily focus on fellowshipping with God throughout the day with the view that your purpose is to glorify Him. Let everything else be a side issue. Let nothing preoccupy your thoughts except the King and His effect on you & others.

Draw nearer to Him often through His promises, and through song. Do not just listen to music for something in the background. Do it with a purpose and present yourself to Him as you hear.

When praising God, make sure you keep focussing on each phrase of the song. Do not let your mind drift to other things. Make sure you don’t let the truth of the song slip by you. Assign faith to each truth presented in the song and let it be a personal revelation. Allow the motions of your body to agree with the lyrics: if they sing, “I lift my hands to You” then lift your hands. If they sing”We bow down” then bow either at your waist or on your knees. Do not ignore the lyrics and just say to yourself those phrases are spiritual allegories. Remember you are doing this for the Lord and treat Him as if He is really there!

Make it a habit to have praise sessions daily at home, not just every time you go to church. Who ever said you had to limit it to once or twice a week? Who ever said we had to wait for a worship leader to cue us before we can honor God? It is not someone else’s responsibility- it is ours; and Heaven is watching to see what we will do. We should be doing anything that can be considered practice for what we will be doing in heaven.

If any thought or circumstance occurs in your day to disrupt your focus on the Lord, say in your heart that you are surrendering it to God and He is handling it. If the thought tries to come back, repeat and affirm the surrender of it. Have in mind that you are going to allow nothing to compete with the Glory of God.

If a person or event comes to mind, pray for them/it because it’s not a coincidence. If you notice a situation that is out of the ordinary, that is an extra incentive to invoke God’s will on the matter, at least through prayer and if possible, through your assistance. When you pray, intervene apostolically, meaning pray prayers that intercede,(believing that God will supernaturally establish something) and base it on His word. Know that you are playing an important part in calling God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. You may not have opportunity to see the full effect of it until you are in heaven, but still have confidence that God is moving.

When praying, never dismiss the Presence of God after you say, “Amen” just to go on with your agenda. Your chief pursuit is only to know God more and to entrust anything to Him. Our enemy of His Lordship is not always the devil or blatant sinful acts, but self and our insistance to rely on our own resources. Don’t accept the idea that loving and living wholly in Him is too much to expect. That is pride trying to deny the leading of God’s Spirit which is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

Believe that nothing will ever separate you from the love of God every day. He proved it by allowing His Son to suffer and die for you, so how will He not freely give you all things (Romans 8:32)? If you abide in Him you will be content. Security does not come from getting your needs met. It comes from fellowshipping with the Spirit. The main reason we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us is what Paul said in the preceding verse: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.” –Philippians 4:12 So remember that no matter what situation you are in, you can still determine to live for His glory!

Be aware that God is in your midst and the next thing you shift to dwell on, He is already there in that moment before you get there!

Recommended readings: The Bible – God
The Normal Christian Life – Watchman Nee
The Complete Green Letters – Miles Stanford
Practicing the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence
Absolute Surrender – Andrew Murray
The Final Quest – Rick Joyner

"Fine"

Most of the time when you ask someone how they are doing, they will tell you they are fine. If everyone is fine, why is the world such a mess?
If only someday I would see an honest man walk down the aisle of a church and address the congregation like this:
"My family life is a wreck. I can't control my appetite. I can't forgive the ones who hurt me. My heart is so full of lust. So I just wanted to invite any of you that feel the same way to come to the altar, because I'm gonna be right here begging God to give me a new heart and make me pure."
Nearly everyone would be on their face before God in tears, if they stopped pretending to be "fine". It would launch a sudden revival. Because real hope for change doesn't come from getting the right people in politics or making the world change their evil ways. But it's "If MY people, which are called by my name, shall humble THEMselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from THEIR wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
But we don't want revival. We just want church. Because we are doing "fine".

I'm Positive

Maximun Christmas

Christmas is God's exclamation point! God changed Himself into a baby, grew up without getting corrupted, and was executed for us, exchanging His innocence for our guilt (if we want it). God offers you the gift of righteousness. What a Christmas present!
Life is more than picking your own set of beliefs. It has been transformed into: "Have you received God's gift?" Christmas doesn't represent just another religion, it demonstrates God's reach of love. Religion measures what you can't do while attempting to reach an impossible standard. The Christmas season reminds us that a demonstration from God is always much better than a definition of Him. To all of the other religions out there, I ask this question...
Where is your Christmas?

The Discovering Process

Where does excitement come from? It comes from an anticipation and expectation of something new. When your relationship with God seems dull, it's because you have stopped the discovering process. Oh, you may be a "christian", but you are not experiencing the new life in Christ. You just expect it to be the same as its always been.
When you are dating, all of your energy is focused on the other person. Your thoughts revolve around them. Their interests become your interests. You carefully make appointments with them to find out more of the depths of their personality. It's all exciting because you are in the discovery process.
A marriage can become stale after years because each person has abandoned the discovering process and accepted predictability. We know the habits of our spouse... They know the schedule of our day... We get up, eat the same old breakfast, clean the house, maybe watch tv, and go to bed, right on schedule. Of course. That's what we always do. It can get to be the same way with the Lord. We stopped making dates & appointments with Him, and we seldom bring Him our hearts anymore. We stopped feeling new when we abandoned the discovering of God. And what if that's ALL that Christianity is ?

Turn Around!

Man's good opinion of himself makes it easy for him to keep his distance from his Maker. If we do seek Him, it's because we want Him to bless OUR plans. That our nature is built on pride is evident when we try to come to God on our own terms. Self-love is the vehicle that transports most nice people away from God's will and closer to hell.
In Christ you have the opportunity to exchange this corrupt human nature for a new one. God promises forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
Conviction is not conversion until it is obeyed. At the judgment, God won't ask why we sinned. He will ask us why we didn't turn to Him.

Reality Show

Do your beliefs define who you really are? How come when people are asked their faith in God they only talk about the things they haven't done (such as, " I've never killed anyone, I've never robbed a bank, etc.)? Is that all we have to go on to determine if you love God? Do you really think after you die, God will allow you into heaven just because you tell him you've not bore false witness or made any graven image? But shouldn't we be marked by what we DO instead of what we haven't done? Why do we judge others by their behavior but judge ourselves by our intentions? Just believing in something isn't enough unless you do something more than cherish the idea. Opposing an issue is of no benefit if you don't lift a finger to make a difference.  If the Lord walked in the room, He wouldn't ask you what your doctrines are. He would see what you are doing with your life and say THAT is exactly what you believe, and nothing else.

Maybe you say you're a good person. Is that enough? What if you moved into the nicest house in town, and then when the owner asked you what are you doing here, you told him, "Well, I'm a good person so I moved in". You know the owner is going to kick you out because it doesn't matter how good you are. What matters is if you know him! It's the same way with our Father in heaven.

Always Learning

"always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2Timothy 3:7

Do you want to know the biggest problem with the church these days? We know too much! We have about as much knowledge available to us as the size of Mount Everest. We've got several copies of the bible in various versions. We've heard the best teachings on spirituality that money can buy. Let's go further. You know more about God than Moses, Jeremiah, King David, or John the Baptist. After all, you have to complete set of scriptures not to mention the fullness of the Spirit. So how is it they were able to accomplish way more? In light of the enormous amount of spiritual information you have, why are you only using about a thimble's worth of it?

How long have you been a Christian? What else do you need before you start to do something about it? Do you really need another teaching series? Another DVD set? Another seminar? The latest CD? I've been an expert at acquiring knowledge for decades, but seldom do I feel empowered to do something. But things don't unfold until there's love and obedience. Jesus said "don't say 4 more months and then the harvest". He said "the fields were white (ripe) unto harvest". And that was over 2000 years go! What is the harvest like now?You say you don't feel ready. It doesn't depend on if YOU are ready, it depends on if the harvest is ready. If you were a farmer and it was time to gather the fruit but you didn't feel like it, what do you think is going to happen to your crop? Is it going to wait until you are ready?
You want to bring change, or just have church? If you really want the answer to that, someone should get up at the end of every message & say, "OK now let's go do what we've just heard right now"! Then you will know who you really are.

Grace is Greater

Grace cannot prevail…until our lifelong certainty that someone is keeping score has run out of steam and collapsed. Grace means that God has done something for me; law means that I must do something for God.
If you do something to me and you are wrong and I am right, you can repent all you want but until I forgive you, it’s not going to do you a bit of good. It only helps when I have already forgiven you and you can enter into the restored relationship and turn again to me. Only I can decide to forgive you.
God decided to absolve people of what they should have done. He really did. It’s outrageous. He forgave you before you repented. In the gospel, repent is always repent and believe. It means turn yourself around from not trusting the forgiveness and trust it. That’s it. It doesn’t mean that you earn it by repenting.
Who is in heaven? People think it is good guys. There is nobody in heaven but forgiven sinners and there is nobody in hell except those who would not accept they were forgiven sinners. The difference is that in heaven they accepted the forgiveness, in hell they rejected it. That’s it.

The world is by no means averse to religion. In fact, it is devoted to it with a passion. It will buy any recipe for salvation as long as that formula leaves the responsibility for cooking up salvation firmly in human hands.
The assumption is that over-emphasizing grace and under-emphasizing law will result in turning grace into a license to sin. So they conclude that grace and law are like two curbs that we set up, and shoot straight down the middle so we don’t ditch the car into either extreme.
That is not the gospel.
We don’t balance grace and law. To be sure, we must understand grace and law, but we don’t attempt to live a little “under law” and a little “under grace.” You’re either under grace or you’re under law. There is no middle ground in Scripture.
“Sin shall not be your master, for you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

But grace is MUCH MORE than forgiveness. We have been taught that grace is simply unmerited favor.
If grace is only “unmerited favor” then why does God give it only to the humble? If Grace is only “unmerited favor” then why can you fall from grace? If Grace is just “unmerited favor” then why does the Bible say that the grace of God was upon Jesus (and he was sinless)?

This word grace is translated not only means "unmerited favor," but really carries the deeper meaning of "an influence that produces a result." Another way of saying it is grace is supernatural enablement. That puts a whole different light on things. GRACE IS GREATER than what you think. You are not just released from a penalty but from sin’s power through grace!

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
In this instance, you can see that the scripture itself defines grace as God’s power.
And here is an example of grace as your teacher: Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..."

Do you see that? Grace, not Law, teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Grace isn’t permission to be worldly. It’s your Teacher empowering you to escape anything immoral.
To sum it up, grace is: 1)God’s favor 2)God’s power 3)Your teacher

Wherever you have saw the word grace in the Bible, now go back and read it with a livelier view, knowing that grace is the empowering presence of God enabling you to be who God created you to be, and to do what God has called you to do - right where you are.
What’s amazing about grace is that it has already been bestowed to you through Jesus. It’s a gift you should embrace NOW.

Law was not given in the expectation that we would keep it. It was given in the full knowledge that we would break it; and when we have broken it so completely that we are convinced of our utter need, then the Law has served its purpose. It has been our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that He Himself may fulfill it in us.

What does it mean to be delivered from the law? It means that I am henceforth no longer going to try to do anything to please God; for if I do, then I immediately place myself under the law. Therefore, I have alternative; I must allow Christ to fulfill the law in me. And finally, I see that this alone is what is pleasing to God (Matt. 5:17). This is deliverance from the law!
We have spoken of trying and trusting, and the difference between the two. Believe me, it is the difference between heaven and hell.

Yes, Yes, a thousand times Yes!

What can we learn from failure? Let's pick one of the worst examples: Peter denied Jesus 3 times after he swore he would die for Him. There are many sins we could forgive today if someone seemed remorseful. But if someone in our church said "I deny Jesus" repeatedly, we wouldn't think of giving them another chance.
But we underestimate that Jesus is praying for that person that looks too far gone. He's able to do above & beyond all that we ask or think. So what was the result with Peter? Redemption! Restoration! Transformation!
Furthermore this same Peter spoke God's word & 3000 people were saved in 1 day. For each one of his denials there were a thousand receivers of Christ!
In the same way, you can turn your failures over to the Lord, no matter how horrific. He might just have a thousand blessings in store for each sin you committed.

All the world's a stage

If you grew up in the 70's or early 80's you know that rock was so popular, they now call it "classic". Yesterday I went to a concert featuring 4 of the most popular bands from back then. I noticed something highly strange: Out of thousands of people only a handful would get up out of their seats & participate in celebrating, especially when you compare it to the highly charged party atmosphere when these groups first came on the scene.
In examining this situation, I came to believe it was more than just the fact that everyone there just got older or had heard the songs before so there was less of a thrill. What had happened was, everyone back then would spend hours focussed on the latest band and was consumed with either playing or listening to their songs. It was almost a new religion to them. They would listen to the same songs every day faithfully. They were sold out to their music! But nowadays their hearts are so divided with multiple responsibilities, they have little room in their hearts to devote that kind of enthusiasm. Therefore, their expression is very tame and in some ways undetectable.

The next day while in church I began to understand that this same dilemma has entered the church in relation to our worship. What used to be a fresh ecstatic devotion to God has now become a watered down response to Him. Why? Because some people use every day to prepare their hearts for the Lord, so that on Sunday they can enter in to full expression of worship. The others have had their hearts divided through the week and they come to church thinking that Sunday, someone will help their heart get prepared right then! But this is backwards from how our religion should be.It should be more of a love affair, and the song for your Lord should not end after church. In fact, we are always carrying around some song in our hearts, and we get to decide if it is going to be the blues or if it is going to be an anthem.

My Faithful God

Some people want "change" with editing rights. When they get change from God they want to change the change! -David Hawkins
yes, this is the test if we really trust Him. It seems like an insurmountable task, because our eyes disagree with faith. Will we take back control? What can we do to leave it in God's hands when it feels shaky? We MUST call to mind that He is faithful and keep that ever before us!!! The devil will give us all kinds of impressions that God isn't going to come through. It's an attack on His character that gets us to doubt. Remember He IS faithful from first to last & everything in between. He sees the end just as clearly as the beginning and it's going to be more than ok.

Everything is Amazing

I went through a series of consecutive losses one year that left me feeling down and way behind schedule in the progress of life. Today I see things differently. How many things in life do I get to experience that many other people in the world never do? Even simple things like bottled water or taking a hot shower whenever I want to. We complain about gas prices and don't even consider some never experience the miracle of driving a car their entire life. We wish our boss wasn't so harsh and don't think about the state of mind of a homeless person who will never have a boss.

The truth is, this is a time of abundance in my life. My cup is running over with blessings.

My Heart Christ's Home

(by Robert Boyd Munger)
One evening I invited Jesus Christ into my heart and what an entrance He made! It was not a spectacular emotional thing, but very real.
Something happened at the very center of my life that night. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire on the hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness, and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will.
In the joy of this new relationship, I said to Jesus, “Lord, I want this heart of mine to be Yours.
I want to have You settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I have belongs to You. Let me show you around.”

The Study

The first room was the Study - the Library. In my home, this room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is a very important room. In a sense, it is the control room of the house.
He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase, the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the walls. As I followed His gaze, I became uncomfortable.
Strangely, I had not felt self conscious about it before, but now that He was there looking at these things, I was very embarrassed.
Some books were there that His eyes were too pure to behold. On the table were a few magazines that a Christian had no business reading.
As for the pictures on the walls, the imaginations and thoughts of the mind, some of these were shameful.
Red-faced, I turned to Him and said, “Master, I know that this room needs to be cleaned up and made over. Will You help me make it what it ought to be?”
He said, “Certainly, I’m glad to help you. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and looking at, which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out. Fill the library with My Word and meditate on it day and night.
As for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but I have something that will help.” He gave me a full-sized portrait of Himself, and said, “Hang this centrally on the wall of your mind.”
I did just that and have discovered through the years, that when my thoughts are centered upon Christ Himself, His Purity and Power cause impure thoughts to back away. So, He has helped me to bring my thoughts under His control.

The Dining Room

From the Study, we went into the Dining Room, the room of appetites and desires. I spent a lot of time and hard work there trying to satisfy my wants. I said to Him, “This is my favorite room. I am quite sure You will be pleased with what we serve.”
He seated Himself at the table with me and asked, “What is on the menu for dinner?” I said, “Well, my favorite dishes; money, academic degrees and stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes.” These were the things I liked - secular fare.
When the food was placed before Him, He said nothing, but I observed that He did not eat it. I said to Him, “Master, don’t You care for this food? What's the trouble?”
He answered, “I have food to eat that you do not know of. If you want food that really satisfies you, do the Will of the Father. Stop seeking your own pleasures, desires and satisfactions. Seek to please Him. The food will satisfy you.”
There at the table, He gave me a taste of joy of doing God’s Will. What a flavor! There is no food like it in all the world. It alone satisfies.

The Living Room

From the Dining Room, we walked into the Living Room. This room was intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa and a quiet atmosphere.
He said, “This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet and we can fellowship together.”
Well, as a young Christian, I was thrilled. I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ alone in close companionship.
He promised, “I will be here early every morning. Meet me here and we will start the day together.”
So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the Living Room. He would take a book of the Bible from the case. We would open it and read together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God’s Saving Truths. My heart sang as He shared His Love and Grace for me. These were wonderful times!
However, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened.
Why, I am not sure. I thought I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand. It just happened that way.
Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss days now and then. Urgent matters would crowd out the quiet times of conversation I had with Jesus.
I remember one morning running downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the Living Room and noticed that the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there.
Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, “He is my guest. I invited Him into my heart. He has come as my Saviour and friend, and yet I am neglecting Him.”
I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With a downcast glance I said, “Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?”
“Yes, I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine.”
The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God, than any other single fact. Don’t let Christ wait alone in the Living Room of your heart, but find the time to be with Him every day, with your Bible and in prayer.

The Work Room

Before long, He asked, “Do you have a Work Room in your home?” Out in the garage of the home of my heart, I had a workbench and some equipment, but I was not doing much with it. Once in a while, I would play around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn’t producing anything substantial.
I led Him out there. He looked over the workbench and said, “Well, this is quite well furnished. What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?”
He looked at one or two little toys that I had thrown together on the bench and held one up to me. “Is this the sort of thing you are doing for others in your Christian life?”
“Well,” I said, “Lord, I know it isn’t much, and I really want to do better, but I don’t seem to have the strength or the skill to do more.”
He said, “Alright, relax in me and let my Spirit work through you. I know that you are unskilled, clumsy and awkward, but the Holy Spirit is the Master Workman, and when He controls your hands and your heart, He can work through you.”
Stepping around behind me and putting His great strong hands under mine, He held the tools in His skilled fingers and began the work in me. The more I relaxed and trusted Him, the more He was able to do with my life.

The Recreation Room

He asked me if I had a Recreation Room where I went' for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He would not ask about that. There were certain associations and activities that I wanted to keep for myself.
One evening when I was on my way out with some of my buddies, He stopped me with a glance and asked, “Are you going out?” “Yes,” I replied. “Good,” He said, “I would like to go with you.”
I answered rather awkwardly, “Oh, Lord Jesus, I don’t think You would really enjoy where we are going. Let’s go out together tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at Church, but tonight I have another appointment.”
“I’m sorry,” Jesus said. “I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you.”
That evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy?
When I returned that night there was a light on in His room, and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said, “Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I cannot have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together.”
Then we went down into the recreation room of the house. He transformed it. He brought new friends, new excitement, new joys. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house every since.

The Hall Closet

One day I found Him waiting for me at the door. An arresting look was in His eyes. As I entered, He said to me, “There is a peculiar odor in the house. Something must be dead around here. It’s upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet.”
As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about. There was a small closet up there on the hall landing, just a few feet square. In that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about.
Certainly, I did not want Christ to see them. I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from my old life. I knew they were still there, but I was afraid to admit it.
Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs, the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed to the door. I was angry. That’s the only way I can put it. I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the work room, the recreation room, and now He was asking me about a little 2x4 closet. I said to myself, “This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key.”
“Well,” He said, reading my thoughts. “If you think I am going to stay up here on the second floor with this smell, you are mistaken. I will go out on the porch.” Then I saw Him start down the stairs.
When one comes to know and love Christ, the worse thing that can happen is to sense Him withdrawing His fellowship. I had to give in.
“I’ll give You the key,” I said sadly, “but You will have to open the closet and clean it out, I haven’t the strength to do it.”
“Just give Me the key,” He said. “Authorize Me to take care of that closet, and I will.”
With trembling fingers, I passed the key to Him. He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was all done in a moment’s time.
Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

Transferring The Title

Then a thought came to me. “Lord, will You take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as You did that closet? Will You take my life and make it what it ought to be?”
His Face lit up as he replied, “I’d love to! That is what I want to do. You cannot be a victorious Christian in your own strength. Let me do it through you and for you. That is the only way. But, right now I have no authority to proceed since I am just a guest and the property isn’t mine.”
Dropping to my knees, I said, “Lord, You have been a guest and I have been the host. But from now on, I am going to be the servant. I want You to be the owner and the Master.”
Running as fast as I could to the strongbox, I took out the title deed to the house describing its’ assets and liabilities, location and situation. I eagerly signed the house over to Him alone for time and eternity. “Here,” I said, “Here it is, all that I am and all that I have, forever. I want you to run this home. I will remain safely with you and be your servant and friend.”
Wow! Things sure are different since Jesus Christ settled down and made His Home in my heart!
No matter what happens in my life, there is nothing to compare to resting safely in the arms of Jesus!

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15 reasons why Christianity doesn't work

We think we can give God half our hearts when He asks for it all. If people knew that they would probably have to give their lives in order to be a Christian, how many conversions do you think there would be? That was the default mindset when Christianity originated, but now we consider it a rare exception.

We prefer to add God to our agenda instead of leaving all to follow His.

We only think we need Him when we're in trouble.

We don't act on what we know.

We think the old nature is still in charge.

We are trying to do it alone without remembering His Presence is always there.

People don't think they can ever be like Jesus & almost nobody knows another Christian that loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength on a regular basis.

It's easier for us to follow a person's teaching because we don't realize God can personally reveal to us what He wants and define who we are.

You've heard about Him but you don't really know Him.

He didn't answer some of your prayers the way you hoped so you gave up.

You consider your failures greater than His love.

You require God to do something else or explain something before you're willing to give Him control.

You believe Christianity is an assignment God gave you to accomplish. When results don't happen you assume you're not trying hard enough.

You view the objective of the Christian life as proper thinking and proper action, issuing forth in correct doctrine and correct morality. In order for this to work out you have to point out that others are not doing these things the right way (like you) and eventually you have built a castle of self righteousness.

You depended more on your faithfulness than His faithfulness. You are not the hope of glory. The Bible says Christ in you is the hope of glory - Him living in you and functioning through you. He started the work in you and He performs it.
Faithful is He who calls you and He will do it! 1 Thessalonians 5:24

The Neverending Story

Our minds can't contain the scope of eternal justice. We can't understand why God would be so cruel to forever condemn people who reject him into everlasting punishment because we base it on the idea that we wouldn't do it that way. We don't think we could be that mean. But we also couldn't love by God's definition. We wouldn't love anyone enough to allow our child to be unfairly tortured & killed just to offer the POSSIBILITY for our enemies to live forever.
You cannot cling to this offer of hope that God is extending, without the possibility of the consequence of hopelessness for those who reject it.

ABOUT

7 Million Wonders

Why do we allow ourselves to be weighed down with responsibility and miss the blessings in life? We have come to accept this as normal and just hope for the best. We only possess enthusiasm on rare occasions without questioning why joy eludes us the majority of the time. We escape temporarily through entertainment to fill the void but find it does not last long.
Something Jesus said is food for thought: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God." Yes of course that is talking about heaven. Oh really? What if it also means you can see what is going on in His kingdom now if you knew how to be child-like?
One thing you can say about children is they are excited to discover new things. When I thought about this I realized the main ingredient we have let slip away is our sense of wonder we used to have when we were young. When you were young you looked at "ordinary" things for the first time and you were filled with awe. Now we just treat fascinating things in nature as common, and stuff that is brilliantly designed as nothing special because it's something we've seen before. But what if we viewed it all from the eyes of a child as if it were the first time we had seen it? We would see everything as a miracle. There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. You can recapture all the excitement in life, and even enjoy relationship with other people in a new way because this whole planet is stamped with countless colors & images of God unfolding right in front of you, prepared for your astonishment. By his work, the Artist is known.

- - - God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.

Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.
That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.

The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.

God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.

There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

PSALM 19 (The Message)

Welcome to the idea center.

The Question of Suffering

the uss united states

The formula doesn't work

Jesus isn’t a “longshot”; He’s the “favorite”.

"as is"

surrender or commitment

lukewarm people

View Difficulty as a sign of God's Love

message in the stars

the price

fame is no blessing

do you care ore about fairness or truth?

gracious uncertainty

mind games

the rant

exactly you

love

this changes everything

believe

where battles are won or lost

is god crazy?

We're talking about PRACTICE!

tolerance isn't nice

mary verifies jesus deity

the price

Random thoughts on abortion (formerly known as child sacrifice)

What's important to God?

Why hell makes sense

foolish wisdom

jesus throughout the bible

no time to lose

Random gold nuggets

MUCH MORE!

Hard life

God’s Perfect Law Perfectly Fulfilled

IT IS FINISHED

He lives.

Social Media (by Matt McMillan)

We must decrease & He must increase