Friday, June 30, 2017

"Before the True KING" -2

"Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." (Psalms 96:13)
To put it all into perspective, "Before" is a word that speaks of face, faces, or the face of God. Some people get really confused when it comes to serving and obeying the Lord, because it's really not about trying to be good, or trying to keep His commandments; it's really all about resting in the finished work of Christ Jesus. If there is a rest that needs to be entered, then that is the rest we need to seek. I heard a very interesting message yesterday from Pastor Matt, in the context of Boaz and Ruth, and the whole 'Kinsman-Redeemer' aspect to the Book of Ruth. First of all, the closet kinsman, who goes unnamed, represents the law; the law could not redeem or follow through with a marriage to Ruth, as he would mar his own inheritance. The law, although perfect and just, cannot contain that which is unholy and still remain perfect. Boaz, on the other hand, was willing to become the Kinsman-Redeemer; not only was he able to, because the first kinsman declined, but he was more than willing, based upon his love and commitment to Ruth. Another aspect of this very interesting arrangement between the two redeemers, was that Ruth did not participate in the agreement; Ruth was not even present when the deal came down. Ruth's part in the whole thing was to lay at the feet of Boaz; as is our part, to fall at the feet of Jesus! There really is nothing left to be done on our behalf, but to just accept what it is that the Lord has done. Once we do that, then our ability to keep His commands are not in our own strength or ability, but they are in His, His that has already gotten it done! We basically just need to say, I do, and it is done. The problem we continue to fight is the origin of our beginning; a beginning that was neither based in or connected to the power of God. Ruth was not going back to Moab, she was now settled in Israel, in the town of Bethlehem, married to a descendant of Judah, and soon to be the great-grandparent of a king, King David. When God changes your life, you are changed for ever; when we change our life, it really never changes. So, the real test to your preparedness, is not that you are ready, but are you in the One who has already won...
"There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and his people. The LORD has spoken! In the day the people will proclaim, "This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the LORD, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!" For the LORD'S hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem. But Moab will be crushed. It will be like a straw trampled down and left to rot. God will push down Moab's people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. The high walls of Moab will be demolished. They will be brought down to the ground, down to the dust." (Isaiah 25:7-12) NLT 

Thursday, June 29, 2017

"Before the True KING"

"Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." (Psalms 96:13)
If you need any more persuading, then you won't need to wait much longer. This verse is actually a continuation of the last; there was no period after "then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice." Is it any wonder that God has stood the ridiculousness of this world as long as He has; things are really starting to become just as the Bible said that they would be: "Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter." (Isaiah 5:20) The way I see it, we really don't have much time left here; He could come any day now and snatch His bride off of this earth. Regardless of the day or the hour, we must be ready, we must be prepared for His coming. I don't think time is the real issue here, I think it's a matter of fullness; in other words, has the bride been made ready? Jesus told the disciples that the day and the hour is not known by anyone but the Father, for the Father is the one who will inform the Son that His bride is ready; and at the moment which He does, the Son will call forth His bride; and thus will we meet the Son in the air. The Bible also says that the dead in Christ will rise first. I think this might be due to the fact that no one will miss them right away; however, it will all happen in such a quick flash, no one will be able to tell the difference, because we will all meet Him in the air together. Whether you believe it or not, it is going to happen! The real question we need to be concerned about, is the question of readiness, not about the question of time, as in when it shall happen. Regardless of the meaning of the oil, the five foolish virgins were unprepared at the time of His coming; they needed to be prepared at all times, just as we should be. Are you ready? Or will you be found unprepared, saying, "The Lord delays His coming." I want to be ready, because the judgment upon this world will be taking place once the church has been removed. That should be enough to convince anyone that they need to be ready, but sadly, many will be left having to face that Great Tribulation; which is God pouring out His wrath on an unbelieving world. Fortunately, there will be many who will be saved during that time, but they will pay for it dearly. Why put it off until then, when it is so much easier now? Don't think that you will have a change of heart after you see the taking away of the church; because the chances are, if you won't except Him now, then you won't do it then either. What's stopping you now, not being willing to give up with your sinful living? What makes you think that giving up your life will be any easier? These are very interesting times that we are living in; and I have said it before, and I will say it again: We might not know the day of the hour, but we will know the season, as in the signs of the time...
"We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18) NLT

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

"The Earth's Reaction"

"Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice." (Psalms 96:12)
We are much better off than we think that we are, at least when it comes to being secure in Christ. It is really not all that different from when Jesus slept in the boat, you know, the time the disciples thought that He did not care if they perished or not. As He was awoken, He said, "Where is your faith?" Exactly my point; where does our faith go as soon as we get caught in a storm? Not only is the Lord in the storm, but He is able to rest within it also! We freak out, wondering if this is the one that takes us out, or if we will even make it through to the other side. But the Lord, His time would be at the cross, not in a boat, not in the sea; there was nothing taking Him from the task He was sent for, because the Father was watching over Him. Obviously we cannot know what our time will involve, or whether or not our time has come or not; but God knows, of that you can be certain. Does God choose the day or the hour? I am not so certain that He does; but He knows when it will be, for He knows all things. It's just like, God does not tempt us or cause us to be tortured or killed by some kind of freak accident; but He knows what will happen, and He knows where to put us to avoid such things, provided we listen. I have written 'Isaiah 55' right after this verse in my Bible. Not sure when it was written, except that it was most likely within the last 20 years; it's written in black, so I know it had to be since 1996 or so. Here is the thing about that which causes me to rejoice, because God is 100% in control! We might not think it is so, especially when we are facing a trial or being tempted by something that is totally out of sorts; but God's ways are not our ways, God makes beauty from ashes! That might be hard to comprehend, as if we cannot see the possibility of ashes becoming anything more than what they are, the result of something being all burnt up; but if the God of the universe can create everything from nothing, then He can created something beautiful from something that has been lost or destroyed. As for the post yesterday, the heavens do declare God's will; we might not understand how it all works out, but we don't need to in order to believe that God is in control. But you have got to rest in the certainty of God's plan, because there is absolutely nothing that is more powerful or sure than God's will; He makes it happen, even after the fire...
""My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. "The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD'S name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love."" (Isaiah 55:8-13) NLT

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

"The Heavens Declare"

"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof." (Psalms 96:11)
Not to change the subject, but there might be some serious choices that need to be made regarding how we are raising our children. Do these children of this current generation even respect their parents? If they do not respect their parents, then how we they even begin to fear God with the proper respect needed to understand how to worship Him? There is a basic understanding within the heavens, if you will, a general order of certain laws that govern how everything falls into place at certain times, regardless of what might or might not takes place upon this earth. God has established these basic laws; they are the product of His handiwork, which is something many within the scientific community have not quite figured out yet. If you want to, you could almost correlate the pattern with the scientific community with the lack of respect that this modern generation has for authority; it's almost as if there pattern of doing what the Book of Judges says in the very last verse: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Except in this respect, the king that we are taking about is King Jesus, the One by whom all creation exist and continues to function in order and respect for it's Creator. Don't you think that it is interesting how much the seas are affected by the heavens? I really don't think they have figured that out yet, at least not in the way that gives God the glory for His design. Yet in the beginning, God has declared it to be so, long before the scientific data that we currently have available to us. Now, as to the point that I was making yesterday, that the proof lives within us; we know by our fellowship with our Creator that we have a special purpose, the first of which is to worship Him; it has been made abundantly clear by the Holy Spirit living within us. The point of that, much like the certain respect that exist within the heavens, is that the Holy Spirit reveals truth within us, regardless of what might be taking place upon this earth. That is pretty much in line with the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray, saying, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) Regardless of what might be happening here, the heaven declare what's happening...
"Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has come at last -salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth -the one who accuses them before God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time."" (Revelation 12:10-12) NLT

Monday, June 26, 2017

"Say That It's So"

"Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously." (Psalms 96:10)
It's really not that we have got to do anything, it's that we get to do all things, through Christ! So, yes, we really do not have a choice; the choice was taken the day that we accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts, from then unto now, any time we have chosen to disobey it has been a sin, worthy of judgment. What makes this crazy ride so amazingly wild, is that every sin has been dealt with on that cross! What do I do with that! Oh yah, that's exactly what the world can't figure out: What is the difference between my sins and their sins? My sins are forgiven! Does that mean that I can keep on sinning? Absolutely not! Paul dealt with this in several different ways, Romans Chapter Six, being one of the most easy to comprehend. Pretty much, it all comes down to Whom do we obey, that guy that is dead in Christ, or the new Owner of this soul, Christ Jesus? We are bought and paid for by the Lord; so if there is going to be someone that we are going to answer to, then it will be Him; and you can bet your bottom dollar, He will judge righteously! I guess you could say without a doubt, we actually do have a choice; we can choose to live, or we can choose to die; we can choose to please our King, or we can choose to take our place among the heathen. Maybe we need a little time to think about that? Is that right? The center portion of the verse above might not seem all that complex; after all, we already know that He has established the earth and the heavens, and that He holds everything together by His very Word. But, did you not know that before the foundations of the world He has chosen you? Be perfectly honest, doesn't that give you something to feel worthy of being? You are not some piece of trash that washed up on the shore; you are a son or a daughter of the King, the KING of KINGS! You are something special, and you should be living as though it is so. Am I saying that we have something to prove? By all means, yes! The proof lives within us...
"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not be a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision -the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead." (Colossians 2:6-12) NLT

Sunday, June 25, 2017

"Beautiful Offering"

"O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth." (Psalms 96:9)
I don't care how you make it, sin is ugly! It might feel good for a moment; it might even seem to be enjoyable; but when we witness the carnage that comes from it, there is only ugliness that becomes of it. Here is what would seem is an addition to the need to be right with God, our requirement to be holy, as He is Holy. Is it a requirement to be holy? If you really want to worship God, then yes, it is a requirement. Can we actually be holy, as required? Only the blood of Jesus Christ can provide the holiness required; but, we need to want to achieve holiness, it must become our goal. I think Paul had some good points on how this might work, like 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one receives the prize? So run to win!" (NLT) The point is that of doing your very best to achieve, even that which you might not accomplish. Not everyone wins, but those that want to win, set out to make it happen; even if it might not happen, they run as if it could. The second point is found just two Scriptures away, "So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing." (NLT) If you think about it, you don't really need to be told what you must do to be holy, you are well aware of your own personal sins; and you are also mindful of what you need to do to avoid them. Just like a runner who trains to win, they know what they must do to stand a chance to win, and they also know what things to avoid that might hinder their accomplishment of that goal. As for the "shadowboxing," this is where we start striking back; not as one who beats the air, but as one who sees the target and aims to hit it. There is only really one way to be the best, in any sport, and that is to take away everything that hinders you from achieving that goal. The only one who stands in the way of you achieving your goal, is yourself. Besides, we have every tool at our disposal to be the man or woman that God would have us to be, if we would just want it bad enough. Could that be the key to winning the race, the need to win? In other words, we don't have a choice...
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) NLT

Saturday, June 24, 2017

"Give an Offering to God"

"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts." (Psalms 96:8)
As I was praying about this verse, I could not help but think about Cain's offering, and the reason why his offering was not acceptable to God. I am sure that you are familiar with the more popular version, that Cain was giving an offering of his works or labor; which I agree is part of it, as if he was giving back a portion of what God had given. But isn't that what we are instructed to do when we give an offering of our tithes? No, because tithes are not an offering, they are required as a token of appreciation for what God has blessed us with. An offering is something special, more of a gift than it is an obligation or tithe; an offering is a tribute or a sacrifice offered to honor the name or the divinity of God. It has nothing to do with what we have been blessed with, it blesses God for who He is and how awesome it is to be able to enter into His courts! Cain's offering was empty; sure, he had pilled up some of the labor from the garden, but it fell short of meeting the requirement to enter into the presence of God. No, we are needy and lacking what it takes to enter into His courts; we don't even stand a chance to get out alive, let alone to be allowed in His presence. Cain's offering was empty because it lacked the one thing required to enter into God courts, the blood sacrifice the was given by Able. One was an offering of being on par with God, as if to say, "Here you are," while the other was an offering of needing to be made right with God, as if to say, "Here I am." That's all the God really wanted of Cain, for Cain to admit how much he needed to be made right with Him. Even after he killed his brother, there was still no desire to be made right with God, only the complaint for the punishment that he had been given. There is truly a difference for feeling sorry for your sins, or for knowing that your sin was against God and you need it to be forgiven. But there is more to that than just needing to be forgiven, we need to want to be in His presence...
"And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices the please God. As the Scriptures say, "I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, "The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone." And, "He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:5-9) NLT

Friday, June 23, 2017

"Give It Up For God"

"Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength." (Psalms 96:7)
As with most forms of worship, there comes a time when the worship needs to be applied to the source; a moment in the moment where you say, This is why we do this! When it comes to the worship of God, there are several reasons we ought to be worshiping Him with passion and a thankful heart, the most of which is the way that He cares for us. Maybe your current situation does not give you the feeling of being cared for; or maybe your life does not seem all that filled with care and comfort, to the point you even wonder if God does care about you. It's really not that hard to find yourself feeling all alone; if it can happen to the best and strongest, it can surely happen to any one of us. When it does happen, and it most likely will from time to time, the easiest way to shake it off is to worship the Lord from the place of nothingness. Do I need to explain myself? Well, I will give it my best shot. We came into this world naked and without any worldly possessions, and we will leave this world the same way, without even a stitch of anything. The life we now live is much like the life of the child within the womb; we wait to be released, yet totally unaware of what awaits us when we do; and all the while, we are cared for by the protection of that space we find ourselves in. It really does not matter how or when it happens, as well as it doesn't to that unborn child; either way, that child will be experiencing new life, whether here or there, it will not know the difference. We have been given the gift of knowing how much God cares for us, while the unborn child is really unaware. But, if you believe as I believe, that unborn child is in the protection of the Lord; and if something should happen, then that child will find itself in the presence of the Lord. So, if you really want to get right down to it, the place of nothingness is the place between where you were and where you will end up...
"But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God's love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen." (Jude 1:20-25) NLT 

Thursday, June 22, 2017

"The Giver of Truth"

"Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary." (Psalms 96:6)
When it comes to knowing the truth, there is really only one way that we can really know that it is really truth, by living it. Maybe that might seem rather one sided and it might seem as though what we are saying has no right to be challenged until it is actually personally tested; but in all honesty, you will never know the truth until the Truth is living within you. In the verse we have before us today, all four of these attributes that are listed are things which must be experienced and witnessed in order to be realized. There really is no other way to explain it, than to put it into something within the context of some life experience which cannot known without actually have been there, which is death. No one can actually experience what death might be like, unless they have actually died; and although there are many people who claim that they have experienced what death is like, there are only a small few who have actually been able to put it into words; and even then, it does not come close to providing the experience to others. It can only be experience personally to even begin to know what it is really like. That is the same way it works with the personal relationship we have with the Father through Jesus Christ. Until Jesus comes and dwells with in us, and we dwell in Him, there is really know way that we can experience the Truth; but when we do experience the Truth, the truth of God will set us free from the lie and the power of death. I really don't know how else to make my point, except to say that death is no longer looming over us, and as such, we are set free in a way that can really not be known without not having death looming over you; that's the simplest way that I can put that truth. Besides that, "his sanctuary" is us! We that are His children are transformed into His tabernacles or dwelling places; we become the living and moving Temple of the Holy Spirit. So, in a nutshell, we are given the truth, because the Truth lives in us...
"Therefore, I will always remind you about these things -even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place -until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding, or human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God." (2 Peter 1:12-21) NLT

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

"The Giver of Life"

"For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens." (Psalms 96:5)
As with most fables, they always seem to be built upon someone's life experience or something that might have happened; as if someone could have made something up based upon nothing, when it is usually something twisted off of something real. It's like when you line up a bunch of people in a line, tell a story to the second person, and then go to the end of the line, only to find out your story has been added to, taken away from, or somehow been made into something it was never meant to be. Well, that is pretty much how we get to where we are today; the lies not only become real, they are real because they have been fortified in the hearts of the people. There has got to be something that is unchanging; something that brings people back to the point or origin, or to the beginning. It is my opinion that something is the Word of God. The Bible is the only thing that we have which has been tested time and time again, and has been found to be unquestionably true. Oh, there are plenty of things in the Bible that people can pull out as unprovable, the biggest one being the statement with the verse above: "but the LORD made the heavens." People might ask me to prove how that statement is true, and I don't know that I can, except to point them to the Word of God. There are things written in God's word that have only recently been discovered, yet God Himself pointed them out long before Moses began putting the Books of the Law together. The Book of Job is considered to be the oldest written Book of the Bible; and yet, within that Book, God speaks of almost every aspect of His creation, from the smallest to the greatest. One of my favorite ones is the Treasure of the snow and hail; something that was not even discovered until the beginning of the 1900's; or the very earliest would be the end of the 1800's. These treasures were not discovered until the snowflakes could not only be magnified, but those magnified snowflakes could be photographed. It was only then that those flakes of snow could be compared one against the other, determining that no two flakes of snow were exactly alike. It is also rather interesting that it was not till the beginning of the 1900's that world war was made possible through flight; that nation could fight another nation, within just a matter of a few days, or even hours. That might seem like a very small conclusion, but it is magnified by the Giver of life; it's right there, written long ago...
""Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail? (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)"" (Job 38:22-23) NLT

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

"Greater Than Life"

"For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods." (Psalms 96:4)
Another thing we don't get to choose is the God we worship. I feel that we are quickly gaining speed towards the rapture; and I am sorry if you might not believe the rapture takes place before the great tribulation, but there is more evidence that proves that it does than there is that says otherwise. But we are clearly living in the last days, and if this goes on much more, even the very elect will be deceived, if it were possible! (Matthew 24:24) If I see one more denomination begin to buy into this culture of perversion and sexual sin, then I will begin to start declaring the end is here. The whole idea of being born with certain anything, needs to be put to the proper test; we are born in sin, every single person on this earth was born with the desire to sin. So if you might think you have been given a little extra of something sinful, maybe you have just given in a little more than you should; because we all have the capacity to become perverted and misguided by our sexual desires; just because you might think it, or dream it, does not mean that it is who you are. There is no god that assigns you a different sexual orientation than the one you are born with, except the god that you have created on your own to fulfil your own sexual desires. I am sorry to burst your bubble, but that is just a fable and a myth; the True and Living God would not do such a thing! The devil, he is quite a different story; he is the father of lies; and if there ever was such a lie, that would be the origin of the orientation. As far as the Bible goes, there is enough proof within the Scriptures to prove that God does not approve; no matter what some twisted current fade might say about it, it's not Scriptural. But it does not stop there; there are gods to match everyone's desires, whether they be sexual, infamous, or financial. If what we serve makes anything greater than God's word, then our god is a lesser god, not the God of the Holy Bible...
"Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees -their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! "Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more than that. But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear."" (Luke 12:1-5) NLT

Monday, June 19, 2017

"Treasure Ways"

"Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people." (Psalms 96:3)
So, as if things could not get better, the Father's Day message that Pastor Jon delivered yesterday was very much like the Mother's Day message that I gave; the basic point was still about our mistakes becoming God's opportunities. Jon's message involved Abraham's mistake that involved not waiting on God and having a child through Hagar instead of Sarah. Something that I never noticed before, that the Midianites merchantmen in Genesis 37:28 were Ishmaelites. Interesting how God works out all things for the good, even the very bad things! It might not seem as though your trials can be for the good, but we know that God works them out for good somehow; it might be several generations later, maybe even long after you are gone. But, that God can take our mistakes and our sins, and then somehow use them for the good also, that is just mind blowing! It might not do much for our reputation, but God sure gets the glory; the glory that He so rightly deserves. There are so many things that we tend to overlook in our own lives, things that matter towards our eternal destination. It is easy to overlook the things which are hard to see; especially when our eyes are fixed upon the things that are apparent and physical. We might not get to choose the trials that we go through, but we do get to choose how we will react to them. The same message is delivered over and over, that in all things we are to consider our lives to be blessed; whether in the famine or in slavery, if we know that we are in God's hands, then we are golden! No matter what you are going through, you are in the perfect place to give glory to God; it's just a matter of rejoicing in what matters the most, your eternal salvation! God has a way of making us feel comfortable, even in the most uncomfortable situations. Maybe that is why Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter...
""I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is a living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions."" (Daniel 6:26-27) KJV

Sunday, June 18, 2017

"Treasure Days" -2

"Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day." (Psalms 96:2)
I actually made a mistake on yesterday's post; as if that never happens! I messed up and replaced "shew" with show; I guess I just assumed it was the other way. When you look up the meaning of these two words, "shew forth," the Hebrew word is 'basar.' It's a word that basically means tidings; but in the scope of bringing tidings, it has a general appearance of beauty, cheerfulness, and joyfulness. The main event in our lives is our eternity with the Lord; that is our goal, and it needs to be our passion. We should not let these minor unimportant events sour the passion of the main event, ever! Whether that be sickness or finances, nothing compares to the treasure of heaven, absolutely nothing! There really is a pretty simple message being put forth, one of being cheerful and showing the world that you have something that they need. Sadly, there are way too many long faces in the church; people who appear to be missing out on something instead of having the greatest gift that one could ever have. Don't think I am not talking about myself, because there are days when I know that my life looks unbearable, to say the least. It's really quite easy to complain about life, if you have something to complain about. Does that mean that we need to work at being pleasant and joyful? Absolutely! Some days it just will not come naturally, so you need to make it happen. You forget about feeling sorry for yourself, and you sing unto the LORD! I don't know how else to say it, besides just saying that we get out of the way of blessing His name! This is way too important to mess it up by feelings; how we feel is not important, not when it involves love...
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:3-6) KJV

Saturday, June 17, 2017

"Treasure Days"

"Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day." (Psalms 96:2)
As simple as it is to give everything over to the Lord, walking by faith is not as easy as some might think; especially when you are trying to keep your head above water. Here is the most important thing that I have learned over these last few decades, seeking God's kingdom first is the best way to make it through the times of trouble and financial difficulties. There is always a tendency to want to make something happen; we dig and reach and search for something to provide relief, but that is not what God would have us do. God's way of doing things requires us to have faith in Him, regardless of the way things may appear. I remember hearing something someone said about this, it was something like, If we can do it, then God won't do it. Does that mean we do nothing? Absolutely not! I have know a few people that thought that way, thinking God was going to provide them with a job, but they don't go out and look for one; as if God is going to send someone to their house and carry them to work. Here is the thing about walking by faith: we walk! You can try and figure out what that means to you, because we are all given certain gifts and skills; but it only counts if we use them and put them to work. Here is a novel idea, for those that cannot find a job: go and offer your services to a local mission or care facility, free of charge. It might not pay the bills, but it sure will fill you up. Besides, no one will realize the potential that is within you if you are sitting at home waiting for a phone call. But whatever you do, don't beg for money! You are a son of the King, a prince in the Kingdom of God; you are not a beggar or a bum, you are a messenger of God! I have seen so many people who have given up; sadly, it is mostly because they feel rejected by the world. But God's way is not of this world; His way is about sharing the salvation that we have been given. Just imagine how that looks compared to worry and begging for money. I am sorry if anyone reading this is having a financial crisis and feels as though I am being judgmental; but our life here is not about the treasures of this world, it's all about the treasure of Heaven. Besides, if we give it all to God, then it is no longer ours to worry about; then we can focus on today...
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings the good news, the news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the LORD returning to Jerusalem. Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the LORD has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God. Get out! Get out and leave your captivity, where everything you touch is unclean. Get out of there and purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the LORD. You will not leave in a hurry, running for your lives. For the LORD will go ahead of you; yes, the God of Israel will protect you from behind." (Isaiah 52:7-12) NLT

Friday, June 16, 2017

"God is the True King"

PSALMS 96
"O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto to LORD, all the earth." (Verse One)
As if that was not reason enough, now we get to experience the King who actually does live for ever. To the point of whether or not we can be that perfect man or woman that God has created us to be, the answer to that is in the fruit that is produced in our lives. I heard a message the other day that spoke to this, and the point of the message was about not looking at others for the evidence of the fruit that we should produce; each of us are given our own amount of talents to work with, and he who is given much, is expected to produce much. We should focus on what God has given us, and then double it! Yes, it's true, some days my mind just wonders from place to place. That said, what we have got to get hold of is the fact that God's kingdom is already established. I know we tend to think that it's soon to be, or that God is still making preparations for it to come about; but soon enough we will see the King, and what we will discover is that His throne has been there for ever and for ever more. Speaking of childlike faith, how about the fact that we are all children of the King? If you are a child of the King, then what does that make you? Yes, indeed, you are a prince or a princess! As if the talents were not enough, now you are talking about talents of royalty. That is more than just a coin or a piece of something, it is part of the Kingdom; it is special, and it is something that is not of this world, so we should not treat it as if it was. Maybe I am not getting my point across; because I sense there is some sort of disconnect between what I want to say and what I am saying. The treasure that has been distributed to us, His children, His royal family, this is His own special treasure, not found anywhere else, not able to be replicated, and not able to be removed. We hold in our possession a treasure that is connected to a Kingdom, one that has been established since before the foundations of the earth. That kind of gives some sort of power to the message that needs to be shared, right? I mean, if you are looking for a little motivation to be able to spread the Gospel, then the value of what you have to share must be more important than anything else on earth...
""Let the whole earth sing to the LORD! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the LORD! He is most worthy to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the LORD made the heavens! Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling."" (1 Chronicles 16:23-27) NLT

Thursday, June 15, 2017

"Reason" -2

"Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." (Psalms 95:11)
Usually the last verse of the Psalms will be a verse that sums up or expresses some sort of a exclamation to what was being said; I believe this verse does the same, if "Praise and Worship" is the true result of entering into God's rest. We always seem to carry so much baggage into our devotional times with God, yet we seldom truly leave without it. Maybe there are some things that we will always hold on to; maybe there are some things we are stuck with and keep reminding us of our true need for God's mercy and grace. Can I be holy? There is a way for us to be holy, only one way; and it requires that we be in Christ. If we are in Christ, then we are holy; if we are not in Christ, we are in darkness. That is the message of the Gospel, the Good News that needs to be preached to every generation. Yet, for some, it seems to have been watered down and mixed with all sorts of human ideas of getting around that simple message of the Truth. When David faced Goliath, he was not thinking about the power of the enemy he was going against, he was counting on the power of the God that he believed in. Elijah did not concern himself with the difficulty of making something happen, when he asked for water to be poured on the sacrifice and wood; he counted on the power of the One True God. There is the great difference in true holiness, true holiness is found in God! I doubt that we are ever going to fully get to the point where we don't have something in us that is preventing us from being completely holy; at least not here in this world. But we are made completely holy in Christ, even with those things that seem to make us unholy. It is really just a matter of giving it all to the Lord. Let the Lord take care of it; let Jesus change you and make you whole. I think it's a lot like that guy who was lame for thirty plus years, the one waiting for the water to stir and someone to put him in. Why worry about getting into the water, when you have the Living Water standing right beside you? Why keep trying to do it our way, or even the physical way, when the Way is all ready done? The Lord has already done all the heavy lifting, literally; He bore the entire weight of all of our sins as He hung upon that cross. He is the Rest...
"For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, "In my anger I took an oath: 'They will never enter my place of rest,'" even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: "On the seventh day God rested from all his work." But in the other passage God said, "They shall never enter my place of rest." So God's rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."" (Hebrews 4:3-7) NLT

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

"Reason"

"Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest." (Psalms 95:11)
Some times we just need to stop thinking about our own needs and wants, and we really need to focus upon what God wants; as if it could be that easy! Well, can it? We have a choice to make, almost every waking moment of every single day, Who are we going to serve, ourselves or God? If we plan on serving the Lord, it may or may not actually happen, depending on how our day goes. Let's just say that what we plan to do is usually not the result we end up with. It's not by our own strength that we can make it happen, so why would we think that our way of doing anything is actually any good? After all of this, do we still think that it is within our power to make it happen? That was their problem, they went from counting on God to fight the battle, to all of the sudden planning to fight the battle themselves. When that happens, we are no longer walking in the shelter and security of God; at least not in our own hearts and minds. All those days of giving thanks and rejoicing in how great a King, God is, they don't even matter; they become worthless fairytales because they have no power in the present, as long as we are facing the enemy in our own strength. Is it easy to surrender all to the Lord? I don't think that He ever said that it was. It is simple, we just do it, plain and simple; but it comes with a price. Wait, I thought that it was free; how is it now going to cost me? I think that we missed the message within "The Rich Young Ruler." It was really a simple thing that Jesus asked for, He said, "Go and sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow me." It really was not complicated; it did not require any serious figuring out what to do and why to do it; the Lord figured it out for him, saying, "This one thing you lack, do this, and you will inherit eternal life." So, what am I saying? It's too hard for us to do anything worthy of eternal life on our own; it can only be done through the power of God. In God's strength, everything is possible; in our own, well Jesus said it perfectly: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." All that you are; all that you care for; all that you ever wanted or need; it all needs to be counted as lost...
"At that time Jesus prayed this prayer, "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! "My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."" (Matthew 11:25-30) NLT

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

"God's Reasons" -2

"Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:" (Psalms 95:10)
Another way we can see this happening is by looking at it more in a manner of a journey; not just in the way one might travel, but in the direction and purpose. Before the Christians were known as that, they were referred to as the Way, as in the way to salvation; or if you will, "the way to eternal life." The word for "ways" is the word 'derek,' a word that means way, toward, journey; basically, it means the way which leads to that place, which ever place one might be headed. God's ways are always in the direction towards Him, they always have been. It is the devil who designs ways which are headed away from God, for he is the father of lies and deception. For what ever reason, we tend to prefer the ways of the devil; it is our natural tendency; due to the wickedness of our heart and the desire of our flesh, we naturally are drawn towards that which leads us in the direction away from God. The only way to combat our natural tendency is by a supernatural intervention, which is by God's Spirit living inside of us; and then we must yield to the Holy Spirit. I don't think it is even possible to do anything on our own, even if we tried, it would not count for anything if God was not the source of what is being done. We might not see how that actually works, but God's ways are always going to be better than ours, because His are always pure and holy. We do not need to know all the answers; we don't even need to know the reason why, it is not our place to question why; ours is to question what, as in, What shall I do for you Lord? If we can just get that straight in our hearts and minds, maybe we can begin to see victories more often over the flesh. But we tend to gravitate towards the flesh; even after having achieved great victories in the Spirit, our natural tendency is to draw back towards our flesh. Call it pride or a desire to be more mature than we really are; we think if it happened once, then we can make it happen again on our own. We can't! Stop trying to make it happen on your own; you are only going to win by letting God take control. Anything else will lead to destruction and pain...
"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes -the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has faith." But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities -his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:16-23) NLT

Monday, June 12, 2017

"God's Reasons"

"Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:" (Psalms 95:10)
Maybe it's the motivation that is all messed up, as in, the reason we need to do what we do, or should do what we do. Maybe we are looking at this from a totally wrong point of view, as if this is for us, when it really is about what God thinks and cares for. Simply put, this is all about God's glory and reputation, not about ours, not about what's in it for us. God does what He does because it brings glory to His name; we are the ones that get blessed to be a part of what He does. If you stop and think about it, the reason we get so worked up by our circumstances and situations is we are looking at them for what is going on with us, as if this or that is all about me. Asking stupid silly questions, like, How is this working towards my good? or What is God trying to speak into my life through this tragedy? How about we stop looking for ways to get things out of our situations and look for ways to bless God in every circumstance? Seriously, it is not about us! God's love saved us; I am pretty sure that we get that; but do we understand the motivation behind God's love? What is so hard for us to understand? If you love someone, I mean really love them, then don't you want to spend time with them? I wish to go back to the beginning, for just a moment; the Second Day to be exact. Of all six days of creation, all were good except that Second Day, the day that God established the separation between firmaments, the earth and Heaven. It is not just that God wants to have fellowship with us, He wants us to be able to fellowship with Him. In order for that to happen, there needs to be holiness in us; without holiness we are unable to enter in to fellowship with a Holy God. I truly wish that I could explain it well enough to understand it myself, but it's more complicated than this mortal mind can begin to comprehend. What I do know, is that God makes the reasons; God decides how it will all work out, for His glory! I think we just need to chill out and enjoy the simple fact that He loves us; that way we can focus upon what God wants...
""For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. "There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."" (John 3:16-21) NLT

Sunday, June 11, 2017

"The Provocation"

"When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work." (Psalms 95:9)
Obviously it's more than just that; much like that wicked servant who had his fellow servant thrown into jail over a petty little debt, our own sins and rebellions keep us doubting God's protection. A whole generation was lost, not for their sin of doing wrong, but for the lack of trust that they had in the LORD doing for them. After all they had seen, after all that they had witnessed, you would think they might have had a more firm grip on God's ability to fight for them. Do you wonder where "Praise and Worship" come into this? Well, it's pretty clear that God's reputation has something to do with it; the enemies of God feared Him more than His people did. Can that possibly take place in our heart as well? What makes us think God does not care what we do when we sin? And if we do think He cares, why do we still do it? There is a strife or contention going on within us. This is the kind of matter that Paul speaks of in Romans 7:14-25; where we don't do what we should, and we continue to do what we should not; contention between the flesh and the Spirit. My favorite defense over this type of strife is to stop feeding the flesh and to focus on the Spirit; if that does not work, there is always that 1989 pledge I made to myself, "I know that I have enough faith to be saved!" It was actually much more than that, but that pretty much sums it up; to believe that God has truly forgiven me of my sins! If you are looking for the reason for "Praise and Worship," then there it is; over and over, without any sort of right on my behalf; not because I deserve it or have earned it, God continues to forgive me! Because that is who He is, my God and Savior! We get so caught up in our own failures, we cannot see God's perfect protection over what really matters, our soul. So those people perished in the wilderness, but they perished believing what could have been; they perished believing that God was able to protect them and deliver them. How do I know this? Because they taught it to their children! If there is strife going on within our hearts, then it is best to take the side that has the power to win...
"We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy the false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient." (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) NLT

Saturday, June 10, 2017

"Informed on Location"

"Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:"
(Psalms 95:8)
This is the proof of our being His children; not that God needs anything proven to Him, but it is we that need to be tested on what we believe. They say that the children of Israel had an issue with getting Egypt out of them; God delivered them from Egypt, but Egypt was still a part of them. There is sometimes a very fine line between being delivered and being set free; a person can be delivered from something or someone, and still be tormented or influenced by whatever it was that held them captive. The word "provocation" basically means strife or contention; this is where there is no comparison whatsoever between two different ideas, yet the two are compared against one another as if it does not matter. It could be easy to understand how this might work, if we could only see this taking place from God's point of view. On the one hand there is the power of whatever it is that coming against us or is causing us to be tempted, and on the other hand, you have the power of God. We know which power is greater; I mean, if we can believe anything written in the Bible, then we can believe in the greatness of God's power. Making it personal is a whole different story. To make it personal, means that the power displayed in those Scriptures is meant for me and my situation. To get a better idea of what this might look like, we could examine the response in the children of Israel to every situation where they were brought up against something, starting with the first one, before they crossed the Red Sea. The issue is brought out in Genesis 14:11, as the children of Israel are backed up against the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's armies are approaching, they respond by saying, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?" There was much more said, but that was the main response, the one that matters the most. We have been saved for a new location, it's called Heaven! Nothing here much matters any more, because nothing here is going to be taken with us, and nothing here can hold us back. Besides that, if God says that He is going to bring us to our new home, then it's God's doing that going to get us there; there is nothing here that can take the place of God's doing what He has promised...
"And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. God's promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news -that God has prepared this rest -has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God." (Hebrews 3:16-4:2) NLT

Friday, June 9, 2017

"Formed and Informed" -Too

"For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if ye will hear his voice," (Psalms 95:7)
I guess you could look at this from another point of view, like as if worship is the way that we are drawn into God's presence; but I think we need to know who and what we are worshiping in order to actually get there. Obviously, we can't pretend to know who God is and start worshiping Him. I think I tried that once, in the late 70's; it turned into a lot of really bad trips, and I ended up thinking God was anything and everything I wanted Him to be, except Jesus Christ. No, we do not find God; as hard as that is to communicate to the average nonbeliever. People try to say, "I found God," but they don't realize that God cannot be found by searching for Him in books or buildings. We can search all over the earth, finding all sorts of wonders and splendor of God's creation, but we still will not find God in any of those things. There are some pretty spectacular religious places we can visit; some of which can make you feel overwhelmed and take your breath away; but none of them can save you; none of them can give you new life. God finds you! It's not as if He did not already know where you were, because I believe His hand was on my life from the very beginning, even before I was born. But it was that day, in my special time of need, in His special time for me, that God called and I listened. He might have called several times before, and I believe that He did; but for whatever reason that there was, that day I was found and exposed to His light. To put it another way, we could say that God is the one who picks us, we don't pick Him; we are chosen by God, as unfair as that might sound to those who are not, it's pretty much the way it is. God is calling out to the whole world, but there are some who will never listen, but only God knows who they; we are all meant to assume that everyone is a "whomsoever," because from our vantage point, they are. No, this is all about those who are His sheep, they are the ones who hear His voice; they are the ones who listen. We might not listen all the time; I can tell you that from first hand experience; but we hear His voice, and that is all that matters, as far as knowing who He is. If I could put it another way, I could say that we don't know Him unless we know Him, and we cannot know Him until we are changed from darkness into light; or if you will, until His Spirit is living within us...
"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:13-16) NLT

Thursday, June 8, 2017

"Formed and Informed"

"For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice," (Psalms 95:7)
Odd, is only the beginning; you should see how the NLT breaks this up; the "for he is our God" is the start of this verse, but it is the second part of the last. Personally, I think I like this way a little better; only because I like the sum-up response being that we hear His voice, verses the other way, which makes the worship based upon Him being our God. I mean either way is good, but this way it makes it more personal, because we hear His voice, because He is our God. Isn't that what Jesus said about His sheep, that they would hear His voice? The portion of Scripture is John 10:22-42, which is where Jesus went to the Temple during the "feast of dedication," now referred to as 'Hanukkah' or 'The Festival of Lights.' In a strange and mysterious way, this has so much to do with our ability to put our trust in God, despite even the darkest days and events in our lives. Without getting into all of the history of this practice, let me sum up what it represents: "it is about the darkness of persecution and the light of God that leads His people through the darkness of those figurative nights with a promise of joy in the morning, (Psalms 30:5)". This can be applied to so many different areas in our life, beyond just persecution; it can also apply to the power over struggles we might have with sin in our lives. Something I had learned long ago, it was taught during a Men's Retreat back in the early 80's, and the theme of the message was the portion of Scripture from Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD." The general premise was based upon David coming out against Goliath, and how it was all brought on by what David heard Goliath say and how it caused him to respond; as if someone could actually have the nerve to challenge the God of Israel! This is pretty much the same basic reaction Elijah had at Mount Carmel to the challenge of God against the prophets of Baal. We have got to understand how important it is to believe in God's power to save! It's not just a matter of saying that we have the faith, the faith must be real and tangible enough to hold on to. Here is the point, as dull as the point might be, it can still prick our hearts: God must be bigger than anything else! He must be bigger than our enemies, bigger than our persecutions, even bigger than our sin; no matter what it is that we are dealing with or being held captive by, God is bigger! And the most amazing thing of all, is that no matter the Bigness of God, we still hear His voice, one on one, we hear His voice...
""I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.""
(John 10:11-16) NLT 

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

"Getting Formed"

"O Come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker." (Psalms 95:6)
If there is one thing that makes us fit for the Kingdom of God, it's letting God form us into the image of His Son. That's really what we want, after all the other stuff is taken away, to be like Jesus; it's just a matter of getting rid of the lumps and pockets of air, and anything else in there. God is more than willing to work with us, as long as we are willing to surrender. You have really got to see this, because I am not sure there are enough words to describe the beauty of what God is showing me. There are two totally different kind of potters; there are those who know what the pot will look like when they have completed molding it, and there are those who form a pot to see what it becomes. Our God is the kind that knows what He is making! I cannot begin to describe what God is actually showing me, because it's like looking through layers upon layers of stained glass images and trying to make out one coherent image. But this much I know, the Bible tells us that God is doing a work in us; and it also tells us that He will complete that work in us; not only that, but the work will be good, from start to finish! (Philippians 1:6) Now that I know this, I can only imagine what the process might be to form such a good work, the Master Potter that He is! Sometimes this clay can get a little lumpy; sometimes this clay can squirm outside of center; but at all times, the Master Potter knows how to make it work! This is called the heart of worship; when we know what we are, we know who God is, and we realize how much that we need Him! We need to stop being foolish, and start being Fools for Christ! If there ever was such a thing as blind faith, then that's what it looks like. We are not blind of who it is that we put our trust in, but we are blind of where He will take us and how He will use us. God knows the look and the shape of the jar we will be, we don't; and no matter how hard we try to make ourselves to fit a certain mold or pattern, it is God's hands that are forming us into a particular image. Will my jar look perfect? Yes, I believe, based upon the word of God taken in complete harmony, that God's perfect work will be complete; when it's all said and done, there will be no regrets for all those that are His children...
""Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband," says the LORD. "Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities. "Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don't be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. For your Creator will be your husband; the LORD of Heaven's Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you back from grief -as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband," says you God. "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer." (Isaiah 54:1-8) NLT

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

"All-Around Goodness"

"The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land." (Psalms 95:5)
There really is a sizable difference between being in or out of fellowship with God. As with that closing Scripture yesterday, David had to know what it was like to be out of fellowship his Heavenly Father, and what it took to be restored to fellowship. One thing for sure, it did not take doing some kind of work or ceremonial cleansing; it just required a broken heart willing to ask for forgiveness. That's the difference between those that are in and those that are out; the ones that are in are the ones who acknowledge what they have done and ask God for forgiveness; the ones that are out, can't even see their own need to be forgiven. It might be hard to see the similarity between what I am saying and this verse we have before us today; but it's not very had to understand the reason we need to accept our reasonable service to a God that not only loves us, but that has the power to make us or break us. In a strange and round-about way, this can be very much connected to the idea of God being the Potter and us being the clay. If you know anything about making pots out of clay, it requires water and dry ground. Not that it matters, but God did form man from the ground, and water is closely associated with God's word; so you put those two ideas together, and all that's left is the wheel to turn out the jars. Where do we want to be on that wheel? I am thinking it's the center of the wheel is where we want to be, don't you? If we are not in the center, then God cannot work very well with us. But isn't He that places us in the center? Absolutely! We ask Him to and He does; that's what happening when we ask for forgiveness. And when we slip out of fellowship, we move away from the center, causing the formation of the jar to be distorted. We stay out of fellowship too long, and the jar not only gets distorted, but breaks down and gets tossed out into the Potter's Field. Where that represents I have no idea, except to say it might later be ground up and used for mortar. Where would you like to be placed? That's what I believe David was getting to in the opening verses of Psalms 21. If our heart's desire is to be restored into fellowship with our loving Father, then that is exactly where God wants us to be; right there in the middle of that wheel. And if the center of the wheel represents Christ, then anything outside that center represents the world. We can see how clearly the world will have an influence on the jar's shape. Just a little can matter a whole lot; no pun intended...
""Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the LORD. "And when your people ask, 'Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?' you must reply, 'You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.' "Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah: Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don't you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean's sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries that I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, 'Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.' Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.""
(Jeremiah 5:18-25) NLT

Monday, June 5, 2017

"High or Low"

"In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also." (Psalms 95:4)
Was I trying to say that God will take us out of here if we don't change our ways? Well, in a matter of speaking, yes; if you are His property, then He can do whatever He thinks is best, for not only you, but for His purposes. But not to worry, your still firmly held in His hands; but the devil won't be messing with you any longer; neither will you be giving Him a bad name. I truly believe that is what it comes down to, is your life giving testimony to God's awesome power and strength? If it's not, then what are you good for, besides just messing up your own testimony? This Psalm is meant to be about "Praise and Worship," something that requires us to be reconciled to God in order to have any kind of real praise or worship at all. There is really only one way for us to be reconciled to God, and that is for us to dwell in Christ; if we are not dwelling in Christ, then we cannot have fellowship with God, let alone worship Him or give Him the praise He deserves. Really, it all comes down to how we want our life here to count for the Lord; if we pour our life into Him, then there is no end to the blessings that He will pour out for us. But if we live our life for ourselves, then what you get is what you earned on your own. Don't think that means you get to keep any of it, because it's all the Lord's! Maybe that's the whole problem, we think what we have is ours, so we shine them up and make them pretty, just like the idols Jeremiah was speaking about. All idols are nothing more than false gods; items that we place between us and the Lord, whether real or imagined, it does not matter; if it takes the place of God's instruction in your life, then it's something you have placed between you and the Lord. Typically, idols are our own design, so it's not like we have bought something someone else made and started worshipping it. No, these can be the things we hold onto; but to justify them being around, we put greater value on them than we might otherwise know. How much value is really not important; a little or a lot really does not matter when it comes to listening to God. God does not speak in variables or degrees of instruction; it's either do or don't, stop or go, it's never what we want to make it; although the way many churches are headed today, you really would not get that message. This is the kind of thing where we have been given a choice, but we really don't get to choose the outcome with either choice; you're either in or you're out...
"How the king rejoices in your strength, O LORD! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. For you have given him his heart's desire; you have withheld nothing he requested. Interlude
You welcomed him back with success and prosperity. You placed a crown of finest gold on his head. He asked you to preserve his life, and you granted his request. The days of his life stretch on forever. Your victory brings him great honor, and you have clothed him with splendor and majesty. You have endowed him with eternal blessings and given him the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling." (Psalms 21:1-7) NLT

Sunday, June 4, 2017

"For Good Reason"

"For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Psalms 95:3)
Besides the fact that God loves us, and besides our need to be holy, we need God! Yes, we might have some faults and we might have a few doubts now and then, but these are all the more reason for our need for God's mercy and grace. Please don't think that God hates you because of what you have done, or because of the wrong choices you have made in your life: God meets us where we are and then transforms our lives. It might take a few months, or years, or even decades; but you can bet on the result being one of transformation, even if it requires being taken out of this world. Maybe that sounds a little drastic, like God would not do such a thing as remove someone from this life, just to keep them from messing up their life any more than they all ready have; but it's not really our life that concerns Him, it's the lives of those who are influenced by us. I am one of those people that believe we are only saved once, and that once is for eternity. There might be more than one salvation; three to be exact; but we are still only born again once. If we could simply allow God to change our lives as He wants to, then we could save ourselves so much pain and suffering; trials will still come, but they are for purifying, not for correction. There really is a difference between the two: one is making bad into good, while the other is making good into great. We do not need anyone to tell us the bad things we need to stop doing, we already know what they are; God has already put those things on our hearts as things He wants us to stop; those things we don't like are easy, but the things we like to do are not. Correction is used to correct our direction; we want to go this way, but God wants us to go another. Purification is used to purify someone going in the right direction, but they need some things still removed from their lives; mostly things that are about love and forgiveness, or vanity and pride. These are things that purify our hearts to allow us to be more like Jesus; we are following Jesus, but we still need some cleaning up. Going in the wrong direction is not following Jesus! That's when it might require a broken leg, because we just won't listen; if you get my drift. Does it mean we are no longer saved? Not in the least! It means that He loves us and needs us to listen, or else. I do not believe that we can lose our salvation, not once we have given our lives over to the Lord. We might lose everything else, even our own life; but what really matters is that we have been saved. We were saved from death and hell when we asked Jesus into our hearts; we will be saved from ourselves if we do not listen and obey! There is no other way to put this, idols are gods; they are things that we let tell us what to do, even when we know that the Lord says not to...
"People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood! They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen who make their idols. Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes made by expert tailors. But the LORD is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations cannot stand up to his wrath. Say to those who worship other gods: "Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens." But God made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will be destroyed. But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists, including Israel, his own special possession. The LORD of Heaven's Armies is his name!" (Jeremiah 10:8-16) NLT

Saturday, June 3, 2017

"Entering In" -Too

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." (Psalms 95:2)
I am sorry for there being more to think about than there was information; but at some point, I need to think that there are some things you already know. Like, don't you know Jesus has paid the price to make us holy? You might be surprised to know how few Christians believe that to be so; instead they settle on the forgiveness, and then leave it at that. That might be the reason there are so many who call themselves Christian, yet they also glory in their gay lifestyle; they don't even hide it anymore, because they have accepted it as who they are, because the world says it's okay. It's not okay! Jesus not only died on that cross so that are sins could be forgiven, He died to give us new life in Him; life that is holy and right before the Father; a life where we actually can fellowship with a Holy God. But don't think for a minute that you can bring anything that is an abomination into His presence, because it is not going to be allowed. Now there are not only Christians who live in gay lifestyles, but more and more, there are people being ordained as gay ministers; even in some of the most revered Religious Institutions. No wonder Islam is quickly becoming the largest religion in the world; at least they still consider it forbidden and wrong; at least publicly they do. I'm sorry if that has offended anyone who might have thought otherwise. I usually don't speak out against certain lifestyles, it's just that this whole GLTBXYZ thing is getting way out of control. Now they people getting married to robots; it's like the movie "Her" is actually coming to life. Anywho, our freedom from sin does not give us freedom to sin; we are called to be holy, as God is Holy! Just because that might not be a reality for you, does not mean that you have been given a pass; but you might need to ask for forgiveness and repent more often than most others do. Basically, what I believe God is saying, is that He has given us the choice to enter into fellowship with Him, but that choice is to be on His terms, not our own; so we really don't have a choice which way we enter in, because there is only one True Way to enter in, by being holy...
"See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know him. Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is." (1 John 3:1-6) NLT

Friday, June 2, 2017

"Entering In"

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." (Psalms 95:2)
Do you know what it means to have a choice, but not have a choice? Well, this is one of those areas where we don't have a choice not to worship God; not if you want to enter into His presence! I know you might know this parable the Lord spoke of, it was the one about the forgiving others, as we have been forgiven; it is found in Matthew 18:21-35. Without getting into a long conversation about the reason why, let me just pretend you already know; but my theory on the reason the wicked servant could not in his heart forgive his fellow servants tiny little debt, was because he knew in his heart that he himself would soon be in debt again to the king. You can't imagine the vast difference there is between 'ten thousand talents' and 'a hundred pence.' On a scale of the average working man's daily wage, one pence might equal one days wage, while one talent might equal 16 years wages; so we might be talking about a hundred days wage verses 160,000 years of wages. It's really quite a tragedy, but could you imagine what it took for the man to get himself in that kind of dealt? At some point, you must pretty much consider yourself as having ownership of the debt; especially when there is absolutely no way that you could ever pay it back, ever! But that's the whole point of the message; it's apples and oranges, two totally different debts; one debt is on a level between us and God, while the other is between one another. It's like the time when Jesus healed the man lowered down through the roof, He said, "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." But the scribes questioned His authority to say such a thing, so Jesus demonstrated His authority to say such a thing, by saying, "Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." (Mark 2:1-12) What was easier for Jesus to say, and yet, what was the way that had more healing? It is far better to have your sins forgiven than it is to have your body healed; one is only good enough for a season, while the other counts towards eternity. There is really no comparison between the two; much like there is no way to compare 'ten thousand talents' to 'a hundred pence.' Neither can we compare our ability to be forgiven by God and our opportunity to be able to forgive one another...
""Listen to this message from the LORD, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The LORD, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock. For the LORD has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them. They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the LORD'S good gifts -the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life we be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone. The young women will dance for joy, and the men -old and young -will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing. The priests will enjoy abundance, and my people will feast on my good gifts. I, the LORD, have spoken!"" (Jeremiah 31:10-14) NLT

Thursday, June 1, 2017

"Praise and Worship"

PSALMS 95
"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Verse 1)
I don't know about you, but I am totally convinced that these Psalms all have a pattern; I have not quite figured out the complete pattern it might be, but I know that it's there. What a very simple concept, to just worship God for the wonderful things that He has done. It really does work, it takes us from a place of being bombarded with whatever it is that the world can dish out, and it brings us to a place where we are in awe of God's power and strength. When you get to that place, there is nothing this world can do that makes us afraid anymore; at least for the time being. There is really no guarantee that we won't be scared and afraid tomorrow; it really all depends where our heart is and if we are walking in fellowship with God. If we are going to be honest with ourselves, then we know it's not always song and dance; some days are just hard to get through, and we wonder what the point might be to be kept around. But, that's the whole point to "praise and worship!" Praise and worship allows us to enter into a whole different set of circumstances, ones where we are no longer bothered by the cares of this life and our biggest concern now is getting closer to God. We get to a point in the circumstance of being alive on the earth, longing to be with the LORD. Do you know what I mean? It's almost as if you can say to the world, "Bring it!" You feel it deep inside, and you are well aware of the place where you belong, and it's not here! You know that saying, "Our joy comes from the Lord," well it does, but we must enter in! We will get to that later, but for now, the focus is that we must make the sincere choice in our heart that we are going to rejoice; no matter what, we have something to celebrate, and the world is not gong to rob us of our chance to rejoice in the Lord! You think about all the wonderful things that He has done, forgetting about the mess and the rest of whatever it is that causes you to hang your head, and you give your attention to the God that saved you! He deserves our praise and worship, a whole lot more than we should worry about the cares of this life...
"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." (Colossians 3:12-17) NLT