"The Chosen Ones"

 "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." (John 17:6 KJV)

  "O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do. Now I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God?" (Psalm 71:17-19 NLT)

 "Knock, knock! Who's there?" - "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" If you wonder what that might mean, then it might be time to start paying attention. As I woke up this morning at 3:05, I pushed the remote to bring a little light into the room, only to witness Steve and Brian engaged in a little fight over what the D.O.J. is requesting that the court does with any information the Trump Team might be presenting in their defense: "Do not let anything get released to the public!" 

 Wow, what kind of government is this? This is going too far, too fast, and we will soon be watching the rights we once held close and had protection under, be swiftly and completely taken away! If you don't believe it, it is only a matter of interpretation, as in, "Is what you say, causing others to be offended." If what you say might offend someone, on the left, then it's not right, and you will be persecuted for having said it! 

 Go ahead and ignore it, if you want to; but, when they come to your church and arrest your Pastor for saying that God created man and woman, then you might start paying attention! It's only a matter of time, because at this stage in the game, the time has come for God to be proclaimed loud and clear! The more He is lifted up, the more the darkness will be exposed: Shout it from the mountaintop; shout it from the sea! 

 Nevertheless, I have been thinking about this verse, as Jesus uses something of a twist of words, saying, "and thou gavest them me," as if He goes from saying, "the men which thou gavest me," to the opposite thought, "thou gavest them me." That might not appear to be anything of importance; but as a matter of fact, it absolutely is! If Christ does not dwell in your heart, then you have no real connection to Him! 

 Thinking back to that little book, "My Heart, Christ's Home", it reminded me that when we accept Christ into our hearts, we are on a journey to allow Christ to own everything and to clean out anything that might offend Him or make Him less important in our hearts. I say that it is a journey because it is not won and done! You will go through cycles of life and living, where you will stray off course, no matter how hard you try not to, it is just bound to happen. 

 As Jerry was teaching, (preaching,) yesterday, the question of the opening verse in Isaiah 53, which says, "Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?"; it has to be considered by those who receive the message, because that is who the message is meant for! 

 Do you believe that you have been cleansed from all your sins? Most likely you have heard that it is so, so you accept that it is true; but do you still allow sin to come into your life? and if so, do you ask the Lord to remove it? Most of us, if we are sincere about our relationship with the Lord, will gladly ask Him to take it away; but some will try to find a way to hide it away, for convenience sack, for a rainy day or when we get bored.

 Which reminds me of something I heard the other day, regarding Adam's punishment to sinning against God: Work! Something to keep him occupied and busy, to avoid dwelling on things that he shouldn't...

"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there's nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." (Romans 14:17-23 NLT)