"For All to See!"

"This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." (John 19:20 KJV) 

""Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed."" (Revelation 16:15 NLT)

  If you thought yesterday was a little off, you are not alone! There are so many things that connect to what was being said, my mind was swirling with things to talk about; as it was, it really was about the easy way people will be drawn to worship idols, even if the idol that they worship might be an image or statue of Jesus; that too would be an idol! 

 It was strange the news declared that a statue of Mary wept, and her eyes turned red; at least that's what I heard was declared, but there were not videos or pictures presented to verify that it had happened. When I was in that jail facility, I would also attend the Catholic services, once or twice, on Saturday's. But, it didn't take too many visits to understand that most of the men worshiped Mary above Jesus, as they called her, the mother of God. That just didn't sit right with me, so I quit going to the Catholic services. 

 Believe it or not, but we must be cautious to the things we worship, because it is really easy to be taken in by something, making whatever, just about anything, be more important than God! First and foremost, Christ Jesus must be first in our lives, above your spouse, your children, your job, even, dare I say, your church! 

 If you belong to a church that wants to erect a statue of something, placed in the sanctuary, and it is worshipped; run! Get out of their and find a place where the only thing presented and lifted up is the Bible being taught as the Word of God. And even then, we still do not worship a Bible! Yes, it is the written word of God, but we still don't worship a book, we worship the Author! 

 Anywho! Whatever that might count towards, we must be ready! Ready means that you have clothing that dresses you in righteousness when He comes! Where do you get those clothes? By being washed in the blood of Christ! You stay ready by being washed and clothed in His righteousness! Which then leads me to one of the things we get tripped up on, especially when we serve the Lord: Works! 

 Yes! Works too are made into idols; more than that, we find them hard to walk away from, especially when it comes to commitment and sacrifice. Take this blog, for example: it could be an idol, if it is something that I look towards for purification or cleansing; or even if it is something that I feel draws me closer to God. 

 Jesus must be First! No matter what we are involved in, ministry or not, Jesus is the Foundation on which everything must be built; and that Foundation must remain the Firm Foundation, that never changes! I hope that makes some sort of sense, because I seriously think we are getting close...

 "We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts." (1 John 5:19-21 NLT)