"The Prosperous One" -2

"And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things." (Psalms 45:4) As many of you have most likely found out by now, living a life for Jesus is not all about all happiness and feeling comfortable; it's hard at times, and there are moments when life just hurts. I share again Ray comforts lighter side version of the parachute, as those that know the plane is going to crash will wear their's no matter how uncomfortable and silly it might appear; while those that are seeking comfort and happiness for the ride will surely take it off, especially after having others put them down for wearing it. Jesus never promised that it would be easy; He said that His yoke was easy, not that this life would be easy; this life is really hard, which is the main reason that we must not love it, but love Him. Those that love this life, hold onto the things of the world; those that hold onto the things of the world, tend to let go of Jesus, because you can't hold onto both. When it comes to "terrible things", we can say without a doubt that there are things which make us dependent upon the Lord, and there are things that cause us to take our eyes off of the Lord; the terrible things tend to make us put our eyes on Jesus, terrible being those things that cause fear in our hearts and make us realize just how fragile life really is. With that, I would like to picture my King upon His white horse, saying, "and in Thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness"; while at the same time, realizing how powerful He is, and how there is nothing in this world that can even come close to defeating Him. This is my King, my God, and my Lord that loves me; so where is there any fear in that? There is not and fear in that, which is precisely why His yoke is easy and His burden is light... "And why call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:46-49)

"The Prosperous One"

"And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things." (Psalms 45:4) Prosperity usually encompasses wealth, yet in also includes other factors, such as well being, lots of children, heath and comfort; you can name many things that people could use to define prosperity, but the greatest one of all should point towards eternity in heaven. Jesus said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36) It really does not take a whole lot of debate to understand the eternity far outweighs this time upon earth; yet, there are so many people that will choose prosperity here over the prosperity in heaven. Truth , meekness and righteousness are the things which Jesus presented as the foundation of His teachings; in truth, He declared Himself to be the Truth; in meekness, He declared Himself as Meek; in righteousness, He is the Righteousness of God. All three of these are the same principles that must govern our lives, as we must walk in truth before God, control our passions in meekness, and live by the law of righteousness. As to the "terrible things", what might be terrible or dreadful in the eyes of some, might be glorious and splendid in the eyes of others. A good example of this would be Jesus being crucified upon the cross and what a terrible thing that was in the eyes of all who loved Him; yet, the Bible says that it pleased the Father to bruise Him; just one more thing that prosperity can point to... "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand." (Isaiah 53:10)

"The Mighty One"

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with glory and thy majesty." (Psalms 45:3) No doubt we all know that the Sword represents the Word of God, and that His word is sharper than any two-edged sword; so what, pray tell, does this sword spoken of have anything to do with "A Song of loves"? Having been where I was in the place that I would read God's word, yet had no clue what He was speaking through it, I can understand something about how it feels to be disconnected from the three aspects of what is needed to comprehend; God's Spirit, His Love, and His Word, all need to be present in our lives together for what is being said to matter in us. Before I accepted Christ into my heart, I thought I knew God, and I would read the Bible every day; but I had nothing seriously being spoken into my heart. It wasn't until I received Christ into my heart that I could see God's love for me; and it wasn't until I received Christ that I had been given the Holy Spirit to guide me through His word. Now His word is not just words that have been written on paper, but are words that have been written upon my heart; words of love, not judgment; words of compassion, not condemnation; these are the differences between those that have Christ and those that do not: for those that have Christ, His judgments are mercy and grace; for those that do not, His judgments are death and destruction. Besides this, Christ Jesus is the "Most Mighty", and He is the Mighty Warrior that will defend His bride and will permanently defeat His enemies, once and for all; as He came once in the form of love and compassion, He will return in the form of Fire and Judgment... "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:11-16)

"The Fairest One"

"Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever." (Psalms 45:2) From His birth, as humble as it was, Jesus was the fairest One: fairer than the children of men. We see this declared by the angels to the shepherds in Luke 2, and we know this personally by the relationship that we have with Him; something that can only be declared in our own hearts upon accepting Him into our heart personally; because when we do, we discover that there is no other, only Jesus will do! Not just a prophet, or a teacher, or even a priest; yet He fulfilled each of those each of those callings to the highest degree. Not just a king, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; born as a baby, yet full of grace and truth, having preexisted from the before the beginning of all creation, and Who's kingdom is established for ever and ever. This is the Jesus that I serve; this is the Jesus that has saved me; not just a Man who walked among us for 33 years and then went away, but the God of creation Who took it upon Himself to do something that only He could do, come and die in our place upon the cross. Those that might not understand how important this is, have not tasted the life giving change of knowing their Redeemer; nor have they yet experienced the freedom given by being delivered from their sins; there is no way to explain it, other than trying to say that feel free and alive; but people that do not know how that feels cannot relate, because it involves the Spirit, of which they have not, nor can they, until they open the door of their heart and let Him in. We that have Jesus know these things full well, but sometimes we need to be reminded what He has done for us; especially after having struggled in this world for several decades after our conversion, we tend to forget what it felt like to be transformed from one life to the other, and to truly know The Fairest One... "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

"The Preface"

"My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer." (Psalms 45:1) Imagine, if you will, that this is a Psalm not written by a man, but by none other than God Himself, primarily the Holy Spirit. The character of the Holy Spirit is to show us Jesus, either by pointing the way, confirming Him, or living Him out in our lives. As He is the writer, this verse is His preface to the story to unfold; one which is boiling up within Him because of the goodness of the matter to which He is about to speak. If that is too hard to imagine for you, then you could simply take this to be the Holy Spirit speaking through the writer, and just leave it at that; but there are some verses here that go outside the writer, making it easier just to imagine this is God speaking to us, in us, and through us, which is what His Spirit does. Another thing that we must realize about the Holy Spirit, is that He does not draw attention to Himself, but that He always will speak of Jesus; He might manifest Himself through gifts, but such gifts are to draw attention to Christ, not Him. That said, there are several ways that God will speak to us, and He uses this first verse to express almost every way imaginable; it might seem like a play on words, but within this verse we find things like, the heart, His goodness, His creation, speaking, touching, His Spirit, the tongue, His written word, and even His Son, the King. As Matthew Henry has put it: "This Psalm is an illustrious prophecy of Messiah the Prince: it is all over gospel, and it points to Him only, as a bridegroom espousing the church to Himself and as a King ruling in it and ruling for it". Now, due to the nature of the Holy Spirit, that being to point to Christ, He does not point to Himself, but is Himself, in us, the evidence that we are in Christ. With that, let's take this to the next level, and let's imagine that same Spirit is declaring this Psalm through us, the church; which by the way, if you get right down to it, is the number one thing that we have in common with God, His Spirit dwelling within us... "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father." (John 16:7-16)

"A Royal Wedding Song"

PSALMS 45 - [To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil. A Song of loves.]
Just in case you were wondering, my point about God not being here was geared towards those that try and make God out to be of this world, as if heaven is here and now; bazaar as that might sound, Jesus did not claim this as His home, and neither should we; so those that wish to claim this as heaven, well for them, maybe this is as close as they get. As for me, I am looking for something that is far far better; something that is so spectacular, it will take my breath away, literally! Which just so happens to bring us to this next Psalm, "A Royal Wedding Song", as titled in my Bible. The most spectacular event to take place is yet to come, which will be the Royal Wedding between Christ Jesus and His church. Oh, what a glorious day that will be! The word "Shoshannim" is kind of an interesting word, mostly because it speaks of a work or ornament resembling lilies, or an instrument that resembles a lily, such as a trumpet might. This same word is used in the introduction of two other Psalms, Psalms 69 and Psalms 80; both of which involve the work being done that only Jesus Christ is capable of doing, and both of which speak of urgency and power, as might be the case in the sound of a trumpet. Which ever the case, the point that must be made has more to do with the fact that Jesus was the Instrument used for our redemption, restoration, and glorification; and this Psalm we are entering into points to Him, and Him alone, as the "Bridegroom espousing the church to Himself and as a King ruling in it and ruling for it" (Matthew Henry). The second thing to take notice of within this introduction is, "A Song of loves", which is more to the instruction and the placement of the songs origin, which is from that of the church unto the Bridegroom. This is something that I believe goes closely in line with what Paul was speaking of in Ephesians 5:32, and concerns the great mystery of Christ and the church; which speaks of the love of Christ towards His church, and the reverent love of the church towards Christ, as well as the two being joined together as One, and in one love... "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)  

"Reaching Up" -2

"Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies' sake." (Psalms 44:26) I thought I would be starting 45 today, but I need to say one more thing that God has put upon my heart regarding our reaching up to Him for protection. In this world (the world being the place in which we live), there are so many things that tend to bring us down (down meaning that we loose sight of the joy in which we should be living), that it is always good to have somewhere else that we can reach to other than this place. I would have no joy whatsoever in my life if not for the fact that heaven is waiting for me, and I for heaven; besides the fact that my wife is in the condition that she is in, I have many more issues that tend to press against me; like owing taxes, trying to keep up with work, and just getting out of bed some mornings; if it wasn't for this blog, I might try to sleep in most mornings. But besides anything that this world might put me through, my biggest and most important issue to focus upon, each and every day, is my relationship with the God that loves me more than I love myself. I can honestly say, I know God loves me more than I love myself; and because I know that, there is nowhere else that I can reach to for protection; not within myself, not to anyone else, and surely not to anything that is of this earth. As with most of the Psalms, the final verse usually summarizes or amplifies the meaning of the entire Psalm, which is true in this case also. "A Prayer for Protection" could be summarized by this one verse, "Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies' sake". God's mercy is never out of reach, because He truly does love us, and He is more than willing to redeem us; but it requires that we reach up to Him, unlike some may teach, where you can make God to be anything that you need or want Him to be; God is not here, He is there, and He is bigger than you could ever imagine... "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many rebound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 4:8-5:1)

"Reaching Up"

"Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies' sake." (Psalms 44:26) All things considered, our redemption is always a lot closer than we actually think that it is. I know that we sometimes cannot see it, nor does it seem possible in some of our trials that there are any easy answers or solutions that will make the trial go away; but that's the thing which is most glorious about God, because He is the answer and the solution! He is so glorious that He replaces the trial with more of Himself, thereby making the trial seem less of a threat to our lives. We really don't get that a lot of times, but the truth is, we focus so much upon that which is seen, we sometimes forget how much power is provide us by just reaching up to God. After all, God is bigger than any problem we could ever have, and He is more powerful than any trial that might appear to overtake us. As to the whole point of "a prayer for protection", this has more to do with that than we might think; because if we are earnestly going to seek God's protection through praying to Him, then there are a few things that we need to know about Him before we can earnestly do that. The first of which, is that God is able to do that which we pray for; if we don't truly believe that He is able, that doesn't necessarily mean that He won't, it just means that we won't earnestly ask Him; I don't adhere to that whole notion of God didn't answer your prayer because you lacked faith thing, because God does things according to His will, not ours. Secondly, if He is able, then we must believe that He is willing to do that which we pray for; and if not what we are praying specifically for, then what is best for our lives in His perfect will. In other words, the answer and solution is not always what we are looking for, but instead will always draw us closer to Him; that might include death, believe it or not; at which point, it doesn't get any closer than that. And thirdly, to be totally and completely assured of His protection, we must totally and completely understand how holy that He is, and because He is holy, we must be holy... "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:12-18)        

"Laying Down"

"For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth." (Psalms 44:25) This might sound like laying down, as in to assume the most humble position to pray unto God, and it very well may be that; but I am thinking it speaks more about the condition of the heart, as in, I am totally worthless, and I am nothing without You, Dear God! Assuming that we are still involved with a prayer for protection, and I have no doubt that we are, then it would only seem right to acknowledge how critical our need is, because it really doesn't get much lower than this. But here, in the context of the what is being said, there is something else that must be considered, which is, What the heck is being said!!! Since these two statements are separated by a colon, then they are pretty much the same thought; whereas the first statement opens the door to the next, which is the explanation or example of the first. If we are taking for granted that this is speaking about a position of prayer, then it is easy to see how this would work: as our entire person is bowed down to the ground, then our belly would surely be adhered to the earth. However, if "our soul" is speaking about our seat of desires, then the "belly" would be our seat of hunger; which would also mean that we are talking about the state of mind in which we constantly battle: the difference in walking by faith, and walking by sight. As odd as that might appear, we are in a constant battle between the flesh and the Spirit; the flesh sees what it wants, and the Spirit knows what It needs; the Spirit is stronger than the flesh, yet the flesh seems to overpower the Spirit, because of the difference between sight and faith. I hope that came out the way that I meant it to appear, because we all seem to have a different way of looking at what we think that we have seen or heard. Oh yea, that reminds me: God does not change His word either... "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that as Him? (Luke 11:11-13)  

"Reaching In" -2

"Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?" (Psalms 44:24) True, I mentioned puzzle, but it's not a puzzle that is meant to not be figured out; it's more like the kind of puzzle where you match things listed on opposite sides of the page, by drawing a line connecting one thing from this line to something from that line. First off, I honestly doubt that God hides His face, nor does He sleep, as in not paying attention; God has no need to think, "Oh, I wonder what they are doing?", because He already knows; and He surely does not forget about the things that we are going through; if He has numbered the very hairs on our heads, I am pretty sure He has counted all of our days also. Secondly, if any one has hidden themselves, or has become forgetful, it is us; in other words, if any one needs an adjustment, it is us, not God! Just as John was saying about "and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure", because God does not change, nor does He need to change, but it is us that must be changed to be more like Him. Not only do we need to be changed, but we must want to be changed; we must want it more than we want any other thing, which is our part of the purification process. It is God that does the purifying, but is you and I that must allow Him to do so by having a heart that wants to be changed; which as John said, is motivated by the hope within us that "when He shall appear, we shall be like Him". Basically, the point I believe that needs to be focused upon, is that God's protection is always right there for the taking, or for the receiving, however you which to look upon it; but it requires us to approach God in Spirit and in truth; in Spirit, because God requires and seeks those that worship Him so; in truth, because we must be totally honest before Him, which means that we totally realize how much we need Him, and how much we fall short of His glory and holiness... "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9 & 10)

"Reaching In"

"Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?" (Psalms 44:24) I don't care what you think about my post from yesterday, if you did not get it, then that's not completely my fault; I only have so much I can say in so much space and time, but I know what it was that God was telling me. But if you thought that was hard to piece together, then get ready for another puzzle. What is the opposite of reaching out? How about you just do nothing? Typically, in most cases, I would say yes; but remember, this is about us praying for God's protection, and if we are seeking His protection, then doing nothing is really not something that we must do. What are my options? What is my defense? Where do I begin? How about starting at the beginning? Who's am I? Am I my own, or do I belong to Another? And if I belong to Another, then what does that make me? I am a son of the KING! Do I truly understand what that means? Because if I do, I don't think I live out the confidence of being His son, or the security of His ownership over my life; at least not when I am feeling guilty over something that I have done. This is really not that hard to understand; and God has made it so easy, because He really wants us to grab hold of it and understand how it works. First off, if my father was king, and he loved me with all of his heart, then do I really need to worry about whether or not he will protect me? Absolutely not! So then, what might cause me to worry about being protected by my father the king? Have I wandered off from the sight of his protection? You can see how it works in the natural world; why would it be any different with God? I know what you are thinking, it is because God sees all and knows all, so we really can't get out of His sight. True, as far as God's ability to know our every move and every thought; but as far as being in the sight of His protection, sometimes our biggest enemy is our self. Now where do I begin?
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)

"Reaching Out"

"Awake, why sleepest Thou, O LORD? arise, cast us not off for ever." (Psalms 44:23) In all of life, there is nothing that is more awakening than death. I get that; and I also see why God allows for us to experience loss; not that He needs us to understand how fragile this life is, because I think we get that also; but because we need to understand how much we need Him. How much do I really reach out to God for help? Not as much as I should, that is for sure! Either one of three things exist in our hearts that prevent us from reaching out to God: either we don't feel worthy, we don't think He cares, or we think we can handle it ourselves. Two of those three are shown above, with a little more focus on the second, as in, Does God even care? Well, Does He? I think we should let God speak for Himself, and He has! Some read Genesis 6:6 and misunderstand the heart of God, as if God can repent for something that He has done; but God does not change (Malachi 3:6); and if He does not change, shouldn't that also mean that He does not change His mind? Wait, before you start trying to think of excuses, start thinking of promises that God has given; try to use a little Philippians 4:8 when it comes to God's character, because God is love, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5); darkness being unhappiness and ruin, which is the consequences of sin. Within each of us there dwells this kind of darkness, which is the sorrow and despair we anguish over our sins, coupled with the destruction that is the wake of our sins, there is a serious need for repentance. Yet with God, He has no such experience, nor does He need to feel the need to repent from anything, because He is all-knowing. In this "darkness" which is spoken of, we have the first of those three reasons, being that we don't feel worthy to reach out to God; not necessarily because we are unhappy in that we sinned, but rather that we feel that God is unhappy towards us, and because of that our lives are ruined. Nothing, absolutely nothing could be further from the truth!!! The God that we serve is a God of mercy and restoration! He is waiting for us to reach out to Him, because He offers mercy; therefore, we surely do not want to try and do this on our own...
"For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 317-21)

"In Life and In Death" -2

"Yea, for Thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." (Psalms 44:22) I think that the point I was making has to do with what we honestly believe to be true; not what we think to be true, based upon what we have been told; nor what we perceive to be true based upon what we have looked upon. What we know to be true must be confirmed in our hearts, the Spirit also bearing witness inside of us that it is so. Jesus, speaking to the woman at the well, said, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." (John 4:23) The point being, that the place will not matter, such as the mountain or the temple, but the heart is where true worship will take place; and the time had come for man's spirit to be reunited with the Father, whereby we can experience true worship based upon a personal relationship; the Holy Spirit being given us, that true worship will be confirmed. We must not hold anything back when it comes to true worship with God; meaning, that we must be an open book before Him, because the fact is, that is what we are. The truth that is in our hearts must match the truth as it is; after all, God knows us better than we know our self, so what do we think we are hiding from God? As to the point of life and death, death is a very real thing for this mortal body, there is just no way getting around that issue; but if we continue in life by living as though God's word does not matter as it should, then where do we get the experience of living a life in which death has no victory?
"Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us as an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Philippians 3:15-21)  

"In Life and In Death"

"Yea, for Thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." (Psalms 44:22) Once we give our lives to Jesus Christ, we are no longer our own, and our life is no longer something that we control, even though we think sometimes we have control of it. This is something that many of us forget, as we make plans for this, or we plan for that, we sometimes fail to ask the question, What will You have me to do, Lord? We might ask Him during spiritual issues, like where we are to fellowship, or what He would have us to share; but Jesus would have us seek His guiding for all of our daily lives, including what we should wear, whom we should hang out with, or even what we should let into our minds. I know that might sound a little legalistic, but the simple truth of the matter is, our life is not our own, we are the property of Jesus Christ. I know it might sound a little old fashion, seeing how many churches are becoming more and more liberal in the way they let the world dictate how they teach, or how they view God's standards for our lives; but God changes not (Malachi 3:6); it is man that changes his view of God, and what God's standards might be for their lives, which is usually based upon the desires of their hearts, not how they interpret the word of God. What seems to be the case, is that they determine what they want to believe, and then they distort God's word to closely alien with what they believe, instead of letting God's word determine what they should believe. This is a very slippery slop, and there is no net to catch us when we fall, as harsh as that might sound. I base that statement upon the fact that God's word must be the standard upon which we live our lives, not manipulated to match the standard of this world; otherwise, if we fail to hold God's word to be the standard, then upon what are we basing our promise of eternal life? Is His word that in which our life is made manifest, or is it the world? Just saying... "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" (Malachi 2:17)

"In Spirit and In Truth" -2

"If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange God; shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart." (Psalms 44:20 & 21) Then again, maybe Jesus was speaking about the other disciples, as in men, as in other people, or what others think; after all, was it not that issue that cause Peter to deny Jesus three times, what others might think? It's really not an issue of being intimidated by what others might think, because that is only a byproduct of the issue; the real issue was that of forgetting who Jesus was; was He Lord, the Son of the Living God? If he still believed that with all of his heart, then what others might think would not be an issue. If Jesus is who He claims to be, then where can we find protection, but in Him? Why would we seek protection in anything else? It is really amazing sometimes the kind of stuff we stretch out our hands to for protection; things like the Zodiac, or things like gambling, or the lottery; even the stock market, or investments, or even all this stuff we surround ourselves with. None of that stuff has any power whatsoever to give us eternal life, and none of it will protect us from the fires of hell. They say that Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven, if you are using the word heaven, then I would say that is true; but if you are speaking about the kingdom of God, then I might challenge the statement. The kingdom of God is now and forever, is began for each one us the day we invited Jesus Christ into our hearts; from that very moment, each and every one of us that believe in Jesus, have entered into the kingdom of God, and hell is no longer an option. Today I am giving the message at our church, and I will be teaching on Genesis chapter seven; yes, the whole chapter; but one of the wonderful illustrations within that chapter, is found in verse sixteen, where it says, "and the LORD shut him in". Noah had to enter the ark, as God called him into it in verse one, saying, "Come"; after Noah entered, it was God that shut the door, and when God shuts the door, no man can open it... "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One." (John 10:27-30)

"In Spirit and In Truth"

"If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this out? for He knoweth the secrets of the heart." (Psalms 44:20 & 21) Maybe I should start using several verse every day, because at the pace I am going, I will still be in Psalms four years from now; but actually, this two verses also must go together. Again, for the love of God, why can't we get this through our thick skulls? Nothing gets past God; nothing is hidden from His view; everything that we do is an open book to God, and He sees even the secrets of our hearts. In case you might not get that, the secrets of our heart is not just what we do and what we think upon, it's our passions and what our heart is drawn towards. After His resurrection, and upon His third time showing Himself to His disciples, Jesus had just finished dining with them, after assisting them with a great catch, and He said unto Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?" (John 21:15) Much speculation surrounds whom or what Jesus was referring to by "these"; was He speaking about the fellow disciples that were with him, or was He speaking about the fish? I am going with the fish. Peter had pretty much gone back to his former profession, as did many of the other disciples. When Jesus first called him, he was a fisherman; and after Jesus was put to death, he went back to being a fisherman; but Jesus had called him out of that. In Matthew 4:19 & 20, Jesus found these four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and He called them, saying, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men"; then instantly and without hesitation they dropped their nets and followed Jesus. For the next three and a half years Peter was being trained in his new profession; no longer a fisherman, who caught fish for a living, now he was to be a fisher of men, who was to bring the lost onto Christ that they might have life. It's really not that easy to give up something you know brings you income, without having been called out of it; and even then, if your calling comes into question, then you will sometimes go right back to that which you know. But God would have us to know Him more than anything else; more than our professions; more than even the ones that we love, like our family, friends, and even our self... "If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build, and was not able to finish." Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him the commeth against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26-33)

"Staying Committed"

"Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way; thought Thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death." (Psalms 44:18 & 19) You might have noticed that I used more than one verse today; I just couldn't break these two verses up; they were meant for each other. Two things that come to mind for me here, without even giving it much thought; the first is the time when many people quit following Jesus because He said He was the Bread From Heaven, and then He turned to His disciples and asked, "Will ye also go away" (John 6:67); but Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." The second thing, which is a little harder to communicate, is when the Centurion sent friends to Jesus, asking Him to heal his servant with just a word; he sent them saying that he was not worthy that Jesus should enter under his roof, nor thought himself worthy to come unto Him, but that he believed Jesus could just say the word, and his servant would be made well. After hearing this, Jesus marveled at this man's faith, and turning around to those that followed Him, said, "I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel". (Luke 7:9) This first thing has to do with us knowing God's promise of eternal life; who else can promise that? so where else can we turn for the promise of eternal life, but to God? The second has to do with God's power, and the fact that God, with just a word, can do whatever it is that He wants to have done; so where else can we go for protection, but to God? Both of these understandings are based upon us believing that God's word is truth; if we cannot get past the very first verse of the Bible, then we have an issue; and if we cannot hold onto the verses given in Revelation 22:1-5 as that place we are destined for, then we have another issue. On the one hand we have an issue with believing God can do anything, and on the other hand we have an issue with being in heaven, because we either can't see ourselves there, or we are not yet convinced that it is real. So, how do you view the Bible? Is the Bible 100% true to you? or do you have doubt over certain parts of it? Or, like many other people in this world, even those that say they believe, do you think that much of the Bible is allegory, or even fictional events and stories meant to point us in a direction? If so, please pray that God would settle your heart in this area, and that, by the power of His Spirit, He would give you the truth... "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from things that are written in this Book." (Revelation 22:18 & 19)

"Understood"

"All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten Thee, neither have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant." (Psalms 44:17) I see, said the blind man; or so the saying goes. But how often do we understand our real standing in this world? Jesus said,"He that loveth his life shall lose it: and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life." (John 12:25) It is one thing to believe in what you are, it is another to come to the understanding of it; for we are only here for a very short while, and we truly need to get that through to our heads. The "covenant" which is being spoken of is that of serving other gods, which is expressed by the statement, "we have not forgotten Thee". Now I know that we can get a little sideways in our plans and our goals for daily living, because I have been there many times; but when we start making plans that involve earthly treasures, say like houses, boats, cars, etc., we really need to be careful about whom we are serving in the process of planning. Really, it comes down to what is the most important thing in our lives; is it pleasing God? or is it pleasing ourselves? The flip side of what I am saying, is to be stripped of everything, taken captive, and forced to serve those that do not know God, which is what has happened to the children of Israel more than once; which is only to give us a contrast of how cruel the world can be to us, verse how faithful and true that God is to us. Basically, it all comes down to us understanding Who it is that we serve; knowing that there is nowhere else we want to be but in His house, as His servants, and hoping in His protection... "Your words have been stout against Me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against Thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shalt ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not." (Malachi 3:13-18)  

"Great Misunderstanding"

"For the voice of him that repoacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger." (Psalms 44:16) I don't care how you slice it, getting beat up does not look good to those that are watching. Two thoughts come to mind: why don't you do something? and, why is this happening? Of all the great and mighty things that God has done, you would think we might be a little less concerned; after all, "if God is for us, then who can be against us", right? Have you ever noticed what a sick tree looks like after it has been pruned by someone that is trying to save it? It looks terrible; like all of it's glory has been removed, and there is hardly anything left that produces shade, or that gives beauty to behold. What God allows us to go through, He does for our benefit, or for the benefit of others around us; something that we seldom catch hold of in the midst of our circumstance; at least not at first; usually it isn't until every single possible earthly resource has been used up, then we have no other choice but to place everything in God's hand. It isn't until we do that, that we finally realize, with all certainty, that we are in God's hand! It's not that we did not know this before, because we understood it to be so; but knowing something from the experience of surrender is so much more real than knowing from what you have been told. Think of that game you play, the one where you fall backwards while someone else stands behind you to catch you; we sometimes picture that kind of thing going on when we surrender to God, where we just fall backwards into His arms; but that's not so, because we are already in His arms to begin with, we just need to let go of everything else. You really can't tell anyone how it feels to totally surrender to God, it must be experienced to really know how it feels. But one thing is for certain, when we surrender totally to God we are not hoping for someone or something else to save us, only God... "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved  with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." (Hebrews 3:7-14)

"Left Guessing"

"My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me." (Psalms 44:15) What is next? We really never know what God will do next, but we can be assured that He will bring us to the other side, that is His promise; although we tend to forget that sometimes. If God had told me what He was going to do before hand, then I might have been reluctant to go any further. We like to believe that God will not allow us to be tried by more than we can stand, but I really don't know if that is actually true when it comes to suffering and dealing with sickness; it might be true with temptations, because there is always an escape, but you don't get to escape some of life's tragedies. Cain used the expression, "My punishment is greater than I can bear", yet I counted at least six times in which God had given Cain an opportunity to repent for his hatred towards his brother, but he refused. So you see, God will always allow us a way to avoid being tempted into sin; and even after we sin, God allows a way to be delivered and forgiven; but sickness and death, is really not something that He has promised us we would not have to deal with in this life. As for the children of Israel, they were constantly having to be corrected for either not listening to God's instruction, or ignoring His commands; either way, they seemed to always be taken captive by either some other nation or by some other worldly seduction. I think that is kind of like things are with us, because when everything is going well in our lives, we tend to forget about God and focus upon enjoying life; but when things are going really bad, all of the sudden we start focusing upon God again, and soon enough, He is all that matters; so in that regard, then yes, maybe He has provided us a way of escape...

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this Man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but He that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm unto the end." (Hebrews 3:1-6)