Transformation

And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

Renew my mind?

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Colossians 3:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

What is my mind anyway? Watchman Nee breaks it down: we are spirit, soul and body; each having its function. My spirit is my conscience, intuition and communion (with God). My soul is my volition, intellect and emotion (the “I” factor, my mind). My body is just that; my physical self that helps me navigate the physical world.

It’s my soul that connects my spirit with my body, therefore it is the most integral part of my transformation. I must have a renewed mind so that I may see God’s glory for what it is rather than chasing after the world’s glory which is corrupt.

And the Lord will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heat and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:6-7

My flesh cannot be born twice in the flesh, but my spirit can and will be born again upon believing in Who Jesus is; that is, He is Christ, He is Son of God, He is God incarnate. Once I believe, His Holy Spirit will move in and begin the work of transformation of my soul, beginning with my being born again. Only then will I be able to live according to His will rather than my corrupt, fleshly lusts.

For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1-2

This is the renewing of my mind. To stop living for me and begin living for God. The renewing of my mind is the beginning of the transformation that Jesus started in me and will complete at the Last Day. My new glorified body will signify the margin of Heaven and New Earth (more specifically New Jerusalem).

Heaven merges with Earth when Jesus comes for the final time. All things become new and transformation is complete.

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be written on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:3-5

For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the flory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:18-21

Covered By Grace

Hebrews 4:11-13 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Growing up, I always hated getting caught doing something I wasn’t allowed to do. It meant standing in front of my mother while she looked at me sternly and asked, “Why did you do this?” In essence, she was asking why did I deliberately disobey her. My answer? It was always, “I don’t know.” Kind of like, “the devil made me do it” excuse. Can you relate?

Truth be told, it wasn’t because I didn’t know, it was because I didn’t want to admit why I did what I did. I was ashamed and prideful at the same time. And I felt incredibly stupid for disobeying (and ultimately getting caught) in the first place.

Now, I don’t think God is going to look at us sternly or in anger. I think He will gaze on us with pity and compassion. But His pity and compassion cannot negate His purity, His holiness and the requirement for payment of sin. No, I think we’ll stand before His holiness with the shame and remorse for our sins simply because we will finally understand the unblemished beauty of His Divine Perfection and our complete disregard of it. We’ll be like John in Revelation where we fall as if we’re dead in His Presence because we are so unworthy.

I also believe “I don’t know” will not even cross our minds as an answer to why we’ve done the stupid things we have against His will. We will be compelled to admit our fleshly pride and arrogance to defy His perfect will.

But in spite of our continuous rebellion, God loves us SO MUCH that He gave us the opportunity to repent; to fully admit our disobedience NOW, before we ultimately stand before Him in our shame. He sent His Son, Jesus, to be atonement of our sins so that from the moment we BELIEVE, Jesus stands WITH us, interceding to God FOR us, so that God sees perfection (in Jesus) that covers us (making us perfect in Him).

This is the unmerited Grace He gives so that we are able to enjoy the rest only He can provide!

That deserves a HALLELUJAH!

Jesus Will Fix The World. You Just May Not Like How He Does It.

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” –Luke 21:34-36

“But of that day and hour no one knows. not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.” –Mark 13:34-33

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” –Matthew 24:42-44

Jesus told us to watch always…to not be distracted by what’s going on in the world but to be aware of the how the world is pointing to the end. Everybody is working so hard to ‘make the world a better place’, but they are doing it wrong. More and more programs are introduced to try to help people with addictions, finances, relationships, careers, violence, and health but they all fall short of fixing the problem. The world keeps getting worse because people are powerless to fix it.

Christians must make a choice. We either will keep trying to do it ourselves (and fail miserably), or behave like true Christians and trust fully in Christ. This means we must live as servants to all people (not just the ones we like). We must love others like God loves us. We cannot condone sinful behavior but we also cannot condemn sinners because we are sinners, too. Just because “it takes one to know one” is true, doesn’t mean either one is able to judge the other. Only God can judge. Only God can justify. Only Christ can condemn since He is the one who offers us Redemption.

We can, however, show God’s love by being an example of living for God and not for ourselves. We can forgive all those people who have hurt us, used us, or rejected us. We can even give them more than what they originally asked for, even though it goes against our human nature, it is fully within God’s nature. After all, God gives each of us the sunshine, the rain, the snow, the wind, the flowers and the offer of Redemption. He includes us all so we should include all those around us as well. It is the people who reject God that will end up in condemnation. So we must let the people around us reject us, too. And they will reject us if we tell them up front that we do not condone their sin, i.e. sexual immorality, gossip, selfishness, etc. But we cannot tell them anything that’s not in love and done with a gentle tone instead of a harsh tone. If they reject us because we yelled at them, that’s on us. If they reject us because we lovingly told them the truth, that’s on them.

Above it all, Christ will provide for us what we need while we keep watching for His return. Even as the world continues to crumble around us. Amen.

Surrender 2022

We have such an aversion to this word, don’t we? As soon as we hear it, no matter the context, we stiffen up and prepare ourselves for a fight. We don’t want to surrender. We believe that surrender implies loss of freedom and we become slaves. We are pretty naive if that’s what we believe.

We are all slaves to something. Most of us are slaves to our egos. How is our image? Are we successful in the eyes of the world? Are we admirable? And so on… you know the routine. We keep trying to shove our way into some sort of spotlight, whether it’s on the Big stage or if it’s just in front of one person, we want the attention to be on us. So, we grasp at what we think will satisfy that demand: popularity, “wisdom”, physical appearance, all the good stuff, etc. But if that’s not possible, we go the opposite way and cry out how we are victims because of our traumatic past (yes this is a big ego issue too), or we make others victims in order to make ourselves feel powerful. The ego is a powerful thing in itself, but we don’t have to be slaves to it.

Choose what you will surrender to. Money? Ego? Beauty? Spouse? Your insatiable craving for carbs? All of these things are right in front of us every day and we don’t blink an eye at any of it. The reality is, every person on earth is a slave to one of these things or something else. No one is spared.

So, for us to have such and aversion to the word surrender, it’s quite appropriate that we all have actually surrendered control of our lives to at least one thing or another. No one is actually free from surrender.

But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying,” Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men.” When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:33-35

‘Surely none fo the men who came up from Egypt , from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me.’ Numbers 32:11

In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily, be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. Psalm 31:1-5

These are just a few of the Scriptures laid out where God calls for our complete surrender to Him over our lives. In Psalm 31, David is committing himself to God completely. It is so powerful that even Jesus quoted it as part of His last words on the cross. Jesus chose surrender to God the Father over all the temptations of the world laid at His feet. Jesus followed through with that surrender all the way to His death. Because of that complete surrender, the power of God resurrected Him in victory over the power of the flesh. If Jesus is our example, then who are we to deny the power of surrendering to God?

You may decide that this is going overboard for Jesus. That’s your prerogative. But then again, you’ve already made your choice to surrender to something else. My question is, do you even know what it is?

Gentle, Meek, Lowly & Weak

I just finished examining several scriptures that describe Christians with these adjectives; gentle, meek, lowly & weak. Being the typical arrogant human that I am, I immediately started thinking of other people who claim to be Christian but do not particularly show these characteristics. Thankfully, my spirit felt the reprimand right away and I shifted my focus from other people to myself and saw that I am no person to point fingers.

I may be gentle with a puppy or a baby, but am I gentle with another adult who is defiant or argumentative? I am very meek when I am unsure of something, but what about when there is no question that I have the right knowledge about something? I admit to being lowly when it comes to popularity and having friends (very few in my corner), but what about when I’m among those who do call themselves my friends? Finally, being weak is not something I aspire to be, after all, I just upped my strength training since the New Year. So, how can I embrace my weakness if I’m still fighting to get rid of it? (I know this strength isn’t just about muscle, but bear with with me)

The more this world is shaken by all of the growing chaos (COVID, politics, vaccines, racial tension, gender questions, etc), the more loudly we all seem to cry out to be heard. We want our input to be valued because we all value our own opinions, even if no one else does. We also want to have some attention because being ignored tends to get lonely. So, we make crazy videos and try to get as many views as possible, or we share controversial topics to engage conversation or even arguments because that’s what makes us ‘happy’. I won’t claim to be different because here I am writing about what I’m studying. What I hope to distinguish, at least for myself, is the state of my heart with my participation with any of what’s going on. Am I gentle, meek, lowly & weak? Or am I strong-willed and argumentative with anyone who dares to disagree with me? I pray to be the former and repent if I am the latter.

God calls His children to be holy. I was reminded this week that the word holy means “set apart”. So, God wants us to be different, set apart, from the rest of the world who does not follow Him. That’s a reasonable request considering He’s completely set apart from the world. His holiness cannot even tolerate the smallest blemish, so how could He accept anything and everything from the world? We must be set apart in His eyes if we want to be in His arms. Thank God for Jesus. We would never be able to be seen as holy if it weren’t for Jesus taking our place. When I picture it, I see myself standing in front of God on His throne. Well, not even standing, but more face down on my knees in shame. But then, Jesus, clothed in the brightest white, steps in front of me so that what God sees is Him, His holiness, rather than me. Thank God for Jesus.

Just this picture alone centers my heart and makes me more compassionate with the thought of other people who don’t know Jesus in this way. It’s not my gentleness, it’s His. Keeping His grace towards me at the forefront of my mind helps me be meek in the face of aggression. My flesh often still screams to be let loose and let the words fly out of my mouth with abandon, but His Holy Spirit has also given me a measure of self-control to keep my flesh in check and let Him take over.

2 Timothy 2:24-25 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

I love this scripture. It calls to those who are truly devoted to the Lord. For me, it enables me to actually be humble in my heart. Not because I think I could be the one who is able to teach and be patient and correct those who are in opposition, I think I’ve already proven to myself that I am not. No, it’s because I know that I’m not a teacher and I certainly haven’t been given the words to correct anyone in their opposition. I am humbled because I know that my calling is simply to love others, even if they don’t believe. Especially if they don’t believe, because how else will they see Jesus if they don’t see Jesus in me?

So, why write all this and then publish it for the world to see if I don’t think I have anything to teach? Short answer is I need to be accountable. One day I will be standing (or on my face and knees) in front of the throne of God and He will definitely hold me accountable for all that I’ve done. I want to own up to every little flaw that I’ve had and give it to Him, with you as my witnesses. I don’t want to hold on to any grudges or pride in myself. I have nothing to be proud of when I compare it to the glory of God. Only He has the right for glory at all, and I am learning to give it all to Him. It’s a slow-go, I tell you, but with every inch closer that I get in my learning, my appreciation and reverence for God gets immense in my heart. I think that’s all I can really ask for. The rest I will let Him handle.

Sacrifice of Praise

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever- your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! Psalm 146

In everyone’s life there comes a time, at least once, when things become difficult. Whether it’s health or wealth, our circumstances fluctuate like a roller coaster, and our focus drifts from the One who provides to our environment that can deceive. It’s during these trials that we must give God our most precious praise. Not being Pollyanna, but understanding that this life is temporary and cannot be valued above the Truth.

I’ve not written in a while, at least not here. I just took a break, I guess. My studies never stopped, I just didn’t have the urge to type out my notes. I can say that the last three months have been mentally hectic for me and I had to prioritize what my daily agenda entailed. Needless to say, this little blog didn’t make the top of the list. But, it’s the beginning of the year and things have slowed down for me. What better way to restart my notes here? I will talk about giving God praise in everything.

I’m hoping to use this platform to do some creative writing in the coming weeks. We’ll see if it manifests, but my plans are to continue to write about how we should be praising the Lord through short stories. I hope to mix in some fiction with real life examples. There are many, but to start, I put in Psalm 146 above to inspire us to remember that in everything, only God should be praised.

Happy New Year

To Husband

I’ve been studying Isaiah for the last several days and I am being enriched beyond what I could imagine. I started studying Isaiah because I wanted to focus on God’s holiness. I think it’s important for me to remember first and foremost exactly Who it is that I talk to and rely on each day. Then I found this verse:

For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. Isaiah 54:5

Bear with me because my notes go in two directions.

Did you know that our “purpose” is to glorify God? Most people believe their purpose is to do a certain work or have a certain career or even to just influence a person or two. Some people believe that our purpose is to “find God”.There are many different directions we can go in the conversation of what our purpose(s) is (are). If you consider the variety of “purposes”, you have to recognize the common denominator: they are very specific and focused on ‘self’ and not on God. Even the ‘finding God’ purpose is focused on self because you do all the work and you focus on how you feel afterwards. That’s not how God works.

“I found God and my whole life changed.”

“I found God and I feel at peace.”

I’ll stop there. While these statements are wonderful and true, they are insignificant to the High Purpose of giving God glory.

Think of it this way: In just about every sport, the conversation of Greatest Of All Time takes up a lot of air waves in the media. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan or LeBron James, Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal or Djokovic? Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Simone Biles, etc. We get animated when we talk about these people and the sports we love. We get excited when we sing their praises.

But in reality, every one of these people are no more significant than you or me. There is only one Greatest Of All Time: the One Who existed before time and will exist when time is extinct. That’s what Isaiah is trying to convey in his Book. Ever since his vision of God on His throne (Isaiah 6:1-13), he has repeatedly talked of the Lord’s holiness- relaying the messages and prophecies given him by the Lord.

God revealed His holiness to Isaiah (and allowed him to live) so that He could work through Isaiah to reveal His holiness to Israel (and the world if we’ll receive it). Not just His holiness though, His mercy and generosity also.

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55:6

God will never force Himself on us, but the invitation remains for us to come to Him.

“Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you My rest” Matthew 11:28

Why did I just go over all of that when my Scripture talks about God being the husband? Well, this is how I see it. God takes care of us, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. He is sovereign, He reigns over everything, therefore only He deserves glory as only He is the Uncreated. The rest of us have a beginning, we are creations.

What exactly is a husband? “Husband” is more than the typical married man. “Husband” is also a verb and we can better understand this verse if we know the full meaning which is: To manage prudently. If the husband is the head of the house, he ‘manages the house’ (ie. works, pays the bills, makes sure everyone who lives there is safe).That’s the role of the husband. Why do you think managing a farm or herd is called husbandry? It’s taking care of or managing them.

What does a husband do? He cares for His bride. He actively stewards her well-being, assuring she has all that she needs.

A Bride is someone getting married.

To ‘marry’ is to unite in close, intimate, permanent relation.

Ok. That’s all in our human reasoning. We think in terms of the traditional marriage: husband and wife. But that’s not what is meant by Isaiah’s verse. Look at the verses from Revelation 21:2-4.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Who is the bride? New Jerusalem. Believers will dwell in New Jerusalem, so how can we be the bride? No I think we are much closer (intimate) with Him than that. We are His body.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Corinthians 12:27

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, fore without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

The vine and the branches are not married. They are one body. However, the vine ‘husbands’ the branches by providing the nutrients they need to grow and bear fruit. If the branches do not receive the nutrients, fail to grow and bear fruit, then they are cut off. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Romans 11:16-21

This seems jumbled, I know, but the ‘husband’ God/Son/Holy Spirit provides us with the nutrients we need to grow and produce fruit. Just like the vine. If we don’t receive those nutrients and feed off of them, we risk being cut off.

Remember! We were born into sin. Our spirits were automatically cut off from God at birth. That’s why Jesus died on the cross and rose again, so that we could be REBORN. Our spirits, which were dead, become regenerated in life upon our believing! We believe and God is able to husband us. We feed on the Bread of Life and we grow in Christ. We drink the Living Water and we are refreshed in Him.

How great is our God! He provides for His children. Salvation (Eternal Life), spiritual sustenance (Galatians 5:22), spiritual wisdom, even physical sustenance (what we need until we go Home).

This is why we rest in Him while we act on His word.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Romans 8:9

Closing In On the Great Tribulation

I have been over the prophecies a hundred times. I know I will continue to study them because I know it is all happening- or at least starting to happen. We are in the strongest labor pains right now.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:7-8, Mark 13:8

“So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” Luke 21:31

Yesterday we observed the 20th anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attack the U.S. have ever experienced. All over social media and media itself was the message, “Never Forget”. But exactly what is it that we’re not supposed to forget, because for the last 20 years, society in in our country has been growing increasingly less reverent of God and His majesty. But if you recall, 20 years ago today (September 12), our country was united and praying and kneeling before God, begging Him for protection and redemption. It seems to me that we have most certainly forgotten what God was warning us on that horrible day.

What was that warning? If we continue to turn away from Him, we are going to be destroyed. If you don’t believe me, please, pick up your Bible and start reading. We see this same scenario happening over and over again.

What do I see happening that makes me think this way?

2 Timothy 3:2-4 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!”, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (September 15, 2017 the UN declared ‘Peace and safety’ on the International Day of Peace. Only 4 years later, our whole world is in utter chaos)

2 Peter 2:1-2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

2 Peter 3:16 …In which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

Luke 21:8 “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do no go after them. (Matthew 24:4-5, Mark 13:5-6)

Matthew 24:38-44 “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Romans 1:20-32 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, back-biters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing that the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

I know, that’s a lot of Scripture, but read it! I mean how explicit can anyone get? And this is close to 2000 years old! But it is so descriptive of our society today.

Point to ponder: If you believe that God has no wrath against sin and disobedience, then you will surely experience that wrath when He judges at the last day. All this time, while people have been busy weaving their lives on this world, doing what they want and following their own paths instead of God’s, He has been calling for us to turn to Him in repentance and see the Truth. He took drastic measures to prove that no one will escape His wrath without repentance first. He took drastic measures to provide one SURE way to redeem us AND fulfill the necessity of His wrath without our harm. Why do we not take this seriously?

Romans 9:22-23 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory…

Once you get it, I mean really understand the profound mercy in what Jesus has done for us, the only thing left for you to do is to fall on your face in repentance and awe of God, the Creator and Jesus our Lord and the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to these facts. He is amazing. His mercy and grace is incredible. It all leaves me speechless because I see how destitute I am without Him.

Yes, the last days are here but I can’t help but rejoice because I know that He is sovereign and I am in His arms. I hope you are too.

God Bless America?

I wish everyone would stop saying, “God bless America”! Why should He? This country has done nothing but deny Him the glory He deserves by pushing Him out of where He is needed most desperately. Instead of putting everything before Him for His guidance, we have put our own so-called ‘knowledge’ at the helm because we insist on having control. And now all of society is confused, fearful and dependent on an incompetent leadership. (Not just politics)

How can a country that no longer reveres our Most Holy Creator ask to be blessed? By Him!

No. We need to stop right now and get down on our knees and beg for His forgiveness. We need to change our ways now and be grateful that He hasn’t destroyed us due to our rebellion.

It’s no surprise that people are so fearful of a new virus. They have been conditioned to accept what they hear from authorities as being the entire truth and that these same authorities are the only ones capable of providing the rescue they need.

Our government is not infallible. As a matter of fact, these leaders are just as blind as everyone else.

Look at what we did:

1962: The Supreme Court decided that public schools may not support prayer in school. While private prayer is still legal, it is most definitely frowned upon.

1973: Abortion in the U.S. legalized. It started by differentiating between the trimesters and obscuring the fact whether the fetus is a person or not. Now, abortion is viewed as a ‘right’ and even necessary if the mother’s life is in jeopardy. So we’re valuing one life over another no matter what happens and not valuing God at all. Life on earth is more important than eternal life with our Creator.

2003: The Ten Commandments removed from the White House. Probably where they are needed the most.

These are just a few examples of legal decisions made by our government reflecting the shift in our respect for God. Since then, it has become abundantly apparent that our government has slowly and methodically usurped authority in our society’s perception. We have allowed not only government to have control, but also the medical/pharmaceutical industries. And now our education system is flexing its muscles trying to dictate what our kids are learning.

As a result, society isn’t merely confused but crippled; having to follow along with the majority and forgetting how to draw on the wisdom of God, relying on Him and letting Him teach us the truth.

Why does God bless anyone?

Obedience: I won’t type all the scriptures out, but look these up to see: Genesis 22:15-17; 26:2-5; 32:24-30; Exodus 23:25; Deuteronomy 7:12-26; 8:1; 15:5-6, 10; 28:1-14; 30:16

Romans 1:5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.

The U.S. was founded on the principles given by God’s word. Liberty and freedom according to His decree. But, for the past 245 years, we have been working hard to discount His decree and redefine what freedom is. Now, that so-called freedom is perceived as autonomy, which suggests that we are wise enough to make our own decisions, our own law, our own truth.

No. If we were truly wise, we would know automatically that we are completely incapable of making the best decisions. We need wisdom from above.

2. Loving God with all our hearts.

Being in love with Jesus is a blessing by itself. I don’t think the average American understands that. We act as if we are doing Him a favor by proclaiming Christianity and we should live blessed lives as a result.

Does that mean that all the Christian martyrs in Afghanistan (and all the ones for centuries before) didn’t truly love Christ? Was their violent deaths a judgment on them? If that’s true, then I guess Paul’s continual imprisonment and eventual death was too. No way is that God’s judgment on them! (And even if it was it’s not our place to speculate on it)

The martyrs for Christ are the MOST blessed because their lives are the closest to the life Christ led, even to death.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength.

2 Corinthians 1:7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

It’s clear that if we follow Christ, we are called to endure tough circumstances. We will be attacked either by Satan or the world, or both. If we’re living according to the flesh, we will succumb. But if we live according to the Spirit, diligently living in Him and through Him, we will never stumble and fall.

2 Peter 1:5-10 But for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ…..Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.

If the U.S. lived according to these principles, then God’s blessings would never cease. Simply observing all the confusion and turmoil in our country tells me that these principles have been long forgotten. Christians need to get serious about living in the faith. There’s no time for debate about politics or pandemics. We are on the edge of the cliff and the ground is giving way.

God isn’t going to bless America. We’ve made sure of it. We’ll be blessed if, as individuals, we recognize what’s going on and we fall on our faces in pure repentance to the Lord Almighty, Jesus Christ; the Uncreated, who made Himself as lowly as a Man in order to save anyone who would believe.

Distracted, Deceived, Departed 3

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

To a faithful Christian, the implications of this verse seem almost farfetched. Or do they?

There are lots of people who hang their hats on the ‘Christian’ hanger. Some of them grew up in church while others just seem to follow along the people who are closest to them. Some of them go to church every week and others visit church on special holidays or occasions. In reality, no one knows who is truly Christian and who is just playing along. We can only vouch for ourselves, and even then we may be wrong.

A Christian believes Jesus is the only Son of God, sent to the world to redeem whoever will believe in Him. Ok, lots of people are nodding their heads at that one.

A Christian recognizes his/her sinful nature and understands the need for redemption. He/she is convicted of that sin in his/her heart and immediately falls on his/her knees to repent to God; not just asking for forgiveness but turning his/her heart away from the sinful nature and toward Jesus.

Some people may have a hard time swallowing the full scope of what ‘sinful nature’ really is and even more so of the ‘conviction’ part. They may say to themselves, “I’m a good person. I don’t kill people and I don’t lie or steal. At least not big lies anyway.”

There are lots of variations within the perceived Christian religion that seem to allow for such assumptions. In other words, some pastors don’t preach repentance, they simply preach that God loves you. You might say, “There’s nothing wrong with that, because God does love us.” You’re right, but the whole message isn’t being conveyed to the dying souls listening. If Jesus preached repentance, we certainly need to be doing it also. This is one of the many distractions to deception that’s happening right now; arguing over whether we need to learn about sin and repentance or not.

There are some worldviews that say there is no sin at all. The New Age worldview would be one of them, all while spouting Jesus’ name as if He is a part of this worldview. Let’s be clear, He is not.

Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

Unbelief is a sin, otherwise, why would it be called evil? Unbelief is disobedience as we are all called to believe.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Christians live to please God. That is his/her first priority every single moment of every single day. Anything else that takes focus away from pleasing God is a distraction leading to deception that, if unchecked, will lead to departure. It’s that simple. And we will all have to account for what we have said and done in this life.

Romans 14:12-13 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

Can you see it? It’s a waste of time to argue over whether we should get a vaccine or not. The government is going to do whatever it decides to do and we will have a choice. To get in line with everyone else and follow along, or to stand firm in our faith putting God first above any scare tactics of the world. I’m not saying that getting the vaccine is not standing firm in faith, but for some people that is exactly what it is and it is to those people I’m talking. You see, the act of getting a vaccine isn’t the issue. It’s the principles behind the choices we make concerning it and everything else we are contending with in this world. We must stand firm behind the principles as long as we have confirmed through Scripture that they are in God’s will.

If we make a choice that goes against what the government has decided, then we must be prepared for the consequences. Remember, if we have Jesus as our main focus, we have peace no matter what happens to us physically and socially. If we keep Him as our main focus, then we won’t be distracted by all the commotion and we’ll protect ourselves from being deceived. If we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us as we stay focused on Christ, then we won’t depart from the faith like those in 1 Timothy.

This is a daily battle. It’s a battle for our hearts. Do we value the promises of Jesus? Or are we addicted to the life we’ve become accustomed to on earth? If we’re addicted, then we’ll be easily distracted, deceived and we will depart from the faith. It’s the “D” syndrome.

How do we prevent it? 2 Peter 1:1-11

Faith: Confidence in Jesus alone.

Virtue: Live with high moral standards according to God’s will.

Knowledge: Grow your Biblical understanding through study, prayer and godly counsel.

Self-control: Respect the boundaries God has applied and practice discipline every moment.

Perseverance: Keeping your eye on the prize you will have motivated endurance.

Godliness: Your devotion to God’s holiness will keep you righteous.

Brotherly kindness: We make no distinctions as to who we will love, just as Jesus didn’t.

Love: The only kind of love to practice is agape love: pure and wholesome, unconditional love.

Observations

Learning To Live Life In Love

Author: mcdschell