For a moment I forgot myself and then great things happened for those around me.  I loved me enough to quiet my wanton furnace long enough to quench my Brother’s sandy thirst, my Sister’s spiritual cry for help, my Mother’s unmet need.  I rested in God’s love for me and found that providing food for strangers satiated my ambition.  I had inherited an honest love not born of self recrimination but understanding that God’s perspective on me must be right.

It maddens me with curiosity to ponder God’s love for us as impetus to die such a tragic death in our stead.  He didn’t only think of us, which in itself is unintelligible, but actually planned, undertook and personally executed the only action capable of buying us back from enslavement to the devil.  These thoughts sponsor and require life-long contemplation.

Is there repayment for such love, perhaps?  Does it lay within giving of myself, time, assets and love, maybe?  What about me?  What about my ability to take away someone’s pain by loving them right where they are?  No requirements, no questions, no expectations, just love?  And somewhere in that mix forgiveness belongs as precedent, for harboring of grudges inhibits my receipt of God’s love and dissemination of the same.

What does it mean to give love freely?  Not some worldly understanding of sexually comity, pep talks and superficial understanding, but real sacrifice, shared suffering or simple unselfish outreach.  What about caring enough to tell them about the coming judgment and how to find salvation from the wrath to come?  Is that the most loving thing we can do without expectation of becoming a member of my church, donating money to my charity or becoming a feather in my Christian-social bonnet?  What about the man that we would never see again unless we took that minute to tell him about Jesus and somehow it effected change resulting in him welcoming you to Heaven’s blessing?  What might be God’s perspective on this subject, have you researched in His Word and asked Him to teach you?  What about me, what can I do for humanity that would demonstrate my love for the Lord while proving my love for myself?

What is it that we admire?  Where do our ambitions lie?  What am I pursuing, saving for, rebuilding or growing in the confines of my private life?  Are my thoughts of vacation overriding my fulfillment of God’s wishes for the energy and providence He has provided?  I have to admit folks, I have spent more time keeping up with the Jones’s, getting another experiential notch on my traveling stick, catering to the happiness of those that I love than serving my commission as an ambassador for the Almighty.  This honesty must be confessed, and I confess here because this is part of my ministry.  But I painfully realize that the Lord knew that I would do and say these things before the beginning of time.  He has already forgiven me for this inadequacy.  Do I really want to go on repeating the same behavior over and again instead of doing what I have been instructed to accomplish through the Holy Spirit?

No.  This is not the life that I was meant for to consistently ask forgiveness for the same sin of idleness, disobedience or self-service.  Our lives were meant for victory over this world, the powers of the air and the “not so almighty, self”.  Lord let my thoughts, actions, reflections and prayers honor You Alone.  Let the voices of self, world and the cast out fall dead to my hearing.  Give me a powerful life containing none of the regrets of unfulfillment, dishonor, disobedience or wasted action.  The coming days require all of my energy and focus for Your intention.  Give me such a focus, wholly engaged and dedicated to the work You have so graciously given me.  Let me demonstrate my love for you by my works out of a thankful heart for all that You have done.  You saved this world and I can thankfully count many of my loved ones among those headed to toward eternity spent with You.  Let me apply ever ounce of my talents, treasures and heart to Your end.  Let none of my time be allocated inappropriately to the things of this world.  Give me an abundant life here and in the next but let it “all” honor You.  I wish to serve.  Praise God in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord of all creation.

Godlessness in the last days

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.  2Timothy 3:1-6

The dilemma and the challenge for Christians living in these last days is how to love ALL God’s children, spread the Good News of Christ, Warn of wrath to come and yet have nothing to do with them.  This on its outset seems impossible, but upon further reflection of the Lord’s action we see the process clearly.  The Lord Jesus went to people to heal, console, teach, and preach, but always left them when it was time to be in community of saints or find a place to spend time in prayer with the Father.  Do not make the two most blatant mistakes facing Christians, this day; Read the signs and see the coming storm, we are in those end times of which Paul warned Timothy in the preceding passage and secondly, don’t feel that remaining inside the walls of our churches or home communities will in any way please the Lord.  The work, war and victory is before us.  Will we prepare and march to meet the enemies of God in order to snatch back the lost from the gaping inferno of Gehenna?

The sin and doom of godless men.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.  For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.  Jude 3-4

Do you have women among you who claim sexual immorality is okay?  Do you have men who look to scripture for allowance of their drunkenness?  Do you have pastors who would rather build a grand edifice and wear expensive garments than to seek out the lost, feed the hungry, heal the sick and take care of orphans or widows?  Does your church have the Power available to Christians that raised Christ from the dead?  Is your church compelled to Holy living not by a desire to conform to Man’s rule but out of fear and love for the Lord?  Have the ravens freely come to nest in the mustard tree among believers and corrupt the pure, while begging for comforts, programs, fellowship and the world?  We have not been standing our posts and therefore the enemy has effectively sown the tares among the wheat.  But be heartened the Lord will winnow the grain.  The question is will we fall to the ground to be stored in His barns or taken as tares to the consuming fire?

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve for your eyes, so you can see.  Revelation 3:14-18

I don’t care if you listen to me, but please listen to the one who gave you life, saved you from eternal death and awaits your arrival when He returns for His bride.  The Lord Jesus put it so clear in this passage that those who will not listen must turn away.  None can read these words and hope to follow their prideful, self-excusing debauchery without understanding of how that will end for them.  None can sit on the couch and not take a stand in the coming battle for humanity without the knowledge of what occurs to the lukewarm believer.  There are only two sides; for Christ or against Him.

We must each of us decide and the time for decision, preparation and standing in the face of onslaught has arrived.  I wish that I could put an encouraging arm around each shoulder, of each woman, man or child on the globe and remind them of how much the Lord loves them.  But alas, I am but one man with a limited breadth.  However, I have a Family of Spirit-Filled Christians compelled to join me in the Great Commission.  Take to the rooftops my Brothers and Sisters.  Set your feet upon the path for Christ.  Speak Boldly, with humility and strength.  Tell tales of Salvation, Wisdom, Wrath and Eternity.  Cry out to Jesus and be saved.  Amen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html

http://bible.org/article/homosexuality-christian-perspective

http://bible.org/seriespage/condemnation-or-universal-need-righteousness-romans-118%E2%80%94320

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/just-thinking/player/fox-theatre-qa-part-2-of-3-277509.html   Ravi Zacharias ministries taking your questions to Jesus.

Just as with a choice to believe that Jesus is God who became man to redeem a humanity lost eternally to the clutches of sin each man or woman must make up his/her own mind on the meanings and positions with regard to the important issues facing our nation.  I do not speak for God nor interpret His word, I read, trust, pray and obey.  Love everyone because it is what the Lord wants, but not mistake that as the right to condone or condemn our national sins.  The Lord’s Word speaks loud enough and He promises that the job of judgment is only within His Righteousness.  I will be judged for my sin and I praise God that He sent Jesus to die for the sins of all mankind so that my sin will never be imputed to my account.  I am saved by faith alone.  The judgment is His the prerogative to believe and follow is mine.

It’s all new, this day, this next hour, this very moment is a new breath drawn from the Spirit of the Almighty.  I exist because He made it so and continues to allow it.  If I depended on a respirator for my next breath, my every breath, I would not be able to travel one step without knowing it was with me.  Do I share this awareness of God as the original and continuous provider of each breath?

That type of Holy Spirit awareness is my current prayer.  Lord imbue me with singular ability to keep You ever-present at the forefront of thought, action, prayer and mediation.  Let that knowledge fill me to the brim with joy, understanding and the Mind of Christ.  Let me be that beacon to a darkened voyage, a torch in cramped, unlit hallways and forest footpaths.  Provide a faith and trust that kindles the dismal heart.  Give me that power of redemption to awaken those presumably forgotten, damned or lost to eternity.  Give me voice to cry across the desert, highland or waste in honor of your Mighty Name.  Give me hope where sadness lingers and faith when darkness falls.  Let me help just one more person reach understanding that surrender is victory, service is strength and joy unending energy.  Give me life in abundance and the wisdom to never covet it but share it with all who will accept the bread of life, the water of rebirth and the blood of redemption.  May all who know the name of Jesus fall upon Him before He falls upon us.

God in Your infinite majesty and splendor be praised in the name of Christ Jesus the King through the Holy Spirit of the Lord.  Amen

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/us/methodists-vote-against-ending-investments-tied-to-israel.html  The voice of those who wish to be cursed by the God they supposedly serve.  Forgive them Father, turn their hearts back to You.

I would love to be as charming as I think I am.  I would love to stand solidly in the knowledge that all I have told people about myself is the truth.  I would love to never have to ask God again to forgive me for lies of commission or omission.  Those sentences that begin with “I” are always the most relevant, insightful, regretful and self-absorbed.  If the conversation, thought or repartee, even with good intention, consistently focuses upon my shortcomings, areas of opportunity or point of view, then the bulk of my thought life, serves self.

Did I surrender my life to God?  All right, that having been done my life is now in His capable hands to mold me, shape me, direct me and remake me into something other than the likeness of Adam.  It is not my job but to yield and follow.  Subsequently, continually pondering, blustering about or bemoaning my inadequacies or strengths diverts my true focus, The Lord and His needs.

I don’t care how messed up I am.  As Paul continually remarked, that Judgment is the Lord’s prerogative, even where I am concerned.  Sure I know that I need growth but it is not my responsibility to achieve that growth, but rather to submit to the Lord’s expert hand as He moves me down the road to completion and respond to His course correction.  I don’t know where He will take me.  My job is simply as He said to “Love Him with all my heart, mind, soul and spirit as I love no other and to love my Brother as I would want to be loved.”  Yes I am to remain focused on His word, remain focused on prayer and remain focused on Him.  Any other concentration distracts from focus on the Lord and His Mission and Will for this life.

Frankly, I am tired of wasting thought upon myself.  It is much more interesting to assist others in achievement of their goals, encouragements and spiritual aspirations.  There is no better way to learn than to assist someone else in their learning.  Make somebody else’s day and you will have made a better day for two people.  The Lord has you in the palm of His hand and He knows right where, when and with what tools and for what purpose He wishes you to arrive.  Seeing the precision of His unfolding plan is enormously exciting.  If you cannot take your hands off the wheel of your own life how then do you expect to keep your fingers out of the pie that God is baking for you?  He is the master potter, the craftsman.  Why do you think He came as a CARPENTER?  It is time for us to get it and stop worrying about ourselves and leave the work, war and worry at the foot of the cross.

Of course this does not mean that you sell everything you own and go lie down by a river and wait for the Lord to move mountains on your behalf.  That is foolishness.  The Lord always sent His prophets and disciples on the road to meet up with the work He had prepared for them.  The work is “out there” my friends not in the churches sitting around eating casseroles waiting passively for the lost to walk in the front door, eager for salvation.  There is a time for fellowship and that is after the WORK has been done.  Get on the road for Christ and put the focus where it belongs on spreading the good news, warning of impending judgment and seeking the lame and the lost.  Serve God not self.  Jesus the Lord be praised.

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/love-worth-finding/player/how-to-behave-in-a-cave-266007.html  The potency of self control in Biblical situations.

Say to them the Lord “knows”.  He knows of your suffering just as any good Father knows the circumstances and struggles of each child.  He Is There.  This is not a God who sits on the sidelines and simply plays a disinterested role as the theist would charcoal Him.  Does the concept of indwelling make sense to you?  Does the idea of your body being His temple bring responsibility to mind?  Do you, like me, avoid this knowledge when you are harboring sin within the cottage meant only for the Almighty? 

I am the steward of God’s temple.  There is no greater duty than tending to the House of God.  If I am to love Him with my everything, as He has commanded then I must first look to maintenance of His earthly dwelling, my body.  What I do matters to God it should matter to me.  I must be cautious in my opposition to worldly influence.  I too am spirit, dwelling only for a while in this finite flesh.  What I do at home, how I love myself, my body, dictates how I treat the world.  Surrender, obedience and growth, those are my charges.  The Lord Knows and He Lives waiting for His perfect time to reveal His truth to the world.  In Jesus find comfort, peace, strength and love.  Amen.

http://www.khouse.org/articles/1996/43/  One of those articles which challenges thought and provokes young Christian minds to seek the voice of the Holy Spirit.  It is not that you believe this article when you read it, it is where you take your questions after reading it that matters most.  There is only one teacher, the Holy Spirit, will you ask Him for the truth.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/465.Alexis_de_Tocqueville  What did a Frenchman who loved America say about her over one hundred years ago, In fact he died just before our Civil War took place.  How precise and uncanny his discernment!!

http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/youtube-pulls-plug-on-christian-videos/?cat_orig=faith#ooid=1xNWdsNDpHSGM3HnD8dphZ3M-D1tINkn  What do you think, is this in keeping with the Lord’s intentions?  You certainly will not be popular at a party full of disobedient believers when you raise this as a topic for conversation.