Would you be mad at me, if I told you that I didn’t really care if you could feel God’s Presence?  Would you think it a little odd, if I frowned at you?  Confounding you in your desire to make emotive, theatrical, reason the basis for your belief in God.  It ain’t about how you feel, about the electric stimuli in your outer arm of the hair standing up on your neck.  If you never even felt a single touch of his shadow or saw his smiling face as you finished the race, it wouldn’t interrupt a bit of my faith.  Cause it’s not about me and my feelings it’s about God and the fact that he said I AM.  Whether I can see, or I can hear, I understand the voice of the shepherd, none of this matters one bit when it contradicts one ounce of his doctrine.  Though a relationship with God possesses the greatest passion and dedication any life has every felt, you won’t feel one bit until you have given up all doubt about God’s rightful place in your heart.

Shout and dance in some emotional trance brought on by rock guitar and some lasers.  They shake their hair, close their eyes and repair, striking a pose meant to convince you.  Standing outside, awaiting his bride is the sovereign king our Almighty.  Then a well dressed romantic with well-prepared schtick bids you ignore the knocks on the door as he gives you more flashing lights and magical fancy.  Then he ends with a flare leaving the room to declare his preaching the best in the county.  All well and good but the place where he stood is reserved for Lamb who is worthy.

I am not at war with you, I’m not bored with you, nor subdued by your wisdom and knowledge. The enemy would either have us fight about what we think is right or how powerful each of us will be to the master.  None of that matters nor do any of the other deceptive attempts of the enemy to obfuscate, conceal or divert attention from the true subject of conversation, Jesus.  Jesus is the intended focus of all our intention and subsequent willingness to work.  If in fact, I use all of my tact to limit how I react, I will not ever feel backed in the corner.  My focus of this life and the next is Him, God, Jesus, The King, the Spirit, whatever name you wish to call Him.  This world may be just a mist of vibrations determined to test my dedication to concept.  The veil may roll away at some point leaving the true world exposed, but right now I am prone to the deception machinations of the enemies of God.  Knowing this I must refrain from further in depth conversation with you regarding your ego or emotion’s control of your relationship with God.  I pray that you hear his voice, but even if you don’t I pray that your faith extends beyond the natural stimuli you seek to verify your belief.  I would rather choose to believe in faith and be proved wrong then to miss a relationship with him by having everything factually proven to the adequate suspension of my disbelief.

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.  And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.  Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: the children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.  Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.  Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.  Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lordis near in the valley of decision.  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.  The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.  So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.  Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.  But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.  For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.  Joel 3

The Lord calls you to war.  Not a war that you ever win, but a destiny through which you will be judged as nations for your treatment of Israel.  It has been given unto Jesus to judge the world and this is your time.  Which side have you chosen for this is a boundary line drawn round the world with only two sides?  Come to the valley with your armies and your anger.  Come to Jehoshaphat where the King awaits with the two-edged sword of His mouth that will speak you into death.

Folks, this is countdown time,  for we have seen the season of God’s Holy return for his church and for judgment.  If you must deny it’s presence then do so knowing that we have warned you for there shall be given no excuse.  And if you stupidly believe to stand against God is an opportunity for victory, abandon such foolishness and repent of your foul thinking.  Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is King.  I would rather do that now and voluntarily than to be forced to say so after certain defeat.

I say to my brethren who have determined to foster their comfort to the last minute believing themselves capable of turning on a dime to serving God entirely.  He has warned you, His prophets and Apostles have warned you and now I am warning you, that you to will miss his return of which none know the day nor the hour but God.  I beseech, implore, beg, bid argue and cajole you to turn your face toward Jesus, right now.  Remember your first love so that you are not spit from the mouth of God.  The time for action is right now, not tonight, tomorrow or next week, for we may have none of those.  We have today for certain, it is the moment of our choosing.  Select wisely whom you will serve, the Almighty Father of heaven and Earth or will you tend the fires of the lake with your screams, moans and searing agony.

Imagine if you would that you are a genius.  Your memory is photographic, your education irrefutable, your experience unmeasured and your quotient’s off the charts.  When estimating the competition you have no one who can beat you at a game of chess, scrabble, debate or any deductive reasoning games.  You astound everyone, your family included, in fact they often claim that you were adopted because they come no where close to your speculative capacity.  People come to you on a regular basis, seeking your view, because you always present explanation, avenue or possibility that they could not even contemplate.  Now you are confronted with the Bible, a book that is purportedly written by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God through sixty six authors over a fifteen hundred year period.  A Book that states it will confound the wisdom of the wise, describing enemy’s that are exponentially smarter than human beings with powers that rival true miracles.  You, to date have never met someone who is your better, how than do you confront this text?

At first look you dismiss it, including it claims.  Since you cannot imagine someone smarter than you, you decide that there must be a scientific explanation which balances out every truth the Bible presents.  You seek out authors and arguments which have provided any basis for consistent argument against it’s truth and authorship and you join the “disbelieve the Bible train”.  However, your superior intelligence continually confronts you in chastisement, regarding the dominance and fact of your argument.  So, you are forced to go deeper and since you cannot find answers to your arguments that sufficiently dispel the proof of the Bible you begin to mock.  You are forced into the speculative arguments of Dawkins and others where you cannot find proof and that means that the proof must exist so you resort to abstract hypothesis of evolutionary specificity and aliening world seeders.  You decide to keep company with those who are of inferior intelligence so that you easily baffle, out argue or flatly embarrass them in to quickly ending argument.  But in the back of your mind the truth natters your subconscious.

So you go on an assault of Bible believers, easily defeating them in conversation or easily exposing their hypocrisy, you quickly establish yourself as the champion of the unbeliever.  However, you still have yet to come up with evidence of the Bible’s inaccuracy or refute the truth claims it establishes and avoid as you may this line of questioning, someone adept at adequately defending the Christian faith always takes you to the point of no answer.  This angers you, almost as much as having to imagine that there are beings in the universe who make you look stupid and now you plant the seed of anger within your own heart.  Your anger is fostered, watered and fed by a population begging you defend their liberal and lustful pursuits.  They come to you bearing gifts, the gifts of your sinful desire if you will but once silence those who stand in God’s righteousness.  You, not knowing God are left bereft of defense or solid offensive strategy or tactics, so you resort to making them look foolish in the silliness of the salvation story.  You become an socially promoted acceptable bully, but the truth of your continued loss pesters the back of your mind.

Additionally, your life festers.  Your sin and its subsequent impact upon your work, home and social relationships leaves you emotionally incomplete.  Your superior thought processes demand the answer is more, feeding the fire of your own lusts, believing that it must be inadequate provision of your requirements.  So you delve deeper into your sin, promoting those around you to investigate the limits of their perversion wanting to find that place that gives you fulfillment.  You believe that if you become the example of contentment through worldly means that you will effectively eradicate the Bible’s Good Life argument by presenting a alternate truth argument.  You fail miserably when your personal losses, your physical health and your finances begin to spiral downward.  Your pain is magnified when those who used to think you smart begin to avoid your obvious incapacity to remain sinfully, victorious.

So you take a new look at the universe, exclaiming that there must be answers, of course excluding God as an impossibility, cancelling any results which point to the Bible as Truth.  You look at your life as an experiment and go through every possibility, every religion, new age ideal or rationale in the history of man, attempting to  find the one that works.  You join every band wagon, every rising tide, every new fusion complex book club, claiming to have discovered “the answer”.  However, you are left empty, defeated, alone, tired, hungry and naked, realizing what you have never been able deny, that the Bible must be the inherent Truth of a being infinitely smarter than you, outside of time and space, injecting himself into our lives to have relationship with His creation.  You catch your breath, as if it were the last and fall to your knees realizing your debacle, thinking yourself finished, down for the count, out of the race, but then a hand lays lightly upon your bent shoulder.  You look up to see the waiting assistance of the Christian you could never get beyond, welcoming you, beckoning you to fellowship and redemption through faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.  You arise anew, blessed by God with an intellect and experiences specifically designed for your surrender to the fact that you were always meant to defend Christianity before a fallen world of intellectuals, leading them to a truth that they had dedicated their lives to denying, avoiding and defeating.  In this moment you see peace, peace and grace in a purpose that could only have been designed for you by God.  In Jesus’s Name I pray.

We’re leaving for the battlefield Brother, take my hand that you might be with us this day.  As I reach down to you to help you into the leaving truck I see the frantic face of indecision.  You drop your shield and spear in hesitation hoping to somehow delay long enough to miss my hand up.  But you have heard the Lord’s voice this day, bidding this is the time for which you were made, to stand against tyranny and evil as it seeks to swallow defenseless humanity.  By switch, impulse or thought you bound up into the truck, knowing the full measure of this life’s worth is to arrive on time for the divine opportunities written in your ledger of life.

What so moves your heart that you would lay down all for its defenses?  A child, wife, business or home, perhaps the camaraderie of friends, bound by oath, sworn to mutual defense.  Do you see this world, consuming maw that it has become, threatening to eat all in its pathway?  There is no hope of escape but supernatural freedom, no hope of air but protection by heavenly troops, no place we would rather be than on the front line, standing in courage and trust, hope and faith in Jesus Christ the King.

It is now that trumpet sounds calling us to rampart, wall, cannon, supply and defense.  Our world is threatened through the lost innocence of youth and the frailty of elder woman and lost child.  Men have looked long into the swirling wine, losing themselves in hypnotic contemplation or into the supple folds of strange flesh hoping for seconds of satisfaction.  Ought we such be fooled by disinformation and plastic daydreams?  Stand for the purity in your heart, that child I knew who defended everything, only to see this world slowly strip it all away including pride, passion and courage.  We were not made for such frail position but to stand in hope of light even in the midst of absolute darkness.  Let them rage for we know the path to the King’s Hold, where supply never ends and our bastions lay.  Come this day into the fray, fighting for whatever you believe worth defending.  In Jesus’s Holy Name I pray for your courage and strength this important day.

I’ll say it if you won’t.  I see the signs of my Lord’s return for his church and judgment.  I don’t really care what day it is, I just hope that I am found doing his work and I pray that those loved ones, colleagues and friends that I have been attempting to convince toward salvation have determinedly accepted his grace.  I pray that you too my brothers and sisters might be found with his love in your hearts and the oil of the Holy Spirit in your lamps.

You see the World Economic Forum, that hated of God commercial body, lacking dependence upon his sovereignty and supply.  You see the World Ecumenical Forum, where imams, rabbis, priests and pastors have signed a pact to become the One-World Church, condemned by God to the lake of Fire with the false prophet.  We have the World Political Forum or United Nations, the grand party of globalism, headlong into their emperorship by the anti-Christ.  You see the cadres marching, with their leaders in place, all they would need now to have their way is for all Christians and the indwelling Holy Spirit to suddenly disappear.  Oh, I forgot that is what began this segment that Christ will soon pull us out of this place.

What will come that next day when we’ve gone.  How swiftly with these things come to pass.?  The Bible implies that they happen speedily.  Do not be deceived by the happenings on that Great day of the Lord.  Find solace in Jesus Christ right now whilst you might still be saved from tribulation.  This is no place for a man, lost in fleshly pursuits of sinful delight and the empty promises of the devil.  We were meant for eternity with God in peace, ruled with truth, righteousness and plenty.  Turn your face to heaven and cry out to God for salvation through Christ.  The time is so short now.

This world craves calamity.  It approves of the salacious rule of larger than life worldly ministers.  It’s twisted idea of how life should be led has soured to near putrefaction.  We can smell the horses of pestilence, war and death over yonder horizon of  days.  At some point they will cease to listen, fail to hear or care to ponder God’s goodness, but until that moment we ought appeal to them with all that we are, every ounce of Spirit we may muster.  This fight is no longer about us but about them, for we are headed to certain victory.  How then may we delight in our victory when the unprotected still stand in harms direction, awaiting help?  Shall we rise and meet them at the river?  Baptizing saints in the water as Jesus arrives upon the clouds.  yes, for me that is victory’s dance.  In Jesus’ Name.

So, busy trying to witness a miracle you don’t even see the one operating in you.  What is a miracle, proof for your dwindling or germinating faith?  Isn’t a miracle something outside the natural that astounds the senses by suspending disbelief?  Don’t miracles offer those of narrow faith some manner of visible demonstration of those things which cannot be explained yet remain believable?  Why are my instincts insufficient proof, yet I am supposed to trust my eyes, ears or tongue which may equally be reality fooled?  Do I have the right to ask God to show me his wounds, so that I may dab my fingers and in with his blood become convinced?

You want miracles create them.  Feed those that everyone else ignores.  Love them who are too repugnant to be allowed into our ten million dollar worship centers.  Father them who have been ignored by people seeking the right to eternal youth and celebration.  Be son to them who have lost their own yet remain full of years, glory, grace and wisdom.  Be good husband to woman who has never been loved.  Be an obedient son to God, living Holy, seeking wisdom and righteousness and your faith knowing that God will provide for all your need.  Forgive them who will never ever ever deserve such reprieve.  Side with them who have nothing to give you when you champion their outcome.  Believe in Christ who sent you to the point where you are able to love people without reason.  Stand upon the promises of God, believing and being blessed without ever having seen.

The miracle that has always been enough for me is that God puts life within dead shells.  Bringing once dead husks to abundant life, living for a purpose that was never imagined.  I am used of God because I make myself available in a willing manner.  Certainly he could leave me on the bench, that is his prerogative, but why?  I mean he gave me skills to be used for his glory it doesn’t make much sense to then keep me sitting when he has work that I am willing and able to do with his assistance.  Those who say that they are sitting around waiting for God to tell them their purpose are bent upon eternal excuse.  All good things take wading into the water, starting down the path, attempting to scale the mountain, jumping from the precipice.  We are not just automatons as unbelievers or pre-determinists would have us believe.  We have free will and God has designed and equipped us for every good work, it is we who remain catalyst in our own divine successes.  I am not saying that God may have each of us wait for a season, preparing for the appropriate time of action, to which He alone is privy.  It is that most miracles happening within this lifetime didn’t happen all at once, they grew, they emerged as a satisfying and outstanding end to a process begun long before.

Let us each live the miracle of the live Christ has created for each of us born again.  Let us walk into that episode not only joyous and astounding but also expectant and relieved.  The miracle has already begun, it is so much fun imaging what yours will look like when it is fully revealed for all of us to see.  Keep on walking for the Lord.

We need Jesus.  Yet, as economic indicators improve we predictably move into a mind-state consistent with overwhelming self-focus.  I hear every day from Christians, “I can overcome”, “I can get it done if I am really focused” and, “I am getting better”, nothing unfortunately uttered about God.  Revivals are pep talks if there are revivals at all.  Prayer is reduced to time asking God to intervene for aunt Ethel’s bursitis and worship is often rushed to accommodate the patience levels of parishioners.  But, God said that the apostasy must happen otherwise the son of perdition may never show himself.  So, I am stuck in a difficult place emotionally; I know what his emergence means with regard to Christ’s return, but I also know that “TIME” is so short to pull people back from the edge of the abyss before judgment.

Not only am I capable of doing all things through Christ who strengthens me I am incapable of doing anything without him.  Doesn’t that provide wonderful clarity that Christ is “everything” in my victory.  He is that weepy day where I screamed and cried uncontrollably understanding my sin-filled, dilemma.  He is that grand day, after reading the Bible for some time that I realized it was a guide book for this life and provided insight beyond the timeline.  He is that blessed day when I realized He had made me into a new creature and that all my past had somehow been washed away.  He is that glorious moment when I truly knew Him so well that it was His voice alone I would follow, discerning between fleshly and enemy attempts to lead me astray of God.  He was that overwhelming instant when I used His power for the purpose of testimony and truth in leading others to the Cross.  He provides an indwelling Spirit that allows me to be righteous even though I never was, leads me to Holiness, though I never have had it and sanctification before God though I was never any better than a wretched mess.  He is my seal, my Saviour, my Father, my friend and my God.  In Him I do miracles to the glory of His name.

None of it, politics, relationships, wealth, health, stone, wood, rocks or trees matter one lick when compared to our intimacy with the Lord.  I can walk this world renowned, having the respect, admiration and honor of all mankind and still not be known by God.  I can have everything that my flesh or personality ever wanted, including the gold, sexual intimacy, job power, influence, ownership and attention, covering every facet of what defines a worldly man as success and still be bereft of salvation.  I want no control, except that which God gives me back when I have relinquished all expectation to Him.  I want no reward, except that which He will bestow upon me as blessing or for work properly attended.  I want no relationship except those that honor His Name and display my respect for His Glory.  I am powerless without Him and indefatigable within Him.  This is His life that I have the joy of experiencing.  May all that you are defend all that He is.  In Jesus’ Holy Name.

Jude, brother of Jesus, called himself a servant of Jesus Christ was writing to a specific group of people.  He wrote to; them who are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called:  This immediately led me to ask the Holy Spirit could these attributes be separated such to exclude some and include others?  The first thoughts I got back were it cannot be all Christians, because Spirit would not have gone through the trouble of listing three qualities if it were the entire population.  No, these are specific.  Let us then differentiate to whom these characteristics apply.  This first characteristic may be referring to a warning given in 1 Timothy 4 about begin diligent about false teachers.  The scripture tells us to be careful, but to understand that everything God made is good and that it should be received with thanksgiving by those that know the truth and believe.

Now I am paraphrasing, but this obviously describes a group of Christians with discernment, knowledge and the joy of receiving God’s Good News.  This meaning, that they have been sanctified by God the Father to Christian maturity.  To the second description.  It appears that 1 Peter speaks to this issue regarding Christians being preserved in Christ for their eventual inheritance.  Steve McCranie does an excellent job highlighting the differences between sanctification and preservation https://www.leavinglaodicea.com/jude-sanctified-preserved-christ/ if you wish to dive deeper into distinction.  Steve also sides heavily with these characteristics as both effectively setting apart the believer for a Divinely intended purpose.  That does make sense when looking into the third descriptor, being called as a Christian.  Although, I do agree with the Brother on this issue, Jude would have expected the believers to whom he was speaking to have a knowledge of their address.

Therefore, I believe that Jude was speaking to Christians who; know the Truth, are assured of their position in heaven with Christ and have responded to the calling of God upon their lives, basically mature, committed Christians.  Jude bids mercy, peace and love be multiplied upon these Christians.  Peace and love are traditionally included in biblical addresses, but there is a curious inclusion of mercy in this opening.  Why mercy Lord?  Mercy portends some deserved punishment.  What could Jude be warning these brothers and sisters of that would require they be cautious of God’s attached judgment?  Could it have something to do with the opening address, in that, they have somehow ignored their duty to sanctification, preservation and calling?

Apparently that is the root of Jude’s opening, for in the third paragraph he reminds them that he was diligent and clearly exhorted the need for them to “contend for the faith”.  That is an interesting term “the faith” and then it goes on to say “which was once delivered unto the saints.”  Clearly Jude is saying that he is warning them that they are not fighting for the original faith, that somehow they have diverted from the path of saintly doctrine.  Jude is waking them up to the fact that he is now repeating himself that they need get back onto and remain diligent on their original path.

Now, he reinforces what he is saying by reminding them of the doctrinal foundation where God delivered believers from slavery out of Egypt and then destroyed those who did not believe.  As well, that the angels who departed their oketelion or original, glorified bodies against the will of God are even now residing in a special dungeon designed for them until the day of judgment.

Jude continues with what must have been a truly frightening equivalence regarding Sodom and Gomorrha turning themselves over to fornication and the pursuits of strange flesh therefore becoming the example of God’s vengeance by eternal fire.  Jude goes on warning of anyone who despise God’s authority, speak ill of things they ought not and dream of defiling the flesh should count themselves among this cadre deserving judgment.  That as example Michael the arch angel didn’t slander the enemy when contending for Moses’s body but left the judgment to Christ who is the righteous judge of all.  He wraps it all up with those who think naturally, trusting their animal instincts are those who corrupt themselves and have gone the way of Cain, Balaam the prophet and Core.  Looking over the gamut of their sins is a difficult thing to digest.

However, Jude goes on to further ruin our appetites by saying that these dried up fruit trees, that withereth without water or fear are feasting among us.  Theses wandering rogue waves have reserved themselves incarceration in the blackness reserved for wicked angels.  Jude refers to old testament prophet, Enoch, as to when we shall see all the disobedient as the Lord returns with the Saints for judgment and reign.  Jesus will convince them of the ungodly deeds which appear to be centered around using the mouth as their main weapon.  He includes murmurers, complainers, speaking great swelling words, gaining admiration through advantage, speaking and walking in pursuit of their own lusts.  Jude coaxes them to reminds them that the Apostles had told them the same, that their would be mockers in the last days, that they would separate themselves, sensually, pursuing their own sensationalism without the indwelling of spirit.

Jude finalizes his letter of warning, he cautions that remaining believers be true to their faith, building themselves up, praying in the spirit, keeping in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He also says that some will have compassion for their lost brothers and drag them backward from the fire by entreating them with fear, hating even their clothes that have participated in this poisonous world.  Jude closes the letter with a reminder that the Lord Jesus is the only one who can deliver them from falling and deliver them into glorious joy and declares all belongs to our one saviour, wisdom, majesty , power and dominion now and forever.  Amen.

To whom do you pray?  Do you see God, do you know him or is he some foreign misunderstood concept or wishing well into which you cast your thoughtful pennies?  Is your salvation assured?  Do you see the fruits of God’s Spirit reflected within your own life, guaranteeing eternity and creating curious inquiry?  Are your familiar with Christ, do you know the power of his witness are you on speaking terms?  Since our re-birth may not be measured due to anything that we have done, what proof have you?

My sin makes me feel horrible, especially the sins that I appear incapable of eradicating?  But this is a good thing right?  This is evidence of Spirit’s guidance, rebuke, chastening proving that I am a child, loved by God.  This provides me some ground for familiarity with God’s Holy Spirit, but it shows no measure of my conversion.  I may hear good advice, but the proof that I heard and obeyed that good advice is always in my demonstrated willingness to heed that advice through personal change that clearly establish verified belief.  So, have I been changed by God, transformed into a new creature as he promised.  Well, that requires reflection.  What do you say, are you someone different after having found salvation through Christ?  Do you act different, avoid the old infected pathways, use different language, handle situations with self-control, peace and love rather than slander or anger?  Well something has happened, now we need to make sure that its not just good self-help study.

Faith in Christ, requires belief in Christ to the point where we trust him to provide for all our needs through his riches and glory.  Have you stopped trying to solve perpetual problems within your own talents, techniques or energy?  Have you stopped looking to other humans to save you from circumstantial discomfort, relying upon Christ to deliver you in his timing or determination?  Have you been chastened to the point where you fear God’s wrath, not because you will suffer it but out of thankfulness that you are no longer designated to go through it, although you are willing to if that be God’s Will.  Do you have a hunger for his word, a desire to spend time with believers, a new found love for people or an overwhelming drive to remain pure as his intended bride?

These are the evidences we seek as believers.  The bible says, my sheep know my voice and another they will not follow.  This means we are supposed to recognize the voice of our Shepherd to a level that we can distinguish from all other voices, especially those who may cunningly attempt to deceive us.  Do you know Jesus’s voice?  Can you distinguish other voices, the enemy’s, flesh, false friends and purveyors of false doctrine?  Does this give you courage?  If I can distinguish false voices and only obey the one coming from my master will I continue to make the mistakes associated with my pride of life, pride of the eye or sins of the flesh.  Doesn’t my ability to discern these voices relinquish any excuse I previously may have held with regard to the responsibility for my continued sin?  Man truth and evidence are hard to refute.

I pray that the evidence of your familiarity with the Lord Jesus Christ be unmistakable to all whom you meet.  May his light, his love, his heart guide your life to each divine opportunity that you have been blessed to attend.  May you keep your eyes heaven ward and continue to tend the ground before you in anxious and victorious knowledge of the harvest to come.  Praise God in the name of Jesus.

Twenty-four seven self actualization.  I can get it the way I want it made in the color I requested, share it with friends or take it alone in any room of my great big house, at any time, day or night.  Cultural adaptation.  In the fifties abortion was almost unthinkable now we crest 60,000,000 children given to Molech.  Adultery, against one’s spouse, culture, children or God was kept as guarded secret.  Imagination was used to write dynamic books and wonderful paintings, portraying a deep understanding of man’s quest to escape his present circumstance.  There was a time when before investigating my desires, I took cautioned review of those it might effect.  The shackles are off, for to maintain my own unbridled freedom to exercise the abnormailities of my mind I must grant you the same cause.  This is the end for Sodom and Gamorrah, not that each practised physical abomination, labeled such by God himself, but that they tolerated and applauded everyone’s right to just “do it” if it makes you feel good.

What does it mean then to be a Christian in this “no holds barred” environ of individualism and perpetual gratification?  If I have become a new creature it will become evident through society’s determined hate of all that I am.  No, longer will there be a spectrum broad opportunity for everyone to practise the depths of their imaginings, because someone, ME, stands up emphatically stating that these practises are forbidden and thus deserving inevitable judgement by God.  They will not befriend my intolerant behavior, in fact they will label my beliefs facist, racist, bigoted or worse yet of the enemy.  I cannot both stand parallel to Christ’s doctrine and ease with this world, for they are juxtoposed.  Therefore, speaking with me will sting and unbeliever for I am defining salt, pointing out the wound for healer by the Great Healer.  I am light, shining in to the unlit hallways, bedrooms, closets and attics, making all things scatter for their beloved dark.  I must confront that our Master told me that they will hate me just as they have hated him, there is no other outcome.

Therefore, I stand where I stand, even if you hang me from yonder tree, unrelenting in my allegiance to Christ the King.  I love you, forgive you, pray for you and wish to see you blessed, but as long as you are in argument with God, I cannot be with you in tandem.  I have chosen and since you have not then you are bounced about on the waves of your unrepentant pursuit of the sugary sweet mouthful of sin to which you cling.  I cannot judge you, not just because it would be hypocritical for one sinner to judge another but because there is a judge coming who is worthy, perfect and will not be questioned.  Now, I pray that the conversations we have sponsor a reminder of the day you heard the Holy Spirit wisper to you of eternity.  If only you can hear Him then my war is won, for He will guide you to salvation.  If you never hear Him then you have already been turned over to your own decadence and I weep for you.  I am not intolerant, just truthful about the rules set over us by the Sovereign King of All.  What He says goes and frankly I have no right, desire or better ideas with which to entertain you.  I love Him and obey His commands and await the soon return of Christ for His Church, Judgement and Eternal Reign.  Praise God in the name of Jesus.