The Lord is no respecter of persons.  He loves each of us equally, paying no homage to skin, nation, wealth or geographic preferences.  That does not mean He has no requirements of humanity.  He made the world, He made the rules, we get to choose, so do so wisely my friends.  The world and the pressures therein are rapidly dividing its population into two distinct groups; those who believe in Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension and those who do not.  That is the line of separation by which humanity shall be judged for that is the rule which God laid down for all men.

Certainly there are those who have yet to make a decision regarding Christ.  For them the heat shall be increased, the pressures intensified, the places of safety removed, such that they will be forced to choose voluntarily or choose out of refusal.  Even the Jewish Nation, God’s beloved will be subjected to such great tyranny and tragedy that they will be forced to come to the only possible realization over which they continue to stumble, the Cornerstone of Christ.  I fear that hard times are coming to all of us, yet I do not fear from whence they come, for it is the Lord’s doing.  The Lord knew before the beginning of time that many would not choose unless given the impetus necessary to drive that decision.  We as a world will be provided the appropriate chaotic climate from which to make a decision for or against Christ.  He loves all people and wants that we will all come to the knowledge and acceptance of His gift of saving Grace.  He will lead us to the Water of Life, where we must choose to drink or to refuse.

I pray for us as a species.  We resemble God yet cannot see ourselves even when looking in the clearest, available mirror.  We debate the minutia yet miss the big picture topic.  It is not about this or that or the other.  The conversation has always been about God, as our origin and our destination.  People who seek an alternative explanation for the origin of man, use science, theory, philosophy and all available literary devices to convince themselves that we did not come from the Word of God, speaking us into existence.  They desperately must find another way so that they owe no debt of judgment for sin.  It is human nature to create illusionary circumstance where reality is too difficult to stomach.  So, many construct their own malleable version of this world in order to cope with the fear of judgment.  For them, I pray the most, for their house of cards shall tumble first.  The first moment into which God shows His face, which is coming soon, will eradicate all their illusionary safety.  When the enemies of God attack Israel and they shall, what God does next will remove the veil for all mankind.  There will be no denial as He will supernaturally destroy 5/6 of the approaching armies in one fell swoop, leaving no doubt of His sovereignty and promised protection of the remnant of Israel.

Let us depart from the truthful obfuscation of intelligentsia.  This argument is not about details, theories, strategies or battle plans.  God confounds the wisdom of the wise.  It is about God’s coming judgment and what we are willing to do about it.  Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death upon the Cross of Calvary to pay for the sins of mankind or don’t you?  That is the question that plagues the hearts of those who seek to steal the blood of the innocent.  They cannot afford to be found inadequate by a measure of their goodness so they turn to the only other illusion provided by the fallen angels that they must take the life of innocent people in order to receive God’s blessing.  Clear illusion, falsity and foolishness has captured the heart of desperate humans willing to seek God through ungodly, wicked acts of cruelty.  Forgive them Lord, lead them to the knowledge of the Truth so that they might see their sin and repent.  We the do’s owe it to them to give them every opportunity to choose righteously, for that is the reason why God has been so patient with humanity, giving all the time to come to that knowledge.

God help all to see the choice that lay before us as a species.  Forgive my unforgiveness and allow me to have a pure heart and clean hands.  Thank you Lord for giving us the time to come to a decision whether we do or don’t, you have freely given us the right of self determination.  Let all those who would escape judgment do so by being cleansed in the redeeming Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Father I know that the wicked shall be punished in righteous fashion, for Your Judgment is Fair.  We cry out to you now on behalf of the innocent, please Father, save them from the cruelty to come, hear their blood scream to you for justice, mercy and truth.  We love You Lord, in Jesus’ Holy Name.

A wealth of knowledge cannot earn me love.  My best laid plans and cleverness are impotent in manipulating adoration.  The respect that I gain from a job well done does not guarantee the love of my colleagues.  My monetary wealth simply assures that I have something which must be constantly attended, it does not make me eligible for the love I have been missing.  A wonderful physique, personality or astounding beauty fails to enhance my chance of being loved by one iota.  A loving Father does not demand love from his children for he fully understands that love is a choice on the part of the giver.  That is the nature of God’s gift to humanity, that we may accept His love for us in our darkest moment and “choose” to love Him back.

If you hate Christ then you will also choose to hate me.  If you cannot forgive then you have chosen to hate.  If you cannot love God for who He is then you have chosen to love your own view and understanding.  If you cannot believe the truth of the Gospel message then you have chosen out of skepticism or rebellion the need to make of yourself a graven image acceptable for your particular worship.  A child does not love out of duty but out of choice emanating from a open heart.  I want them to love me, but why?  Is it truly necessary for them to love me in order to serve their need, to sacrifice my time, treasure and talent for their comfort, health and safety?  Or may I love them simply to honor God?    Do I fully understand the inherent foundation of choice built into true love?  For if my wife, kids or family love me out of duty, obligation or relation do they truly love me?  If I love them and they never love me what then should be the price, if any, for this absent love?

Can I build and maintain intimate relationships where there is no bond of love?  It is unlikely that intimacy will ever be present in a relationship where the choice to love was declined.  If someone, out of free will choice, determines that they do not love me, can I, should I or could I ever change that circumstance in the affirmative?  Again it is unlikely, as that would again require love to be something that may be earned by my own performance.  Since, love is a choice on the part of the giver it may not be given as a reward for effort.  Doesn’t that mimic salvation?  We cannot earn salvation for it is freely given and thus accepted out of choice.  Odd isn’t it that love and salvation share this similarity?  Or is it odd at all that God’s Grace and Love are entirely the same thing?  He loved us so much that He gives us the choice to accept His Grace and Love Him in return and that freely given love leads to an intimate relationship.

We know that there is a major difference between asking someone for a favor and demanding that they do something on our behalf.  I love God because I choose to Love Him.  He certainly is worthy of my love but that is not why I love Him.  I serve God because I have chosen to love Him and feel that this is the greatest demonstration of that love.  God showed me the meaning of love.  I can love my family fully completely, sacrificially, just as Christ Loved us.  It is their choice to love me back.  Those who do not love God will never get to know Him intimately.  I loved my Earthly Father but once I got to know him better my love increased.  That is the enhancing nature of intimacy, fellowship and relation.  Love grows as we give ourselves to its shaping hand.  Oddly again that sanctification shares this similarity, that it grows over time as we volunteer to the Potter’s Hand.  For intimacy with God is sanctification through Love, the love of God for us and we for Him that transcends the limitations of this world.  I choose to love you and I hope that you choose to love me back, for if you choose to love me then it is highly likely that you have already chosen the Love of God.

May you be blessed all of your days by the Loving Grace of Almighty God through Christ the Saviour of mankind.  May the Holy Spirit fill you with love and good will toward men giving you power to aid in setting them free from worldly bondage.  May God’s Word tumble from your mouth as you seek to plant seeds for the Kingdom.  May you always be filled with knowledge of God’s steadfast love and the choice that you made to follow Him.  May those around you choose to love you, giving you the gift of intimacy with those you love.  In the precious name of Jesus.

The nose ring, tugging, pulling, dragging Russia into the Middle East.  Those eloquent, prognosticators always predicted it would be oil.  Yea, that will be it Russia will be sucked into the fray by black gold.  We never thought it would be provocative terrorism or perhaps political puppet building.  What we are seeing is that evil only matters in the hearts of men for God simply uses what they intend for evil’s sake and turns it to good, the Good Will of His Plan for humanity.  Let the wicked join with their wicked colleagues, plotting, twisting reality and frightening people with rhetoric and devious deed.  We know that Russia and all the enemies of God’s commands will have to find their way to Israel.  The group that brings them into the region through the tools of terror or those who seek to prop up fallen regimes in order to protect warm water sea installations shall all serve God’s Purposes.

That must frighten unbelievers, atheists and those directly aligning themselves with the prince of this world, for they cannot escape serving God.  When everything is said and done, no matter the awfulness of their attempts, no matter how many innocent they kill, they will not forestall the return of the Lord of Lords by one instant in time.  For like it or not the fallen are subject to time’s constraints, where God is not.  He may wait as long as He wishes to wait, desiring that precise moment when all who will choose Christ have had the opportunity to do so.  Where the wicked have to succeed now for time draws to close, when no one pure or wicked may do further work.  That must frighten God’s enemies, it only strengthens me, for when He comes He comes and I hope to be found doing His work when He does.  It is not God who chooses hell for each of us but of our own volition.  We may equally decide to accept His offer of grace and avoid that horrible separation from God, but all this serves God, that we cannot escape.

I must love those who hate me, while hating their sins and evil deeds.  Men are not my enemy but the wicked spirits that drive their hearts to consume, kill, contort and contaminate humanity.  For all men who design their own reality must control the thought of all around them, so that no one, even accidentally shines light on the illusion causing their house of cards to crumble.  For sin wishes to convert all those around a sinner so that they too may join in the poisonous misery.  For sin may not be enjoyed if there is even one person around who loves you enough to tell you the truth about your frailty.  The numbness of ill company that will never call you to restraint or repentance.  I cannot stand bye while you destroy yourself and keep God outside the sphere of your illness.  I understand that you must subsequently reject me from your life, but that is okay.  I pray you shall never forget the one person who loved you enough to tell you the truth of the Gospel and of your life.  Maybe some day you will remember and seek me out.  That will be a glorious time for the both of us.  In Jesus’ Holy Name.

My own understanding got me to the wrong location, situation or standing in relationship.  My desire to control a spherical environment leads me to exercise undue influence, rules and regulations upon those whom I love.  My lack of control over the circumstances in my own life leads me to pressure those around me to keep their P’s and Q’s in order, thus vicariously making my life somehow more tolerable.  None of these statements puts God first, none allows me to try God’s way and see that it is always the best and none gives me time to trustfully sit at the feet of the Master.

Do I trust God enough to let go of this false perception of control.  Have I fully realized that it is a defense or coping mechanism that is somehow socially tolerated while all other addictions are frowned upon.  That is why I do it because no one calls me to accountability, except of course the people who have gravitated away from me over the years to save themselves the onslaught of my enforced standards.  My way doesn’t work.  Certainly I have the best of intentions but intentions don’t heal wounds, time, care and medicine close open sores.  It is time to trust God.  What does that mean, I don’t know, but it will absolutely produce a more significant result than my own dis-proven efficacy.  My will or His, my will or His?  Do you hear the mantra of the internal conflict of a man wanting desperately to allow God yet holding on to the last string of self actualization?

Did I develop my own purpose or are all my dreams grown from the programming He placed within my DNA from the outset?  We know the answer.  I have wanted to be what He made me to be yet it is unreachable simply through my own talent and acquisition.  Becoming what God intends takes God’s action in each of our lives.  It is not a thing of self as the enemy would have you convinced.  My free will calls me to volunteer to or deny Christ.  That is the power of choice, but once having been made there is a significant price to fighting against the yoke.  I no longer wish to pay that price.  I no longer wish to set standards of performance for those around me when all I really want is their love.  Lord, teach me to choose your path first and settle upon it never varying, walking away of straying even in the slightest from Your direction.  Let my steps be true and in line with Your growth plan for this life.  Let me love them enough to set them free from my own imposed bondage.

Thank you for once again showing me the next thing that You will work upon in my life.  It is painful but it is freedom.  I must first see my chains before they may be broken.  Thank God I am set free from all bondage and servitude to this world and sin.  Thank you Jesus.

In truth and resemblance to His image what am I to create?  Distress, adding potential to the stresses of the saints or arguing doctrine with the unconvinced?  Challenge to the harmonious community of believers through dissent and words ill chosen?  Isolation, calling myself and those whom I hold dear to seclusion from the false words and tickling doctrine of today’s godly marketeers?

What then shall we cling to in this moment of declaration?  Shall it be independence akin to the logical resolve of the founders?  What environment do I feel is most hospitable to profit in dispensation of God’s Holy Gospel?  Is it one of childish love, where everyone and every behavior is accepted or acceptable?  Or is an adult understanding of the power living internally, leading me to challenge wickedness, hunger, disease and poverty?

Since the Gospel is foolishness to them who perish, may I politically regard their blindness as sufficient excuse for inclusion?  What then of men who have ignored, disobeyed, denied or mocked the truth of God, given so that none shall have excuse?  Shall I continue to banter, offer my breast for rapier wit, making myself a fool through refusing conflict?  What then has God called you to do?  Stand in the face of overwhelming enemies, odds and consequence, seeking capture of the High Ground or simply recede refusing to vie for the lives in balance?  What then is my position as a prince and priest in the order of Melchizedek?  Is there anything worth fighting for or have we been transformed by the world to believing that nothing is worth ultimate sacrifice?

A leader who stands bye as those around him perish is committing the sin of complacency.  We have been given talents, position, authority and Spirit’s Power to embark and complete the work to which each of us is assigned by the Master.  If ignorance is no excuse for them who will not accept God’s Truth, then it shall provide less solace and justification for them who should trust and obey.  We are slaves to righteousness and so commanded may not simply decide to ignore the weight of God’s expectations.  It is not the doing which earns us heaven but having been freely given heaven we have been filled with the desire to do as we have been told out of reverence for God.  The choice has been made.  What shall I create.  The same thing that the Lord did as He wandered Israel, inquiring hearts, desperately seeking freedom from bondage through the one available path for all men.  Seeking that which has been lost and delivering them the Gospel so that they might be redeemed to God through the Blood of Jesus Christ.

If I must fight then let it be to save those precarious few peering into the abyss or in defense of the innocent or maybe even so that my enemy may see through sacrifice that there really is one true God.  If I must argue, let me argue for the righteousness of God among the saints keeping them Holy and Pure for the day of our completed betrothal.  If I must be complacent then let me stand silent when I have the right of unforgiveness, forgiving them who have wounded me worst.  Let me create an environment of trust through truth and dependence in my character over time.  Let me be like Christ in my devotion to His Will and to loving them especially when they are fallen.

It is the Creator I serve, so let there be light.  Let me be salt water of healing to them who are wounded or overcome by putrefaction and sin.  Let me preserve the tiniest hope in them who have been overcome by despair.  Let me lead them even in my last step or breath to the foot of the Cross of Christ, so that they might find rest.  Let me be like Christ.  Praise you Lord God for the opportunity to create that which You would have me produce.  In Jesus Holy Name.