Works based love is constricting and limiting the efficacy of the church.  Do you get angry enough at people for their performance that you refuse to engage with them.  So it is the things that they do or don’t do that dictate the quality of your love for them.  Isn’t that basing your love for them on works?  Sounds like the way that the world loves, not the love of God.  Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and tax collectors.  Do you think it was because He appreciated their behavior or did so because they had earned His love, understanding and attention?  I can never earn my way to God it is a gift of Christ’s Love for us.  To emulate Him I must be willing and conscious of the same giving.

Maybe if I am loving others based upon their performance, then I love myself in that way and carry that insidious, performance based love into my relationship with Christ.  I believe that this is why people leave their spouses, because of this or that complaint about how they didn’t conform to normal or specific definitions of how they should be treating us.  The number one reason given for divorce or separation is irreconcilable differences.  I don’t know about you but sure adds up to a whole lot of expectations, unforgiveness and works based loving to me?

Drunkards drink, robbers rob, cheaters cheat, humans are human and Christians who haven’t surrendered to the conforming guidance of the Holy Spirit continue to exhibit those traits consistent with their incipient flesh.  Many of those people we meet, especially those who are new to the relationship with Christ continue to let us down, treat us poorly and generally fall short of common courtesies.  In fact many of the homeless people I have the privilege and honor of caring for really smell badly and have poor ideals of hygiene.  It is the love of God that was first extended to me that allows me to see past those traits and worldly personal practices that tend to keep us at arms length with unbelievers.  I must learn to separate my love for a person from their performance, otherwise I am trapped in a works based attention for performance love system.  Praise God that He looks at me in love and not at my performance, for it is rare that I do not come up short of what His Word expects of me.

We must be something different than this world for our feet are planted in Kingdom’s eternal ground.  Separating a love for people from the things that they do or do not do is essential to our efficacy as believers.  I am not in any way condoning victimization or allowing support of poor behavior, but it must be separated from the bell and the biscuit.  Love is freely given never earned.  Certainly trust and approval may be items given sparingly based upon empirical behavioral performance, but they must be extricated from the Grace of God inherent to Love.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/fake-christians/?cat_orig=faith

Rejoice because the Lord of Hosts watches over us.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/cuba-lifts-ban-on-bible-250000-delivered/?cat_orig=faith

Who shall stand against the Almighty Father of Heaven and Earth.  Creation may be led astray but it is still creation, subject to the Will of God.  Yes, we have been given the leeway to choose for ourselves what road we will travel, but that does not mean any of the choices either lay outside of His domain or that they will free any of us from the laws governing His creation.  To my knowledge none have escaped, none have returned but one, Christ Jesus, none have suddenly become enlightened or evolved, leaving us and God’s foundations behind.

Even the enemy struggles, right now to avoid facing the reality of God’s eventual and eternal judgment.  For those Christians who avoid the inevitability of self determination or struggle against the metaphysical arguments of predetermined fate, we all know that what God has planned for each of us is the pinnacle our possible achievement in this lifetime.  We determine how much of that grace we receive by our willingness to walk with the Spirit of God, choosing to forgo sensory fulfillment of the flesh in order to live for Christ.  The tears I will shed on that great day I look into His eyes and see what I could have achieved had I fully surrendered and obeyed will be judgment enough for me.

Soon He comes again, to gather His flock, judge the nations and set up His reign.  Even now the enemy wants us to believe we have lost, stealing our hope, our joy or strength.  But our faith is secure in God, sheltered by His mighty wings, perfectly protected from the ills of any and all who would hurt the faithful.  Rejoice for we are sheltered by God, resting in  the shade of His Mighty Wings, resting in peace that this world may not comprehend.  Come Quick Lord Jesus for we need You  and You alone may cure the ills that infect the heart of this world.  Praise Your Mighty Name.

Where is your heart focused?  This is such a difficult topic that the world has developed a host of medical/psychological diagnoses to explain away or excuse our fractured capacity to focus.  Everyone screams accountability!, yet very few can truly relate to the idea of having a goal or ideal that is worth life commitment.  Accountability is nearly impossible when people are expending their energies across a wide array.  The needle and the laser are so efficient because they target all their energy at a specific point, disrupting, overcoming and penetrating the cellular structure, surface tension and forces binding together an object.  We have been distracted by so much data, so many shiny objects and so much disinformation, without the commensurate protections associated with a solid Word-knowledge based discernment mechanism, that we have little hope of not being led astray or losing focus.

For example, if you as a father are balancing your energies between trying to get ahead at work while maintaining a healthy relationship with your kids then you are in a precarious position.  Our women are rushing around trying to be the “ultimate” Mom, yet always feeling as if they are one misstep away from total disaster.  Perhaps their intuitions are truer than we estimate?  This “life balance” concept is not Christian.  This is a worldly ideal perpetuated by new age thinking that has permeated the churches.  This life balance concept places God as one of the choices, segments or voices in our lives that require a dispensation of our energy, a measure of our focus, a dose of our time and treasure.  This is obviously the clever machinations of God’s enemies, convincingly directing people’s attention toward a concept that places the reliance upon money, personal efficacy or education other than where it should naturally focus, entire dependence upon God.

God may never be reduced to simply one of equally divided focal points.  He is our focus and the rest falls accordingly into harmonic balance because of that focus.  I cringe to watch the women in our churches fall further into despair or feelings of inadequacy as they fail to compete with others who “have it all together”.  They get depressed as they desperately want to emulate the women who can keep a perfect house, have well-balanced kids, perfect devotion to God, service in the community and peaceful/supportive husbands.  This is not God’s intention.  He wants us to come to Him first and He will provide that harmony to which each of us feels called.  The enemy will always twist what God has made perfect, contorting the normal into something painful, unachievable or torture-some.  Yes we want peace, yes we want harmony and life balance, but these things cannot be achieved through our own “Works” based mentality.  Surrender to God and He will make straight your path.  To more appropriately use His Word, ” But seek Ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

If I want accountability then I must focus on one point in my life, am I fully surrendered and focused upon seeking God?  If the answer to this question provides any other apparent focus in front of our elevated above “laser” focus upon God’s Kingdom, then I have allowed distraction to enter my thinking.  Above all else I must remain “accountable” to God.  I must not depend on my own understanding of things but in all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my path.  Have you ever met someone in the church that wanted to leave their spouse, due to any number of reasons, who said that God doesn’t want them to be unhappy so they seek scripture to support their intention?  This is evidence of a unfocused Christian.  For God hates divorce, God warns us to be cautious of making vows and that He will hold us to them.  If I am focused on my own happiness to the point where I look to God to justify my own pursuits that are inconsistent with His divine direction, then I have replaced God’s rightful position of worship in my life with my own self-service.  I have been that person who chose to serve himself above God and it never, I repeat “never” turns out well in the long run.  For self gratification is a temporary or sensory fulfillment measure of fleshly desire and by its nature lacks “focus” upon the eternal mind of Christ the King.

May He be praised for His unwavering concentration and focus upon our sanctification and well being.  Praise Jesus the King.

They sit around and argue about who is wrong when nobody understands what’s right.  The truth has become some mobile device, redefined by circumstance, personality or need.  What of the foundation upon which we have constructed our framework, have we abandoned that solid rock for loose soil and miry clay?  Wasting time, money, energy and potential driving home points while the bolts of the framework have loosened and soon to fall apart.  This person, that person claims to be the expert while their families make fools of themselves with this sin or that unjust pursuit.  Please don’t tell me anything that disagrees with God, because we’ve seen it all acted out before over many thousand years.  When will we depart from this frivolous pursuit of unproven theory and return to the certain and secure blessings of Godly Worship.

See leadership isn’t speaking or ideas or some dance.  It’s not fancy or prestigious and it seldom serves romantic ideals.  Doing the right thing requires no slogan, no fan club, no exploratory committee, it just requires courage and the will to stand up against all influences to get something done.  Everyone wants authenticity, yet they attack those with the faith that it requires to remain authentic.  Authenticity is believing in something to the point where you will suffer the critics in serving that ideal.  Saying what you will do and then doing it or not saying those things which you cannot or will not commit to completing are evidence of authenticity.  We may not agree with our current direction, especially from our leadership, but they truly believe in what they are trying to do, so by nature they are authentic.  That is why the youth vote for them, because people desperately want leadership, so they follow those few who are absolutely determined to serve those ideals to which they are committed.  We as Christians have departed from a commitment to the Absolute Truth of God’s Word and therefore have been malleable, unsure of our direction, course or speed.  This breads a contempt for Christians as we are labeled, rightfully, “hypocrites”.   We must remember that Jesus demonstrated repeated contempt for hypocrites.  Why then would we ever believe that people would want to join us in that venture?

You ever notice how it takes one man or woman to stand up and start working and rapidly others join in.  Sure some decide they don’t want to participate, others stand there and criticize, but if you stand your ground and continue doing the work then eventually all the naysayers find a seat back on their shadowed couch.  One woman committed to authentic prayer, humbling herself in relationship with God, will set the armies to marching and change the world.  We as Christians, “who call ourselves by His name”, will continue to lose ground until we return to the absolute commitment it requires to serve God.  If you don’t believe it then don’t wear the tee-shirt.  If you aren’t willing to stand upon the solid rock of Jesus Christ, then accept that you will be blown about by the winds of whim and the rolling waves of popular discourse.  The evil are committed to ruling all that they see and coveting all that they may possess.  If we do not stand then we have already fallen.

Praise You Father for Your Mercy, Grace and Glory.  I cannot comprehend Your depth, but I can see that it is right and wise to follow You and write Your Word upon my heart.  In Jesus Name.

Roused for battle, reluctant to dawn my shoes leading to peace I unfortunately speak from a place over the top of moderation.  Enough of the whimsical discipleship, gone is the will to participate in pander.  Why have you given me this heart my Father?  They tell me to be diplomatic and that there are too many factors which constrain the ability to act in reason responsiveness.  I find it difficult if not ridiculous to comply, especially when political correctness is the strategy by which we arrived at our current dislocation.  They want to water down truth and claim this will lead to better understanding.  They want us to go two by two but please don’t say anything outside of the provided manuscript.  They say hide your coverings so as to sneak into Jordan and then you will be able demonstrate Shekinah Glory.  When did we become deceivers, adept politicians and measured speakers?

The Holy Spirit my guide I wade into water that would certainly consume me, if not for His indwelling.  Oh Father my words, my argument, my testimony and my ability are inadequate to start the Holy Fire of Revival necessary to saving so many.  Forgive me for being in this place of despair knowing my inadequacy.  You will see this through Father and if not through my courage to stand in the face of onslaught, then perhaps someone to whom I have whispered of Your Glory.  Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak reason into shadow and love unto the forgotten.  I get it that you love them and I will do what may be done to warn them of the pitfalls on the way to Glory.  But I already seen that this will cost the loss of self for victory.  Give me that strength Lord to forget my self and step aside, acquiescing to righteousness.  For Your Will is all that matters and Your Kingdom the only establishment for which I fight.  I do not know righteousness except through you.  I do not know truth outside of what You have provided and I do not know strength except that which You have given me.

My plan is the fools pursuit, surrender the only avenue for success.  Give me the grace necessary to quiet all the voices that would supersede Your direction.  If they be internal, then I bid you control them.  If they be of shadow I ask You to silence them.  Lord, things do not by nature, concept, wish or projection appear to be becoming easier.  In fact, as you stretch us these tasks are getting significantly even exponentially more difficult.  Praise Your judgment believing that I am capable of withstanding this pressure, because, Father I must admit I do not see the capacity within my resolve or reserve.  I want to be harmonious, tolerant, likeable, expressing love at each opportunity,  but either I am doing it incorrectly or their responses are getting more harsh.  Your return must be rapidly approaching if I use this measure as evidence of timing.  For men’s hearts rapidly are icing over, each of them forgetting normal courtesy, even the ability to listen, in their quests to achieve every personal objective or sensory gratification.  We are even seeing men step on or over children with no apparent reflection upon this abnormal behavior in the interest of capturing the flag of their desirous conquest.  How long will You tolerate their mockery,  their abuse of women and children, how long must the innocent be martyred for the sake and hunger of evil men’s lust?

Father, give us strength.  Give me courage to stand facing the winds of smoke, fire, war or pestilence which certainly must soon come as compensation for our tyranny.  Cleanse my heart of all unrighteousness so that I might remain vigilant on the path of your intended Will.  Let me forgive sooner, be patient longer, listen longer, holding my thoughts and tongue from hurtful or evil speech.  Guide me in all that I do and forgive me for any bad intent or act.  Turn to good what I have done incorrectly.  Forgive me.  In Jesus Name.

Sitting in a discussion with an atheist, agnostic, a secular Jew and an disciple for Christ.  Having studied to show himself approved, a right divider and defender of the faith, the Christian answered all the arguments, questions and challenges with sufficient reference to God’s Holy Word, showing each of the members where to find the answers to their individual interrogatives.  However he knew the entire time that at some point their polite inquisition would turn to ridicule, then anger, as each of them refused to accept the vacuum in their position.  What surprised him was that the agnostic would not jump on board with the others in this character assault and projected anger at Christ.  The agnostic actually acknowledged the efficacy of the Christian argument, being a scientist, he could not refute the evidence, but instead came to the Christian’s defense against what he deemed an unfair, emotional assault.  The Christian, stood his ground, but comforted the deep wounds of the attackers, knowing fully their true struggle was with the free will choice which confronts each of us, when finally realizing that God is Sovereign and He alone makes the rules in His created universe.

I feel for this world, their position is both untenable and an abomination.  To choose God they must admit that their own privately constructed realities are false, leaving them in a heap of fallen cards as their psychological house comes to rest upon the Rock of Christ.  The Bible has never been proven to be false, and since they cannot disprove the Word of God they are left with the sole avenue of attacking the messenger.  The atheist demands that I we prove God exists, which is a fool’s argument.  Why is it our responsibility to prove that God exists, they are the ones who do not believe.  Let them instead prove that He doesn’t, leaving the burden of evidence where it should reside on the people making a false claim.  They cannot of course and must resort to mocking God and His followers.  The agnostic has no recourse but to consider the valid argument and evidence for Christ, eventually leading them to make a conscious decision to accept or deny Him.  The Jew is in a horrible predicament, for if their own written texts predicted the birth, death and resurrection of the Messiah, then they must accept that they closed their eyes, ears and hearts, missing His arrival.  Since Jerusalem, and the Temple records were destroyed in 70A.D. then their only proof of being Jewish is a verbal tradition passed down, like their faith in God throughout the generations, waiting for Israel’s reconstruction.

We rejoice in God’s promises to the Nation of Israel and its people.  He is faithful to complete and fulfill every yot and tittle that He told them would occur just as He is faithful to complete the work of sanctification in every believer, making them anew from their troubled pasts.  We cannot walk away from our responsibility to God in telling the Gospel truth.  Just as God, we do not wish that people would be eternally separated from God, by choice, suffering in isolation in hell.  Christians want that all would come to the Knowledge of the Truth and spend eternity with us, with God.  This world has no absolutes, it has been relegated to the mobile and vacillating reality of whomever is in charge and defines the new truth according to their own oddities, inclinations, moralities and beliefs.  We prefer to stand upon the Rock of Ages, Who never changes.  Yes, some of what His Word states is hard to accept, understand or discuss, but it is still the Sovereign Word of God and not within my capacity to withdraw, change, extend or revise.  My job is simply as believer, acceptor and reteller in faith and love.  If you have a problem with God, take it to Him.  If your problem is with my behavior, do not blame God for my offense.  I ask your forgiveness for anything I have done to dishonor God or transgress against you.  In His Name I pray for all in this fallen, shaken world.  Praise Jesus.

Do you feel the tug of the Kingdom’s approach?  Have you been lulled, confused or captured by the deceptive voice of this world calling you to despair?  Don’t you see it around you?  Isn’t it almost palpable, this call to become self-serving, distrustful, spiteful and full of fear?  What about your love?  Does your love resemble that of Christ?  Are you quickly willing to forgive, believe, encourage and forgo retribution?  This world does not see its peril, it does not know its corruption or the poison that drains its life, having been moored to the sinking vessel of global sin.

God’s judgment is near, for this nation especially, as with all whom call themselves by His name, it shall be swift, final and imminent, excepting those who cry out to Jesus for salvation.  Where does your heart abide?  Do you live in Christ, and He in you?  Do you know life abundantly? Man cannot save this world for we share the nature of its illness, our unwillingness to believe, our unwillingness to relinquish the hold our own perception holds upon destiny.  I will not be slave to my own deception, my own decadence, the wet powdered thrill of my own understanding, leading to misery and defeat.

What God has said is the only measurable, assured and guaranteed Truth.  Listen for that small quiet voice of our Shepherd, guiding, encouraging, praying for each of us as we walk, even through the valley of the shadow of death itself.  Does your cup runneth over?  Are you led down paths of righteousness for His Namesake?  Are you walking in Goodness and Mercy all the days of your life?  If you don’t know joy, then ask the Lord to free you from the enemy’s bondage.  Be free indeed.  Go in the peace of God for beyond Him there is no peace.

This is not the venture for effeminate men.  It is not the journey that may be forever pondered, but undertaken.  It is a thing of thought, action and cost.  Cost, voluntarily contributed in remembrance of Him who sacrificed all for us.  We are not the sideliners, the naysayers, the contemplaters, the doubters, aspirers and apathetic.  We are the overcomers, adept and prepared in the knowledge of God’s Eternal Wisdom.  Even in personal failure the Lord’s Will shall be accomplished, so for us, defeat cannot and may not, ever declare victory.  For Victory belongs to those marked by Grace, Filled with The Spirit, given by God, to Guide, Counsel, Instruct and Shape.  No “thing” is indestructible, only those things made of Spirit may surpass the reshaping of the world, in defiance of the alchemist’s shackle to science.  We have been created to evolve, yet not an evolution of mere gravity or law, but rather an evolution to become new creatures, those who are welcomed in the presence of Almighty God.

This is not a path of my making.  It is not a way designed in the thinking of men.  This skinny, track is God’s wake, where only those intent on eternity may follow, their way illuminated by the Word, The Light, The Door, The Truth, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  None may travel its steps without knowledge of Him who made it, through authority and sacrifice.  There are only two destinations following this mortal life, one eternally bound in Grace, Mercy and Faith to God through Life, the other separate, dark, equally eternal, filled with pain, loneliness and endless reflection, away from the Light of God.  The gift of mortal life is choice.  The measured and finitely precious opportunity to choose between two ends.  Show me the way to Your Light Father, through any darkness, armed with Your Spirit, protected by Your Strength, safe in the courageous knowledge of my kinship to You.  IN Jesus’ Name.

“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.  They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.  ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.  Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?  No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.  So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them, ” says the Lord.  This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.  But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’  I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’  But you said, ‘We will not listen.’  Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them.  Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law.  What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land?  Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.”  Jeremiah 6:13-20

Who will stand, chancing all, casting your lot for the Lord?  To speak out now carries repercussion.  Although, we do not wish to offend, it is impossible for people to hear the truth if we refuse to speak clearly.  This is the important time of decision and subsequent action.  We all know what is right, but many will simply stand there knowing fully, just as did Adam that we are in conflict with God’s direction.  Shall we squander the opportunity to choose rightly?  Will we listen to the voices of those whom we fear need impressing or follow God’s Law, walking the ancient paths?  Will we listen to the Words that shine above the din or turn our ears from the hearing and forget about the doing?  The Bible says, it is impossible to please God without faith.  Do we know how to get it and what to do or not do that pleases God?  Do we?