We are surrounded by principles, forces and energies which we cannot see yet accept without argument, air, the atmosphere, the wind, gravity, radiation, solar particles, electricity.  We have accepted these laws or forces as fact through realization of continuous or repeated evidences.  They are independent of my belief.  They exist whether or not I choose to accept them as law.  They do not require my understanding in order to function.  They are independent of my existence, that is they will continue when I cease to function.  Why then would we choose to exclude God from this list of the accepted?

I submit that it is because we do not want to believe, because if we believe then we have accept that there are actions for which consequence exist.  It is not that we find the existence of God objectionable it is rather because His existence places requirements upon my choices, wants, desires and freedoms.  Acknowledging Him as the Creator and sole authority of the universe means that I will at some point be brought to account for all my actions that fall outside of His declaration.  We as Americans especially find the idea that there are limits to our personal pursuits unconscionable.  How dare God tell me what I can an cannot do?  How dare He establish moral absolutes and warn me of the consequence of following my hearts desires?  How dare He say that there is a better way to live and that blind pursuit of my way leads to hell?  Indignant, immoral, arrogant, uneducated, perhaps?

I know how to get back at Him for placing these requirements and statutes upon “my life”, I will openly declare that He doesn’t exist so that I may do what I wish to do, when I wish to do it, with whom I wish to do it.  The problems this line of thinking are immediately evident.  If I choose to believe that smoking doesn’t cause cancer will I not develop lung problems through continued usage?  If I choose not to believe in radiation will I not develop sickness when exposed to unseen gamma, x rays or radon gases?  If I choose not to believe in gravity will the tides cease or will I be free from injury if I jump off a bridge?  If I choose not to believe in air will I then be able to live underwater or cease to need oxygen?  If I choose not believe in electricity will it cease to power my lights or shock me when I stick a screwdriver in the wall socket?  If I choose not to believe that STD’s exist will this eliminate the risk of unprotected intercourse with multiple partners?  The answers to all these questions are self-evident, just as God is self-evident.  He is real and He does not require our belief in Him to be, He simply is.  That is why He told Moses to call Him, I AM that I AM.

Then we must grope with a larger problem, that He is right.  Murdering someone is evil and can never be justified, even when we kill our babies and reduce the impact by calling it abortion.  That sounds like a mission failure that is under our power and authority to call quits and go back to the drawing board.  There is not a single person who can rationally argue that stealing, lying, sleeping with someone’s spouse, talking back to parents, gossiping about your neighbor or taking his stuff produce anything but pain or short-lived gratification.  We as Americans constantly speak out about the dangers of materialism, greed and how they have brought about the downfall of this nation, yet we fail to see the correlation between this evidence and the absolute truth of God’s Word.  These things happen because He said that they would when a person chooses not to obey His Word.  The consequences of our “immoral” or “amoral” behavior produces the same results every time.  In fact, actions outside of God’s intention produce those same results for those who believe in Him as well as those who choose not to believe because “everyone” will have to give an account for their lives.  The only difference is that believers in the Lord are forgiven, the consequences are inescapable.  The consequences are the evidence of the truth of God’s Word and continually reprove the existence of God.

Sure the evidence for the existence of God is relevant, overwhelming and continuous, it is just not convenient.  We would rather believe in theories, adopted as our new age religions even when their contrivers warned against acceptance without proof.  Evolution will never be proven, “As the origin of Species” because it is not based upon fact and therefore requires my belief in it to make it real, any idol is just a stump of carved wood/metal until I assign it divinity.  I prefer to worship and follow a God who does not need my belief in Him in order to exist.  I would rather worship and follow a God who rewards my belief in Him with forgiveness, everlasting life and love.  A much better deal, don’t you think?  Next time you hear someone say they don’t believe in God because they can’t see Him, ask them how they know that the next breath they take will keep them alive when they cannot see the air?

These days require us to filter a mixed bag of emotions through our analytical, spiritual and sympathetic minds.  The Lord has chosen us to be alive during this important time.  He knows how difficult these times will be and has provided us the gifts, skills and supernatural ability to fulfill His will for our lives.  Why then do we not see verifiable evidence/urgency on the part of declared believers?

We know and abide in the Word of God about the coming judgment upon this world, but if you are like me there are some pockets of resistance to the idea that Jesus may return for us tonight.  Imminent is a tough idea to bring to consciousness without complete surrender.  We certainly do hope for, pray for and expect Jesus to return at some point.  It may be that we are hoping that He will do so after we have had time to complete all the plans we have drawn up on our whiteboard of world significance.  Maybe we don’t want to believe that what we have will soon be insignificant.

I do not presume in arrogance to speak for all the elect, but perhaps my words elucidate objects concealed below the calm surface of each body.  This world’s collective sin has grown in severity.  The health of the world has gone from chronic illness to critical and absent revival will soon perish of its own accord.  Contrary to what the educated masses would have us believe there are no empirical, scientific or astrological solutions for this ailment.  The only verifiable answers are found in scripture as all prophecy points to the person of Jesus Christ and His inevitable rule as Lord of all.

There is only complete truth.  There is no point on the scale of believability that accounts for “nearly true” or “almost honest”.  Belief is confidence in, conviction or acceptance of something as truth.  If I say that I believe that the Lord may return this evening and yet I do not demonstrate corresponding faithful action it begs the question, do I truly believe?  Evidence of faith before man is defined in our works.  If thankfulness for my salvation does not call me to consequential obedient action, how strong is my faith?   http://www.biblelineministries.org/articles/basearch.php3?action=full&mainkey=FAITH+WITHOUT+WORKS .

Your enemies mock You Lord, fools abound and the church has been permeated by the spirit of unbelief, loose doctrine and sanctimonious pride.  We are collectively if not individually disobedient to Your directives.  We make excuse for not sharing Your Word or the bounty that You have given us.  We have chosen self over sanctification, traded participation in the world for prayer time and refuse to come out from unbelief or step away from unrepentant sin.  Are there areas of my life that I have not surrendered, continue to justify or of which I refuse to speak truth?  Search my heart Lord for those areas which resist Your truth.  Those places which I or the enemy have established strongholds in defense against Your Word.  Sound your trumpet and let fall the walls and idols erected to “self” or other gods.  Cleanse me, prepare me, let all that I do honor and reflect Your grace.  For these things I ask Your forgiveness Lord.  I see the signs of Your return unfurling like a flag to the wind.  I pray that if You have chosen this day to come back for Your children that I be found doing Your work with my eyes looking up in expectation.  Come soon Lord Jesus.

The following you tube videos clarify and demonstrate the reality and importance of the times in which we live as they apply to prophecy concerning God’s chosen, the nation of Israel.  I pray that this supporting evidence and the words that the Lord has me declare, move believers to a personal sense of urgency causing them to fulfill the Lord’s will for their lives.  Because I believe that the Lord’s return is imminent (likely to occur at any moment, impending..definition from dictionary.com), I demonstrate my belief in that truth through doing what he told me to do TODAY!

http://youtu.be/ydwxy9yqhzM  the Truth about God’s relationship with Israel.

http://youtu.be/k2hZ6SlSqq0   the Truth about Israel’s need to defend itself.

http://youtu.be/eiyh23MaVg4   the Truth about Islam and coming prophecy

Paper tigers, illusionists, stargazers and dream interpreters racing to the prince of this world looking for some type of guaranteed treasure.  Stained by generational curse gainfully selling their children for unholy anointing and power.  We stand here and watch our Brothers run after dreams of center stage and tin foil crowns.  We clap and throw stones as the King of Glory walks up that stony mount carrying upon Him the weight of our iniquity.  Or worse we stand bye and watch others do the deed and remain mute.  Being blind binds me to my pain forever.  How many false tears and tales have I shown to a world that loves my thespian display?  Enough!  Holy Father please take from me this moth-ridden sham, woven by the spinnerets of my dissembling tongue.

I run proclaiming, “The Lord is coming, the Lord is coming”, driven on by an urge that calls from the parts of me planted deep in the soil of the Holy Father’s Word.  “Must I Father, Must I?”, became “Send me, Father” somewhere along the highway and I never even saw the other man leave.  Things I used to hold on to praying that He would never require of me I now beg for Him to take away.  Send me to the fire Lord, send me to Sodom’s edge, so that I may sing of your Grace and Love so grand that maybe someone will hear above the hungering flames.  Grant me voice so sweet and loud that it cuts across the rambling hatred of this world gone haywire.  Let them know the extent of Your love.  Bear this cross for me Lord as I cannot carry it alone, but through You I will make my stand upon that dreadful hill just for a glimpse of Your Glory.

Let them see Your Face and hear Your Words spoken through an instrument designed to play the music of your beautiful love.  Rosin Your bow and draw it against the strings of my trunk bringing forth dissonance meant for the ears of man.  Let them here my pain, if that will shake them to clarity, reason and Truth.  My attempts fall beneath the shield of deaf ears, crushed by overwhelming folly and the girders of insupportable knowledge.  I understand now why it is so hard to wait upon Your Will Father, because in Your time these things will come about and my part is to see the splendor of Your Mighty Hand.

I am present Father.  How it turns out matters little compared to what I have been promised when all is complete.  Thank You for letting me call myself Your son.  Praise Your Holy, Righteous and Mighty Name.  Victory, Honor and Praise to the Lamb, the Righteous One of God.  Jesus, what a glorious name!

Just as evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence is unmistakable, the symptoms of internal illness, demon influence or unhealed wounds are billboards in our ecosystems.  What do your surroundings reflect about the war, injury or compartmentalization occurring in your world?  Are the attempts to conceal this evidence keeping you out of fellowship with other Spirit filled believers or worse yet limiting intimacy with the Lord?  Oh, how weighty the price paid for defensive disinformation.  Jesus came to seek the lame and the lost and to set the captives free.  He waits outside our cell doors calling out and knocking waiting for us to answer and sup with Him.  Take a look around, what does the evidence in your life indicate about the internal reality?  Is this really what you want in your walk with Jesus?  If not give it to Him, trust me He can take it.  He wants your baggage, your unforgiveness, your sin, your anger, your idol worship, your pain and your past and in return He will grant you peace.  Nothing else offers such a lopsided deal, because no one else loves you like the Lord.

Sitting on the roof watching the stars remembering my position in parallax.  According to the Word of God, my life is but a “vapor” or perhaps some prefer “mist”.  Either way how do I assign that level of importance to each moment so as not to waste an instant?  Can I personally achieve consciousness through meditation allocating each moment appropriate gravity?  Can I obtain the knowledge of God through my own effort working, trying, achieving?  Looking up at the sky from the top of my own creation neither brings me closer “to” nor makes me more “like” God.  The understanding is embedded in the misconception that the relationship is one of time and space (human concepts) instead of love (God defined).

The Hubble telescope illustrates that when you remove the level of viewing obfuscation it reveals that there are more questions to ask, that the universe is more complex than we anticipated.  Just as in the revelation of the complexity of the single cell, there are always more questions revealed than answers given.  These moments seek to confound the scientific, empirical, skeptical or atheistic mind providing no success at becoming closer to God or as some seek joining/becoming God.  Man cannot reach God, God must reach down to man.

If the Lord God Almighty had wanted us to take our lives for granted or to have more than enough time to mess around and still get it all done He would have given us five hundred or a thousand years.   Men like Noah, Methuselah, Adam lived more than seven hundred years, more than enough time to see the promises of God delivered again and again in their lives and the lives of their great, great, great grand children.  It is so sad that men spend their entire fortunes and all their time trying to extend their lives on this Earth.  Such great irony that as we supposedly become more evolved that we get sicker and live only a fraction of time that our ancestors “the simple” man survived.  Yes entropy is the master of our time.

Newton, a Christian, clearly understood not only that our universe is winding down but also saw the artifice for such divine design.  Sin has been gobbling up the gifts of blessing and slowly corrupting, contaminating, putrefying everything that was made perfect.  Sin is the real enemy of God and it must be eradicated from the machinery of creation in order to recreate God’s intention.  This is something beyond our capability and is incidentally the one question that among the world’s philosophies and religions only Christianity answers.

This is one of God’s mysteries that we must go through this entropy to see what happens to a world that does not have the Lord as its center.  In the eyes of eternity we are toddlers who continue to play with matches near oily rags and refuse to comprehend that fire consumes in uncontrollable chaos.  Soon we will have been given enough time to comprehend this lesson and then all those who have “gotten it” will be moved on to the next teaching.  It has to be that way, no use arguing about the rules of a game that we had no hand in creating, just play.  The rules say that success at this game begins at the moment I realize that I am not God and that I must follow His rules not the other way around.

God alone has power over sin.  His power is imputed to me through indwelling of His Spirit not through any of my works, ingenuity or cleverness.  He will rid creation of His enemy, sin.  I can either be cleansed by the blood of Christ to be renewed, refreshed, remade as I was originally intended or I can be disposed of with the cancer when He surgically removes it from the ailing body of His World.  Cleanse me Lord and let me not be tainted by this world, keep me Holy so that I may reside in You for eternity.  Give me a glimpse of what I will become when You rid this world of festering sin.  Praise Jesus.

Oh, praise God for Spirit filled Christians.  The Lord spoke to me through one of my Brothers just moments ago, when he said the apparently innocuous statement, “Worthy is the Lamb”.  I was instantly captured by the irony, the pregnancy, the perfection of this Word from the Lord.  My heart as a man is so insufficient to understand the complexity of scripture’s  potential.  Four words bring a flurry of contemplation to a previously inactive mind.  Four words that expand into a cornucopia of food for extended, meditative consumption.  Truly food for thought. 

Worthy – a person of eminent value, merit or position.  A person or thing deserving of respect, praise, excellence.  Eminent = lofty, prominent, high in rank or station, held in repute or respectful position.  Value = monetary, qualitative, subjective import based upon what you would give to gain a particular thing.  Merit = deserving, respect, praise worthy.  Position = Normal or unusual place, rank or prominence in gradient measure of all other things.

Is – Present and continuous state of the verb To Be.

The – a definite article, that “sets apart” a thing from all other things, defining, isolating, differentiating.

Lamb – a young sheep, a person who is meek, gentle, innocent, THE CHRIST

No man who values power, authority and wealth could ever envisage worship of such a powerless, meek and innocent creature.  Just as the Jews they struggle with the irony of God’s sacrifice for the salvation of mankind.  How could God become such a powerless symbol?  Incomprehensible without grace the mere thought of worshiping a lamb.  Epiphany, that moment when the Holy Spirit of God brings understanding to view.  How perfectly loving and unique the Almighty God who would sacrifice Himself for our undeserved acquittal.

The orderly progression in this line of thinking brings the believer to that next and arguably  “God Intended” meditation, that of the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior.  For He who once came as Lamb for the purpose of Propitiation will return as Lion for the purpose of Righteousness.  How powerful IS The Lord’s word.  The subjective nature of words calls us to decide what they mean to us.  These four words should kindle spark to conflagration, passion to pursuit, preparation to performance.  How empowering the moment belief calls to active, grateful worship.  Worthy is the Lamb, indeed!

Can you see the Lord’s handiwork?  The package is unraveling.  People want evidence and it is being provided as day after day the world follows as if by sure script.  Though many who should rejoice lose heart to the potency of fear which begs us forget whose authority we follow.

The prophets were required to be 100% correct to be named a true messenger of the Lord’s word?  And subsequently not be stoned to death through the law.  Take for example Isaiah who without error has predicted events from the softening of heart by Persian Kings during Jewish captivity, to the birth and death of Messiah to the events surrounding the coming great day of our Lord.

One specific event is apparently being unveiled that should bring particular hope and joy to those who believe and provide almost overwhelming fuel for those who are sitting on the fense of indecision to finally enter the sheepfold.  The turning of Egypt and Syria to the Lord.  Isaiah predicted it and if all indications are correct it is coming about right before our unwilling eyes.  Observe and marvel at the awesome power of our God as two of Israel’s greatest, historical antagonists swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty.  Isaiah 19:16-25.

The voices of this world, the news and the enemies of God, would have you look upon the unrest in Egypt and Syria with fear and trepidation.  We know that the Lord’s Word especially as foretold by Isaiah is “never” wrong.  With unfailing certainty we can see through the deception and emotional smokescreen created by the fog of war.  The Lord Jesus is nearing return and I pray that my family and friends all accept Him in these last and greatest moments of history.  May His ineffable peace and the hope of His life strengthen you in this wonderful day that the Lord has made, praise Jesus.

Isaiah 19:25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

My desire and attempts to make things right illustrate a propensity to lean on my own understanding.  For I am part of the “no one” of which the Lord instructed us to be mindful.  Some Bible translations say “no man” but what they do not say is “no spirit” or angel so this is a direct instruction to be watchful and conscious or else men may lead me astray.  This learning depends entirely on fruit of the Holy Spirit called patience.  Do I have the patience to wait on the Lord’s solution to each problem or must I come up with an expedient answer and wander off the path of reason and righteousness?  Are there voices around me, inclusive of those from my own flesh seeking to call me to action other than the orders I received from Christ in His word and continued prompting of Spirit?

Heed– Careful attention to, notice of or close observation.  One common factor to those who have ever had to stand guard over something or someone is that of vigilance.  This is not an easy practice as demonstrated by the Apostles in the garden of Gethsemane through their failure to remain in prayer per the command of the Savior.  It takes a singularity of purpose, a determination beyond the luring call of distraction, a certain denial of self in observance of mandate.

This charge/challenge comes with the inherent implication of a period of time. With respect to Christianity, this period of vigilance is the time remaining until Christ returns to call us home.  Can I remain awake that long?  Absolutely not, if expected to do so under my own will, power and perseverance.  Thanks be to the Father of Heaven and Earth I do not have to reside in my own understanding or abilities.  I have His word to test all men and their ideas, I have His Holy Spirit to strengthen me and to test every man’s origins whether of God or from antichrist (1John 4), and I have His armor to protect my mind and my body from all the flaming arrows of the enemy (Ephesians 6).  My only hope is to believe and demonstrate my faith through continuous action.  Study plus prayer = vigilance.  My hope is in Jesus

Deceives- The act of leading someone astray by false appearance, statement or delusion.  As Jesus warned we live in an evil time where there are many false teachers disseminating word in direct opposition to the Truth of God.  We must be doubly prepared and doubly aware lest we fall prey to the creeping lion of deception.  The Lord tells my heart that this is why we need the accountability/fellowship of other “close” believers.  Someone watching my back has always given me another layer of defense by providing, another pair of eyes scanning the horizon for trouble, another perspective other than my own understanding and honest reflection of my greatest enemy “self deception”.  I love you my Brothers and Sisters and pray for your continued growth in the Lord and careful attention to the tasks of preparation and prayer.  In Jesus’ precious and holy name.

Working out salvation, but I thought it was a free gift.  Working out is tedium and reminds us of treadmills, jumping jacks and stuffy weight rooms with iron clad bodies and spandex bedecked “youth seekers” admiring themselves in mirrored projections. 

Salvation implies captivity and rescue by someone caring enough for us to transgress enemy lines in pursuit of our release.  In the Biblical sense it conveys the immediate/continuing deliverance and protection from the power, risk, harm and penalty of sin.  Working-not only means the process of doing physical work it also depicts the internal mental process of sorting things out or malleable substances being plied in a potter’s hands.  Out-in its general sense means a place not in normal position as in outside, out of order or out of alignment, but it may also depict the exhaustion of a state of matter as in pumping out the sewage or bilge in the basement or extracting dross from silver in the crucible of the smith.

All three imply dual states of matter both of having been begun and in the process of being completed.  This seeks to confuse the thoughts of the immature.  Have I not been saved, redeemed, been made whole, made right with God, sanctified, purified, been made Holy and righteous in Him that paid the price for my salvation?  The confusing answer to this question is Yes.  This is the misunderstood nature of the Lord, that things may have been done in an instant but also continue being done throughout the believers lifetime.

You mean that my salvation was not instantaneous, finalized and completed?  Salvation was performed in two instants; the instant Christ died on the cross and the instant that you accepted Him as your Savior.  But sanctification implies being “set apart” and “made Holy” or “purified” for the sake of God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Jesus not only died on the cross but He also paid the price and “process” of going to hell in our stead and then was resurrected and rose to Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father.  He continues to work out His plan for all people, protecting, teaching, training, rebuking and yes, purifying believers, preparing us for our true lives set in eternity with Him.  So as the Lord continues “Working out our salvation” we must be like Him and seek with all our hearts the completion of His will for our lives.  Praise King Jesus.

Oh look at the lights and the handsome faces of expectation waiting to shower us with flower petals, words of praise and accomplishment.  How sturdily we sit upon our horses as our procession enters the city center.  I wonder what nickname they will give me to reflect the gravity of my weighty victory.

In shame I slink to my knees.  Father, forgive me I whisper through heavy breath and tears bigger than crocodiles’.  How could You think of sending me for any task greater than removing the tiles from a dilapidated laundry?  What skills do I have, what heart do I possess?  My faith is tattered, my clothes dingy and my mind full of pestilence and refuge.  How can I even pronounce Your great name with this mouth so adept at carving up the innocent or unsuspecting?  You made me for glory and I have never reflected one spark of Your infinite light.  The enemy screams of my failures and all I can do in defense is cry, accepting his argument.  I know that I am not worthy nor have I done anything that makes me worthy of Your precious grace and sacrifice.  If I am to become anything it is through Your doing, not mine.

Lord, King, maker of me.  I know what this world would have me be.  I cannot accept that and also believe all the wonderful things You think of me, expect of me and want for me.  There is no intersection of these philosophies, no union, no companionship.  You made me to turn away from the glittering guile.  All that it has ever given me is pain, why then do I even contemplate its promises?  Make of me what You will.  I am not a tool shaped for the hands of the master of this world but of the Creator of every world.  You are my God and I am a servant who will conquer what must be taken, love what I am told to love and dream of the day when I will find significance just sitting in Your presence.  Til then I hope, fight and pray to forget my mistakes and build upon Your victories.  Grace and blessings upon Your mighty name.  Everything is Yours.  I love you Jesus.