Tag Archives: Almighty God

Balancing act

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Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God: and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when His is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.  And you know that He is manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.  Whoever abides in Him does not sin.  Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.  Little children, let no one deceive you.  He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.  He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil  1 John 3:2-8

It is hard to say to someone who does not have a relationship with God, “My Dad owns the cattle on a thousand hills”.  How am I  to express the joy which surpasses all understanding without sounding like a nutcase, or worse yet some sort of disconnected braggadocio?  This is where most of my friends just try and blend, covering their light with a hat or poncho, hoping desperately that no one discovers they are Christian.  I guess the logic is that I have things covered and relations with the world are tolerable, so I will just keep things friendly, waiting for that golden opportunity to share my testimony, when the light, weather, timing and wind are just right.  Need I poke holes in this perspective?

If I don’t tell them will they know?  Perhaps it is the great big, “I walk with Jesus” on the front of my hat that gives me away?  Can the average unbeliever, who knows just enough about Christians to think them all hypocrites, absolutely see that I am a believer without me ever discussing my walk? Is it essential, to the world, that we be known as Christians?  Do people avoid you because they are so afraid of having a discussion about faith, then they probably know you’re a Christian?  Do they dislike you without ever having the opportunity to know the first thing about your life or personality, then they probably know that you’re Christian?  Do they try and provoke you into making intolerant statements about homosexuality, sin outside of marriage, abortion or mock Jesus to see if they can make you lose your cool?  Then they most likely know that you are Christian.  Do they come to you when tragedy strikes or their lives are out of control, seeking a little encouragement and direction?  Do I represent righteousness in all things, at all times?

There needs to be clear evidence of our faith, especially if our discipleship plan requires that an unbeliever come to us for the good news.  Let’s face it, even with that clear recognition of our Christian Faith, it is highly unlikely the lost will come to us for testimony.  Most of the time they will go out of their way to avoid that type of conversation, unless we give them reason otherwise.  That is why it is such a balance this life we have been commanded to live.  We must risk the repercussions of discipleship, especially with those with whom we have consistent and regular contact.  The Lord said that friendship with the world is enmity with God, so we cannot simply hope to keep things copacetic.  We are ambassadors for Christ and just as any envoy worth their salt we must prepare for and capitalize upon every opportunity to effectively share the Gospel.  We don’t know when the opportunities will either run out or pass us by.  Perhaps the one time that you demanded purity of yourself, will have the greatest impact on the world around you.

I hope that your lives bare fruit, resembling the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.  I pray that unbelievers seek you out in those moments where their soil is prepared for the seed of God’s Word.  I hope that they consider you “the Christian in the room” when it comes to questions of Righteousness and opportunities to defend the Faith.  But remember Jesus is God, and He still went out on the road looking for contact with unbelievers.  He never stayed at the synagogue, or at home, or simply cohabited with friends because that is not where unbelievers reside.  We must stay vigilant in our quest to fulfill the great commission.  It requires that we remain prepared and at the ready for opportunities to lead others to Christ.  It is a balancing act this relationship with the World.  I pray that you have considered and prayed about the right balance between walking in faith and simply residing in the grace of your own salvation.

the things I can

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Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—- Epehsians 6:11-18

What is courage but the ability to stand on our feet and do what must be done, when to do so potentially causes us loss, harm or significant discomfort?  Surrender is not paralysis, but voluntary dedication and conformity to the things of God.  Granted, this life is often disheartening, especially to those of us who do not posses the means to buy, manipulate or simply excuse ourselves out of unpleasant circumstances.  What then is within my authority, but the idea of choice given me by God’s free will gift of mercy and grace.  I am free to do what I can to make a difference in my own life and that of those around me, simply by doing what can be done, when it may be done.  For I could equally choose defeat, fear, discouragement and inefficacy.  But my hope is not in my own performance, but a dependence, a full measure of reliance upon the indisputable nature of Almighty God to come along side me and do what I cannot to the Glory of His Good Will.  If I have enough faith and courage to do what is within my own strength, then perhaps God will bring me through unscathed.  At least I will know that I did what could be done instead of giving up.

I may not have amassed power or authority in a wealth of influence, but neither am I powerless.  My armor is that of the righteousness, faith, truth, peace, salvation and Spirit of Almighty God.  My defenses are as impenetrable as the Lord allows.  No weapon formed against me may prosper.  For when the enemy looks upon me he sees Christ.  So, if I do receive any suffering, loss or damage brought by those who would wish me harm, it is for my edification to the purposes of God’s Great Glory.  It is within my strength to determine that which is within my own ability and surplus to perform then take said action in timely manner, leaving the rest to God.  Never should we fall pray to the charade or paralysis of fear, residing determinately within the protection of love, power and of a sound mind.

Friends, we see the desperation and uncertainty endemic to this fallen world.  Just as in steering to avoid accident, we must not focus upon the object of our potential collision but rather upon the avenue of free passage.  Our vision should be locked upon Christ as the path, the door, the way through this tragic, finite and short term passage on our homeward journey.

The emotions of life are real.  Perception is key to determining our perspective.  If we believe that life, and its incumbent obstacles render us helpless or that they are insurmountable, that is certainly what we shall believe.  For belief is the seed which blossoms in faith.  If we are to arrive at a greater measure of faith then we must first make conscious determination of what it is, exactly that we believe.  Either we accept the lies and controlling influences of worldly despair or rely upon the Word of God in hope and guaranteed victory.

As with every thing in this life there really are only two positions.  Many would minister in the support of greyness, hoping to bend the principles of light and absolute truth.  Purity does exist, no matter how many argue for pollution or conceptualization and approval in a man made god of human idolatry.  We must not fall in folly to the relativist concepts of a world that wishes to rationalize, excuse and explain away wickedness.  For there is only one truth and I in my limited authority choose to believe in the immutable things of God.  Lord give me discernment and wisdom to see the steps which may be undertaken in my own capacity, let me take them then give me the patience to wait there in faith for your arrival.  In Jesus Name.

No longer a whisper

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-vows-to-attack-israel-from-west-bank/  Have you taken the time to study the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel?  All prophecy leads to faith in God, as He foretold everything which must certainly and shortly come to pass.  These circumstances mimic Biblical Prophecy regarding the national players in the Middle East, even those who will remain on the sidelines, (Us).  God remains on the throne and it is written that “all things serve the Lord God”, including the enemies of Israel.  Have faith and please pray for peace.

Am I praying for peace in Jerusalem, for God’s continued protection of Israel?  You know that He is going to protect them whether or not we intercede through prayer, right?  You get it right that Israel has always been at the foundation of God’s plan for humanity, because He made a “covenant” promise to them?  For those who would negate, ignore, minimize or fail to comprehend His devotion to them, I ask, what then is our salvation based upon but a “covenant” promise?

The enemy has mustered the soldier hearts set against the things of God.  Even now, Israel is physically, spiritual and logistically surrounded by those who would see their ruin.  New secret arms and support deals are being agreed to whittle away at Israel’s defenses, subjecting their people to increasing fears and their government to greater responsibility for aggressive action.  Who of us for a moment may look upon scripture, seeing the things to come and fail to equate our current circumstances with unfolding prophecy?  To look away now is deny the power of God’s Living Word, His prophetic warnings and that small quiet voice in the back of your head, telling you the “time” is near.  What will you be found doing when that “time” arrives?  I pray that we all be found, doing the work for harvest by spreading the Good News of the Gospel and interceding through prayer for Israel and the rest of humanity.

Won’t you join me in dedicating this day to service to Almighty God?  Is there a chance you can make a difference right now in the lives of those who may not have heard or understood the Good News of Christ?  Won’t you make a difference today and tell one person, whether family, friend, acquaintance or stranger, about His sacrifice for our salvation?  Come close to Him and He will come close to you.  Remind someone how much He loves them before the opportunity to do so expires.  Pray for peace in Jerusalem, for that will be the day after Christ steps foot on the Mount of Olives.  The Lord be praised this and every day of eternity to come.  In Jesus Name.

Reconstruction

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Doesn’t it amaze, this Word?  Reading it is comfort, rest and calm.  Learning to use it, wisdom, peace, protection and love.  I see the anger of unGodly men and I forgive. Lacking the knowledge of its passages they are left, unprotected to the pressures, urges and simple wanderings of flailing babes.  If they could rectify one understanding, that of God’s intention in our redemption, they too would cherish its words, phrases and parables.  Put plainly, it is described perfectly, without obfuscation, in Ephesians 1 so that we might be put right with God in our consciousness.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.  Ephesians 1:2-4

Who among us would not wish to be loved so much that we are shown a blameless and holy place before the Creator of the universe, adopted, simply because He chose it?  And with said gift the knowledge that it was not of our choosing, but His, and that being before the creation of the world.  Would this understanding breed contempt or the justified worship and adoration?  Finding our places, true purpose and worth in the plan of God, gives us honor, family, reason and destination all at once and perpetually.  Being saved by Christ is not a badge for boasting, but a humble place of knowing enough of God to remain in awe of His character.  Then that knowledge growing to security as we begin to grasp the deeper meanings associated with being given “every” spiritual blessing in Christ.  None could have conjured this as fiction, a God, so loving, kind and mighty, but also so Holy and Pure that He could have preconceived a process of our salvation before the need ever arose.  The most wonderful thing of all is that He touched the lives of specific, chosen, men to put His Living Word on paper for our edification, education and emancipation.

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.  Now, therefore, you are no longer stranger and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in Spirit.  Ephesians 2:17-22

Does this speak to your place among the saints?  Do you see yourself a stone, placed on the foundation lain by believers of old?  Becoming, part of the whole kingdom of God, leaning on Christ the cornerstone of God’s construction.  No national foreigners, estranged by acres, language or physiognomy, but individuals with a unique purpose in the entirety of universal scripting.  Filled with the Spirit of God Almighty, Him Living in us and us through Him.  Protected, directed and corrected by the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in each of us as individual temples to His Glory.  Each of us a constant reminder to a world that desperately needs redemption, that there is hope to be found in a repentant return to God.  All of this found in the words of our predecessors, spoken in public so that His Glory might be remembered for all men know the truth that is God.

If all would read, understand and make a conscious, rational choice about God following its review, then none could truly feel that they have been judged by God, but rather by their own reflective choices.  For this Word tells us the fair measure of truth necessary to establishing reason and discernment in life.  None would be left at the vacuous mercy of fallen angels, becoming protected, prepared and prospered by the promised power of Almighty God.  They would be armored in their travels through this world, this testing place, properly adorned for the battles, scratches and weepings incumbent to a place that chaos calls home.  Oh that all would know they have been set aside for God’s intention, being shaped for a place in His eternal kingdom.

Strut

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Needing the Lord Jesus in the midst of crisis is expectedly understandable.  Reaching out for our creator when things are beyond our control or coping capacity makes sense.  But what is this internal mechanism to cry out for the Divine when things are overwhelming, that appears encoded in our Spirit, or the scientists, DNA?  Do you call upon the Lord in times of trial, or have you begun to praise Him, worship Him and petition Him when things are in ordinary state?  What is that prompting mechanism which supersedes all other requirements, calling you to your knees in humble prayer before the Lord’s Throne?  I hear nonbelievers cry out to God, or evoke His name, in moments of passion and pain.  Even they know He is there, although they deny Him in all other moments, because it is frankly easy to ignore the Lord when things are quiet, calm and copacetic.  I submit that it is equally easy for Christians to walk away, distant or irrespective of the Lord unless we have made a voluntary commitment to write His Word upon our hearts.  Ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit once may not quench His voice, but do it continually and you will eventually find yourself holding the steering wheel of your life when it is God alone you wish to be the driver.

What then may be done in my effort to relate to God through Jesus each moment of this life?  How about asking Him for this relationship through prayer?  That I believe would be an excellent start to a lasting relationship.  Look the Lord does not neglect us, if there is distance, it is always us who fostered that separation.  The Lord, our Loving Father, only backs away from us when it is necessary to our growth or discipline.  He wants nothing more than to walk with each day sharing direction, wisdom, hope and love.  Why then would I shun these enormous gifts?  That my friends is the question of the day.  For what inside a man could prompt him to step away from the wonder, sustenance and peace afforded by a continuous relationship with our Creator?  I can think of no good thing.

Father, thank you for ending the war with humanity.  Thank you for your loving desire to walk with us through this entire life, guiding, instructing, shaping, conforming us to Your likeness, Will and Plan for each of us within the tapestry of life.  Lord take from me my wandering heart so that I never step away from Your Goodness, Mercy and Grace.  Forgive me the times I have taken back the reins of my own life thinking or imagining that somehow I know better.  Thank You for always taking me back and allowing me to find my way back through repentance, forgiveness and prayer.  Protect those who do not possess the wisdom to understand their own folly.  In Jesus Name I pray.

Faith working through love

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What is it that I really want?  Maybe riches, in gold, land, material goods a conglomerate of immeasurable wealth?  I doubt that any of us would say that we have never contemplated being truly wealthy.  I like to think that I would be a philanthropist, changing the world, utilizing my great wealth to further the kingdom, keeping myself pure, remaining consistent with the Word.  But it just doesn’t match up with the reality I have seen in my own heart.  Typically for me, the wealthier I become the less concern and focus I pay to the things of Christ.  For me the foothold of the enemy in my life is complacency, comfort and a luring away from the things of God.  For this reason wealth may be poison to my walk with God.

Perhaps, I would like to be in love so much that I would go to war, travel the seas, sell my kingdom, just to spend all my moments with the one that I love.  She would fulfill me in a such a way that I could dismiss my ambition, my envy, my longing for purpose.  There are few of us who have never imagined this type of consuming romance, losing ourselves in the eyes of our beloved for eternity.  But, I know myself, and I always wake up at some point realizing that this other person, however astoundingly beautiful is after all just another human.  I come awake to the fact that it wasn’t as life altering as I originally expected and frankly leaves us with the realization that a love relationship with another human often entails a lot of work, growth and personal sacrifice.

If not love or wealth, what then would fulfill my life, power perhaps?  Conquering, leveraging, strategizing and overcoming every land, group, individual and corporate/political entity standing between me and total control.  Maybe standing at the top of the world overlooking all the territory over which I extend my authority would give me peace.  But, I know the tyrant within me, the consuming maw of controlling master, the never ending quest for more power.  This beast would never allow me to be at peace.  And evil has no partners only servants.

What now, not money, nor romance, nor power, will nothing fulfill my agonizing quest for purpose and understanding?  Could it be magic that I seek, maybe a control of matter, manipulation, cleverness and science?  Would that endow me with the completeness heretofore unattainable?  No, for I would conjure evil, even when I intended greatness, for this is the true alignment of my heart in wizardry.  I would be bent on obtaining all power, all knowledge all craft turned to the fulfillment of my own desires.  No this too would be spent on nothingness, pain and suffering for those around me.  Arch angels were incapable of self control in their self-worship via God given power, how then could I hope to maintain reason?

You see my service to God is not only a faithful walk of love but also withstands reason’s interrogating finger.  I know myself and I want to know God, more and more each day.  This is my purpose to love God and do His work for there is no other fulfillment in this life or the next.  I have seen love, power, money and magic and none possess the qualities of a life well lived for God through Christ.  Do I want miracles, yes, when God in His wisdom shows me the glorious imagination of a child or the caring heart of a saint, I am amazed.  Do I want power, yes, I want the power to choose to obey, having the faith in something greater than myself, standing in the face of overwhelming adversity, believing God for His Divine Promise.  Do I want love, yes,  the love of my wife, equally human and wonderful, struggling to remain pure in the world seeking to consume our goodness.  Do I want magic, oh yes, the magic of God’s wisdom finding a home in the mind of a man who deserves neither wisdom nor the love of God.  I choose God because it makes sense to do so.  For in so doing I am fulfilled as with no other device known to humanity.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/fmr-israeli-general-iran-hezbollah-planning-joint-invasion-of-israel/  Hiding, turning a blind eye or cowering will never make evil simply, “Go away”, some conflicts must be confronted before the threat becomes reality.

Pursuits

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Do I really want to continue in my sin, resisting or dismissing the Holy Spirit’s conviction, knowing the glory of what God has promised if I repent and follow Christ?  Can I justify my argument with God, for that is what my disobedience, resistance and denial have become?  Do I truly wish to be back in a conflict with God, having been redeemed and set right with God by Christ’s sacrifice.  Wouldn’t I rather bask in the lack of condemnation afforded those of us who have accepted our walk with Jesus?  I am sorry folks, I will not be able to fulfill your dream for my life as this one is meant for service in God’s Holy Name.  I must forgo your approval as I know that it entails winning all the silver, gold and accolades available to worldly men.  That is not my destiny.  Would that I could fill your eyes with joy at my care for the sick, lost and dying, but these things do not impress you.  To me these things are my greatest joy, to know in some manner I have lent honor to God’s glory in an effort to the love those whom He created for salvation.

How about you?  Are there behaviors to which you know you should not be participating, yet you avoid detection, accountability or surrender in an effort to squeeze a bit more from the apple of life?  What price the guilt which burdens your heart and mind, for you know we can never fully lock it away in a vacuum?  How good would it feel to lay down your arms, trusting in God to relieve your burden?  What prize is so valuable that it would be even minutely worth the loss of God’s blessings or sustained reward?  Can you let go and if not will you lay down your pride for a moment knowing that you truly need some help to break free?  You have never been alone.  There truly are people, opportunities and paths to take that safely lead away from danger, directly to His waiting arms of peace, security and hope.  Do you have the courage to embrace a destiny which has no comparison to those satisfactions available in worldly pursuits?  You were fearfully and wonderfully made for a specific and unique purpose to the fulfillment of God’s Supreme Glory.  A pursuit that will bring you “complete” satisfaction absent in this vaporous existence.

I do not wish to cry the long heard sobs of a man realizing that he missed his calling by choice.  When I look in to those eyes of Glory I want to see that I utilized every ounce of God given grace to reach for the stars.  That will be my reward, having lived a life without regret associated with missed opportunities whether by neglect, decision or inaction.  How do we reach the pinnacle of God’s intention for our lives.  That is our journey through study, prayer, relationship and trial, following Christ down the path of fulfillment.  Where will yours lead?  I do not know but I am certain it will be exciting, rewarding, difficult and yes, entirely worth the effort, investment and work.  Praise God for the purpose He designed specifically for you.  That simple concept continues to amaze, that He would craft each of us, with our unique fingerprints, gifts, DNA and attitudes to fulfill some particular aspect of His plan for humanity.  Oh what a wondrous God that we serve.  In the Name of Jesus, the Lord.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/statue-of-bibles-joseph-discovered/  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of the Lord, but it is nice to see that some people are still pursuing truth.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/daniel-websters-prediction-for-america-coming-true/

No longer

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Seeing beyond the lumber in my own eyes.  My view is skewed, fractured and diffracted by my own shortcomings.  How can I look upon myself in the way in which the Lord sees me?  Knowing I am sealed by the Holy Spirit of God Himself, saved by the Christ of God.  How would I be changed if I could see His righteousness lain upon me, covering my sin with a purity?  How then would I gaze upon you with eyes set for Glory, knowing your sanctification assured?  Lord, that I have the eyes to see beyond the dirt, mire and grime camouflaging the external vessel to see the flourishing soul within.  How then would my attitude be changed and my kindness altered to see Christ in those around me?  Do I have ears to hear the Word that the Lord has preached or will I remain focused on the siren call of discouragement, bidding me abide in this world and not in Christ?  How then may I begin to resemble Almighty God if I do not first look upon others in a gentler light?

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the Father.  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  Galatians 4:1-7

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  Galatians 5:22-25

The Spirit of the Son is in each of us, crying out to a Father from whom we had been estranged, lost, destitute, without hope or joy.  Hallelujah, it is Christ that saves each of us redeemed to God in kinship with the Lord.  We may now equally look upon those in Christ as Family, rejoicing in their individual walk toward eternity.  May we unite in our shared devotion to God, writing His commands upon our heart in tune with the Spirit living within each of us.  What then might we accomplish if we look upon each other in a new way, free from condemnation, reflection, refracted vision and criticism.  Renewed by the encouragement of our own hearts made new.  How then would I personally view defeat in its impossibility being so perfectly aligned with God, equally with Family in love, victory, hope and fulfillment?  How then would the definition of the impossible be forever transformed?

 

Embellish Mints

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/01/15/boy-who-came-back-from-heaven-going-back-to-publisher/?hpid=z5  Why the lie?

Why do people continually add to or take away from  the inerrant, infallible Word of God?  The name precludes the rationality in doing either, does it not?  Wasn’t the model of the Pharisees, who added to and the Sadducees, who took away, clear enough teaching for us?  At least this youngster had the sense to atone for his mistake.  Now that he has begun to fear God, I understand his panic.  Will the publisher, who some assert, even the child’s mother, now face legal action for profiting from a lie?  Who knows, I consider two things to be of much greater importance; how many people were led astray to false belief after reading the book and why are we so susceptible to “sensationalist” testimony without confirmation against Biblical accuracy?

Both of these questions relate to the same failure, that our population is for the greatest part, Biblicly illiterate. We lack the discernment which only comes as a gift of God from studying to show ourselves approved.  Lacking such discernment we swallow the apple in its entirety never stopping, as a Barean, to pray about, confirm or test any testimony/information against the Scripture.  It is easy to be led astray if you do not first know how to read a map.  This type of craving for extra-Biblical fiction is part and parcel of what it means to be a wicked generation, seeking signs and miracles, lacking faith in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross.  We ought to be super cautious, especially in these, the last days to verify all to which we are exposed, making sure that it matches Biblical Truth.

Perhaps we will make use of this lesson, considering how many people were willingly and easily duped into worshiping this story as gospel?  I don’t know.  I forgive them, for they have not taken time to understand how Grace, Awesomeness and Glory incumbent to the True Story of Heaven.  God doesn’t need anyone to expand upon His perfection.  Sure we may attempt in our own frailty to explain the Scriptures in a way that more readily grasped by our current audience, but that must always be done with great fear and sensitivity.  The Gospel message is already perfect in its creation, intention, structure and capacity to transform lives.  It is the living Word of God Almighty and should never be superseded by man’s written wisdom for this is anathema.  Those who trifle and present an alternate testimony than that of the Gospel should beware the damnation that comes along with such attempts.

If it isn’t in the Bible, I don’t want it.  If the Lord doesn’t say specifically that it brings glory to His name by me possessing some character, reward or idea, than I plain and simply don’t want or need it.  I pray that none of us suffer the foolish assuredness of being wise in our own eyes.  I never read this book because I don’t believe that anyone has gone to heaven, except those few Prophets and Apostles that have been shown visions of God’s Presence to share with us, that we might know the future.  Two things that will protect us from false teaching and potential conflict with God; Learn the Word and use its truth to judge the validity of everything that may pass before your eyes, in this world.  Stop looking for signs and miracles because it has already been stated in God’s Word that the anti Christ will be given the capacity to perform them.  Maintain diligence, remain in the Word.

About face

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Perhaps I should care about the new, ten-million dollar building that Christians have collectively erected, with its stained glass, fine carpet, gyms and modified sound system.  Maybe I should be excited about the state of the art day care center, with the integrated message system telling parents when there are difficulties.  Perchance you should have captured my enthusiasm about the Church sports facility so that we can customize the Word of God in a palatable method, packaged for disinterested nexters.  Maybe I should be overjoyed that our pastor’s new book is selling off the shelves or we’ve gotten the movie rights to the next big Christian Thing.  I promise to share in that excitement, if you can but answer me, how are we training our parishioners to make disciples, or take in orphans, assisting the elderly, sick or dying to come into the shelter of Christ?  Or maybe we should meet in the local high school for church and send the ten million dollars for a new building to persecuted Christians in their defense of the faith?

I hope that you will forgive me, but I don’t want to go to Rome and gaze upon the religious artifacts and creations of man in his quest to become worthy of God or worse yet upstage Him.  I am certain they are beautiful, but is there a chance I could stay home take care of the homeless and send the money I would have used to a pastor bringing folks to Christ on the front lines.  How far we have wondered from the Lord in our attempt to modify His Holy Word so that we can have our cake and eat it too.  I do not wish to argue with folks who are entirely comfortable being fat dumb and happy going to church once a week, Bible study occasionally and dropping a few dollars in the offering.  That was not what Christ asked or commanded of us.  We have forgotten whom it is that we serve.  And the reason we’ve forgotten is because we have sauntered away from the greatest relationship that we will ever have, a living dialogue with Almighty God, exchanging it for worldly pursuits.  Christianity is a transformation not just a life style.  If I am not so completely captivated and excited by the opportunity to share the Truth and Good News of Christ then I either have relegated the truth and good news to a lesser part of my life or I never had it in me from the outset.

My forgiveness has certainly been challenged, as I have been given excuse upon excuse or chastisement for asking my fellow Christians to share in Harvest Work.  It is now at the point where they do not wish to have the conversation, lacking sufficient or new excuse, that they simply avoid me or spread awful rumors hoping I will simply, “go away”.  I am sorry that you have been convicted by the Holy Spirit’s Voice calling you to mission.  Wasn’t it you who came to the Pastor just last month, desperately inquiring, “why God hasn’t shown you His Will and Purpose for your life”?  Is it perhaps a possibility that you have no new revelation because you have failed to answer the calling He placed upon you when you first came to Christ?  We cannot selectively determine to follow Christ, the choice was first made when we accepted Him in to our lives.  Why else do you believe that Christ has told us this “wicked” generation will receive no other sign then that given to Jonah in the belly of whale for three days?  Don’t we get it, he is saying the sign you will get is that He wants us to do what He directed us to do, to the point where He will pursue us and capture us in the belly of a whale if necessary to changing our attitude to obedience.

Lord, awaken our hearts to the work which must been done while the light remains.  Take from us the driving desire for comfort and self gratification that cause us to ignore the needs of the poor and fatherless.  Father give us a heart to serve our first calling of discipleship, leading all who will hear to Jesus.  Forgive me if I have been too harsh in my call to action, for I know that you love them so.  Praise Jesus.