The Lord Rebukes

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Michael the archangel.

There is only ONE archangel.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first

This is another verse  -  'the voice of THE archangel'.

A single archangel, just as there is a single nemesis.

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels

The dragon.

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Satan, the Devil.

The war between good and evil has its key players- Our Savior and Satan. 

Good vs. Evil.

Michael - the archangel WHEN contending with the devil--  DISPUTED about the body of Moses - and He DIDN'T bring a railing accusation against Satan but said- THE LORD REBUKE THEE.

Rebuking Satan.

Luk 4:41  And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

Jesus rebuked the devils inhabiting people- and he SUFFERED THEM NOT TO SPEAK.

Rebukes.

The Lord rebuked the evil devils- the evil angels cast out with Satan and the Lord rebuked Satan himself.

We've been discussing the fact that there is a REAL judgment for us, a REAL punishment for our failing to choose the love of our Father God, the love of our Savior Jesus Christ over self, over evil.  And here we have this verse--

 Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

The LORD rebukes Satan.  Evil doers will have their punishment, Satan will have His as well. Satan the chief of evil, the father of lies, He dares dispute with the Lord Himself and the LORD had NO NEED to engage in  any sort of spirited dispute, no railing accusations were necessary at all. There was NO NEED because the truth stands on it's own. A rebuke was given, nothing more was needed. A rebuke.

We are rebuked. 

By being told, by being warned we are being rebuked aren't we? Seriously, we are being rebuked when we are told that there will be a judgment, that there is GOOD and there is EVIL and we have to CHOOSE! The message could not be clearer, it just couldn't and yet so many never, ever think about this most important of choices.  So many go about their day to day lives without ever thinking about the choices they've made concerning the most important aspects of their lives- eternity.

We are rebuked. We are chastised. We are warned. We are LOVED.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

We, unlike the evil one who decided his fate long, long ago by refusing to repent, do have the choice of repenting of our sins and receiving the pardon of our Savior.

We are loved and out of that love we are rebuked and chastened- we are told we need to surrender to the mercy of our Lord, to rely upon His grace and His mercy, His LOVE.

We must listen!

Our Savior wants us to listen and will have done all He possibly can through the Holy Spirit to reveal His love to us as a very real thing, a living thing, a necessary thing.

All in HIM, always!

Evil will end

Jud 1:7  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Sodom and Gomorrha--

Fornicators.
Strange flesh.
Filthy dreamers.
Defiling the flesh.
Despising dominion.
Speaking evil of dignities.

Gen 13:13  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Wicked sinners.

Gen 18:20  And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous

Very grievous sin.

Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Declaring their sin like Sodom- not hiding it.

Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Committing adultery.
Walking in lies.
Strengthening evildoers.
Not returning from their wickedness

Eze 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Pride.
Gluttony.
Sloth.
Lack of compassion.

2Pe 2:6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly

Living ungodly.

There is a whole list of evils there isn't there? Sodom and Gomorrah was a wicked, wicked place without any doubt. People get all caught up on the sex aspect of Sodom and Gomorrah and neglect all the other evils that go hand in hand with those who choose wickedness over Godliness.

It wasn't just abnormal sexual perversions- it was lies, pride, delighting in evil, despising their position of being a creature and not their own creators, sloth, having no real love for others, helping others with their evil, wanting to live in and promote evil in any way they can. Evil, so incredibly evil that there couldn't be found even TEN people who didn't love evil, not ten people in a city full of people that didn't live for the evil they were intent upon committing.

Evil. Pure evil.

Evil that corrupted completely, leaving no hope at all for any because NONE desired good over evil!

Pure evil on this level is something we can unfortunately understand because we see it all the time these days. The last days are filled with this same evil. As it was in the days of Noah- evil. As it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah- evil. As it will be in the last days- evil. FEW will be found faithful.  Few just as in the days of Noah and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, ONLY A FEW survived!

This world will NOT end until that evil is full and all we have to do is look around us to know that there is an incredible amount of evil. Read the news, watch television, listen to people around you. Where is the love- the TRUE love that runs deep, that is unselfish, that comes from our Savior through the Holy Spirit?  We can all agree that there are a lot of kind, loving people, and a lot of us would love to believe we are among those kind, loving people. But God knows the hearts. God knows all the hearts, He knows the truth of us all.

We have no righteousness that we can claim as our own, none, not a single bit.

God alone is righteous and through the sacrifice of our Savior we are to claim HIS righteousness as ours through FAITH, believing and loving Him, choosing to believe in Him as our Redeemer, our Creator!

You can be as sweet as the sweetest person ever and unless you have faith in God, believing in the truth that He is, that sweetness will not stem from love, true love.  We can fool ourselves all we want, we're very, very good at that and we have a great helper who loves to assist us in pulling the wool over our eyes.

God will punish the wicked and the wicked will include a lot more than just sexual sinners, a lot more than murderers, a lot more than sadistic torturers, a lot more than deceivers, joining them will be liars, the arrogant, the selfish, those who deny God, those who deny Jesus Christ, those who have no faith.

God will NOT spare the unrepentant sinner, He can't, He can't allow any evil into the new world, not the tiniest bit. What we as sinners might label evil isn't always what He would label evil. He knows the deepest depths of our hearts and He alone can clean them, He alone can make them new. He won't allow evil to exist endlessly, there will be an end to ALL evil unlike love which will endure forever- without beginning and without end. 

By His grace may we LOVE Him always, faithfully with the love He gives us to love with. All through His mercy, His longsuffering, through the righteousness of His sacrificed Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.

Please Lord we would be Yours.

Angels in everlasting chains

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Like some modern day movie- 'Angels in Everlasting Chains.'  The plot - a world of angels under the rulership of their Creator. The angels decide to rebel under the guidance of the greatest of rebellious angels- one of the Creator's anointed gone bad.  As part of their rebellion they undertake the task of seeking to wholly corrupt human kind. Unable to allow such horror to exist as the angels seek to create a whole new kind of being, the Creator must take action.  The action taken is the ultimate binding of these beings in chains that are unbreakable, put into darkness unable to manipulate creation ever again.

Sounds like a possible plot for a rather exciting movie, yes? Only this isn't a movie, it's real life.

You can shake your head all you want but you cannot believe in God without believing in all the rest of it- angels, the devil, fallen angels, it all goes together. If you try to take one piece out of the whole picture you no longer have an entire picture but only bits and pieces and often taking one piece out is enough to make it impossible to figure out what the big picture is supposed to be.  If you choose to delegate these angels that are being talked about here in the book of Jude, to mere fiction, then you are removing a part of the whole puzzle that we've been given so that we may truly comprehend all truth given to us by God through the Holy Spirit.

What's so important about this verse? As the verse before it, we are being asked to recognize that our God is a God that chooses good over evil, truth over lies, and He will judge each one of us based on this criteria of His- and our choice to choose good- Him and all He is- over evil- Satan and all He is.

Too many people don't want to believe they will be facing God in judgment. Too many people have been lulled into a deep sleep by Satan and have been taught to believe that eternal damnation  (a person no longer existing in any shape or form whatsoever- after receiving a punishment just to fit their guilt) isn't real. It's not real this judgment that we must face. As long as we believe this then we have nothing to worry about - it's life as usual- day by day, year by year- living as best you can in this world that exists in which NO one has a hand in creating because it created itself, unless of course you do believe in a Creator and if you do like I said earlier then you HAVE to believe in all the rest of it, you have to believe in this judgment we will face and it will be a judgment that will decide the fate of everyone.

People were destroyed when they chose NOT to belief in the truth of God, but rather embraced evil.  There again you have no choice but to embrace evil if you are not embracing God- because you are either embracing another false god or treating yourself as if you are your own god- neither of which are acceptable. You can't get away with saying you aren't embracing anything at all because ultimately that entails your believing in nothing and if you believe in nothing you are not believing in your Creator, your Redeemer. The vicious cycle it becomes is something that keeps you from the truth.

There will be a judgment.

This is something we need to truly think about because otherwise we will be caught in the snare of Satan who wants us to do anything but think about our coming judgment.

At one point in time the living will all be judged, they have to be, because our Savior will have judged us either worthy or not worthy before He returns.

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air-- there will be those who have not died and yet have been judged while living because they'll be judged worthy and they will rise and meet the Lord in the air and be with Him forever.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

There will be a judgment and our lives, the choices we make during our lives will be judged. If you die tonight you will be judged upon the life you've lived until death's sleep overcame you. Did you accept Christ as your Savior and live with Him as Your Redeemer? And as we've already talked about briefly- before our Savior returns the living will be judged in the same manner, judged on their choices. Do we choose truth in our Savior, do we choose His righteousness, His mercy, His grace, His love, His forgiveness? Or do we choose not to believe, not to live as if we serve a living merciful, wonderful, exacting God, a Creator, a Redeemer, Love.  Many will choose not to believe, far too many but it won't be because our God hasn't afforded everyone the opportunity to believe, an opportunity to love.

All in Him, all in His love, we must surrender all to Him our Creator and Redeemer, our Savior, our God. All in His LOVE always.

Always Him, Always His.

Destroyed them that believed not

Jud 1:5  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

Why do we need to remember this? Because too many people hold fast to the fact they were born again and then seem to believe that because they were once saved- they are always saved. They believe that after their initial born again experience they have no more need to concern themselves with whether or not they are saved. The Hebrew people freed from slavery were SAVED. They longed for a deliverer and they had one in Moses. The Lord had sent Moses to free His people and He did just that. They were freed and they traveled far away from Egypt. During that journey did all those who were saved stay saved? No. Why didn't they? They'd been set free through numerous miracles. God was there right there with them. God Himself spoke in their hearing and they were so scared they asked Moses to intervene for them.  They WITNESSED all this FIRSTHAND! They weren't told things and then told to believe them by word of mouth, they were witnesses to the many miracles and sadly it wasn't enough for a lot of them. Given proof unlike proof any of us have ever had they still turned around and decided NOT to believe. In the face of the proof they threw it all away. They faced hardship after hardship and because they'd been called to a life of intense hardship when they wanted a life of ease in their new found freedom, they rebelled. They didn't want to believe in this miracle working God who had freed them because that freedom wasn't the type of freedom they wanted. They wanted to live in sin, not in the love God's mercy. They didn't believe God's love was what they really needed. They didn't believe they needed God to live, they believed they could do it all on their own without God. 

God does NOT force anyone to believe in Him and those who do NOT believe are left to their own devices.

LIFE is found in our God- eternal life is found NO WHERE else!
If we believe that life is found anywhere else we are horribly mistaken.

If we don't believe we will NOT have eternal life, it's that simple.

Only by the grace of God do we even live at this moment.  Our very life affords us the opportunity to believe.

If we choose not to believe while we are alive- why should it matter if God chooses to destroy us? If a person doesn't believe in God then they won't believe that God can destroy them- right? If He doesn't exist then He most certainly cannot destroy them.  You hear people say they don't want to believe in a God who could destroy someone, allow someone to die. And yet they turn around and blame this God they don't want to believe in for that very thing. If they don't want to believe that God is a God that knows good and evil and  IS good, then that's their choice. If they don't want to believe in a God that chooses good over evil then God won't make them. There is a right and wrong, a good and evil, a light and dark, a black and white- these are facts. God will never EVER destroy good. He will allow Satan to use evil, look at the story of Job, but eternal life is the promise of all who suffer under the fires of Satan in this world.

We suffer a temporary suffering, and I'm not belittling the suffering- for some it is horrific beyond anything we can imagine or want to imagine.  We do suffer, but we have a promise for a life without suffering. 

Evil will be destroyed.

People who choose evil over God will be destroyed.

Evil people have been destroyed and will continued to be destroyed, and ONLY God knows if someone is evil, ONLY God knows, we have NO way of knowing the end from the beginning. We can't know if someone who commits evil acts will ever repent of them, that's not in our power. God does know. God KNOWS.

We cannot live our lives as if there is no such thing as evil. And if we do believe there is evil we must believe there is good. If we can admit to believing in evil and good then we should understand that we choose one or the other and we do so often. Our so called bad choices are evil choices, we soft pedal the word evil by covering it up as being just bad. Being bad sounds less evil, but in truth, evil is evil and we need to repent of all the evil in our lives- choosing good over evil.

No one can make another believe in God, it will never be anything forced, ever.  We all will make the choice - no one will be exempt. You can choose not to believe but don't choose not to believe and then be surprised when that choice results in eternal death.

By the grace of God may we PLEASE be HIS, Believing in HIM always! All by HIM, all through HIM! His LOVE!

As to the LORD

Eph 6:7  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men

How different we would act if we had our Savior as a house guest.

Think about it, He knocks on the door and shocked, you let Him inside and invite Him to have a seat, to rest. You offer Him something to drink, to eat, you even offer to let Him freshen up- use your shower if need be and even allow Him access to the guest towels. Seeing He doesn't have any luggage with Him you also offer Him access to your husband's, your son's closet  (if you're a female like me hehe) where the best clothes are kept. Anything and everything you're willing to do for Him, whatever He needs, whatever He desires you want to be able to offer it to Him.

Why are you being so generous? If it'd been a stranger who knocked on the door would he even have gotten a foot inside? Most likely not. At most you might offer that stranger a chance to use your phone if they need to call someone else to help them out, someone they know. 

It's practical isn't it? No one in society expects us to open our doors to strangers, in fact we are cautioned earnestly NOT to ever let strangers inside our houses, only those you trust. If you let strangers in you're asking for a lot of trouble- to be robbed at the least, to be murdered at the most.

Am I suggesting you open your doors wide to any and all who would come in? Maybe. But you have to realize I'm suggesting this contrary, this insane thing to myself too. I'm no more desirous of opening my doors to one and all, than the next person. So why suggest it? Because each of those strangers- even the dirtiest, the grungiest, the most abhorrent of them all is your fellow man, your neighbor, a human being just like yourself and we are to treat others - doing service unto them - as we would do for the LORD. This is the will of God, that we LOVE one another.

We would treat our Savior with such honor because why? He died for us, He died to save us. We don't treat others with any sort of honor because they didn't do that for us, they didn't give us the chance for salvation, for life ever lasting. Yet, our Savior who died specifically told us on more than one occasion that He wants us to LOVE each other- even our enemies.

LOVE one another.

Serve one another.

Serve our enemies.

Pray for those who despitefully use us.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Jesus' words!

Do you know someone who hates you, curses you, is your enemy, who despitefully uses you, and persecutes you?

Most of us don't live with an arch enemy- a vile nemesis waiting to orchestrate our demise in a very painful, torturous manner. Most of us don't live that way- under constant persecution. We can imagine what it is like because most of us have experienced some sort of situation where others treated us with less than what we deem proper respect.

Jesus would have us LOVE all others.
Jesus LOVED those who killed HIM!

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

Would He ask for forgiveness for them if He didn't love them?

We understand this in part because even when our own children do awful things we love them, the mother of a murderer can still love their child. That murderer was a babe in their mother's arms, a child whose scraped knee they kissed to make all better, that child was not evil in the crib but innocent. Wives still love cheating husbands, husbands still love cheating wives. We are wounded by the actions of those we love, but that doesn't mean we instantly stop loving them.  We are told to LOVE our enemies. If we are to love our enemies it stands to reason that we would love those who we naturally have affection for even as they some how became our enemies, hurting us.

If we are to have LOVE for our enemies- a love that means treating them with respect, caring for them in spite of their hatred of us- it really stands to reason that we are to serve others as if we were serving the LORD. This is a PERFECT example of how we should live in relation to each other, to love each other.

Eph 6:7  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men

We should live as if we are doing service to the LORD.

No, we obviously realize those we are doing services for our not the LORD, that they might even hate us and use us, but we are to do the service we do to them in spite of all that because we are in truth following the very commandment our Savior gave to us- loving one another.

We can love the unlovable only when we embrace our Savior and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, teaching us to love as Jesus would have us love.

Reading C.S. Lewis- Mere Christianity- He says (and I paraphrase really badly) We are to ACT as if we do love, even when we don't, because if we ACT as if we do this will make it a real possibility that one day we will naturally love. We should do what we KNOW we should do, even when there is NO feeling at all, NO desire to do what we know we should do.  Using our intellect, using our knowledge, not attempting to use feelings to guide us. 

Eph 6:5  Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Eph 6:6  Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
Eph 6:7  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Luk 12:38  And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

Luk 22:24  And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
Luk 22:25  And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
Luk 22:26  But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
Luk 22:27  For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Gal 5:13  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him

*

Eph 6:7  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men


AS TO THE LORD.

We are to live, to serve, to work, to do all we do as UNTO the LORD and NOT to men.

AS TO THE LORD.

By His grace.

Denying God, Denying Truth

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you a question, do you know anyone who doesn't believe in God the Father? Or anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, God's Son? I do. There are many who proudly claim their unbelief holding it up as a banner waving it about as if it's something amazing. Many unbelievers fill our world and many of these unbelievers have taken it upon themselves to educate the believers in many various ways. They've CREPT in and laid their seeds of doubt, their poison bleeding in through the masses of believers and they are bent on turning believers into unbelievers. People have taken the GRACE of God and turned it into something wicked. Ungodly people have twisted and vilely warped all that is God, all that is truth and turned it into something unseemly and evil, making it something it was never, ever intended to be. They've wrapped up the grace of Christ into something sensual and dared people to try and say it is anything but this gross misinterpretation of the pure love of God. They prepackaged their brand of salvation and it is anything but our Lord's TRUTH. They hold up false gods and claim they are God, they are Jesus. They've taken the very name of our SAVIOR and have used it to entice people into a false religion, deceiving millions, sending delusions to so many.

The outright deniers of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are few in number compared to those who have entered into the lives of those who would truly be God's chosen, God's elect, and presented the imposters they've made up to take the place of our TRUE LORD, our TRUE GOD. They refuse truth preferring fables, preferring their false beliefs over God's reality. They want traditions that have been held for thousands of years instead of the truth that has been around since our world was brought into existence.  The hold up those traditions and shout, 'THESE are our gods! We believe in these truths of our fathers, and their fathers! We hold fast to our customs, they must be truth because so many have believed and for so long!'  They tout their proof from longstanding tales as if there is no light to be had, no light to shed across their darkened eyes. When the light dares shine towards them they slam the door on it, they pull down their ancient shades, and close their eyes just as their fathers and their fathers before them did. They prefer the darkness rather than light, and they've deluded themselves into thinking they are in the light while the truth lays in darkness. They succeed in fooling themselves and they're allowed to do so because the light of Christ's truth is never forced upon anyone.

People know other people who deny God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son, and mostly distance themselves from them in this respect- they allow them to believe as they please, not letting it affect their own walk with God. People MUST be aware of those who creep in among the believers with the same deadly denying, they too exist and they are so incredibly convincing as they speak words you want to hear and give you enough lies to soothe any doubts that rise up. They won't tell you outright they are denying the Truth, they are under the sheep's clothing snug and secure, living to deceive by turning others from the truth.

Harsh words? Yes. But true words.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

1Ti 1:4  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

2Pe 1:16  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Cunningly devised fables will deceive many and all of those deceived will be so willingly, refusing the truth in preferences to fables.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears

People will prefer to hear lies rather than sound doctrine. They will put on all the outward show of being believers but the god they are believing will NOT be God the Father or His Son Jesus Christ in TRUTH. They might give Him the same exact name, but that will not change the fact they've turned TRUTH into lies. They've placed their own idea of God and Jesus Christ in place of the TRUTH and they will in fact believe in antichrists over the real true GOD. These will cry out when they are inevitably face to face with our SAVIOR- 

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.


Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father

Eph 6:6  Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart
Eph 6:7  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever

All by the grace of our God! May we NOT be deceived by those who have crept in to steal us away from God. May we NOT hold fast to fables, to traditions, to anything that would keep us from the TRUTH! Open our hearts, open our minds to YOU and YOUR WILL, YOUR TRUTH, GOD!

Contend for the faith

Jud 1:2  Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Mercy, peace, love.

Mercy - compassion.
Peace - rest.
Love - benevolence, charity.

All the above be multiplied.

We need it all to be multiplied don't we? We really need all the mercy, all the peace, all the love we can get and give.

Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Contend- to struggle.

A faith was given unto the saints- that faith was delivered by Jesus Himself. Living with Him, following Him, listening, learning from Him directly the Apostles were brought face to face with faith. Yet our Savior said this to Peter…

Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

And this to those gathered to listen to Jesus-

Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

And this to those He healed-

Mat 9:29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

And to His disciples-

Mat 17:20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Our Savior taught about faith throughout His ministry here on earth. He knew how important faith was, because it was faith that allowed belief, that allowed salvation, and still does. This lesson of faith is so incredibly important. And the faith that was given to the saints, was a faith revealed by our Savior and this is the SAME faith we MUST struggle for! We must contend for this faith! We must seek to possess this faith!

Why do we need to be exhorted to contend for this faith? Because without it there is NO salvation!

There are so many varied beliefs out there in the world that have nothing at all to do with having that faith given to the saints. So much has strayed away from the truth, the truth found in CHRIST.

We need that faith and we can have that faith it is ours, it is available, but we have to struggle, we have to contend because there are so many evil forces out there that would keep us from that very true faith, that living faith, that salvation faith!

People might think it easy to have faith, but go back and reread those verses above and it's not what people think. It's not some flippant thing that means nothing, it is something that means everything! Faith, QUALITY faith, SALVATION faith!

Faith the grain of a mustard seed- moves mountains.

It does, it really, really does.

It's the belief in our CREATOR, our REDEEMER and THEIR LOVE! The true belief. And it's this heartfelt cry…

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

In HIM!

Always!

Follow that which is GOOD, not evil

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
3Jn 1:11  Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
3Jn 1:12  Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
3Jn 1:13  I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:
3Jn 1:14  But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

One loved to have POSITION and POWER. He loved to speak maliciously, act selfishly, rebelliously, evilly.

The Other loved the TRUTH and was known by others to be good.

Evil and Good.  This is our existence right now, this is the world we live in at the moment, the world we do not BELONG to, yet must dwell upon.

A person put in prison, locked in a cell, physical freedom taken away- knows at first that great sense of loss- being unable to come and go as they please and ALL the little freedoms that are taken for granted disappear. They feel this intensely. Why do they feel it? Because they desire to return to all they know is out there, all they've given up, all they've lost.

We cannot know all there is in our true home, in the places being prepared for us in heaven. We are however told how wonderful it will be for us.

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

But we ARE allowed a glimpse into it all through the Holy Spirit.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

We KNOW, a part of us knows deep down, a part in ALL of us that flickers briefly for some and burns in a conflagration for others knows and realizes that this world is NOT the world we were ever intended to live in. Every heartache, every pain- none of it is NORMAL- none of it is ACCEPTABLE! We cry out WHY when tragedy strikes because we KNOW that it is NOT supposed to be! Those tears are NOT supposed to fall! That agony was NEVER meant to be felt, not EVER! We were created not with all that horror in mind, but with LOVE in mind! We feel the despair and awful sin sickness of this world and we internalize the rejections, the lack of love that we are confronted with throughout our lives and we KNOW, it's all wrong, it's not right…it's just not right!

Why do we know this? We know this because this truly is NOT our world!

We must live in this corrupted world, we are born into it but we are NOT left to flounder helplessly. As our spirit reaches out for a tether of truth to cling to we CAN find it because our Savior has given it to us!  We are given HOPE that the world we are truly meant for exists out there for us. We do not have to despair because we have HOPE, real HOPE in our SAVIOR!

There is evil and there is good and as long as we live here we MUST be on one side or the other- there is NO middle ground.

The reports for each of us will either be that of good reports or bad reports- reflecting our love or lack of love for our SAVIOR, our GOD.

We cannot judge another's eternal life, we only control the fate of our own- through believing, through a real living faith in our Savior's redemptive powers towards us- the worst of sinners.

Living in a world where there are two sides, we will know where most people choose to put their allegiance by their actions but we truly cannot judge them for eternity- only GOD has that knowledge, He KNOWS the hearts of men and the truth or lack of it in those hearts. He alone can clean our hearts and make them new.

We exist in this horrible sin prison, our lives trapped by the heartaches and agonies of living here and now, but we also live in this sin prison with the hope of FREEDOM, the very real FREEDOM that has been bought for us with the Blood and Body of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This freedom is REAL, as real as the pain we must feel physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.  This freedom is OURS and while we do NOT have a known date for our pardon to be realize, we know that our pardon has been secured! We are serving our time here in this awful prison, allowed a lot of moments of beauty and happiness amid the horrors. We are serving our time and none of the wonders of this world will compare to our future of freedom in Christ!

We live for our Hope- Christ our Savior!

All in HIS LOVE!  All by HIS GRACE!

Fellow Helpers to the TRUTH

3Jn 1:5  Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
3Jn 1:6  Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:
3Jn 1:7  Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
3Jn 1:8  We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

Fellow helpers to the truth.

THIS is our mission in life. THIS is our calling.  And this is for EVERYONE. This isn't for special people, this isn't calling us to be teachers, prophets, evangelists but rather be alive in Christ, living in HIS truth. As we LIVE His truth we are automatically fellow helpers to the truth.

Loving one another this reveals Christ!
Loving God this reveals Christ!
Loving one another and God this reveals the TRUTH.

This is to be our life!

You can have a job that keeps you busy digging ditches, or climbing ladders to telephone poles, or cutting into someone's body to heal them, or…well…you name it. No matter what your job is you are called to LOVE God and LOVE others and THIS is living the truth.

Are we to take Bible tracts around and distribute them? You could, but not everyone is called to that path. Are we to stand on a soapbox and give our message to any and all who will stop to listen on that street corner we are preaching on? Maybe, if God leads you to that act. You do NOT have to despair though if you are NOT called to that life because YOU are called to be a LIVING witness of Christ, of the TRUTH by your LOVE!

Is there any wonder Satan would attack us every moment he can to get us to be unloving? He will abuse us by using others, by using situations, by doing anything he possibly can to keep us from revealing the LOVE of God in us, by us being LOVING.

Our Savior said this--

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU, AND PERSECUTE YOU;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Read that one part again--

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU, AND PERSECUTE YOU

LOVE our enemies! This goes against everything inside of us, we want to give back what we were given. We want to defend ourselves, we want to claim what we believe is justice for wrong, but we are told NOT to do any of that at all!

We are to LOVE!

By loving we are LIVING the truth!

Satan wants to put us in a place that reveals our lack of love and he'll do everything to that end.

Situations will be created that will test us to our very limits of patience- over and over and over again-and we MUST repent of our failing to reveal God's love, but rather our weak flesh responses.

3Jn 1:8 ...we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

WE need to be fellowhelpers to the TRUTH, to CHRIST and HIS amazing LOVE!

By the grace of God may we allow the Holy Spirit to live in us guiding us towards this end- being living, breathing, active witnesses, active fellow helpers to the truth of our SAVIOR'S LOVE!

All through HIM, all in HIM, all by His loving grace!

Walk in Truth

3Jn 1:1  The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the TRUTH.
3Jn 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3Jn 1:3  For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the TRUTH that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the TRUTH.
3Jn 1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.

In truth.

The TRUTH is all that our Savior came to give to us, to preach to us, to live as an example of because HE is the TRUTH. Christ embodies the TRUTH. There is NO deception in our Savior, there is NO falsehood in our Lord, none! He never bent the truth, He never twisted the truth, He never told only half a truth, He never deceived not once!  Did He use parables and speak in such a way it was hard for some to understand? Yes. But He never did that to deceive, not to a single person. Those who found it hard to comprehend what He was saying failed to have their heart open to Him, failed to allow Him into their hearts fully. Those who remained spiritually blinded did so because they lack the true desire to know the Savior. And if our Savior said something that was hard to understand sometimes those who really had their hearts open and were seeking the truth were not ready to fully understand- not until a later time. But our Savior never spoke a single untruth. Every word out of His mouth was truth. Every action He made was truth.

Is it any wonder that so many people feared Him? They did fear Him and they wanted to silence Him and they did so by crucifying Him. There is power in the truth and often people want to hear lies, because truth would convict them and they'd see a failing in themselves that they don't want to admit to. Pride has been the downfall of so many people. It's our pride that rears it's ugly head against the truth in so many ways. We don't want to be WRONG. We don't want to be wrong even in the little things that have no bearing on eternal matters other than when those little things add up they fester and grow into big things. 

In reading Mere Christianity, a book I enjoy by C.S. Lewis, he says in one part (and I'm paraphrasing badly) that a man with a temper isn't so bad unless that temper grows worse little by little, year after year. However if that man's life didn't end after the human's average lifespan but continued on through eternity how AWFUL it would be if that temper continued to grow throughout eternity.  The gist of it is- while little things might not seem like such a big deal now, they would if you measure them to eternity. A growing temper that continues to grow would be a monstrous temper over time unending. So all the defects in our characters- all the UNTRUTH we live in- must be purged by our Savior before we can ever hope to be His through eternity.

3Jn 1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.

Is it any wonder it says here in this verse  - NO greater joy than to hear that my children walk in TRUTH.

Walking in truth. Walking in Christ. Living in truth. Living in Christ. We must always strive to do this without ceasing.

Does this mean we won't ever fail? No. It means we will fail and then fall at the feet of our Savior. It means that we will allow the lessons to be learned. It means we will not become impenetrable stone, but clay- pliable in our Lord's hand- able to be molded, able to be shaped. We are called to walk through fires of trials and tribulations, not to suffer through them only to come out of them without a single change. What good is a refining fire if the metal put into it in order to purify it, doesn't change at all? What good is a trial if absolutely nothing is learned from all that has been gone through? If you are put to the test does it do any good if you don't learn where you failed? Only by learning where you went wrong can you allow that knowledge to keep you from continuing on down the wrong way. 

Yes, sometimes it seems as if we have faults that reoccur over and over and it seems as if we'll never learn- but the lesson we might be learning because of this happenstance is the patience we need to deal with yet another problem in the future. We can NEVER give up, that is Satan's joy, when we give up. We have to hold fast to our Savior, and the TRUTH found in Him!

We must be found WALKING in the truth! Always in HIS truth!

By HIS GRACE, HIS LOVE!

Don't FAINT!

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint

Men ought to PRAY always and NOT faint.

How easy is it to simply faint when life becomes too hard to deal with- and by faint I mean choose to believe in the power of the wicked one to overcome, rather than the power of God to sustain us. If we turn to God through prayer we are not fainting but rather fighting that good fight of faith.

2Co 4:16  For which cause we FAINT NOT; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, IF WE FAINT NOT.

Eph 3:13  Wherefore I desire that YE FAINT NOT at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and FAINT in your minds.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, NOR FAINT when thou art rebuked of him:

2Co 4:1  Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, WE FAINT NOT;
2Co 4:2  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

Faint not. Lest we faint. This fainting isn't the sort where our vision grows dim and we black out physically, this is a spiritual fainting. To faint spiritually means having our spiritual light disappear, our spiritual sight is gone. It's that spiritual sight that allows us to have faith- remember this verse--

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith- hope- NOT seen.
Faith allows us to do this--

2Co 4:18  ...look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Our spiritual sight allows for this and if we faint and lose our spiritual sight we stop having hope, we look only to things which are temporal and not the things which are eternal.

To be told NOT to faint is very important, because we are being told that the opportunity to faint will exist. We cannot get so ahead of ourselves to believe that the possibility of fainting is not real. To be told, and more than once, NOT to faint is an important message.  Putting it on a more physical level if you were told that you aren't to faint in a certain situation then what would you infer from that bit of knowledge? That FAINTING was a real possibility and NOT a good thing, not something to be desired. Say you were to go on an excursion into the wild jungle and your guide told you that the day's trek would be an arduous one and you are not to faint if you want to have hope of making it through to the end of the trek. What if the guide went further and told you that if you did faint the chances of your perishing would be very great. Wouldn't you do all you could NOT to faint? You'd hydrated yourself, you'd give yourself sustenance, you'd try to keep cool, or warm depending upon what the weather called for, you'd take rests- pacing yourself so you didn't over do it because you would know that if you fainted you could possibly die. Just having that warning at the beginning of your journey would heighten your senses, your awareness that fainting wasn't a very good idea at all and rather a very bad option. 

We are not to faint spiritually because there is a danger in our spiritual fainting, a fainting of the mind, letting a darkness overcome us so that we are no longer able to see things eternal, no longer living in hope, no longer possessing the faith necessary to believe in our Savior and salvation in HIM.

Continuing on…

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint

PRAYING ALWAYS is the spiritual equivalent of all those things we would do physically to prevent ourselves from fainting.  And praying always is recognizing always that our Savior is there for us NO MATTER what we are going through, even the worst of the worst of the worst. He is there for us beyond all things temporal and He is living in eternity. This doesn't mean we are to be on our knees 24/7. You can pray even if you are not bowing your head. To pray always means to have that connection to God the Father always there, always! It means not daring to live ONE moment outside of that connection, it means in all we do we have God with us, by CHOICE, not as some dictating chaperon, but as a LOVING God who is LOVE and knows the end from the beginning more so than we ever possibly could.

While we might look through eyes on the temporal world around us as we are allowed to live in this world we must do it KNOWING it is just the a temporary world- temporary and dangerous. This really could be the only world many people will ever know because they choose NOT to believe in GOD, but rather believe in their own imaginings. Praying always is the recognition of our God as a very REAL, LIVING entity who SUSTAINS us and has made the ultimate Sacrifice so that we may one day share eternity with Him. We cannot confine God to any one time of day- to a morning prayer, to an afternoon prayer, to an evening prayer, to a bedtime prayer- God must be realized always in our lives not someone we merely visit a few times a day. When we say the word 'amen' we are not shutting the door on God and leaving Him in some fancy, cloudy temple in heaven while we walk away and live here on earth. That door must be ever opened, never closed as we pray ALWAYS, and we don't faint under the trials and tribulations of life, of which there are many. This isn't to say we shouldn't take time to pray earnestly on our knees, with bowed heads, in groups, among family- but even after we say that prayer, we must live in a constant state of prayer - in open communication with our God throughout all our days and nights.

Just as if you live with someone- you aren't constantly talking with them non-stop but you know that line of communication is there always. We must live with God and God with us always, and that avenue of communication must forever be available, it must always be open.

Here is a parable that Jesus told and in part to reveal why a person should forever pray and not faint.

Luk 18:2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

A godless, fearless judge and a widow with an adversary. 

An authority figure and one subjected to that authority figure.

The widow left her home and went to the judge's place and upon being allowed to see him she told him that she needed to be avenged, that she had an adversary that needed to be dealt with, someone she could not deal with on her own.

The judge didn't care. Seriously, he simply did not care that this woman, this widow without a husband to defend her, was in need of help. He didn't jump up and order someone to help her, and he certainly didn't go to her aid himself. In fact, this man dismissed her cause instantly.

Did the widow give up and go away because the cold-hearted, godless judge didn't help her right away?

NO.

She continued to present herself to the judge even knowing that he had already declined to help her in any way.  How long this went on we don't know, but it was for a while.  Then this man announced that even though he didn't fear God, and could careless about others- he would help her. Why the change of heart? It wasn't a change of heart at all, not really, but a selfish desire to rid himself of the widow's constant presence, her constant supplication. He was troubled by her and growing weary of her unceasing pestering for help.

This man who had no heart love for anyone- not God, nor others- helped the widow because she didn't give up communicating her need to him.

Luk 18:4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

Luk 18:6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

If an unjust judge could avenge a widow- a LOVING God, THE LOVING GOD WILL avenge those who are crying unto Him ceaselessly. He's not growing weary with their supplications. His elect LONG to be avenged, they LONG to become God's fully and have their adversary the Devil destroyed and to this end they pray. They know that ALL evil they suffer stems from Satan, all of it! They realize the pain and agony they are enduring, that others are enduring all has its roots in SATAN and NOT GOD! They understand while God allows, it is Satan who takes advantage of that and destroys all he can in anyway he can. The door may be opened, but it's NOT God who steps through and bring devastation to the lives of so many people. It is Satan who runs through that door and wrecks all the havoc he can in anyway he possibly can and he does it all the while shouting it's God's fault, blame God. He wants us to blame God for all the evil, for leaving that door opened, but it's that same open door that gives us a power of CHOICE, to believe or not believe in God, to trust that no matter what horrors are unfolding, or have unfolded,  or will unfold in our life times that God is in control and ultimately for our SALVATION, for our ETERNITY in LOVE with HIM who is LOVE.

God hears our CRIES to be avenged, and He bears LONG with us. He doesn't grow weary of us and cut us off, He allows us to keep crying unto Him our ONLY source of avenging.

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

In the grand scheme of things and THIS is how our LORD must think- His avenging is speedily. He isn't making a single one of His people wait needlessly with a cold-hearted disregard for our petitions. He hears us, He hears our cries and wants us to pray always to NEVER stop praying to Him.  It will be SO incredibly hard the closer and closer it comes to our Lord's return that many are going to faint. Many are going to allow their spiritual light to grow dim, to go out, as their faith in God slips away. This is the truth and we are warned, we are told it will happen. The ONLY way we can not be among those who faint is to place all our trust in God, all our faith, all our hope and give all we are, surrender all of ourselves to our Savior, clinging to HIS righteousness and not ours, clinging to the hope found only in HIM to overcome, not any hope in ourselves. He prevails where we succumb and fail. We must pray always to HIM, clinging to HIM through EVERYTHING! He is our HOPE. By the grace of God He will find us with FAITH in HIM, by HIM, through His righteousness, His love, His mercy, His grace!

Abide in the doctrines of Christ

2Jn 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Look to OURSELVES. We NEED to stop concerning ourselves so much with the judging of others and concentrate on our own walk with God, seriously. How easy it is to fall into the trap of looking out at others and noting their faults, while  we forego looking in at our own lives, examining them to know whether or not we are following the truth as it has been revealed to us.

We have to look at ourselves or else we will lose  any hope in influencing others towards the truth. We have to focus on the truth, we have to pay attention to our walk with the LORD, we have to look at the truth and measure our sinful selves against that truth and we need to do this, and not measure others by that same truth. Every person has to measure themselves against the truth, it is the responsibility of every single person to know whether they are walking in the truth given to them or not.

We are to LOVE and CARE for others, but we are NOT to measure them against the truth we've been given, they may have been given less or more truth than we have and they are responsible to live up to the truth given to them, just as we are. Yes, we are to share the TRUTH of our Savior's love, we are to preach the message of the kingdom in Jesus Christ, but we are NOT the Holy Spirit who alone convicts the hearts to see the Truth, to live the Truth.

Too many will love to twist this up, saying we have a duty to help others and to look to them first before ourselves, and this is true. But we are NOT to look to others at the cost of losing our own way in Christ. We must keep Christ in us in order for others to see Him in our lives and that is our responsibility, to keep and NOT lose the Truth that leads to Salvation. When we lose that Truth we are only offering our own brand of truth  to others, and while that still might make us feel good and cause us to pat ourselves on the back, it's not the real TRUTH found solely in Christ Jesus our Lord!

The full reward we'll receive is living ETERNALLY in the TRUTH!

If we sin and choose NOT to live in the TRUTHS of CHRIST, then we do NOT have God in our lives no matter how much we might want to imagine otherwise.

If we LIVE in the TRUTH we have both JESUS CHRIST and the FATHER in us.

Those who would have us believe in lies, in falsehoods, those who would try and preach their own truths to us- we have to keep ourselves from them. We must pray for them, for their enlightenment through the Holy Spirit, but we must not encourage them in their falsehoods.  If we encourage others in their UNTRUTHS we are partaking in those UNTRUTHS. We must not encourage lies, falsehoods, to encourage them is very sinful. Knowing the truth and encouraging others in lies is something we are accountable for.

Is it hard to stand up for Truth?  Yes, it can be, especially when you love those who refuse to live in truth but prefer to live in lies. We never stop loving them and hoping for their hearts to be open and receptive to the truth. We cannot however promote the lies they live in. If faced with such a situation we must stand for TRUTH always, and only by our LORD'S GRACE live in that TRUTH. It may appear that we are not being LOVING and in fact many will accuse us of NOT being like Christ, and not loving, but that will be a lie. People walking outside of the Truth love to revile those who are in the Truth, hoping to trip them up, hoping to get them to step outside of the truth. They'll play on their feelings of desiring acceptance, but that acceptance is of this WORLD and not the WORLD TO COME. Temporary acceptance, not worth the cost of eternal life in Christ, not ever.

There is so much that we hold as important in life that is -in very simple terms- temporary to eternity. Don't most things lose their importance when you hold them up against eternity? The ONLY thing that will never lose its importance when taken and measured up against eternity is LOVE and the actions we commit out of that love, that pure love that we can only possess by giving our lives to our God and Savior, His love working in us.  All else is temporary. Any status among others you hold is temporary- whether pauper or prince. Right now you might possess a mansion, or a hovel and that home is only temporary. Abused or cherished- it is temporary. Only love- the love we have for GOD and the love we have for others matters- that love will live on forever throughout eternity. The love, the compassion, the kindnesses, the sacrifices these are the things that live on- these are the important things in life- not the car in the driveway, not the money in the bank, not the degrees upon a wall, not the string of lovers, not the number of books read, not the number of flowers planted, not the successful video game wins, not the approval of others- etc.  LOVE. Christ's LOVE.

Let us look to ourselves, let us live in Christ's TRUTH, let us not encourage those who live in darkness, all by the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR, always!  In HIS LOVE!

Many Deceivers, Many Deceived

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Many deceivers are in our world.

Do you believe this?  It's true.

Deceivers that will not confess that our Savior came in the flesh.  Crazy? Everyone believes this, right? Not many will dispute the flesh of Jesus Christ- the fact He was born as a human being. So why is this significant at all? It would appear that there aren't as many deceivers or antichrists that we would imagine.  Even those who believe in the Islamic religion believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Devil worshipper can still believe that Jesus came in the flesh, in fact they almost have to because to believe in the devil you have to believe in his adversary.  Our Savior's adversary is the devil. Our adversary is the devil--

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

Devil's believe in our Savior.

Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

So what does this verse really mean?

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

We've talked about it before but as with many, many things talking about them over and over again can only solidify the foundation we are standing upon- that foundation being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. You wouldn't think people would have an issue with this, but they do. I first heard about this back in 1987-88 or there bouts. 

What kind of flesh was Christ born with? What kind of flesh - sinful or sinless? 

This is a SERIOUS question.  Don't just jump on the sinless answer because our Savior never sinned, we need to really, really think about the flesh He was BORN with. Was He born with the tendency towards sin, in weak human flesh, able to be tempted just like we are- or was He born with flesh that was IMPOSSIBLE to yield to sin? Was He born with flesh that made Him like you and I, or born with flesh that was special? Some love to say He was born in flesh like Adam- created sinless- but that is NOT the flesh WE are born with so HOW could He be tempted like we are if He were born in flesh different than ours? It's impossible for that to happen.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

In ALL points tempted LIKE AS WE ARE.  This is key! It doesn't say- in all points tempted like as Adam was, it says TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE! 

Was Jesus' mother human like us, or was she sinless?

We KNOW there is an organization out there that believes she was sinless herself but that just creates more and more of a problem. Does that make her parents sinless and so on and so on and so on. When we start having sinless people born then we are making them into something they were NEVER intended to be without a SAVIOR.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Shapen in iniquity as are we ALL.  We all inherited the TENDENCY towards sin, all of us. We inherit it at birth, does this make us sinners at birth?  Read more...

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned

Rom 5:18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Rom 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

We are all BORN with a sinful NATURE- the tendency to sin is born in us- we inherit that from Adam just like ALL human beings have -- ALL- including Mary the mother of Jesus and Jesus Himself! He took on our sinful FLESH! Only because He did that and OVERCAME do we have HOPE! If He came in special flesh  unable to sin then He conquered NOTHING! It had to be OUR flesh! And most certainly Mary was NOT sinless! She was blessed for having been chosen to give birth to our Savior, but she was NEVER called sinless! Never!

Our SAVIOR can be called sinless not because He was born without that TENDENCY to sin, but because He conquered that tendency we ALL have, sinful flesh created Him in the womb of Mary He grew as all human children grow. He gave up His Godly powers to take on our flesh! 

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men

He TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT!  Giving up so much to be made like US, so HE could SAVE US!

Read this...

"Not that men are born into the world directly condemned by the law, for in infancy, they have no knowledge of right and wrong and are incapable of doing either, but they are born with sinful tendencies, owing to the sins of their ancestors." (E. J. Waggoner   Jan. 21, 1889)

I agree with that statement. Babies are not condemned as sinners and neither are little children- but when the awareness of sin comes- with it the guilt arrives and the need to seek forgiveness from the only source of forgiveness- Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR!

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

So, yes, there are MANY, MANY deceivers and MANY who do NOT confess that  Jesus Christ is come in the FLESH- they ARE DECEIVERS and they are ANTICHRIST- putting themselves in place of Christ, putting their beliefs in place of our God's truth! These people, these deceivers have put our Savior inside indestructible armor that simulates flesh but isn't real human flesh at all. They've incased our Savior in impenetrable untouchable false  non-flesh, something that resembles flesh in all appearances but is nothing like OUR human flesh at all and they've DECEIVED MILLIONS and MILLIONS and MILLIONS!

Please LORD open the eyes of the BLINDED the DECEIVED! Please!

In our Lord, in HIS LOVE!

For Truth's Sake

2Jn 1:1  The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
2Jn 1:2  For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
2Jn 1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2Jn 1:4  I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
2Jn 1:5  And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

For the TRUTH'S sake.
The TRUTH that will be with us FOREVER.
The TRUTH that dwells IN US.
Loving in TRUTH.
Knowing in TRUTH.
Walking in TRUTH.

All received in commandment from the FATHER.

NO new commandment.
A commandment given from the BEGINNING.

THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

LOVE is- walking after HIS commandments.

Do you know what the truth is?

So many say they don't, and even more say it doesn't matter, and anyway truth is subjective to the person. There are a whole slew of reasons people use to get around knowing the truth and barring that, they use even more reasons to keep from living the truth when they do know it.

In these few verses we've just read we read that word TRUTH over and over, that should tell us something. The TRUTH is very important.

Here is why--

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR is THE TRUTH.

THE TRUTH will make us free.

The truth. The ONE Savior Jesus Christ. The truth is found in HIM, and HE gives us so much of Himself and we can read it in His word.

The truth.

That we love one another, that we keep the commandments given at the beginning.

The commands of LOVE.

Imagine for a moment- you are placed in a world of others very similar to yourself and you want your life to be a good life filled with love, caring, and kindness, as well as respect. Yet the world you are in is a hostile world where not everyone wants this. It's SO incredibly easy to fall in step with the hostility, to give hostile acts in return for receiving them. And because this hostile world is our temporary dwelling place we have seek guidance from our Creator in order to manage to live upright in HIM, THROUGH HIM.

In a world before the hostility our Creator created a very special thing for all of us, a period of time to rest in Him, with Him in time made holy, time blessed. You might think that we wouldn't need such a period of time in a perfect world, but the perfect world exists ONLY because of our CREATOR and this special time period was given so we would never ever imagine otherwise.

Then, when the hostility came that special time was even more important for all of us, because if we enter that special time we are renewed and we step out of the hostile world into the world of our Creator, allowed to live in HIM during the special period of time HE created FOR US.

We all don't have to imagine what it means to recharge something, we live in a world with many gadgets that need recharging all the time. What would happen if you STOPPED recharging those gadgets? Could you use them? Would they be worth anything? Would the be valuable for anything at all? Most of those rechargeable items are worthless, they become garbage when they can no longer be recharged.

It's the same with us, it really, really is. It we are not recharged by our Lord and Savior during that special time period HE created, then we are in essence saying to our God, our Creator that we don't need to be recharged, we do not need HIM in order to live in HIS truth.  We need HIM more than ever as the world grows more and more hostile all around us.

The truth.  There is truth and we must walk in the truth always - by HIS grace!

The truth and all His truth, refusing to accept any deceptive beliefs no matter how enticing they are, no matter how pleasing they are to our way of life, to our senses. We must live the truth by faith in our SAVIOR knowing that only by living His truth are we going to be found in HIM and HE in us.

Please Lord help us to understand all the truth in YOU!

All by Your grace, Your mercy, Your forgiveness, Your LOVE.

Idols in today's churches

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Worshipping idols involves worshipping other gods before God. You cannot worship an idol without worshipping the god it represents. So being told to keep ourselves from idols, we are in fact being told to keep ourselves from worshipping other gods, false gods.

We've already talked about the fact that people are not obsessed with going to temples and pledging their allegiances, their lives to gods erected in temples, making sacrifices to those false gods, up to living  human sacrifices.

What people are doing is entering churches- their temples- and rather than seeking God in His word of Truth, through the Holy Spirit's guidance- many are worshipping false gods that have set themselves up in place of God so that they are such amazing counterfeits people do NOT even know they are worshipping idols, they are worshipping false gods.

Isn't that what deception is all about? Fooling people without their being aware of it? Unsuccessfully deceiving someone is their finding out about your deception. As long as people remain deceived there is little hope for their salvation. As long as people do NOT realize the god they are worshipping is NOT the One True God, then they are in danger. You might think God will wink at their ignorance and solely blame the deceiver but that's not always true. God has made His truth available to all and all will be measured against the opportunities they've had to know His truth. Unfortunately way too many people actually chose to follow deception because it's comfortable. Seriously, it's similar to why a woman or a man who is being cheated on will often ignore all the signs in favor of keeping their relationship-however faulty intact. They simply do NOT want to see they are being deceived, it hurts too much, it is too painful, it means changing and who wants to endure all that when they can keep things going on an even keel? Some couples live out their entire relationship under deception and wouldn't have it any other way. How many people find out they are being deceived and keep it to themselves, never confronting the deceiver just because they don't want to upset their lives in any way?  This is a real thing.  You might be of the type of person who says I would never, ever live in deception if I realized it was happening, and that might be true, but a shocking number of people do live that way, and many very willingly.

So, if people are willing to live a life of deception with their own partners, why would it be much different for them to willingly go to a church and allow themselves to be deceived by those who do not follow all of God's truth as He has giving it in His amazing Word, as Jesus came and testified of Him and was the living TRUTH to us. Jesus spoke simple truths and even the simple truths people fail to follow. His commandments all ten of them, the moral law that He Himself followed, people do not follow them, they just don't care to because it interferes with their comfortable deception.

Throughout history the truth has been hard to follow and FEW will follow it. The Bible tells us that FEW will find the truth. There is a very narrow way that true Christ followers will walk. Yet churches fill up with people and grow, and grow, and grow and its members love the fact people are flocking to their truths- their truths- not necessarily God's.  Do they get up there and preach that NARROW is the way, and FEW there be that find it?

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The truth.

Millions are following idols, idols that have taken on the form of the One True God, but it's really a wolf in sheep clothing. A wolf underneath a disguise so brilliant that millions are fooled, they are deceived and worse still-- they LOVE their deception because they refuse to believe in real Biblical truths.

Do people have to believe this verse today?

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

When you comprehend that the idols are standing in the many churches people frequent all the time, yes, it's very, very pertinent to all of us today.

We are to keep from idols, from false gods, from worshipping falsely, from bowing before wolves in sheep clothing. Will you sit comfortably deceived or risk the uncomfortable life  that will be demanded of you when you face the truth and in facing it you must act upon it or risk your own eternal life with the God you profess to love!

By His grace may we ALL face His truths and walk in them and only them whatever they may be. In His love! In His grace!

Amen.

Idols and False Gods

Down the page further there are a few Bible verses of which there are many, dealing with idols.  Read through them one, two, three, or all of them however many you'd like to read. Talking about idols yesterday we're continuing today. I think it's important that we realize that while many, many people do NOT worship at the various temples they had way back in the day-

Egyptian temples
Greek temples
Roman temples

Egyptian-   Deities-  Amun, Amunet, Anubis, Anuket - These are just four of many of their false gods- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion
Greek- Deities - Apollo, Area, Artemis, Athena, Demeter - These are just five of many of their false gods- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_mythological_figures
Roman - Deities- Adranus, Consus, Janus, Saturn- These are just four of many of their false gods- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Roman_gods

Today there has been a huge rise in paganism. Look it up-here's one link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1328968/Pagans-march--harmless-eccentrics-dangerous-cult.html

So to say that the worship of idols, of false gods is dead would be wrong, very wrong.

So whether or not a person is worshipping the ancient gods of Biblical times old or new, or whether they are worshipping ANYTHING other than the ONE true God they are in danger of worshipping an idol. 

Read on--
   
Lev 19:4  Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

Lev 26:1  Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Lev 26:30  And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

Deu 29:17  And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

1Sa 31:9  And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.

1Ki 21:26  And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

2Ki 17:12  For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

2Ki 21:11  Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols

2Ki 23:24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

1Ch 16:25  For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.
1Ch 16:26  For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

2Ch 24:18  And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

Psa 106:38  And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Psa 115:4  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

Isa 2:7  Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
Isa 2:8  Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Isa 2:9  And the mean man boweth down, and the great man

Isa 45:16  They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols

1Th 1:9  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

*******

We need to turn from any idols, even SELF worship, and turn towards God.

We need to KEEP from idols whatever they may be.

We need to stop patting ourselves on the back at how wonderful we are in all we do as we worship NOTHING, and realize that worshipping nothing is a form of worshipping self, believing self is the only thing is not believing in God.

We are told to keep from idols, and we must do just that. Keep ourselves from idols.

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

May God help us to comprehend what we need to in all that He says, may the Holy Spirit open our hearts and minds, our spirits to His TRUTH in everything!  Help us Lord, while there may not be mass worshipping of gods of old, there is worship in many churches, many temples today of gods that try to stand in YOUR place, pretending to be You and many fall for these false gods disguised as You, this is just as dangerous if not more so, as worshipping false gods from the ancient ages.

How do you know if you are worshipping a disguised god pretending to be the real God, by learning and following ALL His truth from His word, through the spirit.

All by His grace, His love, more on this tomorrow.

In our Savior Jesus Christ always!

Keep yourselves from idols

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

CEV 1Jn 5:21  Children, you must stay away from idols.

YLT 1Jn 5:21  Little children, guard yourselves from the idols! Amen.

Idols-
G1497
- Definition:
1. an image, likeness
a. i.e. whatever represents the form of an object, either real or imaginary
b. used of the shades of the departed, apparitions, spectres, phantoms of the mind, etc.
2. the image of an heathen God
3. a false God
- Origin: from G1491; an image (i.e. for worship)
- TDNT entry: 08:15,2
- Part(s) of speech: Noun Neuter

- Strong's: From G1491; an image (that is for worship); by implication a heathen god or (plural) the worship of such: - idol.

Idols. What's an idol to you? Do you have a bunch of clay, stone, wood, glass, or plastic images of weird shaped people, animals, or objects laying about your house? Do you revere any of those objects. Many will agree that people IDOLIZE objects that aren't necessarily those of the gods revered by the pagans, the heathens, the idol worshippers of old. Most people will agree that people do not pray or worship a lot of things they do really seem to idolize. We can say that a person idolizes their computer, or television, or their books, or even food. We can say that idolizing things doesn't really mean worshipping them in such a way as they bow down to them and pray to them, but does it? This is a slippery slope really. 

Putting anything in front of our God, our Father in heaven, in front of our Savior Jesus Christ, is a possible idol-right?

Do you attach yourself to things other than God?

An idol is --

--an image
--a likeness
And that likeness and image can be of an object  real or imagined.
--an image of a heathen god
--a false god

So by definition an idol could be just about anything but it's what you do with that idol that tells the tale, and we are distinctly told NOT to go near idols.  So if an idol could be just about anything what does this really mean? We have to KEEP ourselves from idols.

Reading the Strong's definition we learn that their definition is- 'an image (that is FOR worship), by implication a heathen god or (plural) the worship of such.

The image is FOR worship.

Worship is honoring, praying, giving glory and praise to God- yes?

'To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration.'

Do we do this to objects?

Is there a form of worship that isn't outright adoration, that isn't giving reverence, respect, or veneration?

Do we worship when we adore something, when we have great affection for something even though we do not call it our God?

Is there a way to reverence something without it being your God?

Have we shunned forms of worship yet held fast to the objects that supersede the One and Only True God, is this a new form of worship? Because so many choose NOT to worship any God at all, are they in no danger of idol worship?


More on this tomorrow, all by the grace of God. I really think this needs a lot more study.

All in His love!