Will we keep our sheep's clothing on, refusing to be true sheep?

'We've spent so much time twisting the commandments of God around that we fail to see the truth. We strip the moral commandments of their worth substituting ideas of our own and call it good.  Our Savior will NOT know those who do not follow His TRUTHS, HIS COMMANDMENTS.'

I did NOT write these words--

1Jn_2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments

I did NOT write these words--

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Love God.

Love One Another.

And how do we reveal our love for God and for one another?

We've the perfect moral law that teaches us of this revelation of love. People don't want to see it though. They want to take the moral law and rip it apart as if it were a part of the ceremonial laws- laws of ceremony. The moral law is separate from the ceremonial law. The moral law was reaffirmed by our SAVIOR. Remember this--

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

What law is our Savior referring to here?

The MORAL law!

It is guaranteed that the man kept ALL the moral law- all the ten commandments that comprise the moral law.  He kept the commandments but what he lacked was the heart in the moral law and that is what our Savior came to show by fulfilling the heart of the law in the moral law.  Our Savior revealed HOW to keep His moral law, He did NOT do away with that law, He did NOT change that law.  People had forgotten that the moral law was made up of four laws that reveal our love for God, and six laws that reveal our love for our fellowman.  People forgot the moral law was a law of love and kept it without love which makes it null and void. The man talking to Jesus kept all the law and Jesus didn't tell Him that He didn't. Jesus pointed out where the love of the man truly was, and it wasn't with God, the man had an idol- and that idol was money, his earthly treasure. The man wasn't willing to give up his idol and Jesus revealed this to him. For all that he believed he was keeping the commandments he wasn't truly keeping them from his heart.

Our Savior TAUGHT us how to know Him, will we learn from Him? 

Will we keep our sheep's clothing on, refusing to be true sheep? God forbid!

May our Savior help us to be HIS sheep!

In His love!

Amen.

We want to belong to Christ.

Picking up from yesterday--  'How many people wear sheep's clothing. Obviously so many that some of them don't even know they are wearing the sheep's clothing. Imagine that, not knowing what clothes you have on. Of course we are figuratively speaking but the truth is how is it possible we don’t know what we are wearing and in the figurative sense, how is it possible we don't know that we are NOT Christ's?'

How can we know we are Christ's?

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1Jn_2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

1Jn 2:6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 14:22  Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

*******

THIS IS TRUTH-

1Jn_2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

So let's all be fooled into wearing sheep's clothing rather than being real sheep by NOT keeping our God's commandments!

We LIE to ourselves! We put on the pretty clothing of pretend following and leave it at that, so is it any wonder our Savior will say He doesn't know us?

We analyze and pick apart things until we make them read the way we want them to so we can ease our conscience.  We'd rather have lies that make us feel good than truth that demands we feel the pain, every pain of our willfulness in sin! We need to feel the agony of our weak flesh and not in some sick, tv movie psycho way, but in the way that brings us to repentance, to seeking forgiveness over and over if need be. 

We've spent so much time twisting the commandments of God around that we fail to see the truth. We strip the moral commandments of their worth substituting ideas of our own and call it good.  Our Savior will NOT know those who do not follow His TRUTHS, HIS COMMANDMENTS.

More tomorrow by the grace of our LORD.

May we know and be known of You, LORD and SAVIOR!

Please Father, may we be known.

All through the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

What Clothes Are You Wearing?

We need to be known by God-

Joh_10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

God KNOWS those who are His.

Joh_10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me

God KNOWS those who follow Him in all truth.

Rev_2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars

He KNOWS our works. He KNOWS our labor. He KNOWS our patience.

Rev_2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

He KNOWS our works. He KNOWS our tribulation. He KNOWS our poverty, He KNOWS our blasphemy.

Rev_2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

He KNOWS our works. He KNOWS where we dwell.

Rev_2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

He KNOWS our works. He KNOWS our love. He KNOWS our service. He KNOWS our faith. He KNOWS our patience.

Rev_3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

He KNOWS our works.

Rev_3:8  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

He KNOWS our works.

Rev_3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

He KNOWS our works.

He KNOWS US!

So when He tells those who think they are His but aren't that He doesn't never knew them it isn't that He doesn't know the things they've done, obviously He must in order to know that He doesn't know them. He doesn't know them to be HIS. They are NOT His sheep! They are NOT of HIS fold! He knows enough about them to know they are pretenders, not truth seekers. 

Mat_7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Sheep's clothing.

How many people wear sheep's clothing. Obviously so many that some of them don't even know they are wearing the sheep's clothing. Imagine that, not knowing what clothes you have on. Of course we are figuratively speaking but the truth is how is it possible we don’t know what we are wearing and in the figurative sense, how is it possible we don't know that we are NOT Christ's?

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ.

May His will be done.

Amen.

Remember and Be Known

Remember.

Remember. Why? Because there is potential to FORGET. 

Some families make a huge deal about remembering their personal history. Tales are told and passed down generation to generation.  There are things that we don't want to forget, and there are things we'd love to be able to forget.

A sure way NOT to forget something is to have reminders.  Our phones can give us alarm reminders, our computers the same, we can write notes and stick them where we'll see them, and even tie a string around our fingers to jog our memories. We need reminders and often the older we get the more reminders we need. Then again, some people are naturally forgetful while others remember lots of things and seldom forget.

Our Creators did not want us to forget them.

When you don't want someone to forget you, what do you do?

You give them reminders.

If you can you visit them, you talk with them, you make your presence known to them. The surest way for people to forget you is to not have any contact with them. I'm not saying everyone will forget you over time without contact, I still remember people from my childhood. Those people I remember might even remember me, it's possible. However there are many people we forget through the years too. Some of those people remember us even when we don't remember them.

If you want someone to know you how do you accomplish that?

Another person can't know you if you don't communicate with them. You could live with a person for years and not know them if you don't communicate with them, if you don't interact with them. You may thing you know them and they may think they know you, but in truth we aren't known and do not know without interacting and communication.

Our Creators, our Redeemer wants us to remember them and they want to know us.

How we accomplish this is written in God's word to us.

Do we want God to know us?

We should.

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.

Yes, we should want our Savior to know us.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In His amazing love.

Amen.

God asks us to remember

Remember….

Today I came face to face with the extreme deterioration of a person's ability to remember. I've seen alarming glimpses into someone losing their short term memory- my mother has Alzheimer's Disease. It's heart breaking. The ability to remember is such an important part of life. When the memory goes so much is lost. 

Our God has asked us to remember. 

When we are asked to remember something we make a determination subconsciously if not consciously, how important that thing is we are supposed to remember.   Such as life or death remembering. If a life depends upon your remembering something you do all you can to remember, don't you? However if it's a matter of remembering to pick up some milk for a snack of milk and cookies later- and you forget- no one dies. There might be disappointment but no loss of life.  Remembering a loved one's birthday is important, feelings get hurt terribly when you are forgotten, but is that life threatening? No.

God has asked us to remember.

Does it matter WHO is asking us to remember? Are we more likely to make sure we remember something if someone we deem important asks? If the President of the United States asked us to do something would we take any chance on forgetting to do it? Some who don't like the president would say, "Sure thing."  So maybe it was your boss and your job is dependent upon it, or your mother or father who asks you to remember.  Would a strangers asking you to remember something be more important to you than a loved ones?

When our CREATOR asks us to remember something what importance do we place upon His request?

When our REDEEMER asks us to remember something what importance do we place upon His request?

Having the ABILITY to remember things is IMPORTANT, and we realize this more when we see people losing that ability. As long as we are capable of remembering things we MUST make it our duty to remember.

If our Savior tells us to do something in remembrance of Him, it is very important we do what He tells us to do.  If our Creator tells us to do something in remembrance of Him we do what He tells us.

Exo_20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

Luk_22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

More tomorrow by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Remembering- Created and Redeemed

(More on this days later…) Recap…

'We must be sustained by Jesus Christ our LORD!

When we partake of the symbolic ritual for our spiritual life we are RECOGNIZING our SPIRITUAL life, we are RECOGNIZING WALKING in the Spirit!  We are making an outward symbolic show of a WAY OF LIVING! This is a LIFE SYMBOL! A SPIRITUAL LIFE SYMBOL!  We are asking to walk in the Spirit, in the NEWNESS of life!

Rom_6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in NEWNESS of life.

We are proclaiming our new life symbolically!

Is it any wonder we should NOT enact this symbolic ritual lightly? If we don't recognize the importance of the ritual of what it's truly symbolic of and what it means to us as we proclaim our new lives then we are making an EMPTY gesture that means absolutely nothing! '

When we are baptized by full immersion we are making a declaration-

Reread the above verse- Romans 6:4 Therefore we are BURIED with HIM by BAPTISM into DEATH-  that like as Christ was RAISED up from the DEAD by the GLORY of the FATHER, even so WE ALSO should WALK in NEWNESS OF LIFE.

When we enter the water we are entering our spiritual grave.  When we are lowered beneath the water we are buried under the water in our spiritual grave and if we are never raised from that water we would physically die.  When we are raised from our spiritual grave we are raised into a new spiritual life, our OLD life buried, our sins forgiven, we have a NEW LIFE.

This symbolic act - baptism by full immersion- reveals our desire to live a new life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Another symbolic act we are given …

Luk 22:14  And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

'THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.'

And we know that Paul reprimanded early Christians telling them that when they got together they weren't to eat the LORD'S SUPPER to satisfy their hunger or need to drink- they could eat and drink their ordinary meals not use the remembrance symbol to fill their bellies. The remembrance symbol was just that - something to partake in solemnly while REMEMBERING our Savior's sacrifice!  

1Co 11:20  When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

1Co 11:21  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

1Co 11:22  What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

1Co 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Paul explained the symbolic ritual that was for our NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE!

Jesus said-

THIS IS MY BODY- a broken body- broken bread.

THIS IS MY BLOOD-  a NEW TESTAMENT.

We all know a 'last will and testament', is something that reveals what is bequeathed upon those who remain after someone dies.  Jesus' NEW TESTAMENT His Sacrifice took the place of the OLD TESTAMENT of animal sacrifices.  Jesus' blood took the place of the animals blood that pointed to a more perfect sacrifice.

When we rise in newness of life, a spiritual birth, born again in Christ- we must be in CONSTANT remembrance of this new life and how it came to be.

We must NEVER partake of the Lord's Supper without truly remembering the reason we are breaking the bread and drinking the wine. If we partake of the Lord's Supper hoping it'll stave off hunger and thirst of a physical nature we are not REMEMBERING our Savior and His Sacrifice!

Truly this SPIRITUAL RITUAL is an amazing opportunity to relive our baptism in Christ.

A spiritual sustenance necessary for a spiritual newness.

We are BURIED with Christ in baptism and raised to NEW LIFE as He was raised to new life.

We recall the DEATH, the SACRIFICE that led to the BURIAL of our Savior, and symbolically we ACCEPT the Sacrifice made so we could LIVE a new spiritual life!

We have to comprehend what we are symbolically remembering as we partake in the Lord's Supper, to eat and drink it without that forethought truly is to do it in vain.  Is it any wonder we are told we are eating and drinking to our own damnation when we do not comprehend the spiritually sustaining ritual in the symbolic spiritual sustenance we are eating and drinking?  As we put the symbol of bread in our mouths and it is broken we must remember the broken body of our Savior.  As we put the symbol of wine in our mouths and drink it we must remember the blood that our Savior shed so we might life. We must remember the SACRIFICE that SAVES US, giving us a NEW SPIRIT LIFE-  a newness of life, born again not of flesh but of spirit, this is what our SAVIOR died to give to us!

Without the REMEMBRANCE - the ritual is senseless and in vain, it is spiritually deadly.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

We SYMBOLICALLY show the LORD'S DEATH- by REMEMBERING the LORD'S DEATH.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

We must EXAMINE ourselves and by this we mean we MUST know WHY we are partaking of this Spiritual Ritual. We are partaking because we are REMEMBERING what was done for us by our SAVIOR!  We are acknowledging our NEED of FORGIVENESS found in our SAVIOR- HE DIED so we could be FORGIVEN! HE is the Supplier of our Atonement, through Him we are made One with our Creator, our Redeemer, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We partake of this ritual of Spirituality- knowing that as we physically eat and drink we are doing this to affect ourselves Spiritually.  We are WALKING in the SPIRITUAL. We are walking in the newness of life, a life everlasting offered to us through the death and resurrection of our Savior.

 A spiritual remembrance.

 Much as we are to remember the Sabbath Day, we are in REMEMBRANCE to enact the ritual of the Lord's Supper.

We remember the Sabbath so we never forget we are created beings and not beings who created ourselves, or just happened to find existence haphazardly.

We remember our Savior's Death so we never forget we've been offered redemption from our fallen sinful state, we've been SAVED by a Redeemer.

Created and Redeemed.

Please, Heavenly Father, help us to be Yours! Let Your will be done in us! Keep us in YOU. Help us to NEVER FORGET we were created and we were redeemed! 

Thank you! All glory and honor unto You!

All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Amen.

Watcher

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Do we watch and pray so we don't enter into temptation?

Our Savior said these words- "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

And because our spirit is willing but our flesh weak- we MUST WATCH and PRAY.

WATCH and PRAY!

Mat 24:42  WATCH therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Mat 25:13  WATCH therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Mar 13:33  Take ye heed, WATCH and PRAY: for ye know not when the time is.

Mar 13:34  For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to WATCH.

Mar 13:35  WATCH ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

Mar 13:36  Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

Mar 13:37  And what I say unto you I say unto all, WATCH.

Luk 21:36  WATCH ye therefore, and PRAY always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Luk 22:40  And when he was at the place, he said unto them, PRAY that ye enter not into temptation.

1Co 16:13  WATCH ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Eph 6:18  PRAYING always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and WATCHING thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and WATCH unto PRAYER.

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

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that WATCHETH, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

*******

Are you a WATCHER?

Should you be a WATCHER?

We need to ALL watch, all who would be our Savior's. 

We need to ALL pray.

Tell me every day do you watch? What does it mean to watch?  It means to be ready. To know that our Savior is returning, and doing so soon. We watch, we hope, we know and this must be a constant in our lives.  Watch- look for- and in watching and looking be ready.

We have all waited for people to come see us.  If necessary we prepare for their arrival.  Our Savior wants us ready for Him. Our Savior wants us prepared for Him. Our Savior wants us to be waiting. Our Savior wants us to be praying.

More tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!

Amen.

Sufficient in God

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God

God is all things. We were created by God to be a part of God's existence, not to become little gods all on our own.

We are so incredibly arrogant.  Some people truly believe they are their own masters of fate. The truth is, they had NO control over their own birth, their own young years, and then the control they did receive when they became old enough to begin making their own choices was a flawed one. So many times as adults we look back on the mistakes of our youth and say - "If I could go back in time I wouldn't do this or that." We also might say that we wouldn't change anything because it would alter who we are today etc. But we cannot say in all honesty that there is nothing we regret in our lives.  We have regrets because of bad decisions we've made. And because we are arrogant we blame God for the bad things in the world. Or we choose not to believe there is a God because there are bad things in the world. We believe there is nothing but this awful life for so many millions and millions of people suffering horrifically, and that's all they have. They only have this awful life and then nothing because they believe in nothing.  How incredibly awful to believe in nothing. How incredibly awful to believe we are all there is. Some people might find their own sort of arrogant solace in believing nothing, they might find their own happiness in their self-perceived superiority and they are allowed that. They are allowed to believe whatever they choose, and I, personally  will NOT try and force anyone to believe otherwise. It breaks my heart that their spiritual blindness has totally deceived them and they truly believe they are sufficient of themselves and have no need of God.

I am NOT sufficient of myself. All I do will not save me. All I do is not of love.  I NEED GOD to be sufficient for me, I need God to be my Savior. I need  God to be in me for me to have Hope! If I dared to believe I could save myself, if I dared believe I could have hope in just me, I would be deluded, and hopeless.  I am as a little child, dependent upon my God, my Creator, my Redeemer, the Holy Spirit.

My sufficiency is of God!  I am not better than a single other person in this world, not one. Christ is all things. 

Money has no worth, but the worth we give it as a culture.  We say gold has worth but if we said a pebble had worth then it would have worth.

We deem each other as having worth - we must because we are all human beings.  When we fail to see each other as having worth we can hurt each other without any prick of conscience. 

We have worth to God, incredible worth! He created us!  And we all know on the level of humanity that most children have great worth to most parents. We also know we cannot force our children to love us or even like us. When children are young we can force them to do things they don't want to- their homework, cleaning, etc. but even then we cannot force them to love us. You might be able to force the words from a child, but the words in and of themselves are not that love. We can pretend they are love, but you cannot force love from anyone- it must be freely given.

Our Heavenly Father, our Creator does not force us to love Him, He will not force us to accept Him, He will not force us into an eternal life with Him.  He will not drag us adult children into His everlasting life.  He will accept us who - like little children- trust Him, and He will take care of us who accept that we are His children in need of Him.

If you believe God should force us to love Him,  then you believe we should have no free will. 

God would have us with the understanding of our dependency as little children, with the trust of a child, and as adult children with the free choice to choose to love Him.

A little baby was NOT the first human being.

A grown man was the first human being.

A grown man made a choice to obey or disobey His Creator.  A grown man has that power of choice to love and obey, or not.

Please, heavenly Father, please we would be YOURS. We choose YOU. Please forgive us and make it possible for us to be Yours. Helps us to do whatever we need to do, to believe as we need to believe, to strive, to deny self, to sin no more, to repent, please help us be all we cannot be without You as we submit wholly t o You and Your will. 

All in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

We can become blind

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

People WREST the scriptures to their OWN destruction all the time.  Rather than LOVING God and LOVING others they are self seeking.  People can take a child's funny, loving story and twist it until it becomes something awful if they want to.  People can and will do a lot of things, and if they are self-serving that's all they will get from the Word of God more self-serving.  The unlearned, the unstable will take the scriptures and read them with truth-blind eyes. With hearts closed, the understanding is closed.  God's word will NOT be understood by anyone that seeks to understand God's word for self serving reasons, for reasons contrary to God and His love.

We who are blessed with understanding can also become blind.  We aren't guaranteed spiritual sight endlessly any more than we are guaranteed eternal life because we accept Christ once and then no more.  We can have sight, and lose sight.  We have to BEWARE that the wicked will led us into their darkness, into their blindness.  We NEED to GROW in GRACE. We need to GROW in KNOWLEDGE of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. To GOD be the GLORY now and forever!

If we are NOT growing in grace, if we are NOT growing in knowledge of our SAVIOR then we are in danger of growing away from our God.

We've discussed growing in grace and knowledge of our Savior before, not too long ago, but it bears discussing over and over.

Are we growing in grace-----

-----are we becoming more about love towards others in all our actions?  Or are we stagnant- being who we are and unneedful of change, of growth? Do we stubbornly insist upon remaining who we are because we are unable to be loving as we know we should? Do we want to blame our inability to submit to God, to allow Him to work in us, on our just being who we are?  Do we choose to LIMIT God's ability to change us, to love in us based on our own belief we are who we are- end of story?

This is a war, and war often means fighting the seemingly same battles over and over and over. We don't stop fighting those same battles, we know who the winner is and we fight for the winner knowing we will win the battles through HIS victory. 

We must GROW.

GROW.

By His grace, we will GROW, in HIM we will GROW.  All in HIS LOVE!

Amen.

We choose what to believe

God doesn't deny us eternal life, we deny ourselves eternal life.  God doesn't force us to love Him, we must choose to love Him.

Our history shows that many of our world's leaders demand the love of those around them even when they know demanding that love doesn't make it love at all.  A lot of people in power and money strive for love but never fully trust the love they are getting is real and not just given out of greed.  We all want love. We want someone to care for us and our wellbeing. We have this idea of what love is and we know how often and how much we've not been given, or given that love. We KNOW ourselves and our SELFISHNESS. We know the amazing gift of someone revealing love in unprovoked kindness. There is SO much we do know about ourselves as human beings and we also know that those who live with God cover the same broad spectrum as those who choose to live without God.

Without God you can be kind or cruel.

With God you can be kind or cruel.

Without God you can love or hate.

With God you can love or hate.

You can be a spiteful, selfish, greedy, hurtful Christian and you can be that because you are allowed to call yourself by any name you choose, it doesn't make you a true follower of Christ.  The world is FILLED with people who claim to be things they aren't.  The world is FILLED with incredibly FLAWED human beings and try as they might NO natural born human being has EVER been able to fix the flaws. Some even believe we have to remain flawed endlessly, infinitely into infinity flawed. Some believe that babies need to be born with diseases, sicknesses, deformities- and they say they have to be because humans are flawed and there is no fixing them.

This world is so INCREDIBLY full of diseases, sicknesses, and just when we believe we've cured one another evil rears its ugly head.

This is the world, this is the life that people say there are answers to and perhaps in a billion years things will somehow be fixed and people will live in harmony and there will be no illnesses etc. and no one will have to go through the pain-filled lives we have all had to go through.

These people believe this is all there is to life - this existence we experience and then it is over. These people live without faith, without hope that there exists an end to all pain in their lifetimes.  And God allows them to live this way.  But they don't believe in God. I do believe in God. I believe in hope. I believe in faith. I believe there is so much more than what we experience here and now and I HAVE to believe this because to not believe makes this life senseless, choosing to live in constant pain - emotionally, mentally, physically- and to promote that kind of existence for the future endlessly is truly senseless.

To believe we just came into being haphazardly make no sense at all.

What makes sense to me, doesn't have to make sense to you.  We've been created with the ability to make our own choices, to choose to believe or not to believe. I would NEVER force my beliefs on another, not ever. Any who would force their beliefs on others is not a follower of the Gods I believe in. 

My Gods are God the Father, God the Begotten Son of the Father, and God the Holy Spirit.  Three God who agree as One.

My Gods have given me hope, faith, love in a future free of all that bring heartache and pain now.

Am I delusional? No. But others may choose to believe I am and they're allowed to believe that, I won't try to stop them or convince them otherwise.

We all have to choose what things we believe in, every single one of us chooses even if it's the choice not to believe in anything.

I'm going to keep on praying, keep on hoping, keep on worshiping my Gods all by their grace and mercy, their love, their power.  And if choosing to do this harms no one at all, I hope I'm allowed to continue to believe as I choose. I hope you'll find the love I have found in my Gods, I hope and pray that you all choose eternal life in them.

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.

1Jn_5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

Joh_3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1Jn 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1Jn 5:8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 

His Love, Our Love

Exo_20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Keep God's commandments.

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Why do we believe God's commandments from the Old Testament are contrary to Christ's commandments from the New Testament?

God the Father and God the Son have always been.  God the Son was NEVER not with God the Father.  God the Father did NOT birth God the Son. The Son was God with God until He was declared God the Son.  They have NEVER disagreed with one another, NEVER! Christ did NOT come to earth to tell us that His Father's commandments were wrong and no longer to be kept.  Christ came to earth and revealed the LOVE in each commandment.  The LOVE, HIS LOVE.

Every single one of the TEN commandments is a revelation of God's love.

Yet we view them as restrictive commands that needed to be done away with, why?

Love.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (( (We need no other god than our Creator, our Redeemer.))))

Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.  (((We need no *things* to worship, we worship our Creator, our Redeemer.))))

Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.  (((We need never use our God's name needlessly. He is holy! He is LOVE!))))

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (((We need to forever remember our Creator, our Redeemer.))))

Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.  (((We need to honor our parents- they gave us life in order for us to love.))))

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.  (((We should not end anyone's ability to know love, to know God.))))

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery. (((We need not take anyone that is committed to another and we need not break our commitment to anyone.))))

Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal. (((We need not take what isn't ours.))))

Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.  (((We need not lie about anyone.))))

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (((We need not desire anything that isn't ours.))))

What of those ten commandments is worth doing away with?  Should we not love our Creator, our Redeemer? Should we not keep away from things that would take our love for our Creator, our Redeemer away? Should we not keep from regarding our Creator and Redeemer senselessly? Should we not set aside time for our God, our Creator, our Redeemer? Should we not honor our parents? Should we not keep from taking another's life? Should we not keep from breaking our commitments or the commitments of others? Should we not keep from taking things that don't belong to us? Should we not keep from lying about others? Should we not keep from desiring the things that belong to others to our detriment? 

Tell me, please, which of these is wrong? Which of these should no longer be kept?

Surely the ceremonials laws that pointed to our Savior's sacrifice could be easily done away with once you accept that He fulfilled those laws, but the moral law? What of it did Jesus come to tell us was wrong? How could laws given out of love, laws we are told this about--

Exo_20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

And this--

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

-- how could they be something wrong, something bad, something no longer needed?  How? Why? 

Truly, why would it be necessary to no longer need to follow commandments of love?

We love with His love.

He's revealed His love to us in many, many ways.  Why do we want to do away with love's revelation in those commandments because we want to put ourselves first? We would rather put self first and self gets in the way. 

When we tell someone we love them, what exactly do we mean?

We mean we wish them no harm in any way, we wish them no ill will, we hope they'll be happy, we want them to know the love of God and have eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Wait, that might not be what you mean, but it is what I mean. I love them with the love of God, the love that Christ Jesus makes possible for me to love with. My love is so imperfect, I can't love with my love, I have to love with the love of God all by HIS grace and mercy. He, along with His only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit, are pure love we must recognize this and choose to allow them to live in us doing for us what we cannot do.

In the name of the Son, Jesus Christ our Savior!

Amen.

We must live His love

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 

Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him

*******

Our old man is crucified with Christ.

That old man is dead

In death we are freed from sin-  truly you can no longer sin once you are dead.

If we are dead with Christ- if our old man of sin is crucified with Christ we MUST live with Him.

Newness of life.

This is truth. I have to ask this- is JESUS REAL TO YOU?!

Do you have a REAL relationship with JESUS? 

Do you WALK in NEWNESS of LIFE with JESUS?

What's a relationship with Jesus entail? What's a new life with Jesus mean?

We must live His love.

We must forgive to be forgiven.

We must have no guile.

To do all that we must let HIM do it all in US.

We must CHOOSE Christ.

We must be crucified with Him and we must live with Him.   Self dies, serving sin dies, so we can  live in HIM!

Please LORD save us, help us live in YOU in newness of LIFE!

All in YOUR love!

Spiritual Sustenance

This is the WILL of GOD-

Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Joh 6:36  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Joh 6:37  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 

Joh 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 

Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word

Everyone who believes in the Savior, Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of God- God in flesh-- the Sustainer of our spiritual life in all ways - will have EVERLASTING LIFE- raised in the last day!  Raised from the grave, or raised from the earth- raised to meet our Savior in the air!

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.

This is the will of God that we LIVE in CHRIST.

Is it any wonder our Savior would tell us He must be our sustainer?  Is it any wonder our Savior would enact an example of that sustaining for us to follow? 

Jesus is our LIFE!

Every single time we enact the example He left for us to follow we are doing so, admitting to our need of a SAVIOR, our need of a LIFE GIVER, our need to be SAVED by HIM and not ourselves!

We are our NOT own sustainers.

We cannot keep ourselves alive by ourselves physically or spiritually. We must have OUTSIDE sustenance.  The food and drink we consume keeps us alive physically. We must consume something outside ourselves to live! No one disputes this fact, no one. There is not a single person alive who lives without consuming sustenance outside of themselves. Yes, some people are kept alive by being giving intravenous nutrients, but those liquid nutrients are outside of themselves.  And JUST as we can only live physically by consuming outside sustenance, we can ONLY live spiritually by consuming outside sustenance- a spiritual sustenance outside of ourselves!

SPIRITUAL SUSTENANCE!

Spiritual sustenance for our spiritual life.  Why would our Savior want us to have HIS ACTUAL FLESH, He wants us to have His SPIRITUAL flesh, His SPIRITUAL blood!  The bread and the wine are SYMBOLS of the SPIRITUAL, they are not turned into PHYSICAL forms of the actual FLESH and actual BLOOD of our Savior, not in any way!

The SYMBOLIC RITUAL is for our SPIRITUAL LIFE. 

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.

Heb_11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We must be sustained by Jesus Christ our LORD!

When we partake of the symbolic ritual for our spiritual life we are recognizing our SPIRITUAL life, we are recognizing WALKING in the Spirit!  We are making an outward symbolic show of a way of living! This is a LIFE symbol! A Spiritual Life symbol!  We are asking to walk in the Spirit, in the NEWNESS of life!

Rom_6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We are proclaiming our new life symbolically!

Is it any wonder we should NOT enact this symbolic ritual lightly? If we don't recognize the importance of the ritual of what it's truly symbolic of and what it means to us as we proclaim our new lives then we are making an EMPTY gesture that means absolutely nothing! 

More on this tomorrow by the mercy and grace of our LORD and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ!

Amen!

Never hunger, never thirst- spiritually

Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

*******

Jesus is the BREAD of LIFE.

What life?  Can Jesus promise us to never hunger or thirst right now? We all get thirsty and we all get hungry so this can't be the case.

Joh_6:31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Joh_6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

Joh_6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

Joh_6:34  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Luk 22:21  But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

*******

Out of Jesus' belly shall flow rivers of living water.  Is this literal? No. In fact He goes on to say- 'spake he of the Spirit'.

Jesus told thousands of His followers that his flesh and  blood were life. He told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood.  His disciples told Him it was hard to understand.   And He answered saying this--

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The words that I speak-- are SPIRIT and they are LIFE.

Jesus did NOT take His REAL flesh and blood and make His disciples eat of it! NEVER!

He took BREAD and WINE and used them as symbols because HE knew mankind would need these symbols. He did NOT make the bread and wine His flesh and blood- He said they are SPIRIT and they are LIFE.  Just as living water did NOT flow from His belly - the SPIRIT- He spoke of the SPIRIT.

These are spiritual words, this is a spiritual message!

Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

He is the bread and the wine- we shall not SPIRITUALLY go hungry, we will not SPIRITUALLY be thirsty.

When we symbolically eat bread and drink wine in the ritual Jesus gave us to specifically remember HIM, it wasn't with the intention of us believing we are physically eating and drinking Him, He never intended that, never.  He wanted us to focus on the SPIRITUAL life we must have with HIM, not the FLESH!

More on this tomorrow by the grace of GOD.

All in HIS LOVE!