Read God's Word.

 I timed the following excerpt (after my rambling) just to see how long it took me to read it so when someone thinks something might be too long to read, often times it isn't, it just appears that way. 

We can choose not to study God's word, it's in everyone's power to choose how they spend their time. Let me ask you something though, is time ever wasted when it's spent in God's word? We are Christians, and as Christ followers He led us by example. He was constantly in the Word (the Old Testament) during His ministry on earth. His apostles were constantly in the Old Testament too bringing the new light on the truths as they unfolded in light of our Savior's appearance, ministry, life and death, and life again- bringing us the New Testament.

Ask yourself why you don't want to study God's word for yourself. What answers have you come up with? Do you suppose there is a great, powerful force that wants to keep an honest searcher for truth from the word of God? Just as all day long we *force* ourselves to do things we might not particularly like to do- but we do them because our health needs it or it's the right thing for us to do. I'm not going to list things here, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes simply forcing ourselves to get up out of bed is bothersome, but we do it because we know it's best for us regardless of how we feel about it.  If we took the Word of God and made it into something we have to do regardless of how we're feeling, what do you suppose would happen?  Do you think it'd become stale and boring, a chore, a bother, a chain about your neck?  It could become those things, Satan sure wants it to become all of those things.  But if we go before our God with an honest heart searching even a single verse from His word each day and truly reading and meditating upon it- not just reading it quickly and going on our merry way forgetting it. If we do this, we are recognizing that we are doing the WILL of God, and we aren't letting Satan have the upper hand over us- counting on our feelings of being too tired, too busy with other things, too not interested, too anything. 

I've blathered long enough, I do that all the time, but please take TWO minutes to read the following, please. 

*******(Excerpt - EJ Waggoner)

…Just as we live naturally by breathing, so we are to live spiritually by faith, and our whole life is to be spiritual. 

Faith is the breath of life to the Christian. So just as we naturally live from breath to breath, we are to live spiritually from faith to faith.

We can live but one breath at a time; so we can not live spiritually except by present faith. If we live a life of conscious dependence upon God, his righteousness will be ours, for we shall breathe it in continually. Faith gives us strength, for those who have exercised it "out of weakness were made strong." Heb. 11:34.

So of those who accept the revelation of God's righteousness "from faith to faith," it is said, "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." Ps. 84:7. 

Let us not forget that it is from the very words of the Bible that one is to learn. All the real help that any teacher can be to any one in the study of the Bible is to show him how to fix his mind more clearly upon the exact words of the sacred text. 

Therefore, first of all, read the text over many times. Do not do this hastily, but carefully,  paying particular attention to every statement. Do not waste one moment in speculating as to the possible meaning of the text. There is nothing worse than guessing the meaning of a text of Scripture, unless it is the acceptance of somebody else's guess. Nobody can know any more of the Bible than the Bible itself tells; and the Bible is just as ready to tell its story to one person as to another.

Question the text closely. Probe it again and again, always in a reverent, prayerful spirit, to make it reveal itself.  Do not be discouraged if you do not at once see all that there is in the text. Remember that it is the word of God,  and that it is infinite in its depth, and that you can never exhaust it. When you come across a difficult statement,  go back and consider it in connection with what precedes. Do not think that you can ever get at the full meaning of any text apart from its connection. By constant application to the words of the text, in order to be sure that you know exactly what it says, you will soon have them constantly in your mind; and it is then that you will begin to reap some of the rich fruits of Bible study; for at unexpected times new light will flash from them, and through them from other scriptures as you read.

*******

(Waggoner on Romans- God's Revelation to Man Nov. 14. 1895

God, Be Merciful to Me A Sinner!

 We have no righteousness of our own.

Sadly many are seeking to BECOME righteous, rather than accept God's righteousness.  We like to think we have a hand in our salvation. Right now, I sit here and know that  all the supposed 'good things' I do are meaningless, completely and utterly meaningless, unless… Yes, I said, unless.  Unless they are a revelation of Christ's righteousness.  Christ is the righteous One I am a filthy sinner dependent wholly upon His righteousness and I will remain a filthy sinner constantly dependent upon the righteousness of Christ until He clothes me in His righteousness upon His appearing. To forget that we are totally reliant upon Christ, and start to branch out testing the waters of our own righteousness, is dangerous, so very dangerous. To give ourselves pats on the back, thinking we are doing good, is dangerous. Puffing ourselves us starts out very small. Everyone can rightly agree that when a very arrogant, self-righteous person is being blatant about themselves that it's easy to spot the flaw in that. It's the tiny, hidden little bits of praise we place upon ourselves that start to form a secret belief we have a righteousness that is ours. It's so easy to take on praise for ourselves, people want us to accept their praise! People want us to say, thank you for this and that, for thinking well of the things I do. They want us to thank them for their praise and some even get a bit offended when you refuse their praise as if we are diminishing their goodness in even offering praise.  It's a very tangled, twisted web that is easy to get trapped inside of. We all like to feel there is something worthy in us, something good in us, that we do good things, helpful things. Satan is ever ready to give us all the praise we desire for every good thing WE do. 

We HAVE to give ALL the glory to GOD where it belongs. Any good thing I DO, should it be deemed good by anyone at all whatsoever, it comes by the glory of God! Any good thing in me has to be God in me or else… in seeps that sneaky self-righteousness, and the forgetting that ALL my righteousness' are filthy rags. 

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Filthy rags- that is all our righteousness can be.

We need Christ's righteousness.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The people in whose heart is God's law- will know righteousness.

Isa_51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law…

All God's commandments are righteousness.

Psa 119:172  My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. 

May God keep ever before us the Righteousness of Christ! May we know that it is God who is Righteous! May we in the face of all who would praise us, turn and give the glory to GOD. And if someone thinks we are being facetious towards them and their desire to praise us, let them. We aren't negating their praise for us, we are telling them that it is Christ in us our hope and glory who is using us, working through us to produce whatever good that comes from us! I would rather incite the irritation of anyone, than neglect to give the glory to God. Even writing this right now, I hear whispers of Satan telling me, aren't I the self-righteous one for even thinking I can give the glory to God and take none for myself. That I am glorifying myself by glorifying God.  Satan is our enemy, ever there to twist everything He can!  If I AM being self-righteous… and we are prone towards that, really, we are… I pray for forgiveness! And if my prayer for forgiveness is self-righteousness, I simply lay down at the foot of the cross and ask God to continuously, forever crucify the self in me in all its hidden and blatant ways whatever they may be! 

All glory to God!

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

To God be ALL the glory! 

God, be merciful to me a sinner!

I Want to Believe.

 

Faith- It is the work of God that we are to do- Believe. 

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Work - by definition- is - noun 1. activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. 2. a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do. Verb 1. be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.

Work is an activity, when we are told that God's work is that we believe on Jesus - we are being told that to believe is an activity, it's an action. It's something we do mentally, a task undertaken, we want to achieve the result of doing the work God would have us do.

For how many people is their Believing in Jesus Christ an activity, an action? 

I believe in a lot of things that don't require me to work at believing them. I believe that I am a woman, I believe that I am a cat owner, I believe that I live in Florida.  I believe all those things and I don't have to actively expend effort, it's not a task, that there is no result based on the outcome of those beliefs.  There is an active belief and a passive belief.

How many people choose the passive belief in Jesus rather than the active belief? 

The work of God is that we believe on Jesus, the reality of Jesus. When asked why you believe in Jesus how do you answer the question? 

The ones asking Jesus said this-

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 

They wanted to do the work of God, or so they said.

Prior to that, what was said-

Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 

Men and woman who had heard Jesus preach and perform miracles, were fed by him miraculously the day before. Then they sought him out and He tells them they aren't seeking Him because of the miracles, (because He is the Son of God, because He is the Messiah, because He can give them eternal life) they are seeing Him because they had their hungry bellies filled with food. They liked being physically fed, and I'm sure most of us can relate to liking to be fed when we are hungry. Jesus wanted them to seek Him for the eternal sustenance that He offered, a true spiritual meat that would give them food that would sustain their eternal lives. 

How many people today live the life of a Christ follower for the temporary sustenance? Because all our temporary sustenance can disappear in a heartbeat. This temporary life we have can end in an instant. All the support we rely upon can cease. Our health could fail us miserably. We could live the lives of Job - metaphorically speaking of course. But everything we touch could seem to fall apart. We could go from one disaster to the next. None of those things mean that our SAVIOR has stopped loving us! Jesus was telling those people they should live for their eternal life, a life found in HIM, a hope found in Him! Yet their minds didn't extend passed their bellies. They wanted a Messiah who would relieve their oppression by the Romans. They wanted a Messiah who would usher in peace in a chaotic existence. They did not want some man spouting words of everlasting life which meant he wasn't going to do anything about their temporary existence.

I'll be the first to admit, I pray for my temporary existence, we are told to ask of the Father and He who knows will hear our petitions. However! First and foremost we have to pray for God's will to be done and that no matter what we are called to endure (and we pray it's not the horrors of Job in the least or the worst) that we will do the WORK of GOD and BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST! 

It's not meant to be an easy life at all. We are to do the work of God and believe! Not do what we think is the work of God and expect an earthly reward for our efforts.

It is my prayer that God helps me to believe and to do the work of God, that I don't get caught up in the horrors of this life and let them drag me away from Him, that I believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation in Him no matter what. Please, Lord… please. 

The fate of the world was decided upon a lie.

 The fate of the world was decided upon a lie. 

Eve had facts- truths from God, and lies from the serpent, Satan. She knew God- her Creator- did not want her to eat from that one tree. Did God go into great detail telling her why she shouldn't eat of it? Was He supposed to convince her to listen to Him? He created her and all the things around her and gave her a single restriction.

I imagine in our world- that there have been countless parents who have told their children not to do something or it would harm them and the children went ahead and did it anyway- and it hurt them. Should the parent have been trusted and listened to? In an ideal world, always.

Satan used a lie to get Eve to sin.  Would she have sinned without Satan lying to her? I don't think so.

Now do you believe Satan's lie just like Eve? It's quite possible you do. Satan said - Gen_3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

And today millions and millions and millions of people believe that lie. They believe no one really dies. They believe they instantly live on after their heart stops beating and their lungs stop breathing. They believe they will in the future (and that their already passed loved ones) simply continue on in a new way of life. They believe they are transformed. But God did not say that in the day ye eat of the tree ye will be transformed, HE DID NOT SAY THAT.  Satan however said- you WON'T die, he has duped the majority of people into believing that lie. Sure, your body here stops existing, no one is disputing that aspect of death, but Satan stands by the old… you didn't really die, you just went to heaven. A lie. Satan would rather we believe that GOD lied than that he lied. He's twisted death to his advantage.

(People just don't want to think that they could be followers of Satan's lies. They think it impossible to be deceived by Satan simply because they believe in the Savior. Read Mark 1:24, demons are talking to Jesus- they KNOW who He is, they believe who He Is, that He is the Holy One of God. Demons BELIEVE! 

Mar 1:24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 

If demons believe in Jesus as the Holy One, how can we simply say we believe and think that's all there is to it all? Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Demons, like their father, lie all the time! Demons do not live for truth, but… they will put their lies so clever done right next to the truth so it's very hard to discern between the two.)

The Bible talks of a 'second death'.  (Be honest with yourself right now, did you know there are two deaths for humans?)

Rev_2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

If there is a first death and you die and are transformed into a being that goes to heaven does the second death mean you have a chance to die again?

Sounds really strange right? Doesn't make sense. Hasn't your so called fate been decided the first time around? 

You see what REALLY happens when we die is we don't transform and go on living with our brain actively cognizant and intact with all our memories and what not. We are thoughtless, unable to think any longer and our bodies decay in the grave. The breath of life that God gave to us upon our birth left our bodies and returned to God. The breath, the spirit that was breathed into every human being through the breath breathed into Adam, contains the essence of who we are, that breath that gave us our ability to live in a body with thoughts, is taken back to God and preserved. Some people find it easy to imagine having their heads (brains) frozen instantly upon death (cryogenics) and think when technology catches up that their brains will be thawed with all their thoughts intact. They have NO trouble at all believing in this as a viable possibility and yet people BULK at the idea of God preserving our spirit/breath in heaven, ready to reunite it with a body transformed by Him - remade from the dust, from the essence of who we were at death only perfectly - immortal. God MADE man!!!! God made man from the dust! Is there anything impossible for God!? Then why can't we accept that our thoughts PERISH after death? Why?) 

Psa_146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Our God who created all things, who created our minds in the first place, will use the same creative power to bring our minds back to life- along with new bodies and He'll do all this when He returns for us and calls us to meet Him in the air.

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. 

The dead will RISE.  Not- those who died and already went on to live happy lives in heave will be given new bodies to go with their spirits that already went there. It doesn't say the dead in heaven will again receive their bodies. In fact, who would want to go from being in supposed spirit form without any restrictions of a body, to being put back into a body? Also, the THOUGHTS of the dead have perished, remember? If they are living on and thinking as so many people believe they are - not dead- then whose thoughts have perished? These are all logical questions that need to be asked.  

Back to the second death-  the Bible has this to say about the second death-

Rev_21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND DEATH.

All those who do NOT go to heaven with Christ WHEN He returns will face the second death. 

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. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

All the living WICKED are destroy by the BRIGHTNESS of Christ's coming! All dead wicked are already in their graves and like those who died in Christ, they've been SLEEPING the death of nothingness, knowing nothing. Now they are joined by the rest of the wicked in death- not transformed into spirits and sent to suffer endlessly. 

All these wicked dead WILL BE resurrected- here's when--

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Rev 20:5  But the REST OF THE DEAD lived NOT again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

After those who are with Christ have lived with Him in heaven a thousand years… then the WICKED dead are raised and then ultimately utterly destroyed completely- their SECOND death- the one that NO Christ follower wants to experience!

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 

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. 

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

Do you understand why the LIE of not REALLY dying matters so much? It's the greatest deception of Satan. If we choose to believe that LIE we are just as Eve, being told that we won't surely die and are deceived by Satan. Once we are deceived by Satan in this way, there is no stopping Him from deceiving us in a multitude of other ways. It only takes one deception cherished deception to keep us from the truth. It only took one bit of a piece of fruit to bring sin to all mankind. So if you think God will overlook a cherished deception when you are presented with His truth, PLEASE think again! Please! 

Remember we told there will be people who think they are the Lord's but He won't know them!!  They'll think all the good they did was for the Lord, but their true master will be Satan.

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. 

The power of a lie goes beyond our ability to fully understand.

A lie is deadly, it kills truth.

When you kill the truth because lies seem easier to accept, you are choosing to live your life in a lie.

Being a truth seeker means diligently searching to know truth.  

If something contrary to a set belief you hold appears in your life you don't ignore it, you study to know truth.

So, just how important is lying in the grand scheme of things? A simple little lie- there no such thing. In the grand scheme of things being a liar, or choosing to believe lies by ignoring truth is of an eternal-life deciding importance.

We live in a world where lying is part of our lives so when we are confronted with whether or not believing a lie is really harmless because it is hurting no one we often err on the side of it being 'not so bad'.  

If you believe something someone else is convinced is a lie and you have studied deeply and still believe that something, then you've done all you can do- you didn't simply accept what you believed- you did all you could possibly do to make sure you believed truth. 

I believe a lot of things that people do not believe, to them, I am believing a bunch of lies.  Now it's up to me to go before God and seek guidance and through prayer and study to decide if I am believing lies. If I don't do this I am accountable for choosing to believe what could very well be traditions of mankind and not God's truth at all. If after extensive study I still believe in things others call lies, then I have to hold fast to what God has convicted me to be truth. Others may continue to believe what I consider to be lies and they individually have to answer to God for their own beliefs- we all do. 

As much as we'd like to believe that believing lies won't hurt someone, they can, but WE ARE NOT the eternal JUDGE!  God alone knows whether or not someone has chosen purposefully to remain blind to truth, or whether they've opened their heart fully to Him and have been given all the light they personally need to be His.  

I may tell someone that what they believe is a lie and then that person has to make the decision to either -- through studying on their own, or asking me to explain my position, or asking others -- to look into their own beliefs, or they can choose to hold fast to their beliefs without questioning them at all. The choice is individual, eternal life will be decided individually.

We all stand alone before God answering to Him for all our decisions.

If you're convicted to tell someone they're believing lies, then tell them. If that results in absolutely no change, leave that to God. A seed planted now might not sprout for a long, long time- we don't know how God will work in other's lives. We should never batter anyone with our beliefs, an offer to expound on our beliefs should be given only once if convicted, not harped upon over and over. 

I write a daily (almost daily) study I call it, but it's possibly more of a blog, or just a plain old journal, who knows. I post it here and there, and send it to a few people etc, but I do this, KNOWING no one who comes across the posting or email HAS to read it, there is no force involved at all whatsoever. We have the option to ignore things people post/write- it's not battering unless someone is forced to listen, to read. 

Truth is something I pray I always seek, and I pray to never accept a single lie- from myself or others.  Perhaps part of our 'forgiving those who trespass against us' is about forgiving living surrounded by lies told to us as a part of society's way of life. 

God help us all.  Jesus is…

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.

Jesus is THE TRUTH.

Satan is the father of lies.

If we can't comprehend the insidiousness of lying then Satan has deceived us into believing so.  God help us!

All in the name of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!!!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!

(Partially from Nov. 21, 2020 with revisions etc) 

Never Ashamed.

 Never be ashamed of God, of the Gospel of Christ- never!

Mar_8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Rom_1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom_5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom_9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Rom_10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

2Ti_1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God

2Ti_1:12  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

1Pe_4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

1Jn_2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Excerpt - EJ Waggoner--

'Ashamed of the gospel of Christ! 

Could there possibly be a worse case of the exaltation of self above God? 

For to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, is an evidence that the man who feels thus ashamed really thinks himself superior to God, and that it is a lowering of his dignity to be associated with the Lord.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far

  Let evening blush to own a star;

  He sheds the beams of light divine

  O'er this benighted soul of mine.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon

  Let midnight be ashamed of noon;

  'Twas midnight with my soul till he,

  Bright Morning Star, bade darkness flee."'

(11/20/2020)

*******

If I were to be ashamed of myself, it means I would be embarrassed, deeply humiliated by my own actions, or my own perceived shortcomings whether or not they are of a nature I could control. 

I have been deeply ashamed to be overweight throughout my entire life - some times more ashamed than others. I have been given reason to feel that shame by many others over the course of my life. Snide remarks from strangers, blatant verbal abuse by those I love, authority figures - Doctors and the like- using my weight to shame me (and I mean that sincerely. There is a great difference between a medical professional being genuinely concerned for your health due to weight, and wanting to shame a patient- thinking that is the affective treatment.) I have had people outright say, 'Wow, your butt is huge!' And, when you hear things like that, the shame you feel is overwhelming. That person didn't make that remark in order to give me a compliment. It was meant to shock  me and hurt me, and make me feel deep humiliation. Being overweight isn't the same for everyone. Some carry weight evenly distributed all over, while other have a focused concentration of that excess weight which makes them look even worse. A giant pear shaped person is subject to more ridicule than an apple shape.  Laugh if you need to at my description, but it's true. 

I'm talking about knowing what it means to feel shame towards oneself. It's something I know very, very well.  

Now, what do I know about feeling ashamed of another person? I have felt that towards other people during my life- ashamed of actions they committed that I wouldn't dream of doing simply because I'm an extreme introvert. I've been ashamed of others behavior. Go ahead shake your heads and tell me it's wrong to be ashamed of others. When someone close to you gets drunk and makes a public spectacle of themselves and you, feeling ashamed of that person's behavior may or may not be wrong I don't know. Is being ashamed of another really just saying their actions, their whatever is it I'm ashamed of is a REFLECTION on me, and therefore it's hurt me because others have viewed me in the light of their shameful behavior? I'm embarrassed by association? I'm humiliated by association? 

Shame towards ourselves and being ashamed of others…  when you know shame towards yourself are you less likely to be ashamed of others?

I don't know, what I do know is, that we are NOT TO BE ASHAMED OF CHRIST.  

Why would we be ashamed of Christ? What could cause us to be ashamed of our Savior? We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel of our Christ. Why should we be, it's the Gospel of Salvation! 

If we are ever in a situation where we feel humiliated by our Savior and His truth, we need to reevaluate our relationship with Him and quick!

When the apostle Peter denied Christ, he was ASHAMED to be associated with Him! He was fearful of being known to be associated with Christ. The deep remorse Peter felt over his denying Christ not once, but three times, was overwhelming. He didn't want to be associated with someone who had earned the intense disfavor of the church leadership, and was being put on trial for His life. He was afraid the association would mean that he too would be put to death! He was ashamed of Christ! Humiliated by his association with him in those moments of denying Him. Peter had claimed he'd NEVER deny Christ. In that boast he was saying he would NEVER be ashamed to be associated with Him. And yet, he was, much to his own horror and self-loathing.

I know what it's like to be ashamed of myself, in appearance and in actions. I know what it's like to be ashamed of others. I know what it's like to be encouraged to feel shame for myself, in appearance and actions. We need to feel shame for our sins, shame, remorse, regret, repentance. When we are ashamed of the sins we've committed we are recognizing the wrongness of them. 

When we are ashamed of others we are recognizing what we believe to be the wrongness in the thing we are ashamed of about them. If that thing we are ashamed of about them brings us shame only because it embarrasses us, and not because it's a sinful action, we need to look into our own hearts and question the validity of our shame towards them. 

In our Christian life we need to recognize any sign at all that we might have of feeling ashamed of our Savior. We need to be able to have CHRIST in ALL we do, in EVERY place we go, in ALL the actions we commit CHRIST should be with us! We cannot be ashamed of Him to be LORD OF OUR LIVES in ALL WAYS. 

I may feel shame over myself, right or wrong, but I hope and pray by the GRACE of GOD I am never ashamed of my SAVIOR! Not that I think I am better than the apostle Peter who denied Christ, no, no, no, I just hope and pray I'm never in a situation such as He was put in and if I ever am, that I seek forgiveness and repentance instantly such as he did. 

All through the love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!! Amen!

(11/20/2022)

A Heavenly City!

 

God has prepared for us a city. This is real. This isn't some fairy tale, some made up story, but a reality to all who make the choice to believe. The city-

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

((The CITY))

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 

Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 

Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

Rev 21:13  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 

Rev 21:14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

Rev 21:15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 

Rev 21:16  And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 

Rev 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 

Rev 21:18  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 

Rev 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 

Rev 21:20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 

Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 

Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 

Rev 21:26  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

God sanctifies us- He makes US holy- Christ in us makes us holy. Christ isn't ashamed to call us brothers!

God is not ashamed to be called our God!

God has prepared for us a city!

The love! The amazing love!  Our God isn't ashamed of us because we have been made holy by Christ in us, our hope. Our Savior isn't ashamed to call us brothers (sisters) because He has made us holy in Him and if He is in us we have no need to be something shameful to Him, we are His!

All glory to God, always! All praise to our Lord, our Savior now and forever!

Heb 2:11  For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 

*******

(Excerpt- E.J. Waggoner)

Christ not Ashamed. 

Concerning Christ we read, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Heb. 2:11. "God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city." Heb. 11:16. 

Surely if the Lord is not ashamed to be called the brother of poor, weak, sinful mortals, man has no reason to be ashamed of him. 

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1. 

The Sabbath- Occupied With God.

 What makes a day special? Throughout our calendar year of 365 days (give or take a leap year) take a moment and count up the days that you hold special out of the year. Off the top of my head I'd say birthdays- we celebrate the day a person was born because it recognizes the length of time we've had with them and reminds of the various milestones of their lives. When I was, 16 years old, or the day I turned 18, 21, 30, 40, 50… We tally up our years and make the day that we were brought into this world a special day. Sure, you'll have plenty of naysayers, that's the way with most things. I remember my mother being a birthday naysayer, she could careless whether or not she received a card, gift or even a verbal 'Happy Birthday' or so she said and I have no reason to doubt her. There are others who just wish to forget the day because of bad associations with it- maybe growing up they were terrorized more than celebrated on that day, I don't know. Still others simply want to forget they've grown yet another year older, they kind of wish time would just stop and age would no longer take what's left of them, but that's a pipedream for sure. Celebrating our spouses, children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers and friends on their birthday make those days special too.  The other special days of the year could be considered the various holidays that we each personally keep. The country you live in may have made certain of those holidays special enough to warrant government recognition which might mean an extra work day off- or double time and a half pay if you do work, and school as well as many businesses choose to close their doors to for that special day. I can't leave out anniversaries and that includes all kinds of anniversaries and there are many- recognized days of specialness. You know I'm going somewhere with this- and you most likely know where that somewhere is if you know me well at all. 

Right now as I sit here writing this, I have entered Special time. The time I'm existing in is truly holy- and you don't get any more special than that! Holy time to recognize GOD- again, it doesn't get more special! Every Sabbath, from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is holy time- a time more special than any other that exists.  No birthday, no anniversary, no secular or religious holiday at all whatsoever will ever be more special than the Sabbath- not one. 

Imagine, you grow up in a small family, just you, your mother and father and for six days every week your father goes away to work. You can still call him, text him and such, but that isn't the same as that seventh day when your father comes home from work and is there with you. How special would you make that day of the week? Would you bog it down with the mundane, the chores, the problems - things that can be taken care of in other ways on other days? If you did that what would it reveal to your father? That his being there with you wasn't all that important. If you didn't show up at all, and just told your father you'd see him the next week, what then? And then soon you tell him after a month's gone by without seeing him - not to worry you'll see him soon. Again what would your father get out of such behavior? The idea that he's grown less and less important to you. Maybe you'll even tell your father that you can meet him on the sixth day, not the seventh, but your father tells you he can't be there on the sixth day- it must be the seventh. And then you tell your father, it's okay, you think of him all the time even if you don't see him at all. We have sappy movies that depict this sort of scenario in various ways, where some dramatic event - health scare, impending death, death of others or whatnot triggers a person so want to reconnect with those they've shunned over time- even if it's not through any dramatic family feuding, but simply preferring to be alone.  

You think I'm the one being overly dramatic and a bit off the deep end, that I have some screws very loose, and lots of bats in my belfry and that's okay- the great adversary planned things to be this way. Ah, more crazy talk. Yes, to a lot of people it is crazy.

My Heavenly Father, my Creator and Redeemer, my Holy Comforter wrote humanity a guidebook- using humans to put the words down. The Holy Book that came to be from the inspired compilation of many Holy Books is what we know as our Bibles. Our Bibles come in many versions- but there was once originals and it is to those we need to go to when any doubt and confusion arises over what's been written in the newer translated versions.  Too much work? Oh, that we were all inspired to learn Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin- so we could do proper comparisons for ourselves.  I digress as always…

The Word of God tells me the Sabbath from creation week and all the way to the world made new in the future that awaits us, that we will worship our Creators, Redeemers, the Holy Ones on the Sabbath.

Holy time, the most special of days because it was made to be so, this is a blessed gift given to us and the powers of this world have turned it into just another day - choosing to strip it of all holiness. Choosing to make it a chore to keep holy. Choosing to change it into something unrecognizable as important in any way. 

To keep the Sabbath holy, God asks that we stop working any job that isn't one connected to saving lives in some way. God asks us to keep from buying or selling anything on the Sabbath because to do so would mean others are being asked to work in a non-life saving manner. God asks that we focus our day around Him. He's here to visit with us in this holy time. 

Ask yourself… DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE WITH GOD FOR ETERNITY? If you answered yes, then reveal that desire.

Do you want to belong to God? Do you long for the day when all evil is gone and we are taken to heaven with Jesus Christ after He returns for us? Why? Why do you long for this? Because God is the love that sin has separated us from and to be reunited to love is the only way we will ever truly be the humans we were created to be. The Sabbath reminds us so starkly of all sin's ravages upon mankind and our need to have faith in the Creator of humanity, He will restore us to Him fully- the way to restoration has already been made possible. Unfortunately, many more people will choose to ignore restoration, preferring to do things their own way. 

Our God didn't tell us that ONLY a few will find the Way - for no reason.

I'm in holy time right now and in this holy time I need to seek the Lord with all my heart as on no other day (not that seeking should ever end) but this is the day the LORD set aside for us to be with HIM, there is no other day of the week set aside with Holiness in it. God is the one who made it holy, and blessed the day. God is the one that told us to remember it. God is the one who chose purposefully not to make all seven days holy in time. God wants us to remember Him and the holiness of Him in the Sabbath day. 

Lord, You want me to search for You with all my heart. Lord, You want me to seek for You as for hidden treasure.  While six days a week I occupy my life with so many other things, and I include You in those things, I do, on this seventh day I occupy my life with You, and You include me in the things YOU do. You WILL be found of me, You said so! And You told me to SEEK, let me seek You on this Sabbath day LORD, let me seek You knowing that my tiny bit of ability to seek you now is made towards the ultimate outcome of being with you forever and ever. This glimpse of eternity You allow us, let us breathe in Your holiness and set our faces towards You in all we do. Let us be aware of Your presence, my God! Oh that we could truly slip from our world into Yours on this day, leaving this world behind to be with You!  

I love You, LORD! Thank you for Your love! ?Thank You for holy time with You! Thank You for the Blessed, Holy Day, The Sabbath!

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD