Write What Was, What Is, What Will Be.

John saw Jesus when he turned around. The vision before him was something quite spectacular. Try to picture it as you read…

 

Rev 1:13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the SON OF MAN, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 

Rev 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 

Rev 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 

Rev 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength

 

SON OF MAN - JESUS

Mat_8:20  And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the SON OF MAN hath not where to lay his head.

Mat_9:6  But that ye may know that the SON OF MAN hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

 

Son of Man- Jesus- standing in the middle of seven candlesticks.

Jesus - dressed completely- a robe and a golden girdle about His person.

Jesus - His hair white like wool, white as snow.

Jesus - His eyes like fire.

Jesus - His feet like burning brass.

Jesus - His voice loud, reverberating.

Jesus - Seven stars in His right hand.

Jesus - Out of his mouth- a sharp, TWO-EDGED SWORD.

 

Eph 6:17  … the SWORD of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any TWOEDGED SWORD, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

 

At this glorious sight John fainted.

 

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

 

Jesus then touched John with His right hand, the hand holding seven stars, and He spoke to John.

 

Rev 1:17… And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me,

 

Jesus said-

Rev 1:17… Fear not; I am the first and the last 

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 

Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

 

Jesus didn't want John frightened, He told John that He was the first and the last, the one that lived and died, and lives now forever. Jesus told John that He held the keys of the grave and death. What amazing truths. Surely John was comforted upon hearing that this miraculous being before Him was none other than His Savior! And His Savior had come to him now after all these years and wanted him to write down what he had seen, things that were right then and things that would be at another time- prophecy- the future.

 

Having comforted John and reiterating the reason for the vision- Jesus wasted no time but began to tell John more of what he would need to write.

 

Those seven stars that John had seen in Jesus hand, and the seven golden candlesticks Jesus had been standing in the middle of were both symbols of something else.

 

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 

 

Seven stars- seven angels of the seven churches.  What seven churches- the ones mentioned just a few verses ago. The churches of perfect symbolism - the perfect church.

 

Prophecy. Stars-Angels. Candlesticks-Churches.  Jesus surrounded by the churches symbolizing the church He would have perfected, with angels to be with the church as it perfected.

 

More tomorrow by the grace and will of our LORD!

 

 

Not On Things On Earth

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;  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.   2Co 4:8-18 

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Luk_12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The Earthly and the Heavenly Things.

Jesus tells us we must be born again of water and Spirit. Jesus tells us outright that our original birth is not enough- we need a spiritual birth. Unlike our birth- which we had absolutely no say so in, we do have a say so in our spiritual birth.

Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews.  As a ruler of the Jews we have to understand this man knew the laws and ways of the Jews inside and out. Unlike the majority of his fellow rulers of the Jews, Nicodemus' heart was right with God. Because his heart was right with God he desired to know more of Jesus. Going to him at night, when others were less likely to witness the visit, Nicodemus didn't want to be one of the blind and deaf Pharisee. He didn't want to write Jesus off as a crackpot, not when he knew that his forefathers had done that very thing to prophet after prophet in the scriptures. This particular Pharisee ruler wanted to seek truth and that meant going to the source. He told Jesus he knows that he is a teacher from God because of all the miracles He was doing- none but God could do such miracles. As soon as Jesus heard that Nicodemus believed that He was from God, Jesus knew that he was seeking truth and had his heart open to receive that truth.

Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus that people had to be born again of water and Spirit. This threw Nicodemus for a little loop, crazy talk from one that most of his fellow Pharisees thought was a lunatic? Jesus told him outright NOT to marvel at what was being said. He even accused Nicodemus of being a Master of Israel and not knowing these things was the surprise. He looked Nicodemus in the eyes and said-

Joh 3:11… We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 

Joh 3:12  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 

Nicodemus wanted to know more from the man he believed was sent by God, the miracle performing man, yet Jesus outright tells him that he was finding it hard hearing earthly things, hearing heavenly things would really throw him for a loop.

We need to remember for a moment that Nicodemus could have left at any moment. He didn't need to stay there and listen to things that might be considered insulting, he didn't need to listen to Jesus, and yet he was compelled to do so even after being told that he should know these things already and that his finding it hard to believe the simple things would make it even harder to understand the heavenly things that he was there seeking.

Why are we studying this stuff about Nicodemus and Jesus?

Because we need to live our lives in Jesus Christ our hope, and we need a newness of life, we need to be born of the water and the Spirit if we are to survive this prison planet.

Jesus tells Nicodemus of the heavenly- of Himself. He came from heaven and just like Moses lifted up the serpent…

This is something Nicodemus was intimately familiar with- Moses. He knew Moses inside and out- every word ever written by Moses Nicodemus had read time and time again. When Jesus mentioned Moses lifting up the serpent, Nicodemus knew all about the raised serpent and its purpose. A plague of fiery serpents was killing off the people following Moses in the wilderness, a lot of people. The people witnessing person after person dying knew something had to be done so they said this to Moses--

Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 

They sinned and were in need of salvation.

Moses was told by God to make a brass serpent on a pole and when the bitten people looked on it, they would live.

Bitten by a serpent, knowing the bite is deadly and yet all they needed to do was look on the brass serpent there on a pole so they could live. Their faith in obeying the word of God healed them. They looked to the raised up brass serpent because they were told in doing so they would live.

Jesus used this example to predict the His own death.  Just as the serpent was raised up - He too would be raised up for all to see and look to so they could live. At the time Nicodemus had no real knowledge of Jesus' impending crucifixion. These words were cryptic to him and yet he wanted to comprehend. Nicodemus already wanted to be born again of the spirit, he wanted truth from God.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord, by the will of God. May we too forever be seekers of truth. May we be born of the Spirit always. May we look to the raised up and crucified Christ for our salvation, our hope of new life so we may live in Him always.

*******

Joh 3:1  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 

Joh 3:2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

Joh 3:9  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 

Joh 3:10  Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 

Joh 3:11  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 

Joh 3:12  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 

Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal 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. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

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

Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 

What Part of Us Should Die Daily?

What part of us should die daily?

1Co 15:31 … I die daily.

Death to Selfishness. Death to Self-serving.

Denying ourselves- what part of us are we denying in order to take up the cross of Christ and follow Him?

Luk 9:23  …let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

What is this cross we must take?  How are we to follow Christ to be worthy of Him?

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 

The commandments of God are summed up like this by Jesus- God with us-

Mat 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Loving God with ALL our heart.

Loving God with ALL our soul.

Loving God with ALL our mind.

Do we? Look into your heart and lay it bare right now. Open your heart before God and search for a moment, what is in there? Who is in your heart, what is in your heart? We put other people in our hearts- but aren't we supposed to? We are told the second commandment of ranking is loving others as we would be loved. To love they have to be in our heart, don't they? The answer is truthfully yes and no.  Let me try to explain.

God must be first in our heart- we must love HIM with ALL of our heart and that leaves what left over? Nothing. It is ONLY when we do love God with ALL our heart are we able to love others WITH that very same love, God's love.

We surrender our all to God and out of that surrender He will enable us to live as He wills. We won't be loving with our own imperfect love that is riddled with flaws, but we will love with God's love and HIS love is perfect. God's love can love what we deem most unlovable. God's love will continue to love through many, many betrayals- we as human beings have turned our backs on God time and time again, yet He still loves us.

God's love has provided hope.

God's love will in truth destroy utterly into non-existence those who cannot love. It is that love which knows all the people who choose not to love would never be content if forced to live in that love offered. No forced love, no forced will, no forced hope, God allows each of us to choose- daily.

There is no one-time only choice and you are forever held to that choice regardless of all circumstances.

The initial choice is allowing the life-long commitment to be possible. As soon as you choose to allow God to have all your heart, soul and mind you are choosing to love Him. The forgiveness you find through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, allows us to love.

Because you do not stop thinking, breathing, functioning as you've always done up to that point, you will be prone to temptations that will want to draw you away from God, not towards Him. Daily a renewed commitment must be made. You don't simply stop after baptism, you don't stop after the newness wears away. Every day RECOMMIT your life to God. EVERY DAY. Wake up and choose every day to exalt God above all other things in your life no matter what they are- and love Him with all your heart, mind and soul. Seek forgiveness as soon as you recognize any other entering your heart before Him. Put God before all, and love others with HIS love.

Rom_5:5  …the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I asked above-

What part of us should die daily?

1Co 15:31 … I die daily.

Death to Selfishness. Death to Self-serving.

Denying ourselves- what part of us are we denying in order to take up the cross of Christ and follow Him?

Luk 9:23  …let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

What is this cross we must take?  How are we to follow Christ to be worthy of Him?

What part of us should die every single day? Our life outside of God. Truly all we do should be to His glory and not our own in any way. That cross we must take up is the knowledge we are choosing a path less traveled, a path that will have us making choices the world will not want us to make. In fact the self-serving part of us is going to fight against putting God first in every way it can. 

Can you put another person before all your own wants and needs? Yes, I said needs. Or do you think or say things like, I need to do this before I can help you with that. My need is just as great as yours. I need to take care of me first. Again I ask, can you put another person before ALL your own wants and needs?  If called to do so, could another person come before your preferred way of life? And by preferred way of life I mean- doing the things that make you most comfortable, most content, most at ease. Will you choose others before your own ideas of how you want your day to unfold?

We must allow God's way to unfold for us and follow HIM wherever He leads us and that will mean taking up a CROSS and that CROSS will kill our self serving and by the grace of God make us God serving first, and from that serving others!

Please LORD, we would be YOURS! Please! Put to death all the self-serving inside of us that would take over and kill You in Your rightful place in our hearts! All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Overcome This World.

We need to overcome the world.

Faith is the victory, truly. Faith in Christ is the victory in overcoming the world.

This world will drag you down to great depths of despair. If you don't think so then I'm really surprised. There is not a person alive with sound, or mostly sound, mental faculties that can't agree that there are times in this world where we are knocked down to an emotional abyss where everything is dark, sad and very, very dreary. I don't know ONE single person who hasn't experienced some sense of despair in their life time. I'm not saying everyone has been brought to the point of wishing for death over life (not necessary suicidal) but just having the wish even momentarily for an end to whatever suffering it is they are going through. This world offers us plenty of opportunities for suffering in all sorts of ways. 

If I were to be a promoter of Earth and humanity upon Earth to- let us say, an alien race, trying to get them to want to help earth by coming to live here with us and bring their own technologies etc, what would I have to offer in way of promotion?

Yes, there are a lot of beautiful, amazing and wonderful things on Earth, but let's get down to the nitty gritty. Even those people who have everything money can buy, often lack things money can't buy. Even those people who have nothing, lack the things money can buy. People who have money often use (employ) those who don't and those employees are not always happy in their positions of subservience to the rich, rather they wish they had the riches and had servants of their own. Yet, there has to be a servant- there has to be those who are not living the life of ease so many dream of in this world we live in.  If we brought an alien down here and showed them the rich lifestyle and the most beautiful that Earth has to offer, they would not be able to help but see that not all the people on Earth are in that rich lifestyle- it'll be all around them every time one of the rich people has a not so rich person do something to accommodate the alien.

And if I were an alien race looking to possibly share my technologies with and maybe enjoy mingling of alien races for the sake of exploration and way of life- I would want a sample of all Earthlings and how they all live. I'd want an overall picture, not just the one presented at its best.

If I had to witness the enormous amount of suffering that takes place all over Earth, would I truly want to consider mingling with such an existence?

Yes, these fictious aliens are living in a world with no pain, heartache and suffering- these are my fictious aliens so I can have them that way if I want them that way, right?

The aliens don't die, they don't hurt, they don't have any diseases, or sickness at all. The aliens don't have any mental or emotional illness, but truly are a contented people that have never had to live with the ravages of sin. When they come here and witnesses all that sin has done to this world and us who live upon it, there is no way they would want to live here exposed to all the heartache, the pain, and the horrors of life upon planet Earth.

Do we need to OVERCOME this world? We most certainly do!  And how do we overcome this world? We live, by faith in the ONLY ONE who can help us because HE overcame this world and promises us that help. We overcome this world by living for the world to come, the promised world found only through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, the SON OF GOD.

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

May God help us live for HIM, for believing in HIM and all HE would have us believe. May we through HIS power live for HIM. We surrender our entire life to GOD to use according to HIS WILL, for HIS purposes. We believe and ask that HE help any unbelief that arises in us. We long for the return of our would be KING after His priestly ministry is completed in the Sanctuary in heaven. We long for our KING to lay aside the priestly garb and come for us to take us from this pit of sin into His heavenly home, and eventually bring us back to Earth as He destroys all that sin has done to the world and makes it new for us. This is our HOPE that we find only in the ONE who can save us from ourselves, from all that sin has brought to this world. Please, Father God, please keep us from evil. We believe in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, the Son of yours, God, and wipe away any unbelief we might harbor anywhere within us. Lead us in the way everlasting. Help us to love YOU and love all others as YOU would have us love. All through JESUS!

Amen.

Believe and You Overcome the World.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Steadfast, immoveable.  Hold your ground. Remain firm and unflinching. Do not give in to the temptations that would yank you from your foundation. You are built upon the solid Rock of Christ. The house that is being built upon that Rock needs to be as solid as the foundation. We must abound in the work of the Lord.

THE WORK OF THE LORD.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 

Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 

SLOW to wrath.

SLOW to speak.

Jas 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 

DOERS of the WORD.

Jas 1:23  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 

Jas 1:24  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 

Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 

DOER of the WORK.

Jas 1:26  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 

Jas 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 

BRIDLE our tongues.

VISIT the fatherless, the widows, be UNSPOTTED from the world.

Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 

Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 

DOERS of the law.

THE WORK of the law written in their hearts.

Joh_6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

THE WORK of GOD- BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT.

Believe on Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior- sent by God. THIS IS THE WORK. BELIEVE.

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. 

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

Heb 5:5  So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 

Heb 5:6  As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 

Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 

Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 

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. 

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

We overcome this world because we believe in the world of the Son of God, of Jesus. We live for a better world to come. Our hope is founded in the One offering the Way to the better world. Our belief in the One offering the better world is counted to us as all it takes to obtain the better world. Our belief in the Son of God, the One who offers us the better world sustains us in Him. We overcome all the obstacles of the world we live in, because we live for a better world.

I believe, help Thou my unbelief.

Where Is Your Treasure?

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

What do you treasure in life? Treasure…

The dictionary tells me the following about treasure-

1. Jewels and precious objects.
2. Something valuable.
3. Somebody highly valued.

I'll ask again, what do you highly value in life? What is important to you?

You wake up in the morning and you go about your day to day life and often you hear it referred to as the daily grind, the daily routine, the mundane. You wake, and do you follow a routine? Most of us do follow routines after waking up. We have things we do daily, yes, even on days off from work. A supposed typical day of life is wake, bathroom activities, get dressed, (some make their bed not all), get breakfast (again this is a typical and perhaps average day for a person, not everyone), go to work or school, or set about house keeping/child rearing duties that are legitimately work and then for those working outside the home they return home and in between there they may have lunch, then dinner later, then a lot of people relax in the evening before going to bed. In there somewhere you may shower some are morning shower takers, other evening. Of course many details are missing from this description but most people I could ask the following questions-

What time do you wake up/go to sleep everyday?

What did you have to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack yesterday?

What time do you usually go to bed?

What time of the day do you take your shower/wash up good?

When do you brush your teeth, hair?

Do you get the picture? Our lives are filled with various routines that we seldom do without. Even our weekends and time off work or out of our normal routines we will keep to some routines we have taken on as a part of our lives.

What about your life do you highly value in that day to day routine? Where is your treasure in life?

Are you one of the many, many people who find life hard on a day to day basis? Do you struggle to find value in life? Are you finding it difficult to tell me what you treasure in your life? The weight of living weighs down on a lot of people and they can answer in honesty that they don't treasure anything.  A lot of people treasure their loved ones, their family- children, parents, siblings, relatives of various kinds, and their friends, spouses of course. Some can honestly say they live for their various loved ones, meaning that life would be very, very hard without that loved one because their existence is so connected to the other person, or people, maybe even beloved pets. They find the value of their own life in the life of another.

When the Word of God tells us this…Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

The Word is speaking truth. Where is your heart? Where do place your love?

Luk_18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Is your treasure in heaven, is your love in heaven?

Mat_13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

When we find the kingdom of heaven (life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior), we are finding an eternal treasure and we give all that we have to have that treasure. If we are making God the thing, the One most valuable to us in life- if our heart is with God, our love with God, then He truly is our treasure.

Does God have that place in your life? Upon opening your eyes in the morning, and closing them again at night- is God foremost on your mind because He lives in your heart and you live for Him and His will? Amid all the day to day routines we talked about above, is God a part of them? Are you willing to sacrifice anything and everything, for God? Would you die for Him? And if you'd die for Him,  do you live for Him? Where is your treasure? Is your treasure in heaven- your hope for the life you know deep down is a life worthy of living for, in heaven?  If we place our treasures on earth we most certainly will end up without the treasure of heaven and we will end up losing everything. If we lose everything we highly regard upon earth, but keep God and our heavenly treasure, we know that one day all that we placed even the smallest value upon on earth will be taken care of by God. When we give our hearts to anything upon the earth, we know we can lose that thing and it can disappear from our lives in a moment. If we keep God first, giving Him our heart, and from that we extend our hearts as He wills us to, towards others, then we can know that anything we lose on earth is a part of God's will for us and one day we will comprehend the loss, but for now we choose to trust in God's wisdom for our lives- no matter how painful in any way.

Mar_10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Luk_12:33  Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

The value of putting our treasure in heaven far exceeds any earthly treasure.  If we treasure loved ones before we treasure God, we do them no favors at all. Only God never fails, we fail time and time again. God first, others next extending from the love we have from God.

God help us put our treasures in heaven! Help us value You, LORD above all else. All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen.

Woe

Woe, now there's a word you don't hear all that often. Woe.

Woe- 1)a serious affliction or misfortune

2)grief or distress resulting from a serious affliction or misfortune

Woe unto them.

Serious affliction and misfortune to them.

If I tell you that you are going to suffer a serious affliction, and have serious misfortune that's not a very good thing, right? No one wants to suffer affliction, no one. And when misfortune befalls us we are not very happy, not ever. When we do suffer afflictions and misfortune overcomes us we usually are very distressed with good reason. If we tell a friend about our afflictions we'd gain sympathy from them. Bottom line- WE DO NOT WANT serious afflictions NOT EVER and WE DO NOT WANT misfortunes in our lives NOT EVER. They'll happen, but we do all we can to prevent them, don't we? We never willingly invite serious afflictions and misfortunes into our lives. In fact we try to prevent serious afflictions and misfortunes. We take precautions to prevent hardships. I personally do not know a single person who invites serious afflictions and seeks out misfortune, quite the opposite.

When God's word tells us- WOE UNTO THEM….  Pronouncing serious affliction and misfortune on people we'd better pay attention.

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

If you call evil…good, then woe unto you!

If you call good…evil, then woe unto you!

If you put darkness for light, then woe unto you!

If you put light for darkness, then woe unto you!

If you put bitter for sweet, then woe unto you!

If you put sweet for bitter, then woe unto you!

Contrariness is what is at play here in these verses.  You are living a life contrary to God's design. Make no mistake there are going to be a lot more people living contrary to God's plan than those who live for it. This is why we know the world right now seems to have come unglued and is clearly falling apart morally. Yes, morally. 

What is evil? You can name some things can't you? Just name a few evil things that exist. Murder is evil, yes? Stealing is evil, yes? Torture is evil, right? Can you dispute these statements? Some will say they can and give various situations where such things may be justified, but without any sort of justification whatsoever- they are evil. As soon as we admit to evil existing there has to be the opposite of evil. Not murdering is morally sound, not stealing, not torturing anything is morally good. God has moral standards for His creatures, all of us. We usually comprehend right from wrong early on in our lives. There is something in us that knows when we do wrong and a sense of guilt results from the wrong we do.

There exists right and wrong and for reasons that we can understand, and some we cannot understand. When we can't understand we need to trust it is for our good. WE DON'T have to understand to accept and believe, we trust, we have faith without full comprehension.  In our everyday lives we are often called to trust others. If you love anyone and are dating or married to them- you have to develop a trust in that love because otherwise you will live in a constant unending state of fear and suspicion which would warp any love that exists. Yes, very often trust and faith is broken, and when it is we are understandably very hurt. But it isn't always broken, not everyone breaks the trust and faith others put in them.

We must have faith in the morals that God has revealed in His word to us, words that are untwisted and unaltered. 

We have to have faith in God's goodness, His light, and the things He calls sweet.

When we choose to take what God has revealed as good, light and sweet, and change it to evil, darkness and bitterness- we can only expect misfortune and affliction of the eternal kind.

When we choose to take what God has revealed as evil, dark, and bitter and change it to good, light and sweet - again we must only ever expect woe to befall us.

The trouble arises when we take this so far that we no longer care to know the difference between good and evil, light and dark, sweet and bitter. When we as a society begin to teach our children contrary to God's moral standards we have created a future society that like Sodom and Gomorrah, a society such as the one which existed before Noah and the flood-  it is so corrupted with evil there is nothing left to do but destroy all but the very few who have kept the faith of God.

Pro 17:15  He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

This is truth!

We live in a world that justifies the wicked, and condemns the just all too often. We are not to raise up any arms and fight against this tide of evil overcoming the world, we are to continue on in the love of God. We are to pray, we are to render only God's love to every single enemy of God and therefore, us. God's moral laws were created out of love, and it is in that love we are to live in His moral laws.  God please help us, and protect us from the vile evil that has filled our world at every turn. Protect us from the evil that seems to demand we give into it or else suffer under the condemnation of the vast majority of the world. Let us live solely in YOUR LOVE as JESUS revealed to us and as the HOLY SPIRIT keeps us in always.

Please Lord, help us to forever discern between good and evil, light and darkness, sweet and bitter, and let us follow only in the good, the light and the sweet - all through Your mercy, Your grace, Your love now and forever!!!!

Amen!

Spiritual Light.

Our spiritual light must not be corrupted. Satan will attempt to corrupt the spiritual light in us.

Luk 11:34  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 

Luk 11:36  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. 

We need to 'take heed' that the light in us isn't darkness.

If I tell you to take heed that the road up ahead may have been washed out by a flood, what would you do? You'd be very cautious as you were driving on the road. You don't know whether or not the road is safe to travel so you look as far ahead as you possibly can and you adjust your speed accordingly so that you aren't taken off guard. You take heed to my caution, you pay attention to what I'm saying and it affects how you go forward.  We are told to 'take heed' concerning our spiritual light. The verse could be talking about no other source of light because there is no physical light that can fill our whole body.

The light of our body is the eye. It's what we see, what we focus on. We have a choice where to focus our gaze unless someone is forcibly holding our head in a certain direction and at the same time forcing our eyelids to stay open. We physically control what we see and we spiritually control what we see. Where is our spiritual gaze at? What are we looking to spiritually? If we are waiting for some supernatural manifestation to appear so we can look upon it and perhaps use the miracle of it to claim our spiritual focus- we may wait in vain for such a thing. We have to live by faith.

Faith is-

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

The evidence of things NOT SEEN.

Our spiritual sight works by faith without physical evidence.

Our focus, the light of our body, our eyes must be singly set upon the light of our Savior.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the LIGHT of men. 

Joh 1:5  And the LIGHT shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the LIGHT, that all men through him might believe. 

Joh 1:8  He was not that LIGHT, but was sent to bear witness of that LIGHT. 

Joh 1:9  That was the true LIGHT, which LIGHTETH every man that cometh into the world. 

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 

Joh 1:15  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 

Joh 1:16  And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Jesus is the LIGHT which LIGHTS us.

Luk 11:34  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 

Luk 11:36  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

When our focus in on Jesus the Word made flesh, the True Light, then our focus will not be on the dark things of this world. Our focus will not be inward upon our receiving selfishly, living self-centeredly, our focus will be upon Jesus and the life He taught us through His Holy Word to live, by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. 

We have to TAKE HEED that the light in us isn't darkness. 

You'd think we know automatically if our light was darkness, wouldn't you? And if it's something we'd know automatically that why do we have to take heed to it? Why do we have to watch out for it? Why the caution? Because of deception. The power of self-deception is incredibly strong. It doesn't matter how convicted you are of something- believing you are living in spiritual light, not if that light is really darkness and you have been deceived because you would rather holdfast to your comfortable deceptions than step out into unfamiliar light. 

Paul could have kept his own spiritual darkness, he could have. He was zealous for what he believed was pure truth. The blood of many innocent people lay upon his hands because he was focused on the light that was really pure darkness, he was deceived.

Paul wasn't from some distance land, off on a journey for three years while Jesus ministered upon earth. Paul did not come home from some mission to be informed there was a rabble rouser about that had been killed, but the dead man's followers refused to give up following the dead man's teachings. Paul was LIVING right there as Jesus worked His miracles and gained a following. Paul was among the Pharisees Jesus constantly talked about as being ungodly. Like most of the Pharisees, Paul only knew hatred for the troublemaking, lying, blaspheming man called Jesus. In fact you could say truthfully that Paul's hatred for Jesus, even if he never once spoke to Jesus personally during those three years, was a vile hatred. How else could anyone account for how furiously Paul sought to persecute the followers of Jesus after Jesus died? How?

Paul was so caught up in the deception of his people, of their religious interpretation of the scriptures over the truth of the scriptures, that he believed whole-heartedly that he was filled with the truth of God.

Paul was given a manifestation of the miraculous supernatural kind and allowed an opportunity to follow the true LIGHT, the truth found in Christ.

Paul was shaken to the core, blinded physically as a part of his spiritual enlightenment. For three days Paul was physically sightless as his spiritual sight was awakened.

We have to comprehend something right now- Paul was NOT forced to believe, not even after he was blinded. There was NO force involved in changing him. Paul was given enlightenment that he had to choose to accept. That enlightenment would mean giving up all the previous darkness that had him persecuting Jesus' followers. All his cherished beliefs had to be abandoned for him to move forward in the new spiritual light given to him.

Giving up beliefs you've held for a life time, beliefs that grounded you in your life's calling is not easy to do. You have to be 100% sure that what you're giving your lifelong beliefs up for is something worthy of such a sacrifice. You have to know for a fact that your beliefs are truly wrought in the deception of the master deceiver who will, according to the word of God, be able to deceive the majority of people.  I've said it before and I'll say it again- the following verses are FRIGHTENING and rightly so!

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. 

Do you see why they are extremely frightening?! MANY are going to say to Jesus that they did all sorts of things in His name, believing they were following Him, following the truth. Jesus is going to say to them He NEVER KNEW THEM to DEPART, they work iniquity!

They don't think so! They don't believe they are under Satan's deception. They don't believe their light is really darkness.

Luk 11:34  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 

Luk 11:36  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

We must take heed.

Isa 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 

Pro 4:18  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts

Pro_6:23  For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!