Ps. {37:37} Mark the perfect [man,] and behold the upright: for the end of
[that] man [is] peace.
{37:38} But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of
the wicked shall be cut off.
{37:39} But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is]
their strength in the time of trouble.
{37:40} And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver
them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
The perfect man.
The upright man.
Peace.
Sinners destroyed.
Wicked cut off.
Salvation of the righteous of the Lord-
The Lord is their strength in the time of trouble.
The LORD shall help them
Deliver them
Delivered from the wicked.
Saved from the wicked.
Because they trust in God.
*
The Lord is their strength- not The Lord gives them strength. The LORD IS their strength. Having trust in God is the key. Without that trust nothing else matters.
Heb. {11:6} But
without faith [it is] impossible to please [him:] for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We shall be delivered, we shall be saved. The wicked may kill the flesh and blood in us but our Spirit - our breath of life returns to God. We are delivered. The Lords is our strength. The time of trouble is on its way and the only way to survive is by trusting in the Lord and His righteousness.
May God help us find our strength in Him, our trust in Him. May we diligently seek Christ, believing in Him now and forever.
By His mercy and grace.
Amen.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
With God all things are possible
Mark
{1:35} And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Jesus prayed.
Strange? No. Not strange and yet some people might think so because if Jesus, the Son of God, prayed that shows weakness and a need to commune with another and why would the Son of God show such weakness if He had power to do miracles and such? We often associate praying solely with the thought in mind of petitioning God for help in some way. We tell others to pray when they're in need. We tell them to pray for others that need help. Praying and need seem to go hand in hand and this isn't so far off because of our own selves we are nothing. Jesus said He does nothing of himself.
John
{8:28} Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he,] and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
{8:29} And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
'I do nothing of myself' Those are Jesus' own words! He does NOTHING of Himself, NOTHING. Jesus relied on God just as we need to rely on God. Jesus prayed, He communed with God all the time. He needed God, apart from God, Jesus had nothing. We need to pray. It's more important than we realize to have this communion with the Father. Why do we think we can get by without praying when Jesus Himself prayed all the time. Prayer gives us the strength of God. Not that we have any of the strength ourselves but we connect ourselves to God and through God all things are possible.
Mark {10:27} And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Jesus taught us this with His entire life holding true to this. Why we think we can do anything of ourselves is a trap that Satan wants us to hold fast to and not let go of. He wants us to flail and wail as life hands us hardship after hardship and we fail to meet the hardships and just let it overwhelm us. He wants us to look to ourselves and call ourselves failures and he also glories in our taking the credit for our successes. You hear people say- where was God when this or that happened. Basically where was God when I needed Him most. And yet throughout their lives as God has blessed them none of that matters, nothing. Satan will get us any way he can using everything he can and the bottom line is if he can break our faith in God to see us through no matter what comes our way, then he wins. Good or bad, worldly success or failure. The worse life, the best life through it all God is the same for all of us no matter what.
May God bless and keep us as we live. May our lives be realized ONLY in Him. May we pray to Him always. All by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we find all we need to survive all that life gives us - the good and the bad - and prepare us for life eternal in Jesus our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
{1:35} And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Jesus prayed.
Strange? No. Not strange and yet some people might think so because if Jesus, the Son of God, prayed that shows weakness and a need to commune with another and why would the Son of God show such weakness if He had power to do miracles and such? We often associate praying solely with the thought in mind of petitioning God for help in some way. We tell others to pray when they're in need. We tell them to pray for others that need help. Praying and need seem to go hand in hand and this isn't so far off because of our own selves we are nothing. Jesus said He does nothing of himself.
John
{8:28} Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he,] and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
{8:29} And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
'I do nothing of myself' Those are Jesus' own words! He does NOTHING of Himself, NOTHING. Jesus relied on God just as we need to rely on God. Jesus prayed, He communed with God all the time. He needed God, apart from God, Jesus had nothing. We need to pray. It's more important than we realize to have this communion with the Father. Why do we think we can get by without praying when Jesus Himself prayed all the time. Prayer gives us the strength of God. Not that we have any of the strength ourselves but we connect ourselves to God and through God all things are possible.
Mark {10:27} And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Jesus taught us this with His entire life holding true to this. Why we think we can do anything of ourselves is a trap that Satan wants us to hold fast to and not let go of. He wants us to flail and wail as life hands us hardship after hardship and we fail to meet the hardships and just let it overwhelm us. He wants us to look to ourselves and call ourselves failures and he also glories in our taking the credit for our successes. You hear people say- where was God when this or that happened. Basically where was God when I needed Him most. And yet throughout their lives as God has blessed them none of that matters, nothing. Satan will get us any way he can using everything he can and the bottom line is if he can break our faith in God to see us through no matter what comes our way, then he wins. Good or bad, worldly success or failure. The worse life, the best life through it all God is the same for all of us no matter what.
May God bless and keep us as we live. May our lives be realized ONLY in Him. May we pray to Him always. All by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we find all we need to survive all that life gives us - the good and the bad - and prepare us for life eternal in Jesus our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew
{10:6} But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {10:7} And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Apostles were charged to 'Go, preach.' Preach what? 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
The message is salvation through Jesus Christ, because only through salvation do we find the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven being ours is amazing! The promise of eternal life, amazing! The message being brought to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel', at that time only the house of Israel was to be preached to- God's chosen was to get the message first. God's people who were entrenched in the rituals given to Moses so that they might have a way of being forgiven for their sins, a way to be reconciled to God. The outcome of being reconciled with God is to be made right with Him. To be His and His alone, nothing between the two, nothing separating us from God. The sacrificial system they'd been given represented daily the need to be reconciled with God, to have nothing, not a single sin standing between a person and God. The Israelites were blessed with this marvelous life, this chance and the out come of the reconciling was supposed to result in a permanently fixed relationship with God once the Messiah came to save the people from all their enemies, from all the hardships. The Messiah was to come and set the captive frees, heal the people, bring new life, new hope. They looked forward to the Messiah doing all this for them, raising them up to complete reconciliation with God, taking sin away.
We today live in a world where the Messiah came and did all that in the way of God's love- not man's love. Man's love is twisted and warped, it's full of getting not giving. Not that it isn't normal to desire to receive all the best from God, but God's love is about giving. The Messiah came and gave all that the people of Israel were promised but not in the way they expected.
Isn't that the trouble with a lot of things in life? We imagine things and expect things to happen in certain ways and we're unable to accept when they come to us in different ways. We want to make sense of things and we do that by keeping things in order. Chaos seems to come when we find things out of order to our natural way of thinking, with our expectations shot to pieces. So we try to reorder things, to put things back into order to make sense of them. Sometimes people can do that, other times they just want to do away with the reality of things and keep to their same plan of order wanting it to come in another way, in a future way where things make sense to them again.
Things not coming in the way we've imagined and expected in all truthfulness should be... expected. A paradox, yes, a paradox that leaves us going in circles if we're not careful. Expecting the unexpected. Some people are taught just that. They have it drilled into their heads to be prepared for anything, and yet as prepared as they become they are still surprised by situations. We can be prepared to a degree but only to a degree and then even the most prepare find the unexpected troublesome.
We'll continue to live a life of expectation, but we all really do need to be able to accept when the unexpected happens and to find the truth through any lies that might be present. Isn't that the most important thing of all? To accept that thing might not turn out how we imagine them, but have an open heart and mind to realize that whatever God's will may be that we'll find it through His love if we only seek to find Him and His way, always.
The kingdom of heaven is the gospel Jesus preached and wanted His disciples to preach. When Jesus died and rose from the grave He sent his Holy Spirit to us and He told His disciples to continue to preach His message - His message being that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and has been at hand and will be at hand until Christ comes again. We who believe in Him, believe in this and in believing we hope and wait and we're full of expectations.
May the Lord bless and keep us in Him now and forever, always His, by His mercy and grace prepared.
Amen.
{10:6} But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {10:7} And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Apostles were charged to 'Go, preach.' Preach what? 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
The message is salvation through Jesus Christ, because only through salvation do we find the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven being ours is amazing! The promise of eternal life, amazing! The message being brought to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel', at that time only the house of Israel was to be preached to- God's chosen was to get the message first. God's people who were entrenched in the rituals given to Moses so that they might have a way of being forgiven for their sins, a way to be reconciled to God. The outcome of being reconciled with God is to be made right with Him. To be His and His alone, nothing between the two, nothing separating us from God. The sacrificial system they'd been given represented daily the need to be reconciled with God, to have nothing, not a single sin standing between a person and God. The Israelites were blessed with this marvelous life, this chance and the out come of the reconciling was supposed to result in a permanently fixed relationship with God once the Messiah came to save the people from all their enemies, from all the hardships. The Messiah was to come and set the captive frees, heal the people, bring new life, new hope. They looked forward to the Messiah doing all this for them, raising them up to complete reconciliation with God, taking sin away.
We today live in a world where the Messiah came and did all that in the way of God's love- not man's love. Man's love is twisted and warped, it's full of getting not giving. Not that it isn't normal to desire to receive all the best from God, but God's love is about giving. The Messiah came and gave all that the people of Israel were promised but not in the way they expected.
Isn't that the trouble with a lot of things in life? We imagine things and expect things to happen in certain ways and we're unable to accept when they come to us in different ways. We want to make sense of things and we do that by keeping things in order. Chaos seems to come when we find things out of order to our natural way of thinking, with our expectations shot to pieces. So we try to reorder things, to put things back into order to make sense of them. Sometimes people can do that, other times they just want to do away with the reality of things and keep to their same plan of order wanting it to come in another way, in a future way where things make sense to them again.
Things not coming in the way we've imagined and expected in all truthfulness should be... expected. A paradox, yes, a paradox that leaves us going in circles if we're not careful. Expecting the unexpected. Some people are taught just that. They have it drilled into their heads to be prepared for anything, and yet as prepared as they become they are still surprised by situations. We can be prepared to a degree but only to a degree and then even the most prepare find the unexpected troublesome.
We'll continue to live a life of expectation, but we all really do need to be able to accept when the unexpected happens and to find the truth through any lies that might be present. Isn't that the most important thing of all? To accept that thing might not turn out how we imagine them, but have an open heart and mind to realize that whatever God's will may be that we'll find it through His love if we only seek to find Him and His way, always.
The kingdom of heaven is the gospel Jesus preached and wanted His disciples to preach. When Jesus died and rose from the grave He sent his Holy Spirit to us and He told His disciples to continue to preach His message - His message being that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and has been at hand and will be at hand until Christ comes again. We who believe in Him, believe in this and in believing we hope and wait and we're full of expectations.
May the Lord bless and keep us in Him now and forever, always His, by His mercy and grace prepared.
Amen.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Upon them the light has sprung up
Matthew
{4:12} Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee
{4:13} And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
{4:14} That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
{4:15} The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
{4:16} The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. {4:17} From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Isaiah
{9:2} The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.
People walked in darkness
People have seen a great light
Us who dwell in the land of the shadow of death
Upon them the light has sprung up.
Jesus began to preach-
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
When you've walked in darkness and see a great light it's a good thing. People as a rule seek the light, they see the daylight and are more at ease in the day than they are at night. People seek shelter at night, they settle down to sleep away the darkness so they can be awake during the day. Daylight is more productive. Light is equated with goodness, and darkness evil. Light is equated with knowledge, darkness the lack of knowledge. When we walk in the light we have enlightenment, our knowlege is increased and in this case, we who live forever under the shadow of a future death are offered life in the kingdom of Heaven. We are called to repentance. To acknowledge that in and of our own selves we are nothing and we cannot escape the shadow of death that lingers over us. Only through Christ, only through salvation through Christ are we given real life, life everlasting. Only through Christ are we given the hope, the light that springs out of the darkness. Repent, acknowledge we are sinners worthy of that death, sinners worthy of nothing more but darkness, sinners who know that the way to escape lies not within ourselves but through Christ. Repent, feel remorse for our sinful state, a state so far from that of Christ's.
By the grace of God, by the mercy of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ let us cling to Him begging His forgiveness through repentance may we find the kingdom of heaven He offers in Him and Him alone.
Amen.
{4:12} Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee
{4:13} And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
{4:14} That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
{4:15} The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
{4:16} The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. {4:17} From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Isaiah
{9:2} The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.
People walked in darkness
People have seen a great light
Us who dwell in the land of the shadow of death
Upon them the light has sprung up.
Jesus began to preach-
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
When you've walked in darkness and see a great light it's a good thing. People as a rule seek the light, they see the daylight and are more at ease in the day than they are at night. People seek shelter at night, they settle down to sleep away the darkness so they can be awake during the day. Daylight is more productive. Light is equated with goodness, and darkness evil. Light is equated with knowledge, darkness the lack of knowledge. When we walk in the light we have enlightenment, our knowlege is increased and in this case, we who live forever under the shadow of a future death are offered life in the kingdom of Heaven. We are called to repentance. To acknowledge that in and of our own selves we are nothing and we cannot escape the shadow of death that lingers over us. Only through Christ, only through salvation through Christ are we given real life, life everlasting. Only through Christ are we given the hope, the light that springs out of the darkness. Repent, acknowledge we are sinners worthy of that death, sinners worthy of nothing more but darkness, sinners who know that the way to escape lies not within ourselves but through Christ. Repent, feel remorse for our sinful state, a state so far from that of Christ's.
By the grace of God, by the mercy of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ let us cling to Him begging His forgiveness through repentance may we find the kingdom of heaven He offers in Him and Him alone.
Amen.
Monday, July 13, 2009
For what is your life? It is even a vapour
James
{4:13} Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: {4:14} Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
{4:15} For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
{4:16} But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
{4:17} Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Planning our lives. We all make plans or I should say, most of us make plans for our future whether it is just our immediate future or possibly our far future. We might make plans to go to the store in an hour, or go to work the next day, or take a vacation in six months, retire in thirty years. We make our plans with the belief that we will be alive to fulfil those plans and why shouldn't we? There's no sense in planning on not being about to do so. Living day to day without any planning could leave you in very dire straits. It's not impossible to live that way, but it's not very wise either. Yet life, as it says in the verse above, 'It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' We have very little control over when we die. You can be the healthiest person by all medical standards and you'll still die. Health is no preventor of the freak accident. Our lives are but vapours- wisps of air in the grand scheme that is called life. So, do we not plan because we might die? No. We do plan but we do so by the grace of God at His mercy, His will. 'If the Lord will we shall lie and do this or that.' If the Lord will may all our plans be realized. So, is it safe to say that if something doesn't go according to our planning that God doesn't will that it happen? I believe it's safe and comforting to know that if we live with God's will the most prominent thing in our lives that we can trust Him to see us through to the end no matter what happens. If our plans fall apart and we want to cry we need to take comfort that the Lord's will, will be done some how, some way even through the disappointments that we cannot comprehend.
If we boast that we are in control of our destinies, that we've attained this or that by our own will, by our own effort it is wrong and it is ungodly to do so. We cannot boast of our successes as if they were all our and due to our planning, and the realization of that planning. By the grace of God we can boast in HIM. Give glory to Him, give praise to Him that made it all possible. It's so wonderful to see a winning athelete down on their knees thanking God and not taking the credit for their victory even as people look on and want to say- but the athelete did all the hard work, why are they thanking God. Perhaps the athelete realizes that all the hard work in the world will not give a victory, a true victory. Perhaps they realize that their very strength to do all the work comes from God, their Creator. When people thank God it is an acknowledgement that God is in control, God reigns, and God wills. We can boast all we want and it will be evil because we don't hold the control over our life or our death. If we know to do good and we choose not to... we sin. If we know our lives are by the grace and mercy of our Lord and we lay claim to them ourselves as if God had nothing to do with them, we sin. If we know better and still do it...we sin. With the knowledge of right from wrong we have an obligation to choose the right over the wrong, or it is sin.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep us by His grace and His everlasting mercy and love for us. May we have discernment by that grace through the Holy Spirit living in us to know right from wrong and to choose the right over the wrong so that we may not willfully sin. May we boast only in Christ and not in ourselves at all. God is the giver of all life and it is in Him that we live and breath to accomplish His good will, not our own, whatever that will maybe.
All praise, honor, and glory to God!
In Christ,
Amen
{4:13} Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: {4:14} Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
{4:15} For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
{4:16} But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
{4:17} Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Planning our lives. We all make plans or I should say, most of us make plans for our future whether it is just our immediate future or possibly our far future. We might make plans to go to the store in an hour, or go to work the next day, or take a vacation in six months, retire in thirty years. We make our plans with the belief that we will be alive to fulfil those plans and why shouldn't we? There's no sense in planning on not being about to do so. Living day to day without any planning could leave you in very dire straits. It's not impossible to live that way, but it's not very wise either. Yet life, as it says in the verse above, 'It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' We have very little control over when we die. You can be the healthiest person by all medical standards and you'll still die. Health is no preventor of the freak accident. Our lives are but vapours- wisps of air in the grand scheme that is called life. So, do we not plan because we might die? No. We do plan but we do so by the grace of God at His mercy, His will. 'If the Lord will we shall lie and do this or that.' If the Lord will may all our plans be realized. So, is it safe to say that if something doesn't go according to our planning that God doesn't will that it happen? I believe it's safe and comforting to know that if we live with God's will the most prominent thing in our lives that we can trust Him to see us through to the end no matter what happens. If our plans fall apart and we want to cry we need to take comfort that the Lord's will, will be done some how, some way even through the disappointments that we cannot comprehend.
If we boast that we are in control of our destinies, that we've attained this or that by our own will, by our own effort it is wrong and it is ungodly to do so. We cannot boast of our successes as if they were all our and due to our planning, and the realization of that planning. By the grace of God we can boast in HIM. Give glory to Him, give praise to Him that made it all possible. It's so wonderful to see a winning athelete down on their knees thanking God and not taking the credit for their victory even as people look on and want to say- but the athelete did all the hard work, why are they thanking God. Perhaps the athelete realizes that all the hard work in the world will not give a victory, a true victory. Perhaps they realize that their very strength to do all the work comes from God, their Creator. When people thank God it is an acknowledgement that God is in control, God reigns, and God wills. We can boast all we want and it will be evil because we don't hold the control over our life or our death. If we know to do good and we choose not to... we sin. If we know our lives are by the grace and mercy of our Lord and we lay claim to them ourselves as if God had nothing to do with them, we sin. If we know better and still do it...we sin. With the knowledge of right from wrong we have an obligation to choose the right over the wrong, or it is sin.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep us by His grace and His everlasting mercy and love for us. May we have discernment by that grace through the Holy Spirit living in us to know right from wrong and to choose the right over the wrong so that we may not willfully sin. May we boast only in Christ and not in ourselves at all. God is the giver of all life and it is in Him that we live and breath to accomplish His good will, not our own, whatever that will maybe.
All praise, honor, and glory to God!
In Christ,
Amen
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Jesus Sacrificed His Life So We Could Live Forever With Him
Rev. {14:14} And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Kept from Evil
Today I've listened to a couple of Bible Studies taped by William Grotheer on Revelation 13 and 14. It's so much to try and comprehend and yet I think it's very important that we do try and understand. These prophecies concern US. We who are alive in the end times before Jesus' second coming! This is us! All the signs point to it and yet I can hear the moaning and groaning about every generation believing that way and how you don't want to be among the duped, silly fools who believe in such things. I have to ask you, what harm is there in believing? None. But...what harm is there in NOT believing? Plenty. Do you want to be numbered among Satan's or Christ's? There is only one or the other no other options, no other plans to look over and choose. There is A or B no C,D,E,F or G and there is NO way to create any more plans, none.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
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