Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Sinners WILL entice us!
It's what sinners do.
By their very nature of being unrepentant sinners they are controlled by Satan. We don't like to hear those words, do we? We like to soften those words up and roll them in a thick coat of sugar.
People are not really controlled by Satan. People are NEVER really controlled by Satan. Is that sugar coating thick enough for you yet? No? You want more? How about this... Satan isn't really even real, right?
I mean come on, we're much more intelligent than that. We aren't going to believe in this invisible evil being that stuff belongs on the television screen. You know that horror movie we've heard about where this evil being makes people do horrible things against their will until they destroy themselves one way or another, but only after making everybody around them miserable . Fiction, that's it. Fantasy, sure, sure that's even better, it's all fantasy, PURE fantasy if you will because I AM A RATIONAL BEING and there is no such thing as an evil invisible being going about wrecking all sorts of sicko havoc.
We live in a normal society, the REAL world where that sort of thing doesn't exists and you know, if someone does do something bad it's completely their own fault and they have to answer for that- not blame some invisible evil dude for their own evil. So DON'T tell me that anyone is controlled by Satan! That's a cop out! That's a scam, an excuse, a lie! We control ourselves end of story.
So now that we have that all cleared up, sinners will entice us, unrepentant sinners will seek to lure us to their sinning ways just because they're bad and that's what they do, right?
Tell me something, does sinning have anything to do with Satan at all? You know, that invisible being you don't think REALLY exists. First of all let's get one thing cleared up right now before we go any further. Do you believe in Jesus- God's Son?
If you do believe in Jesus, praise God, keep reading.
If you don't believe in Jesus-God's Son, you might as well just stop reading right now because everything from here on in will be a waste of time for you. Seriously, it will be just a waste of time where you could be doing something else. I happen to believe in the Son of God, my Savior Jesus Christ and if I believe in Him I have to believe in the invisible evil being, Satan. I can't believe in my Savior without believing in my Savior's adversary, who through default becomes my adversary if I believe in my Savior and choose to follow Him.
Well, do you believe in Satan now? You really can't hem and haw about it, you have to believe if you believe in our invisible Savior being.
Wait, what? Jesus isn't invisible, He took on flesh! He lived and died as one of us and then He rose again and appeared in the flesh. Jesus isn't invisible, He's real! Alright then, all that is true, but what about God the Father that Jesus prayed to, that Jesus relied upon, that Jesus came to reveal to the world? Is God the Father in the flesh too? Well? The answer is, no. God is spirit. If we have NO trouble in believing in the Spirit God, the invisible God, then truly we shouldn't have too much trouble believing in His invisible adversary- right?
Why am I stressing this so much? Because when a person chooses to sin willingly without any thought of repentance, without any remorse or willingness to confess and forsake the sinning they are in league with- Satan. Satan, the one who first sinned and the one who will use ALL his powers of persuasion to get as many human beings to sin and live in sin unrepentant as he possibly can.
Satan tempted our Savior to sin. Even knowing He was the Son of God, Satan tempted Him to sin. Satan tried to get Jesus to rebel against His Father. Satan used his powers- powers he possesses and uses upon earth today, powers to lure people to sin. You can bet everything that Satan stops at nothing to try and get us all to sin unrepentantly. Maybe he doesn't have to use much of that power to get you so he won't. Satan will expend the least amount of his power that he has to in order to get someone. If a little dab will do Him, He's not going to slather on his power, why should he? The lower profile he keeps the better. In fact if He can get people believing he doesn't REALLY exist and everyone is evil of their own accord with no help from Him, well that's just fine and dandy.
The truth is- we ARE evil of our own accord. Our original parents chose the path of evil for us a long time ago. However, our Savior sacrificed Himself to give us a path back to God. So now every single one of us that have been born into the evil world filled with the inclinations towards evil have a choice to make on whether to continue on the evil path, or take the good path.
Sounds like Lord of the Rings, and many other fictional movies doesn't it? Good or evil, which will win. Well we know which one wins however, we still have to choose which side we want to be on and YES we can (and many will) choose the losing side. The losing path will be the most appealing path for those living for the here and now. The losing path will be the one with the most people on it, in fact it will be amazingly crowded and in the majority.
This is REAL, people! Maybe we can't see that we are choosing daily which path to take, but we are.
The paths are very close to one another and it's very easy to step over from one to the other. Of course the Good path is extremely narrow and difficult, very hard to get onto, in fact IMPOSSIBLE to get onto unless you have the Savior's hand to guide you onto it. The Evil path is very wide and extremely easy to get onto without any risk of falling off- it's much too wide for that and you don't need anyone's help to get safely over to the evil path. We have to hold onto the Savior's hand to get onto the good, narrow path and guess what… here's where many falter… we have to KEEP holding onto the Savior's hand the entire time we are on the good path. There will NEVER be a good time to let go and start walking that path on our own, not ever! As soon as we let go of the Savior's hand we fall back onto that wide evil road. Unfortunately Satan has set up the wide evil road to even imitate the narrow good road, that evil road is whatever a person wants it to be but the only hand holding you on that evil road is Satan's and you choose to hold it. It's no joke when we're told that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So how do we know we are on the narrow good road holding our Savior's hand- through faith.
Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Sinners will entice us and when they do… we are not to CONSENT!
We cannot go along with the sinners. We cannot consent to their sinning and become part of their sinning. We have to choose NOT to consent.
If sinners entice thee…
Do they? Do you know of anyone trying to entice you to sin? There will be MANY that will entice you to sin that you don't want to even believe are sinners at all. We are taught NOT to judge so we placate ourselves by saying I can't say he or she is a sinner- that's not my place, only God can judge. While that's true, only God can judge eternal life, we HAVE to be able to discern between sinning and not sinning and therefore be able to discern between those who are sinning and those who aren't. If we blatantly see sinning we can NOT consent to sin. That sinner might go on to be saved, by the grace of God, but at that moment we have to realize that the sinning act committed by the sinning person is something we can not choose to be part of, we must CONSENT NOT!
Consenting not isn't always easy because often when we consent not, we appear to be 'holier than thou' and that is something sinners do not want to see and will try to use against us. Sinners will try to get us to believe that the very act of consenting not to sin is a sin of arrogance and pride. We cannot let that happen! We have to consent NOT to sin no matter what. We have to expect to be enticed and being enticed is very seductive and alluring, appealing to our carnal natures. Resisting the enticement is our duty to consent not.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Let us consent not! Let us cling to our Savior. We are warned and we must heed the warnings, not ignore them.
By the grace of God may we consent not to those…to sinners... who would entice us to sin. Don't we have enough sin to deal with, enough temptations to sin that aren't encouraged by others. Do we really want to consent to enticements from others? We need to obey God first and foremost, not each other.
Please Lord help us to resist unto blood, striving against sin. Help us to consent not to those who would entice us to sin- those who try to convince us that what they're doing is not sin. Bless and keep us Savior, bless and keep us, by your will, by your grace, your mercy.
Amen.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Alive or Living Dead?
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Before the world existed our Creator was glorified WITH His Father.
Our Creator existed along with His Father when nothing of this world existed. The One we know as God's Son before He became God's Son in the flesh existed. Before our Creator took on flesh He existed in spirit form, an entity along with another entity. God the Father continued on in spirit form while God the Son took on flesh becoming the Son of God.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy one which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Shall be called. Not… that holy one which shall be born of thee IS the Son of God, but SHALL be called.
Having chosen to give up His power the Spirit of the Son had to rely on the Spirit of the Father for power.
They did not exist as ONE that was broken up into three.
They existed separate one from the other from eternity.
Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Choosing to give up His power, His God power, a power He had with the Father God before the world was even made is something I don't think we fathom fully.
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.
He that CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
The God Son gave up His divinity to become human and rely completely on the Father God's divinity and not at all on Himself. He gave up His own WILL. He gave up His glory. He gave up EVERYTHING and took on the form of a helpless human child totally reliant upon others to do for Him to live. On His own, like any human child, Christ would not have lived. As He grew and became self-dependant physically He still could NOT have lived on His own. He was as dependant upon God the Father for life as we are. He could not have lived on His own. He could not have caused His own heart to beat any more than we can.
The Spirit God Son became Human God's Son in human flesh all to save us who have NO power whatsoever to save ourselves- having given up the right to eternal life given to us through the power of the Spirit Son Creator God when we separated ourselves from Him believing we could have power to sustain ourselves and become gods.
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Eve was tempted with this… thinking she LACKED sight, LACKED power to see all there was to see. Tempted to be AS GODs rather than relying upon God. The temptation came to be a creator- no longer a creature. We can NEVER be creators. Our Creator gave up His power to show us that we need to rely upon God the Father, the source too of our Creator's power. We receive POWER to once more become the creatures we were designed to be. We do NOT receive power to be God the Father and we will NEVER receive that power. The power we receive through God the Son's sacrifice was to become a son of God- relying upon God the Father, understanding He is our source of life as HE is the SON's source of life.
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.
The Word was MADE flesh.
We beheld his GLORY.
The GLORY as of the ONLY begotten of the FATHER.
The miracle of incarnation- the spirit entity shed his spirit form to take on flesh. Unlike the angel spirits who could appear as flesh whose appearance was an illusion, not REAL flesh subject to death, this Spirit entity took on real flesh, human flesh merging His spirit with the flesh just as we are flesh and spirit beings. An angel spirit has no breath of life to lose, no real flesh to decay- to turn to dust. The Son of God had glory with God the Father before the world began and it was this glory the Son in the flesh wanted to be glorified with again.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
God reliant. We can only become God reliant because the Son was reliant and we through the Son, rely upon the Son's righteousness. We cannot rely upon ourselves for anything, we have to learn this message, we have to be willing to be sustained by the Creator who Himself is sustained by God the Father. We cannot count on ourselves for our own lives not ever! Satan wants us to forever rely upon ourselves, he wants us to believe we our gods of our own and you know what, he has most people believing this. The power to become a son of God. This power most believe they have automatically upon birth but it's not true. The power to become a son of God only comes through the Son of God, we are not born with it. So many believe they inherently have eternal life, that they'll live now and when they die they automatically keep living in another spirit form. We don't have that and never did have it.
I listened to a study and in that study they talked about Adam and Eve needing to eat from the tree of life to have eternal life, the reason they were barred from eating of the tree after they sinned was so they wouldn't have eternal life. We DO NOT have eternal life in any form without our Creator. We didn't have eternal life when we were created outside of our Creator's gift of the tree of life, and we will NEVER have eternal life outside the gifts of our Creator. There will be a tree of life in the new earth.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We will forever need to rely up on our Savior, our Creator, our King, our God, God the Father…forever!
We have NO life without our Creator.
Those who do not have the Creator in their lives right now, those who do not have the Savior sustaining their lives are truly the living dead.
May God bless us and guide us to live in Him and only in Him now and forever, never relying upon ourselves for our life but know the life we possess now and continue to possess is through HIS power. By His will!
Amen.
Before the world existed our Creator was glorified WITH His Father.
Our Creator existed along with His Father when nothing of this world existed. The One we know as God's Son before He became God's Son in the flesh existed. Before our Creator took on flesh He existed in spirit form, an entity along with another entity. God the Father continued on in spirit form while God the Son took on flesh becoming the Son of God.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy one which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Shall be called. Not… that holy one which shall be born of thee IS the Son of God, but SHALL be called.
Having chosen to give up His power the Spirit of the Son had to rely on the Spirit of the Father for power.
They did not exist as ONE that was broken up into three.
They existed separate one from the other from eternity.
Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself
Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Choosing to give up His power, His God power, a power He had with the Father God before the world was even made is something I don't think we fathom fully.
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.
He that CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
The God Son gave up His divinity to become human and rely completely on the Father God's divinity and not at all on Himself. He gave up His own WILL. He gave up His glory. He gave up EVERYTHING and took on the form of a helpless human child totally reliant upon others to do for Him to live. On His own, like any human child, Christ would not have lived. As He grew and became self-dependant physically He still could NOT have lived on His own. He was as dependant upon God the Father for life as we are. He could not have lived on His own. He could not have caused His own heart to beat any more than we can.
The Spirit God Son became Human God's Son in human flesh all to save us who have NO power whatsoever to save ourselves- having given up the right to eternal life given to us through the power of the Spirit Son Creator God when we separated ourselves from Him believing we could have power to sustain ourselves and become gods.
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Eve was tempted with this… thinking she LACKED sight, LACKED power to see all there was to see. Tempted to be AS GODs rather than relying upon God. The temptation came to be a creator- no longer a creature. We can NEVER be creators. Our Creator gave up His power to show us that we need to rely upon God the Father, the source too of our Creator's power. We receive POWER to once more become the creatures we were designed to be. We do NOT receive power to be God the Father and we will NEVER receive that power. The power we receive through God the Son's sacrifice was to become a son of God- relying upon God the Father, understanding He is our source of life as HE is the SON's source of life.
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.
The Word was MADE flesh.
We beheld his GLORY.
The GLORY as of the ONLY begotten of the FATHER.
The miracle of incarnation- the spirit entity shed his spirit form to take on flesh. Unlike the angel spirits who could appear as flesh whose appearance was an illusion, not REAL flesh subject to death, this Spirit entity took on real flesh, human flesh merging His spirit with the flesh just as we are flesh and spirit beings. An angel spirit has no breath of life to lose, no real flesh to decay- to turn to dust. The Son of God had glory with God the Father before the world began and it was this glory the Son in the flesh wanted to be glorified with again.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
God reliant. We can only become God reliant because the Son was reliant and we through the Son, rely upon the Son's righteousness. We cannot rely upon ourselves for anything, we have to learn this message, we have to be willing to be sustained by the Creator who Himself is sustained by God the Father. We cannot count on ourselves for our own lives not ever! Satan wants us to forever rely upon ourselves, he wants us to believe we our gods of our own and you know what, he has most people believing this. The power to become a son of God. This power most believe they have automatically upon birth but it's not true. The power to become a son of God only comes through the Son of God, we are not born with it. So many believe they inherently have eternal life, that they'll live now and when they die they automatically keep living in another spirit form. We don't have that and never did have it.
I listened to a study and in that study they talked about Adam and Eve needing to eat from the tree of life to have eternal life, the reason they were barred from eating of the tree after they sinned was so they wouldn't have eternal life. We DO NOT have eternal life in any form without our Creator. We didn't have eternal life when we were created outside of our Creator's gift of the tree of life, and we will NEVER have eternal life outside the gifts of our Creator. There will be a tree of life in the new earth.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We will forever need to rely up on our Savior, our Creator, our King, our God, God the Father…forever!
We have NO life without our Creator.
Those who do not have the Creator in their lives right now, those who do not have the Savior sustaining their lives are truly the living dead.
May God bless us and guide us to live in Him and only in Him now and forever, never relying upon ourselves for our life but know the life we possess now and continue to possess is through HIS power. By His will!
Amen.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Kingdom of Priests
Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
A kingdom of priests.
The children of Israel knew what a priest was- their enslavers had many priests, many temples, many false gods to worship. After 400 years of enslavement they knew all there was to know about Egyptian life. Telling the children of Israel they would be a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation they knew instantly that their lives were going to be changed from the historic life they'd led as followers of the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph- the God they were born to follow. Abraham was the father of this nation, the father of Israel. History passed down from one generation to the next kept the knowledge of Abraham alive. The people of Israel knew their place, the Egyptians would not let them forget it- they enslaved the whole race of God's children so that they would not come to power and over take them. Obviously, for as much as Joseph had helped in ruling Egypt, his people -God's people- remained a separate people. They might have dwelled in the land of Egypt but they did not become a part of it, they stayed separated by their very lives, by the fact they worshipped only ONE God, the true God. They didn't take part in the customs and worship of the Egyptians.
As a separate group it was wise for the Egyptians to fear the quickly multiplying race of unbelievers, of non-Egyptians living in their land. Ruling over them was the only way (in their thinking) to keep them from overtaking them. Once subdued the separating line between the children of Israel and the Egyptians was even more defined. The Egyptians had their way of life and it greatly differed from the life of the Israelites. As worshippers of God, the children of Israel had been taught to honor and worship God, just as Abraham, just as Isaac, just as Jacob, just as Joseph had and in those times there was no one line of priesthood, rather the fathers of the family were the head, the priest over the family, responsible for their families. It's most likely a great grandfather would be the head of the family, or the grandfather and their families were very large. There would be patriarchs that would act as priests just as Abraham, just as Isaac, just as Jacob- these men were God-fearing men who offered honor, glory, and sacrifice to the Lord as needed.
Now Moses delivered the children of Israel from their enslavement to the Egyptians and God said- they will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation if they obey Him and keep His covenant.
A kingdom of priests.
The Egyptians had priests- they were among the elite of the Egyptians, they were the ones pharaohs, rulers of Egypt looked to. Priests were important, they held a prestigious role in the scheme of things and to go from being a slave to being a priest would be unheard of. Slaves didn't become priests they served priests.
A kingdom of priests.
However the unruly children of Israel didn't keep their part of the covenant and God set up a priesthood from the family of Levi, one of the 12 son's of Jacob because they of all the 12 families remained utterly true to God as they left Egypt and entered upon their journey to the land of promise.
God set up a priesthood that would minister to all of His children though rituals that would point solely to salvation found only in sacrifice to God- pointing towards the promised redeemer, the Messiah who would be sacrificed for all mankind.
God's plan from the beginning would be written down leaving no doubt as to how God would redeem His children from all evil. That redemption process was revealed fully in the Sanctuary services, the priesthood God set up.
Because of their disobedience there couldn't be an entire kingdom of priests, right?
And yet the plan was for us to be a kingdom of priests.
Christ is our great High Priest and we are Christ's.
Christ is the Son of God and we are to be the adopted heirs of God, sons and daughters of God.
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
Our future is for us to be kings and priests to God just as God told His chosen children as He freed them from slavery. When we are finally freed from the slavery of Satan, of sin, we will truly be a kingdom of priests.
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
A kingdom of priests, this was the promise.
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
Ye shall be IF…
…IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine
If ye OBEY God.
If ye KEEP God's covenant.
Did they obey? No.
Did they keep God's covenant? No.
Did they become a kingdom of priests? Some would say yes, because the tribe of Levi became the priests of the children of Israel, but does one tribe make a kingdom of priests? Remember other people had their own priesthoods for their false gods. Were they kingdoms of priests, or did they have priests in their kingdoms? There is a difference, honestly isn't there a great difference?
Christ our great High Priest offers us His kingdom through His sacrifice which we must accept in a very personal way- understanding that there is no other way to God's kingdom. We are heirs of a promise.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
May God help us to be His fully, His completely- His in love as we seek the kingdom of God- as we seek the kingdom of Heaven- as we seek salvation through our Savior. The kingdom of heaven is truly at hand for us all, just as it was when Jesus walked the earth, just as it was when His disciples preached upon earth. The kingdom of God.
Amen.
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
A kingdom of priests.
The children of Israel knew what a priest was- their enslavers had many priests, many temples, many false gods to worship. After 400 years of enslavement they knew all there was to know about Egyptian life. Telling the children of Israel they would be a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation they knew instantly that their lives were going to be changed from the historic life they'd led as followers of the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph- the God they were born to follow. Abraham was the father of this nation, the father of Israel. History passed down from one generation to the next kept the knowledge of Abraham alive. The people of Israel knew their place, the Egyptians would not let them forget it- they enslaved the whole race of God's children so that they would not come to power and over take them. Obviously, for as much as Joseph had helped in ruling Egypt, his people -God's people- remained a separate people. They might have dwelled in the land of Egypt but they did not become a part of it, they stayed separated by their very lives, by the fact they worshipped only ONE God, the true God. They didn't take part in the customs and worship of the Egyptians.
As a separate group it was wise for the Egyptians to fear the quickly multiplying race of unbelievers, of non-Egyptians living in their land. Ruling over them was the only way (in their thinking) to keep them from overtaking them. Once subdued the separating line between the children of Israel and the Egyptians was even more defined. The Egyptians had their way of life and it greatly differed from the life of the Israelites. As worshippers of God, the children of Israel had been taught to honor and worship God, just as Abraham, just as Isaac, just as Jacob, just as Joseph had and in those times there was no one line of priesthood, rather the fathers of the family were the head, the priest over the family, responsible for their families. It's most likely a great grandfather would be the head of the family, or the grandfather and their families were very large. There would be patriarchs that would act as priests just as Abraham, just as Isaac, just as Jacob- these men were God-fearing men who offered honor, glory, and sacrifice to the Lord as needed.
Now Moses delivered the children of Israel from their enslavement to the Egyptians and God said- they will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation if they obey Him and keep His covenant.
A kingdom of priests.
The Egyptians had priests- they were among the elite of the Egyptians, they were the ones pharaohs, rulers of Egypt looked to. Priests were important, they held a prestigious role in the scheme of things and to go from being a slave to being a priest would be unheard of. Slaves didn't become priests they served priests.
A kingdom of priests.
However the unruly children of Israel didn't keep their part of the covenant and God set up a priesthood from the family of Levi, one of the 12 son's of Jacob because they of all the 12 families remained utterly true to God as they left Egypt and entered upon their journey to the land of promise.
God set up a priesthood that would minister to all of His children though rituals that would point solely to salvation found only in sacrifice to God- pointing towards the promised redeemer, the Messiah who would be sacrificed for all mankind.
God's plan from the beginning would be written down leaving no doubt as to how God would redeem His children from all evil. That redemption process was revealed fully in the Sanctuary services, the priesthood God set up.
Because of their disobedience there couldn't be an entire kingdom of priests, right?
And yet the plan was for us to be a kingdom of priests.
Christ is our great High Priest and we are Christ's.
Christ is the Son of God and we are to be the adopted heirs of God, sons and daughters of God.
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
Our future is for us to be kings and priests to God just as God told His chosen children as He freed them from slavery. When we are finally freed from the slavery of Satan, of sin, we will truly be a kingdom of priests.
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
A kingdom of priests, this was the promise.
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
Ye shall be IF…
…IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine
If ye OBEY God.
If ye KEEP God's covenant.
Did they obey? No.
Did they keep God's covenant? No.
Did they become a kingdom of priests? Some would say yes, because the tribe of Levi became the priests of the children of Israel, but does one tribe make a kingdom of priests? Remember other people had their own priesthoods for their false gods. Were they kingdoms of priests, or did they have priests in their kingdoms? There is a difference, honestly isn't there a great difference?
Christ our great High Priest offers us His kingdom through His sacrifice which we must accept in a very personal way- understanding that there is no other way to God's kingdom. We are heirs of a promise.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
May God help us to be His fully, His completely- His in love as we seek the kingdom of God- as we seek the kingdom of Heaven- as we seek salvation through our Savior. The kingdom of heaven is truly at hand for us all, just as it was when Jesus walked the earth, just as it was when His disciples preached upon earth. The kingdom of God.
Amen.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Confess
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Covering sins. Hiding sins. Concealing sins.
If we throw a blanket over a filthy bed and that bed by all appearances looks clean, is it truly clean? It's what we call surface clean. All around us there can be things that are surface clean, things that have the appearance of cleanliness. People with germ phobias know all about the 'appearance' of cleanliness. To those with a germ phobia, or even for those who are cautious about germs and not phobic, they realize that unseen to them there are things that can harm them and cause them to be sick. A line full of grocery store carts beckons and one person after another takes a cart and uses it, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. One person drops the cart off another snatches it up and the one who snatches it up has NO idea whether or not the one who left it had flu germs, or cold germs, virus germs, fecal germs- unseen things waiting and ready for the next set of hands to touch them and pick them up and spread them to their own bodies. Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they don't exist. If every cart had to undergo a microscopic examination and cleaning before we could take it- assured of a clean cart, wouldn't that be amazing? That'll never happen though. We are at the mercy of the store to provide an antiseptic wipe, or we must provide our own and only then can we hope to wipe off the unseen microscopic little buggers waiting to infect us.
So there we have it, covering dirt doesn't do away with the dirt, it just puts a nice layer on top. Dirt exists that isn't even covered but we can't see it without a microscope something that isn't built into our eyes.
How many of us wear spiritual covers? How many of us like to put on a spiritual blanket to hide the filth beneath? How many of us are more than willing to uncover our spiritual selves and expose our sinful ways- confessing them yet NOT forsaking them? We've got the first part of the process down but that second part well, that's just too difficult. Sure let's whip off the covers, let everyone see the dirt. People usually see the dirt anyway- don't they? We just have these pretend coverings on and it's easy and proper to let the coverings remain in place. Exposing someone's faults just makes the one exposing them appear bad- doesn't it? That old backfire- where you want someone to come across as their *true* evil self so you shout - 'Look! Look! See how bad they are?!' And while that exposed person feels the shame of their exposed sins, people also look at the motives behind the one doing the exposing. Is exposing someone else's sins something good? Is it a confession? Can you make a confession for someone else? Not really. There is no personal admission, no willingness to confess but rather a forced confession.
Dirt, sins, hiding them doesn't get rid of them. Exposing them and making them available to be clean is the only real option we have isn't it? It does no good to hide anything sinful in our lives because our God, our Judge can see everything even the tiniest speck of dust we brush under the tiniest spiritual cover. We are naked- nothing hidden at all from God- nothing. Our hearts that we can't seem to even begin to understand and know the depths of- God knows. The sins that we do see, the dirt that we do know about we are accountable to keep it exposed and ask for cleansing, and pray for the ability to NOT acquire that dirtiness again. We need to forsake the acts that make us dirty, we need to have a willingness NOT to commit a sinful act, even if the desire remains to get dirty, to sin, we have to choose to NOT sin- praying that even the desire to sin is taken away from us.
Act 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Act 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
(Websters)
Repentance
REPENT'ANCE, n.
1. Sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct.
2. In theology, the pain, regret or affliction which a person feels on account of his past conduct, because it exposes him to punishment. This sorrow proceeding merely from the fear of punishment, is called legal repentance, as being excited by the terrors of legal penalties, and it may exist without an amendment of life.
3. Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life.
Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God.
Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. 2 Cor 7. Mat 3.
Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice, from conviction that it has offended God.
2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Co 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
2Co 7:3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
2Co 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
2Co 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
2Co 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
2Co 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
2Co 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
2Co 7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
2Co 7:13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
2Co 7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
2Co 7:15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
2Co 7:16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Repentance- a true sorrow, a godly sorrow, and a turning away from sin.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Our HOPE has to be in Christ and Christ alone.
We must by His power turn from all sin that we are convicted of and have the power to turn away from. I say the power to turn away from and here is where we stumble and fall. With Christ we have the power to turn from ALL sin this is true. Yet we are WRETCHED men and women living in a body of death. We must have our HOPE in Christ and not give in to despair as we live in this world of evil. Every day, every hour we must seek Christ and the hope we have in Him, not DESPAIRING when we fall short but continuously laying down at the Savior's feet clinging to Him and the hope that is only found in HIM. It seems like such a vicious cycle, a vicious hopeless cycle and yet all things are possible with God. Maybe we won't have the victory over a sin in our lives the way we expect it. Maybe we are being tried in the fire of faith with a particular sin and the only way to victory, the only way to purification is through the knowledge that Christ is the victor, Christ gives the victory. If we could do it ALL on our own we'd have no need of Christ, none. Christ wouldn't have had to die if we were able to save ourselves from our sins. The closer it gets to the return of our Savior the harder Satan is going to work. Satan doesn't know when Christ will come- only God the Father knows. Satan does know that every single day that passes is another opportunity for Him to work his evil and the longer time goes on the harder he works wanting to secure as his own every single person he can because that keeps one less from being Christ's, one less creature to proclaim their Creator's righteousness. Is it any wonder there will be few left on earth to proclaim God's righteousness with the way Satan works evil upon evil, using despair as his net to capture many. We will despair if we believe that our righteousness saves us, make no mistake about it. We have NO license to sin. Sin should forever be an abhorrence to us. Remember this…
Luk 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
SEVEN TIMES IN ONE DAY!
One could make the argument that if this sinner is sinning SEVEN times a day and EACH time after the sin they repent- that they aren't truly deserving of forgiveness… right? We say this all the time, we believe this all the time. We get caught up in the despair of sinning yet here Christ Himself is telling us that there IS true repentance for sins that beset us, that beleaguer us. We can't give up hope and let despair over come us.
I've not forgotten this … something I learned a few years back now.
The Lord's prayer where it is prayed- 'lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil' This is telling us that we need GOD and GOD alone to deliver us from evil, from the evil impulse in us brought on by Satan, deliver us from the despair of being tempted. We know God does not tempt us to evil, Satan tempts us to evil, to trap us and cause us to despair of ever being saved. Asking God to lead us not into temptation is asking God to deliver us from the temptation to give in to Satan's traps the biggest trap being to lose hope, to despair of ever truly being God's. Is it any wonder Christ Himself told us that if we are sinned against seven times in one day, and each time that sinner repents we are to forgive him? This is a lesson not only for us to forgive but to understand that there is true repentance for the repented one who is in need of asking for forgiveness over and over. We can't GIVE up. We can't stop forgiving, and we can't stop asking for forgiveness no matter what!
How much better is it to acknowledge sin, to acknowledge the dirt than to simply cover it up hoping somehow it will be cleansed. We have to confess and repent, forsaking sin, seeking forgiveness in Christ and grasping hold of His righteousness by His grace through faith. He died to save us, He wants us that much so we can't ever believe we are unworthy in Him, we are only unworthy in ourselves.
May God bless us and keep us in Him now and forever! Leading us not to despair through the many temptations that come our way, but delivering us from all evil as Jesus prayed to the Father- keep us from evil as we live in this world filled with evil.
In His love.
Amen.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Covering sins. Hiding sins. Concealing sins.
If we throw a blanket over a filthy bed and that bed by all appearances looks clean, is it truly clean? It's what we call surface clean. All around us there can be things that are surface clean, things that have the appearance of cleanliness. People with germ phobias know all about the 'appearance' of cleanliness. To those with a germ phobia, or even for those who are cautious about germs and not phobic, they realize that unseen to them there are things that can harm them and cause them to be sick. A line full of grocery store carts beckons and one person after another takes a cart and uses it, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. One person drops the cart off another snatches it up and the one who snatches it up has NO idea whether or not the one who left it had flu germs, or cold germs, virus germs, fecal germs- unseen things waiting and ready for the next set of hands to touch them and pick them up and spread them to their own bodies. Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they don't exist. If every cart had to undergo a microscopic examination and cleaning before we could take it- assured of a clean cart, wouldn't that be amazing? That'll never happen though. We are at the mercy of the store to provide an antiseptic wipe, or we must provide our own and only then can we hope to wipe off the unseen microscopic little buggers waiting to infect us.
So there we have it, covering dirt doesn't do away with the dirt, it just puts a nice layer on top. Dirt exists that isn't even covered but we can't see it without a microscope something that isn't built into our eyes.
How many of us wear spiritual covers? How many of us like to put on a spiritual blanket to hide the filth beneath? How many of us are more than willing to uncover our spiritual selves and expose our sinful ways- confessing them yet NOT forsaking them? We've got the first part of the process down but that second part well, that's just too difficult. Sure let's whip off the covers, let everyone see the dirt. People usually see the dirt anyway- don't they? We just have these pretend coverings on and it's easy and proper to let the coverings remain in place. Exposing someone's faults just makes the one exposing them appear bad- doesn't it? That old backfire- where you want someone to come across as their *true* evil self so you shout - 'Look! Look! See how bad they are?!' And while that exposed person feels the shame of their exposed sins, people also look at the motives behind the one doing the exposing. Is exposing someone else's sins something good? Is it a confession? Can you make a confession for someone else? Not really. There is no personal admission, no willingness to confess but rather a forced confession.
Dirt, sins, hiding them doesn't get rid of them. Exposing them and making them available to be clean is the only real option we have isn't it? It does no good to hide anything sinful in our lives because our God, our Judge can see everything even the tiniest speck of dust we brush under the tiniest spiritual cover. We are naked- nothing hidden at all from God- nothing. Our hearts that we can't seem to even begin to understand and know the depths of- God knows. The sins that we do see, the dirt that we do know about we are accountable to keep it exposed and ask for cleansing, and pray for the ability to NOT acquire that dirtiness again. We need to forsake the acts that make us dirty, we need to have a willingness NOT to commit a sinful act, even if the desire remains to get dirty, to sin, we have to choose to NOT sin- praying that even the desire to sin is taken away from us.
Act 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Act 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
(Websters)
Repentance
REPENT'ANCE, n.
1. Sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct.
2. In theology, the pain, regret or affliction which a person feels on account of his past conduct, because it exposes him to punishment. This sorrow proceeding merely from the fear of punishment, is called legal repentance, as being excited by the terrors of legal penalties, and it may exist without an amendment of life.
3. Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life.
Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God.
Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. 2 Cor 7. Mat 3.
Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice, from conviction that it has offended God.
2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Co 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
2Co 7:3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
2Co 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
2Co 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
2Co 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
2Co 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
2Co 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
2Co 7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
2Co 7:13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
2Co 7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
2Co 7:15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
2Co 7:16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Repentance- a true sorrow, a godly sorrow, and a turning away from sin.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Our HOPE has to be in Christ and Christ alone.
We must by His power turn from all sin that we are convicted of and have the power to turn away from. I say the power to turn away from and here is where we stumble and fall. With Christ we have the power to turn from ALL sin this is true. Yet we are WRETCHED men and women living in a body of death. We must have our HOPE in Christ and not give in to despair as we live in this world of evil. Every day, every hour we must seek Christ and the hope we have in Him, not DESPAIRING when we fall short but continuously laying down at the Savior's feet clinging to Him and the hope that is only found in HIM. It seems like such a vicious cycle, a vicious hopeless cycle and yet all things are possible with God. Maybe we won't have the victory over a sin in our lives the way we expect it. Maybe we are being tried in the fire of faith with a particular sin and the only way to victory, the only way to purification is through the knowledge that Christ is the victor, Christ gives the victory. If we could do it ALL on our own we'd have no need of Christ, none. Christ wouldn't have had to die if we were able to save ourselves from our sins. The closer it gets to the return of our Savior the harder Satan is going to work. Satan doesn't know when Christ will come- only God the Father knows. Satan does know that every single day that passes is another opportunity for Him to work his evil and the longer time goes on the harder he works wanting to secure as his own every single person he can because that keeps one less from being Christ's, one less creature to proclaim their Creator's righteousness. Is it any wonder there will be few left on earth to proclaim God's righteousness with the way Satan works evil upon evil, using despair as his net to capture many. We will despair if we believe that our righteousness saves us, make no mistake about it. We have NO license to sin. Sin should forever be an abhorrence to us. Remember this…
Luk 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
SEVEN TIMES IN ONE DAY!
One could make the argument that if this sinner is sinning SEVEN times a day and EACH time after the sin they repent- that they aren't truly deserving of forgiveness… right? We say this all the time, we believe this all the time. We get caught up in the despair of sinning yet here Christ Himself is telling us that there IS true repentance for sins that beset us, that beleaguer us. We can't give up hope and let despair over come us.
I've not forgotten this … something I learned a few years back now.
The Lord's prayer where it is prayed- 'lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil' This is telling us that we need GOD and GOD alone to deliver us from evil, from the evil impulse in us brought on by Satan, deliver us from the despair of being tempted. We know God does not tempt us to evil, Satan tempts us to evil, to trap us and cause us to despair of ever being saved. Asking God to lead us not into temptation is asking God to deliver us from the temptation to give in to Satan's traps the biggest trap being to lose hope, to despair of ever truly being God's. Is it any wonder Christ Himself told us that if we are sinned against seven times in one day, and each time that sinner repents we are to forgive him? This is a lesson not only for us to forgive but to understand that there is true repentance for the repented one who is in need of asking for forgiveness over and over. We can't GIVE up. We can't stop forgiving, and we can't stop asking for forgiveness no matter what!
How much better is it to acknowledge sin, to acknowledge the dirt than to simply cover it up hoping somehow it will be cleansed. We have to confess and repent, forsaking sin, seeking forgiveness in Christ and grasping hold of His righteousness by His grace through faith. He died to save us, He wants us that much so we can't ever believe we are unworthy in Him, we are only unworthy in ourselves.
May God bless us and keep us in Him now and forever! Leading us not to despair through the many temptations that come our way, but delivering us from all evil as Jesus prayed to the Father- keep us from evil as we live in this world filled with evil.
In His love.
Amen.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Spiritual Coma
Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
A parable- a story with a meaning. Dict-PAR'ABLE, v.t. To represent by fiction or fable.
This parable is used to illustrate to us that we must PRAY ALWAYS and not FAINT.
Here we have a city judge who doesn’t have any respect to God or his fellow man.
We also have a widow with an adversary and she went to this judge and wanted his help against her adversary. The ungodly judge wouldn't help her. Just imagine it- the judge was most likely a very arrogant, self-serving man who believed in nothing but himself. He didn't hold other men in high esteem, he was a judge, he was the one who should be held in high esteem. He didn't reverence God at all, he didn't fear God at all whatsoever- he got where he was of his own accord- in his thinking. He was all about himself and no one else. He had no real sympathy for the widow and he wasn't going to help her, why should he, he didn't want to so he wouldn't. However, the widow wouldn't stop seeking help from the judge. The widow became a 'pest' to the judge. Just imagine her there day after day seeking an audience with him, pleading for help. When he wouldn't grant her an audience it's not hard to envision the widow waiting for the judge whenever he would go out. She was a constant presence in his life and soon the judge grew very tired of her pestering so what does he do? He avenges her, he takes care of her problem, he deals with her adversary just so he doesn't have to put up with her annoying him. The judge didn't help because he cared for the widow. The judge didn't act out of the kindness of his heart. The judge didn't help out because he knew God would want him to do so. The judge served himself by helping the widow- because the widow was very persistent in her search for justice. Would the judge have helped her if she wasn't persistent? NO, absolutely not! That's the point here, this is the point the parable is making for us.
We have to continually come before our Father, acknowledging our need to be connected with Him, acknowledging His Lordship over us, acknowledging Him as our Creator, as our Redeemer. We must constantly bring ourselves to God, our spiritual self must meet with the Holy Spirit if we hope to ever be avenged of our adversary, Satan. We must cry night and day to our God! And God bears LONG with us, He does! God bears long with our constant need for redemption, with our constant need to be born again, with our needing to die daily. God bears very, very long with us in our fallen state, and through the sacrifice of His Son we are made new. Our LOVING, heavenly Father who cares for us more than we can even begin to imagine is more than willing to avenge us and He will do so, He will.
Like that widow dealing with an uncaring judge- she was avenged- not speedily but she was avenged.
We will be avenged we just have to hold fast, we just have to continuously PRAY and NOT FAINT. Only then will the Son of Man find faith on earth- holding fast NO matter what, NO matter how long, knowing our LOVING God will avenge us.
We must not spiritually faint- something Satan would have us do as often as possible.
Maybe physically you've never fainted in your life - you would know right? It's easy to know when you faint physically. We need to be more aware of our spiritual fainting. There are way too many who are unconscious spiritually. The world is filled with people in spiritual comas. We can't let ourselves faint or we too risk falling into a spiritual coma. We have to always pray it's the only way to keep from fainting, the only way. When we physically faint we are completely unaware of our physical surroundings, there is just nothingness to us. When we spiritually faint we become completely unaware of our spiritual surroundings, there exists no spiritual realm. When we pray we are an active part of the spiritual realm we exist in, a realm way too many believe doesn't even exist. That spiritual connection keeps us awake, keeps us from fainting and we need to grasp it and not let go.
Pray… right now, pray.
Holy heavenly Father God please, we lay ourselves at your feet seeking your tender mercy, pleading for forgiveness offered to us by Your Son's great sacrifice. Help us not to faint but to come to You in prayer always! Help us to remain faithful to you until the very end. Please let Your will be done in our lives, just like Your will is done in heaven. Help us to forgive those who sin against us. Give us all we need right now today Lord so that we may be spiritually well fed by You. Help us Lord, not to be led into the despair that temptation to sin brings. Deliver us Lord! Deliver us from ALL evil! By Your love!.
Amen.
Luk 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
A parable- a story with a meaning. Dict-PAR'ABLE, v.t. To represent by fiction or fable.
This parable is used to illustrate to us that we must PRAY ALWAYS and not FAINT.
Here we have a city judge who doesn’t have any respect to God or his fellow man.
We also have a widow with an adversary and she went to this judge and wanted his help against her adversary. The ungodly judge wouldn't help her. Just imagine it- the judge was most likely a very arrogant, self-serving man who believed in nothing but himself. He didn't hold other men in high esteem, he was a judge, he was the one who should be held in high esteem. He didn't reverence God at all, he didn't fear God at all whatsoever- he got where he was of his own accord- in his thinking. He was all about himself and no one else. He had no real sympathy for the widow and he wasn't going to help her, why should he, he didn't want to so he wouldn't. However, the widow wouldn't stop seeking help from the judge. The widow became a 'pest' to the judge. Just imagine her there day after day seeking an audience with him, pleading for help. When he wouldn't grant her an audience it's not hard to envision the widow waiting for the judge whenever he would go out. She was a constant presence in his life and soon the judge grew very tired of her pestering so what does he do? He avenges her, he takes care of her problem, he deals with her adversary just so he doesn't have to put up with her annoying him. The judge didn't help because he cared for the widow. The judge didn't act out of the kindness of his heart. The judge didn't help out because he knew God would want him to do so. The judge served himself by helping the widow- because the widow was very persistent in her search for justice. Would the judge have helped her if she wasn't persistent? NO, absolutely not! That's the point here, this is the point the parable is making for us.
We have to continually come before our Father, acknowledging our need to be connected with Him, acknowledging His Lordship over us, acknowledging Him as our Creator, as our Redeemer. We must constantly bring ourselves to God, our spiritual self must meet with the Holy Spirit if we hope to ever be avenged of our adversary, Satan. We must cry night and day to our God! And God bears LONG with us, He does! God bears long with our constant need for redemption, with our constant need to be born again, with our needing to die daily. God bears very, very long with us in our fallen state, and through the sacrifice of His Son we are made new. Our LOVING, heavenly Father who cares for us more than we can even begin to imagine is more than willing to avenge us and He will do so, He will.
Like that widow dealing with an uncaring judge- she was avenged- not speedily but she was avenged.
We will be avenged we just have to hold fast, we just have to continuously PRAY and NOT FAINT. Only then will the Son of Man find faith on earth- holding fast NO matter what, NO matter how long, knowing our LOVING God will avenge us.
We must not spiritually faint- something Satan would have us do as often as possible.
Maybe physically you've never fainted in your life - you would know right? It's easy to know when you faint physically. We need to be more aware of our spiritual fainting. There are way too many who are unconscious spiritually. The world is filled with people in spiritual comas. We can't let ourselves faint or we too risk falling into a spiritual coma. We have to always pray it's the only way to keep from fainting, the only way. When we physically faint we are completely unaware of our physical surroundings, there is just nothingness to us. When we spiritually faint we become completely unaware of our spiritual surroundings, there exists no spiritual realm. When we pray we are an active part of the spiritual realm we exist in, a realm way too many believe doesn't even exist. That spiritual connection keeps us awake, keeps us from fainting and we need to grasp it and not let go.
Pray… right now, pray.
Holy heavenly Father God please, we lay ourselves at your feet seeking your tender mercy, pleading for forgiveness offered to us by Your Son's great sacrifice. Help us not to faint but to come to You in prayer always! Help us to remain faithful to you until the very end. Please let Your will be done in our lives, just like Your will is done in heaven. Help us to forgive those who sin against us. Give us all we need right now today Lord so that we may be spiritually well fed by You. Help us Lord, not to be led into the despair that temptation to sin brings. Deliver us Lord! Deliver us from ALL evil! By Your love!.
Amen.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Not to faint
Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Not to faint.
What does it mean not to faint?
G1573
ekkakeō
ek-kak-eh'-o
From G1537 and G2556; to be (bad or) weak, that is, (by implication) to fail (in heart): - faint, be weary.
Men out always to pray and not to …be bad, be weak, to fail in heart, be weary.
It's EXTREMELY easy for us to be bad, to be weak, to fail in our hearts, to be weary. It almost seems like our natural tendency is one leading more towards pessimism than optimism and that's very explainable isn't it? Our nature isn't one that tends towards good things, towards optimistic things. When we 'faint', when we find ourselves losing heart, when we become weary and feel very weak what happens? We lose sight of the hope that is in our Savior. Can you lose heart and still have hope? Do the two go together? Can you be pessimistic and optimistic at the same time? Don't they cancel each other out if that happens? People like to call it being realistic when they are neither pessimistic or optimistic. But truthfully isn't there a lean more in the pessimistic direction when that happens?
Fainting- for all of us fainting is a real possibility especially when we lose sight of our Savior and it's easy to lose sight of our Savior if we stop praying. If you are praying ALWAYS you are seeking the source of hope beyond all the horror this world has for us.
Always--
G3842 every when, that is, at all times: - always (-s), ever (-more).
Praying at ALL times. If we are forever connected to God we won't faint. God is then our strength and we are not our own source of strength. We are no longer our own hope. When we realize that by reaching out, that by connecting with the source of our hope we won't faint shouldn't we understand just how important it is to have that heavenly connection always?
The disciples wanted to know how they should pray. Shouldn't they have known how to pray? They were all Jews, all of them raised in the faith of the Jews. All raised to believe in God, to pray to God, to make supplication to God. So why did they ask Jesus about how they should pray?
Luk 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Teach them… but they knew how to pray. They wanted to know how they should pray in light of the fulfillment of the Messiah having come.
Jesus taught them...
Luk 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Pray to the Father in heaven.
Holy is His name.
His kingdom come.
His will be done in heaven and earth.
Give us our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive.
Lead us not into temptation.
Deliver us from evil.
Jesus said to pray this way. This was the base line of EVERY prayer. These are the basic elements necessary when we pray. Acknowledging who we pray to and that He is Holy. Praying for a future in His kingdom- a future not of this world as it is. Praying for HIS will to be done, not ours. Asking for sustenance Spiritual and physical. Asking to be forgiven- knowing we have to forgive. Asking to be kept from temptation and delivered from evil.
This prayer establishes so much and if we are to pray always we need to pray the way Jesus would have us pray first and foremost. We make supplication to our Lord and we make it often in praying always and if we are praying always we will NOT faint! It's when we stop praying that we faint.
More tomorrow by the grace of God!
In His love, in His mercy.
Amen.
Men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Not to faint.
What does it mean not to faint?
G1573
ekkakeō
ek-kak-eh'-o
From G1537 and G2556; to be (bad or) weak, that is, (by implication) to fail (in heart): - faint, be weary.
Men out always to pray and not to …be bad, be weak, to fail in heart, be weary.
It's EXTREMELY easy for us to be bad, to be weak, to fail in our hearts, to be weary. It almost seems like our natural tendency is one leading more towards pessimism than optimism and that's very explainable isn't it? Our nature isn't one that tends towards good things, towards optimistic things. When we 'faint', when we find ourselves losing heart, when we become weary and feel very weak what happens? We lose sight of the hope that is in our Savior. Can you lose heart and still have hope? Do the two go together? Can you be pessimistic and optimistic at the same time? Don't they cancel each other out if that happens? People like to call it being realistic when they are neither pessimistic or optimistic. But truthfully isn't there a lean more in the pessimistic direction when that happens?
Fainting- for all of us fainting is a real possibility especially when we lose sight of our Savior and it's easy to lose sight of our Savior if we stop praying. If you are praying ALWAYS you are seeking the source of hope beyond all the horror this world has for us.
Always--
G3842 every when, that is, at all times: - always (-s), ever (-more).
Praying at ALL times. If we are forever connected to God we won't faint. God is then our strength and we are not our own source of strength. We are no longer our own hope. When we realize that by reaching out, that by connecting with the source of our hope we won't faint shouldn't we understand just how important it is to have that heavenly connection always?
The disciples wanted to know how they should pray. Shouldn't they have known how to pray? They were all Jews, all of them raised in the faith of the Jews. All raised to believe in God, to pray to God, to make supplication to God. So why did they ask Jesus about how they should pray?
Luk 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Teach them… but they knew how to pray. They wanted to know how they should pray in light of the fulfillment of the Messiah having come.
Jesus taught them...
Luk 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Pray to the Father in heaven.
Holy is His name.
His kingdom come.
His will be done in heaven and earth.
Give us our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive.
Lead us not into temptation.
Deliver us from evil.
Jesus said to pray this way. This was the base line of EVERY prayer. These are the basic elements necessary when we pray. Acknowledging who we pray to and that He is Holy. Praying for a future in His kingdom- a future not of this world as it is. Praying for HIS will to be done, not ours. Asking for sustenance Spiritual and physical. Asking to be forgiven- knowing we have to forgive. Asking to be kept from temptation and delivered from evil.
This prayer establishes so much and if we are to pray always we need to pray the way Jesus would have us pray first and foremost. We make supplication to our Lord and we make it often in praying always and if we are praying always we will NOT faint! It's when we stop praying that we faint.
More tomorrow by the grace of God!
In His love, in His mercy.
Amen.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Living in a state of expectation.
Living in a state of expectation.
Watching and praying.
Watching is indicative of expectation isn't it? Especially the instruction to watch for a reason.
We aren't told to watch as if we are watching the sunset and noting it's beauty. We are told to watch because we don't know when our Savior is going to return. We are told to watch in order to be LOOKING for Christ when He returns. How many people today do you suppose are actively looking for Christ to come?
The question was- actively. Not how many are looking for Christ to come.
You'll get a lot of people saying they're looking, they're waiting, but what they are really doing is acknowledging that He will return, not actively LOOKING for His return. You can acknowledge something will happen without watching for it, can't you. I acknowledge there will be a football superbowl this coming year- this is a fact. Now if I were an avid football fan I might have it marked on my calendar, I might be counting down the days till it gets here, I might be making preparations for the party I'm going to have that day. I can also acknowledge that it will rain this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm avidly watching for that rain to take place. We can acknowledge all sorts of things but it doesn't mean we are WATCHING for them. I can just imagine in the day of Christ's coming people acknowledging they knew He would come, they knew it. But Christ will know they weren't WATCHING even though they acknowledged He would return.
So we have to ask the question are WE actively watching for Christ to return? Or are we acknowledging He will return but making no concerted effort to watch for His return? Are we SLEEPING??????? Remember the 10 virgins waiting for the Bridegroom? ALL of them slept! BUT some prepared for that event. Some were ready, they were prepared, they planned ahead of time. We are to watch but the danger of sleep is upon us all and we MUST be prepared, we must have the knowledge of our Lord's return and our salvation wrought through Him embedded into our lives fully. If we acknowledge our Savior will return and then fall asleep- are we prepared? Have we lived with the expectation of the return of our Savior as a REAL driving force in our daily life, and because of that we know that we must be ready- actively be prepared for Him?
Sleep if you want to! Sleep and don't prepare, that's your choice. Live with the knowledge of your Savior as an abstract thought, believing that you need to do know more and you WILL be caught without extra oil. You will be told that Christ doesn't know you. You will be told you are not wearing the wedding garment provided by Christ but trying to attending the wedding in your own clothing- your own righteousness.
We need to LIVE with EXPECTATION, glorious EXPECTATION! Not just live with acknowledgement.
The KING is COMING! The KING is COMING! This is real, and it is as real today as it was in the days of the Apostles and we need to live with this expectation as a reality, not as something that *might* happen someday and if we're lucky the sooner the better.
So many are waiting for signs before they really grasp the reality. They are saying- well this needs to happen and that needs to happen so there's no way Christ is coming anytime soon- like tomorrow. They say, don't tell me to believe Christ could come tomorrow, because it's not true. It is true that we are given signs to watch for. It is true that we need to watch for these signs. But what isn't true is that we should rely on our very fallible judgment to determine when we should *really* start watching for Christ's return. We know things are supposed to happen first but we also know God does things in His time, in His way and not our time, not our way. We are to be ready ALWAYS. If you are among those who are waiting for such and such to take place before you really get serious about our LORD'S return then you could be among those who die LONG before such and such takes place and you will have died before ever getting serious, without ever truly believing and LIVING in, and for Christ your Savior!
We have to live in a state of expectation, watching.
We must not confusing a state of acknowledgment with a state of active watching, active hoping, active praying.
May the Holy Spirit guide us to all understanding by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior. May we live in EXPECTATION, a real, pure expectation of our Savior's return!
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Mar 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Act 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
1Co 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving
1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
1Pe 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
In His most amazing love!
Amen.
Watching and praying.
Watching is indicative of expectation isn't it? Especially the instruction to watch for a reason.
We aren't told to watch as if we are watching the sunset and noting it's beauty. We are told to watch because we don't know when our Savior is going to return. We are told to watch in order to be LOOKING for Christ when He returns. How many people today do you suppose are actively looking for Christ to come?
The question was- actively. Not how many are looking for Christ to come.
You'll get a lot of people saying they're looking, they're waiting, but what they are really doing is acknowledging that He will return, not actively LOOKING for His return. You can acknowledge something will happen without watching for it, can't you. I acknowledge there will be a football superbowl this coming year- this is a fact. Now if I were an avid football fan I might have it marked on my calendar, I might be counting down the days till it gets here, I might be making preparations for the party I'm going to have that day. I can also acknowledge that it will rain this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm avidly watching for that rain to take place. We can acknowledge all sorts of things but it doesn't mean we are WATCHING for them. I can just imagine in the day of Christ's coming people acknowledging they knew He would come, they knew it. But Christ will know they weren't WATCHING even though they acknowledged He would return.
So we have to ask the question are WE actively watching for Christ to return? Or are we acknowledging He will return but making no concerted effort to watch for His return? Are we SLEEPING??????? Remember the 10 virgins waiting for the Bridegroom? ALL of them slept! BUT some prepared for that event. Some were ready, they were prepared, they planned ahead of time. We are to watch but the danger of sleep is upon us all and we MUST be prepared, we must have the knowledge of our Lord's return and our salvation wrought through Him embedded into our lives fully. If we acknowledge our Savior will return and then fall asleep- are we prepared? Have we lived with the expectation of the return of our Savior as a REAL driving force in our daily life, and because of that we know that we must be ready- actively be prepared for Him?
Sleep if you want to! Sleep and don't prepare, that's your choice. Live with the knowledge of your Savior as an abstract thought, believing that you need to do know more and you WILL be caught without extra oil. You will be told that Christ doesn't know you. You will be told you are not wearing the wedding garment provided by Christ but trying to attending the wedding in your own clothing- your own righteousness.
We need to LIVE with EXPECTATION, glorious EXPECTATION! Not just live with acknowledgement.
The KING is COMING! The KING is COMING! This is real, and it is as real today as it was in the days of the Apostles and we need to live with this expectation as a reality, not as something that *might* happen someday and if we're lucky the sooner the better.
So many are waiting for signs before they really grasp the reality. They are saying- well this needs to happen and that needs to happen so there's no way Christ is coming anytime soon- like tomorrow. They say, don't tell me to believe Christ could come tomorrow, because it's not true. It is true that we are given signs to watch for. It is true that we need to watch for these signs. But what isn't true is that we should rely on our very fallible judgment to determine when we should *really* start watching for Christ's return. We know things are supposed to happen first but we also know God does things in His time, in His way and not our time, not our way. We are to be ready ALWAYS. If you are among those who are waiting for such and such to take place before you really get serious about our LORD'S return then you could be among those who die LONG before such and such takes place and you will have died before ever getting serious, without ever truly believing and LIVING in, and for Christ your Savior!
We have to live in a state of expectation, watching.
We must not confusing a state of acknowledgment with a state of active watching, active hoping, active praying.
May the Holy Spirit guide us to all understanding by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior. May we live in EXPECTATION, a real, pure expectation of our Savior's return!
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Mat 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Mar 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Act 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
1Co 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving
1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
1Pe 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
In His most amazing love!
Amen.
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