Keep yourselves in the love of God

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jud 1:22  And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Those who are NOT caught up in living for their senses, being deemed sensual over spiritual must receive instruction. We must, because do to otherwise is to leave ourselves wide open for deception. We are told to BUILD UP OURSELVES and do that on our MOST HOLY FAITH- PRAYING in the HOLY GHOST. We are told to KEEP OURSELVES in the LOVE OF GOD. We are told to LOOK FOR the MERCY of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. We are told to have COMPASSION. We are told to SAVE with FEAR- PULLING others out of the FIRE- what fire? The fire that is eternal- the fire that destroys to the uttermost- the fire that burns to ashes never to rise up again in any way, in any form- the fire that takes the whole being the living soul- the spirit and the flesh.  SAVE from the fire. We are told to HATE even the garment spotted by the FLESH- the sensual. 

The garment spotted by the flesh.

Hate the garment.

Why would you hate a garment? Hate something that clothes you? Or rather when would you hate a garment?  You wouldn't like to wear a filthy garment would you? Most people would MUCH rather have on clean garments than dirty ones, right? What would you think about someone giving you a garment that is filthy with all manner of filth? Seriously? A garment spotted with all the filthy flesh diseases is held out to you- what would you do? Would you reach to take it or would you shrink away from it, doing all you can to keep it away from you? The answer should be yes, you'd run far, far away from it and in fact you'd hope someone would burn up that filthy garment so no one could ever be infected by it, not ever!

The garment spotted by the flesh is that filthy garment. It's the flesh traits that people wear, that people reveal in themselves. We are NOT supposed to encourage the flesh traits, the carnal nature, that which would kill the spirit in favor of the flesh. We are NOT supposed to love those flesh garments draped over others or those we unfortunately all too often don ourselves. We are supposed to HATE the flesh spotted garments. We are supposed to seek the clean garments of CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS! We are supposed to desire the filthy garments to be removed…

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

TAKE AWAY the filthy garments!

Please TAKE AWAY our filthy garments!

Let our iniquity pass from us, clothe us with a change of raiment, clothe us with CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

By the grace of our God we must put on HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and truly hate the garments that are spotted by the flesh, the filthy garments filled with flesh and no spirit.

We have to build ourselves up on our most holy FAITH, praying in the HOLY GHOST.
We must keep ourselves in the love of GOD.
We must look for the mercy of our LORD JESUS CHRIST- unto eternal life.

Our lives must reflect our faith! And that faith is reflected in our lives so others may see and by the grace of God may they be inspired by the SPIRIT to seek God, to seek living in the SPIRIT and not the flesh.

All by our GOD'S LOVE!

Senses or Spirit

Jud 1:17  But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Jud 1:18  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Jud 1:19  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Mockers.
Walking after their own lusts.
Separate themselves.
Sensual.
Not having the Spirit.

Mockers are scoffers and just what are they mocking and scoffing at?

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Scoffing against our LORD and the promises He made to us. Mocking the promises we LIVE by when we choose to follow our Savior. Promises so many don't really believe at all. Promises so many have twisted to fit their own agendas or the agendas of those they choose to follow instead of following our Lord and Savior.

Do people walk after their own lusts?

We've been talking about this a lot because it NEEDS talking about. When we live for SELF we've lost Christ. Yet we've been raised to do this from our youth. Raised to seek fulfillment in getting what we want. If we want something we have to seek it- through presents as children, through jobs as we get older. And if people think just because they've worked for the things they desire that there is no lust involved, they're wrong. Some people spend their entire lives working and spending to gain the lusts they have and they think it's fine and dandy because they didn't take a handout to get what they want, they didn't steal the things they want, they worked hard for them. If you work hard for the wrong things does it make them right because of your hard work? No. Even murders, liars, thieves can work hard at their jobs- it doesn't make them a good thing.  Lusts are lusts and when we walk after our own lusts we are NOT following our Savior, no matter how we try to fix it so it seems fine. We do that a lot. We make internal excuses for ourselves so we can continue serving our own lusts in disguise- disguises of our own designing.

Walking after their own lusts.  This is something we HAVE to study because of the deceptive power Satan uses indoctrinating us from our youth to live for our own self satisfaction, to live to fulfill the lusts, any lusts we have.

The Definition of lust- 1. Longing desire; eagerness to possess or enjoy; as the lust of gain.

Lust doesn't have to mean sexual desires, you can lust after anything.

Separating themselves- keeping themselves from the SPIRIT.

We NEED the HOLY SPIRIT!

If we remain only sensual - living for our senses and not for our spirit- we are LOST. 

There is a part in ALL of us that is given to us that LONGS for God, that can ONLY be fulfilled by GOD through the HOLY SPIRIT.

You can deny it if you want. You can scoff if you like, no one forces anyone to believe, but it is TRUTH.

If we live only for our senses - that which we can see, hear, taste, touch, smell- then we are lost.

Ask yourself if you live for your senses. Take stock of yourself. Examine yourself and realize just how much you do live for your senses.

Do you live for the HOLY SPIRIT? Do you live for our SAVIOR? Do you live for GOD?  When you do, you are NOT living for your senses.

Jud 1:17  But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Jud 1:18  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Jud 1:19  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Remember.

In the LAST TIME.

Those who follow God will encounter a world filled with these people, and we have to know this. We have to understand the truth that is before us. We are told to remember and we have to do this because if we don't we will be in danger of being deceived.

Please Lord, please help us do YOUR WILL! Help us NOT be deceived, help us NOT to seek to live for our senses, but wholly for YOU.

True happiness is choosing eternal life

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God

Enemy of God.

Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Friend of God.

We can choose to be enemies of God or friends of God. It's a choice we make.

If we choose the world because it's so much easier to do that than to choose to live for God- then we have to accept that we have made our choice and our eternal fate is of our own choosing. 

It is easier to choose the world. Why? Because the world loves its own. The world does not love those who are God's. The world puts on a great show of pretense towards accepting God, and some of even loving God, but underneath that show there is a lot of corruption. When the corruption seeps out into the open the world is eager to point fingers at the supposed lovers of God and accuse them of their false religion. The world is eager to paint God in a bad light. The world is more willing to doubt than to believe as if their doubt gives them an edge in life. It's easier to live for self and self contentment, self satisfaction, self love than it is to live denying self. When we are called to deny self we feel that deprivation, the world shouts that we are being deprived of something that is owed to us by the mere fact that we were born. Being born entitles us to self happiness, or at least the world wants us to believe that. What being born entitles us to is a chance for eternal life, this is a very special, special gift we are entitled to and yet how many are raised to comprehend that this is our real entitlement- not happiness here and now, not pleasure here and now.  No, I'm not saying we have to live our lives in severe deprivation as some monasteries and such promote, but we are called to deny our selves and we do this as we make the choice to put others first, others before our own wants, our own happiness, our own desires, our own needs.  Is it any wonder that it is so much easier to be a friend of the world?  Is it any wonder that being a friend of the world means being an enemy of God's?

We can comprehend this, our God will help us to comprehend this if we really choose to do so. If not, Satan will gladly skew our understanding and warp it to the point we are deceived.

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

A servant is not told what his master is thinking- they are just ordered to serve with no explanation and they must obey. A servant is not entitled to know the reasoning behind their master's requests, they aren't allowed to know the innermost thoughts of the one they are serving.  When Jesus ministered He revealed the Father to us through that ministry. We were allowed to know the innermost thoughts, we were told the reasoning, we were given explanations, the Father God was REVEALED to us.  Because of this revelation given to us by the Son of God, we can be called the friends of God. We can choose to study, to know, to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives teaching us to live as a friend of God and not a friend of the world.

We must ask ourselves if we are a friend of God's or a friend of the world's. This question has to be asked. Take stock of your life and truly seek the real answer. It's super easy to just spout off what you want to believe, but not so easy to really examine your life and ask the question.  If the answer turns out to be that you are a friend of the world's then you need to ask for forgiveness and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you towards friendship with God, a true friendship with God where He does come first and you don't, where others come first and you don't.

We must remember the world is run by Satan and he'll use every trick he has to ensnare all those he possibly can. If you believe in God, you have to believe in Him and you have to believe that he truly has power in this world to deceive. Our God is greater than Satan, and the Holy Spirit will guide us and keep us in Christ, we must choose to allow our entitlement of life not be our happiness here and now but the choice of eternal life and the happiness found in knowing we are God's -that and that alone is true happiness.

All in Him, all by Him, all through Him.

His mercy, His grace, His love!

Always.

A friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Friendship of the world is enmity with God.

And YET, we are to love one another, so this must be something totally different, yes?

A friend of the world is the enemy of God.

This is TRUTH.

This is such amazing truth that all who would know our Savior should study this, really study this because Satan has presented this world as all there really is, and when we fall for that we are in his deceptive trap.

A friend of the world.

So why shouldn't we be a friend of the world?

Especially when so many are extreme in promoting this world as something we should love- in most respects.

 To tell anyone NOT to be a friend of this world is to risk being thought of as someone who is extremely strange and in truth- loveless. If we aren't loving- as the world loves and as those in the world choose to love -then we are the strange ones. Why shouldn't we love the place we live in? Some will even go as far as to say God made this world and we must love what He made, we must not only be friends with the world but, love the world.  Yet here we are in God's word being told outright NOT to be a friend of the world and if we ARE a friend of the world then we are an ENEMY of God's.  So how do we reconcile the love we are supposed to have for the things of God and being told that even to be a friend of the world is to be God's enemy.

Did Jesus love this world? People tend to answer 'yes' without giving it much thought. Jesus did not love this world, Jesus loved the people in the world.

Jesus wasn't a part of this world and we are not supposed to be a part of this world but we FORGET this!

Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

WE ARE NOT TO BE PART OF THIS WORLD so WHY do we try so hard to be a part of this world, why? WHY?

Why do we let the alienation we feel towards this world and the people that are friends with the world get to us so badly? When we feel out of sorts, when nothing seems to be going quite right, we let it worry us, we get upset. We like when things are going smoothly, calmly, the world and all in it are in harmony with us - at least those in our little part of world. We want to get along with the world because to do otherwise would put us at odds with things and we don't like that feeling. We want to find love from this world, we want to find acceptance from this world, we want to be at peace with this world - so much in life - movies, books, school, families all emphasize this idea. So it's no wonder that when we don't fit in we get upset. The world - the ruler of this world- wants us to strive to be friends with the world rather than enemies and most people are truly caught up in doing just that.

It'd be strange to believe we should actually celebrate our lack of friendship with the world- right? Just writing it sounds strange. Maybe we really should celebrate it though, because in truth, aren't we celebrating our closeness with God, our friendship with God, when we celebrate our lack of friendship with the world?

If we took every instance when we begin to feel that lack of friendship with the world we are living in and praised God how would this alter our perception about life in general?

Would we draw closer to God through this praise? Closer to God and further from the world? Isn't this what we are supposed to - draw closer to God and further from the world and things worldly.

Putting our hope in God- not in this world. Putting our love in God- not in things of this world, this is what we are to do, right? 

So, why are we so determined to be friends with the world?  To fit in this world?  To get along with this world?

The truth- the closer we are to our God the more loving we would naturally become towards others. Not being a friend of the world does NOT mean not being friends with others, it does not mean not loving others. We will love others more the less we love the world and this is God's truth! It sounds contrary but it's not. 

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

The Devil rules this world- He even told our Savior He had ownership- so much so that He could offer the kingdoms of the world to Jesus.

Mat 12:32  ... neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

We are told that there is a WORLD to come.

We are not to live for this world but we are to live for the world to come, the world our Savior will usher in after the thousand years of reigning with Him in heaven. This is Biblical, this is factual.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS.

Rev 20:6  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.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH: FOR THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH WERE PASSED AWAY and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband

Biblical!

Truth!

If you DO NOT fit in this world, if you feel more at odds with the world than you do a part of it, there is a reason for it and it's not a bad thing, not like those in this world, those who are a part of this world want you to believe it is. They want you to be depressed, they want you to be angry, they want you to feel lonely, feeling a lot of heart ache and they want this because this is Satan's world and he will do anything and everything to bring us to himself, wanting us to die lost in Him, lost in this world.

 We truly cannot be friends with this world we live in, we can't and we have to stop trying.

We must love God and because loving God means loving others, we will love others, but we will NOT love the world and the horrors of this world, or the lusts of this world. We will NOT seek to be friends with the world. We have to check ourselves when we get upset for not fitting in, for not feeling affection for this world. No matter what any person says- we are NOT to be friends with this world unless we want to be enemies of God.

More tomorrow by the grace of our SAVIOR!

All in His love!

Cleansing

Cleansing-

Eze 36:25  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Psa 119:9  Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

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.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Jas 4:5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

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.

Something only needs to be cleaned if it's dirty, right? You don't clean that which is already clean, because that second cleaning is senseless. In this day and age with massive amounts of people have OCD- obsessive compulsive disorder- you do find a lot of people cleaning things that are already cleaned because they have an abnormal fear of the unseen germs, the unseen filth that could be lurking on something that only appears to be clean but in reality isn't clean at all. 

It's true that since we've discovered the invisible culprits in many sicknesses that we don't always know when something is free from that invisible filth. Yet, we know that our God sees even the invisible stains upon us. In fact most of our sin-filth is invisible isn't it? You don't find any medical examiners removing the hearts of dead men and exclaiming how filthy they are. Our internal organs are not generally filthy. They might have diseases that will alter them from their normal healthy state, but to say they are covered in a filth that can be cleansed would be wrong. Our heart filth, our spirit dirt is often very invisible.   I can't point a finger at a person and tell them they have a corrupted heart, or a diseased spirit. We are told that 'by their fruits you'll know them' and this is true to an extent. Our spirit sickness and heart disease that has nothing to do with clogged arteries or defective valves, don't always produce outward signs.

A smiling, corrupted person who seemingly has everything going great with God could be the farthest from Him in truth and because of deception we wouldn't know- but God ALWAYS knows.

Our God knows the extent of our filthiness. Our God will cleanse us in a way we cannot cleanse ourselvs but our God also expects us to fight the good fight of faith as well and not sit back and allow sin corruption to run rampant over us without us ever trying to deflect it. We are given armor, spiritual armor to fight a spiritual war. The war of Satan tempting us to sin, to cover ourselves in spiritual filth, against our God who would have us found clean and pure from all sin in Jesus Christ.

Why give armor if there is NOTHING to fight? Explain that, please.

Just for show? Our God would not put on a show without reason, He does NOTHING without a reason. Would He tell us to deck ourselves in armor and strut around for the fun of it? No, He would not.

We are given spiritual armor to fight a spiritual battle, a very real battle that has us facing the temptations to sin all the time, unceasing barrages of temptations to overcome us, overwhelm us, defeat us. Satan loves when He can get us to stop fighting. Satan loves having us lay down our swords, our shields, taking off our helmets, our breastplate,  removing the protection from our loins, kicking off the boots we need to keep peace. If we can stand before Satan without our armor he has to do very little to wound us, to cover us in His sin filth.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

RESIST.

DRAW NIGH.

CLEANSE YOUR HANDS.

PURIFY YOUR HEARTS.

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.

CLEANSE OURSELVES from ALL FILTHINESS.

PERFECTING HOLINESS.

We have our part to play, and it's silly, in fact deadly silly, to believe otherwise. 

We must SUBMIT ourselves to God.  And once we submit ourselves to God we must live as one submitted to God. We cannot submit ourselves to someone and continue to act as if we haven't. That's like a wife submitting to her husband and then going out on dates with other men- has she truly submitted herself to her husband if she's out cheating on him by submitting to others? Can you submit yourself to someone and then turn around and submit yourself to another without betraying the one you first submitted to? No. We must submit ourselves to God and in doing so we live according to HIS WILL, not our own. If we say we've submitted ourselves to God and then go about doing the devil's will, have we truly given ourselves to God? No.  There has to be a conscious choice to live for God not because doing so will earn you anything, but because in living for God we are choosing to allow the SACRIFICE of our Savior mean something to us, in saving us with His sinlessness. We are choosing the way of Christ, who is the WAY the TRUTH the LIFE.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the LIFE.  We are to follow Him and HIS ways, not our own. When we are touched by the Holy Spirit and shown the way that is Christ's and it's contrary to the way we are going we MUST choose Christ's way.

Satan is around every corner ready to throw his filth at us and tempt us to go his way, to believe his lies, to be lead down the path of permanent death.

We have been given the armor of God and while it's not a physical armor we can put on, much to the dismay of many because how much more simple would it be to put on the REAL PHYSICAL armor of God and declare we are His. This armor is the HELMET of  CHRIST'S SALVATION, the BREASTPLATE of CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, LOINS GIRDED in CHRIST'S TRUTH, FEET shod in CHRIST'S GOSPEL OF PEACE, holding a SHIELD of CHRIST'S FAITH, wielding a SWORD of CHRIST'S WORD.

Salvation

Righteousness

Truth

Gospel of Peace

Faith

Word of God

This is our ARMOR!

This is what we MUST put on as we go about living day by day in a world where Satan is slinging his evil darts every which way.

We will be permanently cleansed by our God, our hearts will be made new by Him in a way that is impossible for us to achieve on our own. Only Christ's blood can make us whiter than snow, this is the ultimate cleansing miracle.

May our stony hearts become hearts of flesh, may His Spirit keep us in His way doing His will always!

Ungodly Sinners

Jud 1:14  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jud 1:15  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.


The ungodly aren't always aware of their ungodliness. It's true. You'd think you'd know, right? Like some bright lighted sign flashing inside your brain announcing the path you're on is the path to destruction, that you're on the road of the ungodly. The thing is, people choose to live in darkness and when that choice is made there is not bright lighted sign going to flash.

A choice, we make hundreds, thousands of choices - in fact we make choices every single day and yet because we aren't given a clipboard and told to check which choice we don't really believe we are making choices. We are not automatons, we are not programmed to run only one certain way. We are living, breathing, thinking beings that are given this amazing power of choice.

I bet you could tell me right now of at least one bad choice you've made in your lifetime. Those bad choices tend to stand out a little bit.

Yet for all the thousands and thousands of choices we make how often do we make them with any real contemplation?  What will I get for breakfast- mmm- pancakes or cereal. Cereal. Choice made- not really much thought put into it, no sit down and let's contemplate this for a moment.  Not all choices really need tons of contemplation, right? But some should have more than others.

The fact that we can CHOOSE darkness over light should be a choice we contemplate long and hard. Because when we choose that darkness we are essentially choosing to cut ourselves off from eternal life. We are choosing to place ourselves somewhere that no bright lights, flashing or otherwise, will penetrate.

You might doubt this by an experience of your own where you were in a very dark place and the bright light of hope brought you up out of that darkness, and that's okay, doubt away, but while you're doubting get down on your knees and praise God for that amazing truly undeserved blessing.

Sometimes when we place ourselves in deliberate darkness from that point on we are unable to see any real truth.  We might even believe we are godly, we might believe we are saved but the truth is something much different. Remember that verse I've probably referenced a hundred times by now-

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Sinners, ungodly sinners who believe they are living godly.

How much further into the darkness can you get? Blind to your own ungodliness. So consumed by the pitch black surrounding you that you aren't seeing a single flicker of the light of truth. Yet that darkness you've wrapped around yourself you've chosen to call something good, you've lied to yourself and called it truth, and you believe your own lies. You'll be shocked in that day when Christ says to depart from Him that He never knew you.

Yet you won't have to be shocked for long because--

Jud 1:14  ... Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jud 1:15  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Judgment will be executed upon all.
And all that are ungodly will be convinced of their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed.

No one at all will perish eternally without understanding why, and no one left alive will have any doubt as to the guilt of those that perish. All will comprehend that the deliberate choices they've made have led them to that place of guilt. They might initially be shocked that they are not known by our Lord, but then they'll know why our Savior doesn't know them. They'll be able to look into their own filthy hearts and see the sin stains there that they refused to give over to the Lord for cleansing in His blood. They'll know that their condemnation is just and wholly by their own fault.

Have you ever been 'found out', has the 'jig' ever been 'up' on something you've done? Were you ever caught in a lie without any way out? Fumble and stumble all over the place but in the end you had to admit to your wrong? Embarrassing as all get out, shamed beyond belief, yet there was NO other recourse but to admit to the wrong. Then the punishment for that wrong is given and you know it is a fair punishment. You accept it don't you? You accept the fact you screwed up and must pay for it. Okay, maybe that's the ideal way of things, but in the end all unrepentant sinners will have no choice but to admit to their wrong, they'll know why they are being denied eternal life and it will be a just punishment. Most likely they'll even know deep down at least that they never would have been happy in a sinless world.  No one clinging to sin, no one unrepentant would be happy in the world our God has prepared for them that would be truly His, how could they be?

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Murmuers.
Complainers.
Walking after their own lusts.
Mouths speaking great swelling words.
Admiring others for selfish advantage.

Sadly who isn't in this list?

God forgive us, God help us! God SAVE US! Because we most assuredly cannot save ourselves, our filthy, filthy  selves. God alone can preserve us by the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ. Surrendering ourselves fully, wholly unto Him, to His will.

All by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ may we be known by Him, found in HIM, ready for HIM, loving Him, loved by Him.

Deliver us from Evil

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Speaking evil
Brute beasts
Corrupting themselves
The way of Cain
Ran greedily after the error of Balaam
Perished in the gainsaying of Core
Feeding without fear
Clouds without water
Carried by the wind
Trees with withered fruit, without fruit, dead, plucked up by the roots
Raging waves foaming shame
Wandering stars reserved for the blackness of darkness forever

Evil.

Look around you.

Look around you, don't hide yourself in a protective bubble refusing to see the evil that truly exists.

I'm like a lot of people, I don't like reading or hearing about all the nasty, horrible things going on in the world. Why would I like it? Why would anyone like it? Yet it does exist and our news people today have no problem whatsoever with exploiting every bit of evil they can as often as they can making it very easy for those who want to see just what state our world is in. Some would say, and they'd be right, that what is revealed in the media is only the tip of the huge iceberg of evil that truly exists.

People we'd never suspect are living in evil and when a few of them are caught we are shocked- yes, even today we can be shocked. You wouldn't expect your cousin, your uncle, your mother, your neighbor, your mailman, your grocery cashier, your bank teller, etc of sick, evil, depraved beyond our comprehension. Yet every single person we do read/hear about is the relative of someone, is the person who is known by another and loved by people.

Evil.

We cannot forget the evil exists as much as we'd love to. 

We have to continue to watch- to know what is happening in our world. If we find ourselves becoming desensitized by what we hear and read, we need to pray and pray hard. If we allow our horror, our heartache to  die away then we become accepting of it all and lose our compassion. We must have compassion without compassion we've lost the ability to love others as our God would have us love them. Without compassion we are most likely among those who can turn their heads away from those in need, and as soon as we turn away from those in need our heart is in the process of hardening and when that happens we cannot claim the love of God as ours.  God doesn't want us to harden our hearts! God doesn't want us to stop crying and feeling the pain and heartache of the results of all the evil around us. We have to watch, we have to know, we have to comprehend that evil exists beyond anything we want to imagine and know that Satan is the cause, Satan is the reason, and Satan will be destroyed, completely and utterly destroyed and all His evil will be destroyed with him.

Do we want to be among those who are destroyed? Most will be. But we don't have to be. We are given a choice and depending upon our choice we will have eternal life or eternal death.

Jesus said this when praying to His Father, our Father in Heaven-

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Keep us from EVIL  heavenly Father! Keep us from EVIL!

And this…

Deliver us from EVIL!

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Keep us from EVIL.
Deliver us from EVIL.

Why say this? Why ask for this? Why would our SAVIOR ask our Heavenly FATHER to keep us from evil if it weren't something that would be everywhere and easy for us to succumb to?

Evil is everywhere and we are fools that want to remain blind to the truth if we don't realize that fact.

We need to pray to be delivered from evil.
We need to be kept from evil.

Please LORD, only by YOUR grace, only through YOUR power may we be kept from the evil that surrounds us, that constantly confronts us, that would drag us down and keep us from You. Please SAVE US!