Love as CHRIST loves

Rev_22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

In context now-

Rev 22:7(JESUS IS SPEAKING HERE)  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he (THE ANGEL) unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he (THE ANGEL) saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Rev 22:12   (JESUS IS SPEAKING HERE) And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

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.
Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Rev 22:16 (JESUS IS SPEAKING HERE)  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, (JESUS SPEAKING) Surely I come quickly.

 Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.


Rev_22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

There will be two sides at the end, as there has been seen sin came into existence and then when man chose to follow sin.

Two states of being.

Those who are unjust and filthy.

And those who are righteous and holy.

Before our Lord comes again all will have chosen a side in this spiritual warfare that will suddenly become very real to people.

The difference between the two states of being is in the choice they've made to either live for Jesus or live for Satan.

It all boils down to choosing a side.

We make light lately of choosing to be on 'Team Soandos, or Team Thisandthat' according to those we like in the movies or tv shows and whatnot. The reality is that there is a Team Jesus and a Team Satan and we all will all have chosen a side before our Savior returns. He's returning whether you believe or not, that won't stop Him.

Whose side do you want to be on?

The sides are spiritual- the choice is spiritual.

We spoke a little bit yesterday of love being a part of spiritual living and what that love means and it's NOT just three little words spoken, it's a sacrificial state of being.  Only Satan has twisted love to mean something different, he's warped it into a selfish state of being.  We love others under conditions and as long as those conditions are met we love. When those conditions stop being met we then make a choice as to whether or not we want to change the conditions of our love and continue on loving regardless of the old conditions.  It happens all the time. We are filled with ideas of what love should be, how it should feel, how it should act and when those ideas are interfered with we either alter our perception of love or we keep our perception intact and move on.

People get all caught up in the state of 'being in love' without realizing they are caught up in emotions that can fade, or even completely disappear. When we reduce love to emotions we strip love of reality and become victims of just another trap of Satan's.

Ideally we'd all live in a state of unending perfect love, but that is NOT reality. 

When you start a new relationship you have these overwhelming feelings coursing through you and even if you're smart enough to stop and realize these feelings will fade over time, you don't really know what will remain when they're gone. Will there be a deeper abiding love, or an emptiness, a hollowness?       Often the fading is so gradual it develops into something deeper a true abiding relationship, but sometimes the fading is a fight, a battle to keep things from fading and the fight creates that emptiness.

We have tons of examples surrounding us of what love is supposed to be and what it's not.  Ultimately there is only one perfect example and that is CHRIST JESUS our LORD and SAVIOR, Our God.

When we look at HIM, when we STUDY HIM and HIS life, we are shown that PERFECT LOVE.

Jesus DIED for sinners He loved!  Jesus didn't die pining over something that didn't exist. Jesus didn't die to get people to love Him. Jesus didn't die strictly for those who were high ups in the church -the so called righteous of His day.  Jesus didn't die for those who were sinless.

Jesus gave His life for ALL.

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

A RANSOM FOR ALL!

Jesus wasn't choosy about who He died for. He loved HUMANITY, He love MANKIND, His love didn't get down to the pickiness that we possess when we decide to love others. He didn't love that way. He LOVES ALL equally!  He is our SPIRITUAL EXAMPLE!

We too are to LOVE EQUALLY, all of mankind!

And we can ONLY love this way by HAVING HIM IN US!

Of our own accord at the very most all we'd be able to do is love somewhat, with a very imperfect love.

We aren't given instruction by our Savior without reason.

Love - suffers long
Love - is kind
Love- does not envy
Love- does not revolve around self
Love- does not think more of itself than others
Love- isn't unseemly
Love- doesn't seek to receive
Love- doesn't easily get angry
Love- doesn't think of committing evil
Love- will not be happy in evil acts
Love- WILL be happy in the truth
Love- WILL bear ALL things
Love- WILL believe ALL things
Love- WILL hope ALL things
Love - WILL endure ALL things
Love- won't fail
Love- is the Greatest Spiritual Gift of all

Love is, love will, love  does, love doesn't…

Guidelines.

Why do we need guidelines because with these guidelines we are able to recognize what is of God and what is of Satan.  When we aren't loving we need to repent and seek forgiveness, not just blow it off as being human. 

We need the Holy Spirit in us revealing just how truly we have surrendered our will to God's. We have to live in constant surrender to our Lord, allowing HIM to live in us in a very REAL way, not just as something we say but don't really mean at all.

It's a choice, a daily choice, not something less, but probably something more.  A constant choice, because we are in a constant battle all around us- Satan versus GOD, Evil versus LOVE.  A constant battle and a constant battle needs constant choosing.  This battle is so insidious that from one moment to the next we are presented with temptations towards evil. Satan is an enemy that doesn't rest for a moment and will jump in at every opportunity to try to wrest us away from our SAVIOR.

We need to have CHRIST in us, our ALL IN ALL! 

And by HIS MERCY and GRACE we will have Him in us! By His love we will have Him!

Please LORD let us CHOOSE YOU always!

Please LORD let us recognize our choices and let us repent and seek forgiveness when we are shown to be choosing sin, choosing Satan over YOU and YOUR LOVE!

Please LORD, bless us! We are NOTHING without You, nothing!

All in YOU!

Choosing Forever Love

Spiritual living-

1Co 13:4  Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (love) envieth not; charity (love) vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8  Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love)


Love is spiritual, isn't it?
The results of love can be physical, you can act out of love but that love that is causing you to act is spiritual in nature.

Even atheists will admit to love existing, and yet love isn't something tangible.

Throughout time people have tried to find the meaning of real love, because throughout time people have sought love to give it and to receive it.

Love is spiritual.

Though I suppose some might argue it is mental and emotional, but in truth it is spiritual.

God is love.

There would be NO such thing as love without God, He is love and from Him all love exists. 

People want to twist God into a monster because Satan has perverted all that is God. People want to believe that IF God really exists He never would have let sin exist and that any God that would let sin exist is an awful God and sinful Himself.

Of course any person can face the truth, the logic of the fact that had God only made beings that could NEVER think for themselves in any way, He would have had mechanical creatures incapable of receiving or giving love. God did NOT want to surround Himself with loveless beings. Yet to surround Himself with beings capable of love meant giving them the power of choice to love or not love. To force love is to destroy love- because love cannot be forced and still be love.

Love is forever a choice.

Can you choose to love forever? Does that choice take away the power to choose not to love?

We have something called marriage in our world and marriage was supposed to be forever- NEVER ending- unless death caused widows or widower's.  As long as the man and woman were married they were to never part. They were making a CHOICE to love forever regardless of anything unforeseen occurring.  That part about in sickness and health, about committing as long as both shall live, that was a  REAL thing and it symbolized Christ and His People. 

Is it any wonder breaking that vow of choice to love forever is so horrendous? It is essentially saying that there cannot be a choice once and for all to love forever- that there will always be a chance that the love will end. 

How can we comprehend that there will come a time when Christ will return for His people and they will live with Him forever in love if we only comprehend the love we experience here on earth? A love that can cause two people to marry knowing that divorce is something that is always possible should things get too bad, or someone better comes along, or for whatever reason.

Love is a choice, and it CAN be a forever choice and our GOD will know all those who make the choice to LOVE HIM FOREVER and it will be those who fully surrender themselves to HIS LOVE who will be those who live forever in HIS love. 

Sin will NOT enter the world a second time, and it won't be because the power of choice has been removed, it will be because a forever choice to love has been made.

Just as the angels- God's created beings- had to make a choice, a forever choice.  Two thirds of ALL the angels made the choice to love forever while one third of ALL the angels made the choice to not love forever.

Their choice was made and it cannot be altered because it was a FOREVER CHOICE, a decision for eternity.

Have you ever had to make a forever choice?  A choice whose consequences you knew were forever and ever, never able to undo?  We make choices like that all the time on a small level, don't we?  Just the very actions we commit to in one day are forever choices- we cannot undo. If we've made the choice to commit some sinful act and then commit it, that choice can't be undone.  We can be forgiven the choice, but it's not something that can be undone. Equally we can make an act for the sake of love, a loving act and that too will not be able to be undone.

We are the sum of our choices- and we ALL have the opportunity to choose the forever Love that our Savior Jesus Christ offers to us. No one will be able to say they didn't have that choice.

Forever love.

The Spiritual love that goes far, far beyond the physical sensations people can give to one another. The love that comes from that choice, love forever is a very, very amazing thing.

Is it possibly on a human level that you can choose to love forever and your partner not choose that same love? Yes, it is very possible. But when we choose to love the source of love, the author of love, the Creator who is love, that is something that will NEVER not be love- forever love.

Our Creator, our Redeemer, our Father in Heaven, the Holy Spirit -  are all FOREVER LOVE.

1Co 13:4  Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (love) envieth not; charity (love) vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8  Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love)

Love - suffers long
Love - is kind
Love- does not envy
Love- does not revolve around self
Love- does not think more of itself than others
Love- isn't unseemly
Love- doesn't seek to receive
Love- doesn't easily get angry
Love- doesn't think of committing evil
Love- will not be happy in evil acts
Love- WILL be happy in the truth
Love- WILL bear ALL things
Love- WILL believe ALL things
Love- WILL hope ALL things
Love - WILL endure ALL things
Love- won't fail
Love- is the Greatest Spiritual Gift of all

We have to choose ALL the time whether we will love or not love, in big things and in small things. We have to make this choice - no one is exempt. Those who say they'll opt out and not choose are choosing in that very action and the choice is not to love.

Only through CHRIST are we able to love as HE loves, we CANNOT do it of our own accord. We can choose to put on CHRIST, to accept CHRIST, to allow CHRIST to live in us and LOVE in us, and we must choose this-- forever love in Him.

All by His mercy!
All in His love!
Always!

Praise God!

Path of Despair

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Yes, this verse again. Because we just don't GET IT!

WE don't understand this as a reality!

Why don't we make the SPIRITUAL real?

Why can't the spiritual be reality?

Did Jesus live a spiritual life?

After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness at the start of His ministry...

Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Mat 4:12  Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
Mat 4:13  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Mat 4:14  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 4:15  The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus began to preach-
Jesus began to say-

REPENT

for the KINGDOM of HEAVEN is AT HAND.

His entire ministry was based upon this message of salvation.

Is salvation spiritual?  It is as spiritual as it gets.  There is NOTHING more spiritual than Salvation through Jesus Christ our LORD.

Our Savior BEGAN to preach.
Our Savior began a life of PREACHING and through His preaching He was teaching us.  Our Savior was teaching us to be SPIRITUAL, to LIVE SPIRITUAL LIVES.

Our Savior said this to His first chosen apostles-

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Think about that? Was Jesus making men fishers of other men in any literal sense? Did Jesus want people to go about gathering people to themselves? When you catch fish for a living why are you catching them? To fed people, yes? To sell them to people, right? You are catching them not with the intention of keeping them all, not with the intention of being able to possess them as though they were actually yours to keep forever. Fish don't last forever, they rot. You can dry them out, you can stuff and mount them, but as living, breathing fish they don't last forever. Being fishers of men was NEVER with the intention of throwing a net around men and bringing them in as a hull that would then become slaves to a master. Those apostles did not become leaders to an army of men meant to do their bidding.

The apostles gathered a SPIRITUAL following, just as Jesus gathered a SPIRITUAL following!

People were given SPIRITUAL instructions, teachings.

We were NOT given a special recipe by our Lord to have the perfect life here on earth. We were NOT given special instructions on how to guarantee an easy, pain free, emotionally care free life HERE ON EARTH.

The message of the KINGDOM is what our SAVIOR preached- in the beginning, middle, and end of His ministering here on earth.

That spiritual message is our HOPE in a future without the horrors sin has corrupted this world with. Christ is our SPIRITUAL HOPE! 

Is it any wonder that Satan would destroy the reality of our Spiritual life?

Jesus taught-

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Jesus KNEW here and now that our lives in all aspects would be tested and tried and He told us where our HOPE should be.

For theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
For they shall be…
For they shall inherit…
For they shall be…
For they shall obtain…
For they shall see…
For they shall be…
For theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
For great is your REWARD IN HEAVEN.

If we do NOT count our HOPE as being in the FUTURE with our SAVIOR- SAVED BY HIM- then we will forever feel the heavy weight of disappointment and yes…despair! 

Satan would have us despair and HE'LL do EVERYTHING in his power to achieve that. In the smallest things to the biggest he will do ALL he can to take our eyes off the PRIZE at the end of our SPIRITUAL RACE. 

When he has our focus on us being poor in spirit, mourning, hungering, thirsting, on our being persecuted, spoken evil of falsely,  when we are focused on those things and NOT on the HOPE then he has us walking on the path of despair and that's a very dangerous place!

The path of despair is a very spiritual place, as is the PATH OF HOPE.

We need to stay on the PATH OF HOPE, and NOT give into the despair Satan will fill our lives with at EVERY single opportunity he gets.

This is REALITY!

This isn't us being someone wrong, this isn't us being losers in life, this isn't us being hopeless people, this IS SATAN driving us to believe in all those things because without SATAN pushing all that onto us, it wouldn't be there. 

We have to CHOOSE to grasp HOPE, the HOPE we can only find in our SAVIOR, and not let satan turn our feet to the path of despair.

We have the choice.

We have to cut through all the spiritual darkness shrouding us by asking for the Spiritual LIGHT to shine down upon us and remind us where our HOPE needs to be and it's not here on earth.  Our hope isn't supposed to be on having a good day, or having a fun time, or enjoying ourselves, or being pain free, or having happy thoughts- it's Satan who wants us to place our hope in those things so he can bring us to our knees in a paralyzing despair at EVERY opportunity!

Please LORD let YOUR LIGHT, the LIGHT OF YOU and YOUR SALVATION SHINE DOWN UPON US AND BREAK THROUGH THE DARKNESS, THAT DEEP DARKNESS OF DESPAIR THAT SATAN WOULD KEEP US SHROUDED IN.  This is a battle we are in, this is a REAL war, and we are REALLY attacked by ogres, and creatures, and all manner of evil beings that are SPIRITUAL evil angels attacking us daily, hourly, minutely! This is REALITY, the reality that SATAN would have us not even begin to acknowledge exists.

PLEASE LORD BLESS US! WE NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER BEFORE!

All in YOUR LOVE, by YOUR GRACE and MERCY ALWAYS!!!!!!!

... it is sin.

Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Lately this verse has been on my mind A LOT.

It's revealing a lot of selfishness I'm harboring.

The thing is, I know that should I relate the situations to others I'd be met with a lot of sympathy and not this verse.

We like to console people, not admonish them, especially when they are looking for a sympathetic ear, someone to commiserate with them.

We want people to commiserate with us. We want them to reaffirm our belief that we are being greatly put upon either by others or by situations in our lives. 

We love telling others about our situations, don't we?  We find it hard not to talk about the things we endure. We make lists- this is going on, and this, and not only this but that too. And as we read off this mental list we are expecting understanding from those we talk to.  More often than not we will be entrusted with a list of their 'things' too. We share these hardships and we do so all in the name of something wonderful called 'helping one another'. We help each other this way and yet how much help are we to each other in the spiritual realm of things if we are simply commiserating with someone.

Oh, I know, people all the time say it just helps to be able to talk it out with someone, to air it all out, to just get it off our chests and out from under our hats. It does help, it does because a lot of times we air everything and don't feel so heavily burdened, we've shared the burden even if it's only mentally and a bit emotionally. No problem may be solved but we have an ally, someone who knows and understands AND commiserates.

I'm not going to say it's wrong to talk about it rather than keep it inside but I have to say that perhaps we should talk about it MORE with God than with others. We should look to HIM for commiseration first and foremost. If we find that as we air our grievances before Him that He is really trying to admonish us for something in our lives then we have to accept our correction by Him and praise Him, thank Him for guiding us this wondrous way.

God will use amazing situations to mold and make us IF we allow Him too. If we recognize His teaching through His chastisements. Not every situation we are thrown into is meant to discourage us, but rather refine us.

If we were QUICK to ask God what lessons we are learning, rather than being QUICK to bemoan our situations do you suppose we might learn more? Instead of being quick to judge God by shaking our heads and crying, why me God, why now, why must this all be happening to me? Perhaps we really should be saying - Your will God, teach me through this, help me, show me all I need to be shown, give me the faith I need to endure.

As I said at the beginning of this- a particular verse keeps coming to mind of late:

Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Is it really this simple? Doing what we know to be the right thing as oppose to doing things that are questionable?

There are a lot of GOOD things we are to do, but a lot of times we choose rather to do things that are easier, or things that we tell ourselves are good. We do that often, we weigh situations and confronted not with a blatantly good versus bad, we contemplate all the gray areas and often choose one of those because they are close enough to the white area to satisfy the requirement of what we call good.

Maybe I'm writing this and using way too many 'we's'. This could be my own personal struggle here that no one else has, I really don't know and I can't speak for everyone.  But I know as a person who is asked to do a lot of things that I find my first inclination not wanting to do most things but rather stay in my own comfortable existence. I don't want to get up at this particular time, I don't want to go out at another particular time, I really do not want to bother with the yard work, or the scrubbing, or this, that, and the other thing. And because I do have to do so much when I'm asked to do more I justify my not wanting to by bewailing my already seemingly heavy load. 

ANY YET-

To him that knoweth to do GOOD and doeth it NOT to him it is SIN.

Not doing what is good, what is right, but choosing to do other things or even choosing to do nothing is SIN.

WE don't have to commit grave acts of depravity to sin. We can simply look the other way when we should be committing an act of kindness, of goodness, and it is sin.

We don't…or rather I don't think I realized the extent of my sinning in this regard- by choosing not to do something that is good-without murmuring, without complaining, without resentment, etc.

There is a popular song on the Christian radio station lately that has these words-

'You're not finished with me yet.'

I THANK GOD that HE is not finished with me yet because there is so much in me that needs to be refined in the fire.

PRAISE GOD for bringing to my attention all the areas of sin in my life.  Forgive me my awful sinfulness and LORD help me to be Yours fully, YOU IN ME, PUTTING ON CHRIST ALWAYS!

Lord show us ALL where we need to seek Your forgiveness even in the smallest of sins.

Help us ALL LORD to KNOW what is GOOD and to DO that which is GOOD so that we are NOT sinning by choosing not to do the good You reveal to us in ALL things.

Please LORD help me, help us all!

By YOUR grace and mercy!!!!!!!

By YOUR LOVE!

Hated

Hated by the world… 

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

The growing hate for Christians is nothing new. Throughout the history of Christianity there have been periods of hate and periods of love for Christianity.  During the times of hate for Christianity always there remained those devoted to Christ. During the times of love there remained those devoted to despising Christ.

Right now the world we live in still embraces the love/hate relationship with Christianity. In some places around the world the hate is so great that those hating Christians are killing them. In other places the hate is causing them to imprison Christians. Still in yet other places Christians are accepted and loved.

The thing about Christians as with ANY follower of ANY religion and those who follow no religion at all- so I guess it's safe to say, the thing is about people in general at any given time we live in and among love and hate, as well as all those gray areas between the two.

There are no perfect people living on earth, not a single one. There was only ONE perfect person and that was Jesus Christ our God, our Savior.

Satan would have us believe that we NEED to be loved by other people and that's one of his lies.  We do NOT need to be loved by any other person alive, not a single one. Yet Satan wants us to strive for the love of others and feel a great self reproach when we begin to believe we are unlovable.

Satan would have us feel self-loathing to the point of such despair that we end our own lives, and he uses the idea of being loved as a tipping point.  We are brainwashed by him through our society to believe that  if we are NOT loved by others then something is horrifically wrong with us. Satan has used LOVE - the idea of LOVE as one of his most successful weapons. He's taken something that belongs to God and IS GOD and twisted so we can hardly recognize what LOVE is.

It's no wonder so many people choose not to believe in God, they do it because they don't recognize Him as love at all. He's become a monster if He exists at all and who wants to worship a monster?

Satan has MANY, MANY, too  many to count, ways of subverting the minds of people so they are ultimately his. 

We have a guard against such attacks and that guard is JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR.

LOVE IS GOD.  So when we are told we are to love one another, we are being told to be as God would have us be towards one another- NOT AS WE OR ANYONE ELSE believes we should be.

Some would love to argue that God loves to punish and destroy to kill and bring all sorts of plagues down upon people but God doesn't LOVE that at all!

Love demands God reveal His hatred for sin and all things sinful and when He does this people point their fingers at Him and say He's just being hateful- sinfully hateful.

Every single action by God is a revelation of His character, HIS love. 

God's reaction to sin only reveals His abhorrence of sin.  Do innocents ever die? YES. All the time! But DEATH is not the end of the life of the innocent ones and GOD knew this before even a single innocent ever perished.  God made a provision through JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR to save all those that would claim HIS innocence and all those beyond the ability to choose.  Not a single innocent whether it is a child or an adult with a child's mind, will suffer the second death- the permanent death of non-existence. So yes, if an innocent dies and they do all the time, does this reveal a God of hate like so many choose to believe? No. God has revealed to us that this life we live right now is NOT all there is. In so many ways death is a blessing compared to the pain of living, but even so we are never called to die by our own hands, to cut short our suffering.  Compared to eternity the worse pain that exists is nothing, even though it may seem like EVERYTHING to the one suffering.

Hated by the world.

We are hated by the world when we choose to love like our Savior because the world cannot fully comprehend that love, Satan has held up blinders and they've put them on.

So when we are hated does that mean we should allow despair to creep into our lives? We can't, because despair destroys hope.

Those who hate those -who love and follow a God who is LOVE- are under Satan's control.

We are NEVER TO HATE even the worst of the worst.
We are only to HATE the sin they commit.

As God NEVER hates us the sinner.
God only hates the SIN.

God's love is completely revealed in His Word to us. Even in the very end God will not let people suffer endlessly as so many seem to believe. God will allow the sinner to be as if they never were because in the world that will come and exist some day by GOD'S WILL, to have any unrepentant, unforgiven sinner left alive would exhibit a cruelty that is beyond God.  Satan has brought that fallacy to fruition, and spread the lie far and wide and has unfortunately been all too successful in getting people to fall victim to His deceptions.

We will be hated- this is a FACT.

Even if you live in part of the world that isn't actively pursuing their hatred of Christ's followers, you are hated.  You are hated by SATAN and all those he can inspire to hate you.

You may NEVER be loved in the way of the world, and Satan will happily use this to bring you to despair.

By the GRACE and MERCY of GOD may we NEVER be brought to that place of despair, never!

May we forever know and realize the LOVE Of CHRIST is all we need in this world!

And may we grow ever closer to our LORD, our GOD, OUR SAVIOR, to HIS LOVE and in doing so, have HIS love in us!

All IN HIM, ALWAYS! 

Temptations

I1Pe 1:6  …IN heaviness through MANIFOLD temptations.

Are you in heaviness through manifold temptations?

Are you constantly being tempted?

Our defects of character are constantly exposed aren't they? And it's so easy, so incredibly easy for us to say, well that's just who I am, if you don't like it, tough.  We are who we are. We say it, we think it and we believe it. We are who we are character defects and all. Do you suppose we are meant to believe that? Biblically, are we meant to believe we are who we are - our temperament, our reserved-ness, our boisterousness, our cantankerousness,   our meekness, our … well, you get the picture. Are we really supposed to just shrug our shoulders and agree that we are who we are?

I don't think so.

Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Put on-   we might not have this on already if we are being told to 'put on', right?  Our character right now might now possess these things and yet we are told to 'PUT ON' the following-

Mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness, charity.

If we truly examine our defects of character allowing ourselves to be completely honest, then we would realize that those defects stand in opposition to the things we are to 'put on'. 

Our temper is in opposition to our forbearance and longsuffering.  Our selfishness in opposition to our kindness, our charity.

We give into so many temptations because we lack the character traits we are to 'put on'. We'd rather feel the weight of guilt than suffer deprivation of whatever temptation lies before us.

We don't want to be long suffering in any way, it seems to go against our very perverted natures. And yes, our natures have been terribly perverted by sin.

We are constantly being tempted and we are constantly making excuses for succumbing to temptations.  We excuse away ourselves on so many levels we barely know who we really are underneath all of the sin stains soaked deep into our hearts.

We are allowed manifold temptations, and we feel the heaviness of those temptations. Our faith is allowed to be TRIED to expose it's weakness.  When you 'try' something over and over to make sure of it's worthiness you are doing so for a very good reason.

The manufacturers of cars test them over and over and over and over extensively and they do that because they want to expose the defects, the weaknesses that may occur over time. They don't do that in order to just jot it down in a book somewhere, but they do it so they can CORRECT that defect before they send their products out. From time to time it's discovered that not all the defects were exposed under the trials, but the actual use revealed the defects.  But a lot more defects are discovered through the trials than we can imagine. It's not just with cars either, but with a lot of products we use all the time. Would you trust a toy with your child if you hadn't been assured that it'd been tested for safety?

The point here being that we are TRIED, we face a lot of temptations and rather than DESPISE these we must allow ourselves to LEARN from them as GOD would have us learn.

We will be tempted. Fiery darts of the wicked one will mercilessly rain down upon us and do so with intent of bringing us to a place of despair where we can't imagine forgiveness being an option, where we can't imagine our Savior ever wanting to save us.  We are allowed to suffer for so many reasons but NONE of those reasons involved God's pleasure at our distress, not a single bit.

The temptations we face will reveal to us our characters and we can look to our Bibles and know the character God would have us possess, have us 'Put On'.  If our characters do NOT match up to the character God desire to work IN US, then we have to kneel at the feet of our Savior and seek forgiveness, repentance, a willing heart to do HIS good pleasure, not ours!

We cannot just shrug off our defected characters with a - that's just who I am, end of story- because the story does NOT end there, not if you are a child of the King, not if you have Jesus as Your Savior! He wants to perfect us, HE WILL perfect us in His own way and we have to LET Him, not hinder Him.

When our tempers are exposed, we need to thank God for the revelation and seek His mercy and grace to keep from letting our tempers get out of control, and that goes for any defect in our characters. If temptation exposes our bad character traits we need to feel blessed, NOT defeated because we know our Savior is working IN US or else we would NEVER feel the prick of conscience for our defects. We will come face to face with the worst we possess and it is ONLY our SAVIOR who can change that, we cannot, but there is NOT IMPOSSIBLE to our GOD! NOTHING!

Just imagine the rigorous trying a child's safety seat must go through before it can be deemed safe, and then the next time you are confronted with a painful trial remember we are going through a trial even MORE rigorous than anything material in our world.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS LOVE!

The trial of our faith- so we will be found unto our SAVIOR'S praise, our SAVIOR's honor, our SAVIOR's glory- ready for Him at HIS APPEARING!

Please LORD help us put on YOU and all YOU are! All you have revealed to us that YOU ARE. Help us LORD to let YOU WORK IN US! Please LORD, by YOUR GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR LOVE ALWAYS IN ALL THINGS FOREVER AND EVER!

AMEN!

Jesus had a tempter

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

*

I1Pe 1:6  …IN heaviness through MANIFOLD temptations.

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Heb 2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Luk 4:2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

*

Are you tempted?

How many people are caught up in sinful acts but do not consider themselves tempted because they welcome those acts.

How many sinful acts of ours are brought about through temptation?

Temptations comes when there is something we WANT.
Temptation doesn't come when there isn't something we want.
You aren't tempted to take an extra slice of coconut pie when you hate coconut.
You aren't tempted to get drunk on beer if you despise beer.
We are only tempted by the things we desire either blatantly or secretly, because we do try to hide our lusts even sometimes from ourselves- we pretend rather than confront and reveal, confess and repent.

Our lusts.

That sounds so… uhm…sexual but truthfully lust can be a lot more than sexual. You can lust after anything that exists.  Of course some would say that you'd never lust over some things, but you'd be surprised and disgusted by the things some people actually do lust after. 

We can take anything that is perfectly harmless and have it turn into a very harmful lust. Satan LOVES to take the innocent and pervert it to his ways, he thrives on doing that.

We are tempted.

And ALL too often we fall to that temptation.

We have a tempter.

We are TEMPTED.

There is NO getting around that. We are tempted and tempted by SOMETHING urging temptation upon us.

Our Savior was tempted and SINNED NOT!

He had a tempter!

We have a tempter, the SAME tempter that Jesus faced.

Those fiery darts we talk about are temptations as well as despair and all things evil.

You can have a painful dart of depression aimed right at you, or you can have the worst temptation to sin stabbed in your direction.

This is OUR reality.

Along with accepting the darkness of the reality we MUST accept the LIGHT of reality.

We have a SAVIOR. We have ONE who - yes - was tempted just like we are and HE PREVAILED!

HE PREVAILED!

He defeated the Tempter!

He never succumbed to Satan, not once! The love of the Father was strong enough to sustain Him through ALL the horrors of the Devil.

We too can prevail THROUGH our SAVIOR!

This is the ONLY way we prevail, there isn't one other single way!

By the grace of God may we PREVAIL through JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR! ALL THROUGH HIM!

More tomorrow, as the LORD WILLS!

His Will Always!!!!!!!

In HIS LOVE.