Reserved for darkness

The archangel and the devil.

Reality!

This isn't FICTION!

We are so darned warped by our society into believing angels and devils are mere actors played out upon a screen, or brought to life as characters in a book, that we truly don't comprehend their REALITY.

We don't WANT to comprehend the reality.

We want to believe in God and Jesus, but we don't want to believe in the devil, as if our mere believing in him somehow leaves us suspect in the sanity department. Yet it is fine for us to believe in God and Jesus. Very few people are looked at as being crazy because they believe in God and Jesus, yet very few aren't considered at least a little bit nutso for believing in satan.

When we begin to believe in satan as a real active being influencing our lives, others try to explain it away as us making excuses for things that have logical reasoning. People do NOT want to believe they can be used by satan.  Tell someone that satan has used them to create chaos and they'll call you crazy saying it was all them, they made the choices to initiate the chaos, no devil made them do any thing.  Yet isn't it true that the root of all evil is found in satan? Whether it is the willful decision to create chaos, or it happens spontaneously - the chaos has it's roots in satan. There would be no chaos without satan.  Maybe the snare he laid to set a person on the path to creating chaos was laid down and pulled tight years and years ago.  Perhaps the seeds he planted in the heart of the wantonly chaos creating person were laid long ago and are just now sprouting.  We can't know when a person chooses to live under the devil's manipulation.  Often people make the choice just by choosing not to accept Christ as their Savior. They most likely have not and never will take part in any ritual black mass to choose satan as their lord and master.  Satan doesn't need the pomp and circumstance of rituals and outward acknowledgement of him as a person's master. The devil is very content to remain in the darkest of shadows allowing a person to believe that they have never and will never be used by him. It doesn't matter whether or not a person believes in the reality of satan to make him a reality.  Just as people may choose not to believe in God, they may choose not to believe in a real satan, yet BOTH are real, very real.

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

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.

Spots in your feasts of charity.

Feasting with you and feeding themselves without fear.

Clouds without water- carried about by winds.

Trees with withering fruit- twice dead- plucked by the roots.

Raging waves of sea- foaming shame.

Wandering stars - reserved for the blackness of darkness- nothingness.

The truth- everyone will NOT be saved.

Truth- we must examine ourselves lest we be among the unsaved.

2Co_13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Lord Father, we don't want to be among those reserved for the permanent darkness! We don't want to be used and manipulated by Satan, we would be YOURS! Please, please save us!

Put in remembrance

Jud 1:5  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Jud 1:7  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:8  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

We can NEVER believe that God does not punish evil. We are taught all about forgiveness and love, but we can't forget that the forgiveness came with a HUGE price!  That forgiveness wasn't free, that forgiveness was bought with the BLOOD of GOD the Son. To think something so incredibly costly was paid without a reason is ridiculous.  Our Savior had to die to repair the breach made by sin.  Sin SEPARATES us from God.  Every act of sin separates us from God.

God saved the slaves out of Egypt but that did NOT mean they were all His.  Some CHOSE to not believe in God's goodness. Some chose not to believe that this world is temporary to eternity and all it's anguish and heartache, all its insidious pain is momentary to eternity with God.  These people chose not to believe in God even though they were SAVED by Him. Did they live? No.  There is NO life after rejecting God, not for any of us! 

The angels who rejected God are reserved for a final destruction, a final end. THE ANGELS who rejected God have separated themselves from their Creator and there is NO real life separate from God.

Sodom and Gomorrah- cities of sin were completely and utterly destroyed without a trace of life left. Truly an example of the annihilation in store for all those who choose sin and separation from God.

Filthy dreamers defiling flesh, despising dominion, speaking evil of dignitaries ….  All SIN.

SIN separates us from God. We cannot live unrepentant and sinning and expect to be God's.

We cannot embrace sin willfully- excusing it, renaming it, calling it good. Our God is a consuming fire and all sin will be wiped out by that fire.   We cannot afford to ignore this part of God in favor of love because this IS all a part of that LOVE.

Please Father help us to realize the cost for You to reunite with us, to allow us to be YOURS.  The price You paid so we could know love is more than we can fathom.  We need to understand that sin separates us from You and all sin will be done away with.  We need to fully realize Your hatred for sin for the thing that separates us from YOU.

Help us. Save us.

All in YOUR LOVE.

Changing the grace of God

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read those words one more time-

Certain men-  crept in unawares.   When you creep in unaware it is usually because you're up to no good, especially when the place you are creeping into is above board and reputable and there is NO reason whatsoever to creep about into a place that is so open and inviting.  Creeping into something that is not underhanded means that perhaps you are bringing the underhandedness into the entire situation. To creep in unaware, bringing something in that was never meant to be brought in so you can corrupt the place you've crept into is wrong.  These men creeping in among Christ's followers were expected, because it would seem no good thing can be left to flourish without the weeds trying to rise up and choke them.  Always there seems to be someone or someone(s) who want to take advantage of a situation for their own selfish motives.  It's not uncommon to constantly hear of embezzlements, of cheating, of lying, of subterfuge in order for someone to line their pockets.  The followers of Christ were NOT left free of such people. Right from the start those who would gain wrongfully, selfishly crept in among those whose hearts were burning brightly to follow the Lord's way.  

Men turning the GRACE of OUR GOD into LUSTS, into the indulging of excesses of evil ways.
 

How is this possible? How could someone turn the grace of God into something evil? 

The answer, they do it all the time.  It becomes cheap grace, it becomes an expensive grace, it is called grace but it is anything but grace in reality.   People twist God's grace into something THEY can utilize without giving up any of their most sinful selfish ways.

Truly, this is the denial of the ONLY LORD GOD.

Truly, this is the denial of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Once more- TWO GODS!

Once again we are face to face with two Gods of our faith. 

The twisting of our faith strips away the two Gods of our faith and merges them into ONE GOD in a way never intended. We were always to know that there were two never to lump them into one in any way other than in their agreeing as one.   When our Savior said- 'I and my Father are one'  John 10:30  Did He mean there was only one of them?  When I say my spouse and I are one- you KNOW right away that we are not literally one, but one in a union, an agreed upon union.  So why do we ever, ever claim to worship only one God, when we clearly worship more than one God?  Why do we destroy the grace of God but introducing our own ideas to replace His?

We deny the truth. We let our sinful lusts- that we know in reality are lusts- rule us, we call them good when they are in fact evil.  We do this very thing that we are told would happen right away among the followers of Christ. 

Please, Lord, please keep us from EVIL.  Evil has infiltrated so much of Your word, Your truth! Keep us from ALL evil, from anything that would keep us from YOU! We would know YOUR TRUTH! We don’t want to follow some false religion filled with false teachers spouting their own truths and not Yours. We want ONLY Your truth and all that means, all that entails.  Give us ALL we need to be YOURS fully, wholly YOURS.

All by YOUR AMAZING GRACE, YOUR LOVE, YOUR MERCY!

YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

AMEN!

Delivered to the saints

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Jud 1:2  Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

To them that are sanctified- to them that are made holy BY GOD the FATHER. To them that are PRESERVED in JESUS CHRIST...and called.

Do you need to be made holy by God the Father?

Do you need to be preserved in Jesus Christ?

Are you called to belong to God the Father, and God the Son?

We want to be made holy and be preserved, called to be God's, don't we? Our Savior came to deliver all who would be delivered. Our Savior came to give light to all who truly desire light. We long for salvation as we should, this should be our hope.

We need mercy, we need peace, we need love.

And we desperately need to EARNESTLY contend for the faith which was ONCE delivered unto the saints.

Did you read that right? We are EXHORTED to EARNESTLY CONTEND.  When you earnestly contend for something tell me what that means.  If you earnestly contend for something aren't you putting forth a lot of effort to gain that something? Anyone who earnestly contends for something isn't just giving it a thought once in awhile. They aren't sitting back and waiting for it to fall into their lap.  When you contend for something you are fighting for that something.  But to earnestly contend means you are fighting hard for something. 

In this case we are to fight hard for the FAITH that was delivered to the saints.

Who delivered the faith to the saints? What saints?  We know our Savior walked the earth with His message of Salvation for three years. Faith was delivered to those who would hear Him, to those who would love Him.

We don't have the Savior walking physically among us we truly need to contend earnestly for the faith. We have to live in Jesus' presence, in His light, in His love and yet all too often we go day after day barely giving our Savior a second thought.

If we are to earnestly contend for the faith, if we are to fight for the faith we need to hold fast to all things Jesus Christ.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our GOD!

Please Father, please bless so many who are in need of YOU, of Your intervention. The pain and agony of life is all too real, please Father help us all to see that even the worst of pain is temporary to eternity.  It's so hard to see this, to believe this as we suffer, please help us to believe wholly in YOU and YOU as our future, our HOPE, our love our life everlasting. 

In the name of our SAVIOR, Jesus Christ, our LORD.

Amen.

Hundreds of years after they occurred.

21        Messiah would be sent to heal the brokenhearted.

Isa 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isa 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

22        Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.        

Psa 110:4  The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

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

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

23        Messiah would be called King.        

Psa 2:6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Mat 27:37  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Mar 11:7  And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

Mar 11:8  And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Mar 11:9  And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

Mar 11:10  Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

Mar 11:11  And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

24        Messiah would be praised by little children.

Psa 8:2  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

Mat 21:16  And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

25        Messiah would be betrayed.        

Psa 41:9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Joh 13:25  He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

Joh 13:26  Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

*******

Truths.

Prophetic truth.

Jesus could NOT make these things come to pass. Jesus di NOT orchestrate these events. They were predicted, they came to pass as predicted hundreds of years before they occurred.

If I were given a prophecy from long ago I could attempt to make things happen so it could take place, but that's all I could do. I couldn't make people speak certain words. I couldn't make people do things. We can try to make things happen but try as we might when you are given a multitude of prophecies the idea that you could make all of them come to pass is ludicrous. Jesus lived the prophecies they unfolded around Him for all that would see could see, could understand. The blind remain blind and even today the blind are allowed to remain blind. If you don't want truth, you will not be allowed truth. If you desire truth it will be given to you and then you must live with that truth unable to deny it's validity unless you desire to live a life of self-deception- and sadly some do choose just that.

Jesus explained everything to those who would follow Him and revealed the truth of Himself in the prophecies, do WE see the truths? Do we know the truths?

All by HIS amazing, wondrous grace we do see as the Holy Spirit enlightens our understanding.

All in HIS love!

Always.

Amen.

Secrets from the foundation of the world

Mat 13:35  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Things kept secret from the foundation of the world.

All worlds were made by two Gods.  It's not something I say lightly, not something I say to cause a stir.  We are so caught up in the ONE God belief we can't reconcile it in our brains that there were TWO Gods who created the world.  This is one of the many secrets kept from the foundation of the world and yet revealed by our Savior.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The WORD was GOD.

The SAME was in the beginning WITH GOD.

God with God.

One God plus another God equals two Gods.

Yet we are so intent on believing in only ONE God that many man made theories have been created to keep this foremost in the minds of Christianity, as well as other religions.

Why is it important to realize that God (before being declared to be Jesus, God's Son) was with God (the declared Father)?  What harm is there in believing in only a single God? If we holdfast to the belief in a single God we do away with the God-hood of the Savior and make Him something lesser than God the Father.  Being equal with God means being equal in all ways, lesser in none.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

Php_2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God

God with God. Fully God with fully God. Everlasting to everlasting.  If we make our Savior a lessor God in anyway, in the tiniest of ways then we void His sacrifice. 

They were and are and always will be TWO Gods in agreement, complete perfect agreement. 

Yes, secrets kept from the foundation of the world were revealed by our Savior to us in many ways. 

Some might argue that it wasn't a secret that there was more than one God in the beginning because Bible does use a plural for God. Yet, I personally believe the clarification was given to us by our Savior. The Holy Spirit enlightening us to all truth, His truth.

Please, Father keep us in ALL Your truth, all through the grace and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Eternity Secured.

Tortured.

Cruel mockings.

Scourgings.

Bonds, imprisonments.

Stoned.

Sawn asunder.

Tempted.

Slain with the sword.

Wandering in animal skins.

Destitute.

Afflicted.

Tormented.

Wandering in- deserts, mountains, dens and caves.

These were ALL what men and women of GOD endured!

This was the life, and the end of life they were called to endure.  Yet we DARE to believe that if we have God's favor we should have an easy life, pain and worry free.  We believe we should be kept safe from all evil doers. We believe that our Savior won't allow horrific things to happen to us. We say things like, 'God will take care of me.' And when we say that we are believing that it means bad things will not be allowed to happen to us. We believe we won't end up homeless, that no one will be able to harm us, that others won't torment us or cruelly mock us.

God taking care of us really and truly means that we will be secure in eternal life, not this temporary life.

NOT that God doesn't take care of us and keep us here and now, He can and does. However we HAVE to realize that it is our eternal life that is truly God's plan. Jesus died so we could HAVE access to eternal life, not so we could have an easy going, pain free, worry free, stress free, hunger free, evil  in all its forms free- life. We must trust that NO matter what we are called to endure, from the worst of things we can imagine, to the small annoyances- that  God will NOT allow us to endure anything that would keep us from eternal life in Him as long as we have faith to believe in the Son of God and His sacrifice for us, in His righteousness.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

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 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

This is truth!

This is reality!

While we cry tears of pain, tears of sadness, tears of frustration and anguish we can do so while still being assured that this all is only temporary to eternity, an eternity that is free from evil and all it's results.  

All those men and women of God did NOT receive the promise given to them. 

They WILL not receive the promise either- not until we are all perfected together.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

In a moment.

In the twinkling of an eye.

At the LAST TRUMP.

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This is our HOPE. This should be our desire. This must be what we think of ALWAYS not sporadically. Truly this life however long it is for us here and now is a temporary existence. For ALL things- mental, emotional, physical no matter the torture we endure invisibly or visibly it is TEMPORARY to the eternity to come and this was the message our Savior came to give us and sealed it's surety with His death, a blood sacrifice, an atonement.

We may be- Tortured.

We may endure- Cruel mockings.

We may face- Scourgings.

We may feel the weight of -Bonds, imprisonments.

We can be killed by being - Stoned.

We may be- Sawn asunder.

We are often- Tempted.

We may endure being - Slain with the sword.

We might find ourselves - Wandering in animal skins.

We could be- Destitute.

We are constantly - Afflicted.

We know being- Tormented.

We might have to start - Wandering in- deserts, mountains, dens and caves.

Whatever our fate, wherever we fall in the above, whether it is between the cracks in another category altogether, we ALL face eternity- either eternity as nothingness outside of Christ and His love, or eternity with everything in Christ and His love.

Every single man and women of God before us whether it is going all the way back to Abraham and Sarah, on down to the Apostles Peter, John… Paul  and beyond has the same fate as we do.  Abraham sleeps in the grave, David sleeps in the grave, Paul sleeps in his grave.  I'm not saying you're going to go to their graves and find remains- after all this time the remain are but dust returned to dust.  All that made the human beings who existed as Abraham, David, and Paul physically has disappeared. Mentally, emotionally all that made them human is in death's sleep.  The breath of life, the breath that sparked life in them returned to God but that breath was NOT the human being they were- it was not them physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally.  We all know that a person can be void of all brain activity yet still breathe with help.  A person can be kept alive this way for a long time.  All that made the person who they were has already begun the long sleep of nothingness. When that breath is taken away fully there is no longer life.

Is it any wonder our Bibles explain death as a sleep?

Deu_31:16  And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt SLEEP WITH THY FATHERS; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

2Sa_7:12  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt SLEEP WITH THEY FATHERS, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

1Ki_1:21  Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall SLEEP WITH HIS FATHERS, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.

Why say such things if they aren't true.  We all know sleep is a state of unconsciousness - for the most part dreamless.  Death too is a state of unconsciousness.  All that we are is kept reserved in God. He alone who called the world into being has the power to give back to us our flesh and blood and He will at that last trump.  The human being that Abraham, that David, that Paul once were with flesh and blood will be called forth into existence and that breath given back to God will once more be given to them and they will know consciousness once more- death's sleep will be over for them. 

There will be no fantastical shock of how much has taken place since they last lived because they are immediately called to meet the Lord in the air and to go to heaven with Him.  They are raised to incorruption, to immortality and the receive the PROMISE all at the same time those who are alive receive the promise.

Can't find peace now? Then grasp ahold of the sword and endure all you are called to endure until the promise can be fulfilled! We are not promised peace--

Mat_10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Eph 6:17  ... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

All by HIS grace through the SPIRIT, please FATHER in HEAVEN! We would be YOURS!