Choose Love Over Death

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The natural man RECEIVETH NOT the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him.

How true in this day and age we live in so many believe all things of God are foolishness. They hold up the religions of false gods and use those as reasons to denounce the TRUE GOD. They call it all fables and lies, tales and silliness all because they cannot discern the truth because they’d rather believe the lies.

The believe that because there are so many spoiled and rotten apples on the tree that all of the tree is corrupt and yet on this tree there is a truly good apple. Unwilling to care about the truth, the truly good, they’d rather just give up on it all.  

There is TRUTH out there, there is a true faith and rather than entrap it in manmade ideas of it all we must individually know this for ourselves.  Step out of any organization you belong to even if you love that organization- especially if you love the organization, and search for yourself the Word of God. Hold to NO MAN’S interpretation but search it for yourselves. Search with the intent to know truth, an honest desire for truth beyond all the wicked lies that have soured the truth for so many.

Our natural selves will NEVER know the things of God, we must comprehend that there is something more in all of us, something that longs for something more than all the senselessness of this life. When we recognize this part of ourselves, this part of the truth, we must pray for comprehension.  God WILL reveal His truth to those who are truly seeking TRUTH. To those who recognize the SPIRIT part of our being. We are more than just animals. We are truly spirit and flesh and we have to realize this if we are to comprehend the spirit part of us is God given so that the Holy Spirit can reveal the truth to us.

Please Father, please open our hearts and minds to the TRUTH found in YOU and YOU alone! If we truly live only for the short life we have here and now we live as pawns beset by many forces that want only pain and heartache for us. We resign ourselves to being used when we can choose to be loved. That love offers us a life BEYOND this life, a life as a true son and daughter of our Creator, our Redeemer. A life not as a pawn at all but a life as we deep down inside LONG for and not for ourselves only, but for ALL who would choose love over death.

Please, Father, please.

Amen.

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me

Rom_6:23  ... the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord

This gift is available for EVERYONE- rich, poor, blind, seeing, naked, clothed, miserable, wretched, sick, healthly, everyone without any exclusion.

The gift of eternal life.

Why is this gift so incredibly important? Because this gift and this gift alone is the hope for a life the way we ALL know deep down life should be- pain free, sickness free, heartache free. The utopia we all can only imagine as we live in a world filled with more awfulness than we want to believe possible. This world we live in now cannot be cured by any man.  Mankind has tried for a long, long time to fix this world and yet it is impossible for mankind to do that as every horror committed proves. The fix for this sick, corrupt world is its Savior, Jesus Christ.  He came to this world, God made flesh. He walked upon this earth and lived the horrors of this life. He witnessed the pain and did so much to alliviate a lot of the suffering. Yet, He didn’t alliviate it all for everyone, for all time. He came with a message for people, that message was the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom was the way of eternal life through Him.  He healed and gifted those He healed with the truth of His message for their eternity.  He didn’t TAKE them out of this horrible world. He didn’t tell them they were healed and would never fall ill again. He didn’t feed the starving and tell them they’d never be hungry again. He called them all blessed because He offered them the gift of eternal life.

So many people sit back and take note of all the horror this world has to offer and dare to believe that God cannot be real for allowing the horror.  They don’t want to know the real truth, they’d rather just remain blind and God will NOT force those who want to be blind, to see. God doesn’t force.  Satan has a lot of followers who believe they are followers of good, Satan loves those who don’t believe God is real, or God cares, or God is love, it suits his purpose perfectly to let them believe they are wiser than all, that their knowledge and understanding is superior for not being lulled into grand fables.

1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Eternal life. This is truth, this is the hope through our Savior.  This is the hope for ALL no matter their lot in life, they all can have this hope. All can know that whatever they are called to endure in whatever manner they are called to endure it that there is hope beyond this world.

Yes, we are to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, tend to the wounded, help the broken hearted, yes, yes, and yes! We are to do this first and foremost.

TRUTH-

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Luk 6:27  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Luk 6:29  And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
Luk 6:30  Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
Luk 6:31  And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Luk 6:32  For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
Luk 6:33  And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
Luk 6:34  And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
Luk 6:35  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luk 6:36  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luk 6:37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luk 6:39  And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
Luk 6:40  The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Luk 6:41  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Luk 6:42  Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
Luk 6:43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

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We are to LOVE others- even those we consider our enemies, this is the will and command of our Savior. God first, others before ourselves.

We’ve been talking about laying our treasures up in heaven- read this--

Luk_18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Jesus outright told this man to SELL ALL that he owned and give it to the poor- and that man’s treasure would be IN HEAVEN.

It is NOT earthly treasures that are true treasures.  That man having NOTHING of worth here and now would have treasure in HEAVEN. If he followed the Savior, his treasure in heaven would be all he needed.

HEAVENLY TREASURE!  This is where our minds should be, not on self gain. Helping others, loving others, doing for others- all treasures in heaven when done with the love of Christ and not love of self. We can’t give and give and give and do so to benefit ourselves, patting ourselves on the back. We MUST give and give and give to bring GLORY TO GOD!  Give and give and give so others can see GOD, not us!

Mat_5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  

Glory to GOD, not to me, not to you, but to GOD.

Please, heavenly Father, we would be Yours, we would do Your will, not ours. Help us to this end because we constantly find ourselves failing. Satan would have us give up in despair of ever being this person You desire us to be, this giving, unselfish person, help us to be this person. Be in us through the Holy Spirit, be in us living in us doing all for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Please Lord, we will not give up! We will put all our hope in You and YOUR power to save. Please! Help us to be Yours, help all of us to be YOURS!

Forgive us our sins, Father, forgive us our sins and help us to forgive those who sin against us.

Please, Father, keep us from evil, leading us not into temptation.

YOURS is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior,

AMEN!

What treasures do you store in heaven?

What treasures have you laid up in heaven?

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So, what treasures do you store in heaven?

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

The reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

We must accept the reproach of Christ if we would be His. Moses knew this. Moses knew the walk he was called to walk meant accepting the path of hardship , of pain, of suffering.   That REPROACH of CHRIST he was called to was GREATER to him than ANY of the treasures in Egypt.

Not a physical, tangible treasure but a treasure nonetheless, and a treasure we too must lay up in heaven.

Is our heart with Christ or with self? Is our heart with material possessions or Christ?  We HAVE to ask ourselves this because if our treasures are our things, our possessions, our toys, our past times, our happiness, our comfort… you know what I'm saying.  WHAT are our treasures?

What are YOUR treasures?  Right NOW, what are YOUR TREASURES?! 

If following Christ is a TREASURE, then it stands to reason that treasures that are self-centered don't necessarily have to be tangible, right?  Are the treasures we possess heaven worthy?  If we cannot put our treasures in heaven, then they are evil treasures.

A treasure is a most valuable possession, yes? And our most valuable possession must be CHRIST in heaven!

Rom_6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord we have ETERNAL LIFE, this IS our TREASURE, our HEAVENLY TREASURE.

Amen!

Do you embrace the promises?

Heb_11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1Pe_2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

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Strangers and pilgrims. 

The promises. Persuaded of the promises. Embraced the promises.

What promises?

1Jn 2:25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

2Pe_1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

We've been promised eternal life.

Yesterday we talked about the fact we gave up our rights to this world making all who would belong to God and the Savior God, strangers and pilgrims upon the earth.  Every stranger and every pilgrim has received a promise of eternal life, the very thing that was given up upon sinning.  Eternal life.  There is NO greater promise.

Do we embrace the promises, are we persuaded of the promises? Truly are we seeking our eternal home? Is our eternal reward a reality to us. 

We are told to store our treasures in heaven, not upon earth. What treasure but those that are eternal can be stored in heaven? No temporal treasure can reside in heaven, not a single one.  Yet our treasures are supposed to be kept there.  So tell me right now… please… what treasures of yours are stored in heaven, and please, if the first thing you think of is your loved ones then you haven't been reading my blogs or visited the website or anything because the truth is, our loved ones are sleeping the long sleep in death and will NOT rise to meet the Lord in the air until He returns for us all, this is Biblical truth. No one has a loved one, other than their SAVIOR and the FATHER GOD, in heaven.  So again, I ask, what treasures do you have in heaven?

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Amen.

Are you a pilgrim?

Pilgrims.

Strangers.

We are born upon this earth and we call this earth our home. Yet it isn't home to those who do not want to belong to its ruler. The ruler being- Satan.

We are quick to believe the earth belongs to God alone, but the truth is, Satan took possession of the earth from the human beings created to inhabit it, in the garden of Eden when they abdicated their ownership by choosing to disobey God.

Do you remember reading the history of our beginnings? We were created in a most gorgeous garden, brought to life in the presence of our Creators, all in love.  We were told we were caretakers of everything we saw and we could eat freely of all we saw, save fruit from ONE tree.  This tree, this testing tree, this singular condition upon our existence.  When we chose to disobey and eat the fruit of that tree we made the decision to change allegiance from our Creators to the created fallen one who tempted us to disobey. Satan lied to seduce us from our guardianship, our caretaking of the garden of our creation.  Satan knew that there would be grave changes one he caused the created human beings to disobey God as he himself had disobeyed God. 

The earth changed, human beings changed- losing their one-ship with their Creators. No longer under the protection of the Creators  human beings were taken out of the garden, forbidden from the garden and the tree of life.  Thrust from the only place they knew they were pilgrims, and strangers upon the earth.  They would remain… we would remain strangers and pilgrims until the earth is made new.

Right now we are strangers and pilgrims IF we are looking for a new land, a new home with our Creators, our Redeemer.

If we are NOT looking for a new land, a new home then we are not strangers and we are not pilgrims upon this earth and we really need to be.

Heb_11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1Pe_2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

Do we understand this?   Do we have the comprehension we need? 

Are you a stranger?

 Are you a pilgrim?

By the grace of God, by the forgiveness of our Savior may we comprehend and in comprehending CHOOSE to abstain from EVERYTHING that keeps us from following our God and His will.

Please Father, please. Daily we are shown our weakness, hourly we are exposed to our unrighteousness. Please BE our righteousness for us, be our strength we can but submit to YOU in all things. Help us to be all You would have us be.

All by YOUR LOVE!

Amen.

What wars against us?

Truth-

 We must be taught to deny self as we embrace Christ!

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

What wars against us?

How do our fleshy lusts war against us?

How do our fleshly lusts keep us from Christ?  Can they?  Sure they can when we choose our lusts over Christ and Christ's commands.

It is Christ's commands that reveal to us His love.

2Jn_1:6  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

This is love-  that we walk after his commandments.

1Jn_5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We know the commandments the moral commandments of God, we know them, or if we don't we must study them, know them by heart! Each one of those ten moral commandments revealed GOD to us. 

When we do NOT keep those commandments then we are not abstaining from our fleshly lusts and there is a war against us and this war is over our eternal life. When we give into our fleshly lusts we are choosing to war against GOD and God's love. We choose Satan's way. 

When we know to do good and choose not to do good we are accountable for that action, that choice.

Jas_4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

If we harm others in any way we are not doing God's will, we are not following God's commands. When we choose to NOT do good we are choosing to sin, to break a commandment, to not love God.

We are told to ABSTAIN from anything that would war against us! And Everything that wars against us is everything that would keep us from CHRIST, and breaking any of His commandments would keep us from Him.

Don't we have enough sins of ignorance, sins that are unplanned that to sin willfully is tragic? To choose NOT to abstain when we can choose to abstain is also tragic.

1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

Our natural lusts, the fleshly temptations, our lustful tendencies  will keep us at war. This is a BATTLE beyond any outward enemy in the flesh.  We battle SELF and Satan encourages that self within us to be the worst it can be.

Please FATHER, please keep us in YOU. Help us to do as You command us to do, and abstain from fleshly lusts so we may LOVE You in keeping ALL Your commandments! Please. Forgive us. Please Father, forgive us! Help  us! Save us! Keep us from Evil!

All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ our  Lord. 

We must be taught to deny self as we embrace Christ!

From January 3, 2015-

'Php 2:5  For think this within you, which mind was also in Christ Jesus,

Php 2:6  who subsisting in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,

Php 2:7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, having become in the likeness of men

Php 2:8  and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, having become obedient until death, even the death of a cross. (LITV)

Christ put HIMSELF into the form of a slave! We are to be like Christ, and if HE took on the form of a slave, shouldn't we? Don't we need to?  We are BOUGHT and the price we are bought with is the Blood of Christ! He bought us with His life!'

1Co_6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We BELONG TO GOD when we CHOOSE to belong to God. 

We get to CHOOSE our Master.  Unlike those forced into Slavery we CHOOSE slavery.  WE choose to be bought, to be owned, to be Christ's.

Our Master requires us to give up our self-sufficiency, the  hardest thing we'll ever do.

Do we care if our actions are acceptable to Christ?

So many want to do anything they can, anything they desire, not denying themselves anything at all. If they feel inclined to do something they do it. If they don't want to do something, they don't, and they call it their right. We call it our right. Yet throughout the Word of God there are numerous examples of living uprightly, living by denying flesh desires that would keep us from God.  Were all flesh desires denied. NO. And they aren't all to be denied. Yet ANYTHING that would keep us from our Walk with God, anything that would steal us from God, ANYTHING THAT WOULD interfere with our spiritual walk with God - HAS to be denied!  How do we know what we should deny? I think it is a very personal knowledge that we are given when we seek God with all our heart, leaning NOT unto our own understanding. We need to pray for guidance, pray for understanding, study to know! God's word gives us the ANSWERS.

Do some people take things to extreme? Maybe to our understanding, but maybe not to theirs. They have their own walk with God. They have to answer to God for what they are called to do or not do.  I say this thinking of John the Baptist. John was called to live very roughly- in camel skins and eating honey and locusts while in the desert, but were others called to follow that walk? No, not all others. Some might be called to such a walk, but not all. Some are allowed to drink wine, and eat fine food, and have very fine linen, they are called to that in their walk with God. Some are called to great hardship, others to lives of earthly luxury, but each to their own walk according to the Word of the Lord.  There are basic actions in the Moral Commandments of God that ALL rich or poor must obey by the grace of God, but in all the material aspects of our lives, in all the day to day existing we are called to do beyond the initial born again moment, we have to find our path in God's word, in God's love, through prayer, through meditation, through the love of our God and by the grace of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ now and forever! We must be taught to deny self as we embrace Christ!

More tomorrow by our Savior's will, by the Father's will, through the Holy Spirit!

Amen.