After the chastening...

Spiritual Fruit.

Php 1:11  Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 

Heb_12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Eph 5:9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Fruits of God's grace.

Fruits are the life we live.  Spiritual fruits are what we long to produce as those who are branches on the Vine of Christ Jesus our Lord.

These Spiritual fruits are comprised of goodness, righteousness, truth, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

The people who possess these fruits as a result of their life with Christ are truly BLESSED.

My only hope remains in my Savior, He and He alone can help me to produce spiritual fruit, of my own I can produce none. The Spirit in me must do it, I feel so very far from bearing spiritual fruit.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Longsuffering.

Gentleness.

Goodness.

Faith.

Meekness.

Temperance.

I need to be chastened severely if that's what it takes for me to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  Not only do I need to be chastened, I need to LEARN from that chastening experience. It does us NO good to be chastened only to revert to the very thing that caused our chastening in the first place. We are NOT exercised by the chastening if we succumb readily to our old ways. It's a fight, a fight to yield to our Savior. It's a battle to wage if we are to be God's.  Satan will NEVER stop trying to make us his, never, not for a moment. And if we are standing in our Spiritual armor given to us by the Holy Spirit, we will prevail against Satan through the GRACE of our SAVIOR. 

We would be loving!

We would be joyful!

We would be peaceful!

We would be longsuffering!

We would be gentle!

We would be good!

We would be faithful!

We would be meek!

We would be temperate!

Please, Father, we would yield the fruits of YOUR righteousness! Please live in us! Please chasten us in everyway necessary so we would learn from it and be all YOU would have us be, with You making it possible.

Joh_17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one

Please, Father, please.

Through the give and mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Released from demon possession...

Luk 8:35  Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Imagine.

A lunatic, a known lunatic...

Mar 5:2  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mar 5:3  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

Mar 5:4  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

Mar 5:5  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

This man, this lunatic, this insane, naked, crazy man after encountering Jesus - is clothed and calm- in his right mind.  Surely all the visages of his life of insanity weren't instantly erased, he was recognizable as the same crazy person who dwelled among the tombs. A man who was bound in chains by people, a man who was feared by people, a true monstrosity that many knew enough to stay away from or risk life and limb. A man whose crying night and day, whose cutting of his own flesh with stones, a man in mental and emotional, as well as physical, agony and yet helpless to change.   No others could change him, and he certainly couldn't change himself.

Now we need to IMAGINE this REALITY,  not as some fabled monster story told to scare people, not some fantasy tale meant to incite mystery and excitement. We need to comprehend that Jesus rid the man of DEMONS, demons possessing him, controlling him, abusing him. Why was that man filled with demons? I have no clue. But we do know he was and people tried their best to get him under control over the years without any success. The man possessed strength beyond human ability, the demons in him able to break chains.  The man was FREED of this possession and instantly calm. He was still recognizable to the people but he'd been changed severely.

What did it mean to have a MAN who could release another man from demon possession? Yes, the Jewish people knew about exorcising demons, they had exorcists, they comprehended demon possession. Yet here comes a man, an ordinary man who had no intense learning in the temple, he wasn't a man of priestly lineage.  He wasn't a scribe, he wasn't a priest as the Jewish people- His people- knew the priests to be, yet he was casting our demons!  He had POWER, power that only those of God were supposed to have. His power was extraordinary beyond anything that  anyone had ever seen. They hadn't seen it before but they knew the stories, the true stories of their historical ancestors, men and women of God that had walked with God in His power performing powerful acts by His grace. They had historical figures to believe in but here and now there was a man of God unlike any before and he was working miracles such as they never imagined possible. 

Do WE believe in a miracle working God? Is Jesus just a historical figure we look to in the past without expecting anything more? Our Savior came with a message, the message of salvation, of eternal life. Our Savior want s us to live in Him and let Him live in us, working through us by the Holy Spirit as a REALITY, not some unrealistic fantasy. God wants us to produce fruit and the only way to do that is by living in Him, really, living in Him.

Please Father! We would live in YOU and YOU in us! Please Father! Please bear fruit through us!  Help us to know You as a reality, to know Your power as a reality!

Please.  All by the grace and mercy of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Amen.

The Vine

Can we continue our existence without our Savior?

The answer is… yes, BUT only if you choose to want to exist without Him and only desire to live whatever few days you have until the Lord returns, or you enter the long sleep which will only end in your permanent death, and ultimately your non-existence.

The world is FULL of people who choose to deny Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You wouldn't have to go far in a poll of the people living around you to find one who will say and believe that Jesus Christ is nothing. Either He's a fabricated lie for the weak to grasp, a fable made up by men to control people, He's an ordinary man that was very charismatic,  He was a prophet, but no Son of God, and the list goes on.  Full, the world is FULL of people believing this way.  

When we realize that we are NOT forced to believe in Jesus Christ, but can choose to do so, we are taking a stand for something a lot of people reject.  Don't get me wrong, a lot of people also do believe but more do not, than do. Billions may claim belief, but billions more will deny.

Choosing to believe isn't enough though, because Jesus is going to say to MANY when He returns to bring those who are His home with Him,  that HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM. 

Shocking? It should be! You choose to make a stand and believe in Jesus Christ only to find out He doesn't know you and you are not going to heaven where He's prepared a place for those who are His. 

How can we know- He knows us?

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We have to LIVE IN CHRIST. LIVE IN CHRIST! 

Every breath we take must belong to Him. Every thought we think must belong to Him. There is NOTHING in our lives we can hide from our Savior, not a single thing and we mustn't even try to hide anything!  And when we realize that we don't set Jesus aside and pick Him up when we pray, or worship for an hour or two, we know that He is everything!  How can He know anyone who chooses to believe in Him and love Him at their own convenience?

Can a single branch come into existence without a vine?  People will say that a branch can be broken off a vine and still live and thrive, only to grow into a vine all it's own and that's true, however a branch needs to EXIST first to be broken off.

With JESUS being our vine and we being the branches upon the vine we are safest abiding in HIM. We dare not risk being lopped off and grafted back on, because NO branch grown on it's own after being broken from the vine will ever be a part of the vine again easily, if ever.  This analogy can be taken in many different directions but what our Savior is telling us is that we have to LIVE in HIM if we will bear any fruit. WITHOUT our SAVIOR WE CAN DO NOTHING that truly matters. If we are not bringing glory to God but to ourselves or others, it's empty, it's void of real meaning no matter how it appears on the outside.

All the humanitarian efforts by any one, done outside of Christ are facades even if they appear to be marvelous.  Those who deny God and yet seem to be the kindest, best, big-hearted people are mere puppets of Satan to deceive, to steal eternity.  And my just saying this could have many outraged because to them it proves God is not a God of love when He doesn't accept all without exception no matter who they believe in or if they believe in anyone.  The thing is, God will accept those who have FAITH in HIM, but how can He force Himself on those who have no faith and desire no faith in Him?  He will force NO ONE!

We can be a branch on the Vine, we can abide in the Vine and produce fruit, fruit the Vine allows us to produce.  Fruit ONLY survives on the vine. If you take the fruit off the vine before it is fully fruit, if you pluck the flower that will turn into the fruit, it will never be fruit.  We must remain upon the Vine that is Christ and live in HIM in all things so we through HIM will produce what He needs us to produce for Him.

Please, Father, please bless us in YOU. Help us to be branches upon the Vine that is Christ and through the Spirit produce the fruit You desire.

Bless us, keep us, forgive us, love us, know us!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior!

Amen.

What little flesh works are controlling you?

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Works of the flesh.

Works of the Spirit.

We know, come on, we're not dense, we're really not.

We know when the works of the flesh are working in us.

In the days of Noah, all but Noah were living in the works of the flesh. In Sodom and Gomorrah all were living in the works of the flesh, God could not even find ten people living in the Spirit.  And we know that in the last days God will be hard pressed to find any living in the Spirit as well.  Knowing this shouldn't we be more aware of where our flesh works are active in our lives?  Satan will tempt us with the lusts of the flesh all the time. Even something as simple as irritation has it's roots in Satan. Of course satan doesn't want us recognize the tiny works of the flesh. He loves as those tiny very deceptive works of the flesh rear up and become common place in our lives. We let them. Why do we let them? We let them because we've been taught to believe they are just part of normal, every day, acceptable life, things we can't help and shouldn't even try to change. We are going to be irritated end of story so stop fussing over irritation and just call it part of life. Satan then gets the stain of that irritation to remain upon us because we fail to call it the sin that it is and repent of it, asking for forgiveness.

Sure, most Christians will agree adultery, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and murders are wrong and works of the flesh, but do most agree strife, envying, drunkenness, reveling and the like are works of the flesh? We call strife in our lives stressful but label it normal. We call envying normal as well because everyone falls victim to wanting more and better, nicer, and when they don't have it and see others with it, they envy them wishing they had it as well.

We excuse sin and therefore it remains.  We can't afford to believe sin is just our normal acceptable life, forgetting that Satan is egging us on to sin every single day of our lives. If Satan can push a button to even irritate us in the tiniest way, he is pleased. 

God forgive us for calling sin good, forgive us for excusing the sin in our lives!

Please help us to recognize ALL the sin in our lives. Help us to recognize the works of the flesh for what they are even the tiniest of flesh works that we have grown so incredibly used to in our lives they've become what we've labeled our personalities.  I'm not saying that we don't have various defects in our personalities that go beyond our encouraging.  What I mean is, I've seen tiny  babies with tempers, young toddlers with flares of unjustified anger, and this isn't LEARNED behavior for them, they have been born with this anger, this work of the flesh is a part of them and it only seems to grow with them. Age will help them handle their anger if they have loving parents guiding them, and they will prayerfully grow into young adults that have given their lives to Christ and allow Him to live in them through the Spirit.  We are born with our flesh nature striving to take over. God will guide us if we let Him. That anger WE are born with, that tendency to be selfish, the callousness we've developed, the unloving heart, the jealousy we've embraced can be given to our SAVIOR, and given to Him over and over and over again all the time as we are shown all those flesh works in ourselves.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Do we have these fruits of the Spirit within us?

Are we loving, joyous, peaceful, long suffering, gentle, good, faithful, meek, temperate?

Do we crucify our FLESH?

Do we crucify our AFFECTIONS and LUSTS?

WE must live in the Spirit- WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

We truly must not long for glory that is in vain, and all glory that is NOT of God, is in vain. We must not provoke one another, we must not envy one another, please LORD, please bless us and keep us in the Spirit, only by YOUR grace, YOUR love, please! Help us, we would be YOURS and only YOURS.

All in YOUR LOVE!

By our Savior, Jesus Christ, our LORD now and forever!

Amen. 

Jesus Christ our Savior, Rich?

2Co 8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

The LORD JESUS CHRIST- rich?

He was a carpenter's son and not rich at all, right? He didn't live in glorious splendor.

Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

Mat 13:55  Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mat 13:56  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

The carpenter's son, mother called Mary- nothing remarkable in these things, nothing at all. And His brothers, those He grew up with, played with, ate with, worked with, four of them just all average in a family and also, his sisters.  Jesus had a normal average, unremarkable family.  These people in His hometown did not remark upon the wealthy Jesus, from the wealthy and wise family of Joseph and Mary. They did not remark upon the prominence of Jesus' lineage because it was NOT remarkable. There was nothing to indicate at all whatsoever that Jesus was raised wealthy and inherited any sort of wealth.  So when we read that Christ was rich, we're not talking about worldly wealth at all whatsoever, we are talking about spiritual wealth. In Spiritual wealth our Savior was the richest of all.

Jesus - declared SON OF GOD, Jesus GOD WITH GOD, Jesus CREATOR as God with God, He could be no richer than He was spiritually, not a bit.  Yet even though He was the richest in spiritual wealth, richest in all things as Creator of all things, for US He BECAME POOR. 

He divested Himself of divinity, make NO mistake He shed His God power when He took on flesh and He, like all of us, had to  rely upon God the declared FATHER.

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This is TRUTH!

Joh_8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

The Son can do NOTHING of himself.

Jesus was being taught by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus was brought into existence in the flesh by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descended upon Him upon His baptism and it was only after that He began to preach and do His miracles, miracles done through the power He had only through the Father- just like us. We have to have power outside of ourselves. We have to be selfless taking NO glory to ourselves at all, but giving all glory to God.

Jesus became poor for us, so we could be rich through HIM.

Jesus made it possible for us to have eternal life and that life starts upon earth as we accept Him, not after we die.  If we are called to sleep death's temporary sleep it won't affect the fact we've gain life eternal in Christ. We will wake to rise and meet Him in the air when He returns calling both the dead in Him and the living in Him to rise and go to heaven with Him.

Eternal life in Christ and Christ alone, He who became poor for us to be rich, spiritually rich, the only true riches that matter in the things of eternity.

Please, Father, please by Your glory and honor, through Your power may we live in You, for You, spiritually living as You would have us live from now till we see our Savior again and forever, ever, and ever without end. Forgive us unworthy sinners, we seek the forgiveness of the Savior who died so we might live, who became poor so we could be rich in Him. Bless us, Father. In the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Build us up

Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

The word of HIS GRACE- is able to BUILD us up!

BUILD.

What does it mean to build?  When you're building you are creating something aren't you?  If I build my strength I'm creating more muscle mass. If I build a house, I'm creating a structure. If I build character I'm creating better personality traits in myself. To build means to create and when we are being built up as the Word of God tells us- our spiritual life is growing, it's becoming something more than it was.  The word of God's grace can cause us to grow, it will BUILD us up, it will give us an INHERITANCE as we are made holy, sanctified.  We MUST, absolutely MUST study the word of God and His grace! We must constantly dwell upon the grace of our Savior realizing it is only through a constant study, a constant prayer that we are built up in Christ. It does us no good to accept Christ as our Savior and then go on to live our lives oblivious to Him, He must be a real presence in our lives, in all we do.

All by HIS amazing grace!

In Jesus Christ always!

Amen!

When we put God first all other things are in their less prominent place

For many years now, perhaps a lot longer than we think there have been prominent people. Way back towards the beginning of the human race after sin entered the world and the population expanded there came prominent people.  Right now I'm thinking of Nimrod. Now in current times in America we use that word as derogatory slang. In the Bible Nimrod was found here--the great grandson of Noah-

Gen 10:8  And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 

Gen 10:9  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 

Nimrod was a mighty hunter, a mighty one in the earth- a prominent person.  And when it states *before* the LORD, some have taken that to imply put in front of the LORD.

What happened to this mighty hunter Nimrod, this prominent person?

Gen 10:9  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 

Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 

Gen 10:11  Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 

Gen 10:12  And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. 

He had a KINGDOM.

Was this an acceptable and good kingdom in the eyes of God?

Gen 11:4  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 

Gen 11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 

Gen 11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 

Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 

Gen 11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 

Gen 11:9  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. 

Obviously it was not acceptable in the eyes of God. We have human kind taking PRIDE in themselves and their creations, in fact they desired to make a tower that would reach incredible heights- a show of their power.  The LORD saw this and knew it was wrong, they were following a prominent PERSON not GOD. They wanted to make a NAME for themselves, not God. The glory they wanted was for themselves, not God. Their hearts were directed inward to selfish pursuits not outward towards God.

From then onward prominent people with a bent towards selfish aims and desires have gone on under the hand of Satan to rule the many kingdoms of the world. The people were not content to have God's judges and prophets but wanted a KING, a prominent person to lead them. Remember this...

1Sa 8:1  And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 

1Sa 8:2  Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 

1Sa 8:3  And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 

1Sa 8:4  Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 

1Sa 8:5  And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 

1Sa 8:6  But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 

1Sa 8:7  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 

1Sa 8:8  According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 

1Sa 8:9  Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 

1Sa 8:10  And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 

1Sa 8:11  And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 

1Sa 8:12  And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 

1Sa 8:13  And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 

1Sa 8:14  And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 

1Sa 8:15  And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 

1Sa 8:16  And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 

1Sa 8:17  He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 

1Sa 8:18  And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 

1Sa 8:19  Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 

1Sa 8:20  That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 

1Sa 8:21  And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 

1Sa 8:22  And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king...

They REJECTED GOD that He would NOT reign over them! They separated themselves from God's will. And God explained what would happen, how a king would take so much from them and give little in return. They wanted a PROMINENT PERSON to rule over them as the prominent people were ruling over other non-God fearing kingdoms. 

Prominent people, the rulers of the worldly kingdoms, Satan's kingdoms.  People looking to people, not God.We KNOW they are Satan's kingdoms--

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 

ALL the kingdoms of the world and their glory was shown to Jesus by Satan and Satan made Jesus an offer-  he would GIVE all the kingdoms and their glory to Jesus if Jesus would fall down and worship him.

Satan OWNED the worldly kingdoms they were HIS to give away. 

Has anything taken the kingdoms from Satan over the many years since he offered them to Jesus? No. They still belong to Him. And people look to people, more so the prominent people to guide their lives, to give them direction. We set certain people on pedestals- politicians, actors, sports figures, philanthropists, musicians, authors, religious figures and then we teach our children to fall in step and idolize them. So many people attach their affections to prominent people and try to emulate them after a fashion. No, they might not try to be singers, or actors, etc but they'll start to believe in the causes these people represent. They'll start to be wild if their prominent person shows a tendency for the wild life. They'll even do good deeds if their prominent person does them. When our sights are set on PEOPLE, they are NOT SET ON GOD, this is TRUTH. We even often times choose people not so prominent in the world, but prominent in our own circles of friends and family and do the same thing, we look to them rather than to God. We want their approval of our life and our life choices before we want God's. We reason within ourselves that it's normal because we are REALLY living with these people and God is more of an idea than a real force in our lives.  We are deceived!

Shouldn't God be more real to us than any other, because without the reality of God there would be no us, no others to put before Him. We need to recognize that God created us, each of us exists because He created us. And no other we love can create as God created and creates. We HAVE a Creator! We need to live in the truth that it is! As we honor a mother and father as our birth parents we exceedingly more need to honor our Creator who created all of human kind. And how do we reveal our honor to God, truly, how?

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

We CAN reveal our love for God in more than just our words and thoughts.  We can reveal our love by OBEYING Him. Not because obeying Him will gain us salvation, but because we LOVE Him and desire to honor Him.

Seriously, there is one VERY special commandment among the moral ten -

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

The SABBATH commandment was brought into existence to remind us of our created status, and in reminding us of our created status we are reminded of our CREATOR and we HONOR Him when we honor the Sabbath commandment.   A commandment to bring HONOR to our Creator, how could this commandment ever be done away with? Who is our CREATOR?

Eph_3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ

God, created all things by who?  JESUS CHRIST. God with God!

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

And we should no longer keep the fourth commandment, why? Did Jesus cease being our Creator upon saving us? NO, NEVER!  We NEED the constant REMINDER of our CREATION!  

God FIRST in all things, let this be true for us. With God first all other things are in their proper LESS prominent place.

God FIRST. Please Father, You first. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR!

Amen!