Sheep and Wolves

The Devil.

Luk 8:11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Luk 8:12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved

People pride themselves on being smart.  They do! They take great pride in not being outwitted by others.

Unfortunately for a lot of so called SMART people- in their endeavors to be smart at all times they overlook the truth of the matter in favor of what they believe is real intelligence. If the truth doesn't appear to be intelligent enough for them they'd rather sacrifice truth to keep up the appearance of being smart.

Right now in a lot of circles it is fashionable to consider yourself too smart to be duped by believing in God and Jesus Christ, and of course the Holy Spirit.

Atheism is on the rise as is believing in a God who advocates violence over peace. The God who advocates violence is a God who obviously believes in action whereas peace isn't quite so active. Not believing at all is supposed to be a sign of the smart person's superior intellect. Amid the droves of sheep who they believe are following blindly they stand out, separating themselves.

When these people who no longer wish to consider themselves sheep in need of a  Shepherd do in fact separate themselves from the sheep it's because they aren't really sheep at all, but wolves, the attackers of the sheep, the devourers of the sheep.

They aren't pleased to simply go off and be intelligent sheep, too intelligent to follow a Shepherd, they transform into attacking wolves viciously defending their right to have no Shepherd at the expense of any sheep they might come in contact with.

The sheep who at one time followed a Shepherd, however briefly, don't realize that a malicious, evil force, the chief of all wolves, has succeeded in using its own supposed superior intellect to rip the truth from their hearts. The chief of wolves does not want the sheep to be protected by the Shepherd, but would rather pull sheep out of the fold and make them believe they too are really wolves so they can help him destroy as many of the flock as possible, even while destroying themselves.

The Devil is REAL.  And the Devil dwells in the PRIDE of each and every one of us. The Devil plays upon that pride and if we allow him to, he will infuse us with his pride the very same pride that was his downfall.

Was there pain and destruction, was there death before the Devil?  Not in our world. Not a single lie existed until the Devil.  Yet how incredibly many supposedly smart people decide to side with the father of all lies, the inducer of pain, the architect of destruction, the bringer of death, rather than the One who would promise them salvation- a life without pain, destruction and death.

The supposedly smart would hold up the fact that salvation is a myth because it isn't given instantly but a promise that cannot be verified, as proof of its non-existence. The supposedly smart will call us the duped and deluded because we live on faith- the promise for the future unseen.  The supposedly smart would rather cling to their delusions taking pride in their wolf-self right now and get the accolades of other wolves than have hope of ever living a life free of all that is evil. They would rather embrace the evil as being something undefeatable calling it a part of life, than believe in the potential of life without any evil at all.  Unfortunately the lovers of evil are wolves, and often times wolves in sheep clothing.

While evil appeals to all that has been sin perverted in us, we don't have to embrace the perversion and call it good. Every temptation towards evil that is strong inside of us doesn't make us lovers of that evil unless we choose evil over God and all that is love, all that is truly good. Those temptations to us are battles, they are enemies, they are to be resisted, they are to be fought against and never truly embraced and accepted, never fully yielded to by allowing them to be call good and right in us.

We who would be sheep with a Shepherd to guide us, do not hate the wolves, we realize the wolves exist and we will constantly pray that the wolves seek to become sheep in need of the Shepherd.  We will love the wolves even as they attack us, for we are simple sheep only we know better and choose to love.

All by the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever! We would follow Him, our Great Shepherd.

Amen!

Taught to observe

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Mat_28:20.

TEACH THEM.

Observe all things- whatsoever I have commanded you.

TEACH THEM.

Observe ALL THINGS.

Observe WHATSOEVER JESUS COMMANDS.

Jesus commands-

Mat 5:12  REJOICE, and BE EXCEEDING GLAD

Mat 5:16  LET your light so shine before men

Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou BRING thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

Mat 5:24  LEAVE there thy gift before the altar, and GO thy way; FIRST BE reconciled to thy brother, and THEN COME and OFFER thy gift.

Mat 5:25  AGREE with thine adversary quickly

Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, PLUCK it out, and CAST it from thee

Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, CUT it off, and CAST it from thee

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, SWEAR NOT at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Mat 5:37  But LET your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye RESIST NOT (the) evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, TURN to him the other also.

Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, LET him have thy cloke also.

Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, GO with him twain.

Mat 5:42  GIVE to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee TURN NOT thou away.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, LOVE your enemies, BLESS them that curse you, DO GOOD to them that hate you, and PRAY for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Mat 5:48  BE ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Mat 6:1  TAKE heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them

Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, DO NOT sound a trumpet before thee

Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, LET NOT thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest,  ENTER into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, PRAY to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, USE NOT vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Mat 6:8  BE NOT ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore PRAY ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

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

Mat 6:14  For if ye FORGIVE men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you

Mat 6:16  Moreover when ye FAST, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance

Mat 6:17  But thou, when thou fastest, ANOINT thine head, and WASH thy face;

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 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, TAKE NO thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.

Mat 6:31  Therefore TAKE NO thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Mat 6:33  But SEEK ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness

Mat 6:34  TAKE therefore no thought for the morrow

Mat 7:1  JUDGE NOT, that ye be not judged.

Mat 7:6  GIVE NOT that which is holy unto the dogs, NEITHER CAST ye your pearls before swine

Mat 7:7  ASK, and it shall be given you; SEEK, and ye shall find; KNOCK, and it shall be opened unto you

Mat 7:13  ENTER ye in at the strait gate

Mat 7:15  BEWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Jesus instructed His followers in great depth giving them  all the guidance they'd need to actively live as He would have them live.  Instructions on what to do, what not to do, what to follow, what not to follow.  You can pray to God for help in living your life, desiring answers in some miraculous manner, but truthfully God has given us many of the answers we need already.

We need to SEEK the answers in HIS WORD TO US for ALL that life will throw at us!  Maybe the situation is super complicated but if we go to God's word we are instructed to TRUST in HIM- do we?

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Mat_28:20.

Are we taught? Have we learned? Do we know what we are commanded?  Do we fully understand that our Savior is with us ALWAYS even to the END OF THE WORLD? He is!

Please Father in heaven, please help us LEARN and OBSERVE all we are commanded, please. We would be with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior forever and ever! All by HIS GRACE, HIS LOVE!

Amen.

Greatly disturbed by the truth

People disturbed by the preaching of Jesus and His gospel of the kingdom- the resurrection from the dead.

Throughout time you've had people disturbed by the message of salvation through Jesus Christ--

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  (Act_4:1-2)

No one should FORCE anyone to listen to someone preach. Everyone should have the ability to either leave the place where someone is preaching, or simply ignore someone who is preaching if they can't leave.  God does NOT force His message on anyone and those who believe in forcing people to listen to them are doing God a grave disservice.

I believe in getting the amazing truth out there for all who want that truth. We will ALWAYS have those whose hearts are hardened to the truth, whose minds are closes, whose eyes will not see and ears will not hear.  But for all that there are in the majority those who do not want the TRUTH- the REAL TRUTH- there are those who do want to hear.  We must make the truth available whenever possible, but never forced.

If I put a sign on my lawn I am NOT forcing any one to read that sign, they can ignore it.  If I write a blog, again, I'm NOT forcing anyone to read it, they can ignore it easily. If I start preaching on the corner, again, NO ONE has to listen to me!  We have the ability to ignore a lot of things, yet people will often get in an uproar over preaching, why? Because people are DISTURBED by the message of truth. 

I know a few atheists who get incensed over things they read and hear, yet no one FORCES them to read or listen to these things. If a Christian does force them, they aren't truly a Christian.  Satan has many pretenders throughout those claiming Christianity, and he has them there because they can destroy so much with their false claims to the truth.

That saying- "Don't let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch." Is how this should be viewed by those who are truly seeking truth and not their own private agendas.  Instead of labeling all Christians and Christianity itself as something to be shunned based upon the actions of even the majority of Christians, is wrong.  If you choose not to believe based on your own understanding that's one thing, but to hold up "bad" Christians as your basis not to believe is sadly deceptive and ultimately eternally deadly.

God help us to preach and teach the truth of Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers, the resurrection from the eternal death to all that would hear. Keep us in You as we live among many who are disturbed by the truth. Let us always remain steadfast in the Savior, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all through our Savior's amazing LOVE!

Amen.

Making Excuses

Making excuses.

We all do it, and we are all accountable for doing it. We make excuses for our behavior. Even those who say they have no one to answer to and therefore make no excuses are making the excuse of having no one to answer to. 

Luk 14:16  Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

Luk 14:17  And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

Luk 14:18  And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

Luk 14:19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

Luk 14:20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

Excuses.

What WE desire to do is more important to us than what Christ would have us do.  We put our own needs before His needs, and what His needs are consist of our loving Him and loving Others.

SELF LAST- this is a lesson that takes a lifetime to learn, this is a lesson that is impossible for us to learn on our own. It is ONLY through the Holy Spirit we have any hope of being able to subdue the self in us.  Denying ourselves-  do we, should we?

Mat_16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mar_8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

We are invited to the great wedding feast  between Christ and His Church(His people),all of us are invited to be a part of that Church, to be Christ's Bride- there is no wedding feast without the bride after all.  Yet, so many of us will choose not to go to the wedding feast, to not be Christ's bride.  So many of us will come up with excuses. Only when our Savior returns and we long to go with Him it is then He will tell us that He doesn't know us and we will realize all at once just how we filled our lives with excuses not to live for Christ.  Every single excuse we make will flash before our eyes, we will KNOW why Christ doesn't know us, because WE are the ones choosing not to know CHRIST!

Excuses, we are filled with excuses. God forgive us, we love our excuses.

Will we use our jobs? Will we use our possessions? Will we use our loved ones?  Or maybe we'll use all of those and many more.  God HELP us not use any excuses to not live for Christ, to not love as He would have us love, to not give ourselves to Him fully.

Please, Father, HELP US! SAVE US from ourselves and all our stupid excuses!

In the name of our SAVIOR Jesus Christ our LORD, now and forever, amen!

Recognize and Repent

Continue in sin?  Once you KNOW something is sinful- a thing that if committed will separate you from God, and you knowingly separate yourself from God by continuing to sin, how can grace abound?

Truthfully I feel as if my entire existence is filled with sin. From the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep I recognize just how far from being sinless I am. Just in my thoughts alone I feel as if I'm constantly separating myself from God through my selfishness, my self serving ways.  Is it this point we NEED to attain to comprehend how fully we have to recognize that Christ and Christ alone saves us and nothing we do saves us?  Once that comprehension begins to dawn, we know still that we cannot simply resign ourselves to being sinful willfully.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

The WAR we are living in hasn't a single furlough, leave, discharge, there is really no going awol with this war because it's a spiritual war which will be waged until Christ returns. The only time we have a brief reprieve truly is when we enter death's temporary sleep and wait in that sleep for our Savior's return.

We KNOW we are sinners.

We KNOW we cannot seem to stop sinning.

We KNOW that we need to seek forgiveness when we sin- ALWAYS. There isn't a single sin that isn't in need of forgiveness.

If we need to live in a constant state of seeking forgiveness, knowing that we are constantly relying upon our Savior's grace, then that is what we do, yes?  But, we do NOT excuse or accept sin, we RECOGNIZE and REPENT.  The SPECIAL Treasure we have in heaven, the Treasure we are to store up there, where our thoughts and hearts must be, is CHRIST Himself, the Author of our forgiveness, our grace.

We need to take our minds OFF ourselves and put them on CHRIST, having HIS mind in us, to think of OTHERS, to think of GOD first- to think of THEM MORE than ourselves.  Focusing on ourselves leads to even more self absorption.  Recognize, repent, refocus, yes?  Ask ourselves in that refocusing whether we aare thinking on the things our Lord would have us think on, or thinking on things that just keep up the vicious cycle of self serving.

Php_4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

By His grace, His mercy, His power, through the Holy Spirit, all because our Savior died for us, may we live recognizing, repenting, refocusing, renewing… in CHRIST.

Amen.

Whose mind do you have?

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

Christ's mind.

Php 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Christ's mind- NOT looking on his own things, but the things of other.  Christ obviously deemed OTHERS more important than Himself.  His entire ministry all the way to His ultimate death and resurrection was filled with His putting OTHERS before Himself.

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

Christ did NOT make of Himself any reputation at all. He didn't want any GLORY. He did not tell people to give Him their best seats, their best food, their best clothes, to pay Him for all He did for them. Christ didn't want to be made their earthly king, Christ was their heavenly king!  We are NOT supposed to want glory, not ANY glory! We are to put others FIRST in all things. To do these things, this is what it means for us to have the mind of Christ.  Christ was a servant, Christ had the MIND of a SERVANT! We need to be servants, true servants!

The things Christ did, the things Christ would do, these are the things WE ARE TO DO.

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Meek and lowly in heart.

Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Minister to others.

Luk 22:27  For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

Serve.

Joh 13:14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

Joh 13:15  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Serve.

Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Do good.

Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Please NOT ourselves.

1Co 10:33  Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

The profit of others.

Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Walk in love. Give of ourselves- all of ourselves.

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps

Suffer, as Christ suffered.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Suffer in our flesh.

No longer live to the lusts of our flesh.

Live to the will of God.

All, by the grace of GOD.

What do you live for?

Things Above.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Christ is ABOVE.

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Christ is NOT on the earth.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The kingdom of God is CHRIST and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Luk 12:33  Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Christ is our TREASURE and Christ is in heaven.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Christ is spiritually MINDED.

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Our conversation is on CHRIST, and CHRIST is in heaven above.

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.

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

A better country- HEAVENLY country where CHRIST is ABOVE!

If OUR lives REVOLVE around CHRIST as they SHOULD, then automatically we are doing all the above mentioned things. We are seeking things above, we are setting our affections on things above, we are seeking first the kingdom of God, we are putting our treasure in heaven, we are spiritually minded, we are also looking for the better country to belong to, not this worldly country- we are truly pilgrims and strangers here upon earth.

We find there is often a fierce loyalty attached to our country of birth and we don't want anyone putting it down, even if we ourselves can trash talk it. When push comes to shove so to speak we want to believe that we are loyal to the country we live in. Obviously not EVERYONE feels this way. There are traitors, defectors, people who simply decide there is a better country to live in that meets their desires more than the country they are in. Some people loath their countries and long for another one.  The truth is, NO matter what country we are born into, reside in, or long for, if it is not the heavenly country then we should NOT feel inclined to hold a fierce loyalty to any country.  No, I'm not saying we should HURT our country or ANY country that is totally contrary to how I believe God would have us live. But our true loyalty must be HIS above all others.  If faced with the decision to swear allegiance to a country before swearing allegiance to God, we need to choose God first!

Right now, this very day, there are people who are being tortured and killed because they will not denounce God, they will not denounce God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  These people are given a choice. They are told to convert to another's belief and live, it's that simple, just give up their loyalty to Jesus, but they DON'T do that! Instead these people choose death over living with the fact they denied Jesus.  How many of us could do that? How many of us would convince ourselves that God would understand, that Jesus would understand? That we can secretly keep loyal to Jesus while outwardly betraying Him.  We want to convince ourselves this is possible and I'm NOT saying in no uncertain terms that there aren't situations this is okay, because I am not the judge of the hearts of those making the decisions. I sit on the sidelines and talk about what we possibly should or shouldn't do, but I'm not face to face with the choice.  I am, however face to face with the choice to either live right now for Jesus or to live for earthly things.

Earthly things such as SELF. My carnal nature is an earthly thing. Earthly things such as everything upon earth- all material things. Yes, ALL material things even those things I often call necessities. Am I living for "THINGS"?  WHAT DO I LIVE FOR!? What do YOU live for!?

We need to very somberly ask ourselves this question and pay real close attention to our answers because they matter- eternally they matter. 

Please Father in heaven, we would live for YOU! Bless us in YOU! By the mercy and grace, the sacrifice of Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Amen.