Sunday, June 18, 2017

Are you watching?

Jesus is going to return for us who love Him in truth, in deed, in knowing Him and being known by Him.

When Jesus returns He will return for those who are WATCHING for Him.

All who are NOT watching for Him, will NOT be His.

Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 
Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 

Mar 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 
Mar 13:34  For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 
Mar 13:35  Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 
Mar 13:36  Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 
Mar 13:37  And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. 

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 

1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 

2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our Lord and Savior, JESUS CHRIST, now and FOREVER!

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Content, Not Coveting.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

Covetousness.
1. inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy.
2. eagerly desirous.
From <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/covetousness>

Content.
Satisfied. The state or feeling of being contented; satisfaction
From <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/content>

We will ALWAYS have the only thing we truly need, and it is something that can never, ever be taken from us by anyone. No person, no circumstances, not a single thing can ever take our Savior from us- it's impossible. 

The ONLY way we can be without our Savior is to choose to be without Him.

Does that choice have to be a conscious one? It does, but sometimes our consciousness of a decision we make is deliberately shrouded so we fail to ever realize we've made the choice at all. Self-deception is a VERY real thing.

The act of making oneself believe something that is not true He was unaware of his own self-deceptions
From <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-deception>

Isn't this going to be true of many, dare I say, MOST Christians when our Savior returns?

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

They are going to say- LORD, LORD, haven't we done so much in Your name? They are going to believe they've tirelessly worked for the Lord in many ways. They are believing they live for the Lord, that He is their Savior, their reason for all they do. They are going to do WONDERFUL WORKS- all in the name of Jesus. They are going to CAST OUT devils- and they’ll do it using the marvelous name of our Savior. They WILL make prophecies, and do so with Jesus' name on their lips! They BELIEVE, truly, truly believe they are saved in Jesus Christ, their Lord. Not for a moment do they believe that the things they are doing are not for Jesus. They are utterly deceived because Jesus is going to tell them they are workers of iniquity! Jesus is going to tell them ALL their wonderful works were NOT for Him, they didn't prophesize for Him, they didn't cast a single devil out by using His power.  And if Jesus tells them this, then what must be true? That the wonderful works, the prophesizing, the devils being cast out are all works of SATAN, in whom all iniquity dwells.

1Jn 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

Workers of iniquity.

Psa_5:5  The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Psa_28:3  Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

Working iniquity all the while believing they are working God' work - this is how insanely great the self-deception is in those who refuse to truly belong to Christ, in all His truth!

We are to be content in this world filled with so much covetousness. We are to be content having Christ in a world where material goods are now called essentials, and needs. We are to be content knowing our Savior will never leave or forsake us. Lose all you possess in the world, and you will still have Jesus Christ our Lord! 

Please, Lord, please, we beg of You, don't let us be self-deceived! Please, we don't want to be workers of iniquity! Please, Lord help us to be content with YOU above all else that strives to take Your place. Please, Lord, please! Help us! Save us!

All through Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior NOW and FOREVER! Please! Father, please, we would be saved!

Friday, June 16, 2017

You can't be deceived if you know the truth, but you can ignore the truth.

Take heed. Pay attention. Watch out. Be wary. Be cautious.

If Jesus told us to pay attention, it has to be important, right? Jesus IS telling us to pay attention, He's telling us to watch out, to be wary, to be cautious because people WILL try to deceive us.  There is no doubt about it, we have to be careful when dealing with people because any of them can deceive us, the possibility exists.  Deception is very real. And the only way not to be deceived is to know the truth. You can't be deceived by someone's lies if you know they are lying. If you aren't standing firmly on God's truth then you leave yourself open to deception.  We are told this--

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 
2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Isa_8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

Joh 5:46  For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 
Joh 5:47  But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? 

Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

Psa 119:130  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. 

Mat 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 
Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts

We know that every Christian is given a weapon to wield in the spiritual war we are born into and live in until either we sleep death's sleep or our Savior returns. That weapon is what? Do you know what weapon you possess as a Christian? Do you know what weapon we have to use against the enemy? What good does it do us if we - as the saying goes- bring a knife to a gunfight? We have to use the only weapon our God gives to us and if we try to use anything else we will fail against any evil spiritual onslaught in whatever shape or form it takes.  Our weapon-  Eph 6:17  And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Our weapon- THE WORD OF GOD!

How do we keep from being deceived? The Word of God!

Deception-  

Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 
1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Deu_11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them

Gal_6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Ti_2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

2Ti_3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Tit_3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Rev_18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Rev_19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev_20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Deception.

Deception-  
The following are several verses on being deceived, on deception, please read them now and by the grace of God we will study it more in detail tomorrow.  All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever and ever!

Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 
1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Deu_11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them

Gal_6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Ti_2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

2Ti_3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Tit_3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Rev_18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Rev_19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev_20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

We've been bought.


1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 
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 are bought with a price.

The price we are bought with? The life of the Son of God. There could be no greater price, not a single one.

We are a piece of broken clay worthless in the eyes of most, yet priceless in the eyes of God. The worth our God places upon us makes us very valuable to Him.

Jesus said this--

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And we are told this--

Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost

We get FILLED with the Holy Spirit.   Truly, we are filled, our bodies are filled with the Holy Spirit.  God the Holy Spirit will dwell IN us! How amazingly special does this make us?

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

Rom_8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Gal_4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We BECOME the sons of God.  We are bought and made SONS of God!

The Holy Spirit will FILL us and this alone will sanctify us through our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

1Pe_1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe_1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy

The temple of God is just a building without God's presence. What makes a place holy is God's presence. Wherever God makes His presence known it is HOLY.

Act 7:31  When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 
Act 7:32  Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 
Act 7:33  Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 

When the Holy Spirit fill us as Jesus promised, we are sanctified. Is there any doubt as to why we are to regard ourselves as temples- not in the way of pride- but as in the way of being blessed, humbled by such a blessing.

Please Lord, help us to learn what it truly means to have our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our SAVIOR, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Who do you obey?

Who to you yield yourself to?

Many will instantly reply, "No one. I am my own master, I yield to none."

They are lying to themselves. We are not our own masters. We are not without influence from forces greater than ourselves. Why do people insist that there are no outside forces, no spiritual forces in our lives.  People lie to themselves all the time, and believe their own lies.

We have a Creator. To believe otherwise is ludicrous. To think we just happened to emerge from some strange soupy goo of dna is foolish. Why haven't new humans continued to form that way? What stops them? Why isn't there more goo with lots of new creatures constantly? There are a million questions to be asked because it so outrageous a claim.

We have a Creator. We have a Master and our Master has an adversary and His adversary is automatically the adversary of all who lay claim to their Master and do not deny Him.

If you believe in GOD- then you HAVE to believe in His adversary.
If you believe in God's adversary then you believe that same adversary is your adversary.

So asking again- who do you yield yourselves to?
Who do you obey?

Truly we need to know who we are obeying.  It is easy to say we obey Christ, but do we?  Who are we yielding ourselves to? The thing about this question is… it can't be answered just once. This question is something we need to answer all the time, all through the day. When we stop asking ourselves this question we have to ask ourselves why. If we realize that we aren't yielding to God in all things then we need to repent, we need to ask for forgiveness, we need to recognize our wretchedness and with sincerity cry out for a clean heart, a renewed heart.

Please Lord, please let us examine ourselves, let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

Please…    ALL through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR!  Please.

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Servant or Son?

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Servants or Sons?

A servant in this context is one who has no wealth or prestige of his/her own. A servant is one working under a master.  And not ALL masters are cruel and evil, contrary to how a lot of people long to believe. As soon as they hear servant and master they imagine the servant's humanity being abused, that none should be a servant to another.  We know logically there are kind, caring, generous masters to servants and so in the context of these verses we are going along that vein. Why? Because the comparison of a child, an heir to the master's position, as being a servant as long as they are not of age is truth. Yet, that heir will grow and one day he will no longer be a servant. We too are heirs of salvation and we are no longer servants.  So who are we no longer servants to?

Rom_6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 

We are servants of sin, of Satan if we are NOT heirs of God.

Are you a servant of Satan or a son of God?

There are ONLY two choices.

People want a million choices! People want as many choices as possible. When you limit the choices it makes things a lot more difficult for a person to choose. We don't want yes or no, we want a lot of maybes.

Truly you have to be a servant of Satan or a son of God, so which is it?

With God there is life eternal, with Satan there is no life at all, non-existence.

Satan doesn't want to make any sons, none will ever be equal to him. Yet so many people love to delude themselves that Satan isn't so bad, in fact many don't believe he is real, let alone influencing their lives in any way at all. The influence of Satan is so incredibly great that he's deceived all but those who truly love God in all truth.

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

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