Fear God.

The wisest human (other than our Savior) was Solomon.  You know the history of Solomon's wisdom, right?  Let me recap it.

Solomon was made king …

1Ki 3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD..

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 

1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 

1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 

1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 

1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 

1Ki 3:10  And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 

1Ki 3:11  And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 

1Ki 3:12  Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 

1Ki 3:13  And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 

1Ki 3:14  And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 

1Ki 3:15  And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. 

Solomon wanted to be a good king, like his father, David. Solomon wanted to serve God and others before Himself. The Lord told Solomon IF he would walk in God's ways and keep God's statutes and commandments - as David did, then God would lengthen his days- something Solomon didn't ask for.

The wisest of the wise said this--

Ecc 12:9  And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 

Ecc 12:10  The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. 

Ecc 12:11  The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 

Ecc 12:12  And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 

Solomon spoke of himself, knowing he was wise and he taught others from his knowledge. He wrote down a lot of these words of wisdom, and still no matter how much he wrote there would always be more to write, more wisdom to share and yet… the unending flow of words made Him weary. Around and around He went dispensing words of wisdom right and left, up and down, in and out and ultimately they boiled down to this…

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 

Fear God.

Keep God's Commandments.

Whether we belong to the wisdom club, or the lack of wisdom club, or perhaps fall somewhere in a club in between the two- we are to FEAR GOD and KEEP GOD'S COMMANDMENTS- this is the WHOLE duty of humankind.

Now some might start to instantly spout that fearing God is reverencing Him, not being terrified of Him, however shouldn't we be a bit terrified of God? Tell me that I shouldn't be in awe- reverencing and in awe- scared, as well as in awe with love of God- HE is all powerful, all knowing, all consuming, all in glory, power, and honor, HE is everything!

Oddly enough a memory of a movie most of us have watched comes to mind. The Wizard of Oz. The scene in the movie is the one where Dorothy and the misfits with her are walking in the emerald city towards the great and powerful wizard of oz and the wizard is bellowing out loudly in his commanding voice, while appearing as this great mystical being hovering before them.  The FEAR was enough to send a coward running, the others were shaking in their shoes, and rightly so. The show the con-man was putting on was quite impressive and meant to instill fear because out of that fear he gained respect and reverence.

God is no wizard, in fact, God condemns wizards and wizardry. God is so much more than any sort of wizard. God is more than any human being that ever existed and still exists and yet people put fear into each other all the time. We give the power of life and death to judges and juries (people). We give authority to a lot of figures, authority we are then expected to respect. A lot of those in authority like to instill fear into others because it makes them feel powerful.

How can we read these words-

Heb_12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

-without a bit of fear?

Fear God, comprehend this--

Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. 

God is so powerful that EVERY single thing we do is brought into judgment, every SECRET we've ever kept from anyone- good or bad- will be known and judged.

Isn't this truly something to fear?  It would be terrifying, and completely life shattering to us if we are judged based on our own self-serving actions alone. Our acts will be judged, all of them, every secret known and it will be only because we fear God and keep His commandments - that gives us hope. You may be shaking your head a bit violently right now, saying Christ alone gives us hope, and you know what, you are RIGHT. And Christ is the epitome of fearing God and keeping His commandments. Christ did this perfectly! Christ taught that we too can do this perfectly through Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ held His Father in such awe and wonder, and Christ also pleaded with His Father to take the cup from Him so He wouldn't have to go through the awful suffering He knew was to come. Christ felt the fear of what was to come and He didn't let that fear turn into the sin of distrust, but rather He allowed it to guide Him to an even stronger resolve in the love of His Father.

Comprehending the magnitude of our God is worthy of a healthy fear, the fear that we experience and allows us to bow down at the feet of the One who holds our lives in His hands. Awe, wonder, trembling, frightened all the while secure in the love of God.

Most children (I cannot say all) know what it means to fear their parents, and yet know their love at the same time. How many times have I as a parent been harsh and tried to instill fear in order to teach my children to protect themselves from things like cars in the road, deadly scorpions, cliffs, electrical sockets and so on. I did it out of love for them. God is an exacting God, a consuming fire, He will give out judgement and we need to know and comprehend this so we may belong to Him. We would be His. We want Him to know us, and be known by Him as being His. We comprehend He is the Creator, the Savior, the One without beginning and without end. He is all in all. He deserves our reverence, our fear, our love.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 

Our WHOLE duty is to Fear God and Keep His Commandments.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

Jesus said-

Mat_5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat_19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God.

Spiritual Savior Shepherd.

We are metaphorically sheep in need of shepherding and anyone who believes otherwise is deceived.

(CEV)  …our bodies return to the earth, and the life-giving breath returns to God.

The very breath in our lungs is given to us by God, when we die that breath returns to God.

If a person has trouble with the idea that they are dependent upon God, then they most assuredly do not believe in God. To believe in God is to comprehend His being our Heavenly Father. We have to comprehend that God is our Creator. We have to accept our position in the grand scheme of things when we believe in God.

We are metophorical sheep, and this is an amazing thing to be.

However, there are lost sheep. There are sheep that have gone astray. There are wandering sheep. There are sheep which stray from the fold.  The picture here is of a lone sheep which has wandered off. The analogy of human beings as sheep which go astray is fitting in the context of our having a Shepherd which seeks to find us and lead us back to the fold.

We are sheep in need of rescuing.

Mat_18:12  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

Mat_18:13  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Psa 119:176  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments. 

Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…

Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 

Joh 10:12  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 

Joh 10:13  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 

Joh 10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 

Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Joh 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 

Joh 10:17  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 

Joh 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. 

1Pe 2:25  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd …

Straying sheep are in danger of losing their lives to predators, animal or people. Straying sheep are not under the protection of a shepherd. Straying sheep are also in danger of being injured with no help in sight to help them. These wandering sheep also risk losing a food/water source and thereby they may starve or die of thirst. A sheep is safest with a shepherd of that there can be no doubt at all.

We are safest with a Shepherd. Our spiritual Shepherd, Jesus Christ will protect our spiritual life. I emphasize the spiritual life part because too many point to God and condemn Him because bad things happen to them physically, mentally, emotionally. They hold the concept that Christ's protection as a Shepherd should mean we are kept safe in all ways.  How do we equate this with the numerous hardships that Paul and a lot of other disciples went through? They were closest to Jesus, if anyone were going to accuse Jesus of not being a very good shepherd it would one of them. They knew, as we need to know, that our eternal life is what our Savior Shepherd guards above all. Jesus came to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, not safety on earth here and now.

We need to be under the protection of our Spiritual Shepherd, without Him we are completely forever lost.

Please, Lord, we need You as our Good Shepherd -  help us live for you. Through all the hardships of life let us cling to You and Your promises that will come to pass. Let Your promises be our reality, Lord. Please! Let us be Yours!

The Choice For Faith Is Ours.

So what exactly happened to us the moment Eve bit into that forbidden fruit?

Some may think I'm crazy, and they could be right, but I believe the changes that took place from what we were upon initial creation and what the sin poison in the fruit did to us were drastic beyond imagining fully.

Using said imagination many have written stories which have fantasy/horror creatures stemming from an initial good source and are turned into some evil, unrecognizable creature.   I believe that is us. I do.  I believe we are unrecognizable beyond the very basics as to what we were intended to be. The change that is going to take place in us upon receiving immortality is going to be so magnificent we just have to use our imagination to think about it.

Every single flaw, every single function of our bodies that contains anything we need to bury, hide, wipe away, wish were less inconvenient and messy, all those functions and flaws will be gone as instantaneously as they were initiated in us as the poison touched the lips of Eve, and then Adam.

It's safe to say that just as we were physically altered, we were mentally and emotionally altered as well.

The light in us was snuffed out, and in its place darkness became a very real thing. The door to darkness was fully open and the very first child born to mankind was born into that darkness. The very first child was a child void of selflessness. Cain had within himself a dark seed that was watered and encouraged to grow by Satan (You don't really think Satan stopped His work after He won the prize of introducing mankind to the dark side, do you?)  Oh yeah, I went there, I made a Star Wars reference and why not, the fight against good and evil is REAL. Fictionalize it all you want, in whatever way you choose, it won't keep it from being a reality.

Imagine the evil joy of Satan as he watched Cain grow and begin to act in self-serving ways. When Cain offered a sacrifice to God-- the God His parents had known personally- face to face, the God His parents lamented their disobedience towards, when his sacrifice was offered it was rejected…WHY?

Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 

Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 

Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect..

We do know this-

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain

Two offerings, each from the occupation taken on by the giver. One a worker of the fields- brings field items, the other a worker of sheep brings a sheep offering. One of these offerings was accepted, the other wasn't and the reason we are told is--  BY FAITH one offering was given and one was not.

Two people come before a king, president, ruler of whatever sort and bring offerings from their native countries. One comes before the ruler with good intentions the other does not. Outwardly they both appear to be giving acceptable tributes, but this ruler sees beyond their outward actions and into their minds and hearts.

Abel offered his offering to God through faith- through belief in the Kingdom of Heaven, through belief in the truth that God would one day restore human kind to belong to Him once more, that God would destroy all the evil. You see, Adam and Eve had been told there would come a Savior, one who would destroy evil's originator. Adam and Eve explained all this to their sons- their creation by God, their disobedience to God and the result of that disobedience. They explained how they lived in a garden of beauty, clothed in the light of God's righteousness, how they ate of the fruit from the tree of life and then how it was all taken from them because of their own disobedience. They explained God's forgiveness, God's goodness, God's authority, to their children. They taught them to worship God, to make offerings to God through faith- the belief in God to ultimately save them through the love He has towards them.

So when Cain made his offering from the fruits of his harvest, he did not make it with that faith which had been taught to him existed. His sacrifice was being done out of duty but not from the heart and God knew this, just as Cain knew this. Cain wanted God to accept what he brought to Him, but the contrite spirit, the heart broken by comprehension of sin's great separation between God and man was not in Cain. Abel's sacrifice was brought with faith- with that comprehension of the need for restoration between God and man.

Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 

God asked Cain why he was upset, because Cain knew that how he made his offering wasn't how God wanted it to be. God wanted Cain to have faith just as Abel had faith. God told Cain if (obviously in the future) he would do well he would be accepted. However, if he chose not to nurture within Him the truth taught to him by his parents about having faith in God, then he was going down a very wrong path to sin and he would in truth exercise sin towards Abel. He would seek to dominate Abel because of his jealousy towards Abel's favor with God.  God spells it out, tells Cain that he has a choice to make that it's not already made, but Cain will have to choose doing well or falling into sin. Cain wasn't lost to God at this point, he had a chance to repent- we know he didn't choose to repent.

Here we have two children one choosing faith the other choosing self. The flaws were there and each one chose to react to their flawed selves in a different way.

TODAY we all have the same choice to make. We can embrace the flaws in our nature and use them or we can rebel against the flaws in our nature and choose not to indulge them. Every day we make these choices.

I read something recently that I found very interesting…

Bethel Baptist Church of Wister, Ok- Facebook Page- August 16, 2019

"The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. These attributes are supernatural. Our human nature doesn't naturally possess these qualities.

As we follow Jesus, they’ll begin to show up in our lives. For instance, we’ll start loving people more, have greater patience with people, and show kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control in every area. When we mature in these areas, that’s a good indicator that we’re growing in our faith. This can also serve as a warning when we are lacking in any of these attributes, reminding us to repent and return to Jesus. We need his help to produce the fruits of His Spirit in our lives."

Selfless love-  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control all these and more are not things that are naturally within us. This isn't to say we don't have bits of them in us, but they can be readily rooted out when we choose self-serving and we can choose this from a very young age.

When we choose faith- just as Abel chose faith- to believe in God and His plan for mankind, we choose to serve God and others before ourselves and the result of that choosing will produce the fruits of the Spirit because the Spirit will give us this fruit. The stony heart in us will be replaced with a heart of flesh.

Eze_11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 

Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

We need this faith and we need to choose this faith and choose it constantly over and over and over again.

The choice is ours.

God help us believe, help our faith, heal any unbelief and faithlessness that may be in us!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen!!!!!!!

Aggressive Faith.

Rom_1:17…The just shall live by faith.

Aggressive Faith. Real Faith. Living Faith. True Faith.

Surely you all know what I mean. Emphasizing - aggressive, real, living, true because there is passive faith, unreal faith, dead faith, and false faith, yet it is still called faith.

Living faith or dead faith, which do you have? Perhaps you're thinking you have a faith that is half living, half dead- do you know what that really is? Dead faith in disguise. Half-hearted faith is not living faith. New faith, now there's a thing that is very real and in its newness it can hold the qualities of being weaker than a tried and true, aged faith. A new, weak faith is not at all half living, it is fully alive but it is a baby in need of sustenance to grow.  Maybe your seemingly half-faith is a baby faith and if so, praise God because you know you need to grow in faith and you aren't content to live with the pretense of faith never intending it to become aggressive and real, a way of life faith.

Faith grows.

2Th 1:3 .. your faith groweth exceedingly

How faith grows.

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

1Pe 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby

Help from the Lord.

Luk 17:5  And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 

Mar 9:24 Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

Faith is…

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

A fiery faith is believing, hoping without seeing, hoping without an explanation based on the tangible. Faith is the SUBSTANCE. 

Substance… (Dict. Def) matter or material, physical reality able to be touched, real-practical value, importance, wealth in the form or money or possessions, the essential meaning of something said or written, philosophy - something that is individual and caused

Webster's -

Substance

SUB'STANCE, n. [L. substantia, substo; sub and sto, to stand.]

1. In a general sense, being; something existing by itself; that which really is or exists; equally applicable to matter or spirit. Thus the soul of man is called an immaterial substance, a cogitative substance, a substance endued with thought. We say, a stone is a hard substance, tallow is a soft substance.

2. That which supports accidents.

That which subsists by itself is called substance; that which subsists in and by another, is called a mode or manner of being.

3. The essential part; the main or material part. In this epitome, we have the substance of the whole book.

This edition is the same in substance with the Latin.

4. Something real, not imaginary; something solid, not empty.

Heroic virtue did his actions guide,

And he the substance, not th' appearance chose.

5. Body; corporeal nature or matter.

The qualities of plants are more various than those of animal substances.

6. Goods; estate; means of living. Job's substance was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, &c. Job 1.

We are--exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest.

FAITH is the substance-  the REALITY of THINGS HOPED FOR- THINGS we can't see.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- You CAN'T see the air you breath, you know it exists. You CAN'T see love- but rather the results of love- a look, an act. You can't see tomorrow, it exists as today proves yesterday's tomorrow is today. 

HOPING for the KINGDOM OF GOD, it is REAL and it will be revealed in time. The water set to boil hasn't boiled yet, we know it will, we have faith that the fire beneath the water will continue to burn to heat the water to that point of boiling. Until the water actually boils as we suspect it is going to, it's not boiling. If the fire was snuffed out by some unexpected means, that water would not boil. Our surety of it boiling is based on a set of circumstance to get it to the boiling point. You may say that we've all seen water boil but we haven't all seen heaven and you'd be right. But some of us have seen heaven. Jesus Himself saw heaven, John the apostles saw heaven, these have seen heaven it is real.  Now you say it is just hearsay so you can't be sure it's real unless you yourself can see it and touch it and then you'd believe. That is NOT faith.  Faith is the reality of the kingdom of heaven without seeing it. Faith is believing the love of my husband will continue on through tomorrow. Faith is believing a friend will be there when they say they will. You are hoping in the reality of those things happening in the future without knowing they will. You are having faith in another person. You can have faith in a plan to work out according to its details. You are believing in something unproven, unrealized. The substance of your hope in the unseen is there.  EXTENDING that same faith towards the Kingdom of Heaven, towards God, towards Jesus, towards the Holy Spirit is believing in the unseen by us personally… and TIME will reveal the faith to be realized.  Just as time reveals the faith I had in my husband's love for me to have that love today has come to pass, he loves me today, my faith has been realized. And if that love continues that faith will continue to be realized. In time the plan I have faith in will come to pass and if my plans works my faith was realized. If my plan fails then the faith did not meet the realization. It didn't keep me from having the faith until the expectation came to pass.  Having faith in the Kingdom of Heaven lets the hope live for the reality to come and it will come to pass.

Faith. Living by faith.

Living for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Living for God.

'We can meet this successfully only by the exercise of an aggressive faith.

We must offer all our acts to God and believe that He accepts them.

Then hold firmly to that position and keep insisting that every act of every hour of the day and night be reminding God in our times of private prayer that we mean every act for His glory; then supplement those times by a thousand thought-prayers as we go about the job of living.

Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration.

Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.'

A.W. Tozer

Faith- making God a reality in all we do! This faith is the Kingdom of Heaven faith. Faith that as that faith meets the reality and the two are merged into one the transition is one of complete and utter joy beyond our ability to truly comprehend.

Undeserved Forgiveness.

Give undeserved forgiveness… even to yourself. We hold fast to our pasts, our sins, the horrors of things we've done contrary to the will of God, things we believe make us completely and utterly unfit to ever step foot into God's kingdom. We condemn ourselves when in truth we need to give undeserved forgiveness even to ourselves- accepting God's forgiveness.

Undeserved forgiveness.

When our logical thinking process tells us that we need to behave in a certain way- for OUR own wellbeing and yet we ignore that logic, and instead we hurt ourselves, do we know why? What drives us to do things contrary to our own wellbeing? What stimulates our brains into agreeing to hurt ourselves by our own actions? If we know something is not good for us, but we feel compelled towards that something, we are self-harming and there has to be a reason for it.

We do know that pleasure plays a hand in this.

Heb_11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season

Choosing to suffer rather than ENJOY the PLEASURES of sin for a season.

The PLEASURES OF SIN.

Choosing instant gratification, choosing to feel good over the knowledge of doing what is good for us overall, choosing temporary pleasures over eventual pleasures- these are the things we do. We hold pleasing ourselves in high esteem. We teach that our being happy is something to be desired above all else. We frown upon having lives that do not induce happiness on some level. We tell ourselves we aren't happy- as if that is a very bad thing. We equate happiness with things- possessions, activities, people, and largely with the pleasures we can get from our lives.

The PLEASURES OF SIN- there are many, many pleasures of sin that entice us. The number one pleasure sin being- seeking to please ourselves first and foremost while disregarding God altogether, and disregarding others before ourselves. The two are in direct opposition to the summation of the great moral law, the ten commandments given to us by God.

To love God first, and to love others second.

We sin against ourselves all the time great and small when we break these laws. We do not have to murder someone, or steal, or bow down to an idol to break these laws, to sin large. We just have to put self before God and others, to break the laws. We are self-seekers and it is never more apparent than when we are inconvenienced. 

Inconvenience -'something that causes difficulties or annoyance', 'the quality or fact of being inconvenient or causing discomfort', 'difficulty, or annoyance, to cause somebody difficulties, especially relatively minor or unnecessary ones, or ones involving unwanted extra effort, work, or trouble'- (Dictionary Def.)

The annoyance we feel when inconvenienced this will tell us the truth of things, this will give us a measurement of our serving self. Just how loud is that internal groan when you are placed in a situation of inconvenience by another? Just how external is that look of annoyance, and how noisy the groan of displeasure that escapes you? What words are you mumbling under your breath as you react to the inconvenience? SELF SERVER is what our conscience should be screaming at us. SINNER is what we should be calling ourselves. FORGIVE ME is the cry we need to utter upon every single realization of self-serving.

We need to LIVE this-

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. 

We need to live our lives serving OTHERS knowing that as we serve them we are serving our LORD.

2Co 4:5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 

1Jn 3:11  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 

1Jn 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 

1Jn 3:13  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 

1Jn 3:14  WE KNOW that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 

1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 

1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 

1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 

1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 

Serving others first.

We harm ourselves when we put ourselves before others.

Our seeking the pleasures of sin for a season are wrapped up in putting ourselves before others. Our harming our ETERNITY is because of self-serving. We sin and self-sabotage ourselves, we harm ourselves on a deeply spiritual level over and over again, and we need to stop. We need to stop serving ourselves, focusing on ourselves, making ourselves the center of our existence when it should be God, outside of ourselves allowing Him to live in us.

Yes, we need to forgive ourselves for ALL the self-serving sins we've ever committed, because God forgives us for them. We forgive others, we must forgive ourselves as God forgive us, believing in His forgiveness towards us as a reality. We have to believe God forgives us in order for us to forgive others. Forgive us God…as we forgive others- undeservedly, always, over and over again.  For if forgiveness must be earned, we are all lost, and there is no forgiveness. The nature of forgiveness is the comprehension it can't be earned. Once you have to work to earn forgiveness it is no longer forgiveness, but restitution. You are earning the restoration of favor from another, you are paying for that restoration of being in their good graces, and that is not forgiveness.

We can't let Satan hold up our sinful past (a sin from a moment ago or one fifty years ago). We can't let Satan tell us we are unforgiveable, that we do not deserve forgiveness- because we know we don't and never will deserve it, but that doesn't mean we can't have it! We have to accept our undeserved forgiveness, believe in our undeserved forgiveness, live life forgiven! Clinging to the forgiveness we are given, holding it tightly believing in our Savior's love!

God help us!

All through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Live the Kingdom of God- Give Undeserved Forgiveness.

Luk_9:11  And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

Jesus talked about the kingdom of God. 

Do we talk about the kingdom of God?

If in our lives we truly believe the kingdom of God is to be more desired than any other thing at all whatsoever that exists in our lives, are we talking about it to others?  When something is important to us, we talk about it, right? Sure, there will be those who say no, they are closed-mouth and keep things inside, to themselves and are loathed to share anything with anyone, and this might be true. If the kingdom of God is important to these close-mouthed individuals, then their lives will reveal God's kingdom in other ways, ways their mouths cannot do. Their actions will be those pointing to the kingdom, their way of living will point to the kingdom, they will live what is important to them beyond being able to speak it. In fact, some people deliberately choose to humble themselves and let their lives speak for them for fear of self-grandiose coming into play. They don't want to fall into the sin of pride, of holding themselves up to be idolized. Still, their lives will point to God and His kingdom.

Jesus, is the way to the kingdom. Jesus came to earth in flesh experiencing temptations to the depths we cannot begin to imagine. Jesus overcame every single temptation by not yielding to it, but turning to His Father for the strength He needed to overcome. Jesus preached the kingdom of God to all, and the ones who heard Him were the ones who were least caught up in putting on a show of religion. Those whose lives were changed completely- as they realized heaven could be theirs should they choose. Those who were most condemned by the seemingly pious and upstanding in society, were those most affected by the realization they were not forever branded at lost to God, but as children waiting to be found and loved in a way that they never knew before.

Jesus preached the kingdom because this is where our hearts should be.

As the world of chaos spins around our lives jabbing us constantly with spears tipped with the poison of angst inducing situations -all geared to keep our minds off of the kingdom of God, off of heaven as our reward, off of Jesus as our Savior, we must hold fast! One thrust in the side today, another thrust in the leg tomorrow, two thrusts to our heads and the poison threatens to fill us disrupting our relationship with Jesus, keeping us from growing in grace and knowledge of the very one who can save us.

Some poison is slow acting as it works its way through our bodies heading for the heart to destroy us. We might feel the initial prick into our flesh, and the poison seeps in and we don't even realize until the bitterness of it starts to act, corrupting our lives. We hold fast to poisonous grudges cherishing them, building on them, justifying our righteousness to ourselves, patting ourselves on the back for standing fast to our prideful belief that we must be acknowledged as being the injured party. We were wounded by another and we will nurse the wound with filth rather than let it be healed. We want the wound to remain open, fresh, raw until we are vindicated rather than let it be healed and closed through forgiveness completely undeserved by the party who wounded us. We imagine that if we withhold our forgiveness that we keep our personal integrity intact, we don't allow ourselves to see that we are letting the wounds destroy us. The poison is working day after day doing what it was intended to do, keep us from forgiving when forgiveness is completely and utterly undeserved. Forgiving as Jesus forgives us! Forgiving if we have the least hope of being forgiven for all our trespasses against our God. Forgiving with the heart God gives to us, forgiving with His forgiveness.

Forgiveness heals us, it doesn't absolve the one who sinned against us- they must find forgiveness through their own ability to forgive.

The kingdom of God, we are forgiven as we forgive. We forgive as we hope to be forgiven. We recognize our need, and in turn we recognize our need towards others. Christ in us acts in us.

All by the grace, the mercy, the will of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen.

Mercy Has An Expiration Date.

Four hundred years in captivity had taken its toll on the Israelites. They knew their history, from generation to generation, the tales were passed down in a special way that they no longer are today. When owning books (scrolls) was reserved for only the elite, you got by on the tales told and set to memory. I don't have such tales in my family. I can pass on things about my own experiences and a very few that were owned by my mother and father passed to me of their parents. I have no stories in my recall of my great grandparents told to me by them, in fact my memory only holds a single great grandparent living. I do have a few tales told to me by my parents, more specifically my mother about her parents, and grandparents but no memories from my father about his grandparents. I have pictures of them, but no real memories at all in any form. The tale of my ancestors making their way to America was not given to me, but I do know my blood contains at least a bit of native American so part of me actually comes from here and wasn't brought from overseas. At most a few memories from the early 1900's belong to me now and I've passed them on to my children but do they remember them enough to carry them onwards? 100 years ago, 120 years ago… not even 400 years ago.

When Joseph brought his family to Egypt it was a good thing, a life-saving thing. But as time passed and those who knew Joseph died off and the memory of his life saving, dream interpreting, famine predicting all faded into the past- known by tale and history but not personally felt, it became easy for things to change. The Egyptian rulers worried that the Hebrews would take over their country and ruin their way of life so they began to alter the relationship to one of subservience and slavery.

Time passed until that's all the Israelites knew- slavery- except through the stories told of their history.

Among them was the body of Joseph, mummified and kept against the day they would leave Egypt for their own land promised to them by God. Joseph knew that their stay in Egypt was temporary, just as we know today that our stay here on earth is temporary. Whether it's four hundred years or four thousand years…it is still temporary.

Released from captivity a new chapter in their history began and the Israelites began to write down and record all that had befallen them, the stories passed down from generation to generation, and more importantly, the Holy Spirit led and inspired, guided and touched the lives of the scribes giving them the words that the Author needed them to write down. The history of the Israelites tells of their stopping on their journey from Egypt to their own land, at a mountain, Mount Sinai. There they were spoken to by God, Himself. They held that mountain in reverence because of God's walking upon it and talking to them from that mountain. Yet even with that great importance attributed to that mountain it still was NOT as important as the Son of God walking among them, living among them, taking on the flesh they had.

Yet many refused to move away from their history, wanting their story to end there until it could unfold in such a way as they expected- with great fanfare and freedom from their captivity to the Romans.

Today they still wait for the great fanfare of redemption, even though as a people they are free from the captivity of all. There are no rulers over the Israelites right now. They have their own government, in their own country, the land given to them by God. Yet, they still refuse to believe in the Son of God.

Paul, inspired of God, guided by the Holy Spirit wrote to the Israelites telling them that their history had expanded, yet the people as a whole race refused to believe, clinging to their past tightly.

Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom upon the earth. Jesus came and revealed the future which involved the sacred temple the Israelites worshiped in being destroyed. Jesus told those who would listen that their kingdom wasn't here upon the earth but in heaven. Jesus told them to put their treasures- the things they cherished most- in heaven, not here upon the earth. Jesus pointed heavenward to a place ruled by God, not Satan. Jesus explained the meaning of all their sacrificial rituals culminating in the greatest sacrifice of all- the sacrifice of a God for them, yet they preferred over that sacrifice their own offerings, not His.

God spoke to their ancestors and they feared and knew they were to keep the sayings that God spoke to them. God spoke to them revealing Himself more fully beyond all the tradition clouded beliefs they'd taken on, and extended mercy.

The mercy was temporary though, it had an expiration date upon it. This is truth. Some like to believe mercy will go on forever and ever and ever, but that's not true.

Jesus foretold of a time when He would leave the world and then later return to the world. When He returned to the world it would be for those who belong to Him, those who choose Him, and those who died having chosen Him, but it would NOT be for everyone.  The timer will have gone off, the final bell rung, the show will be over, the race ended, go on- insert your own metaphor here. When that timer stops- mercy stops and all those that will have chosen to receive the mercy will have been sealed as belonging to Jesus. Then soon after that, Jesus will return for His chosen people and the rest, all of those who refused to avail themselves of the mercy of God when it was offered to them, will be found wanting. They might want mercy now, but there will be no mercy left. And when they realize their mistake it will be too late.

Our God is the same God that spoke from the mountain, our God is the same God that consumed with fire the many who rebelled against Him after they promised they would not. Our God will return. Our God's promises are truth. We must serve Him with the reverence due to Him, with Godly fear- comprehending that He is an exacting God, not a God of endless mercy, but a God who is a consuming fire!

Do not forget this!

Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 

Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 

Heb 12:20  (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 

Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire