Keep the Eternal Before You Always.

Do we think Jesus came to bring peace to earth?  People did, the apostles did, the disciples did, most- if not all- of Jesus' followers believed that Jesus was going to usher in a new era of peace with the Jewish people as the new rulers and the Roman Empire destroyed. Jesus told them that He did not come to send peace on earth. Jesus came with a sword and that sword was Himself, the Word. That sword was one of salvation.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Salvation.

The sword of the Spirit, the word of God, the word made flesh. We are given the sword that Jesus came to earth to give.

Our weapon in this spiritual warfare is one of salvation.

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 

The gospel of the kingdom.

Mat_4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat_5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat_5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus came to teach the truth - that we are to live for the kingdom of heaven- not for our temporary existence. The things of the world that surround us, none of those things should mean more to us than the things we CANNOT see, the eternal things, the things that will last forever. We get so incredibly caught up in the temporary life we lose sight of the eternal.

Please Lord, please forever keep the eternal before our eyes, in our minds, our hearts - you are the eternal!

The Sword-Our God.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 

We don't like to think about this verse too much, do we? When we think of our Lord we think of peace being one of the priorities.

Joh_14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus leaves us with HIS peace. It won't be the kind of peace the world offers though.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

The peace of God PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING.

Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

The love of Christ also PASSES UNDERSTANDING. It passes knowledge, it is NOT knowable. We can know the love of Christ only to a point and then it goes beyond our ability to comprehend.

If we imagine peace as a life without upset we are imagining it all wrong.

What do you need a sword for? To fight, right? To protect, defend, defeat.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 

Jesus came to send a sword- not peace.

Eph_6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

The sword of the Spirit - which IS the word of God.

Jesus came to send us a sword.

The WORD of GOD is the sword.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 

Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 

Joh 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 

The sword of the Spirit - which IS the word of God.

Jesus came to send us a sword.

The WORD of GOD is the sword.

Jesus is the WORD of GOD.

Jesus is the SWORD.

Jesus didn't come to send peace on earth, He came to bring salvation and all that means. To many people having salvation through Christ is far from what the world considers peaceful. In fact in one way or another once we align ourselves with Christ we have set ourselves up to be under constant spiritual attack.  The peace of God which passes understand is the knowledge of salvation, we are given salvation as a gift from God that we can never deserve. We truly cannot comprehend in full why God chose to take on flesh and become the declared Son of God so we could be saved. His love for us, that He doesn't want an existence without us in that existence with Him, is truly unfathomable.

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

Covet the Spiritual.

Psa_66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me

When we embrace the sins we are prone towards and accept them, we are regarding them in our hearts. We tend to cover up the sins we enjoy. We don't want to call them sins at all. We label them faults, indiscretions, mishaps, and sometimes we even start to call them good. We make excuses for our sins all the time.

Yesterday we talked about coveting and how there really is a good coveting and a bad coveting. When the royal law tells us this-

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. 

-we are obviously being directed to the coveting that is unacceptable- the coveting that is sin.

It's not wrong to desire a house, a wife, a servant, animals, and things that others have. It IS wrong to desire those things specifically belonging to another to the point of obsession. The wrongful coveting can go heart deep and push out the coveting of things that are acceptable to covet.

What is acceptable to covet?

1Co 12:27  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 

1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 

1Co 12:29  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 

1Co 12:30  Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 

1Co 12:31  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. 

1Co 14:39  Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy

1Co 14:1  Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Covet the best gifts- GIFTS FROM GOD, spiritual gifts.

Covet to prophesize- a gift from God.

Desire SPIRITUAL gifts, to prophesize.

Hunger and Thirst after RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Do you see what we are to covet? NOT earthly things, and all these--

Our neighbor's house.

Our neighbor's wife.

Our neighbor's servants.

Our neighbor's possessions.

These are ALL earthly, earth focused things. Houses, spouses, workers, possessions.  We are NOT to desire earthly things. It goes hand in hand with this--

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

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

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

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

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.

We are to be heaven focused and in this materialistic world we live in where possessions are prized, where we idolize people, it is not something we are inclined toward.

We are commanded not to covet anything that is not spiritual, that is not heavenward, or heaven gifted.

Psa_66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me

If I covet in my heart I cannot expect the Lord to hear me.

I need to surrender fully to the Lord in all things, leaving nothing that isn't surrendered to Him.

May I covet only the spiritual gifts that the Lord would have me covet and nothing more. Please, Lord, through YOUR power, for I have none.

Holy As He Is Holy.

Just started reading a new e-book last night from Hoopla - online library connected to our local library.

(Holy Spirit, Holy Living - by Antipas Harris)

Here are a few excerpts from the book. Not sure it will all turn out to be good, but so far I do like some of the points the author has made.

May God help me to find truth and only truth as I take this book to His holy word and make sure it doesn't contradict what God has said.

*******

'Holiness, as a lifestyle, necessarily involves the desire to think as God thinks, love what God loves, hate what God hates, and act as God intends. At the core, holiness is love for God and everything that God has created--especially fellow human beings. Jesus is our chief exemplar of a holy life. He lived according to his Father's standards and loves unconditionally.'

'All of those who profess to be a member of Christ's church are called to live and love like Christ in practical ways.'

'The courageous, uncompromising, corporate image of Christ-like distinctiveness consists of people who are committed to living out faith in their everyday lives.'

''Peter and Paul address the need for believers to embrace the peculiarity of the church in their own personal lives. Peter speaks of the church as a chosen people (1 Pet 2:9) called out of the world and set apart as a people of God. Paul charges the chosen of God to come out from the world and live a life of distinction (2 Corinthians 6:17). Therefore, whatever negative images of holiness have thwarted contemporary Christians' minds, holiness remains a distinction that Christians must possess because we belong to the church of Jesus Christ.'

'God sets believers apart from the world to be formed into the likeness of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul introduces the "body of Christ' metaphor interchangeably with "church." The church is made up of a close-knit group of believers, which forms the body of Christ. God summons the "called-out ones" to be formed into the likeness of Christ. We are formed into Christ's likeness through the profession of faith, the transformation of the heart, behavior that is consistent with the teachings of Christ, and through participation with a believing community.'

'Holiness is the distinctive that separates the life of the believer and the church from the rest of the world.'

'Regardless of what language we use, Old and New Testament teachings emphasize holiness as foundational to what it means to please the Lord. The two consistent categories for holiness in the Old and New Testaments are purification and separation. God has always intended for God's people to reflect divine purity and to live out that purity with boldness in predominantly "pagan" societies.'

Lev 20:26  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. 

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. 

'Peter is teaching that personal piety must connect with how we live and the choices we make on an everyday basis. Purity is not just an attribute of who we are as believers but how we act as believers.'

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 

2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Good Coveting and Bad Coveting.

Covet- 

There is a good coveting and a bad coveting.

To covet means to desire, or wish for something. It's okay to desire or wish for something that isn't forbidden for us to desire. But we all know that every desire that presents itself is not necessarily good.  There are a lot of impulses we have that need to be rejected, not indulged. We get into trouble when we want to indulge the desires that are wrong.

JUST because you have a desire does NOT make it acceptable. So many people want to believe that our humanity, our flesh nature is what it is and we can't help it because we are only human. If we have the desire it must be natural because we have it, but that's not true. We know deep down it's just not true.

How many people can honestly say they've felt such intense anger towards someone they wished they were dead? It could be just a fleeting, split second thought, it could be a thought from your childhood, or youth, or even a thought you had yesterday as an adult. To indulge in that split second (or even longer) wish for someone to no longer be alive is not a good coveting by any stretch of the imagination.

It's the human nature in us, it's our flesh nature that was corrupted by sin that makes these desires exist. We weren't supposed to sin, we weren't supposed to know evil. Once we opened the door to that knowledge of evil we were given it unchecked, full blown, know it to its very worst nothing held back, not a single thing. Just think about this fact- Adam and Eve's firstborn son chose to indulge the wicked one (Satan) and was led by him. Cain killed Abel.  The firstborn son from two human parents was corrupted. God even told Cain it didn't have to be that way.

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.

Sin lies at the door for all of us and we need to choose which desires we possess are of God and which are of the wicked one. We will have both desires, but which we choose to act on by knowingly coveting, knowingly indulging even the desire if not the acting upon the desire, is up to us, we have to discern right from wrong. We must not indulge wrongful coveting, but shun it as soon as it rears its very ugly head.

How we determine right from wrong is found in the word of God. The knowledge will be given to those who desire it in sincerity. Those who are simply looking for a way to indulge in wrongful coveting will not find the truth. Truth will be spiritually hidden from those whose heart desires it to be hidden. The blind will remain blind if they choose, even if they voice they want to see, God knows the heart desire.

We need God to clean our heart.

Coveting will happen, and if it is towards wrong we must- as with any potential sin- not let the coveting be conceived in us but resist the temptation through the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to recognize we will be TEMPTED but temptation is not the sin, the yielding to the temptation becomes the sin.

May God help us all!

Through the love of Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever!

COVET, v.t.

1. To desire or wish for, with eagerness; to desire earnestly to obtain or possess; in a good sense.

Covet earnestly the best gifts. 1 Cor 12.

2. To desire inordinately; to desire that which it is unlawful to obtain or possess; in a bad sense.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house, wife or servant. Exo 20

COVET, v.i. To have an earnest desire. 1 Tim 6.

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. 

Commandments Manifested.

Jesus manifested to us. We all want this, don't we?

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

Jesus will come in and sup with us. Just imagine this. The wonder of sharing a meal with Jesus.

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

Luk 17:8  And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 

The marriage supper, how incredible this will be.  And those servants of Christ's who are WATCHING will be blessed by Christ. Christ will serve them! Can we even imagine this fully?

Christ will know us when He returns if He is in us, and there is no other way He can know us. If Christ isn't living in us, a part of our lives in a very real way beyond a casual acquaintance, He won't know us. We can do all sorts of things using Christ's name without ever having Him live in us, without His ever knowing us. It's a scary thought that we can believe we have Christ without really having Him. How do we know we truly have Him in us?

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

This is one way. You need to truly ask yourself if you have Jesus' commandments, and if you have them if you keep them, truly keep them in your heart, in the way our Savior would have us keep them- in love.

Have commands.

Keep commands.

Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.   (((God our only GOD))))

Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.  (((NO idols! NO tangible object of worship. Nothing worshiped besides GOD, nothing. We bow down to ONLY GOD and God is not found in any object whatsoever!))))

Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.  ((( The LORD our GOD's name is powerful, holy, sacred. The name of our LORD GOD should never be used senselessly, but always with reverence, always with the acknowledgement that our LORD GOD hears us every time His name is spoken. ))))

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

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

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

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.  (((At creation the Sabbath day was created. At the Exodus the Sabbath was reinforced. At Mount Sinai the Sabbath was etched in stone by the finger of God Himself, by the Creator. The commandments in tables of stone were placed in the very Ark of the Covenant which resided in the tabernacle of God. The Sabbath was kept holy by Jesus Christ our Lord, God in flesh on earth. The Holy time given to us still today- weekly it is ours to draw as close to the Lord our God as we can ever get until He returns.))))

Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (((Giving honor to those who are our parents- honor, great respect to those who raise us, care for us, who love us.))))

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill. (((Do not murder, no deliberate taking of another's life through anger, spite, hatred, jealousy, planning to end a life for your own gain in any way.))))

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery. (((No defiling one that belongs to another - not in thought, not in deed.))))

Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.  (((Never take something that isn't yours to take.))))

Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (((Do not lie about anyone for any reason.))))

Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.  (((Do not desire the things of others- not their spouses, not their servants, friends, possessions of any kind.))))

We read these commandments and we live in a world that has condoned breaking all of them. Yes, even murder. We may have laws against them, but often law enforcers themselves are guilty of murder. We have no law against the murder we commit in our hearts, but not in deed. We say it's fine to commit mental murder because it hurts no one. It's not true. Jesus told us that if we desire to murder another it is wrong, it is sin and needs to be repented of, to gain forgiveness for.

It is NO wonder we are told that if we love God we will keep His commandments, as well as being told few will do so compared to the many. We have to study the commandments and study the word of God, we need to pray always for comprehension of the commandments and what Jesus revealed to us of them. He wants us to love Him and love others, and we need to do this by understanding the commandments given to us will lead to this love.

Such wondrous love.

Jesus will manifest Himself to us in so many ways, real ways.

All through HIS amazing love!

Be Ready- Accounted Worthy.

Be ready.

Accounted Worthy.

Watch and pray. We will not be accounted worthy without watching and praying. Worthy to ESCAPE.

Worthy to escape-

-all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

ALL these things that SHALL come to pass.

In escaping you will be able to STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.

When will we have an opportunity to stand before the Son of Man?

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words

We will meet the LORD face to face when He descends from heaven and we rise to meet Him in the air.

To see the Lord face to face to stand before the Son of Man we need to be worthy. We are told to WATCH and to PRAY that we may escape what has to come to pass BEFORE we get to stand before the LORD.

We need to watch and pray for escape and for the gift of being able to stand before Christ our Savior.  Only those who escape who are alive when Christ returns will see Him.

I don't know about you but I LONG to be accounted worthy to escape, worthy to see Christ when He returns, worthy to stand before the Son of Man.

The seven last plagues will be real.

What this world goes through between now, and when those plagues come, is a probationary time which gives us the opportunity to make a choice. We will have to choose between God and Satan and the choice needs to be a life changing choice, not a silent choice that means no life changes at all. The choice for God means living for our Heaven Home, not for this earthly mess of a planet. When we live for God and our treasures are in heaven we have a life pointing to our heaven home. Does your life point to your heaven home?

We need to realize that there will be no escape from the prophetic plagues unless we are accounted worthy to escape BEFORE they ever start because once they start ALL has been decided. Not a single plague will touch those who are worthy through Christ.

The evil in our world today truly is a wake-up call for all people. I hear there is a great revival at this time because people are scared, people want to be saved from the evil. This great revival needs to spur these people to a true heart repentance, a true turning from evil in all its form, a true dedication to accepting Christ as their Savior, a true life that is lived now for heaven.

God help us all!

Prophetic plagues-

Rev_15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev_15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

Rev_15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev_16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Rev_18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Rev_22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book

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.

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 

Luk 12:38  And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 

Luk 12:39  And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 

Luk 12:40  Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.