Blessed Beyond Measure.

 I've always, for as long as I can remember had a fascination with the clouds, the sky. My mother would tell me often in the last few years of her life just how much she loved the clouds. We'd be driving to one appointment or another and she'd say, "Just look at those clouds, aren't they something?" I answered her that they were beautiful. And she'd proceed to tell me of her love of them. I come by it honestly. I wonder if a lot of  people have this same fascination, I imagine they do. There can be such beauty in the sky, in the clouds. The Maker of the heavens and earth, this is what comes to mind when I see His handiwork, His artistry for it could be no others. Looking at the wondrous living, vibrant canvas of the sky I have to bow my head and give thanks to my Creator. He made all these things for us. We get to see the beauty- as we live through life's many sorrows. We are touched with the hope of a future without sorrows. We can catch mere glimpses into glory, we are so blessed. 

Mountains were a fascination for Jerry and I both. He had such a great love of the mountains. We'd always hoped to one day return to the mountains, to a place where we could get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and just drive and drive, for miles and miles. When we lived in Virginia for those few years, we'd pause at overlooks and at rest areas with picnic pavilions where we'd have a little cookout. We'd watch the deer as they drew closer but still had enough wariness to stay away, but oh so close. We'd spend a whole day in the mountains. We'd go on hikes in the trails. One day we even buried a little time capsule on one of those mountains and now where it was buried is long gone from my memory- I bet Jerry still would have remembered. It was never meant to be uncovered, at least not by us.

God's goodness, His greatness, His glory, His promise for our future with him when He returns for us, we can know it all, we can believe it all, it is our hope and it's all around us. The hope we can find in the world- are all signposts towards our Savior.  I've been blessed with the generosity of a few loved ones, and my heart overflows with the love I know it comes from. I see our Lord in the hearts of others, and it's overwhelming. God has bless me, and I hope He richly blesses all who are His servants doing His will, His work in my life and the lives of others. 

All glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!!!!!! 

Have a blessed Sabbath everyone!

******* (The following is from December 9, 2022) 

My God, the God I serve, the God I love, the God I worship- created the sun, the moon, and the stars. 

My God created the world I live on. 

My God created me.

The glory of God- the very heavens declare God's glory. We see His glory all around us if we'd but look and allow ourselves to comprehend His glory, His wonder, His righteousness!

(Excerpt- EJ Waggoner)

'The Heavens Reveal Righteousness. 

With the knowledge that that which the heavens declare is the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, we can easily follow the nineteenth psalm through.

Psa 19:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 

Psa 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 

Psa 19:3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 

Psa 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 

Psa 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 

Psa 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 

Psa 19:8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 

Psa 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 

Psa 19:10  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 

Psa 19:11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 

Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 

Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

It seems to the casual reader that there is a break in the continuity of this psalm. From talking about the heavens, the writer suddenly begins to speak of the perfection of the law of God, and its converting power. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Vs. 7. But there is no break at all. 

The law of God is the righteousness of God,

and the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,

and the heavens declare the gospel;

therefore it follows that the heavens reveal the righteousness of God.

"The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory." Ps. 97.6.

The glory of God is his goodness, because we are told that it is through sin that men come short of his glory.  Rom. 3:23. 

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Therefore we may know that whoever looks upon the heavens with reverence, seeing in them the power of the Creator, and will yield himself to that power, will be led to the saving righteousness of God.

Even the sun, moon, and stars, whose light is but a part of the glory of the Lord, will shine that glory into his soul.'

Except ye be converted, and become as little children

Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

He's got the whole world in His hands.

Give me oil in my lamp keep it burning.

Jesus loves the little children.

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

The B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me.

When the saints go marching in.

The wise man built his house upon the rocks.

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war.

A trip down memory lane for me and some of you. Taking trips down memory lane can be pleasant, but they can also be very sad. I have a lot of good memories singing those songs listed above, I can remember teaching them to my kids when they were very little- then… here comes a sad memory… I stepped away from the narrow path and started down the broad one and God forgive me, I fear that in a lot of ways that affected my children.  See- good memories from those songs and then sad ones. My kids were instrumental in bringing me back to the narrow way though, through my sister taking them to church- not me. (Thank you, Elizabeth.)  I've written about it before and I'm writing about it again, and I will promise you right now as time goes on I'll write about it yet again. In the car, flipping through radio stations and my kids said, "STOP" They wanted to hear the song I was passing by- the song- 

 "You've Got Me and Jesus" By Stellar Kart. (Look it up- listen to it!)

Cue the tears, the joy, the anguish, the repentance, the sorrow, the happiness, the prodigal come home, the entire life beginning to change once more as the darkness turned back to light. 

I was so far down that dark path, that broad road I was entertaining thoughts that it didn't matter at all if you accepted Christ, as long as you had a good heart you were okay. See, I told you, I was way down that very broad way leading to eternal and everlasting darkness. No, my world hadn't been dark- most of the time- that broad road was filled with plenty of light, laughter, happiness but it was all deception. That's how the broad way gets us, it looks like the narrow way! It's all decked out in narrow way neon signs flashing at you constantly telling you that you're doing the right thing believing as you are. Those signs take whatever it is that will soothe you into a state of complete spiritual blindness- while all the time they are telling you that you have great spiritual light in your life! Deception.  This is why we are given so much truth (all of it we need) in God's word, so that we aren't deceived! 

Ah, when we were little and we sang those songs… did our hearts believe them as a reality as children, or were they just mere words to us? I remember singing them loudly with great passion and excitement, especially if there were hand movements too.  Jesus loves me this I know!   (I knew!) For the Bible tells me so!  (It did tell me! I read Bible stories for children) little ones to him belong! (I belonged to Him!) They are weak but He is strong! (I was soooo weak and He so strong!)    This is true today too, for I am ever a child of God's. The Bible is forever telling me so! As an adult without children's stories, but the adult comprehension of its truth, I am told by the Bible of Jesus' love for me!  I belong to Jesus! He wants me to belong to him! And I will always need His strength, because I will forever be too weak and in need of His salvation!   And, I want oil in my lamp to keep it burning! And I want to march in with the saints! And I want to have joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart- to stay! I want my house built upon the rock - Jesus Christ! The Bible truly is the BOOK for me! I want my light to shine bright! And I am a Christian soldier in a very spiritual war with the cross of Jesus going on before me! I am a child and Jesus loves me and this thrills me so much right NOW as an ADULT.  So, like it or not, maybe we need to dust off those old children songs and start singing them for a while to remind us that we are still children of GOD and we will always be children of God and…. JESUS said- 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'  

Whose with me!  Jesus loves me this I know! For the Bible tells me so! Little ones to Him belong! They are weak but He is strong! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!!!!!!!!!!

 May God bless us all in this most holy Sabbath time as we worship and honor Him, giving him all the glory and thanksgiving on this the day He made holy and blessed, setting it aside for us to be with Him!   In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior! Amen!!!!!!!

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war! With the cross of Jesus, going on before! Christ the royal master! Leads against the foe! Forward into battle see His banner go! 

Read God's Word.

 I timed the following excerpt (after my rambling) just to see how long it took me to read it so when someone thinks something might be too long to read, often times it isn't, it just appears that way. 

We can choose not to study God's word, it's in everyone's power to choose how they spend their time. Let me ask you something though, is time ever wasted when it's spent in God's word? We are Christians, and as Christ followers He led us by example. He was constantly in the Word (the Old Testament) during His ministry on earth. His apostles were constantly in the Old Testament too bringing the new light on the truths as they unfolded in light of our Savior's appearance, ministry, life and death, and life again- bringing us the New Testament.

Ask yourself why you don't want to study God's word for yourself. What answers have you come up with? Do you suppose there is a great, powerful force that wants to keep an honest searcher for truth from the word of God? Just as all day long we *force* ourselves to do things we might not particularly like to do- but we do them because our health needs it or it's the right thing for us to do. I'm not going to list things here, you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes simply forcing ourselves to get up out of bed is bothersome, but we do it because we know it's best for us regardless of how we feel about it.  If we took the Word of God and made it into something we have to do regardless of how we're feeling, what do you suppose would happen?  Do you think it'd become stale and boring, a chore, a bother, a chain about your neck?  It could become those things, Satan sure wants it to become all of those things.  But if we go before our God with an honest heart searching even a single verse from His word each day and truly reading and meditating upon it- not just reading it quickly and going on our merry way forgetting it. If we do this, we are recognizing that we are doing the WILL of God, and we aren't letting Satan have the upper hand over us- counting on our feelings of being too tired, too busy with other things, too not interested, too anything. 

I've blathered long enough, I do that all the time, but please take TWO minutes to read the following, please. 

*******(Excerpt - EJ Waggoner)

…Just as we live naturally by breathing, so we are to live spiritually by faith, and our whole life is to be spiritual. 

Faith is the breath of life to the Christian. So just as we naturally live from breath to breath, we are to live spiritually from faith to faith.

We can live but one breath at a time; so we can not live spiritually except by present faith. If we live a life of conscious dependence upon God, his righteousness will be ours, for we shall breathe it in continually. Faith gives us strength, for those who have exercised it "out of weakness were made strong." Heb. 11:34.

So of those who accept the revelation of God's righteousness "from faith to faith," it is said, "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." Ps. 84:7. 

Let us not forget that it is from the very words of the Bible that one is to learn. All the real help that any teacher can be to any one in the study of the Bible is to show him how to fix his mind more clearly upon the exact words of the sacred text. 

Therefore, first of all, read the text over many times. Do not do this hastily, but carefully,  paying particular attention to every statement. Do not waste one moment in speculating as to the possible meaning of the text. There is nothing worse than guessing the meaning of a text of Scripture, unless it is the acceptance of somebody else's guess. Nobody can know any more of the Bible than the Bible itself tells; and the Bible is just as ready to tell its story to one person as to another.

Question the text closely. Probe it again and again, always in a reverent, prayerful spirit, to make it reveal itself.  Do not be discouraged if you do not at once see all that there is in the text. Remember that it is the word of God,  and that it is infinite in its depth, and that you can never exhaust it. When you come across a difficult statement,  go back and consider it in connection with what precedes. Do not think that you can ever get at the full meaning of any text apart from its connection. By constant application to the words of the text, in order to be sure that you know exactly what it says, you will soon have them constantly in your mind; and it is then that you will begin to reap some of the rich fruits of Bible study; for at unexpected times new light will flash from them, and through them from other scriptures as you read.

*******

(Waggoner on Romans- God's Revelation to Man Nov. 14. 1895

God, Be Merciful to Me A Sinner!

 We have no righteousness of our own.

Sadly many are seeking to BECOME righteous, rather than accept God's righteousness.  We like to think we have a hand in our salvation. Right now, I sit here and know that  all the supposed 'good things' I do are meaningless, completely and utterly meaningless, unless… Yes, I said, unless.  Unless they are a revelation of Christ's righteousness.  Christ is the righteous One I am a filthy sinner dependent wholly upon His righteousness and I will remain a filthy sinner constantly dependent upon the righteousness of Christ until He clothes me in His righteousness upon His appearing. To forget that we are totally reliant upon Christ, and start to branch out testing the waters of our own righteousness, is dangerous, so very dangerous. To give ourselves pats on the back, thinking we are doing good, is dangerous. Puffing ourselves us starts out very small. Everyone can rightly agree that when a very arrogant, self-righteous person is being blatant about themselves that it's easy to spot the flaw in that. It's the tiny, hidden little bits of praise we place upon ourselves that start to form a secret belief we have a righteousness that is ours. It's so easy to take on praise for ourselves, people want us to accept their praise! People want us to say, thank you for this and that, for thinking well of the things I do. They want us to thank them for their praise and some even get a bit offended when you refuse their praise as if we are diminishing their goodness in even offering praise.  It's a very tangled, twisted web that is easy to get trapped inside of. We all like to feel there is something worthy in us, something good in us, that we do good things, helpful things. Satan is ever ready to give us all the praise we desire for every good thing WE do. 

We HAVE to give ALL the glory to GOD where it belongs. Any good thing I DO, should it be deemed good by anyone at all whatsoever, it comes by the glory of God! Any good thing in me has to be God in me or else… in seeps that sneaky self-righteousness, and the forgetting that ALL my righteousness' are filthy rags. 

Isa_64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Filthy rags- that is all our righteousness can be.

We need Christ's righteousness.

Mat_6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The people in whose heart is God's law- will know righteousness.

Isa_51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law…

All God's commandments are righteousness.

Psa 119:172  My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. 

May God keep ever before us the Righteousness of Christ! May we know that it is God who is Righteous! May we in the face of all who would praise us, turn and give the glory to GOD. And if someone thinks we are being facetious towards them and their desire to praise us, let them. We aren't negating their praise for us, we are telling them that it is Christ in us our hope and glory who is using us, working through us to produce whatever good that comes from us! I would rather incite the irritation of anyone, than neglect to give the glory to God. Even writing this right now, I hear whispers of Satan telling me, aren't I the self-righteous one for even thinking I can give the glory to God and take none for myself. That I am glorifying myself by glorifying God.  Satan is our enemy, ever there to twist everything He can!  If I AM being self-righteous… and we are prone towards that, really, we are… I pray for forgiveness! And if my prayer for forgiveness is self-righteousness, I simply lay down at the foot of the cross and ask God to continuously, forever crucify the self in me in all its hidden and blatant ways whatever they may be! 

All glory to God!

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

To God be ALL the glory! 

God, be merciful to me a sinner!

I Want to Believe.

 

Faith- It is the work of God that we are to do- Believe. 

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

Work - by definition- is - noun 1. activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. 2. a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do. Verb 1. be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.

Work is an activity, when we are told that God's work is that we believe on Jesus - we are being told that to believe is an activity, it's an action. It's something we do mentally, a task undertaken, we want to achieve the result of doing the work God would have us do.

For how many people is their Believing in Jesus Christ an activity, an action? 

I believe in a lot of things that don't require me to work at believing them. I believe that I am a woman, I believe that I am a cat owner, I believe that I live in Florida.  I believe all those things and I don't have to actively expend effort, it's not a task, that there is no result based on the outcome of those beliefs.  There is an active belief and a passive belief.

How many people choose the passive belief in Jesus rather than the active belief? 

The work of God is that we believe on Jesus, the reality of Jesus. When asked why you believe in Jesus how do you answer the question? 

The ones asking Jesus said this-

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

They wanted to do the work of God, or so they said.

Prior to that, what was said-

Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 

Men and woman who had heard Jesus preach and perform miracles, were fed by him miraculously the day before. Then they sought him out and He tells them they aren't seeking Him because of the miracles, (because He is the Son of God, because He is the Messiah, because He can give them eternal life) they are seeing Him because they had their hungry bellies filled with food. They liked being physically fed, and I'm sure most of us can relate to liking to be fed when we are hungry. Jesus wanted them to seek Him for the eternal sustenance that He offered, a true spiritual meat that would give them food that would sustain their eternal lives. 

How many people today live the life of a Christ follower for the temporary sustenance? Because all our temporary sustenance can disappear in a heartbeat. This temporary life we have can end in an instant. All the support we rely upon can cease. Our health could fail us miserably. We could live the lives of Job - metaphorically speaking of course. But everything we touch could seem to fall apart. We could go from one disaster to the next. None of those things mean that our SAVIOR has stopped loving us! Jesus was telling those people they should live for their eternal life, a life found in HIM, a hope found in Him! Yet their minds didn't extend passed their bellies. They wanted a Messiah who would relieve their oppression by the Romans. They wanted a Messiah who would usher in peace in a chaotic existence. They did not want some man spouting words of everlasting life which meant he wasn't going to do anything about their temporary existence.

I'll be the first to admit, I pray for my temporary existence, we are told to ask of the Father and He who knows will hear our petitions. However! First and foremost we have to pray for God's will to be done and that no matter what we are called to endure (and we pray it's not the horrors of Job in the least or the worst) that we will do the WORK of GOD and BELIEVE on the LORD JESUS CHRIST! 

It's not meant to be an easy life at all. We are to do the work of God and believe! Not do what we think is the work of God and expect an earthly reward for our efforts.

It is my prayer that God helps me to believe and to do the work of God, that I don't get caught up in the horrors of this life and let them drag me away from Him, that I believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation in Him no matter what. Please, Lord… please. 

The fate of the world was decided upon a lie.

 The fate of the world was decided upon a lie. 

Eve had facts- truths from God, and lies from the serpent, Satan. She knew God- her Creator- did not want her to eat from that one tree. Did God go into great detail telling her why she shouldn't eat of it? Was He supposed to convince her to listen to Him? He created her and all the things around her and gave her a single restriction.

I imagine in our world- that there have been countless parents who have told their children not to do something or it would harm them and the children went ahead and did it anyway- and it hurt them. Should the parent have been trusted and listened to? In an ideal world, always.

Satan used a lie to get Eve to sin.  Would she have sinned without Satan lying to her? I don't think so.

Now do you believe Satan's lie just like Eve? It's quite possible you do. Satan said - Gen_3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

And today millions and millions and millions of people believe that lie. They believe no one really dies. They believe they instantly live on after their heart stops beating and their lungs stop breathing. They believe they will in the future (and that their already passed loved ones) simply continue on in a new way of life. They believe they are transformed. But God did not say that in the day ye eat of the tree ye will be transformed, HE DID NOT SAY THAT.  Satan however said- you WON'T die, he has duped the majority of people into believing that lie. Sure, your body here stops existing, no one is disputing that aspect of death, but Satan stands by the old… you didn't really die, you just went to heaven. A lie. Satan would rather we believe that GOD lied than that he lied. He's twisted death to his advantage.

(People just don't want to think that they could be followers of Satan's lies. They think it impossible to be deceived by Satan simply because they believe in the Savior. Read Mark 1:24, demons are talking to Jesus- they KNOW who He is, they believe who He Is, that He is the Holy One of God. Demons BELIEVE! 

Mar 1:24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 

If demons believe in Jesus as the Holy One, how can we simply say we believe and think that's all there is to it all? Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Demons, like their father, lie all the time! Demons do not live for truth, but… they will put their lies so clever done right next to the truth so it's very hard to discern between the two.)

The Bible talks of a 'second death'.  (Be honest with yourself right now, did you know there are two deaths for humans?)

Rev_2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

If there is a first death and you die and are transformed into a being that goes to heaven does the second death mean you have a chance to die again?

Sounds really strange right? Doesn't make sense. Hasn't your so called fate been decided the first time around? 

You see what REALLY happens when we die is we don't transform and go on living with our brain actively cognizant and intact with all our memories and what not. We are thoughtless, unable to think any longer and our bodies decay in the grave. The breath of life that God gave to us upon our birth left our bodies and returned to God. The breath, the spirit that was breathed into every human being through the breath breathed into Adam, contains the essence of who we are, that breath that gave us our ability to live in a body with thoughts, is taken back to God and preserved. Some people find it easy to imagine having their heads (brains) frozen instantly upon death (cryogenics) and think when technology catches up that their brains will be thawed with all their thoughts intact. They have NO trouble at all believing in this as a viable possibility and yet people BULK at the idea of God preserving our spirit/breath in heaven, ready to reunite it with a body transformed by Him - remade from the dust, from the essence of who we were at death only perfectly - immortal. God MADE man!!!! God made man from the dust! Is there anything impossible for God!? Then why can't we accept that our thoughts PERISH after death? Why?) 

Psa_146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Our God who created all things, who created our minds in the first place, will use the same creative power to bring our minds back to life- along with new bodies and He'll do all this when He returns for us and calls us to meet Him in the air.

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. 

The dead will RISE.  Not- those who died and already went on to live happy lives in heave will be given new bodies to go with their spirits that already went there. It doesn't say the dead in heaven will again receive their bodies. In fact, who would want to go from being in supposed spirit form without any restrictions of a body, to being put back into a body? Also, the THOUGHTS of the dead have perished, remember? If they are living on and thinking as so many people believe they are - not dead- then whose thoughts have perished? These are all logical questions that need to be asked.  

Back to the second death-  the Bible has this to say about the second death-

Rev_21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND DEATH.

All those who do NOT go to heaven with Christ WHEN He returns will face the second death. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

All the living WICKED are destroy by the BRIGHTNESS of Christ's coming! All dead wicked are already in their graves and like those who died in Christ, they've been SLEEPING the death of nothingness, knowing nothing. Now they are joined by the rest of the wicked in death- not transformed into spirits and sent to suffer endlessly. 

All these wicked dead WILL BE resurrected- here's when--

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Rev 20:5  But the REST OF THE DEAD lived NOT again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

After those who are with Christ have lived with Him in heaven a thousand years… then the WICKED dead are raised and then ultimately utterly destroyed completely- their SECOND death- the one that NO Christ follower wants to experience!

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

Do you understand why the LIE of not REALLY dying matters so much? It's the greatest deception of Satan. If we choose to believe that LIE we are just as Eve, being told that we won't surely die and are deceived by Satan. Once we are deceived by Satan in this way, there is no stopping Him from deceiving us in a multitude of other ways. It only takes one deception cherished deception to keep us from the truth. It only took one bit of a piece of fruit to bring sin to all mankind. So if you think God will overlook a cherished deception when you are presented with His truth, PLEASE think again! Please! 

Remember we told there will be people who think they are the Lord's but He won't know them!!  They'll think all the good they did was for the Lord, but their true master will be Satan.

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. 

The power of a lie goes beyond our ability to fully understand.

A lie is deadly, it kills truth.

When you kill the truth because lies seem easier to accept, you are choosing to live your life in a lie.

Being a truth seeker means diligently searching to know truth.  

If something contrary to a set belief you hold appears in your life you don't ignore it, you study to know truth.

So, just how important is lying in the grand scheme of things? A simple little lie- there no such thing. In the grand scheme of things being a liar, or choosing to believe lies by ignoring truth is of an eternal-life deciding importance.

We live in a world where lying is part of our lives so when we are confronted with whether or not believing a lie is really harmless because it is hurting no one we often err on the side of it being 'not so bad'.  

If you believe something someone else is convinced is a lie and you have studied deeply and still believe that something, then you've done all you can do- you didn't simply accept what you believed- you did all you could possibly do to make sure you believed truth. 

I believe a lot of things that people do not believe, to them, I am believing a bunch of lies.  Now it's up to me to go before God and seek guidance and through prayer and study to decide if I am believing lies. If I don't do this I am accountable for choosing to believe what could very well be traditions of mankind and not God's truth at all. If after extensive study I still believe in things others call lies, then I have to hold fast to what God has convicted me to be truth. Others may continue to believe what I consider to be lies and they individually have to answer to God for their own beliefs- we all do. 

As much as we'd like to believe that believing lies won't hurt someone, they can, but WE ARE NOT the eternal JUDGE!  God alone knows whether or not someone has chosen purposefully to remain blind to truth, or whether they've opened their heart fully to Him and have been given all the light they personally need to be His.  

I may tell someone that what they believe is a lie and then that person has to make the decision to either -- through studying on their own, or asking me to explain my position, or asking others -- to look into their own beliefs, or they can choose to hold fast to their beliefs without questioning them at all. The choice is individual, eternal life will be decided individually.

We all stand alone before God answering to Him for all our decisions.

If you're convicted to tell someone they're believing lies, then tell them. If that results in absolutely no change, leave that to God. A seed planted now might not sprout for a long, long time- we don't know how God will work in other's lives. We should never batter anyone with our beliefs, an offer to expound on our beliefs should be given only once if convicted, not harped upon over and over. 

I write a daily (almost daily) study I call it, but it's possibly more of a blog, or just a plain old journal, who knows. I post it here and there, and send it to a few people etc, but I do this, KNOWING no one who comes across the posting or email HAS to read it, there is no force involved at all whatsoever. We have the option to ignore things people post/write- it's not battering unless someone is forced to listen, to read. 

Truth is something I pray I always seek, and I pray to never accept a single lie- from myself or others.  Perhaps part of our 'forgiving those who trespass against us' is about forgiving living surrounded by lies told to us as a part of society's way of life. 

God help us all.  Jesus is…

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus is THE TRUTH.

Satan is the father of lies.

If we can't comprehend the insidiousness of lying then Satan has deceived us into believing so.  God help us!

All in the name of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!!!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!

(Partially from Nov. 21, 2020 with revisions etc) 

Never Ashamed.

 Never be ashamed of God, of the Gospel of Christ- never!

Mar_8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Rom_1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom_5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Rom_9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Rom_10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

2Ti_1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God

2Ti_1:12  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

1Pe_4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

1Jn_2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Excerpt - EJ Waggoner--

'Ashamed of the gospel of Christ! 

Could there possibly be a worse case of the exaltation of self above God? 

For to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, is an evidence that the man who feels thus ashamed really thinks himself superior to God, and that it is a lowering of his dignity to be associated with the Lord.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far

  Let evening blush to own a star;

  He sheds the beams of light divine

  O'er this benighted soul of mine.

  "Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon

  Let midnight be ashamed of noon;

  'Twas midnight with my soul till he,

  Bright Morning Star, bade darkness flee."'

(11/20/2020)

*******

If I were to be ashamed of myself, it means I would be embarrassed, deeply humiliated by my own actions, or my own perceived shortcomings whether or not they are of a nature I could control. 

I have been deeply ashamed to be overweight throughout my entire life - some times more ashamed than others. I have been given reason to feel that shame by many others over the course of my life. Snide remarks from strangers, blatant verbal abuse by those I love, authority figures - Doctors and the like- using my weight to shame me (and I mean that sincerely. There is a great difference between a medical professional being genuinely concerned for your health due to weight, and wanting to shame a patient- thinking that is the affective treatment.) I have had people outright say, 'Wow, your butt is huge!' And, when you hear things like that, the shame you feel is overwhelming. That person didn't make that remark in order to give me a compliment. It was meant to shock  me and hurt me, and make me feel deep humiliation. Being overweight isn't the same for everyone. Some carry weight evenly distributed all over, while other have a focused concentration of that excess weight which makes them look even worse. A giant pear shaped person is subject to more ridicule than an apple shape.  Laugh if you need to at my description, but it's true. 

I'm talking about knowing what it means to feel shame towards oneself. It's something I know very, very well.  

Now, what do I know about feeling ashamed of another person? I have felt that towards other people during my life- ashamed of actions they committed that I wouldn't dream of doing simply because I'm an extreme introvert. I've been ashamed of others behavior. Go ahead shake your heads and tell me it's wrong to be ashamed of others. When someone close to you gets drunk and makes a public spectacle of themselves and you, feeling ashamed of that person's behavior may or may not be wrong I don't know. Is being ashamed of another really just saying their actions, their whatever is it I'm ashamed of is a REFLECTION on me, and therefore it's hurt me because others have viewed me in the light of their shameful behavior? I'm embarrassed by association? I'm humiliated by association? 

Shame towards ourselves and being ashamed of others…  when you know shame towards yourself are you less likely to be ashamed of others?

I don't know, what I do know is, that we are NOT TO BE ASHAMED OF CHRIST.  

Why would we be ashamed of Christ? What could cause us to be ashamed of our Savior? We are not to be ashamed of the Gospel of our Christ. Why should we be, it's the Gospel of Salvation! 

If we are ever in a situation where we feel humiliated by our Savior and His truth, we need to reevaluate our relationship with Him and quick!

When the apostle Peter denied Christ, he was ASHAMED to be associated with Him! He was fearful of being known to be associated with Christ. The deep remorse Peter felt over his denying Christ not once, but three times, was overwhelming. He didn't want to be associated with someone who had earned the intense disfavor of the church leadership, and was being put on trial for His life. He was afraid the association would mean that he too would be put to death! He was ashamed of Christ! Humiliated by his association with him in those moments of denying Him. Peter had claimed he'd NEVER deny Christ. In that boast he was saying he would NEVER be ashamed to be associated with Him. And yet, he was, much to his own horror and self-loathing.

I know what it's like to be ashamed of myself, in appearance and in actions. I know what it's like to be ashamed of others. I know what it's like to be encouraged to feel shame for myself, in appearance and actions. We need to feel shame for our sins, shame, remorse, regret, repentance. When we are ashamed of the sins we've committed we are recognizing the wrongness of them. 

When we are ashamed of others we are recognizing what we believe to be the wrongness in the thing we are ashamed of about them. If that thing we are ashamed of about them brings us shame only because it embarrasses us, and not because it's a sinful action, we need to look into our own hearts and question the validity of our shame towards them. 

In our Christian life we need to recognize any sign at all that we might have of feeling ashamed of our Savior. We need to be able to have CHRIST in ALL we do, in EVERY place we go, in ALL the actions we commit CHRIST should be with us! We cannot be ashamed of Him to be LORD OF OUR LIVES in ALL WAYS. 

I may feel shame over myself, right or wrong, but I hope and pray by the GRACE of GOD I am never ashamed of my SAVIOR! Not that I think I am better than the apostle Peter who denied Christ, no, no, no, I just hope and pray I'm never in a situation such as He was put in and if I ever am, that I seek forgiveness and repentance instantly such as he did. 

All through the love of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!! Amen!

(11/20/2022)