Wake Up.

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 

Knowing the time.

Isa 21:11  The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 

Isa 21:12  The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come. 

Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 

Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 

Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 

Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 

1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 

Do we know the time? Are we watchmen? Are we hypocrites, able to read the sky but not the signs? Are we watching for our Lord to return? Are we ready for the Lord, or are we not watching at all? Do we comprehend that  the Lord's return will surprise most? The world will hear 'peace and safety' but it won't be peace and safety coming from the Lord. There will be destruction, because this world is NOT our home, it wasn't Jesus' home and it won't be ours not until after it is made new by Christ and there is an outline for that, a time table many simply ignore. 

READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING- KNOW WHAT WILL TRANSPIRE.

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. 

Rev 20:7  And when THE THOUSAND YEARS ARE EXPIRED, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

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. 

Rev 21:1  And I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH: FOR THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH WERE PASSED AWAY; and there was no more sea. 

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

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Do you see now? This world will NOT have the peace of God upon it, a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH will be made! The new heaven and new earth will be made AFTER we who are Christ's live with Him in heaven for a 1000 years! The Bible tells us truth, we just need to read and pray, and let the Holy Spirit open our hearts and minds to comprehend.

Do we know the signs? We need to know the signs of our Savior's return.

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 

WAKE UP!

All by the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!

Abide by the law, and love.

Love fulfils the law, and by fulfil, I mean love encompasses the law- not that the law is fulfilled as in over and done.

The moral law will never be completed warranting its dismissal. The moral law is love, it stems from the love we have towards God and others. To do away with the moral law is to do away with love. People may contest this and say they get along just fine without any law at all, but honestly they are getting along because they are living the law without recognizing what they are doing. They believe in treating others with kindness and that is love, it is what the law demands of us. What they may not being doing is proclaiming Christ as their Savior and that is their prerogative, as is it for all of us. Salvation can only be found in Christ, this is truth. People can live their whole lives being decent, loving people and choose not to be Christ's, there is no harm in this save the loss of eternal life. Eternal life is not forced on any one at all.

Truthfully, we do the law when we love each other. 

Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 

Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love will NOT commit hatefulness towards others.

Abide by the law, and LOVE. 

Loving Our Enemies.

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

We are not to exact vengeance when we are wronged. Our enemies, those who do not like us, those who possibly want to hurt us, those who abuse us physically, mentally, emotionally, cyberly, or offline- we are NOT supposed to get revenge for any wrong they do to us. In fact we are to FEED them if they are hungry. We are to give them something to DRINK if they are thirsty. We are to do to them what is right, what we would do to them if they were not our enemies- this is what Christ would have us do.

We can't worry about whether or not someone pays for the hurt they cause us. We can't worry about our getting taken advantage of. We have to live for CHRIST and He would have us leave any vengeance to Him.

Truly we can either be overcome by evil- which we are when we react in ways of evil, or we can overcome evil with good.

It's much harder in the world we are living in to overcome evil with good, than to use evil against evil. May God help us to be used of Him, to be His , to seek to follow His will - not our own.

Truly we are to love our enemies.

Mat_5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

The words of our SAVIOR.

So how much more are we to love those we -- love. Seriously. We fight with our loved ones don't we? Yet, if we are to love our enemies by- blessing  them, praying for them, feeding them and giving them drink- how much more are we to truly give of ourselves to our loved ones. They say you hurt the ones you love and unfortunately that seems to be true all too often. May we give to those we love so much more than we do. And if our loved ones are our enemies, let us love them all the more as God wills.

All in His name, the precious name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior NOW and forever! 

No Evil For Evil.

Rom 12:13  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

Rom 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

Rom 12:15  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men

We are to help others as we are able to help them meet their needs. We are to bless those who persecute us….bless and NOT curse them.

Yes, we read that right, BLESS THOSE WHO PERSECUTE US, DON'T CURSE THEM.

That's not our first reaction though is it? Our knee-jerk response isn't a blessing, but it should be, shouldn't it? Not too long ago I reacted very badly to someone I perceived had slighted me, and I regretted it shortly afterwards- but not before I behaved badly enough to be ashamed of my reaction. It tears me apart when I act out, lashing out because I'm hurt by something someone does, or says to me. I know I'm NOT supposed to react that way. And right about now some of you may be thinking- but you're only human, it's normal. That's Satan talking to me too saying the same things. Satan wants us to believe that our knee jerk reactions are normal and acceptable. Sure going on to ask for forgiveness is all well and good, but if we excuse our instant reactions because we can ask for forgiveness later, we are deceived. We need to seek to listen, and do that which we are instructed to do. We are told to BLESS those who persecute us. We aren't told to pick and choose who we bless and only bless those who are good to us. We are told to bless those who PERSECUTE US. No one likes to be persecuted. Being persecuted enflames us with all sorts of emotions- anger, sadness, hurt, despair, hatred, the need for revenge.

The word of God goes on to tell us not to recompense evil for evil, but again, our usual first reaction is to do so.

We need to pray and pray hard that we stop reacting as the world has taught us to react, but rather react according to the word of God.

Rom 12:13  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

Rom 12:14  Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

Rom 12:15  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men

Giving to others in need, blessing those who hurt us, not cursing them. Rejoicing with those who rejoice….

Again, there are a lot of people who are very quick to get upset with others who are rejoicing because they want to be the ones to rejoice. Too often people will pretend to be happy for others when inside they are crying out- 'Why not me?!' I'm not saying all people are like this, but again it's known and it's something people hide as they pretend to rejoice with others who are rejoicing. Why else would we be instructed to rejoice with those who are rejoicing? 

We are to weep with those who weep… not ignore them and worry about our own pain, but commiserate with others.  We need to feel the pain of others, share the pain. Help each other. We need to love each other, not put on any airs or think we are better than ANYONE else in any way. Too many people believe they are better than others in so many different ways. Yet even the worst of the worst person is still deserving of forgiveness, still caught up by Satan in an awful work. It's hard to fathom as the evildoers commit atrocities that sicken us to our very cores.
 

We can't be wise in our own conceits, we just can't, yet again… it is so easy to do so.

We need to provide things honest to everyone, not pick and choose who deserves our honesty and who doesn't.

Please, Lord, there is SO much we need to learn from You. We need the Holy Spirit working in us, helping us to be Yours.

Too often we excuse ourselves and our humanity, our sinful, fallen humanity, but we have to stop excusing ourselves and start seeking forgiveness as we admit our shortcomings, and seek to LISTEN and do as we are instructed.  There is so much instruction in the Word of God, and no room for any excuses.

Please, Lord, please empty us of all the evil that so easily resides in us, disguising itself as something good.

All through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!!

On the Front Lines.

Rom 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 

Rom 12:11  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 

Rom 12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer

A Christ follower being given instruction….

Be kind to each other, as brothers who love each other.

Be honorable preferring to be with each other- other Christ followers.

Rejoice in hope.

Be patient in tribulation.

Be instant in prayer.

Kindness. Loving. Honorable. Rejoicing. Hopeful. Patient. Prayerful.

These are the very traits Satan will attack in us. You wonder why it's hard to be kind, loving, honorable, rejoicing, hopeful, patient and prayerful. We don't have to wonder.

In a war you go to the front lines and that mean you are where the most danger is taking place. You don't sit back in the war room making plans for others to execute- you are always supposed to be on the front lines in the worst danger. As a solider goes to the front line and expects to be attacked, we too have to expect to be attacked and expect it always! We can't let our guards down. There is no retreating from Spiritual warfare, not if you are in the battle to win. Sure, you can retreat, but retreating in the spiritual battle means being overcome by the enemy - it doesn't mean finding a safe place to recoup. We take our refuge with us on the front lines, our safe harbor is with us keeping us in the battle.  As we are attacked on the front lines of this spirit battle we will be thrown into situations that will try us to the uttermost. Our ability to be kind to one another, to love others as if they were our brothers, to remain honorable, to rejoice in hope, to truly be patient no matter what, and praying through every attack, all of that will be tested. When we feel least kind, patient, rejoiceful, honorable, hopeful, prayer this is because the spiritual weapons being wielded against us are vile. While we suffer Satan will send a non-stop barrage of silent yet heard very loudly spiritually- God is doing this, God is allowing this to happen to you- God is to be blamed. Satan LOVES to use this litany of twisted truth. Didn't he use twisted truth with Jesus Himself as He was tempted in the wilderness? He took God's own words and threw them at Jesus to get Him to fall to the veiled temptations.

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Satan used God's words against Jesus! It is written, Satan said those words- IT IS WRITTEN.  Who wrote it? God.

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

SATAN used GOD'S WORDS! Yet coming from Satan they were twisted! So why don't we realize that Satan will twist God's word, that Satan will twist our lives as we seek to be Christ followers. Satan wants us to BLAME GOD to the point we turn from God as our enemy, so we look upon God as wanting us to suffer, desiring our tribulations. Satan would have us no longer rejoice, no longer pray, no longer be patient, no longer love our fellow man, he wants us to turn our focus INWARDS as our outward circumstances challenge us to the utmost! As our hearts are broken, our spirit under siege, as all around us disaster rains down, Satan wants us to get filled with anger, upset, and point it towards God.  God would have us TRUST HIM, truly being PATIENT - remaining IN HIM- during our constant tribulations. Please LORD, please we would be YOURS!

As we fight this spiritual battle help us to be YOURS, wholly YOURS!

All through Your grace, Your love, Your mercy, now and forever, in JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR!!!!!!!  

Evil and Good.

Rom 12:9  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 


Love isn't false. We see false love all the time though, don't we? Love. Putting another's welfare, another's life before our own, protecting another, wanting only the best for someone else. Love isn't giving someone all they desire, but rather giving them all they need, as God would have us give them.


We read this verse the other day-


Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 


This is love. Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, befriending a stranger, clothing those in need of clothes, tending to the sick, visiting those imprisoned.  Whenever we see a need such as these and turn a blind eye, truly our love is filled with falsehood.


We are also told to abhor that which is evil.


Dictionary definition- abhor- to regard with extreme repugnance or aversion; detest utterly; loathe; abominate.


Is this our reaction to evil?


e·vil
ˈēvəl/

adjective
1. 1.
   profoundly immoral and malevolent.
   "his evil deeds"

synonyms:

wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious; More

noun
2. 1.
   profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.
   "the world is stalked by relentless evil"

synonyms:

wickedness, bad, badness, wrongdoing, sin, ill, immorality, vice, iniquity, degeneracy, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, malevolence; More



From <https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+evil&oq=what+is+evil&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.5673j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8>



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Evil.


The first reference in the Bible to evil is this--


Gen_2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.


There was a tree of good and evil.  Good and evil.  We know people have done a horrific job of calling good - evil, and evil - good, so it's all but impossible to discern fully between the two. One man's evil is another's good and vice versa. A whole group of people who have turned evil into good so that seemingly all the world follows after that calling it good, will never make it good, not ever. Where is the standard we are to adhere to? It's with God, it's with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, it's with the Holy Spirit, and we find in the written word of God- the Bible only truth. Taking everything, the entire Bible in the context it's meant to be taken in, we will find only truth. Pick it apart and take things out of full context- historical and otherwise - then you will only find a book filled with conflict, filled with confusion, filled with contradiction and people will say that our standard for good is flawed. Those looking to be blind, will be allowed to be blind. Those looking for truth with pure sincerity will find truth, those looking for anything else will not comprehend truth.


We are told this….


Rom 12:9  … Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 


Evil and good….     We are to ABHOR evil.  Not pick and choose evils to like and evils to hate. Simply- abhor evil- all evil.  If our personal temptations towards evil have us trying to make excuses for that evil so we can turn it into something acceptable to our conscience then we have to know that we are only putting on blinders, very dead blinders.  If we do not hate the evil  we are tempted towards but coddle it, coax it into something we actually believe is good, then we are lost. God help us not to call any evil in our lives good! Better to fall at the foot of the cross constantly as we recognize the evil we hate, than to pamper it until we no longer see its evil.


Help us to ABHOR evil, not accept it, please LORD.  So many people today want us to accept evil just because we are supposed to tolerate everything as everyone's right to be anything, do anything that they desire- evil included.  We can LOVE people without LOVING evil. I don't have to love someone's evil to love them, and I wouldn't expect anyone to love any evil in me! God help us. We truly live in the days when this is so true---

Gen_6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.


Please, Lord, please help us not to be among the wicked of the earth! Please, help us to be Yours in all we do- save us from ourselves, Lord, keep us from evil!


Help us, Lord to 'cleave to that which is good'.  Help us grasp the 'good' You reveal to us and cling to it tightly, never letting it go.

All in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!  

Gifts.

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 

Rom 12:5  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 

Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 

Rom 12:7  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 

Rom 12:8  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

All members NOT having the same office.  As Christians we do NOT all have the same gifts. Some seem to have amazing gifts that they use to the glory of God, while others scarcely seem to have any gifts at all and they struggle mightily. We tend to hold in high esteem those whose talents we can witness, but there are a lot of people whose talents are unseen. We are to use any gifts God gives to us as humble, meek, cheerful, simple, diligent, loving Christ followers.

If you don't have one of the gifts mentioned above that does not mean you do not have any gifts. We are ALL members of ONE body in Christ, all of us living for CHRIST. 

The superstar preacher, or internationally famous singer, the best-selling author are all being used by God where He needs them to be used. The introverted prayer warrior who only prays in private, the praise giving person who is too shy to shout out, the quiet hard working man or woman - all of these are being used by God where He needs them to be used. It's NOT for us to judge another's gifts, we are to pray that our Lord and Savior reveals to us the gifts He wants us to have and use. We are to understand that the gifts don't have to be blatant, they can be the simplest gifts that exist. The important thing, the most important thing is that we use our gifts for our Lord and Savior!

All through HIS amazing LOVE!