Sunday, June 30, 2013

The world shall wax worse and worse!

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13

God was bold when He said through the apostle Paul "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing..." Romans 7:18 because man thinks he is good and wonderful and smart, however in man is no good thing outside of Jesus Christ. Men simply are waxing worse and worse everyday. Those that hope the world will get better can stop hoping. God never intended this world to get better because He has predetermined for it to get worse. Christians and Religionist have for years attempted to bring about a better, godlier world to live in, however God never told us to change the world but simply to occupy in it. Luke 19:13 "...Occupy till I come." Which means to do business with; but God never told us to convert the world. There is no doubt that the return of Jesus is coming soon. All signs are pointing in that direction. This world we live in, this nation that we are members of, is acting more and more like Satan than God everyday. I was thinking last week after some of the Supreme Courts decisions of how ungodly they were, how they spit in Gods face again and again. I know they believe they are the Supreme authority but they are not, God is. I have watched over the past 30 years or so America fall more and more into the pits of sin and then rejoice in it. I have seen America become more and more haters of God and Gods children. God said in 2 Timothy 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." That we would suffer great persecution for Christ. Folks we are beginning to see greater and greater persecution. This reminds me of the two witnesses in the tribulation period; when they are finally killed the world treats the occasion like Christmas. Revelation 11:10 “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” This shows the amount of hatred the world has for God. We are seeing the front part of that hatred today. I believe if the Lord allows us to live on this earth long enough that it will become illegal to worship God or to own a bible. We live in a time of demonization (that is when something or someone is turned into a demon or make demonlike.) which goes back to the early 1990’s when one political party demonized the other party. They also demonized people that opposed them. It is still alive and well today except most of the news media also helps in it. This is what they are doing to Christians and churches today, they are demonizing what they believe and teach as though it is wrong, dirty, or embarrassing to be a Christian that disagrees with them. This is (I believe) how they will outlaw Christianity in America through demonization of it. The hatred just keeps growing. We as Christians need to be in much prayer for one another and the Lord’s churches. God is going to greatly punish this world for her sins and that punishment is called the tribulation period and eternal hell.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

The Father’s Love.

1 John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”

Oh! What love, the Father hath bestowed on us. What a marvelously thought in three blessed words, love, Father, and bestowed. I think the thought of these three words I could write volumes of books. This is why, John started this verse with the word “behold” which means - to see or to know – that is to see the marvelous and wonderful love of God, a love that only God has. It took a special, one of a kind love for God to love sinners like us. Lets test our love in the flesh; God said “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;” Matthew 5:44 are we capable in the flesh, without the blessings of God to do this? No! We are not. We may act as though we do but we do not. In this flesh we cannot even love God much less each other, or our enemies. I know what people believe, they believe they love God but I must ask how a lost person can ever love God. If they say that they do then they call God a liar. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Romans 3:10 – 11 Paul also told us in Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” In fact the only way one can even love God is that the enmity against God be slain. Ephesians 2:15 "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" Abolishing the enmity and making peace with God only comes as a result of Gods grace or Gods glorious gift of salvation to us. I know there are some who believe they are saved because they chose Christ, they chose to turn over a new leaf, but I am here to say that is impossible. If those people are right then the three words spoken of here are worthless. If you are the potter of your own salvation (that is the maker of it) then God has done nothing. But please pay close attention to what God has just said thorough John, “…what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…” The love that the Father has bestowed on us is the ability to call Him Father. The love is the love He bestowed on us, that is the love He has given to us, not to all mankind but to those He chose to give it too. That love gives us the ability to call Him Father. Jesus Christ is that love; his birth, his death, His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His seat next to God is all that love. This is love that God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to surrender His life for our sins. This love gift is what gives us the ability to call him Father. Thirdly, “…that we should be called the sons of God…” We have no right as enemies of God in the flesh to call Him Father. We are blessed with this by the same love that delivered Jesus Christ to the cross. Oh! How blessed we are if we are saved from eternal damnation and truly able to call Him Father.

This is why the world hates us and hates God. The fact that God is sovereign and saves sinners of His own choosing, and not by our choosing, the fact that He is the potter and we are simply the clay. The fact that they cannot love a God that hates things that are politically incorrect in this world. They hate the fact that God is not irrelevant and insignificant as they want Him to be. They hate the fact that they may not be included in the election of God and they might reside in hell for all eternity no matter what they do. God has bestowed his love on a remnant of people and the only way to know if you are included is to believe that Jesus Christ is your Saviour. Thank you Father for your blessed love!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Praise God!

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. (35.) And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise." 1 Chronicles 16:34 -35

As children of the most high God we are indeed more blessed that any other of God’s creation. God chose out of the kindness and mercy of His own heart to save a remnant of His earthly creation and then He chose to call them not only blessed but also His own sons. God could have elected angels or others of his creation but He did not, He chose me and all others that are called believers in Jesus Christ. God has walked us through life and taken care of our ever need, led us to the well of living water, and caused us to drink even when we did not want too. Oh, we will not understand until we are with the most high just how blessed we truly are.

The writer (under the inspiration of the highest God) has told us to praise God, not only for the kindness He has shown us in salvation, but also for what He is going to do for us tomorrow and every day for all eternity. God has promised to deliver us from those that despise and hate us for being His. God does so many things for us we can never in this life ever count our blessings! God sent His own Son in the man Christ Jesus, one that never knew sin, one that could never ever sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh to give His precious life and to take my sins to the cross with Him. To shed His blood to bring me into the state of being white as snow. How precious has our God been to us!

Praise God! This is the conclusion of God word to us, praise Him, and His blessed loving name above all other names. Oh how we sometimes if not most times fail in our praise to God. We can praise man over and over again but the God of grace, love, and mercy we often cannot find time to praise. We cannot find time for church and the worship of God and His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Worship of God is found in the Lords churches, and it is here where we are closest to God. I know that many will disagree and most certainly those that fail to attend church will disagree, but there is no other place where true worship is found. Jesus told the woman at the well "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." John 4:20 Why the mountain and Jerusalem? It is because the mountain top is here Jesus assembled the first church in Mathew 5 and Jerusalem is where the first church settled. What Jesus was saying is that it is in the churches where true worship is found. It is there where true praise is found. While many try to explain to me just how God can be praised and worshiped any where or any time (and this is so true), worship is most honorable in the Lords churches. People that God has so graciously given salvation refuse to worship in the proper place of praise on earth, the Lord church. They are disappointed, their feeling were hurt, they work, they only have one day off a week, they may not be happy with the strictness of the church, whatever the reason for not attending church it is a most wrong excuse. God is to be praised, and people that fail to worship in a proper church service is not praising God to the fullest. Jesus created the church as an institution of praise to God. It is not a place for man to get praise but God. I will leave you with this thought; Philippians 3:2 - 3 "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. (3.) For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise.

"For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing." 1 Peter 3:17

We see in today’s preaching so much deception, preachers preaching about only good and never any bad or suffering. How many times do preachers refuse to preach about trials in our lives, or if they do then we must have done something bad to bring them about. They preach that God wants nothing bad in your life, He wants no harm to come to you, He wants only for you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. “That only if God had His way all would be paradise in this old world in fact it would be heaven on earth.” “If only God could…” Folks this is all hog wash! The scriptures promises us "...being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" Ephesians 1:11 even the predestination of saving sinners. God’s will is always accomplished all the way down to Jesus Christ dying for our sins. Folk any time a preacher says that God can’t accomplish His will; they are most certainly misguided. We need to always remember whether good or bad and even in the worst of times the will of God is always accomplished. There is nothing beyond God and there never will be an event that happens that God could not have stopped or changed. I know in these horrible times of school shootings, hurricanes, tornados, and etc. etc. etc. most would like to think that God is absent or there was simply nothing He could do, but folks it is just the reverse of that, God is never absent from anywhere, and He controls every event. Just because horrible events happen to good people, children, or even Christians does not mean that God was absent or unable to stop it. God promised "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45 whenever bad comes it comes to both and by the will of God. God does not move His children out before the storm but sends them through it. God’s will for you may be bad or even very bad but it is Gods righteous will for you to suffer.

Let us always remember “For it is better, if the will of God be so…” no matter what! It was better that Jesus Christ suffer beyond our imagination and then give His life that for Him to have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him from the cross. It may be better for God for you to be poor, unwise, or even unhealthy. We do not know the will of God nor do we know the mind of God, but this we do know every single thing that happens in your life is the will of God. Peter also told us "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;" 1 Peter 3:14 in other words when suffering comes be happy because God has chose to use you this way, you will be blessed in it. I would rather suffer everyday of this life for Gods glory than to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, and loose my soul to eternal damnation. This life is but a short time, but eternity will never end and neither will the blessed rewards God rewards us with in glory. God’s people have always suffered and always will. Many millions suffer horrible deaths for Gods glory; were these sufferings and death in vain? No! Every single one was by Gods blessed will for them and to His glory. Folks our life is not about us and our glory; it is about Gods praise and glory. What we want is irrelevant to Gods wants; we are tool for Him to get glory from. He is the potter and we are simply the clay, He molds and makes us what he wants us to be, and that is not always glory on our part although in heaven it will be glory. So next time it rains or even pours on you, next time disaster comes your way remember what God said; "Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. (14.) And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done." Acts 21:13 – 14 Let us all remember to pray “Lord thy will be done, even if it’s disaster for me and may all glory be yours”. AMEN!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Bowing To The World.

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Romans 13:1

It is true that all powers that be, are ordained of God. It is also true that all world leaders that sit in ruler ship of the world are ordained of God. We are as believers in Jesus Christ subject to the powers that be. However that is; we are not to simply agree with the world! We live in a world that Satan controls and will control until Jesus Christ takes that authority away during the millennium period. And while we are subject to the law’s that be, this does not mean we are to simply bow down to every law they make. We are not to accept laws that disobey the scriptures, we are not to obey laws that subject Christians to the lost mans desire. Peter told us in Acts 5:29 “…We ought to obey God rather than men.” We are followers of God first and just because God causes something or allows something to be, does not mean it is good for us to be a part of it. The scriptures are our law and rule in this life, and lost people are not interested in what they say. Abortion is legal in America however it is still murder and God still says we are not to murder. God told Adam in regards to his sin; “… Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” Genesis 3:17 God told us as Christians to give the world what belongs to them, but unto God what is due Him, and all of our allegiance belongs to Him. Sin is sin regardless of who we blame it on. 1 Samuel 15:24 says “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” We simply cannot obey the voice of the world and blame our stupidity on the other person. I believe Adam did that and God did not accept it. If we as Christians obey the voice of the world then we will be punished with the world. God has a purpose for all things He does and He is not a one size fits all God. What God does with this world is not always for His saved servants. This world is heading toward the tribulation period and we as Christians are not because Christ will catch us out before it starts. And while we must suffer through all the bad because it rains of the just and unjust, we do not always have to accept the will of God for the world as His will for us Christians. Abortion is legal but not for Christians therefore we must stay away for abortions. So when religious leaders such as the SBC or any other source tell us we must accept something as Gods will and not fight against it, they could not be more wrong. Any Christian that surrenders to the laws of the world as the laws of God for us is wrong. We are to always obey Gods Holy Script and nothing else, ever. Folks, God is the commander of all things, His blessed will is always accomplished. He controls every detail of everything, and He is never off duty or on vacation. Why God allows something or causes something does not mean we know His purpose in doing it. We are to accept what happens as Gods will, but it is not always His will for us His children. Do not ever accept anything as Gods will for us just because it is his will for a lost and dying world. Always obey Gods blessed word and nothing else.