The Bible

Reading the Word is a privilege!
What I can’t understand is why more people don’t read it especially believers. Between the front and back covers there are so many pearls and gems to be gathered. The Bible is God’s love letter to His children. I think there have been more Bibles sold than any other book in the whole world. It is an inexhaustible wealth of information.

The Word of God has been almost everywhere even in King’s Palaces and even in a lowly prison cell and also the White House, you name it and it may have been read there.

It is useful for teaching, for correcting, for rebuking, and for training in
righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

It is a double-edged sword, cutting straight to the bone and marrow and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto or path. Psalms 119:105

God’s Word is a pathway to salvation. It speaks of our condition at birth and our separation from our Creator and also our restoration.

It gives us warnings and guides us to the paths of righteousness.

It gives us wisdom, knowledge and understanding. It gives us a glimpse into Heaven and also warns us about what Hell is like.

It warns us of who our enemy is and how he works and how to resist him.

It teaches about how destructive sin really is.

It teaches us about the love, mercy, grace, patience and long-suffering of God and also that God is a consuming fire, a jealous, righteous, holy and just God and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him.

It tells us how God blesses us, and how He gives His good and perfect gifts, like Jesus and His Holy Spirit and so many other things. It will answer most any question.

It has poetry, revelation, direction and maps in many versions.

When the world teaches that there is no truth you can open the Word of God and meditate on all kinds of truth.

It is a great source for learning history, it teaches you how God created the world in the beginning and how it will be destroyed in the end and so many great things in between.

It is a Book where you can find amazing facts taking in a host of subjects.

I could go on and on, my purpose is to spark your interest so that you will dust off your Bible, if it needs it, and crack open the most amazing Book you will ever hold in your hands.

There are people in other countries that are willing to give their lives to get their hands on a copy of God’s Word and many have died because of it. I think I read about men in prison that stayed up all night writing one page of the Bible, risking their lives to get their hands on just one page. We should be ashamed to call ourselves Christians and not be diligently reading the Word of God!!

The Lord admonishes us to study to show ourselves approved, workman who are not ashamed and who can rightly divide the word of truth.

So if you’re not reading your Bible diligently, what are you waiting for. There are many translations available, get the one you can understand the best and start reading. It will be one of the best investments you will every make.

Sitting at Jesus’ feet and learning from the Master is imperative, just ask Mary, the sister of Lazarus, she did it and Jesus commended her for it. Check it out in Luke 16:38–42. Martha had a problem with her sister Mary not helping her fix dinner and she told Jesus about it. Jesus said, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details. There is really only one thing worth being concerned about, Mary has discovered it and it won’t be taken away from her!" Mary was sitting at the Master’s feet taking in all that Jesus had to teach her. Now you learned a lesson from Mary just sit at Jesus’ feet with His Word in your hand for there are many things He wants to teach you.

God bless you and have a great day!!

A Day Of Good News

This lesson is about the good news that every Christian has to share.

Question: What usually happens when you or someone else gets good news?
Most people would share it with someone else, probably many other people.

When my girls got married or had a baby we all knew about it and so did most of their friends. It is a natural thing to share your good news with someone. When your team wins a game you tell someone about it.

When the First and Second World War’s had ended multitudes were talking
about it and sharing the good news. It was in the newspapers and people were talking about it everywhere.

It seems like most of our news today blaring from our radios and what we read in our newspapers is not all good, but there is some that is good news and we appreciate the good news far more than the bad.

Today I want to talk about some people in the Bible that had some good news to share and they did not want to keep it to themselves.

These people were lepers. Some leprosy was a skin decease that must not have been contagious so those that had it could be around people, just in case you start wondering how these guys could be with other people. Some leprosy, if you had it, you would have to stay 50 feet up wind of people and holler “unclean” and also live in a commune type place with other lepers.

Check this story out in 2 Kings chapters 6 & 7. At the time Ben–Hadad had surrounded Samaria and besieged it. No one could go out and no one could get in. As time went on the people began to starve, having no way to get any food. It got so bad that two ladies agreed to boil their sons and eat them. This was a terrible situation with no hope in sight, then God intervenes through His servant Elisha.

There were four lepers sitting at the gate and this is what the lepers said, “Why should we sit here waiting to die? We will starve if we stay here and we will starve if we go back into the city. We might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean Army. If they let us live so much the better, but if they kill us we would have died anyway.” Then they went and they found no one there so they went from tent to tent eating and drinking collecting things for themselves.

In Chapter 7 verse 9 they said, “this is not right this is wonderful news and we are not sharing it with anyone.” So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers who in turn sent a message to the King. It is hard to imagine how excited the people were when they found out that what these lepers said was in fact true. These lepers had some great news and they didn’t want to keep it to themselves. This news would bring an end to the famine and result in saving many lives. They might have had a celebration, what an exciting time it must have been.

Just as lepers had good news at the time and were excited to share it, each of us, if we are believers, have good news that will save many lives from going down to the pit of Hell.

Question: how excited are you to share the good news of the gospel with others that need to hear it? The good news we have is Jesus saves and will save even the vilest of sinners if they will repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives. Isn’t that the truth!

Question: are you sharing the good news? You come in contact with people everyday that need to hear the good news. I want to encourage you to do what the lepers did, go and share the good news with someone this week.
People are dying every day and they need Jesus so that they can receive eternal life.

There is nothing more exciting then being an instrument that God used to win someone to Him and God will bless you when you do.

Praise God! and have a great day.

Will You Still Be Standing

This is something that we all need to think about.  I think if you have any knowledge of what is happening all around the world, you know that we are in the end time scenario. There is no doubt that Christ’s return is closer now than it has ever been.  I know this is not a popular subject but we all need to prepare ourselves for it.

God wants us to be ready and not slumbering or being lulled into complacency.  Jesus said in Mark 13: 35-37, “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” 

When the Lord had these things written, was He trying to scare us?  No, He was trying to prepare us, His children.  I think He was also trying to get the unbelievers attention so that they would repent and turn to Him for Salvation.  I am pretty sure that many people have turned to the Lord after hearing about the end times.

Many Christians are fearful and run away when they hear about the end times, but Christians need have no fear.  It seems like many of us have a divided love, we claim we want to go to Heaven, but do we?  It seems like our devotion and love are divided between Heaven and earth.  The reason I say this, is this.  The Word says, “perfect love cast out all fear.”  

This reminds me of Lot’s wife when they were escaping out of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19: check it out.  They were told not to look back, but she did and she turned into a pillar of salt.  They had come out of a very sinful place, why did she look back?  Did she really want to leave or did she leave because she feared the destruction that was going to take place?  I know that she was turned into a pillar of salt because of her disobedience.  But think of this, did she really want to leave or did Sodom and Gomorrah and the life she knew still have a hold on her?  

And think of the Israelites, they were taken out of Egypt where they were slaves complaining to the Lord about how badly they were being treated in Exodus chapters 13 and 14.  They saw the Red Sea open and they walked through it on dry ground.  God was leading them all the way but it wasn’t long and they started complaining about their food in Exodus 16:1–3.  They grumbled and complained, think about it, did they really want to come out of Egypt or was it just the way they were being treated?  Egypt was another sinful place, did it still have a hold on them?

It seems like when many of us become Christians we are ready to go to Heaven and be with the Lord.  But as the years pass, we get comfortable where we are at.  We seem to forget that we are just passing through this place with a destination of Heaven.  For awhile we start transforming, but little by little we start conforming to the things of this world.  Our circumstances and situations change sometimes dramatically.  And to our shame, we start falling in love with the things of this world and it starts to have a hold on us.  We start out so enthusiastically but over time we lose some of our zeal.  The things that we clung to and that meant so much to us seem to wane in importance.  We start listening to voices and looking at things that we wouldn’t have before, and we start to lose our first love, the one we pledged our devotion to.  Other things start influencing us.  I don’t want to put everyone in the same box but this happens in many Christian’s lives.  As our love becomes divided, we become more fearful.  Many Christians at some point eventually start doubting their faith.  Then the fear gets more intense and end time events seem to be very scary to them.  If this is you I want you to know that God has not withdrawn His love from you.

God doesn’t change by turning, He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is not a man that He should lie.  He loves you with an unconditional love. What the Lord wants you to do, is repent and do the things you did at first. Stop conforming and start renewing your mind.  Love Him and put Him back in His rightful place in your life.  If you do these things you won’t have to fear what is going to come on the earth.  When we know that we are right with the Lord then we can be excited in these times that lie ahead for we know that our redemption is closer than ever before.  Praise God and have a great day!                

Keeping One’s Vows

This lesson will cover vows, promises and lies.  

Let me start with vows and promises, it is very important that we keep the vows or promises that we make.  The Lord will hold us accountable for them.  These things are not to be taken lightly.  I know in our society we are taught that vows and promises mean nothing.  They seem to be just words that we say to pacify people.  I have mentioned fox-hole experiences in other lessons but it fits here also.  How many times have soldiers promised the Lord different things if the Lord would get them out of the situation they were in, then went back on their vows or promises?

There is a tendency, because the Lord doesn’t correct us right away, to think that He overlooks these things, wrong, you will reap what you sow and God will correct you sooner or later.  God isn’t slack in keeping His promises as men are and there are always consequences for sin.  In Hebrews 12:6 it says that God corrects those He loves, if not, we are not one of His.  God corrects us because He loves us.  

What is a broken vow or promise?  It is a lie and it is sin.  Like I said we are taught that breaking vows and promises is no big deal. Look at what goes on in our government; lying, conniving, deceiving mean nothing.  Who can we trust?  Think about it, who keeps their word.  Politicians are notorious for doing these things and they can, and do, look people by the millions in the face and lie through their teeth and it happens far too often in both parties on our television sets and in person.  

That is sad enough, but what is even worse is that Christians have conformed and they do it quite often also.  These things at one time were the exception but now they are the norm.  Shame on us for letting ourselves fall into the same trap that the world is in!  We are not supposed to conform to the world but we are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Just think of the divorce rate in and out of the church.  This is a horrible problem.

Think of this when you are tempted to break a vow or a promise, Revelations 21: 8 says, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” 

I have had so many Christians and non-Christians over the years say things that they were going to do that they never did and many times with no explanation at all.  It seems like today many people just talk to hear themselves talk.  It has gotten so regular that I only believe most people when it happens.  Most of the time I let it go in one ear and out the other.  This has got to stop and let me say this, I have also been guilty of this but when the Lord reveals these things in our lives we have a responsibility to do something about it.  We need to repent and confess it to the Lord and try our best with the Lord’s help not to continue in this sin.

Question: how do we handle this and other problems we face with people?  Do we let them slide or should we hold them accountable?  Personally I think people should be held accountable for sin.  I want people to hold me accountable for my sins by letting me know so that I can repent and ask them, and the Lord, for forgiveness.  God holds us accountable, why don’t we do the same?   It says in Matthew 12: 37, “By your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.”  That verse can be scary if you really meditate on it.  It seems like we are in the business of justifying rather than holding people accountable.  It seems like these things happen so often that we get desensitized to them, we don’t feel right about confronting anyone about what they say to us.  The sad thing is, if we allow it to continue when will it stop?

Think about some of the people in the Bible that made vows and kept them and what it cost them or what it could have cost them.

Start with Hannah, Samuel’s mother, she told the Lord if He gave her a son, she would give him back to the Lord and she did.  She weaned him then gave him to Eli, the Priest, and he was raised in the temple.  Check it out in 1^st Samuel 1:3–11 and verses 24-28.  She made a vow and it cost her something special, and God blessed her for it.  

What about Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, they vowed that they would not worship any other god.  Even if it cost them their lives they would not break their vow to the Lord.  They were thrown into a fiery furnace but they came out without even the smell of smoke on them.  God blessed them and sent Jesus to rescue them.  Praise God!  Check it out in Daniel 3: 8–18

Think about Daniel, he was willing to be thrown into a lion’s den rather than to break his vow.  God blessed him also, He sent him an angel to shut the mouths of the lions.  Think about this, these lions were kept very hungry but they lost their appetite when the angel interfered.  Praise God!  The Lord will always bless us when we keep our vows.  Check this story out in the book of Daniel.

This is a story you my not know, it is in Judges 11: 23–40.  A man named Jephthah vowed to God that if God would give him victory over the Ammonites he would sacrifice the first thing that would come out of his house when he got home.  At the time they kept animals in their house and he thought one of them would come out, but it was his daughter that greeted him.  How many of us could have kept that vow?  God blessed him and he won the battle and he also kept his vow.  I am sure it broke his heart but he was faithful to his vow. The lesson here is to be careful what you vow.

The last example I have is Jesus.  He was sent here for our redemption and He was obedient to the end.  It cost Him more than any of the others, it cost Him His very life.  He also suffered excruciating pain and not only that but He suffered the most when He said, “Father why hast thou forsaken me?”  That feeling of separation was worse than anything He had experienced prior to that. When He said, “it is finished,” He accomplished everything He was sent here to do.  He never wavered from His commitment.  The Bible says, “Greater love hath no man but that he lay his life down for a friend.”  Praise the Lord for not breaking His vow to His heavenly Father for He saved a wretch like me and many others.

So the next time you are tempted to break a vow or promise or to outright lie, I hope you will remember this lesson and keep your word and be careful before you make a vow or promise in the first place.  God bless you and have a great day.

God’s Servants

This message is not to discourage you but to encourage you and to motivate you to invest in the Lord’s work.  Jesus said the greatest among you will be the servant of all.

Question: who was the greatest among them?  Jesus was, He didn’t come to be served but to serve.  There are many in the church today that seem to be content warming the pews.  There are many that have never won a soul for Christ.  There are many that don’t pay tithes.  And I don’t know how many have never witnessed or been in any kind of ministry.

The Bible says that we are not saved by works, but it does say in Ephesians 2: verses 8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” 

It is very important that we realize that we could do nothing to obtain our salvation except repent and confess our sins and choose to receive Jesus into our lives.  But if we are a believer God has prepared good works for us to do before we were ever believers and we need to be about our Father’s business. 

Think about your money, which some are having a real struggle with.  There are many people losing their jobs and their finances are not what they used to be.  But it is very important that we put the Lord first in all things.  In Malachi 3:8 it says “Will a man rob God?  Yet you have robbed Me!  But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’  In tithes and offerings.”

God loves every believer and promises to provide for them.  In Psalm’s 37:25 it says “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.”  It also says in the Word to “seek God’s kingdom first and all these things will be added unto you.”  Don’t lean on your own understanding, trust the Lord to provide.  You reach up as high as you can and He will reach down the rest of the way, trust Him.

As far as works is concerned the Bible has various things to say and one of them is in James 2: 14, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”  In verse 18 it says “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your^[ works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”  It comes down to verse 26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Jesus, in Matthew, told a story about a man and his 3 servants.  He gave each of them a certain amount of money according to his own ability.  To the first one he gave five talents, to the second he gave two talents and to the third he gave one talent.  Then he went on a trip and was gone a long time.  When he came back he wanted to settle up with them.  He was very pleased with the first and second servants but not so with the third servant.  The third servant was afraid of his master and hid his talent in the ground, in other words he did nothing with what he was given, unlike the other two servants who put their talents to work.  The master said to the third servant “you wicked and lazy servant,” then he took the talent that he had and gave it to the one that had ten talents, and said to cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let me explain where they get weeping and gnashing of teeth from.  There was a big wall around Jerusalem that they would dump their garbage over in certain places.  When someone would break the law and the Magistrates couldn’t tell if the guy was guilty or not, they would tie a rope around him and hang him over the wall down by the garbage.  When it got dark lions would come along and feed on the garbage, and sometimes the guy that was hanging there.  The guy would be so scared he would weep and grind his teeth down.  The next morning when they pulled him up, if he was still alive they figured he was innocent.  The problem was, he would get so scared that most of the time he would end up insane.

I realize that a talent was a sum of money but the main point of this parable is that being ready for Christ’s coming involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing.  It demands the kind of service that produces results.

This is a very serious situation that we shouldn’t take lightly.  Paul said to “examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.”  So if you have not been involved in ministry, or the Lord’s work, I hope this lesson will encourage you to get busy.  There are many things that need to be done so step out in faith and further God’s kingdom in some way.  As you do, you will be blessed?  

God bless you and have a great day.

Sins - Healing

Is there any correlation between sin and diseases?  Apparently some sickness is a result of the sin in our lives.  Sometimes we pray to be healed and it doesn’t happen because we haven’t dealt with the sin, or sins, in our life.

Think of King David and his sin with Bathsheba.  He didn’t repent until God sent Nathan the prophet to him to rebuke him of his sin.  From my understanding, David held onto this sin for about a year without confessing it and repenting of it.  You can check it out in Psalms 51.  All the while he was tormented in his spirit.  His joy and gladness had departed.  David said in verses 8, 9, “Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones that thou hast broken may rejoice.  Hide thy face from my sin, and blot out all my iniquities.”  David must have felt crushed and devastated because of the sins he held onto and would not confess and repent of.  He said in verse 11, “Cast me not away from they presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”  David felt the separation from God that sin causes.  In verse 12 David said, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.”  

When you read the 51^st Psalm you can picture David’s brokenness.  He sounds like he was in a very depressed state of mind while he held onto his sin.  When a person hangs onto his sin it results in arrogance, pride and rebelliousness and opens the door to all kinds of sin!  Did David know what God sought from him?  Yes, it is recorded in verse 17 where David said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”  

Sin is a very destructive tool that our enemy can use to destroy our testimony and our faith.  If we have unconfessed sin in our lives that we haven’t confessed and repented of it can cause sickness to occur in us that can’t be healed until we get things right with God.  Why do we sometimes hang onto sin for so long?  Why did King David hang on to his sin for close to a year, which could have been much longer if God hadn’t intervened and sent Nathan to confront him?  Maybe David was just too ashamed to take his sin before the Lord or maybe he thought he had gotten away with it, I don’t know.  David was a man that God said was a man after His own heart.  Maybe David thought that God wouldn’t forgive him, I guess we will never know.

My question to you is: are you engaged in sin, and are you feeling like David did?  Have you lost your peace and joy?  Are you feeling depressed?  Are you plagued with a sickness that may be caused by unconfessed sin in your life?”

Maybe you don’t realize that sin can cause sickness in your body, let me share what the Bible says about a man that had palsy in Luke 5.  The men who were helping the sick man couldn’t get to Jesus so they went up on the roof and made a hole and let this poor man down through it to where Jesus was.  When Jesus saw their faith He said, “Man thy sins are forgiven thee.”  Why would Jesus say that?  This man was there to be healed, not to have his sins forgiven.

The Scribes and the Pharisees had a problem with what Jesus said and accused Him of blaspheming.  When Jesus perceived their thoughts He answered them, “What think ye in your hearts?  Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.  And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.”  There is no mistake about it, some sicknesses are caused because of sin.

There was another healing that took place in John 5:1-14, an impotent man was healed and Jesus told him to take up his bed and walk.  Then He said in verse 14, “Behold, thou art made whole (healed): sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

Now I want to make this very clear, not all sickness is the result of sin.  In John chapter 9 it says as Jesus was walking along he saw a man who was born blind from birth.  “Teacher,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind?  Was it the result of his own sins or those of his parents?”  “It was not the result of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered, “He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him.”

So not all sickness is the result of sin, let me say this again, have you lost your peace and joy, have you been feeling depressed and sickly?  It may be a result of unconfessed sin.  Only you know if you have unconfessed sin in your life.  If you do, repent and confess it and get your peace and joy back!  Don’t put it off like David did.  

Then pray to be healed and you may be surprised, it may happen.  And always thank and praise the Lord.  Have a great day and God Bless.   

Mountaintop or Valley

I think it would be safe to say that most believers want mountaintop experiences with God.  We would like to float through our Christian experience without a care in the world.  We would prefer sunny skies and warm days and a nice cool breeze at our backs, no rain, no hassles, and no problems.  We would like to sit around sipping lemon-aid, dipping in a pool, and be waited on.  We would like enough money to buy whatever we wanted--a nice truck, car or S.U.V., a chauffeur and a nice house!  Working for a living would be out of the question.  Maids and servants would be the norm.  Everything handed to us on a silver platter. Oh yes, the good life, bring it on! 

Even though many believers are taught they should, and can, have all these things, in reality it is not so.  Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that it is a sin for believers to have nice things, but if you know anything about having all kinds of money you know it can destroy your life.  And if God gave us everything we wanted it would more than likely destroy our relationship with Him.  Instead of serving Him for who He is and what He is, we would only serve Him for what we could get from Him.  Instead of having a healthy relationship with Him and honoring Him and exalting Him to His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in our lives, we would reduce Him to be our sugar daddy.  

The Lord allows us some mountaintop experiences to refresh us and renew us. Remember the Lord is in the business of renewing and transforming our lives and training us up in righteousness.  

Having all kinds of money could enslave and put many in bondage and destroy their faith.  God knows who He can trust with riches and who He can’t.  The Bible says in Luke 16:10, “if you can be trusted with little things then you will be trusted with bigger things.”  It also says in Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.”

Question: where do we grow the most, on the mountaintop or in the valleys?

Did you ever hear of a fox-hole experience?  When solders are in a fox-hole and the bullets are whizzing past their heads, many start praying, “Lord get me out of this situation and I will be in church every week and I will serve you the rest of my life.”  You would be surprised how many promises are made in those kinds of situations.  In the valley is where the Lord can get our attention the most.  If you think about it, more believers pray and press into God when they are in trouble than any other time.

Think about your own walk with the Lord, when do you press into the Lord and seek Him more, when you are in a situation where everything is going the way you want them to or when most things are going wrong?  I think the Lord knows if everything went the way we wanted it to we would start being independent, trusting in our own abilities and cease being dependent on Him.

It seems to me that the Lord takes us through both extremes so that we will grow and mature in Him and be balanced Christians.  It is so much easier to praise the Lord when we are having a mountaintop experience than when we are struggling in the valley or desert, so to speak.  When God gets us to the point of praising Him in either place then the valleys will seem much more like mountaintops.  If you think mountaintop experiences take care of everything I have a story I want to share with you.  (Check it out, the whole story can be found in I Kings chapters 17, 18 and 19.  )

This story is about Elijah and some of the miraculous miracles that he experienced.  First he prayed that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t rain.  Then he was fed by ravens while he hid from King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, who was a Sidonian who worshiped Baal.  After that he went to a widow in Zarephath who was about to cook her last meal for her and her son.  Elijah told her to make him a small loaf of bread first and her flour and oil would not run out until it rained again and what he told her came true.  Then this lady’s boy became sick and died and God used Elijah to bring him back to life again.  

Now you would think that Elijah’s faith would be soaring and he would be flying high.  Let me go on with this story, many months after these things happened Elijah is commanded by God to go meet King Ahab.  To shorten up the story he meets him and there is a showdown between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.  Elijah let the Prophets of Baal prepare their sacrifice first and they called on their god, Baal.  After cutting themselves until their blood flowed there was still no answer from Baal.  It was time for Elijah to repair the Altar of God and to sacrifice his offering.  Then he dug a trench around the Altar.  He had the people pour the water over the sacrifice until it ran down and overflowed the trench.  He prayed to God and God immediately answered his prayer.  The fire of God flashed down from Heaven and burned up the sacrifice and the wood and licked up the water.  Then Elijah had the people seize all the prophets of Baal and Elijah killed them in the Kishon Valley. 

Elijah told Ahab to get something to eat and he climbed back up the mountain. While up on the mountain he fell on his face and prayed for rain, telling his servant to go and look out toward the sea.  He told him to go seven times and finally his servant saw a cloud as big as his hand.  Then he told his servant to go tell Ahab to get into his chariot and get home or the rain would stop him.  So Ahab set out for Jezreel.  In the meantime the Lord strengthened Elijah and he tucked his cloak in his belt and ran ahead of King Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel.  

Now you would think that he would be so excited to have experienced all these miracles that he would be flying so high and his faith would just be soaring, but that is not the case. 

When King Ahab got home he told Jezebel what Elijah had done to the prophets of Baal.  So Jezebel sent a message to Elijah saying, “may the gods also kill me if by this time tomorrow I have failed to take your life like those whom you killed.” 

Now with all the things that Elijah experienced you would think that he would have no fear, that he would just pray to God and trust God to deliver him, but the next thing we read is that Elijah was so afraid he fled for his life.  He went with his servants to a town in Judah, left his servants there, and went alone traveling all day into the desert and sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die.  “I have had enough,” he said, “take my life for I am no better than my ancestors,” then he laid down and went to sleep.  An angel touched him two different times and told him to get up and eat for he had a long journey ahead of him.  So he got up ate and drank and had enough strength to travel for forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.  There he came to a cave and spent the night. 

You would think that being on the mountaintop, like he was, would have sustained him, but it was when he went into the valley and through the desert he really started seeking God and that is when he found God. 

This should help us to realize that we grow and seek the Lord much more in the valley or desert than we do on the mountaintop, so don’t be surprised when God continues to use the valleys in your life to help you mature and grow in Him.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”  And through Him we can also overcome.  Have a great day, God Bless You!  Praise God!              

Wrong Place - Wrong Time

Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I remember many years ago being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I was riding my motorcycle with some other guys and we all got stop for speeding.  One of the guys was my brother.  He decided to pay his fine by sending it through the mail.  Me, I decided to go to court and I am glad I did, because the ticket had the wrong court date on it so the judge threw it out and I got off “scott” free.  But my brother had to pay a fine.  That time I was at the right place at the right time.

There were many, many times I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It seemed like most of my life I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Most of the choices I made were not good ones.  Many times we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time because of the choices we make.  The choices I made were making a real mess out of my life.  Most of the things I did caused me to be out of control.  I was going down a dead end street with no brakes, I was ready to crash and burn.  Life was nothing but a struggle going from one bar to the next, sometimes sleeping in my car, and sometimes sitting in an alley getting wasted, many times waking up with a hangover.

One time I was drinking and popping pills and I had an “out of body” experience, at least that’s what it seemed like.  It seemed like my body had separated and I was two people.  Walking down the street and seeing my body on both sides of the street was a little scary.  I stayed that way for about two days before my body came back together.  Without hope I continued down the path of destruction.

To make a long story short I committed my life to Jesus and I have never been the same.  Now I have a purpose for my life and all kinds of hope.  While I am writing this I feel like I am experiencing a revival within myself, praise God.  I feel I am growing in my walk with the Lord, which hasn’t happened in a very long time.  Now I feel I am in the right place at the right time, thank the Lord.

Now I want to talk about someone that was a thief that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, most of the time.  I can’t say these things for positive, so this is a conjecture.  This man probably wasn’t well educated and may have felt rejected instead of accepted by his peers.  He may have been a loner looking for companionship and fell in with the wrong crowd being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Without a good education he would have had to steal or beg to sustain himself.  In his case he went from robbery to insurrection, which can happen very quickly.  Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cause some reaction you didn’t expect to happen.  Now this man was caught and thrown in jail, waiting for his execution.  Once again he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  His execution was one of the worst punishments a person could go through.  His sentence was crucifixion, which anyone would think was the worst thing that could have happened to him.  But he was in the right place at the right time because Jesus was there.  When you are with Jesus you are always in the right place.  What looked like a terrible situation for the thief turned out to be the greatest thing that could have happened to him!  He heard the greatest words that he could have heard from the greatest person that ever lived, when Jesus said, “this day you shall be with me in paradise.”  

No matter what you have done, even in your last hours, you are not beyond the grace of God.  So if you have been in, or are in a similar situation, I want you to know that Jesus loves you, and just like for the thief, His grace is there for you also.  So acknowledge that you are a sinner and tell the Lord you are sorry.  Ask Him to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior and if you truly mean it you will be a child of God.  Then thank Him and have a great day.  God Bless You.      

Love and Compassion

Why does the Lord demonstrate these things so well?  Because He is clothed with them, they are part of His nature.

It is hard for some people to understand the attributes of God.  Has God ever sinned?  No!  Can God sin?  No, never!  He can’t even be tempted to sin.  Sin has never touched Him or influenced His way of thinking.  Does He hate sin?  Yes, He abhors sin!  The Word says that God avenges His people, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I shall repay.”  When you think about some of the things God has done or allowed to happen, do you ever think of it as sin?  Think of His wrath and anger and the destruction it has caused over the years and the people that died.  Did He sin in His anger?  No!

There are many people that won’t serve God because of the things they see going on in this world.  Many have chosen hell for their destiny because they don’t understand God.  They say, “how can a loving God allow the bad things to happen, that happen, why doesn’t He stop it?”  Could God stop the terrible things that are happening in this world?  Yes, He could.  So should we lean on our own understanding in these matters?  No, only when we understand God’s character and His attributes can we even come close to figuring out why God allows certain things to take place.  I don’t think anyone can fully understand the mind of God.

It says in Isaiah 55: 8, “My thoughts are completely different from yours, says the Lord.  And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.  For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  We may never know everything about God, but one of the things we can know is that God is just.  

Being a just God He allows us all to have a free will.  God gave us a free will and a free choice to choose whatever we want to do.  Many of the choices that people have made over the years have caused devastation, not only for themselves but also for those around them.  

Think about the wars that have been fought and are still going on, are they all God’s fault?  No!  What about when the nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan, was that God’s fault?  No.  What about the crime that has taken place over the years, is that God’s fault?  No.  How many times have people prayed over the years and thought they were doing the will of God and they weren’t and something tragic happened, was that God’s fault?  No.

I was in a bike accident a while ago and I wasn’t wearing a helmet and I should have been.  That accident caused a hole in the back of my head all the way down to the bone, was that God’s fault?  No.  Before I got on my bike, it was impressed on me to wear a helmet, which I believe was the Lord warning me.  I never wore a helmet before that day, that I can remember, and I didn’t want to wear one then.  Because of my pride, I got hurt, it wasn’t God’s fault, it was my fault.  

Maybe you can relate to what I am saying through your own experiences. Nothing takes God by surprise and nothing happens unless He allows it to happen.  Because He allows things to happen, is it sin?  No, it is part of the reaping and sowing process.  There are some things about God we will never understand but I know He has never sinned.

If God’s purpose is that everyone will be saved, and He knows who will make that choice and who won’t, because He knows all things, does that mean He chooses some and rejects others?  No, if they don’t receive God’s precious gift of grace that is their choice.  

When God chose to flood the earth, did He sin?  No, He had a righteous anger, there was only one righteous person that He could find.  Finding one proves that there could have been many, many more but no one else chose to honor God except Noah.  Knowing all things, God knew that no one else would.  Think about it, Noah preached for 120 years while building the Ark, to no avail.  A little bit of yeast spoils the whole batch of dough.  In that case a little sin and wickedness worked its way through everyone but Noah.  Maybe if God didn’t act when He did, even Noah would have fallen into sin.  What does the Bible say about the elect?  “If the Lord doesn’t shorten the end time events, even the elect would be deceived.”

I said all this to encourage you and to help you see God in a different light.  God is a truly compassionate and loving God.  

Just think if God was a bully and all He was doing was playing games with us, we would be like a bunch of chess pieces on a big board called the World.  And He would move us any way He wanted to.  Our whole life would be jumping through hoops whenever He told us to.  We could be puppets that responded every time God pulled the string, having no choice in the matter.  

God showed Himself to be just, loving and compassionate allowing us to have a free will.  He loves us so much He even takes time to correct us when we sin, instead of destroying us.  The Bible says, “God’s loving kindness brings forth repentance,” and don’t forget the gift of godly sorrow that He blesses us with to help us repent.  And to top it off, He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to convict the world of sin so that we can repent.  Was it God’s fault we sinned?  No, it is our fault when we sin.  

Was it God’s fault that Adam and Eve sinned?  No, He warned them not to eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He loved them so much that He provided them with everything they would need to live a happy and comfortable life.  Did he know that they would sin?  Yes, because He knows all things.  Did He cause them to sin?  No, they chose to sin.  God could have killed them because they sinned, but He had compassion on them.  God’s purpose is not to destroy us but to restore us.  God wants to have fellowship with His creation because He loves us.  He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day.  And just like He had a relationship with Adam and Eve, He wants a relationship with each of us.  

The Bible says that, “God is not willing that anyone be lost but that all will come to repentance.”  The Word also says in John 3: 16, “That God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Praise God for His compassion and great love for His fallen race.  He not only provided a way back to Him but He became the solution when He came to earth in the form of His Son and gave His life a ransom for our sins and not only our sins but the sins of the whole world.  Every person that is born again has been bought with the price of God’s blood that was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.  That is the kind of God He is.  None of the other religions of the world can make that claim.  

So please don’t get angry with God or reject God for what is going on in the world.  Romans 8: 28 says, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  So no matter what takes place or whatever the circumstances or situations are in your life, don’t blame God, try to rejoice knowing that if you are a believer and love God He will take care of you.  You are so special to Him you can’t image what He has in store for you.  So hang in there and never listen to the evil one that Eve listened to.  Rebuke him and resist him in Jesus’ name and he will have to flee from you.  Then put your total trust in God.  

If you don’t know the Lord in a personal way, cry out to Him in repentance and ask Him to have mercy on you and forgive you your sins.  Tell Him you are sorry and, if you truly are, He will pour out His compassion and love and forgive you and He will give you the peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.  Praise God!  God bless you and have a great day!          

Why Are You Holding Back

Question - What causes people to put off God’s call in their lives?

There are many reasons but probably the biggest one is fear and intimidation. There are many people that have a very low opinion of themselves.  They lack confidence and motivation.  Bullying, name calling and putting people down contribute to this problem.  In schools today self-esteem seems to be taught and pushed extensively because of this problem.

Many times when these people become believers they bring their baggage with them, so to speak!  They may have psychological and emotional problems which influence many of their actions.  They can be very irritable, nauseating, difficult people, very had to understand and reach out to.

What do they need?  They need discipleship, love and understanding regardless of their age, young or old.  Many times these people come out of the alcohol, drug and gang lifestyles.  This doesn’t always happen, but many times people get into these lifestyles looking for acceptance they can’t find anywhere else. 

When you are in a gang usually it is one for all and all for one.  They frequent the bars because you can always find someone to hang out with and talk to. Even if these kinds of relationships aren’t healthy they are better than no relationships at all.  Many times these people seem much more outgoing and courageous when they have their ‘homeboys’ with them or they are full of drugs and alcohol.  I know first hand about this because I lived this kind of life.  Take all these factors away from them and they may become very timid and shy.  

Like I said when they become believers they need discipleship, love, acceptance, not judgment, condemnation and rejection.  There are other people that may have lived completely different lives and still have very low self esteem.  They may never have been introduced to drugs, alcohol or the gang life, it may have been just the way they were raised.  They may have experienced rejection and ridicule in the home.  They may have grown up feeling misunderstood, unwanted.  Some may have been physically or sexually abused, maybe their parents were drug addicts or alcoholics.  

There are many reasons why people are fearful and feel intimidated as believers.  Even if God calls them to a ministry they hesitate and come up with excuses not to do what God wants them to do.  Some need assurance that it is God’s purpose for their life.  But every one of them need love and acceptance from God’s people, without it they may give up completely.  Not everyone is delivered completely of all their hang-ups when they become a believer.  Some things take a little more time to overcome.   

Let me give you a couple of examples from the Word of God.  You may have never heard of Gideon but he was a man that God wanted to use to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors.  They were being oppressed because of their rebellion against the Lord.  The Midianites, Amalek and the people of the East would attack Israel, leaving the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking their animals and leaving the Israelites devastated.  When these things happened the Israelites cried out to the Lord.  If they would have cried out to the Lord before they got themselves in trouble they would have saved themselves a lot of grief.

How many of us do the same thing today?

Then the Lord sent a Prophet and he told them why they were in the situation they were in. That’s when Gideon comes on the scene, while he is in the bottom of the winepress threshing out the wheat, hiding the grain from the Midianites.  An angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “Mighty hero the Lord is with you.”  Then the Lord told Gideon in Judges 6:14-18, “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites, I am sending you.”  “But Lord”, Gideon replied, “How can I rescue Israel?  My tribe is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh and I am the least in my entire family.”  The Lord said to him, “I will be with you and you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”  Gideon replied, “if you are truly going to help me show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me.” (Have you ever been there, questioning the Lord?  Think about it.)  Then Gideon says, “don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”  The Lord answered, “I will stay here until you return.” Then Gideon went and cooked a young goat and baked some bread and brought them back to the angel of the Lord.  He put them on a rock and poured broth over them.  Then the angel of the Lord touched them with his staff and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed them. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared.”

You would think that would be enough to convince Gideon but it wasn’t.  Gideon was also called Jerubbaal, which means “let Baal defend himself.”  Check it out in verses 25–32.          

Gideon had over thirty thousand men and still he wanted more assurance.  So God did two more miracles for him then he was ready to go.  But then God told Gideon he had too many warriors with him.  He could only take 300 men with him.  He ended up winning the battle with the Lord’s help.  Even though he was scared and intimidated, God still used him in a mighty way.  God doesn’t always call the equipped but He always equips the called.  There is much more to this story, check it out in Judges Chapters 6, 7, and 8, it should encourage you.

There is another story in the Bible about a man named Barak.  The Israelites had sinned against the Lord on this occasion also.  At the time there was a lady Judge named Deborah who was also a prophet.  The Lord told her to tell Barak in Judges 4:5-9, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel commands you.  Assemble 10,000 warriors from the tribe of Naphtali and Zubulum at Mount Tabor.  I will lure Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors to the Kishon River.  There I will give you victory over them.”  

Then what did Barak say?  I will go, but only if you go with me.  What was Barak’s problem?  I think it was fear and intimidation.  

Deborah said, “very well, I will go with you but since you have made this choice you will receive no honor.  For the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.”  And that is exactly what happened.  The lady’s name who killed Sisera was Jael, the wife of Heber, a Kenite.  There was victory again because of God’s help.  Check the story out in Judges Chapters 4 and 5, let it encourage your heart if you struggle with these problems and remember God will help you also like He help Barak and Gideon.  So step out of your comfort zone and trust the Lord to help you. His purpose is to help you to accomplish whatever His calling is on your life and praise God He will.

Let me give you one more example.  This man’s name was Moses, he was born into the Levite clan.  At the time a new King, or Pharaoh, came to power after Joseph and his brothers had died, who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.  The problem Pharaoh had was that Joseph’s descendants were having many children and grandchildren.  This new Pharaoh was afraid of the Israelites because there were so many of them, so the Egyptians made them their slaves.  This Pharaoh ordered the midwives that helped the Hebrew women with having their babies to kill all the male babies that were born.  After that he gave orders to all the people to throw all the newborn Israelite boy babies into the Nile River (Abortion isn’t a new thing that just started today it happened in Moses’ day and it also happened in Jesus’ day and it was a horrible sin then and it is still a horrible sin today no matter what the reason).  At that time Moses was born so his mother hid him for 3 years.  The time came when she couldn’t hide him any longer so she put him in a basket in the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and with the help of Moses’ mother she raised him.

When he grew up he saw an Egyptian man and a Hebrew slave fighting and he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.  The next day two Hebrew men were fighting and Moses tried to break it up and it was discovered that he was seen killing the Egyptian man the day before and he became frightened and fled from Egypt.  Moses may have thought it was all over for him but God had a plan for his life.  

God would eventually ask him to go back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh.  But he will not go without some protesting, or excuses.  Number 1 was “the people won’t believe me.”  Number 2 was “I’m just not a good speaker” and Number 3 Moses said to, “send someone else in” which made the Lord angry with Moses.  Did God give up on Moses?  No, he sent Aaron his brother with him and they were successful with the Lord’s help.  What was Moses’ problem?  I would say it was fear and intimidation.  Did God still love Moses?  Of course He did and today Moses is with the Lord, praise God!

Take it from me, I have struggled for many years doing what I thought God wanted me to do but He never gave up on me.  And because I was willing to step out of my comfort zone, the Lord has used me many times over the years. Not too long ago I thought that I was like the “old horse that was put out to pasture,” but God wasn’t done with me.  So try you’re very best to do the will of God in your life and you will not regret it.  God loves you and He will never give up on you.  He will never ask you to do anything you can’t do with His help. Praise the Lord and have a great day, God bless you.               

  

Is There Any Hope

We truly live in a day of unrest and uncertainty!  Every day seems to bring with it new problems that are huge and unexplainable.  

The weather is so unpredictable leaving most people perplexed and aghast.  People are without jobs and many are losing their homes and many are living in the streets trying to cope with life.  Japan has just lost over 18,000 people.  China and other places have been devastated.  There are terrorists that think nothing about blowing themselves up and killing as many other people as they can in the process.  Our Government seems to be riddled with Progressives that are trying to break our economy and make us a Progressive Nation which means losing most of our freedoms and liberties.  We have gangs in our streets, killings in our schools and also in our cities and towns.  Drugs and alcohol run rampant everywhere.  You name it and it probably is happening some place in our country.  This list could go on and on, it just seems like there is no end.

Many people live without hope waking up in the morning dreading the new day. It seems like the world is spinning out of control and they want to get off wishing it was just a nightmare.  I want to tell you something before you think about ending it all which would be a big mistake ~ don’t do it.

There is One that wants to set you free from your stress and fear and give you His peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.  One who loves you more than you could ever understand.  And His love is an unconditional love that you can’t imagine or deserve.  Nothing that is going on here has taken Him by surprise, He has it all under control.  His purpose for all of us is, “To prosper us and not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.”  He loves you more than life itself and He proved it.  He laid down His life for all of us when He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins.  No one could have taken His life without His permission.  He gave it freely to show how much He loved us.

These things are easy for me to say because I have experienced them in my life.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  I have been delivered of many things and I have been healed miraculously.  The Lord has “healed the years the locusts have eaten up.”  Do I still struggle with things, or have I had many hard days?  The answer is yes, many over the years, but the Lord has helped me through all of them and He still is helping me.  Praise the Lord.  I know that I am very special to the Lord but no more than you are.

If you are a Christian, don’t let the circumstances and what is going on around you get you down, take hold of the Lord’s hand and He will walk with you through anything that is going on in your life.  There are many real people in the Word of God that faced impossible situations, but nothing is impossible with God!  He got them through their trials because He loved them.

Let me speak to the non-believer.  The reason I said “real people” is that many think the Bible is not true and not believable.  Why do I know it is true?  Because He changed my life from being a real freak in the world for many years doing almost everything you can think of, into a Jesus freak loving and serving the Lord.  Praise God!  A man so full of hate and bitterness that it seemed that something was missing in my heart to the point that when my wife started having kids I couldn’t go to them, they would have to come to me.  The fact is, I didn’t even love my wife when we got married.  When I committed my life to the Lord about 32 years ago He changed not only my life, but also my way of thinking.  Now I love my wife and kids and my intent and purpose is to love everyone else I come in contact with.  

One day a few years ago I was praying by myself in the morning for healing and in an instant I was healed of asthma that I had for over 50 years so bad that at times I ended up in the hospital plus I don’t know how many times I had to have emergency breathing treatments at different walk-ins over the years.  I don’t say this to brag about me, but to honor the Lord and praise His name and to encourage you to believe in the Lord and in His power to heal and His power to deliver you from anything.  By the way, I have been to many doctors since and I have never had any of them say that I had asthma and I have never taken any asthma medicine since, thank the Lord.  Since I was healed I have been in most every situation and circumstance that would have brought on my asthma plus I have jogged pretty close to fifteen miles with no problem, thank the Lord.  Only the Lord can perform a miracle.

Now I want to speak to you who believe, you are in the best hands with the Lord.  The Word says, “He will never leave us or forsake us.”  Now I want you to think about Noah, his day was somewhat like ours is today but today there are many more believers.  But even with so many believers the stench of sin is almost overwhelming.  In Genesis chapter 6:5–8 it says, “Now the Lord observed the extent of the people’s wickedness and He saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them.  It broke His heart.”  (I think it is still breaking His heart and has been for many, many years.)  “And the Lord said, ‘I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created.  Yes, and I will destroy all the birds and animals too. I am sorry I ever made them.’  But Noah found favor with the Lord.”  

Genisis 6:11, “Now the earth had become corrupt in God’s sight and it was filled with violence.  God observed all this corruption in the world, and He saw violence and depravity everywhere.  So God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth.’”

So he told Noah to build a boat - Ark.  God told him the dimensions and how to make it.  Do you know what God said about Noah?  In verse 9 it says, “This is the history of Noah and his family.  Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man that was living on the earth at the time.  He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.”  I’m pretty sure it took 120 years to build the Ark.  In all the time Noah was building the Ark, can you imagine all the people he witnessed to in that period of time and how faithful Noah was to the Lord?  Try to imagine all the wicked people that tried to get in the Ark when the rain started coming down, they had never seen rain like they saw that day.  The earth was watered by a mist that came up out of the ground.  God’s wrath had been poured out and it would not be reversed until every living thing on the earth was destroyed.

But where was Noah?  He and his family were safe in the hands of God in the Ark that Noah had built.  God loved Noah but He didn’t love him anymore than He loves His elect now.  He kept Noah safe in the palm of His hand and He will do the same for us that love Him in our day.  

So don’t allow what is going on in the world today to overwhelm you, look up, your redemption is closer than it has ever been.  There is nothing that can happen to God’s elect unless He allows it, and if He does, it will work out for our good and the Lord will be right there with us.  The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  So if you find yourself stressed and fearful, start praising the Lord and it will change your whole perspective.  Get you mind off the things the evil one uses to frighten you and think on the things of God’s kingdom and let the Lord fill you with His perfect peace.  

The Bible says in Romans 8:6, “If the Spirit controls your mind there is life and peace.”  So put to death your flesh that causes you to fear and stress, and walk in the Spirit where there is freedom and life.

Praise God! Have a great day and God bless.                    

King Saul’s Rebellion ~ Downfall

This story is such a sad story. God was the King of Israel and His people rejected Him as their King.

Question – Why would anyone reject God especially when they had seen and heard about what God had done for them?  It comes down to man’s sin nature thinking that man can rule over men better than God can.

Rebellion was not a new problem at the time, it started back in the beginning of Creation first with Lucifer an angel who stood in the presence of God, then with a third of the angels, then Eve, then Adam and then Cain and so many others since and it is still a problem in our day and always will be until time comes to a close, which my be a lot sooner than many think.

This is the excuse the Israelites used at that time for their rebellion, it says in 1^st Samuel 8:1–4, “As Samuel grew old he appointed his sons to be Judges over Israel.  Joel and Abijah his older sons held court in Beerseba.  But they were not like their father for they were greedy for money.  They accepted bribes and perverted justice.  Finally the leaders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. Look, they told him, you are now old and your sons are not like you.  Give us a King like all the other nations have.”

This sounds like we are not guaranteed how our children will turn out even if you do love the Lord and are faithful followers of His.  We all have a free will to make whatever choice we want to make.  Eli the Priest had a similar problem with his two sons.  His sin was that he failed to discipline them and it cost them and him dearly.    

In those days Judges were appointed to rule over God’s people, not King’s, God was their King and Samuel was their judge at the time.  Samuel was very upset with their request and went to the Lord for advise.  The Lord replied, “do as they say for it is me they are rejecting, not you, they don’t want me to be their King any longer.”  How sad, after all God had done for them.  I don’t know about you but this makes me sad because I have been just as guilty as they were at times.  I don’t think any of us can say we have never rebellious against the Lord at one time or another, probably many times to our shame.  In verse 8 God says, “Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods.”

Samuel warns the people about what a King would be like and how he would treat them, but the people reject Samuel’s warning, they just want to be like the other nations.  This reminds me of our country and many of the people today.

This country was founded on freedom of religion and governed by the constitution and Christian principles and values.  It seems to me that there are many that are rebelling against God today. They are trying to erase God and everything He stands for plus the Constitution along with all our freedoms for the benefit of the government.  And this has been going on behind the scene for a long time.  Rebelliousness and deception are running rampant today and God and his elect seem to be the number one targets.

Now let’s get back to King Saul’s rebellion.  

Samuel told Saul and God’s people not to turn their backs on the Lord again and to love Him with all their hearts and not to go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue them.

Samuel anoints Saul, King over Israel, but it isn’t long before he rebels and sins against the Lord.  Samuel told Saul to go down to Gilgal ahead of him and wait for him there for seven days and he would join him there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings.  But instead of waiting Saul took it upon himself to present the sacrifice, not a good choice.  After Saul was reprimanded by Samuel for his very foolish act, Samuel told Saul that he would lose his Kingship.

But Saul didn’t learn from that experience and he rebelled against the Lord again.  This time the Lord told Samuel that He was sorry He made Saul King for he had not been loyal to Him and had again refused to obey Him.  Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard what Saul had done he cried out to the Lord all night.  This it what it says in 1^st Samuel 15:12–23, “Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul.  Someone told him Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument to himself, then he went on to Gilgal.”  (He must have felt very highly of himself, where is the monument to the Lord for giving him victory over his enemies?)  “When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully, ‘May the Lord bless you, I have carried out the Lord’s command!’  ‘Then what is all the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle I hear,’ Samuel demanded.  ‘It is true that the army spared the best of the sheep and cattle,’ Saul admitted.  ‘But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God.  We have destroyed everything else.’  Then Samuel said to Saul, ‘Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night.’  ‘What was it?’ Saul asked?  And Samuel told him, ‘although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel?  The Lord has anointed you the King of Israel.  And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’  ‘Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord?  Why did you rush for the plunder and do exactly what the Lord said not to do?’  ‘But I did obey the Lord,’ Saul insisted.  ‘I carried out the mission He gave me, I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.  Then my troops brought in all the best of the sheep and cattle and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’  But Samuel replied, ‘what is more pleasing to the Lord, your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice?  Obedience is far better than sacrifice, listening to Him is far better than offering the fat of rams.  Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols.  So because you have rejected the Word of the Lord He has rejected you from being King.’”  In verse 24 Saul finally admitted that he had disobeyed the Word of the Lord because he was afraid of the people.  Disobedience and rebellion are sins and there are always consequences for sin.  Sin, if not truly repented of, will result in more sins and before Saul’s kingship was over he committed many more sins that ended up costing him his life.

You may be asking yourself this question, will Saul be in Heaven?  I don’t know, only the Lord knows if he repented or not.  But this I do know, when we sin we can repent and ask the Lord to forgive us, if we are believers and if we are truly sorry, we will be forgiven!  Praise God!  Don’t let sin separate you from the Lord or cause you to lose the ministry you are doing for God.  If you sin, keep short accounts with God, confess your sin immediately and don’t put it off.  Maybe the Lord has been telling you to do something or to stop doing something you are doing that you have been putting off for awhile, stop being rebellious and be obedient, you and the Lord will be glad you did.  What would you prefer the Lord to do correct you or bless you?  The choice is up to you, I hope you make the right one. 

And for anyone who reads this that is not a believer and truly wants to be, repeat this prayer:  Lord I know I am a sinner in need of your forgiveness.  I am sorry for my sins, please forgive me and be the Lord of my life, in Jesus name I pray, amen.  If you are truly sorry, I believe the Lord will honor that prayer.  Then thank the Lord and find a Bible believing church and start growing.  And don’t forget to share what you did with someone else.  Praise God, have a great day and God bless you.