The Lord is Coming

I think every Christian needs to be reminded of this.  With what is going on all around us, we need this promise to stand on and not be shaken, and that is, the Lord is coming back and maybe sooner then we think.

Years ago there seemed to be so many more people that at least accepted the fact that there was a Creator.  Today seems to be a much different environment with the teaching of evolution and prayer taken from our schools as well as the various teachings that flood the airways which are mostly antichrist teaching.  Even cartoons are teaching children to reject Christ and His church!  

There are many false teachers, cults abound and even many in our government stand against Christianity or anything to do with the Lord and His teachings.  Our judicial system, with so many liberal judges, seems to be standing against the Constitution and legislating from the bench and their own translation of the laws.  Our rights are being taken away right before our very eyes.  There is more and more persecution taking place against believers today than, maybe, ever before.

Many of our colleges are very antichrist in their teaching, even some that were Christian colleges at one time.  Many young people that were in church before they went to college don’t return to church after college. Satan has come in like a flood but he will only be able to go so far and the Holy Spirit will put a stop to his destructive ways and not everyone will be deceived.  The Bible says for God’s elect, “When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him.”  “No weapon formed against us shall prosper.”  “Greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world.”  If you don’t have these verses memorized you should take the time to do it!  

Never forget that God is in control and it may look like the devil is winning but he will be thrown into the lake of fire someday along with all the evil ones that stand with him now.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:3–10, “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.’  They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

So I have reminded you of these things, don’t lose heart and throw in the towel our redemption is closer than you think, praise God!!  Have a great day and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.

Fire

I was thinking about something my son-in-law, Pastor Steve Bellavia, said last night that I liked.  He said, “I would rather see some fire in the church than no fire at all.”  We were talking about fanatics, and people in general, in the church that get carried away with emotion.  When my wife and I were in church last Sunday the pastor was touching on the same subject.

I have been a Christian for many years now and for the most part I have been very excited about what the Lord has done for me and in my life.  In fact sometimes when I hear the Word of God preached, I am not talking about the watered-down version or the feel-good-can’t offend anybody message, no, I am talking about the true Word of God with the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the man and the Word he is preaching, I feel like I need to get out of the church before I do something fanatical and the ushers throw me out of church because they don’t understand.  

I am not a young man by some people’s standards, but I still get very excited when I think about what the Lord has done for me, as I have already mentioned.  Sometimes I feel that I have a hard time holding back my emotions.  Many times I don’t hold them back and there are times I brag about what the Lord has done in my life and my family and it seems to make many Christian people mad.  The way I look at it, the things I have experienced should be the norm and not the exception!

Why is it when we see people that are excited and those that boast about what the Lord has done in their lives we want to throw water on their faith and excitement?  It seems we want to make them just as dull and boring as many of those around them.  

Jesus wasn’t boring in His days on earth, think about it, people’s hearts burned when they heard Him speak and things happened.  Demons went screaming out of people, people were healed, the deaf heard, the blind saw, and the lame got up and started jumping up and down with excitement.  People repented and were broken over sins, He breathed on the disciples and said, “receive ye the Holy Spirit,” and they received power and went about doing what their Master did.  He fed the hungry and met the needs of the poor.  

While I am typing this the tears are forming in my eyes, they aren’t tears of sadness, but tears of joy and excitement because I feel that the Lord is using my fingers to type, filling my mind with the words He wants me to say.  I know I am not smart enough to write the things I have put down here, it has to be the Lord.

Jesus made a statement about the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelations in chapter 3 verses 15, 16, “I know the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold.  I wish you were either one or the other!  But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth.”  In their case they thought they were rich and needed nothing, but they were wretched and naked, wearing the wrong garment.  They needed to be covered by the Lord’s garment, the robe of righteousness and realize their own unrighteousness and repent.

But I also thought I would use these verses for this lesson because I think the Lord wants us to be on fire for Him.  I don’t think He wants lukewarm, dull Christians that just bore people instead of excite them for Jesus.  Don’t get me wrong, God is not the author of confusion, everything has to be done in an orderly fashion, but I don’t think that means to put the Holy Spirit in a box and not let Him take control of the service.  The Word says, “Unless the Lord build the house, we labor in vain that build it.”

Sometimes I think if the Holy Spirit was taken out of the world, many churches would just go on with business as usual and would never know the difference.  If the Holy Spirit isn’t moving in the service then we might as well stay home!  So when you see someone that acts a little fanatical and more excited than you are, or you are used to, just try the spirit and see if it is of God instead of judging the person and throwing water on their excitement and faith.  In fact you might look at it this way, some of their excitement might rub off on you and that might be a good thing, praise God!

I will never forget the time I gave a testimony in church about my asthma being healed miraculously, a man said to me after the service, “I had asthma worse than you ever did and now I have emphysema.”  Talk about throwing water, where was the rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep?  Well I prayed that he would get healed and I hope he will.

Enough said, thanks for letting me share with you.  This is something to think about, have a super day and God bless you!!         

A New Song

When was the last time you tried to write a praise song?  Praise and thanksgiving are very important to the Lord.  The Lord loves it when we praise and thank Him. This is something I’ve tried to do often for a very long time. I have said this many times, God inhabits the praise of His people.  

There is a song that has been out for quite a while that goes like this, “God inhabits the praises of His people, so let’s just praise Him, let’s just praise Him, God inhabits the praises of His people, so let’s just praise the Lord!” I wish I had written this song because I like it and it is so biblical.

If you want a cure for stress, fretting and worry this would help you tremendously.  Get yourself some great praise songs and start to sing your way to happiness.  What you could do is to make this a daily practice, just set aside some time and praise the Lord, preferably with no distractions. Saturate your heart with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, shut your eyes and meditate on pure praise and adoration and thanksgiving.  Let the Lord come in and saturate your heart, soul, mind and being with His precious presence and try to let go of everything else that hinders you and just let yourself get lost in praise and thanksgiving.

Sometimes I listen to Bill and Gloria Gaither and the different singers they have on their show 3 to 5 days a week.  There are times when the tears flow and goose pumps dance on my skin as I sit there and just either sing along or think about what is being sung and how it glorifies the Lord.  Or I may just start praising and thanking the Lord with my own words, maybe lifting my hands or just drinking it all in with my eyes closed, sometimes wishing the song would go on and on.

Over the years, with the Lord’s help, I have written a few praise songs and every morning I try to sing some of them in my devotional time, in my bedroom alone without any distractions, most of the time.  Every now and then I try, with the Lord’s help, to write a new song so that I will have something fresh to bring to the Lord in my praise time.  I have a shofar and I will blow that in the mornings at times, but I haven’t mastered that yet.

Another song just came to my mind that goes like this, “Bless the Lord o my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name.”  In today’s world with all that is taking place it is easy to get stressed and worried.  If you think about all the weather reports about Hurricane Irene and see the devastation from the flooding, the angry looking sky and the roar of thunder and the lightning, it can consume your every thought.  But if all you see and meditate on is the storm and the clouds, you may never see the rainbow that the Lord sends along to let us know that He loves us and hasn’t forgot us and that there is always hope.

We know we are in the end times and I think that a lot of what is going on is a wakeup call.  God is warning us ahead of time to get our house in order because Jesus is going to return and take His bride home to be with Him, so we need to be ready when He comes.  Part of that readiness is to be able to praise and thank the Lord, regardless of what is going on around us.  The Bible says in Luke 21:26, “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”  The Lord said that He would never leave us or forsake us, so start praising and thanking the Lord and lay all your burdens and fears at His feet because He loves and cares for you.

I want to end this with Psalms 150:1–6,  

   “Praise God in his sanctuary;

   praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power;

   praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

   praise him with the harp and lyre,

praise him with tambourine and dancing,

   praise him with the strings and flute,

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

   praise him with resounding cymbals.

  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

   Praise the LORD.”

Mediate on this Psalm and start applying it to your life and have a great day.  God Bless!              

God’s Love

If you are at home and you’re feeling kind of blue,

Not knowing what to think, not knowing what to do.

If you’re feeling kind of lonely and your friends are very few.

Just think about the Lord and Him smiling down on you.

He loves you with a compassionate love and His love for you is true

So lay all your burdens at His feet for He loves and cares for you.

I was just sitting here thinking what to write about and after praying for the Lord’s help, this little poem came to my mind.  I hope it will be an encouragement to everyone that reads it.

When I think about God’s love, I can understand it a little bit better now.  I had a struggle with it and was very miserable for a long period of time. Then with the help of my wife, a man named Dan Comfort and the way God is using them, I have a better understanding of God’s love.  I don’t think we will ever fully understand God’s love but we can be encouraged knowing that He loves us unconditionally.  That means that God loves us regardless of our actions or what we accomplish or what we say or any works that we have done or what we look like, it is because God is Love. Knowing all this, it is still hard for us to fully understand the love that the Lord has for us.

Paul prayed this prayer for the Ephesian church in the book of Ephesians 3: 17 – 19, “And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”  Like I said I don’t think we can ever fully understand the love that God has for us.

What I do understand is that God laid aside His deity and came to earth as a babe born to a Jewish girl that was a virgin, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, grew up to be a man called Jesus, who was without sin, did many great miracles, loved and taught multitudes of people, then gave His life for a ransom for all mankind, even for His enemies.  He wasn’t willing that any be lost but that all would come to repentance, shedding His own blood, a man that had no sin, but was willing to take the sins of all mankind on His shoulders.  Remember this, the Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (forgiveness)  He was willing to lay down His life for us so that we could have a relationship with Him.  Praise His holy name!!  The more we realize how much He loves us the more we should love and appreciate Him.  

Something to think about.  God bless and have a great day.        

Hanging Onto Faith

I don’t think it is a shock to most people that we are living in the last days. Some people will scoff at this, if they read it, denying what their very own eyes see and their ears hear.  Some people will say we have seen and heard all this stuff before and all you are trying to do is scare people.

This message is not about fear, but about trust, faith and standing on the Word of God.  Paul, as well as Jesus and others, spoke to the believers many years ago about what it would be like in the end of time.  What was said should scare non–believers to the core.  They talk about events that will take place in the end times in several books of the Bible. The fact is, it will be a devastating and traumatic time when these things take place, things that have never been seen before.  

It will be a time when your talk will have to be your walk, and not just your talk.  We Christians have gotten very good at talking, giving advice and quoting scriptures to people, but there is a time coming when all we will be able to hang on with is our faith and the promises of God.  Don’t get me wrong the Lord will never leave us or forsake us and we will have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, if we have been born–again, but if we have been just talking the walk and not walking the talk we may buckle under the things that are about to take place instead of overcoming them.  

If you are a person given into fear, anxiety and doubt, you may be overwhelmed and become a basket case at what is taking place all around you.  This is a time when we need to be pressing into God more than ever before, reading and studying the Scriptures and getting ahold of the promises of the Lord and also witnessing.  

 We also need to be praying and keeping ourselves from sin by resisting temptation.  If we are living in sin in any way we need to confess our sins, repent and not hold onto anything that we have against anyone. It says in 2 Thessalonians 2:8–10, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

This is a heads up for the believer, but a warning for the non–believer.  For the believer this is not a time to be idle, this is the time to know the truth so that we will know the counterfeit when it happens.  This is also not a time to play games with Christianity either, you are born– again or you are not.  This is not a game, so if you are an unbeliever repent and cry out to the Lord before it is too late. Tell Him you are sorry for your sins and ask Him to forgive you and to be the Lord of your life, don’t put it off. It goes on to say in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12, “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

There you have it, in black and white, from the Scriptures, please don’t reject, it but act accordingly and do the right thing and the Lord will bless you.  Have a great day!  

Faith and Revival

Who needs to be revived?  All of us in the body of Christ, we need to be revived and renewed desperately.  We all need to be renewed with the Spirit of God daily.

Where has faith gone, and why are so many believers wobbling, discouraged, depressed and consumed with worry?  I remember when I was a young person, and also through a lot of my adult life, I worried about so many things.  Then as I got older and was committed to the Lord, He helped me not to worry near as much and to trust Him more.  In time, I realized that most of the things I worried about didn’t ever take place.

I know we live in a world that seems to be spiraling out of control.  It seems like our President and those that advise him are only thinking about themselves and not the people they are supposed to be serving.  We are in a dangerous situation, but God is still in control and He loves us even when it seems like He isn’t there. That is what faith is all about.  

In the New Living Translation Bible it says this in Hebrews 11: 1-2, “What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see. God gave His approval to people in days of old because of their faith.”  Faith believes in the supernatural, it is saying it can be done when everyone else says it can’t be done.  It is standing on the promises of God regardless of what you feel about the circumstance or situation.  

If you need a faith booster, read Hebrews chapter 11 prayerfully and really mediate on what it is saying.  Fear hinders the faith process and hinders our walk with the Lord.  Fear paralyzes people and keeps them from doing what God wants them to do.  So many people hide in their comfort zones, afraid to venture out.  God may want to use them in mighty ways but they cling to their comfortable surroundings.  They worry about failure or mistakes or just plain making a fool out of themselves.  They are too worried and scared to step out in faith and accomplish what God wants to do in their lives.

Do you remember Moses’ response to God when God wanted him to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go?  Moses came up with all kinds of excuses starting out with this one, Mosses said, “who am I to appear before Pharaoh?  How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”  Then God said, “I will go with you,” but Moses’ response was, “if I go they won’t believe me.”  Then God encouraged Moses even more telling him the words to say and even what would happen.  But Moses protested saying, “Look they won’t believe me!  They won’t do what I tell them.  They’ll just say the Lord never appeared to you.”  Then the Lord showed Moses three miracles that he could perform and this was his response.  “O Lord I am just not a good speaker I never have been and I am not now.  Even after you have spoken to me, I’m clumsy with words.” Then the Lord said I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say along with some other things.  This is Moses’ response, “Lord please send someone else.”  Even though the Lord was angry with Moses because of his refusal to obey Him, He had mercy on him and sent Aaron his brother to be his spokesman to the people.

What about you, are you going to step out in faith and accomplish what the Lord has called you to do or will you miss out on the greater blessing by refusing to do what God has called you to do?  If God has called you to do something He is not going to leave you struggling by yourself.  God will equip you and help you in whatever way He can, so you can accomplish whatever it is that He wants you to do.  

So don’t let fear and worry stop you, pray and ask the Lord to revive you and stir up a hunger and thirst for the things of God and also for more boldness in you, so that you can stand against anything that would hinder you.  Step out in faith and let the Lord accomplish all that He wants to do in your life. Then thank and praise Him for who He is, what He is, what He has done and what He is going to do, and also for what He is going to do in your life.  God bless and have a great day!