Impetuous

If you are a believer what would you say if I asked you this question: would you be willing to die at any moment for your faith?  Probably a good majority of you would say, “yes.”  I would encourage you to think long and hard about your answer and not to answer impetuously.  I know that many of you think you would and even hope you would, but the only one that truly knows the answer is the Lord.  The Lord knows us inside and out and He knows far better than we do whether we would or not.

I talk to a man that says, at different times, he wants to die because there is nothing to live for and that he would die for the Lord anytime.  If you live long enough each of you will probably have to make that choice someday and I hope that each of you, along with me, will make the right choice, if and when that time comes.

Think about the apostle Peter and the rest of Jesus’ disciples response to the Lord when He told them this in Matthew 26:30-36:

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,

And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’

Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’

Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’

And so said all the disciples.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’”  

Now think about these men, they had given up everything they had and followed Jesus without any hesitation.  They left family, their homes and friends, even the towns they lived in and followed Jesus.  They had seen the wonderful miracles Jesus performed and they also experienced His compassion, love and mercy firsthand.  They had even seen Him raise the dead and for the most part they all loved Him and believed who Jesus said He was.  They heard His teachings firsthand and enjoyed His protection and blessings on their lives, but when it came to the time of His crucifixion they all denied Him.

I think when they said they would die with Him they were all sincere but in the end they weren’t ready yet.  We know that Peter was an emotional person and he seemed to put his foot in his mouth, so to speak, quite often but was he sincere?  I would say that he was very sincere, but like I said he wasn’t ready to lay his life on the line at that time but later he would be ready and so would the other disciples.  When you think about Peter and the other disciples and how close they were to the Lord and how they were still able to deny him, you might want to think twice before you answer, “yes,” to the question I asked earlier.

Don’t be too impetuous with your answer, you may want to wait until the time comes, if it does, and then you can decide.  This is something to think about, may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!  PS don’t forget to thank and Praise the Lord!!

Lust of the Flesh

This is something every believer struggles with at times and probably more times than we would like to admit, we lose the fight when we are tempted and give way to the lust of the flesh.  When we walk in a way that dishonors the Lord we are walking in the flesh.  The Spirit and the flesh are always at odds with each other and can never be in agreement with one another.  Think about how many times you have given into the flesh when temptation rears its ugly head in some way.  We like to blame the evil one for all the temptation we face but sometimes temptations come because of our own lusts, resulting from our own thoughts that haven’t been taken captive.

In God’s Word Paul said this and more while defending his authority when his authority was discredited in 2 Corinthians 10:1-5, “Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Taking every thought captive is something believers should do on a daily basis which would help keep us from being drawn away by our own fleshly desires that war against the Spirit within us.  If you are skeptical that this happens, read this in James 1:12-15, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

One place temptation never comes from is God, it always comes from another source and some of it comes from within.  Taking every thought captive takes practice and will take some time but it can be done, if done diligently.  One thing you shouldn’t do when you are tempted and fall into sin is play the blame game.  You may be tempted to use these excuses, the devil made me do it or it was just a mistake or everyone else is doing it.  Believers need to take responsibility for their own actions and confess their sins to the Lord.

In case you don’t know it, there is a whole list of things that are works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Let me remind all of us that are believers that when we were united in Christ from a born-again experience, we crucified the flesh with the afflictions and lusts being set free from sin and the hold it had on us.  We still have a struggle with temptation and sin at times but if we continually walk in the Spirit we have the power to overcome the temptation that wars against us, so we have no excuse.  

Read this and be encouraged, it is in Galatians 5:16-18, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

If we are walking in the Spirit we should have these things in our lives, found in that same chapter of Galatians verses 22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

We all struggle with temptation and sin at times, like I said, and I am so thankful for this verse in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So be sure to always confess your sins and repent and walk close to the Holy Spirit and with the help of the Holy Spirit you will be able to resist and overcome temptation and sin.  This is something to meditate on and I hope you will.  May God bless you and yours and may you have a splendid day!!

Good Works

I have heard it said that helping your neighbor, mowing lawns and those types of things are not considered good works but that witnessing is the only way you show your good works.  First I will say this, I don’t believe you can be a believer and not have good works which include helping your neighbor and many other things.  I want to make it very clear that good works cannot save you and, if you think you can get to heaven because of your good works or because you think you are a pretty good person, you are dead wrong.

Read what it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “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. “

Now let me say this, the reason I think the way I do about doing good works after being born-again is that every believer has been given a measure of faith and faith is an action word.

Read what it says of faith and works in James 2:14-26, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

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. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

I have just been reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 when He said we are the light of the world and also speaking about our good works, which says this, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

This includes, among many other things, not ignoring the needs of others or your neighbors, which includes everyone you help.  Being a good witness and sharing your testimony with others is definitely important, but you can also share your testimony by feeding and clothing the poor or giving a hand to the needy and in many other practical ways so that God will receive the glory through the kindhearted deeds that you perform.  

I have talked on this subject before but I think we all need to hear some things over and over again before they sink in and become a permanent fixture in our hearts and minds, plus I was reading this morning about what Jesus said regarding the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-46:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

I would say that all these things Jesus mentioned here are all good works, so if after reading this, all you can say is that good works only consist of sharing a testimony with others, maybe you need to spend some time in prayer.  I want to give you one more verse on this subject, it is found in Ephesians 2:10 which says this, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Our salvation should result in good works, doing them will show that we appreciate what God has done for us.  I think I have said enough about this subject to at least give you something to think and pray about.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a blessed day!!  

Don’t Harden Your Heart

One of the main reasons for a hardened heart is unbelief.  Many of the Israelites hardened their hearts because of unbelief and they were called a stiff necked people.  There are many things that can cause unbelief and all of us have to be careful that we don’t allow ourselves to fall into them.  Quite often we hear lies about our faith and trust in God from skeptics, evolutionists, atheists and cults that refuse to believe.  There are books, magazines and movies along with TV sitcoms that make fun of spiritual things in order to delude people’s faith.  Evolution is even taught in our schools, colleges and universities.  Of course there is the enemy of our souls that does everything he can to shake our faith.  I used to think that the people that saw the most miracles would have more faith, but that is not necessarily true.  If you think about the Israelites and all the miracles some of them saw, still many of them hardened their hearts in disbelief.

Read what it says about this subject in Hebrews 3:7-19:

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

‘Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

In the day of trial in the wilderness,

Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,

And saw My works forty years.

Therefore I was angry with that generation,

And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,

And they have not known My ways.’

So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest.’’

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said:

‘Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’

For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

These people came out of Egypt where they were slaves to the Egyptians.  They saw all the miracles that God had performed through the plagues and they also saw God’s presence, the fire by night and the cloud by day that guided them.  Think about the Red Sea opening up before them so they could walk across on dry ground, plus the manna and the quail and think about the water coming from a rock.  They saw more miracles than most of us will ever see, but many of them still lived in unbelief, hardening their hearts.

I have brought this to your attention to encourage you and not to discourage.  Find people of faith that are encouragers and fellowship with them so that you can encourage one another in the faith.  It is not the way we start out in our walk of faith; it is the way we finish that is the most important.  Gather people around you that will spur you on in the faith and never give in to any unbelief.  Don’t try to accomplish yourself what only God can accomplish in your life.  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

Repentance

Repentance is something that every believer is responsible for.  When we sin we need to repent, which means to turn away from our sins and stop repeating them.  It means to be sorry for committing the sin and not just for being caught in the sinful act.  If you are only sorry for being caught then you have missed the whole point of repentance and all you have is worldly sorrow.  When a person truly repents from the heart and turns away from the sins they have committed and earnestly try hard not to repeat the sins, that is called godly sorrow.

It says this in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”   

Read what Paul told the church in Corinth about their repentance and the things it brought forth in these people’s lives in verse 11, “For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Repentance brought carefulness, clearing of self, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, revenge.  It doesn’t say it here but repentance releases you and restores fellowship with the Lord; it brings peace and joy within those who repent and it sets the repentant heart free.  Repentance and confession are very important in a believer’s life.

This is what it says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  I think some people may have a hard time confessing sins because they may think they will not be forgiven or they think their sins are more horrible than someone else’s are.  

This is what the good Lord said to the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans in Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

God is calling His people, the church, to repentance.  Read what it says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

God spoke this after Solomon prayed his dedication prayer and if we are God’s people I think He expects the same of us.

As far as the un-believer I don’t think that God listens to their prayers because it says this in Isaiah 59:1-4, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”

But for the un-believer there is one prayer I think the Lord always listens to and that is the repentant prayer from a humble and contrite heart.  If you are worrying about confession, God knew what you were going to do before you did it, so you are not going to shock Him.  So humble yourself before the Lord and seek His forgiveness; confess and repent of your sins and tell Him you are sorry and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior.  If you are sincere I believe He will listen and answer your prayer but don’t be in a hurry, wait on the Lord and let Him fill you with His peace, love and joy; then you can walk away rejoicing and praising the Lord.  Then pray and ask the Lord to lead you to the congregation He would like you to be a part of and get into the Word of God and start studying and growing in the Lord, by putting the truth you learn into practice.  Something to think about and have a great day and may the good bless you and yours!!