Criticism

If you are truly committed to the Lord and not ashamed of it, you will be criticized.  And you will even be criticized from some of the people you go to church with.  I have been criticized in and out of church for my stance with the Lord.  Sometimes I get so excited in church that I say, “Praise the Lord,” or something to that effect, out loud and sometimes someone will look at me like I am strange.  I have said this before, that I was a freak in the world and now I am a freak for Jesus.  At the end of many of my blogs I will say, “Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord, for He is worthy,” and I mean that sincerely. 

It seems like there are people in the church that don’t understand that God inhabits the praise of His people, in other words, He loves it when we praise Him.  I kind of look at this like an empty building, maybe a church building, and when the people enter that building they then inhabit that building.  When we praise the Lord, the Lord comes in and inhabits it and He is pleased with it if it is truly from the heart.  Some of our problem today is that praise can get to be mechanical and not sincere, just kind of going through the motions, so to speak.  Sometimes people mouth words and they don’t even think about what they are singing, they just sing whatever the words are.  Sometimes we can sing praise songs and have our minds on everything else that is going on in the church and not on the Lord at all, just going through the motions.

I was listening to Pastor Cymbala this morning and he was talking about the woman with the Alabaster Jar, so I thought I would use her story also.  You can find her story in Mark 14, read verses 3-9, “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.”

Even though this lady was a prostitute, she loved Jesus and she wasn’t ashamed of what she was about to do for him.  She didn’t think about the cost and this perfume, which was very costly, I think it was worth a year’s wages.  She not only loved Him but she worshiped Him and she wasn’t thinking about who was there or what they would think, she worshiped Him.  She did what Simon should have done for Jesus, but didn’t.  And what happened?  She was openly criticized for what she done.  And who did the criticizing?  The disciples, along with Judas who help himself to the money bag when he felt it was convenient, the same one that sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.  

Remember not everyone loves and worships the same way.  Some people are more reserved and others are more radical and some are more emotional than others but they all can be just as sincere as the other.  There are also some that don’t know what it is to praise the Lord, but we must be patient, someday they may learn as they grow in the Lord.  Then there are others that don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord at all and think it somewhat strange to see people raising their hands, some crying and others being very verbal in their worship and we need to be patient with them, but not intimidated by them.  

This lady had nothing else on her mind but to love and worship the Lord.  We could learn a lesson from her.  This reminds me of something I have heard and it is this; those that have been forgiven much love much and those that are forgiven little love little, this woman had been forgiven much.  How much have you been forgiven? Something to think about!  May you have a great day and may the good Lord bless you and yours and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!

Will You Be Ready

The Israelites were God’s chosen people but God’s love didn’t keep Him from punishing them on different occasions.  Can love be possible without correction?  I don’t think so.  God has unconditional love for all of us but without correction love is not true love.  

Did you ever really think about why God loves us?  This is something to think seriously about.  When you think about it, think about this; does God need us to love Him, is He lonely or sad or unfulfilled in any way?  No, God is complete in every way and He needs nothing.  Now think of this; if God needed us to love Him, He could have made us robots that would have done His will and showed Him our affection every minute of every day.  He could have had us worshiping Him and praising Him all day long.  There is only one reason God loves us and that is that He chooses to, because God is love, it is just who He is.  So instead of God making a bunch of robots, He made us and gave us a free will to choose whether we would love Him and serve Him or not; but, with that free will, there are also consequences if we rebel and chose not to follow Him.

God created the heavens and the earth, He put the stars and the sun and the moon in place and created the animals and fish and reptiles and all the vegetation from nothing and He said all was good.  He also made man and woman and put them in a beautiful garden where He had provided everything for them; everything that they would need for a life of happiness and contentment, and what a beautiful place it must have been.  God even walked with them in the cool of the day.  God provided all this and they could have lived there happy forever and ever.  There was only one commandment that God told them and that was not to eat of the tree that was in the midst of the garden because if they ate of that tree they would surely die.  But, what God provided for them wasn’t enough, they wanted more and they took of the forbidden tree, and sin and death entered the world and along with it a curse on all mankind.  But God’s love and grace never failed even though they were banished from the garden.  God still loved them and even though their sin affected everyone else that was born, outside of Jesus himself, and even made us His enemies, God made a way for everyone to be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with Him.  

Reconciliation was made possible because of God’s unconditional love for those He created in His image and likeness and that includes every one of us and this could only come through the shed blood of the innocent for the guilty.  The first time we hear about the shedding of blood was when God killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Read Genesis 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Then there were the blood sacrifices in the Word of God for the sins of the people, but Jesus gave himself as a permanent sacrifice when He allowed himself to be the sacrificial Lamb of God who through His blood takes away the sins of the world.  The animal’s blood could not take away sin, it just pointed to what Jesus would do in the future.  Read Hebrews 10:1-6, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.”

Forgiveness of sin could only be accomplished through Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.  Read Hebrews 10:8-14, “Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

I titled this, “Will You Be Ready,” the Word of God says in Hebrews 9:24-28, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

There is only one way to go to be with the Lord or to be ready for judgement day and that is to put your trust in Jesus and turn from your sins and ask Him to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior.  The Word says this in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

I have given you something to think about and if your desire is to repent and give your life to the Lord that would be the greatest choice you have ever made, or if you have been away from the Lord backsliding, come back to the Lord repent and ask the Lord to forgive you and to heal you of your backsliding.  Find a church that preaches the Word and start growing in your faith and share with others what the Lord has done in your life.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day in Him!!  

Division In The Church

There is something that still goes on in the church today that has been going on for years, and that is division in the church, which can happen in many ways.  But today I will focus on getting your eyes on people and off the Lord.  Sometimes churches are split over things that can be worked out if all parties come together and pray sincerely together and take time to work things out.  I also realize that there are doctrinal differences that can’t ever be worked out like heresies that may be introduced in the church unless those heresies are done away with that were causing the division.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.  There was a man in the church that was getting a big following so he left the church and started a ministry on his own and many people from the church followed him and it caused a small division in the church; I don’t know what happened to the man or his ministry in this case but people got their eyes on this man.  Another example was an incident when an assistant pastor thought that he should be next in line to be the pastor when the main pastor stepped down, but it didn’t happen and he ended up leaving and that caused a big split.  In another situation the pastor left because he felt that the people had their eyes on him and not on the Lord, like they should have, and some of the people left the church when that happened.  That man was a very close friend of mine and he was a super nice guy, but even with that said, where should our eyes be?  They should be on the Lord and not on man.  Some people follow a person from church to church, only wanting to sit under a certain pastor, but read what the Word says in Proverbs 11:14, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

Now read Proverbs 15:22, “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”

There is no one that knows everything, outside of the Lord himself, and He is the head of the church and we need to keep our eyes on Him.  Paul had a problem with this in the Corinthian church, read what he had to say to them about this issue in 1 Corinthians 3:1-8, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”

If we get our eyes on man, we get ourselves into trouble, we need to keep our eyes on the Lord.  Now read Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

God uses many different pastors to help His people but in the end He is the one that we need to shape our lives after.  Something to think about and may you have a super day!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!

No Shame

Is there no shame anymore?  In the 40’s you would not have seen or heard many of the things we see and hear today.  I can remember when we only had a radio and we were happy listening to the funny stories.  At the time we had no TV and we thought that when the TV was invented it was a great thing, and it was.  Same thing happened with the computer, it was a good source of information.  And what about when the movies started to hit the screen, they were funny and family friendly.  Then in the 60’s things were changing, it was a time of free love and peace and of course the drug scene and the hippy movement also, the ‘God is dead’ movement.  

As time went on the things that would cause embarrassment, like passing gas or burping in public and other things, became a joke and a source of laughter.  The things that would have caused someone to be embarrassed turned out to be accepted behavior.  I remember when a ‘streaker’ ran through places naked, which would have been an embarrassment at one time, became a laughing matter, then a funny song came out that helped to make it more accepted.  I remember when you could go into a store and not hear any curse words, that is not so today.  

As time went on we just continued to go through different stages until we got where we are today, where it seems like anything goes and most everything is accepted.  I remember a time when you could walk down the street at night and even walk in the alleys of town and not be bothered and without any fear.  You could also leave your doors unlocked day or night and not be bothered or worried about it.  It wasn’t like anything went on that would have been embarrassing; it was just kept out of sight behind closed doors, so to speak.

Today, about everything imaginable is at your fingertips on your Smart TV, IPhone, iPad or your laptop computers or desk top computers plus other sources.  Babies are done away with in the name of convenience, violence is on the rise, porn is at your fingertips, sexual perversion is accepted at any level, lying and deceit and get rich schemes are plentiful, and all kinds of things that would have caused embarrassment are accepted practices today and it just seems like it is going from bad to worse!!  

All this time there was a secret plan to eliminate God and Christianity from America in which it was founded on.  There are people behind the scenes that are trying to break down the foundations that this country was founded on which was freedom of religion and freedom of speech and also to do away with our constitution.  There have always been progressives and socialists around and we still have them today; they never seem to give up their agenda to take over every aspect of people’s lives.  The sad thing is that all this has been tried already and failed miserably but some people seem to never learn from the past, they just seem to do the same things over and over again.  Think of this, if you lose your freedom what hope will you have?  

My prayer is that someday we will get back to what this country was founded on.  I think what we truly need is a great Holy Ghost revival that will renew the hearts and minds of the believer and also touch the hearts and minds of the skeptics and the un-believers and atheists and socialists and progressives as well.  My prayer is that they will be brought to repentance through godly sorrow, read 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

I pray that everyone will receive the Word of God and hide it in their hearts and that they will know the truth and the truth will set them free.  The truth is that we were all made in God’s image and likeness and God loves us all unconditionally and He is not willing that any be lost but that all come to repentance.  Read 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

This is good news for everyone who will believe and repent and turn from their wicked ways and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  None of us know when the Lord will return for the church, His body of believers.  Read 2 Peter 3:10-14, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

I hope this will be both an eye opener and a blessing to each person that reads it and all of you will take it to heart and act on it accordingly.  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!!

Born-Again

Some people see a changed life in a person and the first thing they might say is that person grew older and became wiser or that they just got tired of their old lifestyle.  When you are born-again you receive the Holy Spirit who dwells inside of you and your body becomes the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”

We haven’t been reeducated or reformed and we haven’t decided to make ourselves better because there is one thing a person can never change and that is the heart, which the Bible says is deceitfully wicked and who can know it.  You may be able to change your appearance or wear nicer clothes and even break some bad habits, but inside you will be the same person, only the Lord can change that.  This shows you the work of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life, we are new in Christ Jesus.  If anyone is in Christ their whole perspective changes and they see things differently and their thinking becomes different and as they get into God’s Word their actions change and they start growing in their faith.  They have been set free of sin which they were in bondage to.  The Word of God says in Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Now read Romans 3:10, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one..”

But praise God for the ministry of reconciliation, read 2 Corinthians 5 18-21, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, we have been reconciled to God and became His friends instead of His enemies. This is what takes place in a born-again believer’s life when they have been reconciled or justified with God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.  Jesus shed His precious blood for our sins and not only ours but the sins of the whole world, praise to our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.  There are people that teach that there are many ways to get to God, or heaven, but Jesus claimed there was but one way and that was through, or by Him.  Read John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’”

It is not by works or any other thing that you can think of, read this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.”

When the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins and you repent, having godly sorrow, and you turn away from your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you and to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior, then you will understand what it is like to be a believer.  My prayer is that you will, may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!