From Dirty Rags to Righteousness

 God’s Word says this to everyone before they are covered by the righteousness of Christ, your righteousness is as filthy rags.  All the things we have done, including me also, because we wanted to help someone was a  blessing to them, but as far as we are concerned thinking it will help us earn brownie points to get us into heaven, or get us in right standing with the Lord, we are just deceiving ourselves.  We cannot contribute anything as far as our salvation is concerned.  

Jesus Christ made that possible for us by presenting himself on our behalf as the spotless sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  I believe that repentance on our part is required when the precious Holy Spirit convicts us of the sins in our lives, and then we repent by turning from our sins, having a change of heart and mind, turning to the good Lord and confessing and rejecting our sins, receiving the good Lord as our Lord and Savior!!  Then I believe we will be born-again and covered by the righteousness of our Savior and Lord!!

God’s Word says this in the book of John, in the third chapter, that we must be born-again, please read John 3:3-6, “Yeshua answered him, ‘Amen, amen I tell you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus said to Him. ‘He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?’ Yeshua answered, ‘Amen, amen I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”  

We can never be saved by our good works; but after we are saved, there are plenty of good works for us to do!!  Please read the following verses:

Titus 3:8, “Trustworthy is the saying, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have put their trust in God may be careful to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are good and beneficial for people.”

Titus 2:14, “He gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and so that He might purify for Himself a chosen people, zealous for good deeds.”

Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds.” 

1 Peter 2:12, “Keep your conduct honorable among the Gentiles. Then while they speak against you as evildoers, they may—from noticing your good deeds—glorify God in the day of visitation.” 

Acts 9:36-39, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.”

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”   

As long as no one gets these works backwards, everything will be fine, don’t always just look for the miracle but be the miracle in someone else’s life.  I hope this has been an encouragement and a help and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect, peace, love and joy and health and happiness, and don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!

Intimidation

 

The enemy of our souls loves to intimidate people by trying to get everyone to believe his lies!!  In fact, he is the father of lies and a great deceiver.  He is very angry at God and he is very angry with God’s people.  The fact is, he was a beautiful angel at one time, that stood in the very presence of God.  But that was not enough, he was very jealous of God and he wanted to build his throne above God’s throne.  In the process he was able to deceive one third of the angels, and in the end, he was thrown out of heaven, down to the earth.  He knows where he is going and who is the real power, God himself, he is the almighty, all powerful true God.  

As far as God’s people are concerned, the enemy can only go as far as God allows him to because God is the ultimate authority, and our enemy is under God’s control at all times, along with all the fallen angels.  If anyone really stops to analyze this mystery, it may shock them; think of this, Satan was the first created being to sin and that without a sin nature.  Following that incident one third of the angels fell into sin and none of them had a sin nature either; then Adam and Eve also sinned without a sin nature.  

We, being believers, realize that we naturally sinned because we know that we are born with a sin nature, which many say is unfair; but, what makes you think you wouldn’t have sinned without a sin nature knowing that many have sinned without one?  The facts are that there would have been a good possibility, that we may have sinned also.  

Now think of this, our enemy is very much alive and well and he has been around for many years perfecting his intimidation tactics, plus lies and deception.  He actually blinds the eyes and minds of those that are lost so that they will believe everything and anything but the truth.  Manipulation, lies and deception are the name of his game.  Many are, and will be, separated from God for eternity and end up in the lake of fire because of the choices they made while walking the earth.  When they were drawn and convicted by the precious Holy Spirit and the veil was lifted from their eyes and minds, they refused to listen to the truth and believe and repent and turn from their wicked ways, with a change of attitude and heart and mind.  So, they have no one to blame but themselves!!  I don’t believe that God throws anyone in hell without them having the opportunity to repent.  I believe that God extended is love, grace and mercy to every person that ever lived, and it is very clear in his Word, in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”  Please read it and meditate on it.

What we need to do is put on the whole armor of God and resist the enemy and he will flee from us and humble ourselves before God and he will lift us up in due season!!  Praise the God of Heaven and Earth, Jesus our Savior and Lord, and the precious Holy Spirit for they are truly worthy!!

May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a very, very special day!!

 

The Righteous Forsaken

 I have never seen the righteous forsaken, have you?  I have seen them in all kinds of situations; discouraged, in pain, angry, hurt, persecuted, sad, lonely, scared, rejoicing, happy, deceived and rejected and in doubt, tired, proud and arrogant and complacent and also sick, I am sure if I thought about it more, I could come up with even more things, but I have never seen them forsaken!!

Think about Jesus’ disciples, all of them went through some of these things, if not all of these things, but none of them were forsaken.  You are probably thinking what about Judas, but remember he made the choice to forsake and betray Jesus, it wasn’t Jesus that did the forsaking, it was Judas.  He was in charge of the money and would help himself to it whenever he felt inclined to!!  He was a very greedy person, who had a free will and choose to sin just like Adam and Eve, and also Ananias and Sapphira, think of this, the Lord will always judge sin.  

Now think of this also, God is complete in Himself, He needs nothing or no one, but He chooses to love people, even the most hardened sinners with their never, ever ending Jesus mantra, never Jesus.  Everyone should love the Lord because love, grace and mercy exude from His innermost being because He is love!!  Remember when Jesus was mistreated terribly then crucified?  He said something profound about the people that were responsible in Luke 23:34, he said, “But Yeshua was saying, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”

Jesus’ very purpose was to be the sacrificial Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world; that’s how much God and His only begotten Son, Jesus, loved us, Jesus was willing to lay down His life and did just that!!  If he would have refused, we and every other believer that ever lived would have never been forgiven of ours, or their sins.  

The thing that is so remarkable is that no one could have taken His life, He had to voluntarily give Himself into their hands and He had a free will also.  But out of an unconditional love for God, His father, plus all us sinners, He made the right choice, praise his Holy name!!  He suffered, and we benefited from the choice he made.  

God’s Word says in Hebrews 9:22, “And nearly everything is purified in blood according to the Torah, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  Jesus’ blood was shed, meeting that requirement.  So, if we truly repent, having a change of heart and mind and turning from our sins to God by faith, confessing that we are sinners and are sorry, and mean it, we will be candidates for God’s kingdom.  And we will never be forsaken either.

Have a bright and beautiful day and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy, and health and happiness!!

 

Judging Others

Is it always wrong to judge others?  No, unless it is in a condemning way.  We must be very careful when it comes to judging others especially believers.  We may see some that claim to be believers doing things that we wouldn’t do and right away we start to condemn them, thinking or saying whatever we think out right, as we judge them and condemn them, this should not happen.  Who are we to judge another man’s servant?  Let’s face it, how many of us have not fallen into this judgement cycle more times than we want to remember?  We do not walk in other people’s shoes.  There are things that others have experienced that we have not, and never will experience, and vise-versa.  There are also what we may call babes in Christ, who need to mature in their walk with the Lord, and we have no idea what it will take or how long it will take for that to happen.  

Read what the Lord says about judging others in Matthew 7:1-5, “Stop judging, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye? Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the beam is in your own eye? Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Also, please read verses 15-20 in that same chapter, “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes aren’t gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but the rotten tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.” 

There seems to be a dissension between these two groups of people.  One being our brothers and sisters in the Lord, the others being wolves in sheep’s clothing; false prophets that were not believers at all, just pretenders.  How many times have we taken these verses out of context, using them to cover all true believers saying you will know them by their fruits?  How many times have we condemned true believers for something they may have done that we don’t approve of!!

Please read Romans 8:1-4, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what was impossible for the Torah—since it was weakened on account of the flesh—God has done. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh— so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach.”  

If the Lord shows his servants compassion, love, mercy and grace who are we not to set the same example!!  I am as guilty of this as anyone, Lord help me and every other believer to learn a lesson from Jonah who had more compassion over a plant that dried up and took his shade from him than for 120,000 people who didn’t know their right hand from their left!!

Lord help us to show love, mercy and grace to all people just like you do, and to love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves and to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord!! Please forgive us when we haven’t showed love, mercy and grace, instead of condemnation, as for me I am truly sorry!!

I hope this has been helpful and a blessing for each person who has read it or heard it!!  Here is hoping you and yours have a super, super day!!

 

Compassion on All

 The act of compassion is very important in life, it is relating to people where they are at, in other words, feeling their pain then being willing to alleviate it in some way!!  It is not just saying, “I feel your pain,” but it is a willingness to act on their behalf.  You may relate this to a health care worker who is willing to get their hands dirty, one that actually cares, and are truly making a difference in people’s lives.  Take the nurses and doctors, for instance, who are taking care of COVID patients that have literally put their lives on the line because the word compassion truly means something to them.  

You can show compassion in many ways, being willing to do things for people to help them or building them up with kind and encouraging words. It just takes a person that is willing to use the gifts that God has given them.  You might be surprised at what you can do to show compassion towards someone.  Something as small as holding a door for someone or just giving someone a great big smile or just being friendly.  Maybe helping with their snow in the winter or mowing their lawn in the summer or other odd jobs.  Like I said you can show compassion in many ways!!

This can also be called loving your neighbor as yourself.  Loving someone and having compassion on them are sort of intertwined and both are very important and are like a double blessing that crisscross one another!!  Jesus talked about this while talking to a man when he walked the earth  many years ago in Luke 10: 27 please read,  “And he replied, ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’”   

So, if we will all take all this to heart and do these things, we will be like a walking Bible.

Please reads Ephesians 4:32, “Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.”           

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement. He encourages us in every trouble, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any trouble, through the very encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.”

1 Peter 3:8-9, “Finally, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, tenderhearted, humble-minded. Do not repay evil for evil or insult for insult, but give a blessing instead—it is for this reason you were called, so that you might inherit a blessing.”

My prayer is that all who hear this or read it will be blessed, encouraged and helped and that you and yours will have a blessed day.