Rediscover The Lord

Do you feel like it is time to rediscover the Lord and His Word?  

Have you grown complacent and a little separated from your first love?  

Have you allowed worldly things to mar your vision of who the Lord is and what

He meant to you when you first started your journey with Him?  

Has your prayer life suffered and is your Bible collecting dust because of its lack

of use?  

Have you been taken in by negative people spouting things they know very little

about?  

Have you allowed the evil one to whisper lies and deception in your ears?

Are you starting to believe the lies of man instead of the truth of God?

Have you allowed stress and worry to flood your soul instead of the Lord’s

peace, love and joy because of what you hear on the news?

We live in a time of trouble, which I think will get worse as time goes on, but this is not a time to give up and throw in the towel, so to speak, no, this is a time to rediscover the Lord and His Word.  The Word says in the last days there will be scoffers.  Today is a day when the Constitution is being mocked and done away with in many cases; laws are legislated and imposed from the bench instead of the Constitution.  More and more Christians are being persecuted and our religious freedoms are slowly being taken away, but this is not a time to retreat.  This is a time to stand steadfast, unwavering in our dedication and commitment to our Lord and Savior, it is not a time to throw away our confidence.  We have a duty to fight for God’s truth and not shrink back or let the mockers, false teachers, negative talkers or even our trials get to us.  

Read what it says in the book of Jude, who was James’ brother and a servant of the Lord, in Jude 1:17-25, “But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; that they said to you, In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have mercy, who are in doubt; and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen.”

There will be mockers, false teachers and false religions that will try to deceive you but we have been warned so that we won’t be deceived.  But if we start believing man’s report instead of God’s report we will be deceived.  As for trials and tribulation, we were told that these will come and how we should respond to them.

Read James 1:2-8, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Now read 1 Peter 4:11-14, “if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; is any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you: but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.”

Now read this in John 16:33, “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

These things are not to discourage us but to encourage us.  If these things weren’t recorded for us and they all of a sudden materialized, then we would be blindsided, but they are there so when they happen we won’t be shocked.  We need to be strong and courageous so that we can stand firm in the faith.  Maybe you need to rediscover who the Lord is and get back into His Word and prayer.

All these negative things will happen because we have an enemy, but he cannot overcome us as long as we walk in the Spirit and not gratify the works of the flesh and we walk with the whole armor of God in place.  We are more than conquerors if we are in Christ Jesus, praise God!  He is our defender, shield and fortress, our strong tower and much more and we can rely on Him.  Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a great day!!

Lifted Up

Both of these are true statements: “All have sinned and fell short of the glory of God,” also “The wages of sin is death.”  If these are true, and they are, when we were born we were all in the same boat, so to speak.  We all started out the same way, no one was better than the other; in God’s eyes we all stood condemned at birth.  

Did you ever see a person that committed such a terrible crime they were sitting on death row knowing that they were guilty, waiting to be executed with no chance of being pardoned?  There have been many in this situation over the years and for them it was the second time they were found guilty of death and their punishment was death.  They received a second death sentence because of the crime they chose to commit but even before they committed that crime they had a death sentence on their life.  Like I said the Bible says, “the wages of sin is death,” therefore all of us had the death sentence on our lives and the verdict was in, we were without hope.

Read what it says in Romans 6:12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof.”

In our case we were all born with a sin nature which we put into practice at a very young age.  Can you remember the first time you lied?  I think we are all guilty of lying at one time or another.  This is what it says about lying in Revelations 21:8, “But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”  What about the other things in that verse that we have been guilty of?  

I started out with the bad news but there is good news and there is hope.  The good news is that when we were lost in our sins God made a way that we could be reconciled to Him or made right with Him.  The verdict was in, but God chose to freely pardon.  God chose to extend His grace, His unmerited favor towards His creation. Read the complete verse in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now read what John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.”

What is God seeking from us?  Read Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

God is pleased when we genuinely repent and intentionally turn away from our sins.  If this is our intent we can humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to forgive us of our sins and be the Lord of our lives.  The Lord listens to the prayer of the humble and contrite heart.  It is hard to imagine that God sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to die on a cross which should have been our punishment; an innocent man for the guilty, even while we were His enemies.  He shed His blood for us and though He would experience terrible pain He was willing to die for us because He loved His Father and us so much.  Don’t forget that even our repentance was brought about by God, so we bring nothing but ourselves to the cross, God made it all possible through His amazing grace which is his unmerited favor towards us, something we can never thank and praise him enough for.

If you think this had anything to do with your good works or anything you had done, read this is Ephesians 2:8-9, “for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.”

The choice is yours, if you are not a believer you can be, or if you are a backslider, far away from God like the prodigal son, repent and return to Him.  Humble yourself and confess your sins and ask God to forgive you and be the Lord of your life.  Don’t be in a hurry, let Him fill you with His peace, love and joy then you will walk away rejoicing.  Go to a Bible teaching church and start growing in your newfound faith and share with others what the Lord has done for you.  Something to think about!  I hope you have a super day and the Lord’s blessings are with you and yours!!

Preparation

Think about this, most of the things we do we somewhat prepare ourselves for before time, if we know ahead of time that we are going to do them.  Take some kind of sports event, for instance, we prepare ourselves for them by being excited, anticipating that our team is going to win, if we have a special team.  Some will wear special jerseys with the team logos on them.  But regardless of whether we have a special team or not, we usually get caught up in the excitement and camaraderie as the teams start scoring and we will usually pick one team or the other before long.  Before we even realize it we are all into hooting and hollering, or in some cases booing, depending on our mood and which team is scoring.

Now think about young people that are going out for ice cream or pizza or something they really like and have a craving for.  How do they prepare for that occasion when they hear their parents say to get ready because we our going out to a restaurant and you can have whatever you want?  I would say their excitement rises and their taste buds are aroused and they anticipate a great time and good food.

Preparation is a good thing; it helps us be prepared for whatever the occasion.  Normally you get out of your experiences whatever you put into them and whatever you anticipate.  

Now I would like you to turn your attention to Bible study, prayer, Sunday school and church attendance.  You might say to me these things are boring, but I have a question.  If you claim to be a believer, how much preparation do you put into these things?  Do you prepare yourselves?  Do you anticipate meeting with the Lord when you prepare for these events or do you start with a negative attitude?  

I can remember years ago when we went to church we were encouraged to do our talking and visiting in the foyer and to be reverent in the sanctuary because we were entering the presence of the Lord!!  Today it seems like a big party when you walk into the sanctuary with people talking, laughing and having a good old time.  I was taught that when you entered the sanctuary it was a time of preparation, but sad to say much of that seems to be lacking today.  Maybe that is why some people will say, “I didn’t get much out of that service today.” 

When we come before the Lord in any capacity, we need to prepare ourselves and be reverent like I alluded to earlier; we will in many cases only get out of our experiences what we put into them.  I am guilty of this myself and I have been taught but many of you haven’t, so I am guiltier than you are.  Shame on me for getting caught up in the crowd and going along with everyone else instead of setting an example.  

But even before we get to the event we are going to attend, we need to be preparing ourselves for the occasion.  It would be good to think positively and rebuke all negative thinking, if possible, and try to get your mind off your friends and others and focus on the Lord and His presence and your relationship with Him.  It is so easy to forget why we attend these meetings.  Our main purpose should be to meet with the Lord and to let Him change us from the inside out, everyone and everything else should be an afterthought.  Whether we are in church, Bible study or prayer, our first thought should be we are meeting with the Lord.  If you are a Christian, you know unless the Lord moves on your behalf you can expect nothing for yourself or those you are praying for.

God’s Word says this in Psalms 127:1, “Except Jehovah build the house, They labor in vain that build it: Except Jehovah keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain.”

I think you got the message I hope you will think about it.  I hope you will come to the Lord expecting and fully prepared and that the good Lord will meet your needs!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super blessed day!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is truly worthy!!  

Jesus’ True Family

Many of us have walked down the aisle in church to an altar and repeated the prayer the pastor said for salvation and have been in the church most every week regularly since then.  I am not writing this standing in judgment of anyone, this is just a heads up in case you are out there in this situation and you may read this.  

It is not because you say you are a Christian, or a believer in Christ, that makes you a child of God.  There are many that claim they are believers but they live like the devil most of the week.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about new babes in Christ that haven’t had time to grow or mature in their new found faith.  Some people claim to be believers when it is convenient but live a completely different lifestyle at other times deceiving themselves or being deceived.  Many people that have been in the church for a while talk the talk but do they really walk the walk?  Jesus is far more interested in people who walk the walk.  Paul said to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, not everyone that says to Him Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven but only those that do God’s will.  The Lord saves us to take us out of our old lifestyle and make us brand new in Him.  His will is to guide and lead us in paths of righteousness and to form us more into His image and likeness every day.  

Jesus described His true family in Matthew 12, read what it says in verses 46-50, “While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Jesus loved His immediate family and made sure they were taken care of; He never denied His responsibility towards them.  Earlier He criticized the religious leaders for not honoring their father and mother.

He also provided John to take care of his mother when He ascended back to Heaven, read John 19:25-27, “These things therefore the soldiers did. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home.”

His mother and brothers were present at the day of Pentecost, read Acts 1:14, “These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

Jesus pointed out that spiritual relationships were as binding as physical relationships.  

Are you doing the will of God today or are you too busy doing your own thing?  It seems today that people spend hours and hours on cellphones, IPads, computers or T.V. and this is also rampant in the church.  I wonder how much time they’re spending with the Lord!  How much time are you spending with the Lord doing His will or has He been put on the back burner, so to speak?  I have always spent time with the Lord but I have let some of these other things get in the way and I thank the Lord that He has pointed these things out to me and convicted me so I could repent and get my priorities straight.  I don’t believe sitting in front of these things hour after hour playing games is God’s will for our lives.  I think our time could be spent much more wisely.  Just start spending half of the time you spend on gadgets in prayer and Bible study or in some way blessing someone else, I think that will please God much more and in the end will help you more to know and do God’s will.  Something to think about!  I wish you a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!

God Loves Us

Let me start out with saying this, the extent of God’s love for us cannot be measured.  We can talk about it and think about it and even fantasize about it but our finite minds cannot comprehend it.  How can we come close to knowing the love of a God that wouldn’t accept our works or anything we could do to make us right with Him; we couldn’t even buy our pardon, He did it all!  Think about that, there is no way possible for us to have had a relationship with Him, it was virtually impossible.  He sent His only begotten Son to suffer a horrendous death to buy our pardon.  

You might say that not too far into man’s existence the blood of animals was being shed for man to be right with God, but the blood of animals showed the obedience of man to God’s written law in the Old Covenant but could never wash away the crimson stain of sin that separated us from God and it could never set us free of sin or change us from the inside out.  Only the blood of Jesus cleanses sin and purifies the heart of man and sets men and women free of sin’s power.

Read what it says in Hebrews 10:1-12, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:

‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,

But a body You have prepared for Me.

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin

You had no pleasure.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—

In the volume of the book it is written of Me—

To do Your will, O God.’

Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

Paul said this to the Ephesians about the magnitude of God’s love in Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

God’s love reaches into every aspect of our lives and no matter where you go or how far you run, you cannot escape from it.  His love envelops our lives because it is all around us and like I said we cannot fully understand or comprehend it!!

Read what it says about God’s love in Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We may never comprehend the full reality of the love of God but I think the most important issue here is that it is true that God loves us unconditionally and He is always for us and not against us regardless of what we feel like or what we are going through.  Praise God!!  I hope this has been an encouragement to you and that you will have a great day.  May the good Lord bless you and yours!!