Wednesday, April 20, 2016

C'MON MAN - Really?

People generally refuse to recognize that sin is a fact of life, and we ALL fall short, even baptized Christians. The grief Jesus bore cannot be compared to what we suffer here on earth. All the past, present, and future sins of all humanity crushed Jesus to the point of grieving blood droplets in the garden of Gethsemane.  People cannot associate with the kind of grief Jesus endured.  C'mon man, what do we really grieve? Jesus lost friends and family members as a result of His ministry. Like King David, we too grieve the loss of a loved ones, and our good friends. "grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me." 2 Samuel 1:26 -- QUESTION: Do you think we also grieve the Holy Spirit when He pricks our conscious with guilt and we choose not to confess any sin?  Do we love ALL, as we are loved?  Is'nt that a command of God?  There are Christians who claim they have surrendered all to God and that they have become new creatures in Christ, however, they choose NOT to completely obey His word.  Do Christians continually pray and “Praise God in all things”? Does their reasoning mind, at times, tell their belief system that God does NOT care and He does NOT listen to their laments? Do they confess that unbelief?  "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions." Psalm 51:1
Do they continue to go to church, without fully believing that they are loved, forgiven and saved?  Do they ALWAYS fully trust that God is just in all His ways? Or...on their own, do they simply attempt to control their bits of unbelief from surfacing?  Do they live in denial, or do they admit that they hurt and struggle at times? Or, do they simply smile and continue to boast “Jesus is Lord" while doubting?  Do they really trust that they are covered by grace and that confessing sin is not really necessary, because they got the Holy Spirit, they got baptized, and they are good to go? Do they think that they intimately KNOW God because they have memorized some scripture? Reading first John should shed some light on thia self-centered thinking, but without asking and trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal truth in scripture, they continue to justify that they know God and say flatly “I am not a sinner”  The truth is: Christian or not, a rational mind filled with scholarly intelligence generally denies any need of a dependency on God.  So the sin nature of man’s proud mind keeps them blind to the truth.  Believing “Jesus is Lord” is not enough.  We must also confess our sins, surrender our ways, and trust and obey His living and active Word.  Having the mind of Christ is to surrender our thoughts to His way, His will, and His word.  “If sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. What was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. All must bring themselves to terms with the fact that we all sin. Continued sin is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth.” Oswald Chambers "Let us confess our sins to one another so that we may be healed." James 4 - Reveal any unholy thing or thought in me Lord!  AMEN

Friday, April 1, 2016

GOLLY WHAT A DAY

Intimacy Understood

When we surrender our hearts, hopes and dreams to the superior plans of God, and invite Jesus to become our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit as our trusted Teacher. By studying the character of God we learn that He alone is trustworthy and unchanging. Many people compare themselves to others and they desire a change.  Many people want to be someone else. STOP and consider who you are in Christ! STOP thinking you are merely a face, a body, and what you have or have not accomplished.  Where is the soul in that image?  Seek Who God is, and He will lavish His love on you!  CLICK the link below and consider the very real Intimacy that God wants with you.


Intimacy With Our Heavenly Father: God wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with you.

"To walk in God's grace, is to walk in the world as poetry in motion, in this world, but not of this world ~ a world that is filled with people still trying to comprehend philosophers and magicians."  Let God silence your desire to "fit in" this world and accept your position in Him! “Be still and KNOW that I am God”  It is NOT necessary to silence or change oureselves or others.  The Holy Spirit enters us, and He is the change maker! Silence the endless inner turmoil and allow yourself to be adopted into the family of God. In the dim light of a candle, it is not possible to see properly, and a person could hurt their vision by reading God's Word in the shadows. When a person cannot accept the love of God, that person may dress well, but on the inside they are dry, dead, empty, unfulfilled and living without grace. God’s grace exudes from within.  “God is light; in Him there is  no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with
Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5 ~  When we don’t have the necessary understanding of the good practice of being transparent with God, and admitting we are sinners, and confessing our sins, His living Word becomes a dead rule book. With proper understanding, any rule or law becomes a willing practice, a way that helps us to live the LIFE we have been given JOYFULLY.  With deeper understanding,
a dawning within reveals the love of God and His commands.  We understand the INTIMACY He so wants to share with us.  We accept the Truth that we were basically created for His purpose, that we would love ourselves and others as He loves us. His commands, not suggestions, are His way and when we follow His way, we are practicing His ways of grace and forgiveness. When we are walking with Jesus, we become at peace with ourselves and with others. Many have forgotten the basis for God’s living Word.  “Love one another, as you are loved by God.” There are people who truly believe that being kind and good is enough and that they have no sin.  The Truth is – we all fall short. Humans cannot “be” perfect.
Humans fuss a lot before they are ready to surrender to God's Way and the path that He has purposed for all of us. People may hide in darkness for a time, denying the truth of their soul’s deep hunger for Truth.  But then, Glory be to God, the yearning of a soul to be connected to the Source of Life, which is the Creator of all things, that empty soul will be compelled to open their hearts and listen to the messengers God Almighty sends.  “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13 NIV ~ When a lost person attempts to silence their
mind in order to find peace, they quiet the kids, they remove all distractions, then they may practice meditation. Let us examine the results of such meditation.  After a minute or two, they will start swatting gnats or mosquitoes. A couple of minutes later, a major itch manifests on some part of their body. Then, the back begins to ache. NO PEACE that surpasses all understanding occurs and the person meditating, on their own, according to their understanding...decides ENOUGH!!  Let us encourage one another to invite Jesus Christ into our hearts and minds so that we can experience His peace. Without God, achieving peace would be like a speaker trying to silence the listeners by simply outshouting their voices. If the listener is “not interested” in
personally meeting God, no matter how much one shouts, God’s message of love and peace will not be heard or experienced.  Religious practices, or meditation will not bring you peace, only God can. Invite Jesus to become your Lord and Savior and accept the power of the indwelt Holy Spirit to begin His work in you. Our Father has endowed us with unimaginable freedom in Christ, the Holy One. Be alert and listen for His still small voice, and accept His love and the liberation from the voices of this world. Our Father sees us perfectly, He loves us as we are and He invites us to "come" to Him, to pour out our hearts to Him. We cannot hide from God, He is everywhere, all the time and He knows the contents of our hearts already. TRUSTING GOD is to keep our hearts open to Him, and we demonstrate our faith and trust in God by not hiding from the Truth, the Way and the Life. Oh Lord give us eyes to see as You see. Trust the living Word of God and KNOW that He lives in us, and we live in Him. Some may continue to cling to a fantasy or in the changing times of this world.  The choice is ours to hold onto a confident HOPE in His Word. The character of God does not change.  "I the Lord do not change" Malachi 3:6 - "How priceless is Your unfailing love!"  I encourage you to feast on the abundance of God's living and active WORD .... "For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." Psalm 36:7 ~  Thank You Lord Jesus for the new LIFE that You gave me.  AMEN