Friday, September 30, 2016

Boast in the Lord


2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 

2Co 10:4  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 
2Co 10:5  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 

2Co 10:17  "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 
2Co 10:18  For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 

It is pretty obvious that the politicians use a worldly standard and we know that the devil is king of the world's thinking. We see in the political debates that the object is to discredit the opponent, to make him or her to look bad. Even some who were Christian responded to attacks with more attacks, being offended and reacting in a personal way. How difficult it seems to be for those seeking power to do what the word of God says; instead they use the devil's tools of destroying by harsh words. We are not all politicians but all of us are in a fight over what is right and what is wrong. How many truthfully are more interested in defending the Lord? Most seek to look good, to defend themselves. Is it more important to look good to others than it is to be approved of God? We are fortunate when we do not have to fight enemies on the world's political stages, but each of us has a platform and a place to speak and to do things that edify the Lord. Let us be sure that we are not seeking our own glory but may we glorify the Lord with our lives. Love one another. There is a collision coming of the world against freedom of religion. We may not lawfully speak what God's word says. We must speak the truth. When you vote for a president, vote for the one who speaks the truth more than lies. We have allowed lies to continue in our nation  to our shame. All liars will be cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Jesus Astonished the Doctors

Luk 2:41  Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 
Luk 2:42  And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 
Luk 2:43  And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 
Luk 2:44  But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 
Luk 2:45  And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 
Luk 2:46  And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 
Luk 2:47  And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 
Luk 2:48  And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 
Luk 2:49  And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? 
Luk 2:50  And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 

At the age of twelve a Jewish boy was to begin to learn his father's business. Joseph was a carpenter but Jesus'  Father was God Almighty. He astonished the learned doctors of the written word of God with his understanding and answers.  As I think of the titles of Jesus, the Living Word comes to mind. Jesus as a babe growing up as a young Jewish boy was beginning to take hold of who he was and his ministry on earth as a human and as the only begotten Son of God. He is an example to us. When we as humans began to see the things of God and were born again of the Spirit we began to learn and develope in the ministries God has for us. It is a great wonder that God humbled himself in the form of a human infant who grew slowly as a human but with the title and responsibilities of the Son of God. Jesus the Son from heaven was from everlasting. Jesus born of woman was the second Adam, come to redeem his people.


I will try to be clever and say that Jesus is still astonishing the doctors, the doctors of medical science. Jesus heals those with no hope of recovery and the doctors are astonished and they do not understand his miracles. To God be the glory and praise the name of Jesus, our savior for all things are possible with God.





Sunday, September 25, 2016

Tittle-tattle


Pro 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Talebearers or gossipers speak of the faults and failings of others, or reveal potentially embarrassing or shameful details regarding the lives of others without their knowledge or approval. Even if they mean no harm, it is still gossip.

gossip...casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.

I knew a woman who could not keep a secret. The most private of conversations were revealed by her. I felt sorry for those whose secrets were betrayed. Often she would broadcasts things that she thought were true about others, that were not true. She had many good qualities but perhaps from loneliness, she could not keep a secret.

Paul spoke of the widows who often spent time with other women gossiping instead of keeping busy and keeping quiet.
 
1Ti 5:13  And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

busybodies...busybody is a nosy, meddling person, who's very interested in what other people say and do. If you're a busybody, you can't help offering advice to friends, whether they want it or not. Busybodies are known for trying to help with situations in which they're not necessarily welcome or needed.
 
If you hear something about another that puts them in a bad light, do not repeat it. If it involves you, do some research on it and confront the person who offends or who is offended. Do not broadcast negative words about another person.
 
tittle-tattle...idle talk; gossip.
 
Pro 18:7  A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Pro 18:8  The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
 
I think most of us have said words that should not have been said. We are to speak words that edify not to tear down another. None of us are without faults. Thank God that he forgives us when we confess our faults through the blood of Jesus our savior.
 

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 



Saturday, September 24, 2016

Prosperity


Isa 48:17  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
Isa 48:18  Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
Isa 48:19  your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me."
Isa 48:20  Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!"
Isa 48:21  They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.
Isa 48:22  "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."
 
The end of Israel's captivity was near. They never would have been taken into Babylon if they had obeyed the LORD, who teaches and leads them to profit. They were to tell the world of their deliverance with "shouts of Joy". They were reminded how the LORD supplied their needs giving them water in the desert journey. He sums up his exhortation to his people saying, with the wicked, "there is no peace".
 
There is peace in the Holy Spirit, and righteousness in those who come to Jesus.
 
John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
 
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Godly sorrow in those who obey the LORD results in repentance to salvation. The sorrow of the world, is sorrow for being caught, but with no repentance and turning to God. They accumulate wealth by evil means with no satisfaction and their end is death.
 
Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

God's people seek his truth and obey him and are profitable. True prosperity is of the soul and spirit.
 

3Jn 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.



Friday, September 23, 2016

Together With Him


2Co 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 

We, the body of Christ, the born again believers called the Church, the Bride of Christ; together with others of the faith in Christ and most importantly those who walk together with Christ and by the Holy Spirit  who are led into all good works. Remember we are to work together with God. The Spirit beseeches us who have been called and accepted as adopted children of God, that we not receive in vain the grace, the enabling power of God,  We are not to ignore our position in Christ, in vain, as if it were nothing. Vain means empty of worth. A vain person seeks only her own comforts and delights in the flesh. We are to delight ourselves in the Lord. Paul, in the Spirit warns us to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. We are to be yoked with Christ. Jesus says that his yoke is easy.

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Christ in us does the work of God and we are to submit to him. There are no problems facing us that cannot be overcome by the power of God in us. Paul lists many afflictions that he had endured for the faith.

2Co 6:3  Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 
2Co 6:4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, ...

Prepare yourselves being led by the Holy Spirit, for the world will hate you and persecute you and even some in the church will oppose you and discourage you. Also, we are not to entertain other spirits. Test the spirits to see if they are of God. Do they acknowledge that Jesus is Lord? Even the demons recognize Jesus, but the Spirit of God will know the truth.  Come out from among them and give yourself completely to the Lord. 

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 

Come out from the unclean things and be separated, anointed of God, and we shall be called a son or daughter  of the Most High God; the Lord Almighty.  Be an example of a servant and son of God. Follow Jesus and be with him always. 

Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 

May we let God work through us to accomplish his purpose and be wise in our choices.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

The Golden Image of a Man

Dan 3:10  Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: 
Dan 3:11  And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 
Dan 3:12  There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 

Do we serve the golden image of a man? What is this image? Is it not the thoughts and decrees of a man that rise above the constitution and time honored laws of God? The constitution was established by those of faith in the Almighty God. They knew that for the constitution to stand that men and women should honor and respect the will of God. To change the laws of two thousand years, to conform to the crafty inventions of a man; this is an abomination. A people who have drifted away from God have taught their children to follow the golden image of a man. Whenever the light that shines truth is seen in public life it is covered by decrees of man and it is taught that they are wrong. Wrong becomes right, evil becomes good and a nation is headed for destruction by worshipping the golden image of a man. This is being politically correct. Let the light of God's truth shine from your heart. Jesus is my leader and master, I will follow him.



Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts


Isa 47:4  Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 47:5  Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
Isa 47:6  I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
Isa 47:7  You said, "I shall be mistress forever," so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.
Isa 47:8  Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children":

It seems that all the world hates Israel and would destroy her if they could. The LORD protects her and those who love the LORD. When Israel sinned by worshipping other gods, the LORD had the Chaldeans take his people into their lands. This was a just judgment, but the Chaldeans grew proud and promoted evil against His people. God would rescue Israel from out of the heathen places. He would allow them to return to their homeland. Some were more comfortable in Babylon and did not return.
 

The Lord is calling his people out of Babylon, out of a nation that has turned from God and has embraced things that God hates. Be careful people of a wicked nation who you call hate people. If God hates something, you need to listen and repent. We are to love what God loves and not to touch the unclean things. Come out, people of God and seek him with all of your heart.



Sunday, September 11, 2016

911


Let us not forget that our power and strength comes from God. The hope of America are the praying people of God who repent of their sins and the sins of America and who seek the face of God in prayers for others. We are intercessors for those who have lost their hope.

2Ch 7:14  if my people who are called by my name 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. 

It is our duty to pray a hedge, a wall of protection keeping the evil from our nation and our loved ones.

Job 1:8  And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 
Job 1:9  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 

Job 1:10  Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 

Neh 4:7  But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 
Neh 4:8  And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 
Neh 4:9  And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. 

Satan stirs up trouble from without and from within. The Lord Jesus Christ has defeated satan and by the authority of Jesus Christ we overcome all enemies of God. We were once enemies of God before we were saved.

2Ti 2:22  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 
2Ti 2:23  Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 
2Ti 2:24  And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 
2Ti 2:25  correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 
2Ti 2:26  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. 

We are examples of born again disciples of Christ. Be his person in work and in prayers all in the precious name of Jesus. As we remember 911 we should also remember that Jesus defeated the devil on the cross and is risen to eternal life. Our hope is eternal and our life is abundant in Him.



Saturday, September 10, 2016

Achieving Discipline


I was almost thirty when I decided to go to college. I was not much of a student in high school, I just got by. Something happened after high school; an illness and a meeting with the Lord. I was born again and all things become new. I saw the blossoms on the nectarine tree and marvelled at their beauty. My eyes were opened to see. I could hear with discernment. Upon returning to college full time I learned that to be a good learner required discipline. I knew the path to the refrigerator, but to sit and study, this required discipline. How easy it is to do nothing but seek pleasure, but to get somewhere requires vision, determination, and discipline. College was inexpensive in the mid to late 1960's. There was a war going on, one in Vietnam and another in the hearts and minds of the people. The freedom to go to college at an affordable time was abused by many who became protesters of the war, seeking freedom of speech they bullied their way changing college studies into popular causes, black studies, women's rights and it continued until now it is gay studies, transexuals in womens showers etc. The broad way seeks the easy way, the mobs way, the way of pleasure, sex, drugs, alcohol. I was not involved in any of that as a 30 something, student. The point is, to amount to something requires discipline under a wise teacher. My teacher is Jesus and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Pro 5:21  For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. 
Pro 5:22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. 
Pro 5:23  He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. 

Follow God and keep going.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

All Glory To The Most High God


Dan 4:28  All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29  At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31  While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32  And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:33  The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
Dan 4:34  And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:

Another ruler was struck down because of pride and an evil heart; King Herod.
 
Act 12:21  And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
Act 12:22  And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
Act 12:23  And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
Act 12:24  But the word of God grew and multiplied.
 

 King Nebuchadnezzar repented and glorified God. Herod was beyond repentance and was cut down. We are to give God all glory. All that we do that is good comes from him. He is the source of all good. We dare not neglect to give him glory and we need to be close to him, for he desires our fellowship. He is LORD God and our closest friend. We are given permission through Jesus to call him Our Father.