Tag Archives: Bible

Through or Into the Flames We Go.

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fire

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Making a choice regarding religion is not like buying a new car.  Though there are a myriad of religions and a gaggle of new cars to choose from, there is only one God.  So how can we decide what’s right?  There are a few items for thought regarding religions.  And we will prove ourselves wise if we consider them.

1. God is the creator.  So what is made is not the creator Himself.  We can expect then that any religion which holds creation as greater than God is false.

2. Man is sinful and wicked to the core.  Look at how many times you’ve lied in the last 24 hours.  Either you lied because you wanted something and thought it would be the best way around, or you lied because you weren’t completely up to speed with reality.  But you lied.  Consider how many times you looked at your speedometer and found you were going to fast for the speed zone.  Isn’t this breaking the law?  And don’t all people know that breaking the law is to be imperfect?  Bottom line, you’re not potentially perfect.  You’re full to over flowing with sin.  God does not lie.  So any religion which brings man to the place of potential perfection is false.

3. If God is true and every man a liar.  And if He says that all men will die eternally because of their wickedness.  And if Christianity provides a sacrifice for our sins in Jesus (which it does).  Then the choices get very limited very quickly.

 

You’re not going to find a religion, regardless what they say, which offers the hope of the Lord Jesus.  Cults abound.  False hope is as plentiful as corn dogs at the state fair.  But there is One who is true.  And He has marked out the way in the Bible.  Spurn the Lord Jesus and you will reap a whirlwind of horror.  Embrace Him and you will find the power to hope and live.  We have been given one life.  It’s this one you’re using right now to read this.  There is no other chance to get it right.  The Bible holds the Gospel (good news).  Don’t listen to all the trash in this world.  Go straight to the source.

When you read the Bible you’ll become afraid.  I promise that.  And you’ll be tempted to put it down in a hurry.  But that fear is a recognition that the Holy Fire of God is present in those words.  You have to walk through that fire to find the Lord Jesus.  Live or die.  It’s your choice.

By His Grace.

Lead Them to Life.

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A copy of Barclay’s Amoy translation, opened t...

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I lived my life for the first 30 years with no one to guide me into what is eternally right.  Like most folk, I wandered around doing whatever I pleased.  Some days I would consider righteousness and try to do it.  Other days (most days) I would simply try to gain for myself whatever I could lay my hands on.  Drugs, stealing, lying, and social suicide were my tools of trade.

At 31 I began to read Proverbs.  It’s a very simple-minded approach to the wisdom of God.  It was while reading that little book in the Bible that I began to become familiar with the fact that there is a wisdom beyond what is socially acceptable.  And a couple of years later I had read the entire Bible, found a little church, accepted the Lord, and sat at the feet of a wise elder.

I mention all this to draw attention to something.  Where are those who know the Lord?  Are they making themselves available to someone who is looking for the Lord?  I think of how the world is going insane with sin.  Lies abound.  Greed is the order of the day.  The media holds it’s “church” twenty-four hours a day.  And the world flocks to the “mass” hysteria of waste.  Where are those who know the Lord?

The mainstream church is partially to blame for this lack of mentors in Christ.  They teach a social Gospel lately.  Their Gospel is more in line with an office with a couch.  “If you want victory over this and that, just do this or that.”  Where is the power of God?  Who is dispensing the Glory of God revealed in Jesus?  Where is the Christian who is actually ready to reach out to the sinner with truth, no matter how it will be received?   By “ready” I mean seeking an oportunity.

I present this post for consideration.  I don’t want to offer answers.  I think the questions speak for themselves.  If you’re one of the active lovers of God, then wonderful (and thank you).  If you’re just a pew sitter/sinner, consider what you’ve just read.  Bottom line is: if you don’t like the society you’re living in, remember that shutting up the true Gospel of Christ is key to the problems we’re witnessing today.

By His Grace.

“Who Respects a Fool?”

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Transferred from en.wikipedia.org http://en.wi...

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The farmer plows his field.  He sets his implements together.  He checks all the connections.  He drives over to the field.  Getting the plow into the field, he lowers the blades.  After putting the tractor in gear, he looks forward and picks a place to use as his guide for a straight line.  Letting out the clutch, he starts another year.

At the end of the row, he lifts the plow and turns around.  He sets his sights on the barn.  And, with plow up, he puts the tractor in “fast” and heads home.  In his mind, he’s done his work.  What?  He’s got 300 acres!  Anyone would think the farmer has flipped his gourd if he really thinks he’s done enough.

Many people have set themselves apart.  They have understood the message of the Gospel and taken it to heart.  Sadly, many who have a confidence in themselves have not understood the message however.  They think, like the farmer, that simply doing the minimum will satisfy the Lord of Righteousness.  But the Christian life is not a one word experience.  It is a life of dedication to growth.  Those who think they can simply attend church or speak nice words are sadly mistaken.  What of sin in your life?  Another row to plow.  What of the movies you watch?  Another row to plow.  What of your prayer life?   Another row to plow.  What of forgiving others?  Another row to plow.  What of reading the Bible on a regular basis?  Another row to plow.  What of learning from God to do everything He tells us to do?  Another row to plow.

57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9)

 

All the Way.

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Highway

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You’ve heard it said, “All the way . . .”.  “Pull it all the way out”.  “Take it all the way there”.  The phrase “all the way” indicates completing the task.  In Christianity, we are encouraged to “walk in the way”.  And the two phrases combine to describe the expectations of the Lord for His people.

Walk in the way.  Stay in the way.  And continue until you have reached the end of this way.  Do not let yourself slip to the right or the left.  Do not shrink back from moving forward in the way.  And continue in this manner until you have completed your life.

What is the way?  Listen with all your heart, strength, and soul to what the Lord has instructed His people to be and do.  Read the Bible with a desire to understand.  Pray with earnest honesty to the Lord for help in understanding.  Then practise what you are learning.  Continue in this way for all your life.  It will do you no good to say, “Well, at least I tried a while to follow Your requirements.”  Those who will receive the “Well done, good and faithful servant.”, will be the ones who have applied the Lord’s demands with a continuing effort to please His Holy Will.

Do not let your life become a fool’s work.  Consider both the warnings and the promises.  Consider them all day long and into the night.  Keep your feet from slipping in this world of slick ground.  Corruption abounds.  Don’t let it taint your way.

And a highway will be there;
   it will be called the Way of Holiness;
   it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
   wicked fools will not go about on it.

(Isa. 35: 8)

By His Grace.

A Test is Waiting for You.

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TEST

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There is a place where we can rest in testings.  Our loyalty will be tested by the Father and Jesus.  And in this testing we are not judged under the law; forgiveness and acceptance is the order of these proceedings.  But there is another testing which has neither forgiveness nor acceptance.  When we are tested by man, we are thrown to the wolves.  The testing of man is a sliding scale of hatred.  We will find ourselves tested if we let it slip that we consider Jesus first in our appreciation of life.  Then we are tested again as we testify to this appreciation.  But a sliding scale is not proportionate to a steady growth.  It’s more like we enter into differing shades of man’s hatred.  It’s not a 1, 2, 3 thing.  It’s more like :

1. we don’t like what you’re believing.  But as long as you don’t voice your belief, we can tolerate you.

2. You’ve voiced your belief in our hearing and we will now push you aside from our “fun”.

3. You’ve continued to, not only voice your belief, but act on your belief in our presence.  We will now try to destroy you because of the testimony you exhibit.

4.  You’ve continued to stand against our social order.  And nothing we have done has caused you to hesitate in the slightest.  It’s apparent you intend to continue down this path of “difference”.  So, as soon as we can find legal means, we will work toward your death.

This “test” of man will be allowed to continue until the Lord returns to establish Peace on this world under His direct control.  This “testing” is allowed because it tests and refines the heart of those who call on the Lord for true life.  Don’t be surprised at the things which encase you now.  But allow yourself to be surprised if you don’t see this progression of hatred coming upon you.  It is an indication that you are not yet where you should be in Christ.  For the Lord has promised that if they hated Him, they will hate you.  And if they desired to kill Him, they will desire to kill His people also.

By His Grace.

The “Now”.

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crumpled sentiments

This post has the potential to be a “TL:DR” (That’s “too long: didn’t read, for us un-techy folk.) But this potential is at the very core of this post.  If you read it, you’ll be glad you did.  If you don’t read it all the way through, it’s proof that this post is true.

On a date, the man wonders if he should venture a kiss.  Consider the possibilities.  She’ll slap me.  She’ll think I’m too much a weirdo.  She might not like me that much.  It might lead to something sinful.  She might consider honor and patience more important than pleasure.  And on it goes in the man’s mind (That is, a man of conscience and godliness.).

And in all our daily activities we ponder the outcome of a simple action.  Should I do this or that?  What will be the end outcome if I choose this way?   What man or woman can know?   Yet God knows.  Is it possible to learn His perfect will in all things?  According to the Bible, the answer is an absolute yes.  While there are certain things the Lord of Life will never share with mortal man, He is very willing to teach us how to accomplish the best of each situation.  And to put it bluntly, He is very willing to teach us how to what is pure and good, according to His wisdom.

How does a someone begin to appropriate such knowledge from the Lord?  The answer is very simple. Yet the application of the answer is the hardest thing you’ll ever do.  Humble yourself before the Lord in prayer and in all your ways (That is to say, in everything you do, every thought you have, and every attitude and action.).  In every part of you, submit to the leadership and Lordship of Jesus.  Through patience and submission, you will learn more and more of the Lord’s will in everything you approach.

Only God knows the particular order of true success.  He alone knows what is about to happen and what has happened to cause something in the future to line up correctly.  Why would you risk not knowing?  All we have to do is let God be God and become what we were created to be, SERVANTS.  But look into your own soul right now.  Can you see the resistance to being a true servant of God?  It’s there.  Submit.  Ask for help to understand His will in your submission.  And learn to always regard His way as more desirable than your own.  For you know you’ve heard many testify that the Lord is Good.  And the closer you get to Him, the more you’ll learn to agree.

As an example of my own experience in this, I’ve stood on the porch and leaned against the railing, considering what lay before me at the moment.  I don’t try to consider the day ahead or the months and years.  I try to focus on the “now”.  Always, what needs to be done first comes to mind.  Now the test begins.  Will I humble myself and go do that thing which has come to mind?  It’s in this “now” that I find the Lord’s leading.  And it is the “now’s” that make up the overall picture.  Did you see that piece of paper on the floor and notice that it was you who were able to pick it up?  Why didn’t you do what you knew was right?  And so it goes all day long.

Have you heard your mind remember that you should pray?  Can you tell yourself why you didn’t?  Have you heard a thought tell you to call
someone and encourage them?  Can you tell yourself why you resisted and eventually forgot?  Can you explain why you’ve failed to do a
million things you know you should have done?   It’s called rebellion and thus SIN.  Now, let’s be real about this to each other.  Do you really believe such sin will be allowed before the Throne of the Most High God?   And what excuse do you think He will buy when you try to justify
yourself before His Eternal Wisdom?

Learning to do the right thing at the right moment is the very heart of obedience to the Lord’s leading.  And God’s Righteousness is found in doing absolutely everything exactly when it needs to be done.  But trying to do all these things on your own will only lead to obsession.  Listening to the Lord’s coaching is the central key to success in all things.  Jesus is the savior of souls.  And this saving is a “now”.  For all you know, that piece of paper should be left for someone else.  Perhaps it should remain of the floor so that the next person’s
obedience can be tested and proved.  Listen to the Lord!

What would the world be like if every one of us listened to the Lord in this manner?  Why, it would be Heaven, of course.  And this is why
the Lord told us that, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  But only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.”

By His Grace.