Self Applied Wedgies Warranted.


Give yourself a wedgie if you have to, but wake up!  The times are quickly approaching when God’s people will be asked to sacrifice in a major way.  How can we listen to the news, look at the actions of the wicked, and the state of the Church, and not see something going on?

The time for sleep is over.  Hold your eyes upward and your hands to the work He gave you to do.  Come on now…….. “Every man to his post!”  Oh… you don’t have a post?  I’d advise you to go get your personal running orders.  Don’t get caught sleeping.

By His Grace.

You Can’t Get There From Here.


If we walk across a field, we do so by taking one step at a time.  Once we have taken one step, it’s impossible to take it back.  Even if we put our foot back in the same print we came from, we’re not there where we were.  Time has moved on.  We’ve taken a few breaths.  Our eyes have seen things differently.  And we’ve heard that bird chirp while our foot was in it’s new spot.  We have become that new step.  And going back is only going to make us become the one who went back one step. 

This is true of our walk with the Lord also.  When He has shown us a better way, we become one who has been shown.  Doesn’t this sound simple?  And isn’t it like us to think we can go back a little while “serving” the Lord?  But we can never go back.

Many have looked into the Gospel enough to learn that it is going to be a very hard road to follow.  They decided they would just go back as though they had never known about the Truth of God.  But in their going back, they never go back.  They live a lie.  They saw something new.  They tasted the Lord’s way.  They are no longer blind to the Truth.  This is why we are warned so often about falling away.  There is a harsh penalty to pay for those who taste the goodness of God and still chose to live in sin. 

I present this for careful consideration.  If you still read this, you’re still here.  You might have tasted a few things about God.  But you haven’t yet seen His Face.  This is what makes us different from satan.  He was with the Lord of Life, and stood in His very presence.  Yet he chose to rebel.  What was his condemnation is in our favor.  Turn to Him that you might learn to walk in His ways.  Humble yourself before the Lord and seek His forgiveness. 

By His Grace.

Depression


I read many blogs from people who are depressed.  Some are considered clinical in their depression.  To all who suffer with depression I have a note:

I too suffered a great period of depression.  Death and self torture were part of my every waking moment.  So why am I able to cope without all that now?  I often read their blogs and consider what made the difference.  I know it was Jesus who lifted me out of that sink hole.  But if I tell that to you, you think to yourself, “He just doesn’t understand.  He’s just another one of those questionably helpful sort”. 

If telling you what Jesus has done for me would help, I’d spend all my time writing.   But I know it won’t help many who are still in it.  I can’t help you.  The medication won’t take it away, it only reduces the symptoms.  Jesus is the answer you’re looking for.  But I can’t make you believe that.   And certainly, the doctors and even the entire world won’t tell you Jesus is the answer.  So why believe me?  Because I testify that He does help the helpless! 

“You will seek me and find me when you look for me with all your heart, and I will be found by you”.  Right now you have nothing.  What have you got to lose by seeking for His help with all your heart?

By His Grace.

Come on in. The Water’s Wonderful.


To all men, saved and unsaved:

The will of God is being accomplished in heaven and on earth.  All around you, men and women are being transformed into creatures of eternity.  His will is that all who He accepts as “sons” will receive discipline, that they might become “sons” of the Most High God.  And He encourages all men to take from His hand this generous offer. 

Believing in God is not enough.  It is a believing which provokes a willingness to serve Him that God is looking for.  If we believe with a determined leaning toward obedience we begin to learn from Him.  And it is through patient endurance that we learn to obey Him completely. 

The finished work of God in Jesus’ death, and subsequent resurrection, is the entry point to His favor.  In Jesus we find both forgiveness of sins and the power to begin living under God’s will.  You will not find power to please God through religious activity.  

Please consider what God offers.  Count the cost, for it is high.  You will be required to die to all your selfish expectations.  And let us not forget that every one who accepts His gift of forgiveness and leading will be tested.  It is through trials that our faith is proven to be true or false.  There is forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ work for His Father.  And there is leading into the holiness that God requires of all His people.  But it in the testing of our faith that many fall away.  Seek God.  Remain seeking God.  Enter the war as a loyal servant of the Most High God.

By His Grace.

Walking as Dead


You have strayed from what is right and run after all kinds of evil.  Your body is wrapped in addictions.  Your mouth is full of cursings and wicked words.  And you think there is no longer any hope for you.

Yet there is hope.  There is no need for you to wander in this darkness any longer.  I testify that I too was encased in all these things.  I too was a fool.  I did things, said things, thought things, and chased after every manner of evil.  But it was Jesus who set me free to stand before The Father with confidence and a clean mind and heart. 

People speak of forgiveness as though it were a “pie in the sky” dream.  I tell you it is real!  When you come to Jesus there is a true transformation which takes place.  Though it’s not an over night experience, you will find evil slip away from you. If you will remain with Him, He will transform you into His desire.  No longer will you chase after evil.  You will begin to desire what is good.  He will teach you what you should do. 

There is absolutely no lie in what I’ve just said.  I testify as one who has been set free of evil.  Though I am still a man and stumble around a bit, it is His leading that will bring me into God’s presence clean and justified.  God is the Judge.  God is the One who forgives through Jesus.  It is God who will lift you up from death to life.  All men and women walk as dead in this world until they are set into The Life by Jesus. 

By His Grace.

Who is This Jesus?


Who is this Jesus?  He was made heir of all things by the Living God.  He was given the status of Son by the Living God.  He was taught by the Father how to create all that is created.  He has loved righteousness and hated wickedness.  And so He was elevated to the status of God Most High.  He is the radiance of God’s Glory; the exact representation of God.  He is the spoken and speaking Word of God.  Who is this Jesus?

The world thinks of Jesus as a little baby.  And in that form He is conveniently small and insignificant.  Yet that is not the Jesus of God’s understanding.  He is a prophet to some, yet that is not the Jesus of God’s understanding.  He has been with the Father from the beginning and will remain with Him forever.  He is the redeemer of men; causing them to become holy as the Father is Holy.  Yet the world sees Him as a nuisance. 

We will see Him as the One who endured GREAT pain for the sake of His Father’s will.  When we see Him, He will be dressed in absolute Glory.  For now many see Jesus as an irritation.  On the Day of God’s Wrath, we will see Him as He is.  No longer will men doubt.  No longer will they rail against righteousness.  No longer will they kill, maim, chide, and relegate God’s people to obscurity. 

The wicked will perish like a ball of cotton in an intense flame.  They will scream with terror at the prospect of their fate.  And they will hate Jesus with an eternal hatred.  I do not wish anyone to endure what is coming for the wicked.  Please consider what He is.  Consider with a great trembling.  You are about to meet your maker.  His name is Jesus.

By His Grace.