Tag Archives: Kingdom of Heaven

Take IT!

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Sarah Trimmer

Sarah Trimmer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To my brothers and sisters:

A question was posed to me.  And in truth I was asked to answer.  “Have you taken all that the Lord your God is willing to offer you?”  What was proposed is a consideration of His promise.  And the question is raised as an answer to prayer.  This question is poised every time we enter prayer with the God who cannot lie.

What has He promised His people?  Isn’t it true that He has said that all who enter the Kingdom of Heaven will do so without sin?  Isn’t it true that no man will see the face of the Father without holiness?  Isn’t it true that it is God’s will that no man should perish, but that all should find eternal life in His Son?  And isn’t it true that those who believe will know that they have eternal life; that this joy of truth should abide in them so as to cause laughter, joy, love, mercy, wisdom, understanding, and a certain doing that belongs to the holy family of God?

Each of us answers this question with truth, no matter how we lie to ourselves.  God sees all.  God leads His people in power and truth.  We do not serve Him out of a silly religious practise.  Religion is what we do as a result of His blessings.  But we yearn to approach Him with the same dedication to truth that He presents to us.

I urge us all to consider where we stand in our belief.  And I beg that we all consider that we serve the Living God who raises the dead.  Take His promises!  Enjoy forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus.  But let us not leave anything on the table as we march into eternity.  Let us consider what He offers to all His people.  And let us allow Him a great bounty from His patient labors.

Amen

The Fickle Finger of Accusation.

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Finger pointing

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What does it take for Christians to live in peace with one another?  Look at the divisions among us, each believes this, and each believes that.  What utter foolishness.  Men have divided scripture until there is little place left where a man might know he has found the body of Christ.

Ok.  I’m not so stupid as to advocate a reuniting of the branches of the family of Christ.  I won’t live long enough to argue with the present believers, let alone those children who will come of age and believe what they were taught.

But there are certain solid and indisputable items of The Faith which can be agreed.  And there are fringe differences which might be argued to the profitability of all.  And it is those fringe differences which bring us all the closer as we argue them between us.

Only, let us be careful to keep such bantering behind closed doors.  Those who hate us will surely point to the subtle differences and proclaim, “They can’t agree between themselves!  How can we trust that they have anything worth examining?”

We who are not afraid to encounter a subtle difference in belief find great strength appears after defending our position.  Both walk away satisfied that they have been heard.  And such issues have no lasting impact on the love we have for one another.  But in the hands of those who hate the Lord, such things become a fire and restraint for those who are trying to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

What am I saying here?  Why did I post this?  I posted this to point to one element of humanity that has caused untold sorrow and death.  The pride of man has crept into the Church from the beginning.  And each generation raises up its own brand of pride.  Drop it!  Ask yourself if you would be willing to stand before the Holy Throne of the Most High God and point at your brother with an accusing finger.  Then if you’re still willing to do that for a subtle difference in belief, are you willing to receive the judgment of God for accusing your brother?

Just thinkin this through.  I’m done now.  I think I’ll go get another coffee.  Man!  I think I might have sprained a finger typing this too fast……………

REACH!

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Each of us, who worship the Lord Jesus, must seek out the truth.  We seek the truth of the Father that He has revealed in His Son Jesus.  And we seek out the truth of our standing in His kingdom, both in heaven and on earth.  All this seeking begins in faith and ends in faith.  This faith we own begins as a granting of God’s grace to us that we might believe in the name of His Holy Son.  But as we mature in that seed of faith the Father grants, we enter certain understandings. As we grow in the knowledge of our Lord we perceive that we are able to accomplish certain things according to the place we hold among men.

The question is presented to us, even at the first glimmer of our granted faith; “Who are we in the kingdom of Heaven under the Lordship of Jesus, and what is the limit of blessing the Lord is willing to grant us that we might serve Him in the redemption of souls from this place of testing?”

It is no sin to desire to serve the Lord.  Regardless our history, regardless our past willingness to obey His Lovely Commands, regardless our

Jesus

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hypocrisy, fellowship with sin and wickedness of this world, it is not a sin to desire to serve Him.  It is a sin to remain in rebellion to the receiving of the things He stands willing to give His people.  But it can also become a sin to allow yourself to expect that which you are not worthy to bear.

Many assume that they are pronounced as important in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Their assumption can easily be proven false by the fruit they are able to bear.  Some resort to lies, which their wicked hearts make up from their evil desire to be important.  Others proclaim what is true with an authority that they do not own.  And some, sadly, turn away from seeking the fullness of His blessings because they do not believe the Gospel of peace sent from He who cannot lie.

We are cautioned to consider ourselves with sobriety.  And it is not possible to say that with the proper urgency and power of words.  We serve the Living God through Jesus.  We have not come to a man who dispenses the riches of the world as he desires.  God is not a man that He can be manipulated to granting our personal desires, yet so many live as if this were true.

Consider carefully what it is you are asking for.  Consider carefully who you are, who your history has proven you to be.  Are you a man of integrity?  Does your heart allow you to bear the full responsibility of a position in Christ Jesus’ kingdom?  At the same time, let us also consider what we have left in the hand of the Lord.  What has He been willing to give that we have not even asked to receive?  Is your heart clean?  Have you led a life before men that is able to stand up before their prying eyes of hatred?  Are you able to bear the full responsibility of a position in Christ Jesus’ kingdom, but have decided not to receive it?  Have you rejected this position out of a fear of men?  Where is your faith?

Both men, he who is not able and he who is able, sin before the Lord in differing ways.  The first robs the Lord of Glory because he asks for something selfish and that without understanding. This one perceives the Most High God as a simple dispensing machine.  The second robs the Lord of Glory because he fails to ask the Lord for the very things the Lord has been willing to give him for years.  And both rob the people of the Lord at the very time when they needed truth and integrity the most.

Please consider these words carefully.  Let us bring the Lord a bountiful store of gifts on the day of His appearing.  Let each of us seek to serve Him to the fullness of His intent.  And let each of us aspire to that which is holy, lest we fail to grasp the fullness of the life He has granted by the freedom to do what is good.  Remember what our Lord has said, “He who would save his life will lose it.”  Seek what is good; both the restraint of selfish desires, and the sacrifice of life that the Lord commands.

Do You Have the Courage to Live?

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Symbol: alpha omega

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In any confrontation there are men who will endure what comes toward them.  We call them courageous men.  We admire these men.  The wise soldier will admire that same trait in his enemy.  I don’t mean that he agrees with all that his enemy believes.  But the courageous soldier will give proper respect to the potential of that enemy who has no fear.  To lack respect for such a man is to commit yourself to death.  Because that enemy will kill you.

We do not encounter God without ultimate respect.  He never lies.  He is always ready to receive as well as punish.  He is absolute love, mercy, forgiveness, and hope.  But respect of the Holy One also tells us that He does not allow ANY sin to come before Him.  This is the nature of the Gospel.  We do have a High Priest in Jesus who is able to bring us before the Father with clean clothes, heart, soul, and mind.  But being able has a restriction.  The will of man will not be circumvented.  If you wish to live in sin, in sin you will be allowed to live.  If you wish to be free of sin, then free from sin the Lord is able to cause you to be.

I wrote this post to bring up a subject that is rarely heard.  We all know a list of sins that God will not receive in His people.  But there is a sin that rarely gets mentioned anymore.  Revelation tells us something wonderfully, and fearfully beautiful.  Along with all the things we know aren’t righteous, God states one more.

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”  (Rev. 21)

Cowards will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!  I won’t bother to go much farther with this.  I simply wanted to make that point.  However, I will mention that man’s perception of God (that is to say how man without the Spirit of God perceives God) sees Him with fear.  This is much like a wall of fire that stands between God and man.  We are forced to believe in the power of Christ Jesus’ sacrifice in order to walk into that fire and find the embrace of the Most High God.  A coward will get close to the flames and turn around.  It takes a courageous heart to believe in what God has said regarding His Son.

By His Grace.

600,000. To Every Church. To Every Christian.

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600,000 men, including their women and children were led out of Egypt by great wonders and signs from God.  Yet none of them will inherit eternal life.  God swore by Himself that they would not enter His rest.  Though they were witnesses of His majesty among them, they did not combine their witness with faith.  What does this mean?  Does this apply to us today?

Hebrews says that those people heard the Gospel just as we have.  But they did not combine it with faith.  Read the account in Exodus.  Then read the witness against them in Hebrews.  Then consider this:

What have we heard?  We have heard that God sent His son into the world to save the world by offering Himself as a sacrifice for any who would receive Him.  But what does it mean to receive Him?  You have heard that Christians refer to Jesus as Lord.  Nevertheless, many refuse to turn away from the things of this world.  They retain a perceived “right” to do as they please without considering the Will of God in their daily lives.  To do this is to act just as those 600,000 who are never to see Life.

Those 600,000+ saw the plagues God sent upon Egypt.  They received the orders from Moses regarding the Passover.  They obeyed by a certain fear, born of the sights and sounds they witnessed.  They received valuables from the people of Egypt as they left.  And in this way, they plundered the slave masters who had beaten them for no reason.  They encamped against the sea as Egypt’s army approached.  They witnessed the fantastic miracle of a parting sea.  And they walked across the sea on dry land.  They watched with great surprise as the power of death at the hands of Egypt was crushed by tons of water; not one soldier survived.  They were given food and water; food from heaven and water from a rock.  Yet they complained constantly saying, “It would have been better for us to have died in Egypt.”  For this reason, God swore on oath that they would never enter His rest.

God is willing to reveal Himself to those who separate themselves from this world and worship Him through Jesus.  And in this way, we are now counted as those being tested as they were.  How many millions have already received that same oath against them?  To those who think that calling themselves something makes them that something, God remains concealed.  There is a place where we enter in.  Those who submit to Jesus’ Lordship know of that place.  While those who insist on having their own way, do not know of that place.  To them, this article speaks of something they know nothing about.  They will discount its value without consideration of what I am saying here.

What does it mean to see the wonders of God and not combine it with faith?  Simply put, it means that we recognize the work of God in our lives and put our faith in His guidance, protection, and willingness to sustain us in all things.  We turn our troubles over to Him.  We obey the call to read His Word the Bible.  We learn to pray according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  And we grow in the knowledge of the Lord as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  These are actions, which display a faith born of the witness of His Glory, which is given to all people.  And as we walk under these things, we learn to do the Holy Works of God.  We no longer do as we please.  Rather, we learn to do as we are taught.  And in the end, it is God who will receive the Glory for His works among us.  No more of this: “God will receive me for I am a good person.”

Those who are found empty of these things are not inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven.  Though you observe many rituals and words, they are void and empty if you do not submit your life to the Lordship of Jesus.  How can I say this any clearer?  How many men have tried to warn us of these things?  Yet, how many still think that to mouth words is sufficient.  Have those who believe this ever heard it said that they honor Him with their lips, but their heart is far from Him?

Millions today think that if they do enough good deeds God will welcome them into the Kingdom of Heaven with respect and glory.  But do they do the deeds of God?  A good deed in the eyes of man has as much a chance of being a good deed of God as a frog has of becoming a gnat.  God said, and we would do well to give this great consideration, that every good deed of man is as filthy rags (the rag of a woman’s period).  How can He say this of such selfless work on the part of man?  Is it selfless indeed?  Aren’t you doing these things so that you will receive?  Even if you do not expect to receive from men a return for the work you do for them, you do expect to receive from God because you perceive yourself as such a good person.  Your good deeds, done from your own mind are selfish acts of rebellion.  God alone knows what is Good!  And your not turning to Him for guidance and restraint of selfishness will be counted against you.

I do not know how to say this any clearer.  I do not want any who hear of the Lord Jesus to receive that oath of curse.  How I long to see the number of God’s people grow.  However, you will have none of it!  Why?  Why won’t you listen to these words?  Why won’t you reason regarding the Gospel?  Why do you insist on being worthy of God’s praise without God’s leadership in your life?  Why?

Jesus alone has done the will of God in the body.  And He alone will be the source of salvation.  Nothing we can do will usher us into the Glory of God the Father.  It is Jesus alone, who has that privilege.  I caution you to consider this truth with sobriety.

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.