Tag Archives: power

Repent and Believe. How?

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When I walked through this world, and was full of sin and rebellion, I came upon some people who did not walk in sin and rebellion.  They did what was right by the Lord’s commands.  And they encouraged others to do the same.  I joined myself to their cause.  But I was not transformed to be like them.

What they did came from the strength and promise of He who can not lie.  What I did in mimic of them was from my own understanding, strength, and struggle with my sins.  I wanted what they had.  But I didn’t know how to get it.

In short, I was practising their faith through my own religion (Religion being man’s ways of pleasing his version of God).  As was inevitable, it all fell apart when I was removed from their presence.  Many practise the religion of a “good life”, while they remain locked in their sins.  What they do won’t last.  For they pursue their righteousness on their own strength.

What has turned the corner for me?  Two things have transformed me.  Which came first I can’t say.  1. I began to distance myself from the sins I loved so dearly.  In Bible talk that would be “I repented of my sins”.  2. I received the gift of forgiveness from Jesus, and learned from Him.

I, then, repented and believed.  The punishment pending for the wicked caused me to repent of my sin.  The love of Christ Jesus caused me to believe.  But it was not a one time event.  Repent and believe is a pattern of life as a Christian.  If you’re sincerely on the path of Jesus’ people you will find something interesting and identifiable.   Repenting and believing are a moment by moment thing.  Every action comes under an awareness of His presence.  Every thought is put under the microscope of Holiness.  Repent and believe at 3 am.  Repent and believe at noon.  Repent and believe at 4 pm.  And so it goes.   It is  the power of Jesus in my very soul that gives the energy and direction we lack without Him.

By His Grace.

The “New Age” Lie.

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In my usual day, I rarely come into contact with the “new age” belief structures.  For those of you who are like me, this might need a moment of explanation.  New age belief structures praise the natural things.  By natural things I mean everything that man can see, hear, touch, taste, smell and consider.  There is a powerful pull to follow after their ways because what they worship is larger than any individual man.  Not to mention that the evil of man has corrupted the natural world by his wickedness.   So, not only does their object of worship have a larger place than man, it also has an enemy that they can identify.

But there is One who is higher.  In the new age religion peace among all men and nature is the objective.  Tolerance is the vehicle of their objective.  And wickedness is only something we can correct on our own.  There are many things to say against the religion of this age.  But these three are enough to build a case against the worship of the created.

Peace among men is a useless desire.  We want peace from a selfish point of view.  We want peace because we want to pursue our own interests.  And though we cloak our desire for peace by saying that we want peace for all men, we are not addressing the peace of God in our search and work.  Peace cannot be accomplished by selfishness.  They are at odds with each other and will never produce eternal peace.  I want what is right for me.  But by wanting that peace which is right for me, I consume, or take away, from someone else something they want.  Given full rein, this work of establishing peace will only end in a war over something trivial.

Tolerance cannot be the vehicle to that which is pure.  We tolerate everyone regardless of their actions, thoughts, desires, and ability.  But we cannot do that in order to establish purity and eternal happiness.  For in the toleration of many things we are upholding sin.  Wickedness is sin.  And there is no wickedness or sin which will remain eternally.   Those who willingly accept this idea that tolerance will produce eternal peace are fooled.  And those people are only willing to accept something less that perfection.

Many stories which come from these people portray an age where everyone gets along.  Even though their dreams depend on technology to bolster their manufactured peace, they don’t see that this is not the way into eternity.  They don’t desire to be rid of their weakness, they support or hide it by use of their own hands.  They imagine that they can invent a machine which can transform a criminal’s mind into a righteous man’s mind.  What they believe is false.  It will never happen.  They are trying to create what God has said cannot be.  All men are corrupt and are in need of a transformation that can only come from God.

And finally, the only great success this new age belief accomplishes is that they rid themselves of an awareness of God and His Holy demands of all men.  He has created us.  It is not the other way around.  They worship what He has created as though it is worthy of eternity.  But God says this place of testing will one day be rolled up like a scroll to make way for the eternal.  To you who practise this new age religion in it’s many forms I have this to say to you.  You can do anything you wish for now.  You can believe and say that anything is true.  It’s been given to you to pursue any lie you want for now. 

But you make one grave mistake.  You mistake this life you now live as an end to itself.  God has given this life in this place as a testing ground.  He is watching and will judge every action and thought of the heart.  A day is coming when what we see will be evaporated.  Right now you look at what is created, even your children, and see something “good”.   You balk at my words of warning and say to yourself, “It is not right to think of destruction of all this around us”.  You look at yourself as special and worthy of God’s approval.  But you have not sought the One who made you.  Rather, you turn to the work of your own hands to supply what you call holy.  You have no idea at all of the Holiness of the One who made you.

Even Christians are tempted to fall into your belief.  Yet it is He who corrects our understanding and continually urges us to submit to His Holiness.  In that way we do not worship what is created and keep our focus on Him.  He is willing to teach all men how to worship and follow Him.  But you must lay down your own religion.  If you earnestly seek Him you will find Him.  But if, along the path of your search, you settle for something built by man you will stumble. 

Jesus is His name.  You will find the account of Him in the Bible.  From the first page to the last, Jesus is the name.  Anything less will not survive what is coming from the Most High God.

By His Grace.

Tolerance

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The primary religion in America is tolerance.  Though at one point Christianity was the primary religion.  Americans have been taught that they must recognize the validity of every belief regarding the nature and expectation of God.  And if anyone stands up in the crowd and announces that he believes that Jesus is the only way into eternity, he is pounced on as though he is on fire. 

I will not tolerate this level of what they call tolerance.  I will tolerate your belief in this manner:  You’re welcome to believe what ever you wish.  I am not your boss nor am I a god that I should force anyone to believe in Jesus.  It’s entirely your choice.  And I am not your judge. 

I can’t expect such people, however, to tolerate my words, nor the words of Jesus.  He has stated that He is the only way to the Father in Heaven.  And He made no apologies for His words.  I will not make apology for my words either.  But you who worship tolerance will not tolerate such a man as I.  And I will continue to, not only tell the story of Jesus, call all other beliefs a lie. 

Your lie even goes so far as to use foreign words as though they were mystical and powerful.  I have something for you to think about.  You use words of other languages because they sound really cool to you.  Hey, think a minute, the word “hello” is just as funny sounding to another language which doesn’t use such a sound to greet.  Do you hear them worshiping a foreign language like you do that of India or China?  Don’t you see how foolish that makes you look?  And you embrace many other items, customs, and thoughts simply because they are not native to your own culture.  But that’s the only power those things have; they don’t belong to your mom and dad’s history so you think they have something they don’t.  And if your mom and dad did those things, then let’s point to grandpa. 

The fault of this religion of tolerance is the assumption that today is a better judge of what is right.  How is it that people of any age consider themselves to be better judges of what is right than the generation before them?  Isn’t that what little children do?  They rebel from their parents because they are sure their way is better.  And don’t parents see their folly?  What do you think you look like before the God of Eternity when you believe your way is better than His?  He set laws.  And if you chose to ignore them it will be at your own loss.  Just as teens suffer loss when they throw away their parent’s admonitions. 

You tolerate everything man.  But you toss out a tolerance for Holiness before the Most High God, through Jesus His Christ.

 By His Grace.

We Hold Dear What God Gives.

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The announcer on a Christian radio station says: “Did you ever think we got this bad weather because there was no one down there to pray?”   I am speechless.  Isn’t it given to man to receive what God gives without complaint?  Isn’t it our lot to learn obedience through suffering as did our Lord?  And aren’t we built up by a sort of rough handling?  Leave a man to his own and he will become useless.  Let a man endure nothing and he will have nothing to offer.  Even many non-believers would not venture to say such things.

What is this new place the “men of God” speak?  What has the Church become?  Where is the boldness and power of the truth of Christ in His people?

STAND UP!  YOU ARE NOT WORMS WITH LEGS AND NO CAUSE!  If you belong to Him you have His authority to speak what is right and true. 

By His Grace.

Stiff Upper Lip.

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Stand down, you ole man, for you mess with our heads.  We were happy till you came along.

In no way will I step one step to the left!  I will sing of my Lord’s Glory and Fame!

Let the world sink to hell and embrace their own way.  Yet I, to His Throne, will ascend.

Eternity’s there and that without a care, I’ll part with you though bitter end.

Have all your sin and revel in shame.  It’s far better to be beaten to death.

Then to face the Lord God with a stiff upper lip.  While He takes our very last breath.

By His Grace.

Your Throne Built of Dung.

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Why do you bring this “Jesus” to me?  Why can’t you leave me alone?  I was doing just fine with these lies I hold tight.   And your words only tear at my bones.

I bring you great peace but the cost will be great.  You will stand before Him one day.  I bring you His word from the lips of a man, so that you won’t have to stand on your own. 

He’s promised a day when all men will bow low.  And no lie can stop it from coming.  He urges us all to turn away from those lies.  And embrace our failing here.

Yet you shed great tears because you find in me no solace.  I pick at your peace without mercy.  You wiggle and squirm on your throne built of dung.  But the truth still rings in your ears.

Look how you slept, how you fitfully slept.  The message I bear is not tame.  You’ll feel so much better if you will humble yourself.  And accept His most Glorious Name.

By His Grace.