Not As The World Gives

 Not As The World Gives

God is not like this world. 

 

Jesus said. "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."---John 14:27  (John 14:1-31--in context)

When God calls us, and we turn to Him, confessing Jesus is the Lord, asking Him to save us and putting our faith in Him.

 
He saves us, and fills us with His Holy Spirit, washing us clean.

This brings us peace. Not our peace. But HIS peace. This must be understood. Because we do not nor cannot maintain this Peace ourselves. He does it as we continue to turn to Him and grow in Him, and know Him. The Word He gives us is Jesus. The Word He gives us are His Promises.

The second part of the verse is what I want to focus on.

"Not as the world giveth, give I unto you"

Because God doesn't give as the world gives. (You've lived in this world long enough to know how this world and the people of it give.)

When God gives, it's free to you. He paid for it.

It's a gift not a loan. There is no interest and it doesn't have to be repaid.

He doesn't take it away from us if we fail.

He doesn't use it against us.

He doesn't use it to guilt trip us.

He doesn't hold it over our head.

He doesn't give us something cheap and shoddy.

He doesn't give us a hand me down.

He loves us. He understands us. He works with us. He knows us, if we choose to know Him.

 

He fixes us and helps to grow us. He doesn't cast us aside.

He is with us always even till the end of the world.

And that's why we have the peace that defies all understanding. (Phil. 4:6-7)

Praise Jesus.

So what do we do?  We remind ourselves of his promises. We speak them aloud to hear them and drive the enemy away. We remind our selves of the great things God has done for us. We thank and praise Him for it. This brings peace as the Holy Spirit works in us.

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What Is My Purpose?

 What Is My Purpose?

 We are all called by God to serve.

 

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.— Matt. 28:19-20 (Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, Acts 1:8)

Our purpose as humans is to reconnect with our Creator.

He came to save us, and when we turn to Him and Confess Jesus Is the Lord, believing in Him and putting our faith in Him alone. We are saved. We are born again. (Rom 10:9-10, John 3)

Jesus died to save us and rose from the dead for our justification.
He then ascended alive into Heaven.

But, before He left He gave us the Great Commission. That is our call to service.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.—Acts 1:8

As Born Again Saints, we are called to serve God and others. We want to lead people to know Jesus and be saved. It’s that simple. Everything we do serves that ultimate goal. We want everyone saved.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.— Mark 16:15

Through this work, our relationship with God grows. He works in us, on us, and through us.

This is our purpose. This does not save us, but it is what we do because we are thankful for what God has done for us, and it’s not even us doing it. It’s Him.

What does this mean?

Well we are yoked together with Him. (Matt 11:28-30)

That is two oxen pulling a cart together, but He is honestly doing most of the work.

²⁸ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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.

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.—Matt 11:28-30

You don’t have to be a Bible expert. But, you really need to read, believe and study the Word. The Spirit will lead you to do this, and will lead you to a church of some kind, and teachers or guides. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate teacher. Remember that. He guides us as we keep turning to Him. (Prov. 3:5-6)

The first thing you need is your testimony. That is the story of how Jesus saved you. It’s stories of how God has worked in your life, answers to prayer and miraculous things He has shown you.

This is the story of the relationship you have with Him, and this is the story you can share with others, to tell them about Jesus.

Like the Gadarene Demoniac. Jesus drove the demons out of him, then told the man to “Go tell your family and friends the great things God has done for you” (Mark Chapter 5)

That’s what we do.

We don’t need to be a famous evangelist, or have a preaching degree or work for a church. Just go and tell.

This is how we earn treasures and rewards in Heaven. (Matt. 6:19-21)

It’s like an account stored in Paradise and written in the books. As saints, we are not Judged regarding our sin, but we are judged based upon what we did and did not do for the Kingdom.

We receive treasure, authority and rewards for fighting the fight of faith for the Kingdom. Leading people to Jesus and telling people what he has taught us, and our testimony. As well, as what we have given to help others or serve.

Pray about it.

One of the most powerful prayers you can pray is.

“Lord, bring me someone I can help or bless. Bring me someone I can tell about Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

When you pray this, you better be ready. Don’t fail.

We live busy lives and we do not always remember to witness or help others. But, when we pray this prayer things will happen.

You might get stuck for a long time in a waiting room with a person hurting. Pray for them. Pray with them. Strike up a conversation, and then drop God in the middle of it and see what happens.

You might get stuck at a traffic light for a long time, while a homeless man stares at you. Whip out some cash, and give it. Pray for them. That pause you feel is the devil trying to scare you. Push through it.

Now, be ready. Because when you serve God the enemy will attack. You might face persecution. You might get cussed at. You might get insulted and get mad. Just pray about it and move on. It’s part of it.

But, you gotta act fast. Because once the devil sees what is going on he will move in to try to mess things up. The phone will ring, kids will cry, the dog will howl, fear will rise up and the clock will tick. (John 9:4)

When you pray this prayer, you might not see the opportunities arise, but you will be reminded of the prayer, either before or after the encounter. If it’s before, do not fear. Just move forward and start talking about anything. Then, let the Spirit move through you. If your intent is real, the power and words will come.

If you are reminded afterward, do not let Satan wrack you with grief. Just pray for the person and yourself, then do better next time.

I have had chances to tell someone about Jesus and didn’t. Then, hear they died the next day. Do, what the Spirit leads you to do.

Family members, and close friends can be the worst. You will lose some. Some will rejoice, and others will hate you. It’s part of it. You might find Thanksgiving dinner is a battle field and not a joy.

Jesus said “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”—Matt. 13:57

Meaning that you can go all over the world serving God and the people back home will still treat you without honor.

Because they know you. They saw you growing up. They remember the sins and how you used to be. They can’t get over it. They even treated Jesus this way, and He never sinned.

Even as a Christian they see you fail and sin. They see you being a human, and not the super savior they expect. They also want you to fail, because you are a reminder of their own short comings, and need of a savior.

Pray for them.

I have prayed for my entire family for years, and I have seen massive changes, and protection from the Lord.

As a believer we must serve. It’s part of our growth and relationship with the Lord.

I want to show you a verse.

“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.“—2 Thess. 3:10

Many Christians use this verse as a justification to not help the poor. But, it turns around on them, because what if God uses the verse too?

If we are not working for the Lord, we will not get fed spiritually.

Consider it.

I have learned and grown so much through serving God. My healings, and blessing have come through serving and getting up and going.

Even a plain old job is a place to serve.

Trust me, I’m not one of these happy happy happy workers. I’m a terrible employee. But, I do the work and I work hard, and when the Spirit calls me to to do the Lord’s work, I move. A job provides many chances to serve the Lord.

A Saint serves

When Jesus comes He doesn’t ask if you watched porn, or ate shellfish, or drank beer, or cussed or gambled. He doesn’t ask about your sex life or your hate or idols or anger.

He asks about what you did for the least of these thy brethren. (Matt. 25:31-46)

If you are saved you are washed of all those sins, but if you are saved, the Spirit in you will lead you to serve. You can’t help but to serve. It becomes who you are.

We serve according to our giftedness and ministry callings. There are many ways to serve in our lives. Often times it happens by chance. Not even a ministry at all, you just meet people and then do what the Spirit leads you to do. Pray for them, give to them, help them, or tell them about Jesus.

Even if you are terrified and cannot bring yourself to do anything, you can pray for them, and you can give to ministries that are doing the work. (Matt. Chapter 25)

Don’t be a goat on the day He returns and He judges the nations and believers. (Matt. 25:31-46)

You must realize that both goats and sheep are clean animals. But the goats, never really knew the Lord. If they did they would have served.

We do not earn our salvation, but when we know the Lord, certain things eventually will happen. We will change and we will serve. This is not about judging others. It is about judging ourselves and making sure we really know Him.

Praise Jesus, and pass the ammunition, as they say.

We got work to do and a war to wage.

Get busy.

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Elder Brother, Younger Brother

 Elder Brother, Younger Brother

A Word on Acceptance

 

In the parable of the prodigal son, we see many truths about our spiritual lives. But, there is one aspect that I would like to point out here. (Luke 15:11-32) First we have the prodigal son who goes into the world and lives for himself. He lives a riotous life, that mirrors what a rock star might live. You get the picture. He took the blessings of the father and went into the world and partied with it.
      

We also see in the parable that there is an elder brother, who stays at home with the father. He obeys everything the father tells him to obey. He lives a humble, austere life at home. He never ventures out into the world very far. He grows bitter, resentful, and judgmental. He feels he is owed a blessing for obedience.
      

We can see these two characters played out today in our churches. You have the person who grew up living in the world and went full tilt in it. Then trouble comes into his life and God uses that time of trouble to draw him to be saved. Then, the person starts trying to live right and do what they are being led by God to do. But, they are still very rough around the edges, and know it. They then come to church where they encounter the elder brother.
      

This is the person who grew up in church. The elder brother never strayed too far from the laws of God. Oh sure they “sinned”.  They missed church that Sunday, and kissed a boy behind the woodshed. They went to that party and got drunk and had to call their parents from jail that one time. “Never again!” they promised God, and they kept it. But, they did other things secretly, or unknowingly, or unadmittedly.
      

The Elder Brother thinks, whether they know it or not, “This guy comes to the church, because he’s in trouble. He took the life, and the gifts, and the image of God and then wallowed in the mud with the pigs. He’s not well churched. He doesn’t talk right. He’s rough, and he doesn’t fit in. He will never totally fit in. He still smokes, he cusses, he has a woman he meets, he drinks, and he just tries to hide it all. He won’t last long.”
      

The younger brother feels it. He can feel that some people in the church will never accept him because of who he was. He can tell by how they look at him and exclude him, that he is not one of them. Oh sure they invite him. But, it feels like charity or pity. He hears the sermons and listens to the teachings and knows he doesn’t measure up. He knows that he never will. But, they all seem to. They seem to be perfect, even though he knows they aren’t. Next Sunday he’ll just sleep in.
      

This scenario plays out in churches all across this land. Someone wants to change their lives, but the perfect people become a stumbling block to them. The person who has been involved in church their whole life cannot understand that the person who has been in the world, has many layers of things that God must remove over time. It doesn’t happen overnight.  A person gets saved the minute they confess Jesus as their Lord, but it takes a life time to get totally healed of the damage that has been done to them.

Don’t let the elder brother drive you away from God or from church. Church is a place to learn, and to grow. It is a place to serve and reach out to others. It has great value in your spiritual walk. Seek people in your church who have a similar background, or who are more understanding. They are there. Pray and ask God to show you. Likewise, Elder brothers need to realize this occurs and figure out ways to make it easier for folks to integrate into the Body.   

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Photo by the author.

Joy Comes In The Morning

 Joy Comes In The Morning

God is with us 

 

 

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”— Psalm 30:5

Things happen in our lives. Terrible things that break us and drag us down. Things that we cannot control and  ruin us. Things that make us weep in our beds at night in agony.

This world is a terrible place.

It was created good by God, but has become corrupted.

God is our friend

He is Love. He is on our side and calls us through the darkness and pain.

He is the calm after the raging storms on the sea of despair.

He is our shepherd in a world filled with savage beasts seeking to devour.

He calls us and seeks us.

Even when we get angry at Him and blame Him.

Even when the entire world and our own mind tells us it’s His fault.

When the enemy whispers that God is against us.

The Lord is there, with a still small voice asking us to turn to Him.

There are things we do not understand. But He does.

He will comfort us, and teach us and grow us and help us to understand.

He will save us and dwell with us and in us.

When we turn to Him and ask him to save us and put our faith in Him, confessing Jesus as our Lord.

He moves in our soul.

He brings us from darkness and we see Him move in our lives.

Then, He fills us and we see the truth of Him.

We see He was with us in the darkness. He was with us in the despair. He was with us when we were hiding from Him. He was there.

And all that fear we had.

All that anger toward Him, will turn to joy.

And when we fall into that deep long sleep, we will awake with Him in the morning.

And every day will be new in Him.

He is all there is, and all there ever will be.

Forgive And You Shall Be Forgiven

 Forgive And You Shall Be Forgiven

 Walking in the Spirit is tough.

 

 

Jesus said,

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.— Matt. 6:14-15

Jesus tells us this in explanation of the Lord’s Prayer.

 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This is the basic prayer outline that our prayers should follow. Praising God, Praying for our needs, forgiveness and protection. While also forgiving others, and praying for them.

God wants us to forgive others the same way He forgives us.

I know its hard. There are people who do not deserve our forgiveness. We want them punished. We want them to suffer as we have suffered.

But, we do not deserve forgiveness either, and we all deserve to suffer as Jesus suffered for us.

That’s Grace.

When we get God’s grace, we also give grace.

But, this sounds like works. It sounds like we are forgiven because we forgive and that is a work, not grace. Not faith.

No.

When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and He grows us into a place where we become more forgiving. Where we do forgive those who have hurt us. Yes, even the worst ones.

It’s not easy. But, it does become easier.

Trust me, God is working to help you.

You might think you are doing good. You’re at Wal-mart after church and you’re happy. Then you run smack dab into the people who betrayed and hurt you, and God shows you every stitch of hatred in your heart for these people. He lets you see the unforgiveness you hold.

This is not about salvation. But, if we are saved there will be a battle.

There will be anger and the hate and the remembrance and the shock. But, there will also be the desire to do what God says.

It might not happen immediately, but there will be a call for prayer to forgive. A battle to get your mind under control to Christ. A battle against the demons that are trying to keep us in unforgivenenss. (Gal. 5:17, 2 Cor. 10:5, Eph. 6:10-18)

But the fact that we are having this battle, is proof that we are with the Lord. We never would have had that battle before. We certainly wouldn’t pray for them or desire to forgive.

That breaks our heart as we realize how much God has forgiven us.

That’s the point.

We can pray.

“Lord I hate them. But you want me to love and forgive. I want to. I want to do what you would have me to do. Please help me. I forgive, as best as I can and know how. Please help me. For it’s in Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

You can be real with God. He knows the truth. he knows your heart.

Our efforts in this are part of our relationship with Him. It’s part of Walking in the Spirit. (Gal.5:16)

It’s not about perfect obedience, it’s about giving ourselves to the Lord.

Trust me. If these people deserve revenge, God will give it. If they deserve divine punishment. They will reap what they sow. (Rom. 12:19, Gal. 6:7)

But, it will be from God. It will be righteous, and it will be designed to save them or grow them. Because God loves them too.

Unsaved people do not care about forgiving others. Our desire to do so, shows our salvation. It shows our walk with Him.

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.—Matt 18:21-22

Our forgiveness is to continue. It’s not a one and done, because people are fallen and will hurt you again. They will fail and sin again. (Rom 3: 10-20)

It’s a fact.

Remember, God forgives us the same. God is not a God of second chances. He is a God of infinite chances. He is a God of relationship and growth.

He calls us into His program of forgiveness.

Do not grow weary in well doing. God will bless us for it. (Gal. 6:9)

What does forgiveness look like?

How much forgiveness do you want God to give you?

Imagine it?

That is what it looks like.

Does this mean we are to be door mats and let people walk over us?

No. The scripture gives us remedies for dealing with people. (Matt. 18: 15-17)

But, in the midst of that we still forgive and let it go.

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.“—Rom 12:18

This verse shows that we can try everything we can to live in peace, but sometimes its not possible.

We pray about it, and give it to the Lord. He will move.

We do what is right in dealing with it.

We love and forgive and let it go.

But sometimes we must withdraw from people.

“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.“—1 Cor. 5:11

If a person calls themselves a Christian and are saved they will also be seeking peace. They will be seeking to do right. If not, we can back off from those people. But we still pray for them, love them and forgive them. We still desire some level of reconciliation.

Like God has reconciled with us.

It’s not easy.

Let the Lord guide you. (Prov. 3:5-6)

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He Rose For Our Justification

  He Rose For Our Justification

 We are justified in Christ

 

There was only one law in the beginning.

Just one.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”–Gen. 2:17

People want to act like God is some eternal killjoy, who is just hovering about ready to strike you down with furious wrath and bolts of lightning.

But, in the beginning there was only ONE law.

And Satan in his rebellion used a serpent, which by the way, was not a snake. It was a dragon, or as we like to call them, a dinosaur. (Rev. 12:9)

He used it to tempt the first couple, in order to get them to fall.

He tricked Eve into breaking the one law. But, Adam was not tricked. He knew exactly what he was doing. (1 Tim. 2:14)

He knew it was wrong and chose to listen to his wife instead of listening to God. (Gen. 3:17)

Adam was Satan’s target. Adam had the dominion of the Earth. He was the one who needed to fall. (Gen. 1: 26-28)

Why Adam chose to ignore God’s Law is not given to us. Adam probably explained it away, some how. I tend to think He loved Eve and did not want her to die alone. Or perhaps he did not want to be alone again, if she died after eating the fruit.

It’s hard to say, but when the first couple ate of the fruit they quickly discovered why God had warned them. God’s laws are typically designed to protect us.

Something changed in them. Their eyes were opened. God had created everything good. There was no death. But, now there was evil present. Death and evil, flooded into the world. (Gen 3:6-10)

Adam and Eve had fear, where none had existed before.

Evil was contained somewhere else, and now came upon the humans. It corrupted them and now corrupts all of humanity ever since.

This brought death. Death is separation. Remember, we are eternal beings. Death is not an end. We have no end. We are made in God’s image. We are eternal spirits. Death means separation. We die physically and are separated from our loved ones on Earth. We then die spiritually and are separated from God and our loved ones who are saved, forever.

Why?

In order to contain the evil. Hell/The Lake of Fire is a quarantine. It exists in order to keep evil from destroying all of eternity. It was created for Satan and his angels. It is a garbage dump outside the city of God, where all filthy things are thrown, in order to not corrupt Paradise. (Matt. 25:41, Rev.22:14-15)

Since Adam chose to follow Satan instead of God, He gave up the dominion. That is why Satan is the god of this world. You go into bondage under whoever overcomes you. If you give your authority to another, they own you. (2 Cor 4:4, 2 Pet. 2:19)

And that is the state we live in.

We are born into this world, totally corrupted. Filled with fear and evil, facing eternal separation from God and all things good.

We cannot do right. No matter how hard we try. We are under the control of Satan and his demonic hordes who whisper into our minds and get us to do whatever evil deeds they want. Seeking to rob us, kill us and destroy us, because God loves us, and the demons hate God. They seek to hurt God by hurting us.

And Satan sits and accuses us, day and night (Rev. 12:10)

He accuses us to God.

“Look at these creatures you created. They are filthy. They don’t love you. If they loved you they would have stayed with you. They are scum. Destroy them. Kill them. Punish them. They do all manner of evil, and mock you. Destroy them.”

But God loves us, and He had a plan.

It was a plan started at the foundation of the world.

A plan that grew and spread and remained hidden from the enemy.

It started with Faith, in Abraham.

A way to be righteous. (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3, Gal . 3:6, Jas 2:23)

Then, it moved to the Law, in Moses

In order to show us that we are sinners and cannot obey God. (Rom. 3, Rom. 7)

A law that so happened to also allow for cleansing our disobedience through sacrifice.

Then, finally God himself came to Earth in the form of Jesus Christ to save His creation from Satan and the sins that keep us in bondage.

Satan thought that Jesus was here to teach us to obey. He thought Jesus was teaching us to follow the Law, which the enemy had already corrupted with human philosophy, traditions of men and doctrines of devils.

It would be a failed mission. Humans cannot obey. No matter how hard they try. Satan had made sure of that by corrupting us in the Garden. We are totally depraved.

Then, Satan and his demon princes killed Jesus. They used their human slaves in government and religion to do it. (1 Cor 2:6-8)

He thought he won. He thought he had finally won.

He might have even accused us before God again. Just like he accused Job. (Job chapter 1 and 2))

“Look at those creatures. They murdered your Son. They obeyed me, not you and killed you. Why do you love them? They spit in your face.”

And God smiled.

Because through His death, He had saved us.

So, that anyone who desires it can be free from the bondage of Sin, Satan and Death.

All they have to do is turn to God and ask Him to save them in Jesus name. (Acts 2:21)

But, that wasn’t the end.

God was not finished.

Because Jesus, was the lamb without blemish. He was not tarnished by evil or sin. He was not worthy of death or separation. He was the perfect sacrifice.

And death could not hold Him.

God Himself died for us and rose from the dead to prove that we are saved and justified. ( Rom. 4)

We do not have to answer to the accuser. We do not have to fear death or evil. We do not have to face wrath. We do not have to face Hell or The Lake of Fire or separation from God. We are clean, righteous and justified in Christ.

We are saved by God’s grace, through faith.

Because He, Himself came and set us free in His death and rose to prove it.

All we have to do is turn to Him by faith and ask.

And we are made righteous and justified forever.

We will be with Him in Paradise.

Where “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor 2:9)

He has restored that which was lost. And He will continue to restore all of it, back to what He originally created. (Matt. 18:11, Rev. 21, Rev. 22)

Praise Jesus

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Cover photo by pexels/Guillaume Hankenne

The Lesson Of Job

 The Lesson Of Job

 Abide in the Lord

 

We all face trouble in life. It is something we can all agree upon. No matter who you are, something bad will eventually come to cause you trouble. Something will break your heart. Something will break you down. Something will make you crazy, concerned or confused.

When we look at the story of Job in the Bible. We see a lot of spiritual truth that we can apply to our lives.

Now, understand that trouble is relative to you. Just because someone on the other side of the Earth is in extreme poverty with nothing. Doesn’t make your problems any less concerning. Just because someone else is dying of some terrible disease, doesn’t make your troubles any less destructive to your life.

Evil is evil, in whatever form it manifests. We need to stop belittling peoples troubles and start solving problems. It’s very possible that if we solved the petty problems, they would not become the huge problems. If we cared about the person who can’t afford simple things, we might also care about the person in total poverty and solve the problem. If we care about the person with a flu bug, we might also care about the dying man, or even prevent disease from growing.

I say this because Job, faced terrible tribulation. He lost everything he owned, His children were all killed, and his health was attacked. On top of that, his wife was against him.

Just because Job’s troubles were really bad, doesn’t mean yours are not concerning to you. The Bible often gives us the most extreme vision of things so that we will see that our troubles are also able to be overcome. The same faith can overcome all of it. The same God is with us in all of it, no matter how big or small.

In the book of Job, Satan comes to God and asks to test Job. He claims that if Job is mistreated he will turn from God.

That is the focus of the story and that is our focus. Nothing else matters.

 It doesn’t matter how bad the trouble was. It doesn’t matter if God allowed it. It doesn’t matter if Satan did it, or God did it. None of it matters.

Because Job had no clue. He just knows he is having trouble. His whole life has been upended. We even see toward the end of the book that Job is confused and has questions. It’s ok to have questions, doubts and confusion. But, Job turned to God. Job stayed with God. That’s the point.

When we face trouble, we often have no clue what’s going on. We might think it’s nature. Or God is punishing us or the devil is attacking us. We might know exactly what we did or didn’t do. We might be suffering because of something done to us by people who claim to love us.

None of it matters.

The answer for all of it is the same. Turn to God.

Pray to Him, ask Him to save you and help you. Listen to His guidance.

Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15)

He turned to God and trusted Him. Even if God chose to kill him, Job knew God was good and had good reasons. He trusted God, and continued walking in the way that he was walking in his life, because he did not see that he had done anything wrong. And he hadn’t. God will let you know.

The whole point of the story is that Job turned to God and stayed with Him. No matter how bad. No matter what philosophies, or good intentions from friends. No matter how much a friend called him a sinner. No matter how much pain and humiliation. Even when his wife, was led by Satan to say, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”

Job stayed with God. He trusted God and turned to God.

Now understand that I am not talking about going to church. You can go to church all you want and still not know God. You can be the greatest member of your church and still be lost.

Do you know Him? Do you trust Him? Turn to Him.

This can be seen in the Garden when Satan through the Serpent, tempted Eve. He caused her to doubt God’s promises and His goodness. (Gen. 3)

That is the the devil’s favorite tactic. To get us to stop trusting God and to not reach out to Him. Once that’s done, we have no real hope or real help. We are defenseless and powerless.

This is why God brought the curse. It is designed to cause us to turn to God.

When Adam ate of the fruit all humanity gained a corrupted nature through him. The only solution is to turn to God for salvation and help. The Curse causes us to seek that help, if we are willing.

There is a time coming says the Lord, that will be worse than any other. He tells us to abide and endure to the end with Him. When persecution mounts and the terrors seek to destroy us. Stay with the Lord. Despite the temptations all around us. (John 15:4, Matt. 10:22, Matt 24:13

Always turn to God. Turn to Him in everything, and He will save you, lead you, grow you and know you.

You have a choice. Do not let trouble or the enemy drive you away from God. Turn to Him and let Him work.

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Destroying The Image Of God

 Destroying The Image Of God

Satan's Insanity 

 

If you’ve read the Bible, you know that we have a spiritual enemy.

Satan fell sometime after creation. We do not know exactly when, but it was because he desired to be “like the most High”. (Isa. 14: 12-17)

He wants to be God.

This desire led to his fall and corruption.

It is believed that he took a third of all angels and spiritual beings with him, in the rebellion. (Rev. 12:4)

His desire and hatred toward God became manifest in his efforts to twist creation and form his own world with worshipers.

It’s my belief that when God created everything “Good”. Death and evil was created at the same time as a by product of life and good and was contained somewhere else. (Isa. 45:7)

That when Satan fell he became corrupted with this evil, and spread it like a plague. This is why evil exists. It is a by product. Like engine exhaust, or bodily waste from a good meal. It twists the good and poisons it.

This evil corrupts all it touches. It kills us spiritually and twists us, much like the walking dead zombies. That is why evil and death will finally be contained in the Lake of Fire, with Satan and those who follow him. The garbage dump of God.

Satan came to the Garden of Eden where the human Adam and his wife Eve were dwelling.

He deceived a serpent, and used it to corrupt the first couple. This serpent was most likely a dinosaur or dragon. (Gen. 3, Rev. 12:9)

He told them that God was not being honest with them. He was hiding something, and they themselves could be as gods also. He got them to doubt God’s Word and doubt His Goodness.

It is the same lie he tells people today, in many different forms.

Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and their eyes were opened. They saw their own nakedness. This caused them to hide from God and to try to fix the problem themselves by making aprons of leaves. (Gen. 3)

It’s the same thing we do when we sin. We hide from God and try to fix what is wrong with us by religion or drugs or education, or work or status.

But, the real answer is to turn to God and let Him save us and cleanse us.

By corrupting Adam, Satan worked to destroy the image of God and to make God’s own image a slave to him. God is not our enemy. Satan is, and he corrupts all that is good.

He took dominion of the Earth from Adam and has worked to corrupt it and control all kingdoms and all people to build his New World Order Kingdom of The Anti-Christ, ever since.

Humans are his slaves. (2 Cor. 4:4, Luke 4:17-21 )

When Adam fell, evil corrupted Him and has spread to all humans. This is our corrupted nature. This is why we sin. This is why we do the insane things we do. This is why we dwell in death.

Paul speaks of it, when He describes something inside of us that causes us to sin.

He says about sin, and his effort to do good.

“Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

²⁰ Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.“—-(Rom. 5: 12-21, Rom. 7:13-25)

I try to do right, but can’t. Something is wrong with me.

Satan uses this corruption to get us to rebel and wage war on God. He tempts our corrupted flesh and we fall destroying our selves. Killing ourselves. We abide in death. Slaves to Satan and this corruption.

He cannot hurt God, so He hurts us in order to attack God.

He uses us to destroy everything God has made for good.

The Creation. Gender. Marriage. Our Bodies. Relationships. Love. Blessings.

All of it broken and twisted because of his hatred for God. Whether the humans understand what they are doing or not. Satan and his demonic forces know exactly what they are doing.

The Bible continues with brother killing brother and things growing worse and worse in the world.

Satan and His fallen angels come to Earth and have sex with the women of the line of Cain, and giants are born unto them. It is believed this happened in the days of Jared. (Gen. 6:1-8, Gen. 5)

Corrupting humans even further. This happens because Satan stole dominion from Adam and is the ruler of this world. So, he came and took possession.

This evil spread. Our corruption and sinfulness spread like a plague. The line of Seth mingled with the line of Cain. Like the church mingling with the world.

But, Enoch knew the truth from Adam. He walked with God and put His faith in the Lord. He spread the truth, and was taken to be with God.

Enoch is a picture of Jesus Christ, who also went alive into heaven after delivering the truth of God, and setting us free. A light in the darkness.

Seeing the evil corrupting the Earth, God decides to destroy the Earth with a flood. He finds Noah, who is righteous and receives grace, because he walked with God like Adam and Enoch. He believed and trusted God. (Gen 6:8, Gen. 7:1, Heb. 11:5-7)

The corruption of evil. The hatred and insanity of Satan, and the wickedness of humans. Led to the destruction of the Earth by the Flood.

Did God really think that destroying the Earth with a Flood would stop sin? Did He think it would stop evil? Did He honestly believe this Flood would clear up the corruption?

Of course not. He’s God. But, the method for dealing with a corrupting plague according to God’s Word, is to wash it. Then set it aside to see if the plague returns, then if it does, to burn it with fire. (Leviticus 13:47-59)

Our body, our life, our world is but a tent. A garment we shed when we leave this earthly realm.

That’s where we are at in this world.

We are waiting to be burned or saved.

We are watching Satan, his fallen angels, demons and slave humans, along with the spirit of anti-christ, corrupting and destroying the creation and all things good from God.

Destroying the world with the love of money and building empires to control the globe.

While the saints, like Noah; try to spread the Gospel and save as many as possible from the fire to come.

We are corrupt. We are slaves to Satan. We sin. We have a fallen nature.

But, when we turn to the Lord Jesus, He sets us free, and saves us.

We become saints of God and our job is to save souls and restrain the evil with our love and service. We are to be salt and light, preserving this rotting piece of meat. Driving out the darkness, till He comes. (Matt. 5:13-16, Mark 16:15-18)

Do not fall for the same lies Satan used in the Garden. God is good, and we can trust His promises.

He is coming soon.

He wants us with Him.

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The Battle of Our Souls

 The Battle of Our Souls

 The Spirit battles against the flesh

 

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

¹⁷ For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

¹⁸ But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.—Gal. 5:16-18

When we get saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and starts working to grow us and sanctify us. He teaches us and helps us. He comforts us.

This creates change in our life. It brings brokenness and correction. It brings blessings. We see God moving and it strengthens our faith.

The Enemy does not want to let us go. Satan and his demonic forces have built relationships with us. They have built tunnels through our hedge of protection, where they can attack us and keep us in bondage. They have attached themselves to our backs and our minds.

These connections are severed at salvation, but the enemy quickly works to reestablish them. They attack and draw us through our flesh, eyes, desires and pride. Consider an addict who is constantly tempted to re-use and get addicted again. That is how the temptation looks in all the various ways. It is a lure to draw us into a trap. ( 1 John 2:16)

BUT… if we are saved we now have the Holy Spirit. He does the battle for us. Notice in the verse above, the word Spirit is capitalized. That means the Holy Spirit. Not our spirit. Our job in this battle is to abide in the Lord. Our job is to Walk in the Spirit.

Do not let the battle drive us away from Christ. (John 15:3-8)

The Holy Spirit is moving and things are happening in our lives. We are being tempted to run from God. Like the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt. We want to go back to our old ways. We want to quit, because we fail and it’s hard and things are scary.

But, it is part of the spiritual battle behind the scenes to grow us and correct us and get us to a better place in life where we can serve. Like the Israelites through the desert to the promised land.

We must remember that we are fallen. We are corrupt. This is very important because it explains why we cannot save ourselves or help in the battle. God gives us His grace and we cannot help. He has saved us and is waging the battle. There is no way we can do it without making matters worse. Look at the end of verse 17 above. “You cannot do the things that you would.” No matter how hard you try to do good, you will fail. You will sin. But, it’s ok. The battle is the Lord’s, not yours. You are already victorious in Christ. We are not under the law, if we are Walking in the Spirit.

We are to Walk with the Lord in the Spirit. We abide in Him.

The verse above says that if we Walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and we are not under the law.

What does this mean?

Well, when we are saved the enemy will attack us and tempt us to get us to fail. He will try to re-open those pathways into our lives. The Holy Spirit will point out the temptation often times, and we might struggle to resist. We might succeed. But, the temptation will return. It’s never a one and done.

We might fail next time.

But, the battle is not ours. it is the Holy Spirit’s battle.

So, we Walk in the Spirit. Which means, we pray for help. We pray God’s Word against the attacks of the enemy. We wear the armor of God, and when we fail we confess our sin to Him, and He forgives us and cleanses us. (1 John 1:8-10, Eph 6:10-18)

It is not our battle. We are saved. We are to just abide and remain in relationship with the Lord.

That is walking in the Spirit. We stay focused on the Lord. Abiding in Him, and not letting the enemy drag us away.

The enemy is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The demons tempt us and tempt us and whisper lies into our minds, and when we sin they speak condemnation and fear into our minds. (1 Peter 5:8)

This is designed to chase us from God.

When a lion roars in the jungle it scares the young ,old and sick. It causes them to run away from the safety of the herd. Likewise, Satan seeks to drive us from God. Not to lose salvation, but to get us trapped in more sin, and keep us from turning to the Lord and confessing to Him.

Like Adam and Eve hid, when they sinned.

Like the parable of the sower. The things of this world will drive us from God. Whether good things or bad things. We are tempted to forget God or hide from Him, or turn from Him, back to our old life. (Matt. 13)

God is our only hope. He is our Rock. When we turn from Him, we are like the prodigal son who will face trouble we cannot fix until we return to God. God is our only source of Life. Abiding in Him, is walking with Him in the Spirit. (Luke 15: 11-32)

Remember, ” All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”– Romans 8:28

When we are saved, God is working in our life. The Holy Spirit is working in our life. He is with us and He is fighting the Battle. That means that all victories, all failure, all attacks, all sins, all correction, all of it, is working for our good.

It is being used to mold us into the finest soldier for the Lord.

Like silver being boiled to remove the dross, to make it pure. We face the fires of this life, and attacks of the enemy, and grace of God and it all is used by the Holy Spirit to grow us. (Mal. 3:2-4)

If we abide in Him. If we Walk in the Spirit. If we are saved.

James said, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.“– Jas 1:12

It doesn’t say “overcomes temptation”.

It means endures or remains with God in the temptation. Enduring means to Walk in the Spirit. The Bible does not contradict itself. So, we compare this verse with Walking in the Spirit.

James goes on “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

The enemy tempts our flesh. He tempts our minds. He seeks out the things that he knows are already there because he has known us from birth. He and his demons have worked to create and build those lusts in us. Those are the tunnels and attachments spoken of earlier.

All of us have sins that we are more apt to commit than others. Some people are drawn to theft. Some people are drawn to sex. Some are drawn to violence. Some have many things mixed.

The enemy works to draw us away from God through these means. Not for a loss of salvation, but to keep us down and unable to fight the fight of faith.

Notice the steps James gives for sin and death. We decide to do it. Then, we do it. Then, it leads to death.

But, When we walk in the Spirit sin is not FULFILLED and we are not under the Law. (See the verse at the top)

This path to death is never fulfilled. If we sin, we confess it and we are forgiven and washed clean.

That is part of Walking in the Spirit. That is how we abide in Him and not run away because we believe the lies that God is mad at us or can never forgive us. We instead turn to Him. We confess it to Him. We make no promises, because we cannot keep them. We give it to Him in truth.

The Holy Spirit fights the fight. We turn and confess, and keep turning and confessing. We pray and wear the armor, and speak the Word. And we discover over time that we are no longer doing the things we once did. We discover we have been blessed and God fought the battle for us while we just endured and remained in Him.

We are called to be soldiers bringing light into the dark world. We cannot do that if we are constantly worried about our sins or trying to resist temptation. It is not our battle. It is His.

We just abide in Him. Walk with Him. Love others and serve Him.

That’s a big battle in itself.

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Trusting God

 Trusting God

 He is faithful

 

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.—1 Cor. 1:9

How is trust built?

With anyone, whether it’s parents or friends or enemies or government or neighbors, trust is built or destroyed by relationship, and experience.

It is the same with God.

He calls you and if you turn to Him and confess Him as Lord, you have put your trust in Him by faith alone, through his grace.

But, God does not leave you there. He wants a relationship. He wants your faith to grow and your trust in him to be real.

He brings you His Holy Spirit to dwell in you and He starts to sanctify you, and draw you closer to Him.

You might start seeing things changing and moving in your life. It might be scary. It might be tough. But, it is designed to draw you closer to Him, and to remove obstacles that work against you.

Remember these things. Because like a friend, the memories of your experience work to build reminders of your ability to trust them.

This is your testimony about the great things God has done in your life. This testimony can help others to know the Lord, and can help you build up faith when times seem tough.

God wants us to have these memories. God wants us to see him working. He wants us to trust Him.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.— Mal. 3:10

Alot of people hate when money comes into religion or faith. But, God says “prove me now”.

He is telling us to test Him on this. That when we give to the Kingdom, He will pour out blessings.

God doesn’t really need our money. But, when we test him on this we see things move in our lives and our faith grows. We gain blessings and we gain that aha! moment that God is real and His promises are true. We can trust Him.

Jesus says the same thing, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.—Luke 6:38

The Lord will pour out blessings. And not just spiritual blessings, but blessing from humans as well.

But for our cause here, the blessing is an increase of faith and testimony, because you can see God move and that His Word is true.

These things help build your faith and trust in Him.

When He protects us and provides, it might not always be a Wow! thing. But, it grows and builds and we can say, “God has always been there. He has always protected me. He never let the worse things happen to me.”

When we read His Word and start standing on his promises and praying the Word, we see Him move and we know we can trust Him.

Meanwhile He is sanctifying us and changing us. Our expectations and needs change. We become content with the things we have and are filled with joy simply by His presence. Faith grows because we know He is there.

We can trust His Word.

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.–2 Thess. 3:3

And you see that it is true. He has grown your Kingdom and protected you.

When we are lost and confused. When we are under attack and need Him He is there. We can turn to Him, and because of our past experiences with Him we know He has got us. Even if we sin. Even if we are utterly wicked and the whole world hates us. God is there for us. If we ask Him.

When we focus on Him and His Kingdom first in our lives, He takes care of the rest. (Matt 6:33)

That is our purpose in this world. Often we can find Him working when we re-orient ourselves to His service. We grow in Him as we serve Him. When we listen to the Holy Spirit we learn to hear His voice and grow in it.

When God answers our prayers, and brings us through tough times we can remember that experience, for future tough times. When He heals us or heals a loved one. Remember that and tell others. They can use your encouragement.

In order to know God’s promises you must know His Word. The Holy Spirit in you, if you are saved, will guide you and teach you. Learn of Him. Read His Word. (John 16:13)

Your faith grows by seeing His Word coming to pass in your life. You see the things God expects, and you can pray for Him to help you overcome, and He will.

That builds faith as well.

God has never expected blind faith or leaping into the darkness. He has called us and moves enough in our life that we never really have blind faith. We can see signs. We can see coincidences, which are really from God.

Take time to think of How He has moved in your life. How He has turned the bad into good. How He has killed two birds with one stone. How He has protected you and moved you and helped you.

Thank Him for what He has done, and what He will do. Your faith is tied to thankfulness in Him. You remember His might and presence. You remember His promises and you thank Him because you know He hears you and is moving.

You can trust Him.

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