Hearing From God

 Hearing From God

A Word on How God Communicates With Us

 

Hearing from God is one of the most simplest, and natural things there is.

He does it. We cannot force it. It's not through our effort that we hear from Him. He's God. He created us. He is all powerful.

But, we have become unnatural. We are fallen. We are depraved, and everything screams this truth.

So we must make an effort to hear. We must understand what is happening. Or we will forget, dismiss or make explanations, and excuses.

At the moment of birth God seeks to connect with us. Often as children we have no trouble believing or knowing God. We remember the one who made us and was with us in the womb. But, as we get older and Sin has grown in us, and Satan has worked on us. It gets harder and harder for us to hear God, until we turn to Him and give our lives to Him, and He saves us.

Then, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. He starts working on us. He molds us and shapes us into the likeness of His Son. But, even then we are hard of hearing from God. So, we must realize the various methods He might use to reach out.

Gods Word:

The Bible is used by God to speak to His people. It does this in 3 ways. First is the literal word. When God promises something in His Word He means it. We see the verses and learn from them. We use the stories and symbols to understand things in our life.

Second, is personal. You read a verse and God quickens it or brings it to life and it speaks to your need.

3rd, He brings a verse or song to our remembrance that speaks to us. This happens when you are not reading the Word. Some situation pops up in life and then a verse comes to your mind which relates to the event.

Secular movies and books:

A lot of religious people who don't really know God will reject this. But, I have had God speak to me through a movie or book.  Some phrase or sentence just comes to life and is relevant for me or something going on. I have had my heart broken or realize I need to do something or fix something.

Wake up singing: 

I often wake up with a song in my mind. It can be a praise song. Sometimes it's an 80s song or secular song I haven't heard in years. But, I know it's from God. Often it speaks of love or let's me know He is with me. You can turn many secular songs into praise songs by changing a word, or focusing on God.

Deja Vu:

Have you ever had deja vu? That feeling that you've been somewhere before? Often I have prayed and tried to figure out what it means. The answer I get is that God is telling us that He has already been there before us. He is with us. It's also often remembered from a dream.

Revelation:

It is an aha moment. A bolt from the blue that opens up spiritual significance.  I often get revelations when my mind is wandering and it's just random. Then, boom!  I understand the entire situation. Whatever it is. This can happen when reading the Word. But, it can also happen at other times.

Inspiration:

Inspiration is similar to revelation but it is more creative and involves physical worldly type stuff. We suddenly receive the solution to a problem, etc It might come after prayer. I will have a problem, then pray about it, and inevitably I'll figure it out.

His presence:

God speaks to us through His presence. We can feel Him near and it comforts us. We know He is there, and we smile at the fact.

He calls your name:

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night because someone said your name? This happened to Samuel in the scriptures. When this happens, listen and pray.  Sometimes you'll recognize the voice as a person you know. Pray for that person. Sometimes it's a voice you know, but have never physically met. I always remember the verse. "I have called you by name you are mine" (Isa 43:1-3)

It comforts me to know that I am His, and He knows my name.

Memory verses:

God will bring verses to our remembrance when we need them in order to speak to us.

History:

This is referring to your history.

God has done things for us in the past. He often reminds us of this when we need it, in order to strengthen our faith to trust Him.

Also, this speaks of the importance of getting children in church. Because when they are older and in trouble God can use long dead memories from childhood, to draw us to Him.

Preachers:

The Bible says that the primary way God speaks to us and seeks to save us us through his servant's preaching. He gives a word, and an obedient servant preaches on it, and you hear the word, and God brings it to life in your mind.

Donkeys:

In the Bible God used a donkey to speak to Baalam. He used ravens to feed Elijah. God can and does use anything or anyone to speak to us whenever He wants to. And when He does. We know it's God. We can try to weasel out of it but we know. (Numbers 22)

Visions and dreams

Sometimes we might see something or have a dream and it strikes us, and sticks with us. We know it's God.

Similitude of God.

The scriptures speak of the Similitude of God. It refers to similarities. We see things that are similar to something else and it jumps out at us. It's typically involving spiritual things. Analogies. 

Life patterns:

Sometimes things will happen. Like I will read a book about the Brooklyn Bridge. Then, an hour later some random TV show will have a character on the Brooklyn Bridge. Then an hour later a news report will mention the Brooklyn Bridge. Sometimes all these things will happen in one hour. And I would think I'm crazy, except my wife sees them too.  She calls them "God Winks". I take them as God telling us we are right where we are supposed to be. It's often called Synchronicity.

Signs and wonders:

These can come in many different ways. But when it happens you know God is there talking to you.

Often a family member will die. Then you might notice a butterfly or bird, or song, and you know it is speaking of your departed loved one. You know they are there. God is comforting you, and trying to draw you to Himself.

Broken life:

When our life falls apart, God is there. We might not feel Him. But He is there. This is when He is closest. He wants us to turn to Him so He can save us and help us.

Telling the Future:

Often God speaks to me before something happens. For example, I was at church and God started pointing out the peeling paint. Later that day, the church called and asked if I'd be interested in doing some painting.  I didn't need to pray. God had already told me to do the job. It led to many blessings.

Thinking of God:

The Bible teaches that because of our fallen state, humans do not seek God.

So, what that means is that if you are seeking God or spiritual things, it is because He is calling you. Turn to Him. Ask Him to save you and know Him. Confess Jesus as your Lord.

Burden:
Sometimes God will put a burden on our heart. We feel we must pray for someone, or call them or visit them. The burden will bother us until we do the thing.

The Still Small Voice: 

He speaks to us in a voice we must learn to listen for. He speaks to us through His Spirit, and we must know Him to hear and understand. Not that God cannot speak in a booming voice. He can, but He seems to desire for us to focus on Him. He doesn't really try to compete with the noise of life. We can listen for Him, and know.

God is trying to have a relationship with each of us. Turn to Him and ask. He is communicating with you. Trust Him. These are not the only ways God can speak to us. Do not put God in a box. 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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 Photos by the Author

Created Good

 Created Good

A Word on Fallen Man and God's Creation

The Bible plainly states that God created everything Good. (Genesis Chapter 1)

This is a foundational statement that sets the rules for our universe. I'm not talking morals only. I'm talking everything. It's purpose is for Good.

The Bible speaks of Reaping and Sowing. It's a natural law that applies to everything. We reap what we sow. (Gal 6:7-9, Gen 8:22)

Now, remember. God created everything Good. So, in a good world with good people, the rule of reaping and sowing would bring more good things to the people, because good people sow good seed. That's a lot of good. God is good and He loves us. That was His original intent. There was no disease or poverty in the Garden.You wanna know what God's will is? Look at the Garden.

BUT!

We are fallen. Because of the fall of man, we have a corrupted nature. So, we no longer do good. As a matter of fact. We do evil continuously. We reap what we sow. (Genesis 6:5, Romans chapter 1)

God did not design His Good creation for evil people. This is why humans do not seem to fit into creation. We are corrupted. We were created to live in relationship with God and the creation. We were created to protect and keep it. But we are corrupted.

After the Fall, Death came into the world with all the things that go with it. The Plague of Sin, came and corrupted Man. 

Then, in order to help Mankind. God laid the Curse, to get humans to turn back to Him and be saved.

So, when we wonder what's going on in the world, we can come to some conclusions. Are we reaping what we sow, as individuals and nations?

Is it our corrupted nature and fear of death? Is it our twisted DNA, and the Sin that infects us?

Remember, we also have an enemy who stole dominion of this world from humans when we fell. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:3-4)

He literally has massive influence on human actions and the things that go on with our planet.

Everything he does seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. It seeks to enslave us and force us to worship him as God.

The temptations that cause us to sow evil when we fail, comes back to destroy us and enslave us.

The temptations that cause us to hurt people or the creation when we fail, comes back to more hurt and more laws. 

These temptations from the enemy when we fail, gets us to destroy ourselves and others. We plant seeds for harvests of evil to come. 

God seeks to save us. He wants to free us, and give us a good life. He desires to break the chains that bind us and drive out the strongman and strongholds of evil in our lives.

But we gotta turn to Him. He have to surrender ourselves to Him. We must confess that Jesus is the Lord, and ask Him to save us. (Romans 10:9-10)

He is our only Hope.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

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The Lamb Slain

 The Lamb Slain

A Word on God's Eternal Plan

I do not believe in Dispensationalism. I believe that God is all knowing and does not change. I believe that we should look at history according to what we can understand about God's power, goodness and character.

Dispensationalism is the basic belief that God has treated mankind differently, at different times in history. It also puts forth the idea that God's treatment of mankind was different before Christ died, and before the Holy Spirit came. 

I disagree.

My view of these things comes from the Bible, and biblical concepts. The foundational view is the all powerfulness of God, and the fact that He changes not.(Mal. 3:6)

He does not change, therefore His treatment of man has not changed, despite what we see or believe. In Malachi chapter 3 referenced above He plainly states that His promises and His workings do not change. We change. We suffer consequences or blessings but His plan does not change.

The scriptures imply that God is a master builder. That means that He has a blue print of what He is building. But, unlike a human builder, the structure is already completed in heaven. It is already done in God's eyes.

Things have occurred "in the fullness of time" on this Earth. You cannot have a roof until the foundation is built. That is a process. This is what dispensationalists see. The process. But, by faith and the power of God, it is already "finished". (Eph. 1:10) Nothing can stop it. Ephesians chapter 1 explains this.

It's like your salvation. When you got saved, you are so saved that according to God, you are already seated in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6)

History is like that. It's already done. The kingdom is already built. But, it is coming to pass in the flesh, which shall pass away.

Pray on this verse.

" ...book of life of the lamb slain at the foundation of the Earth" (Rev. 13:8)

In the last days the Anti-Christ will make war against the Saints. The saints are the true believers in The Book of Life. 

The next section says "the Lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH."

That means Jesus was killed as our sacrifice in the eyes and plans of God, before He created the Earth. (Gen.1:1) as Ephesians chapter one explains, in regards to our salvation.

So, what does that mean?

It means that God has been working the same plan from the beginning. This can be seen in Cain slaying Able. That is a picture of the Jews slaying Christ. Brother killing brother. When we see Cain slaying Able, Cain is then sent to wander. Just like Israel was sent to wander in the Diaspora which began in 70 AD. after Christ was slain.

So, from the point that Death and Sin entered the world, God already had the problem solved.

It means that every person who has turned to God by faith, since time began are saved the same way we are today.

As Paul and James said, "it was imputed righteousness unto Abraham  that He believed God."( Romans chapter 4, James 2:23) (James does not preach works, despite what some would have you believe. The works he speaks of are belief, confession, baptism, communion, and service, among other things. Confessing Jesus is the Lord, is a work.)

When Abraham believed the word given to him, God put him in Christ, the lamb slain from the foundation of the Earth. He was written in the Lambs Book of Life.

How does the book work?

When we are born, we are in the book. Babies do not go to hell. This is explained in Romans chapter 5. When Paul says " For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." (Romans 5:13) Babies have no understanding of right and wrong. Therefore, the guilt of sin is not imputed upon them till they have an understanding.

There comes a point in our lives when God has determined that we understand enough. Then, we are tempted and if we choose to sin, then guilt is imputed upon us. We are covered in Sin and facing the consequences. We know in our heart that whatever it is is wrong. Our conscience warns us. Something tells us. Do not steal that thing. Do not have that sexual action. Do not hurt that person.  Whatever it is. We know it's wrong, and we do it anyway.  Boom. We die spiritually.

When we sin the first time, knowing it's a sin, we are blotted out of the Book of Life.. We then abide in Eternal Death, which is separation. We are headed to hell when we die because we are not washed in the Blood of Jesus to be cleaned. We cannot enter Paradise, or else heaven would be tainted with Sin forever.  Think of a quarantine, and a virus.

When we hear God's call and turn to Him, with faith, believing in Him and confessing Jesus as our Lord, we are saved.

We receive a new name and are written in the Book of Life, never to be removed again.

Just like Abraham. All the saints from Adam till the last one are saved the same way. Because it was already finished at the Foundation.

The Holy Spirit, comes to live in a clean vessel, washed in the Blood. There is nothing that says this changed from days of old.

Jesus tells us that when He leaves, the Comforter comes to be with us and in us. He doesn't say that this is different from the past. The Holy Spirit has worked with and dwelt in people from the beginning, when they are saved.

That's why the scriptures are "God Breathed". By inspiration. The scriptures tell the life of Saints. If they didn't have the Spirit then how could their lives be special enough to put in the Word? It's not just the words, it is the person's life and events described in the Word.

The Holy Spirit has always dwelt with the Saints. Sometimes there's a greater infilling, but He is there, from the Foundation of the Earth.

Paradise is heaven. That is where saved people go when they die to be with Christ. Paradise will come down to Earth. The City of God which is in Paradise will come to Earth when God creates a New Sky (heaven) and New Earth, after it is cleansed. (Luke 23:43, 2 Cor. 12:4, Rev. 2:7, Revelation Chapter 21)

The Saints of Old are in Paradise, and have been since they died. 

God defeated Death, Sin and Satan, before anything was created. We are just watching the building being built.

But it was already finished. Long before.

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Sin Vs. Love

 Sin vs. Love

A Word on our relationship with God.

The Bible plainly shows in Matthew 25, what Christ will ask when He returns.

He doesn't ask, "Did you watch porn?"

He doesn't ask "Did you have sex before marriage, or did you have an abortion"

He doesn't ask "Did you vote right, or did you go to church or did you obey leaders and pay what you owe?"

Nope.

He asks if you visited prisoners? Did help you the poor? Did you clothe the naked? Did you give a cool drink to the thirsty? Did you love your neighbor? Did you love? Show kindness and compassion? Did you reconcile people to God?

I can hear you squirming in your seat dying to say..."yeah...but"

No.

Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification. If you are saved then you are in Him and are dead to sins.  It is not held against you. Do the dead sin? No. Paul explains this in Romans.

That means that you have power over it. But, it also means that it is irrelevant to your eternity. You are washed. You are hid in Christ.  (Col. 3:1-3)

You confess your sins and God forgives you, and works to help you overcome. But, it's dead. (1 John 1:1-10)

Those sins can open doors to the enemy to destroy us and ruin our lives. 

Yes!

But, all things work together for our good. God will use that destruction to help us. God will use it to grow us. He is not trying to hurt us but gives a hope and a future. (Romans 8: 28)

And we still are saved forever.

BUT...

Our willingness to have a relationship with Christ and let the Holy Spirit, love through us is what we are called to do. (Eph 2:8-10)

Our service and our love is a reflection of our relationship with God.

When you read Matthew 25. It's obvious that the people thought they were saved. But, they never knew the King, so they never did the compassionate loving things God desired.

They never knew Him.

It's not about works. It's about who you know and who you have a relationship with.

Let God take care of your sins. Focus on serving and loving others. Focus on the relationship with God.

And you will find that those sins you worry about, get less and less. We grow. We build faith. We build our relationship with God. We overcome the sin that so easily besets us. By following the Holy Spirit and doing the service God calls us to do. Not by works, but by His power.

Love covers a multitude of sins. God is love, and He works to drive those things out of us through Love. (1 Peter 4:7-8)

 

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author. Cool door in New Harmony, Indiana.

Read more from Chris. HERE.

Matthew 25 Church

 Mathew 25 Church

A Word on Church Reform

 

Matthew Chapter 25 is a chapter in the New Testament that describes what will happen when Christ returns. It states that He will separate the sheep from the goats. It appears that this judgment is not the Great White Throne judgment, where the lost are judged. This judgment is the judgment of the nations. It seems to be a judgment of people who assume they are right with Christ. The sheep enter into the kingdom, and the goats go into fire. There are many verses that speak of this judgment.

      

The criteria in this judgment will be based upon how people have treated others. It will be based upon their charity, or love in action. In the Chapter Jesus says “ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” --- (Matt 25:40)
      

He takes it personally. Now we can say all kinds of things about Matthew 25. First, we can say that we are saved by grace, not by works. Our salvation is not based upon what we do, but upon what Christ did for us, and because we know Him, and He knows us.
      

This is true. But, it’s also true, that if we know Him, and He knows us, we will do the things He calls us to do. Not saying we won’t fail, or sin, but we will have an abiding desire to help and love others, which leads to action. This is the Fruit of The Spirit that grows in us. This is our warfare, our duty. It becomes who we are; if we are really saved.


If you'll notice the goats in Matthew 25, never knew Him. They were not really born again, or saved. This can be seen in other verses where Jesus tells us that many religious people will think they are saved, but are not. It’s not about works, it’s about being washed in the Blood, confessing Him as Lord, and letting the Spirit work in you and through you to teach, and tell others about Jesus. Saving people for eternity is the goal of everything we do.
      

There are justifications that people will give based upon the wording of Matthew 25 above. Some will claim that since it says “My brethren.” Jesus is talking about the Jewish people, and that this is a judgment against people or nations who have mistreated Israel.  Another view could be that it’s referring to Christians, because we are grafted into Israel, and become His brethren, and we are also His spiritual brothers. This justification attempts to leave out the gentile or the unbeliever as someone we do not need to show charity to. It’s an attempt to create a loop hole. But, all of scripture works against this concept. We are to show charity to those around us, even our enemies.
      

Another justification is that this is a judgment of nations not individuals. But, the actions of nations are made up of the actions of individuals. We can see this when God is talking to Abraham about Sodom. Abraham says, “Will you destroy it if there are 10 righteous?”  (Gen. 18:16-33)   There were not any righteous in the city, righteousness comes by believing God. Not believing in God, but believing what He has told us. Turning to Him, and confessing Jesus as the Lord, trusting Him. (Rom. 4:1-12) No one in that city, except for Lot put their faith in God. But, this shows that the Faith of individuals can save or affect nations. If only 10 righteous people existed, God would have spared all of them. The actions of individuals matter.
      

Some will claim that this judgment is describing how God will treat the Nations who do not support the nation of Israel, during the tribulation period, or the time of Jacobs’s trouble. We are called to support the nation of Israel and are blessed for doing so, but as shown above, this verse has more meaning than that.
      

But, let’s assume that every justification that is given by people who do not want to hear the truth of this verse is true. It still doesn’t change the fact that we are to love our neighbor, and that God is serious about it. Those who do not, regardless of how you justify or explain it will be thrown into the Lake of Fire with the Devil and his angels; because, that is who they have followed. Satan. Now, do not get me wrong. I am not making a political statement here. I’m not claiming that our nation needs to adopt certain socialistic or globalist ideologies. Or that churches need to adopt a social gospel. Those things are from the spirit of antichrist, in order to build the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ.
      

What I am referring to is that individuals and churches need to make a serious effort to change the foundation of church activity from entertaining music and constant milk filled teaching, to one of charity. The seriousness of Matthew 25 warrants that. Of course, we need to worship and teach, but charity and evangelism should be the basis for everything. Matthew 25 does not say that Jesus sends the goats into the Lake of Fire because they didn’t sing the right songs, or raise their hands high enough, or go to church to listen to sermons. Churches and individuals have placed too high of an importance on music instead of on charity. It needs to be flipped.
     

 God tells Israel, ^“ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”--- (Amos 5:21-24)
     

 If we are not doing what God wants us to do, then He does not want to hear our worship. Our worship of Him comes through our service to Him and others, not by standing in a building singing songs. That is not real worship. We worship Him with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him. (Isa. 29:13, Matt. 15:18, Mark 7:6)
      

God does not want us sitting in churches singing praises to Him while there are people down the street in need who are going to hell. He doesn’t care about our gatherings, while families are breaking up and cannot afford the basic needs of life in this culture. How about instead of building mega churches, we build mega homeless shelters, or free colleges, or mega job centers. We complain about the cost of government public aid, but public aid exists because the church is not doing its job. The poor is not going to go away just because we refuse to help them, because we think they sin too much. Jesus says in Matthew, that in the last days, “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matt. 24:12)  Do not let your love for others grow cold. How many times have you failed God? How many times have you promised to do better? Has God given up on you? Quit worrying about someone taking advantage of you. How many times have you ripped off God? Can you ever pay Him back for what He has given you?
      

God lets the sun shine on the just and the unjust, we are to do the same. When Jesus returns he will judge. There will be people in that judgment who think they are saved but are unwashed, they have no garment, they have no talents to give the King, and they have no oil. You can twist or justify yourself all you want to, but these verses are clear. There will be those who think they are saved, but are not. Jesus said that Love fulfills God’s law. If you’re saved, charity will flow from you.
      

So, what does a Matthew 25 church look like? Well, a group of people would get together to form a church and that church will be based upon helping Christians and those in the community. They will be built around food pantries, homeless shelters, clothes closets, helping repair people’s houses, disaster relief, classes to teach basic living, visiting and praying for the sick, helping people pay bills, fundraising for causes, providing places to gather instead of bars, helping families, and on and on. Any sort of charitable ministry you can imagine. That would be the church; it’s all about charity and service, for the purpose of showing God’s love and telling people about Jesus so they will be saved. We must always remember that the purpose of it is salvation. We do not want our charity work to become like so many other Christian charity groups that have turned away from teaching the Gospel, while helping the others.
      

But, what about worship? We would worship before we go work in our ministry, before we open the food pantry, before we go visit the sick. We will have a praise service when we come back from the jails and the streets after preaching. We will sing praises outside the courthouses, and the statehouses as we call for national repentance, and for these governmental entities to turn to God’s Law. That’s how and when we worship. What if instead of putting the 10 commandments on the court house lawn, maybe we should stand there and sing praises, while preaching the Gospel?
      

What about teaching? We will have classes or sermons that teach believers how to wage spiritual war, and serve God, and others. We will have preachers who are famous for the amount of families they have helped rise up from poverty, instead of the number of watered down books they have sold. They will be famous for leading people to Christ, instead of for inventing some new doctrine that scratches peoples itching ears. On Sunday morning, they will be praised for the number of believers who follow them out into the community to help people and preach the Gospel, instead of for the number of goats falling asleep in the church pews.
      

Christ is returning. The church needs to judge itself, that we be not judged with the world (1 Cor. 11:31-32) we are saved by Grace, but we need to step up. God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are His. (Rom. 8:16)  How does that happen? When we are stepping out to follow and serve Him, He shows us that we are His, because our flesh would never have done the things we are now doing, and He is there feeding us, and growing us, and giving us more of Himself. Listen to His Spirit, as he leads you to go do things for the Kingdom. Trust Him. 

When we sit and do nothing for the Kingdom, we start to wonder and doubt. We become spiritually starved. Like Paul said, "If they will not work, neither shall they eat." We grow in Christ and faith by going out and serving and trusting Him.

Take up the Cross and follow Him. Do everything in His name.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author Pere Marquette cross in Pere Marquette State Park.

Our First Love

 Our First Love

A Word on Prophecy, The Love of Money and Brokenness

    
I see folks on Facebook talking about praying to God to heal the land, and to stop the evil in the land, and to drive away pestilence and all of that. I've heard it for years.  But, do they consider how God will do this? Are you really ready for it? Maybe the problem isn't the things YOU think are the problem. Maybe those things are the symptoms. Maybe our love of money is the problem? We are like fish swimming in the love of money. It is everything we breathe, even if we don't want to believe it.

Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10)

When God brings a person to Himself, He often breaks the person. He has to get them to let go of everything and turn to God only. That is how it works in real life, that is how it works in God's Word. It works that way with individuals, and it works that way with nations. God does not see things the way we see them.

 So, are you willing to be broken? Are you willing to be poor? Are you willing to suffer, and trust God? What if God allows our economy to be destroyed? Would you help the poor? If he makes you one of them? When Christ returns He judges the nations. He says nothing about abortion, racism, homosexuality, pornography, drugs, or any of the other things preachers preach about. He says..."What you did unto the least of these you did unto me...."  (Matthew 25)  He judges based upon whether we loved. Whether we helped the poor, the sick, the naked, the prisoner.   THAT! is good stewardship. That! is what a good and faithful servant does. He acts as His master and let's the sun shine on the just and the unjust.

Yes, we are saved by Grace through faith, being born again and confessing Jesus as our Lord. But, people who are really saved hear His voice and love others. They do the things the Lord would do. That is Godliness.

Remember in God's Word, when God sent the people into Babylon, he does it because they were greedy and destroyed the land. They allowed no rest for the land or the people. Just money, money money. Greed. They did not trust God to take care of them while they let the land rest. They did not trust God. So, He put them in a situation where they had no choice but to trust Him. And the land rested. The debts were forgiven. All the wealth was taken away. (I'm not going to give you the verses. You need to learn God's Word, and learn how to use a concordance. There are great ones online. Read Jeremiah)

 Are we really ready for God to help us? Are we really ready to realize that maybe the abortion we cry about are caused by our love of money? Are we willing to see that our children are handing our land over to the enemy because of our love of money?  Are we willing to believe that our love of money, keeps us from being good stewards, and helping those around us?  Are we willing to see that every industry and institution is corrupted by the love of money? Even His houses of worship makes decisions because of  the love of money, instead of people?

The time is drawing short. Revelation speaks of the Black Horse, which is obviously an economic collapse with famine. (Rev. 6)

The Book of James has this to say about the same event.

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

³ Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

⁴ Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

⁵ Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

⁶ Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you."  ---James 5:1-6

Don't think that rapture will remove you. It's better to turn to God and let Him break you. That is real healing. It's coming.

So...

Don't be surprised when we are broken.
Don't be surprised when we need wheel barrows full of cash.
Don't be surprised when we run to Egypt to sell all we have for some corn meal.
Don't be surprised, when the cows of Bashan, walk around in filthy rags. (Look it up)
Don't be surprised when we are sold into Babylon
Don't be surprised when we must choose between Christ and a bite of food, or the Mark.

Do you really want God to heal us? Do you trust Him enough to let Him break us? Joy comes in the morning; when we remember our real first love.

Who is your first love? God or Mammon? Be honest? 

This is not condemnation, this a call to turn to God.

The love of money is very deceptive and hides well.

Who is your first love?

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the Author, A sunrise over Alexandria, Virginia

Sharing Burdens

 Sharing Burdens

A Word on Charity

As believers we are called to share each other’s burdens. (Romans 12:1-21) Yet, I have seen where churches fail miserably in this department. They will search high and low for someone to save, and then once they are “saved”, they will leave them to their own devices.        

      Often times, we will blanket an area that is low income with flyers, asking them to come to church, or to some event. But, churches are really not prepared or often willing to help with the needs of the people they are reaching out to.
      
     People of lower income, who are not “Well Churched” will often come to a church and get saved or start attending regularly. Then the members of the church start finding out the vast amount of needs the person or family has. They see the huge differences between someone who has never been to church, and some who grew up in the church. This often causes church going people to judge, and drive people away, because they cannot figure out why the person or family can’t get right, or do what church people think they should do.
      
     Poor folks often don’t have cars, or they have broken down vehicles. They don’t have licenses. They can’t pay bills. They have been to jail, or prison. They have no child care. They often have no real income, or they work jobs that are considered servile. They do not always have internet or cable. They don’t have access to things we take for granted. When people fall on tough times, or are the products of generational poverty, the hurdles that must be overcome are often beyond the understanding of your average church member.
      
     It’s not always so easy to just pull yourself up by the boot straps. There are things that must be overcome. There are rules that must be followed, that often lead to more rules and more hurdles. There are generational curses, and personal curses. There are mental issues, and demonic entities to overcome. There is often sin that a person must conquer before they can start advancing. Not to mention addictions. Just saying “Go get a job” is not always as simple as we might think, nor is it the easy answer. I have lived through this mess, and it takes time, and God to overcome. It also takes help from people who are willing to share the burdens.
    
      First off, is the person able to fill out an application well enough to get hired? Does the person have a criminal record that could keep them from work? Do they have a valid Driver’s license? Do they have health or mental issues? When you consider these things, the difficult task of living life in this society becomes unreal. How can a poor person take a driver’s test without a decent reliable vehicle to take the test in? Every person they know has a junker car. The DMV refuses such vehicles. What if they can’t read or have no real work history? What if their only real personal reference, that is not family, is Jimmy the crack dealer?
      
     Does the person have an address? Applications of all kinds require an address. Do they have a phone? Do they have internet access? Most applications are online anymore. Can they get to a place where there is internet access? These are things that are needed to “get a job’.
      
     Who will give the rides to interviews? Do they have clean clothes? Can they afford the work clothes required? Do they have child care? Can the person behave in a manner that will help them convince an employer to hire them? Oftentimes people from rough backgrounds have rough manners. It’s often things they do not even see in themselves.
     
      If they get the job, how do they get back and forth to work? How do they get food, clothes, hygiene items, or pay bills until the first pay check comes in? Then, remember that businesses often keep the first paycheck. So, you are talking about 2 weeks to a month before the first payday.
      
     What I have said here does not even begin to cover what a person could need to get up on their feet, or be an average member of society. There might be legal issues, like court dates or fines that must be resolved or paid. There might be health or mental issues. There could be family troubles, like divorce, teen pregnancy, or families practicing “tough love” and refusing to help other members because they are tired of them. But, this person still needs help.
      
     The point is that churches must take these things into consideration with their outreach programs. We bring people to get saved, but do nothing to help their needs, or do just enough to feel good about it. This leads to failure, and driving the person away from Christ even more.
      
     The Bible tells us how to do it. We share burdens. The Holy Spirit comes along side us and helps us. He teaches us, and he grows us. We should do the same with those around us in our churches that have needs. There should be no one in your church who has to go around every week begging for assistance. There should be no one in your church who pulls up on Sunday in an old beater car, while the entire church family drives Cadillac’s or new cars. Often, at church we do things we do not realize. We have youth events where all the kids must buy a $25.00 dollar t-shirt. Or we send kids to camp for $300 or more. We go out to eat, and the cost of the meal is $20 a person. To a poor family, these costs are insurmountable, and it’s insulting to them when the church members offer to pay these costs. Why not help these families get on their feet so they can pay it themselves.
      
     Wouldn’t it be better, and more Christian, to talk to people? To get to know the people in our churches, and to come along side them, like the Holy Spirit does us. To help the people get up on their feet, no matter how hard, or how much they fail. Doesn’t God do the same for us? This isn’t charity that is insulting, this is helping people to stand up, and be free. This is showing people real love, not telling them to come kneel at my footstool. (James 2:1-26)
      
     We need to make friends, and tell them about Jesus. We need to be honest with them and get to know them. Not as our latest charity cause, or another notch on our spiritual belt, but as someone of value. Sharing burdens is part of this. Give rides. Pay bills. Watch kids. Over look failures. Be the person they come to when they have a need. We are called to burn ourselves out for Christ. We are to die for others. (John 15:13) We have our jobs and our incomes for the purpose of helping others. Often times, the cost of a meal at the local restaurant would pay bills, for a family in need. Yet, we won’t give it to them. These people come to our churches, and become our brothers and sisters in Christ, while we watch them struggle with things that we could easily help them resolve; if we would just share the burden. 

 

      Jesus plainly states in Matthew 25, " Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

 

     Churches are full of people who are not saved.  They tend to run churches and do nothing for the Kingdom. They waste money and efforts on worldly things. When the Lord returns we will be judged on what we did for the poor, and downtrodden, because our efforts of love could lead them to Christ.

     When you read Matthew 25, the Lord says nothing about attending church, or fixing buildings or worship services, or bible studies, or whether you said cuss words, or even committed sexual immorality. 

     He asks what you did for those in need. Because when we show love, we can tell them about Jesus.

     I'm not talking about being saved by works. I'm saying that when we know Jesus and have a relationship with Him, we cannot help but do what we can for the downtrodden.

     Sharing people's burden's is a way to do that.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the Writer. Doors of the old Mount Olive Church. The building is located at a historic site in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.