The Christian And Violence

 The Christian And Violence

 What is the truth?

 

I want to start with the ultimate truth, then talk about the current times, and prophecy.

If you want to know God’s will on any subject you can probably find it in the Garden at Creation.

There was no evil or death present. Nothing killed anything else.

The humans and animals all ate fruits, veggies and nuts. This did not kill anything. They ate the fruits and pooped out the seeds spreading more life.

There was no killing of any kind. There was no violence.

All creatures including humans had all of their needs met. There was no competition. There was no striving to avoid pain and death. There was no disease.

Adam and Eve had a purpose, and walked with God.

So, when you speak of God and political views and how things should be.

The Garden is God’s will.

That is Paradise, which will come again when Christ returns and the city of God is on the Earth.

We see the teachings of Jesus about love, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and other lessons clearly speaking of non-violence.

We see him being brutally murdered by Satan, through religious, and civil leaders. While He submitted and forgave them, like a lamb.

He forgave and took upon Himself the sins of the world, to save us if we turn to Him. He did not violently destroy them, even though He had twelve legions of angels ready. (Matt. 26:53)

And when we turn to Him and ask Him to save us, He fills us with the Holy Spirit, which starts working to bring out the Fruit of the Spirit in us. This is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23)

Not violence. The violence in us is the flesh. Not the Spirit. It’s the old man. Not the new spirit man.

Christians are to love God and others. We are to help others and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Even if that leads to persecution and death.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”–Psalm 116:15

Because when we die knowing Him and serving Him, we go home to Paradise to be with Him.

We die for God’s purpose and we die for others.

We die to ourselves and live for Him.

This is a fact. This is spiritual reality.

BUT…

Because of the Fall, we live in a world filled with evil, death, darkness and ruled by the enemy; Satan. We are surrounded by corruption, murder, robbery and all forms of evil wickedness constantly. People doing the most heinous things, being guided by demons and their own sinful nature. Even the saints are striving with demons who whisper to the flesh.

It’s every where.

Jesus prayed “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”– John 17:15

We are in this evil world, but we are protected from the evil corrupting our souls as well, if we know Him.

We confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness –1 John 1:8-10

He washes our feet as we walk in this filthy world.

He has given us the Law to show us we are sinners and need Him, but also to help us have order in this world ruled by evil.

In the Law and in the Old Testament we see plainly that because of the Fall; because we are surrounded by evil, in a world ruled by Satan. There are times when violence is required and allowed, lest the evil take over.

Of course, violence does not have to be killing.

There is all kinds of violence that can occur short of killing.

The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill” it does not say, “Thou shalt not beat severely”

Just to clarify.

As believers we should not want violence. The Holy Spirit guides our heart toward peace. love and mercy.

But, there are various levels of violence.

According to scripture, we are allowed to kill humans and animals, for the following reasons.

War, Capital Punishment, Self-Defense, Defense Of Others, Defense of the Nation, Sacrifice (animals), and Procuring Food and Survival Needs (animals).

You will find that all reasons fit within these categories.

All of these are to be done truthfully, prayerfully and with righteous judgement.

We are not supposed to want to just go out and kill for no proper reason. To get land, or trophies or money. To exterminate whole groups. For hatred or revenge, or sinful reasons.

If we are saints our hearts are to be turned towards God and what His will is.

It’s hard.

Sometimes we show mercy.

But sometimes we must destroy evil, without letting the evil consume us.

The New Testament speaks of the ruler bearing the sword for the evil doer. (Rom. 13:1-8)

God set up government for the purpose of making things safe and good, so the saints can live in the spirit in this evil world.

God is our ruler, not humans.

God does not condone sin and corruption in government any more than He does in the individual. It needs to be dealt with.

There are those who think evil is fine, if it comes under the guise of government authority. That is not the case.

We are called to serve God. We are called to answer to Him.

Government is to be a servant of God, and should be doing right, and it is our responsibility to make sure it does.

But do we do it violently?

We are to use every means we can to change things without killing people.

It’s that simple.

But there is a time for everything. There is a time for war. There is a time to kill. There is also a time to heal, and a time for peace. We have seen these times, where war is needed to stop evil and to bring those responsible to justice. (Ecc. 3:1-8)

It’s up to God, when those times are.

We know His voice. If we know Him. He let’s us know.

He raises up people, for such a time as this.

The saint must understand that this world is being pushed by the spirit of antichrist and the forces of Satan, toward the building of the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ to come.

It is being prepared.

According to God’s Word, the saints will be defeated, and we will face persecution like nothing ever seen before. (Rev. 13:7, Dan. 7:25, Luke 21, Matt. 24, Rev. 6:9, Rev. 20:4 )

“Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”—Psalm 44:22

“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”— Dan.7:25

God allows it.

There will be people who have been in church claiming to be Christians, who actually never knew Jesus and will become the Apostate Church following the False Prophet; who will lead them into worshiping the Anti-Christ.

Those false brethren will betray the saints.

Their leaders at church will sell them out.

Their own children probably brainwashed in schools, colleges and universities, will turn their parents in to be jailed and killed.

And the Anti-Christ will wear out the saints and make war against them and kill them. (Rev. 13:7)

The saints waging war with violence will not matter, it will compound to more violence. It will add to the defeat of the saints. (Rev. 13:10)

We will see the enemy destroyed when Christ returns and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. Justice will come. (Rev. 14)

All of this is the doctrine of spiritual warfare. It is the truth from God’s Word, about the saints and violence.

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;”— 2 Cor. 10:4

God’s Word teaches us how to wage war. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to wage war.

We overcome the enemy by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and not loving our lives more than Jesus. (Rev. 12:11)

Our purpose is to Love God, Love others and to tell them what great things God has done for us.

We are saved. We are forgiven and called to protect the least of these and call them to Christ. (Matt. 25)

Get to work.

The time draws near.

Jesus is coming.

---

Cover by pexels

Let Us Be Content

 Let Us Be Content

 Always more. More, More, More.

 

 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”— Heb. 13:5-6

We live in a world that constantly seeks to get us to spend more, buy more, have more, get better, more, more, more.

We are pushed to accumulate more and more debt.

It’s the culture of More

We feel like responsible people because we pay our debts (maybe), but we do not see the trap we are in.

Paul tells Timothy,

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.

 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”—1 Tim. 6:6-12

Godliness, is to treat people in the same way you would want God to treat you. Think about that for a moment. We get saved and the Holy Spirit grows us, and shows us how to treat others, by how God has treated us.

This helps grow our contentment as we learn to trust God and love others.

The Devil uses this world and our fleshly natures to get us to covet and lust over the things of this world. Things we cannot take with us. Things that rot and rust and require payments, and maintenance.

Things that require us to sell ourselves into slavery to maintain.

Things we don’t even really own. The bank, insurance companies and the government really own it.

We pay for houses we barely see because we are working all the time to pay for it.

These are some of the miseries Paul warns Timothy of.

Our mind becomes focused on Mammon instead of God. We cannot serve two masters. Who are we really serving? Do we plan to serve God when we retire?

Understand that the love of money is the ROOT of all evil.

What does a plants roots do? It feeds the plant.

Likewise, we develop a love of money, in order to pay for our lusts and greed. We might claim we don’t love money. But, let’s be honest.

We know that more money would solve our problems. But, when we look at the verse from Hebrews above, we see that God will never leave us nor forsake us. He is the solution to our troubles, not more money.

It’s a trap.

Consider an addict. He gets high and loves it. Then, he wants more. So, he seeks more.

And he finds more and more.

Now, he cannot help but have more. He is hooked.

He makes excuses, like it helps him do better work. It helps him deal with things.

Eventually, he finds himself willing to do evil things for the addiction.

He or she might say, “It’s just business.” or “It’s part of the job” or “It’s what the boss wants.”

Do we do the same thing with our jobs, and money? Are we willing to do bad things to keep our job or business running? Do we love money or God?

The fact is that we live in a country and world that requires us to have money to survive. God knows this.

God knows that we need money to provide for our families.

God knows that we live in a culture that requires certain things or you will be treated like a bum or even have legal issues.

If you don’t have a home and the basic things, you could have your children taken and charged with a crime.

If you don’t have a license or car, you can’t work in many places.

If you do not have a phone or computer access and internet you cannot even look for a job.

If you don’t have tools or clothes you can’t work.

There is nothing I have found in scripture that calls us to poverty. God, will take care of us and we are to be content with His provision. Not looking at the neighbors new car, or pontoon boat. Not looking at the giant house we don’t need.

As saints, we dial back those desires and focus on other things. We build up treasures in heaven by giving and helping others instead of accumulating things we can’t take with us when we die.

When we let God provide and be content, we will see Him move to help us when we are in need and our faith will grow.

When we are content it provides peace and time, that we can devote to other things.

Imagine being content and living within your means as a young person.

When you get older you have everything paid off, and have time to live life. You can spend time with the kids and grand kids, without trying to get time off from a job you have slaved away at for decades now to pay your debts.

Being content grows wealth over time, it also saves your kids from trouble when you pass.

Being content is freedom.

No one can use the things of this world against you, because it doesn’t matter to you. You know God will provide and you’ll be like Paul,

“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”—Phil. 4:11

This is not a condemnation of wealth. I know wealthy people who are content. They have not always been rich, but they made some good choices, and avoided some pitfalls. Now they have wealth. They live godly and are content. They serve God and help people.

Honestly, when you are poor, you can barely do squat. The scriptures do not call us to be in poverty but to be poor in spirit and content.

God is with us and will take care of us and bless us. It’s a fact. Follow His Spirit.

The Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. He trusted God’s provision completely. (Matt. 8:20)

This world is not our home. Our home is in Paradise with Christ. We brought nothing in to this world and we can take nothing with us, except people and the treasures we accumulate through His Spirit. (Matt. 6 :19-21)

When these last days get worse, there will be economic collapses and destruction. (James 5:1-8, Rev. 6:5-6, Rev. Chap 18)

Trusting the Lord, faith and contentment will help get you through these times. God will take care of you.

When the Mark of the Beast comes, there will be a choice people will have to make. Take the Mark to keep my job? Keep my home? Keep my life?

Consider this. If you cannot practice self control in the good times, how can you in the bad? If you cannot resist more and more debt. Or more and more things. How are you going to resist the temptation to deny Christ and get the Mark?

The Anti-Christ might promise to pay your debts and student loans, if you just get the Mark. He might create a new economic system that solves all kinds of problems, if you just get the Mark.

Learn to have self-control and resist the culture of More. Success does not mean more stuff. Ambition does not mean more debt. You can do more and still be content.

Contentment in all things will serve you greatly in tough times.

The Lord is with us and will protect us. We can trust Him.

---

Cover photo by Pexels

As If By Fire

 As If By Fire

Will you have rewards? 

 

 

 

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”—1 Cor. 3:13-15 (Chapter 3)

When God saves us. He saves us forever. I do not believe we can lose our salvation, and the scriptures do not teach that, despite any man made argument to the contrary.

If you know Him. If you are His. If you have turned to Him and asked Him to save you and confessed Him as your Lord. Then, He will not cast you away. He chastens us. He grows us. He breaks us and molds us. He refines us.

He does not cast us aside, because we broke one too many rules. Even if we reject Him. Still He is faithful and continues to keep His Word and do His work. (Romans 8:37-39. 1 Thess. 5: 20-24, 2 Thess. 3:3)

If we really know Him. If we have really given ourselves to Him. If we really confess Him as Lord. He accepts us and saves us forever. (Romans 10:9-10)

He saves us and starts working in us and through us. The law and any other rule becomes a guide for growth and confession. We are washed. We are clean. But, sometimes our feet get dirty in this world. The laws help us to know what to clean and pray about for growth and healing. The Law shows us our sin, and we know what to confess to the Lord.

As we live in Christ, we are to be Spirit led. We are to turn to the Lord (repent) and let Him save us and grow us. We are to acknowledge Him in ALL our ways and He shall direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans chapter 8)

This means that we are to listen to His Spirit, and when we do this He works in us and through us. So, our work and our life, and our following Him; is done by His power, not ours. It’s Him doing it, not us. If we allow it.

Our works of righteousness are as filthy rags. (Isa. Chapter 64, Romans Chapter 1)

We cannot please Him in our own flesh. We are fallen. We have a corrupted nature. Even when we are saved, we still fail and sin. We cannot please Him in our own obedience or desire. No matter how great it is. If He didn’t do it, or call for it, or lead us in it. Then, it’s flesh. It’s hay, wheat and stubble. You can build a million orphanages and ministries but if He’s not in it or led you to do it, then it’s nothing.

When He returns, all of our work and all of our life will be tried in the all consuming fire of who He is. (Hebrews Chapter 12, Deut. 4:24, Deut 9:3, Matthew Chapter 25, 2 Peter Chapter 3)

Like in the days of Noah, the water fell and broke up from below swallowing the world and destroying it. Only 8 souls saved on the Ark.

Likewise, when He returns the Earth will be burned up in fire, and those in Christ will be saved as if by fire, receiving the rewards. He shall judge the quick (saved, living) and the dead (unsaved) at His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:1)

All that will remain will be that which can survive the fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones through God’s work in us.

But, all flesh. All hay, wheat and stubble will be burned up. Those things that were not from God, by God or commanded by God, will perish. All things not of your relationship with God. Burned.

We will be left with what God has done. Not what we did in our flesh. No matter how good. No matter how much we obey the Bible in our flesh.

Did we know Him and follow His Spirit? Did we abide? (John Chapter 15)

But, we ourselves shall be saved as if by fire. Only having the things God has done. And we shall cast them at His feet. Because He has done it all, not us. (1 Cor 3:10-15, 1 Cor Chapter 3, Rev. 4:10-11,)

He is worthy.

And there shall be a new Heaven and new Earth, where He dwells with us. A new Creation where there is no death, corruption, curse or sin.(Isa 66:22-24, Isa Chapter 66, Isa Chapter 65, 2 Peter Chapter 3, Rev. Chapter 21)

Now, several points need to be made. There seems to be different judgements. The Judgement of the Believers which is where our rewards are decided. The Great White Throne judgement, which refers to the lost, and the judgement of nations. We do not know exactly how these things will happen and when or in what order.

When He comes there will be Judgement. When He comes there will be rewards. We know there will be a fire judgement. We know there will be a millennium, and a thousand year kingdom. But, exactly how this works we are not told. (2 Peter 3)

But, if you are a believer then we are called to serve the Kingdom. We are called to abide in Him and endure the attacks of the enemy.

When Jesus returns, our works as saints will be judged. And the work that God has done in us and through us will remain as a reward.

But, Paul warns us that if we are saved and we have done nothing. If we have not let the Holy Spirit work in us, on us and through us. If we have lived as Carnal Christians. We will face that fire, and will have nothing to show for it. God, will keep His Word and save you. But, you will go into eternity with nothing. Like a man who ran out of his burning house naked in the middle of the night. Everything burned up.

You never stored treasures in heaven. You stored them all on Earth, and when its burned. It’s burned.

But, you yourself will be saved as if by fire.

Smelling of smoke. By the skin of your teeth, so to speak.

God keeps His Word.

Learn to listen to His voice and serve the Kingdom. There is no better place to be, than with Him.

---

Photo by pexels/edited by author 

Unlearned Men

 Unlearned Men

 You are able in Christ

 

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”—Acts 4:13

These were fishermen, laborers, carpenters, craftsmen, and other tradesmen. They were not “Learned”. They were not trained in the religious schools. They did not go to seminary or college and get a degree. They did not have a license from the government or from the Association of International Pharisees. They were not Scientists or Doctors or Lawyers.

They were just regular folk.

But, they had been with Jesus. They had spent time with Jesus and had learned from Him.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit and was taught by Him.

The Holy Spirit will bring us into all truth. He will show us things to come. (John 16:13)

We have no need for any to teach us. The Holy Spirit will teach us and lead us to the people and places He wants us to learn from. (1 John 2:27)

But, there’s this worldly belief that you need to be college educated or licensed in order to serve God, or speak truth.

You don’t

Granted, you don’t want someone performing brain surgery who is not trained.

You don’t want someone building your house, who is not learned in the ways of house building.

But, you can be confident that the Lord will train you and lead you in the way He wants you to go, in order to serve Him.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”–Prov. 22:6

When we get born again, we become a child of the Lord. Will He not train us up?

You are right where God has allowed you to be.

The purpose is for you to turn to Him, serve others, and learn.

That’s it.

God is molding you into a vessel for His use. He is purging things from you and filling you with good.

We turn to Him in prayer and confession and in all our ways, and He works to direct our paths into the green pastures He promises.

Those green pastures are the places where we serve to build the Kingdom. He provides through our service.

These men were full of the Holy Spirit. They were taught by God, but they also had practical skills, and trades that they could use to live by, or serve others.

Advertisement

We have to trust that God is doing what He promises He will do. So, He is training us up. He is making a place for us. He is teaching us and giving us wisdom when we ask. He is answering our prayers.

Sometimes we have to open our eyes and see that we are exactly where God wants us to be, and that He is moving in our lives.

It is happening. He is faithful. We can trust Him.

We might not be happy with our life at this time. But, what is God doing?

Turn your mind to spiritual things. Praise God. Get your mind off yourself and on to God and others. Pray that God will bring you a way to serve Him.

Which brings us to the point.

You are able in Christ. Let God guide you to where He wants you to be.

Satan might whisper into your mind, “You aren’t smart enough” or “You can’t do that.”

The enemy might use friends and family to ridicule you or keep you down with snide comments or just a complete lack of support.

The demons might use nameless faces on the internet to tell you to be quiet, you’re not a scientist. Your not a doctor. You failed high school. You’re just a soccer mom, or plumber. You can’t understand these things.

But, keep following God, and trusting God.

The enemy might say, “You don’t have a degree. You are just unlearned and ignorant”

But, with God all things are possible.

He will guide you.

Have you noticed that Satan has great colleges and universities full of money and wickedness working to train workers to help build his Kingdom of the Anti-Christ?

Do you not think that God is also training up His own workers?

And I’m not talking about colleges who claim to serve God. Satan has infiltrated many of those as well.

God trains us through His Word and by spending time with Jesus, through His Holy Spirit. In Him, we have all we need to serve others and build God’s kingdom.

Never let anyone tell you that you cannot serve God or serve others because you are not “learned”.

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. (Phil. 4:13)

They treated Jesus the same.

“And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”—Matt. 13: 54-57

The people who know you and have grown up with you will often try to keep you down or doubt your worth.

But, God does not. He has called you and will train you, even if you need to go somewhere else to do it.

And please understand that I am not talking about your job here. I’m talking about serving God and others. If God calls you to a certain job or work, you might need to get training from experts.

But, God is the expert on serving God. He is real and He is able to train you. Just believe and serve.

I’m telling you this for a reason.

Because in these last days there is deception all around. Even seminary schools have been infiltrated by the enemy, teaching false doctrine.

In China, preachers of the government licensed churches will snitch on the members of their church who show real belief in Christ. These people are jailed or killed if they preach the truth.

That is coming everywhere. So, if you are called to serve God, you need to know that you do not need a government school, or any school for God to train you.

Not only this, but there will come a day soon when all buying and selling is controlled by the Anti-Christ.

A person will not be able to pay for school or anything without getting the Mark of the Beast.

You need to know, that God can train you and use you even in these difficult times to come.

You don’t need to be trained in Satan’s system, in order to serve God.

Understand, that when the Jewish people were taken captive and hauled off to Babylon, they served God within that wicked kingdom.

We can do the same, as we get closer to those days.

But, there comes a point where we can no longer abide in wickedness.

There comes a time, when we will have to choose the lions den, or the blazing fire instead of denying Christ, or worshiping Satan, the Anti-Christ, or his Image.

You are never “Unlearned and Ignorant” in Christ.

You have been trained by the living God.

And that’s all that really matters on Judgement day.

---

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by pexels/Tweesak C.

Checkout Latter Days

Checkout Good Soldier

Checkout Jezebel’s War

Born Again

 Born Again

You must be born again 

 

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John Chapter 3)

We must be born again, because our natural self has a corrupted nature which comes from Adam’s fall in the Garden.

We sin, because of this corrupted nature. (Book of Romans)

We are subject to Death because of this corrupted nature. (Book of Romans)

When we commit that first sin, like Adam. When we are tempted by Satan and fall, we also become slaves of the Enemy and destined for Hell.

This is why Jesus was subject to death, but not a slave to Satan or destined for Hell. Because He never sinned. His fleshly body was subject to death, like us, but His soul and Spirit was not corrupted by His own sin, because He never sinned. He was God in the flesh.

What is Hell?

Hell was created for Satan and His Angels, it is a holding place for evil; and all things filthy and corrupted.

God cannot allow that corruption into Paradise or eternity. Or else it will spread again and all of eternity will be as bad as this world, and this life. So, it must be washed, redeemed or saved to be allowed to make it in.

Remember

God destroyed the Earth with a Flood, and 8 souls survived.

And that Plague of Sin survived in them, and corrupted the Earth again.

It will be destroyed with fire next time.

And this is why we must be born again.

It washes our souls and spirits in the Blood of Jesus, to make us white as snow.

We still sin. We still have a corrupted nature in the flesh.

But, we have a living spirit.

We have a soul that is being renewed.

We have become a clean vessel where the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us.

Like Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

We are saved by Grace through faith. (Eph. 2)

We confess Jesus is our Lord. (Romans 10:9-10)

We ask God to save us and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, and we get baptized as our first act of faith. (Acts 2:38)

Baptism is a picture of us dying to our old corrupted self, and rising again with Christ. We die to the flesh. We die to this world and the corruption. We die with Christ.

We are then made alive again in Him. (Rom. 6:11)

He is the living water. Whosoever shall drink of Him shall never thirst again. (John 4)

Our born again experience mirrors new birth.

A woman having a baby is in travail. She is hurting. She is having contractions. They get closer and closer together.

Likewise, we see our lives going out of control. Trouble here, trouble there, nothing seems to go right. We cannot fix it. Everything is wrong.

We are beaten down. Life just won’t work any more.

We don’t know what to do.

But, we hear His voice in the darkness. We know He calls us, and we turn to Him.

We ask Him to save us, and He does.

He will save you if you ask Him. He will bring you through your troubles and safely to the other side.

When we turn to Him, He saves us and we are born again. A new creature. No longer subject to Hell. No longer a slave of Lucifer. Clean forever in Christ.

The angels rejoice. Our family waiting for us in Paradise; those generations of the saved, rejoice also. ( Luke 15:10)

This is the process for all new life.

Likewise, the new creation of the heavens and the earth at His return must go through the birthing process in these last days.

Like a woman in travail, the troubles will get closer and closer together. It will get worse and worse. (1 Thess. 5:3)

Till the Lord bursts through the sky with his saints, at His glorious appearing.

We must be born again, to enter Paradise.

Just turn to Him and ask.

Like the thief on the cross. (Luke 23:40-43)

We are broken, corrupted and dangling above death and hell.

We cannot do right.

We need Him.

He is there suffering with you.

Just ask Him. (Acts 2:21)

Lord, please save me.

And let Him, do the work.

---

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by pexels/Craig Adderley, Edited by the author

Checkout Good Soldier

Work Out Your Own Salvation

 Work Out Your Own Salvation

What does it mean? 

 

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”—Phil. 2:12-13

There are those who enjoy using this verse as a tool to push a works based doctrine. They claim that works are required in our salvation. Works, are a sign of our faith, between you and God. Works do not save us. This can clearly be seen in the very next verse. It is God who does the work.

As James said, “Faith without works is dead.” Our works show that we believe. Show who? Are we trained apes that perform for people? No. It shows God and ourselves that we believe. It helps build our faith as we actively follow the Holy Spirit and do the things God calls us to do. Our faith grows and is alive as we see ourselves following God. (Jas. 2:24)

The fact is that we are saved by GRACE, not by faith or works. This is very important to understand. It is nothing we do. Even faith is a work, when compared to grace. Any work on our part rejects God’s Grace. If we think we are helping God or paying God back, or obeying Him because of grace, we are rejecting His grace. If I give you something, and you do something or pay for it, you have ruined my free gift. See? When you try to do something nice for someone and they demand that you let them pay you back, this is what we try to do with God and His Grace. When we do it, we are rejecting His free gift, and trying to save ourselves through our own righteousness.(Eph. 2:8-10, Rom. 11:6)

So what does it mean to work out our own salvation?

Well, first it means that it is each person’s responsibility to hear God’s call and turn to Him for salvation. It is also each persons responsibility to make sure they are really saved. Hence, the fear and trembling. (Romans 10:9-10)

We must realize that each of us are born with certain problems in our DNA. This is our corrupted nature from Adam. You can often see it in family traits. Things that are in our flesh and we struggle with. Sometimes, these are mixed with our environment as kids. I don’t want to call it sin, because it doesn’t start out as sin, until you sin in it, or because of it.

 Take anger as an example. Some people are born, with quick tempers. But, it’s not a sin, until it causes you to sin. Then, you must deal with the consequences. Addiction is another example; people are born with a proclivity to addiction. They become addicts faster or easier. This is something that leads to more sin and struggle.

These are just a couple of examples. The point is that we are all born with these failings in our DNA, and we are raised in families or environments which impact us. These things lead us to grow up a certain way. It opens doors for the devil to influence our life. It creates who we are.

This is a product of our fallen world, our sin, and the demons who rule it. God does not make junk. But, this world does impact us. (2 Cor. 4:4)

Then, we meet Jesus.

We hear a sermon or a tract, or a friend tells us about Christ.

We are saved. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. We are set free. Our sins are forever gone.

Then comes Monday morning and the world attacks us, along with the devil. We discover that we have power over some things in our lives, that we never had before. But, we also learn that there are still fleshly things we must struggle with.

As we walk with God in the Spirit we have things that will tempt our flesh. We have spiritual enemies seeking to devour us. We will fail. But, we are overcomers through Him. We will sin. But, we are forgiven and confess them to the Lord.

This walk is working out our own salvation, with God. We are saved by His grace. But, we walk in this world.

Let’s take two people. One is born into a nice Christian family. They have everything going for them and they get saved. Now take another person born in poverty, addicted to drugs, prison and all kinds of sin, and they get saved.

Both are saved. Both are equal. Both have problems. But, both did not start out in the same place.

Their journey with God is different. Not better or worse, but different. They have different struggles. They have different sins that they are impacted by. They have different demons.

They work out their own salvation on their own journey with God. They walk through different valleys and over different mountains with Him.

An addict who gets saved, struggles with that issue, while another believer might struggle with anger. Another might struggle with gossip, while another battles anxiety.

The devil attacks our flesh and tempts us any way he can to get our focus off of God, and serving Him. It’s a war. The devil wins by keeping us from sharing the Gospel, building the Kingdom, and bringing light into darkness.

All of this is working out our own salvation, within God’s Grace, as we walk with Him. It’s our sanctification through our relationship with Him.

Do not let the works based doctrines of some beat you down. Just turn to God and keep turning to Him. That is relationship, as we rely totally on Him. Not ourselves.

Praise Jesus.

---

Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by Pexels/Kampus Productions

Checkout Chris’s books.

Checkout Latter Days

Checkout Good Soldier

You might also like this book

Checkout Exposing The Devil’s Playbook

The Road To Emmaus

 The Road To Emmaus

 Our hearts burned within us

 

After Jesus rose from the dead, He spent 40 days on the Earth before He ascended to heaven. (Acts 1)

During that time he was seen by many people. Proving that He was alive.

He appeared to the disciples several times. Helping them to understand what had happened and building their faith for the work they needed to do. (John chapter 20 and 21, Matt. 28, Mark 16,)

One of those times was when 2 disciples were walking on the road to the village of Emmaus, and a man joined them as they walked. (Luke 24)

It was Jesus.

At first they did not recognize Him. On several occasions he was not recognized by appearance but was known. A possible explanation could be that the beating He took from the Romans might have swollen or bruised his face. The other possibility is that his resurrected body was so healed and perfect that he no longer showed signs of age or any physical blemishes. He might have looked years younger.

But often when he spoke or they saw him perform some act, He became obvious to them. Like when you meet someone you have not seen in years, but when they smile or say your name, you see them for who they are.

So, Jesus walked with them and listened to them recount the activities of the last few days. The crucifixion and resurrection.

They still doubted and had fear.

But, Jesus spoke to them.

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” — Luke 24:25-26

Then, beginning at the writings of Moses, which is Genesis through Deuteronomy, and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them where He appeared in the scriptures. All the allegorical pictures of Him. The allusions to the coming Messiah and the prophecies of Him.

Jesus is the central point of the Bible. Virtually everything is a picture of Him.

From the point where God says, “Let there be Light” in Genesis, we know that Jesus is the Light of the World. To where God created the woman, and it is the story of the crucifixion.

God caused Adam to go into a deep sleep (Death)

And out of his side He took a rib and fashioned a Woman to be Adam’s Bride.

Likewise, after Jesus died a Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear and out flowed blood and water.

And the Church, who is the Bride of Christ, is created by the Blood of the Lamb, and the water of baptism.

It’s the same story.

We see in Genesis Chapter 3 where God makes reference to The Serpent’s head being crushed by the seed of the woman. A reference to Christ’s victory over Satan.

We can move forward to Noah, who was righteous because he believed the Word, God gave Him. He built an Ark to save as many as would believe. Just like Jesus saves us from the coming wrath if we put our faith in Him and get on board.

We see the story of the Exodus where the blood of the Lamb was painted on the door posts in order to save everyone in the house.

We see the law of Moses where the sacrifices and sanctuaries are pictures of the coming great sacrifice of Jesus, and that we are clean and hid in Him.

We can go on and on showing the hidden references to Christ throughout God’s Word.

And they were hidden in order to keep God’s plan a secret from Satan and His angels, until the day Jesus was killed and set us free.

They were mysteries from the foundation of the world, for the same reason that He spoke to them in Parables.

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”—Matt. 13:11-15

God has set a method for salvation.

Hear His call and turn to Him. Believing Him and confessing Him as Lord. Asking Him to save you in Jesus name. (Romans 10:9-10, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:21)

And the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to you and grow you in Christ. Working to build your faith.

Jesus is the Door.

If anyone tries another way they are a robber and a thief. (John 10)

If Satan has deceived them with a works based doctrine, they do not really know the Lord. They have never confessed Him as Lord. They have never received grace, because they are trying to save themselves. (1 Cor. 12:3, Rom 11:6)

 They are like the demons who know there is a God, but they reject Him. They do not confess Him as Lord. They are in rebellion and have never submitted to the Lord, and received grace. Those same demons work to keep us trapped in rebellion with them.  (James 2:19)

That is why the Gospel was hid and remains a difficult thing.

In order to prevent Satan and his minions in the war, and to get humans saved the proper way.

But, it is not difficult. It is the easiest thing in the world. Simply submit to the Lord. Turn to Him and confess Him as your Lord. He will do the rest.

---

Cover photo by pexels/Lucas Pezeta

They Chose The Devil

 They Chose The Devil

Barabbas is a picture of Satan 

 

 

God came to Earth, in the form of Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life, because we cannot.

He came to set us free from the bondage of Sin and Satan.

The devil found out the plan; hidden since the dawn of time. He and his demonic hordes worked to oppose God’s design. They would not let humans go. The Fallen Angels rule the Earth. Satan is the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4)

They used their human slaves to harass, and falsely accuse Jesus in order to murder Him.

The religious leaders listened to the demons whispering into their minds. They did not know God. They did not want to lose their positions of power to this Jesus person. They were full of fear, jealousy and envy. (Matt. 27:18)

So, they secretly arrested Jesus by night and held a trial, out of the eyes of the people. Like all those who serve Satan, they work in secret. In small committees out of the questioning eyes of others.

The demon princes of this world worked to get them to convict Jesus and deliver the Lord to the Roman government for execution.

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He uses the governmental powers he controls to destroy the saints, in order to keep God’s truth from spreading. He did it in Jesus day, He does it around the world today, and he will do it when he is cast down to Earth and infills the Anti-Christ. (Revelation 12:10, Rev. 12, Rev. 13)

The religious leaders delivered Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor at the time.

The religious leaders knew that Pilate would release a prisoner unto them. It was a strange custom, done during the feast. (Matt. 27, Mark 15, Luke 23)

The religious leaders, hearing the whisperings of the demons worked to get the people to reject Jesus and get Barabbas released unto them.

Barabbas, a man who was accused of sedition and murder. Like Satan, a rebel and a murderer from the beginning. (Luke 23, John 8:44)

The people shouted, led by the religious leaders to crucify Jesus, and release unto them Barabbas the murderer.

They said to let the blood of Jesus be upon them and upon their children, cursing themselves in his death. (Matt. 27:25)

And Barabbas who is a picture of Satan was released unto the people, as they rejected the King of Glory. It is even said by scholars that Barabbas's first name was Jesus. This shows a clear picture of Satan offering a replacement Christ, or Anti-Christ.

And they took Jesus to Calvary, also called Golgotha. A place outside the city walls, near where the trash was thrown. Near the dump, which is the picture of hell. Where the lepers lived and the dogs dwelt. Where the fires are not quenched and the worms (maggots) never die. (John 19)

 There they crucified Him between two thieves.

The thief crucified next to Jesus saw the truth. He heard the call of God in his heart. He witnessed to the other thief, and he confessed Jesus as Lord. He asked Jesus to remember him.

And Jesus said, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

And at that instant that thief was saved, and would be with the Lord forever in Paradise.

He was finally free.

And Jesus died bearing the weight of the sins of the world. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The sacrificial Lamb bleeding for anyone who asks to be saved; calling on the name of Jesus. ( Rev. 13: 8, Eph 1:4, Acts 2:21)

And the demons cheered. And Satan thought he had won.

Till he realized that the death of Jesus set humans free if they asked, and was the beginning of the end for the demonic hordes, who rule the earth.

And today, we have a choice to make. Do we choose the devil? Or do we listen to God’s call and choose Jesus? Do we demand His blood? Or do we receive His sacrifice for us? There is no middle ground. We are with the Lord, or with the devil. It is war.

But, the end is not yet, for there will come a future time quickly approaching where we will be given a choice to choose the Devil or the Lord. A time when a man rises up and the whole world runs after him. A man who will be the picture of Satan, a usurper ruling the World. The “instead of” Christ. The Anti-Christ.

He will make war with the saints and over come them. And many will fall way. Those who never really knew the Lord. They will deny Him and help beat the servants of the Lord. They will turn back to the world, because they never really knew Jesus. Remember Lot’s wife. (2 Thess. 2:3, Luke 12:45, 2 Peter 2:1, Luke 17, Rev. 6, Rev. 12, Rev. 13)

But the Lord will come from heaven with a shout and the trump of God, and all the saints will come with Him. ( 1Thess. 4:16-17)

And we will meet Him in the clouds and forever be with Him.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

---

(Cover photo by pexels/David Kouakou, Edited by the author

Confessing Our Sins, Changes Our Life

 Confessing Our Sins, Changes Our Life

Walk in the Spirit 

 

In the book of Genesis, we get an indication that God enjoyed walking with Adam in the coolness of the day. They talked and had a relationship.

We see the same thing with Enoch. He walked with God. (Gen. 5:18-24)

Walking with God, is an indication of spending time with God. Knowing God and being friends with God. It is walking in the Spirit.

Like Paul said about Abraham. He was called a friend of God. Why? Because Abraham believed God. He trusted God. He believed God at His Word. And God declared him righteous. (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3)

These saints trusted God. They believed His Word. They walked with Him and spent time with Him and built a relationship with Him, and God built one with them.

I say this, to get you to see that you can trust God. That building the relationship is important in our salvation and growth in Him.

Confessing our sins to Him is part of that.

It says in First John chapter one, to confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So what does this mean? 

It means don’t hide anything from God. You sin. It’s a fact. We all sin. ” If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10)

So, if you cannot admit that you sin, then you do not know Christ. Jesus is the Word.

If we say we do not sin, we make God a liar. Because He says that we do. It’s not just about the ten commandments. Its about not loving people as well. It’s about the sinful thoughts we have. Humans are so utterly depraved we desperately need Jesus.

Advertisement

If you honestly cannot think of any sins, then ask God to show you. But, you better hang on. Because God will let you see how bad you really are. (Not like Satan does. But, to show you so you can confess.)

Confess it all to him. Tell him about your addictions, your adultery, your lust, your hate, your violence. Tell him about all your filth. Your pride, your unkindness, your false beliefs, your rebellion. Sins of commission and sins of omission. Remember that homeless guy God wanted you to help, but you were too busy?

Don’t justify your sin.

Surrender to God and confess it.

Because He will forgive you.

But…think about it.

He already forgave us and washed us in His blood when we were saved. If you know God, and turned to Him asking Him to save you, and confessed Jesus as your Lord. You were forgiven of ALL sin at that moment. You were born again and saved.

God declared you righteous and washed you clean in the Blood of the Lamb. All your sins were forgiven and forgotten. Never to be brought up by God again.

That’s our salvation.

Do we need further washing?

Of course not. He is not referring to that.

He is telling us He will forgive us, because the devil is telling us He won’t. 

The enemy whispers into our mind that we have fallen too far. Or that we are not worth it. or that we should be ashamed or fear God. Those are lies.

God loves us and is on our side. The enemy wants us to think we have disappointed God, in order to get us to turn away and run from God. Then, the enemy can attack us easier.

Confessing sins to God in prayer helps us to be washed and grow in Him. It protects us from the attacks of the enemy when we believe God forgives us. When we trust His Word.

Not only that, but God is telling us that He will wash our feet and make us whole; despite the lies the enemy tells us. (John 13:6-10)

But not only that..God will clean up our whole life. The verse in First John says “All unrighteousness” Meaning that as we keep confessing, and praying. He is working to help us overcome these sins that keep us down.

He is helping us to overcome them, as we give them to him to defeat. He doesn’t just forgive the sin, He starts working to change us and change the situation that helps grow the sin.

But, if we are unwilling to confess our sins to Him, or claim we do not sin, can He work?

Keep confessing your sins to God in prayer. He is working to change you and everything about it. This is part of the relationship. This is part of Walking in the Spirit. This is how the Holy Spirit develops fruit in our lives. This is part of the renewing of our mind. (Rom. 12:2, Gal. 5:16-25)

There are things I have prayed over and confessed to Him for years. And I have seen Him molding me, and changing me. My life has changed and the things I once struggled with, have been removed and I no longer desire them.

 Praise Jesus

Trust God. Confessing sins and letting Him grow us takes time. But, this builds patience and trust in Him. It builds faith as we walk with Him.

He does not leave us. He is with us and works in our lives, as we walk in the Spirit, confessing to Him.

It’s about our relationship with Him. It builds our faith as we see Him move. It fills our lamps with oil, and we can shine His light as we tell everyone the great things God has done for us.

——

Cover photo by pexels/Rodolfo Clix