Notice that a man can seek the Lord with tears, having been caught in their sin, and still not be repentant. Often our outward reactions are a response to being caught and embarrassed, but not broken over having offended the Holy God! Notice Hebrews 12 verse 17.
Psalm 51:17
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."
Hebrews 12:11-17
"11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
"12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,"
"13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed."
"14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:"
"15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;"
"16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright."
"17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears."
Monday, February 17, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!
No one is any better than anyone else!! Christ is good but man is not!
Have you ever been guilty, as I have, of judging a person of being less spiritual or perhaps not even born again because of a flaw we see in them, a chink in their armor? As though we have no chinks in our armor?
If we expect perfection in our brothers and sisters in Christ then we must think we are perfect ourselves. This is really shameful, no one is perfect, nor does any one....and I mean anyone.....have a perfect attitude, a perfect recollection of circumstances or a perfect lifestyle.
The following verse was not written to the unsaved, but to the saved.
God said this to believers;
1 John 1:8 King James Version (KJV)
"8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
We have no righteousness of our own. Christ dwells in us to be our righteousness for us. We still have the choice to sin, but hate that we do and often are blinded to our own sin while there is a heightened awareness of the sins of others.
It is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters by being honest about them and about ourselves. When we see sin, we need to just tell the truth with the hope and desire that there be growth.
God says this:
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." 1 John 5:2
"14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death." 1 John 3:14
If we love our brethren's approval more than God, then we do not love our brethren.
"25 The fear of man [a]brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted." Proverbs 29:25
No one is any better than anyone else!! Christ is good but man is not!
Have you ever been guilty, as I have, of judging a person of being less spiritual or perhaps not even born again because of a flaw we see in them, a chink in their armor? As though we have no chinks in our armor?
If we expect perfection in our brothers and sisters in Christ then we must think we are perfect ourselves. This is really shameful, no one is perfect, nor does any one....and I mean anyone.....have a perfect attitude, a perfect recollection of circumstances or a perfect lifestyle.
The following verse was not written to the unsaved, but to the saved.
God said this to believers;
1 John 1:8 King James Version (KJV)
"8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
We have no righteousness of our own. Christ dwells in us to be our righteousness for us. We still have the choice to sin, but hate that we do and often are blinded to our own sin while there is a heightened awareness of the sins of others.
It is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters by being honest about them and about ourselves. When we see sin, we need to just tell the truth with the hope and desire that there be growth.
God says this:
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." 1 John 5:2
"14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death." 1 John 3:14
If we love our brethren's approval more than God, then we do not love our brethren.
"25 The fear of man [a]brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted." Proverbs 29:25
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Principles For Christ's Sake
Today I am watching a movie called "Time Changer." It is the story of a man who goes forward in time from the 1800's, to see what happens when society implements the principles of Christ, "apart from His Name."
The first time I saw it, I rejoiced that someone else was seeing what God had been telling me for some time now.
For many years in our country we taught the morals of Christ and the principles for living that were acceptable to Him, in nearly every venue we enforced these principles, but neglected to tell the children that we should follow them out of obedience to Christ.
The question now has to be, in this time of great apostasy, "how did we get to this point, if we taught so vigorously the principles of morals that Christ taught in His Word?"
WE got to where we are because we taught the principles of Christ apart from His name. We have told young people they should follow the path of kindness, love and self sacrifice, without telling them that we do it because Christ commanded it.
We led the children to believe that mankind developed their own methods of righteousness because it would be good for society. The travesty has been that children were not given a good reason for their obedience of these principles, other than "decent people" live this way.
Because there was no understanding of where the principles came from, the children were open to whatever change the culture decided to make. After all, if society made the rules, then the rules can change at will.
Our culture was committed to societal principles, but not to Christ, does it not follow that if the culture changed its' principles then we too could also change with it?
The first time I saw it, I rejoiced that someone else was seeing what God had been telling me for some time now.
For many years in our country we taught the morals of Christ and the principles for living that were acceptable to Him, in nearly every venue we enforced these principles, but neglected to tell the children that we should follow them out of obedience to Christ.
The question now has to be, in this time of great apostasy, "how did we get to this point, if we taught so vigorously the principles of morals that Christ taught in His Word?"
WE got to where we are because we taught the principles of Christ apart from His name. We have told young people they should follow the path of kindness, love and self sacrifice, without telling them that we do it because Christ commanded it.
We led the children to believe that mankind developed their own methods of righteousness because it would be good for society. The travesty has been that children were not given a good reason for their obedience of these principles, other than "decent people" live this way.
Because there was no understanding of where the principles came from, the children were open to whatever change the culture decided to make. After all, if society made the rules, then the rules can change at will.
Our culture was committed to societal principles, but not to Christ, does it not follow that if the culture changed its' principles then we too could also change with it?
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Ask God for His Meaning!
Our English translation says: "thou shalt not kill", but the real meaning is "thou shalt not kill innocent human life." Exodus 20:13
Our English translation says: "your desire will be for your husband but your husband will rule over you, but the real meaning is "your desire will be to rule over your husband but he will rule over you." Genesis 3:16
Our English translation says: "you shall have pain in child bearing", but the real meaning is "you shall have pain in rearing your children." Genesis 3:16
Our English translation says: "But he that shall endure unto the end", but the real meaning is "those who endure to the end, is the evidence that they were born again, they will endure to the end."
There are many misunderstandings in our Christian culture because our English translations are not as accurate as they should be. We will and have come to wrong conclusions about important matters, if we do not pray and study. We must be looking up words and praying over what we read to determine truth.
The Holy Spirit is the One Who leads us into all truth, not a particular translation of the Bible, unless it is the original words in the Greek and Hebrew copied onto the scrolls we now have.
The original words are there on the copies even if the first scrolls were not found.
God can clear every thing up that we ask to know about, if we trust the Holy Spirit to tell us, unless He is not ready for us to know, then we must be able to say, "I don't know the answer to that." Then wait on God for His answer.
May the Lord bless each one with the answers they crave, as they inquire of Him.
Our English translation says: "your desire will be for your husband but your husband will rule over you, but the real meaning is "your desire will be to rule over your husband but he will rule over you." Genesis 3:16
Our English translation says: "you shall have pain in child bearing", but the real meaning is "you shall have pain in rearing your children." Genesis 3:16
Our English translation says: "But he that shall endure unto the end", but the real meaning is "those who endure to the end, is the evidence that they were born again, they will endure to the end."
There are many misunderstandings in our Christian culture because our English translations are not as accurate as they should be. We will and have come to wrong conclusions about important matters, if we do not pray and study. We must be looking up words and praying over what we read to determine truth.
The Holy Spirit is the One Who leads us into all truth, not a particular translation of the Bible, unless it is the original words in the Greek and Hebrew copied onto the scrolls we now have.
The original words are there on the copies even if the first scrolls were not found.
God can clear every thing up that we ask to know about, if we trust the Holy Spirit to tell us, unless He is not ready for us to know, then we must be able to say, "I don't know the answer to that." Then wait on God for His answer.
May the Lord bless each one with the answers they crave, as they inquire of Him.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Our Culture has it all Backwards!!!!
We have children living at home at age 18 after high school, who either don't work or use the money they do earn for pleasure. Even worse than that we have 35 year olds coming home just because they are too lazy to work.
18 year old high school grads should be kicked to the curb to learn about life. If they had been properly trained they would have been working at a job early, being taught to save their money for important things, not frivolous silly play things.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."
My uncle many years ago back in the 1920's left Sweden because of the famine. His mother and some brothers and sisters were living together in their home, but there was little food and some days no food at all.
My uncle was 14 when he left, to come to the united states. He worked his way over on a ship, as a cabin boy.
When he arrived in the United States he couldn't speak English so he had to endure the problem of learning it while attempting to get jobs to make his way.
He did not abandon his mother and siblings, but sent money back every month as he was able, to support them. At age 14 he cared deeply about the welfare of his family. When he left Sweden it was not only for himself, but to be able to make income to support those he left behind.
He saved all the money that he didn't send back home, and was able to start a fishing business on Long Island New York. He eventually married and he and my aunt ran the business there for 40 years.
During all the time he was working the fishing business he was sending money back to his mother. He had not returned home to see her until age 64.
My uncle left home to help support his mother and siblings at age 14 and didn't return to see them until he was an old man of 64. 50 years he worked to help them, he left home a young boy and returned an old man.
Many will say that a 14 year old does not have the maturity to work outside the home, and they would be right. We have managed to make whinny sniveling babies out of our young men. They don't know how to work hard, nor do they appreciate the smallest blessing.
There is a sense of fulfillment and purpose in working hard for someone outside ourselves. All this pleasure seeking and electronic gizzmoes are making mindless selfards out of our men. They do not automatically learn how to be selfless and work hard unless we teach them at a very young age, that life is not about pleasure, but for the honorable man, it is about hard work and self sacrifice.
Please don't anyone come to comment that there are no jobs, it is hard, or they would be on the streets. If we teach our young men to start at the bottom, doing whatever they can get, then they will be satisfied to work their way up over time through diligence. They will take whatever they can get and be happy to get it.
I have heard many times that "we should work at what we like." Poppycock. Most people have to work at any job, we do not all get to have a job we like. We can choose to like the job we get by sheer will to do it as unto the Lord. Whatever we do, will be pleasing to us if we do the best job we can.
Unless we begin teaching the young men to act like men, setting aside their pleasure for what is more noble, we will see a third world country faster than we expect.
A productive nation does not just happen, it is built by the sweat of young men's brows, saving their money and spending it wisely, this creates a great nation.
When men act like men, seeking God for the building of their character, then God will bless. God will not bless laziness, self seeking and arrogance.
Think about it. Has all this pleasure seeking fostered a work ethic? I think not.
18 year old high school grads should be kicked to the curb to learn about life. If they had been properly trained they would have been working at a job early, being taught to save their money for important things, not frivolous silly play things.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat."
My uncle many years ago back in the 1920's left Sweden because of the famine. His mother and some brothers and sisters were living together in their home, but there was little food and some days no food at all.
My uncle was 14 when he left, to come to the united states. He worked his way over on a ship, as a cabin boy.
When he arrived in the United States he couldn't speak English so he had to endure the problem of learning it while attempting to get jobs to make his way.
He did not abandon his mother and siblings, but sent money back every month as he was able, to support them. At age 14 he cared deeply about the welfare of his family. When he left Sweden it was not only for himself, but to be able to make income to support those he left behind.
He saved all the money that he didn't send back home, and was able to start a fishing business on Long Island New York. He eventually married and he and my aunt ran the business there for 40 years.
During all the time he was working the fishing business he was sending money back to his mother. He had not returned home to see her until age 64.
My uncle left home to help support his mother and siblings at age 14 and didn't return to see them until he was an old man of 64. 50 years he worked to help them, he left home a young boy and returned an old man.
Many will say that a 14 year old does not have the maturity to work outside the home, and they would be right. We have managed to make whinny sniveling babies out of our young men. They don't know how to work hard, nor do they appreciate the smallest blessing.
There is a sense of fulfillment and purpose in working hard for someone outside ourselves. All this pleasure seeking and electronic gizzmoes are making mindless selfards out of our men. They do not automatically learn how to be selfless and work hard unless we teach them at a very young age, that life is not about pleasure, but for the honorable man, it is about hard work and self sacrifice.
Please don't anyone come to comment that there are no jobs, it is hard, or they would be on the streets. If we teach our young men to start at the bottom, doing whatever they can get, then they will be satisfied to work their way up over time through diligence. They will take whatever they can get and be happy to get it.
I have heard many times that "we should work at what we like." Poppycock. Most people have to work at any job, we do not all get to have a job we like. We can choose to like the job we get by sheer will to do it as unto the Lord. Whatever we do, will be pleasing to us if we do the best job we can.
Unless we begin teaching the young men to act like men, setting aside their pleasure for what is more noble, we will see a third world country faster than we expect.
A productive nation does not just happen, it is built by the sweat of young men's brows, saving their money and spending it wisely, this creates a great nation.
When men act like men, seeking God for the building of their character, then God will bless. God will not bless laziness, self seeking and arrogance.
Think about it. Has all this pleasure seeking fostered a work ethic? I think not.
Monday, February 3, 2014
As Culls Cut Out of the Herd
If the majority of women in America refused to buy the slutty
clothing that we see for sale, the manufacturers would change to the styles
that would sell. But America
loves that stuff or is so mindless that they will call something
"cute" just because it is the style, when their senses say it is
ugly.
The world thinks collectively, they do not do their own
thinking, it is too difficult to stand alone.
Fitting in with the culture gets you friends, family and job
promotions. Sadly, even in churches, those who think for themselves are cut out
of the herd, so to speak as culls, like cattle. The inferior stock are removed
so as not to infect the others, ruining all their fun.
Evaluating matters, get us into trouble. Those who desire to
know the truth over popularity are usually left alone and often ridiculed.
Know that they did this to Christ.
James 1:2-3 Profiting from Trials
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces
patience."
Over time as we continue to grow strong, we have no desire
to be counted among the "popular" people who base all they do on the
reactions of their peers. They believe they are free but in fact, they are in
bondage to the opinions of others continually.
Mark 7:13 "Making the word of God of none effect
through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do
ye."
This verse speaks of the traditions of the Jews concerning
the law, however I think it can also apply to modern church traditions, that
undermine the Word of God.
Traditions such as "not judging" or "just
love them." These are mantra's that undermine truth and cause impotency in
the body. There are many more, perhaps you can name some you have heard, they
sound good but have no basis in Scripture.
The believer has the responsibility to reason using the Word
of God, thinking things through, evaluating all things.
We are in the age of apostasy because mankind as a whole has
rejected Christ and His principles.
1 Corinthians 2:15
"But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man."
1 Corinthians 2:16
"16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may
instruct Him?”[a] But we have the mind of Christ."
Proverbs 29:25
"The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in
the LORD will be exalted."
Psalm 118:8
"8 It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put
confidence in man."
Sunday, February 2, 2014
God the Father calls Christ "God"
Hebrews 1:8-12
"8 But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
10 And:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.”
"8 But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
10 And:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.”
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