The Thief on the Cross Had a Work
Those who think the thief on the cross had no works, might have to rethink it, I did. I have always thought of the thief on the cross as having no works until I the light bulb went on this morning as I pondered it all. The thief on the cross had one very important work as he hung there, he witnessed to the other thief.
Luke 23:39-43
"39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “LORD, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Images Can Lie To Us
Images Can Lie To Us!
It is a violation of God's Word to make any artistic images of Christ, so the artists in past centuries who did this were disobeying God on two counts.
Acts 17:29 "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."
2 mins · Like
Since we are commanded not to make images of God, then we should never have a picture of a man pretending to be Christ.
My husband would be angry with me if I put a picture on the wall of another man, not him, and called that man by his name.
God is a jealous God, He does not want us to worship, by admiration, a picture of a man, but He wants us to worship in Spirit and in truth. If truth is important, then calling a depiction of Christ, that is not Him, is the same as lying.
John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
If there is a picture on the wall of a man depicting Christ, all we have to do is to ask one question; "is that man in the picture really a picture of Him." If the answer is no, because no one took one of Him, then we are lying in claiming he reminds us of our Lord.
When we yearn to look at a picture, to have something we can see with our eyes, to have faith or to fall in love with Christ, then we lack faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"
I love my Lord, I have never seen Him, but I know of Him by His Holy Word. That is good enough for me.
It is a violation of God's Word to make any artistic images of Christ, so the artists in past centuries who did this were disobeying God on two counts.
Acts 17:29 "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."
2 mins · Like
Since we are commanded not to make images of God, then we should never have a picture of a man pretending to be Christ.
My husband would be angry with me if I put a picture on the wall of another man, not him, and called that man by his name.
God is a jealous God, He does not want us to worship, by admiration, a picture of a man, but He wants us to worship in Spirit and in truth. If truth is important, then calling a depiction of Christ, that is not Him, is the same as lying.
John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
If there is a picture on the wall of a man depicting Christ, all we have to do is to ask one question; "is that man in the picture really a picture of Him." If the answer is no, because no one took one of Him, then we are lying in claiming he reminds us of our Lord.
When we yearn to look at a picture, to have something we can see with our eyes, to have faith or to fall in love with Christ, then we lack faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"
I love my Lord, I have never seen Him, but I know of Him by His Holy Word. That is good enough for me.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
When An Arguer Entices You To Fight
A person who is continually angry in discussion is one who
has bitterness in their heart. We have probably all met people who cannot
calmly discuss a matter unless they are the center of attention or everyone in
the room agrees with them.
These people will use harsh tones of voice while speaking so
long that no one else can interject into the conversation. When someone
attempts to voice their side or opinion, this person will cut them off raising
their voice to be in control.
"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a
furious man thou shalt not go:" Proverbs 22:24
I have encountered this a lot with certain people, when it
happens I excuse myself from the conversation and begin to pray that the person
will see their own bitter heart. Confrontation does not work with controllers,
they get louder and meaner when they cannot have the floor.
God has called us to peace, when we encounter this, we don't
have to stay friends with these people, we can walk away and begin to pray for
them.
If the Lord has ordained that they be in our lives, out of
our control, then we can choose not to engage in conversation with them while
serving them as any slave would be expected to do with a master.
The hardest lesson I had to learn in my life, has been that
I don't have to make anyone else listen or understand. God can take care of
teaching the unteachable. He can give us peace in the midst of a war.
Let the manipulative person talk, we do not have to engage,
often these people are looking to cause a fight, don't indulge them by entering
into the battle.
In a way, the arguer and fighter is attempting to draw us
into a battle, it makes them feel superior if they can cause us to do or say
something ungodly.
Proverbs 1:10
"10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not."
The subtlety of the enticement is covert, but it nonetheless
just as damaging as following a sinner into an ambush of the innocent as the
following verses speak of in Proverbs 1. May the Lord give us discernment, when
to engage in conversation and when to walk away, when to pray and when to
speak.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Ignore the Foolishness of the Liberals
God told parents to take care of their own children, we as a culture should encourage and teach parents to do the right things. If they want to indulge in an activity that can produce a child, then they need to be ready to raise that child.
Don't let any liberal tell you that if you are not adopting children then you should accept abortion. That is the silliest thing I have ever heard.
Don't let any liberal tell you that if you are not adopting children then you should accept abortion. That is the silliest thing I have ever heard.
Parents Are Responsible For Their Own Children
There is a form of manipulation among the liberals that is diabolical. They want abortion, the right to murder children, so they attempt to guilt others into accepting abortion by making them feel responsible for the child if it is not aborted.
No one else is responsible for someone else's children. We are a culture that kills them because their parents don't want them, but they refuse to take on the responsibility of their own actions.
We have adopted children, but they were not our responsibility, we wanted to help, but we were not obligated to do so. To manipulate others into accepting abortion by trying to make them feel responsible for the actions of others, is irrational.
Every parent needs to care for the children they produce. If someone wants to indulge in immoral activity, then they should be ready to be responsible for their actions when a baby is the result.
Killing people is not the answer to a situation that is created by those who cannot control themselves.
God meant for babies to be the result of a loving marriage relationship, dedicated to life long commitment, not only to one another but also to that child. We must teach the highest standard, not the lowest.
No one else is responsible for someone else's children. We are a culture that kills them because their parents don't want them, but they refuse to take on the responsibility of their own actions.
We have adopted children, but they were not our responsibility, we wanted to help, but we were not obligated to do so. To manipulate others into accepting abortion by trying to make them feel responsible for the actions of others, is irrational.
Every parent needs to care for the children they produce. If someone wants to indulge in immoral activity, then they should be ready to be responsible for their actions when a baby is the result.
Killing people is not the answer to a situation that is created by those who cannot control themselves.
God meant for babies to be the result of a loving marriage relationship, dedicated to life long commitment, not only to one another but also to that child. We must teach the highest standard, not the lowest.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
God Calls Divorce Violence
God Calls Divorce Violence
To believers on Divorce and Remarriage;
We have to do more than teach the "rules." We have to show the reason Christ told us not to divorce and remarry, the first reason is that He said not to, and the second reason is what happens when we reject God's ways, the consequences, are staggering for the family and for the society.
When Christ declares a matter in His Word, then we need to trust Him. He knows the consequences of unforgiveness, brutality and revenge.
Malachi 2:16 "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."
There is always a deep element of anger and unforgiveness in the act of divorce. There is also an element of revenge in the heart of one who remarries after divorce. We can always point to severe cases of abuse and try to justify divorce, however, most cases are not abuse, but rather two people who refuse to compromise their rights for the sake of another.
One person cannot fight all by themselves, it takes two to make a fight. When one party refuses to fight back, relinquishing their rights for the sake of peace in the house, most things could be resolved quickly.
I used to hear the excuse that it is better to divorce than to fight all the time. My answer would always be, "why don't YOU stop fighting." We have been so trained in our culture to "fight for our freedoms", that the mentality used to justify war for national freedom, unfortunately slops over into nearly every other area of our lives.
Our children have learned to defy authority when they see a good reason, even if they don't have all the wisdom and facts to make such a judgement. It is about what I want, much more than what is good for everyone.
God has provided many verses to guide us on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
If we are determined to obey God no matter what, then we will experience power to do what we should do and the blessing of a clear conscience, even greater than that is the reward we will see when we reach our eternal home.
Everything we do is an example for our children. There is an old saying, "more is caught than taught." I have seen this many times, even the children who fight with their parents, as though they hate them, will in many cases be just like the parent they disrespect.
Mark 10:2-12
"2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."
Luke 16:18
"18 “Everyone who [a]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is [b]divorced from a husband commits adultery."
1 Corinthians 7:39
"39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband [a]is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."
Ephesians 5:33
"33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [a]respects her husband."
Matthew 19:6-7
"6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
Romans 7:2-3
"2 For the married woman is bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man."
To summarize divorce and remarriage God says;
We are not to divorce for any reason.
We are not to remarry unless a spouse is dead.
We commit adultery if we remarry while we have a living spouse.
Divorce is a violent act against a spouse.
There is no provision for divorce because of adultery, the passage that is always sited as a reason for divorce in Matthew, "except for fornication", is misunderstood by most preachers. They have been taught in seminary that there is an exception for divorce but it is only because they have not been taught correctly.
The passage in Matthew that says except for fornication was written to the Jews who had a custom of requiring a certificate of divorcement from a betrothal or what we call an engagement. Notice that that same clause is not mentioned in the other gospels, but only in Matthew.
In Matthew 1:19 Joseph is referred to as Mary's husband even though they were not formally living together and no ceremony had been performed yet.
"19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly."
Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to their engagement, so he, being a kind man didn't want her to be stoned, was going to quietly put her away from him. After he realized that it was from the Lord that she became pregnant, he then married her after all.
The Jews had the custom of referring to the betrothed couple as husband and wife before the marriage.
We can twist the Bible every which way to say what we want it to, if we are determined to sin against God.
God allowed for walking away from an engagement if there was unfaithfulness before the marriage. But He did not allow for human beings to dissolve the union of two people who have been made one by God. A spiritual glue has been applied when God makes two people one, and no piece of paper by the law of a land, can dissolve that glue.
Any discussion on this arguing for the exception clause will be deleted. The answer has been given on this matter, there is no need for argument. If someone disagrees, then take it to the Lord, not here.
To believers on Divorce and Remarriage;
We have to do more than teach the "rules." We have to show the reason Christ told us not to divorce and remarry, the first reason is that He said not to, and the second reason is what happens when we reject God's ways, the consequences, are staggering for the family and for the society.
When Christ declares a matter in His Word, then we need to trust Him. He knows the consequences of unforgiveness, brutality and revenge.
Malachi 2:16 "For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."
There is always a deep element of anger and unforgiveness in the act of divorce. There is also an element of revenge in the heart of one who remarries after divorce. We can always point to severe cases of abuse and try to justify divorce, however, most cases are not abuse, but rather two people who refuse to compromise their rights for the sake of another.
One person cannot fight all by themselves, it takes two to make a fight. When one party refuses to fight back, relinquishing their rights for the sake of peace in the house, most things could be resolved quickly.
I used to hear the excuse that it is better to divorce than to fight all the time. My answer would always be, "why don't YOU stop fighting." We have been so trained in our culture to "fight for our freedoms", that the mentality used to justify war for national freedom, unfortunately slops over into nearly every other area of our lives.
Our children have learned to defy authority when they see a good reason, even if they don't have all the wisdom and facts to make such a judgement. It is about what I want, much more than what is good for everyone.
God has provided many verses to guide us on the subject of divorce and remarriage.
If we are determined to obey God no matter what, then we will experience power to do what we should do and the blessing of a clear conscience, even greater than that is the reward we will see when we reach our eternal home.
Everything we do is an example for our children. There is an old saying, "more is caught than taught." I have seen this many times, even the children who fight with their parents, as though they hate them, will in many cases be just like the parent they disrespect.
Mark 10:2-12
"2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."
Luke 16:18
"18 “Everyone who [a]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is [b]divorced from a husband commits adultery."
1 Corinthians 7:39
"39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband [a]is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."
Ephesians 5:33
"33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [a]respects her husband."
Matthew 19:6-7
"6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
Romans 7:2-3
"2 For the married woman is bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man."
To summarize divorce and remarriage God says;
We are not to divorce for any reason.
We are not to remarry unless a spouse is dead.
We commit adultery if we remarry while we have a living spouse.
Divorce is a violent act against a spouse.
There is no provision for divorce because of adultery, the passage that is always sited as a reason for divorce in Matthew, "except for fornication", is misunderstood by most preachers. They have been taught in seminary that there is an exception for divorce but it is only because they have not been taught correctly.
The passage in Matthew that says except for fornication was written to the Jews who had a custom of requiring a certificate of divorcement from a betrothal or what we call an engagement. Notice that that same clause is not mentioned in the other gospels, but only in Matthew.
In Matthew 1:19 Joseph is referred to as Mary's husband even though they were not formally living together and no ceremony had been performed yet.
"19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly."
Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to their engagement, so he, being a kind man didn't want her to be stoned, was going to quietly put her away from him. After he realized that it was from the Lord that she became pregnant, he then married her after all.
The Jews had the custom of referring to the betrothed couple as husband and wife before the marriage.
We can twist the Bible every which way to say what we want it to, if we are determined to sin against God.
God allowed for walking away from an engagement if there was unfaithfulness before the marriage. But He did not allow for human beings to dissolve the union of two people who have been made one by God. A spiritual glue has been applied when God makes two people one, and no piece of paper by the law of a land, can dissolve that glue.
Any discussion on this arguing for the exception clause will be deleted. The answer has been given on this matter, there is no need for argument. If someone disagrees, then take it to the Lord, not here.
Inside Out or Outside Only?
Inside Out or Outside Only?
Often our Christianity is a form of "verbalism",
it is based on what we say rather who Christ made us or what we are committed
to.
I see this more times than I can count, people who will
agree with all the principles of Christ, but their life experience shows that
they are merely making a mental ascent, the power of God is not in their life.
Recently I have encountered, several times, those who say
what they want to believe, rather than what is real. They don't like to think
negatively so they believe the best about everything they see, even making up
evidence that does not exist to maintain a "happy story."
If we cannot handle the truth, so much so that we must tell
a lie to feel better about a matter, then we are of no use to our brothers and
sisters. We must tell the truth and allow God to do His work.
Are we so fragile that we can only see life through rose
colored glasses in order to feel happy?
My joy never leaves me, grief does come often when facing
this world and all the deceptions of the devil, that are ruining the lives of
many . My grief over what I see does not remove my joy, nor does it take away
my faith.
Honesty in all things, makes us stronger and more
discerning. Those who wear rose colored glasses cannot be discerning,
everything they see will be interpreted in terms of how they want to feel.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
"21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil."
Our culture has brain washed us into thinking we cannot have
joy if we are sad, so we frame everything in terms of personal happiness rather
than truth.
2 Peter 1:3
"3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us
everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him
who called us by His own glory and excellence."
When we cannot see things in truth, we make unbiblical and
even damaging decisions to protect our emotional high.
Ephesians 4:14
"14 As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;"
Our culture is becoming more and more committed to personal
happiness and fulfillment above the principles of God. It is easier to do what
makes us happy, than it is to do that which brings difficulty, but obeys God.
In an attempt to maintain our superficial facade, we quench
any discussion on the principles of Christ, even accusing the brethren of
things to silence them, if their delivery or message is not pleasing to us.
1 John 4:1
"4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone
out into the world."
Evaluating things is a big part of the believer life,
everything must be filtered through the Bible, prayed over and hearing the Holy
Spirit for the truth.
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