Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
IF someone is of "Calvin" or "Armenius", then they are not of Christ. If we have trusted Christ, then He is our lead, not a man, no matter how good we think that man is, we have a false god if we adhere to his teachings over that of Christ's.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
"10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void"
Everyone who is a good teacher must be evaluated in terms of Scripture, if they are wrong in what they say then we must expose it. Fame and popularity should never be a measure of a man's doctrine.
Follow Christ alone, read His Word for yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you.
1 John 2:27
"As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
He Even Prays On Our Behalf
Romans 8:26 "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;"
I am so thankful that the Lord knows better than I what should be prayed! He even prays on our behalf.
I am so thankful that the Lord knows better than I what should be prayed! He even prays on our behalf.
High Mindedness Only Frightens Humble People Away
There are those that attempt to become so
"theologically deep", that they have bought into high mindedness that
makes no sense to most people listening. I believe this is an attempt to appear
superior to others.
When we argue about what is a work and what is not a work,
how many angels can dance on the head of a pin and other meaningless
discussions that only tend to drive people further from Christ, we are entering
into arrogance for only one purpose and that is to elevate self.
We do not help others come to Christ through "high
mindedness", we help by simplicity, the simple Gospel message as given to
us in the Word, it's not hard even a child can understand when their heart is
open.
Christ is responsible for the results of our speech, we are
to simply obey Him and leave all the results to Him.
Christ is the Only Way
When we disobey the Lord as a nation, we can expect the principles of God to begin to be implemented.
This passage in Jeremiah was written to Israel, but God's principles are still active in all countries.
Jeremiah 25:10-11
"Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
When we have refused to listen to the voice of God through His Word, the Scriptures, turning to our own ways, following after our own wicked desires then God will no longer speak, He will not help us in time of trouble.
Isaiah 1:15
"So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood."
Left to ourselves, we nurture and celebrate the desires of our own wicked hearts.
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Left to our own desires we will have temporary happiness with each new adventure, but we will not have contentment, with the everyday things of life. Our hearts become reckless, clamoring after pleasure without restraint, but void of joy and peace.
As pleasure seekers we must heap up thrills, each one more outrageous than the last to keep the sense of happiness flowing. Sadly this is true of too many believers. They want thrills in their daily lives as well as thrills even in their worship. Nothing is about God anymore, but about what is sensational, leading us to a new and enormous emotional high.
Jeremiah 25:31-32
" 31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.
32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth"
If anyone thinks the United States is going to escape the wrath of God, think again. He has turned us over to divorce and remarriage, to murders continually, abortion, same sex marriage, dishonor and disrespect for parents, narcissism, lack of manners, lack of integrity and a dishonor and disrespect for God.
Believers have concocted a god who winks at sin, while we indulge in it. This is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, the One True God, does not wink at sin, nor does He allow it into His presence.
The only way that we can come into the presence of God is to become born again, washed in the blood of the only Righteous One, Christ Jesus. If we are not born again, do not have Christ living in us, we will not see God and He will not hear our prayers, save one.
The only prayer of the unsaved that God will hear is the one confessing their sin, wanting to be changed into a new creation by Christ, ready and willing to walk with Him through the help of the Holy Spirit.
This is the only answer for the unsaved wicked world. Teaching them to obey God's commandments will not save them, that will only bring them "religion" that has no value at all for salvation. A man can live a very clean life, but without Christ he will go to hell.
Isaiah 64:6 "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
When we realize we are helpless, and dirty, then we can come to Christ for cleansing. No one will be able to come to Christ any other way than through total brokenness. If you were never broken and ashamed of yourself, then you never became born again.
May the Lord sink these principles deeply into the minds of those who have not yet let go of their own will, to submit to Christ.
This passage in Jeremiah was written to Israel, but God's principles are still active in all countries.
Jeremiah 25:10-11
"Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
When we have refused to listen to the voice of God through His Word, the Scriptures, turning to our own ways, following after our own wicked desires then God will no longer speak, He will not help us in time of trouble.
Isaiah 1:15
"So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood."
Left to ourselves, we nurture and celebrate the desires of our own wicked hearts.
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Left to our own desires we will have temporary happiness with each new adventure, but we will not have contentment, with the everyday things of life. Our hearts become reckless, clamoring after pleasure without restraint, but void of joy and peace.
As pleasure seekers we must heap up thrills, each one more outrageous than the last to keep the sense of happiness flowing. Sadly this is true of too many believers. They want thrills in their daily lives as well as thrills even in their worship. Nothing is about God anymore, but about what is sensational, leading us to a new and enormous emotional high.
Jeremiah 25:31-32
" 31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.
32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth"
If anyone thinks the United States is going to escape the wrath of God, think again. He has turned us over to divorce and remarriage, to murders continually, abortion, same sex marriage, dishonor and disrespect for parents, narcissism, lack of manners, lack of integrity and a dishonor and disrespect for God.
Believers have concocted a god who winks at sin, while we indulge in it. This is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, the One True God, does not wink at sin, nor does He allow it into His presence.
The only way that we can come into the presence of God is to become born again, washed in the blood of the only Righteous One, Christ Jesus. If we are not born again, do not have Christ living in us, we will not see God and He will not hear our prayers, save one.
The only prayer of the unsaved that God will hear is the one confessing their sin, wanting to be changed into a new creation by Christ, ready and willing to walk with Him through the help of the Holy Spirit.
This is the only answer for the unsaved wicked world. Teaching them to obey God's commandments will not save them, that will only bring them "religion" that has no value at all for salvation. A man can live a very clean life, but without Christ he will go to hell.
Isaiah 64:6 "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
When we realize we are helpless, and dirty, then we can come to Christ for cleansing. No one will be able to come to Christ any other way than through total brokenness. If you were never broken and ashamed of yourself, then you never became born again.
May the Lord sink these principles deeply into the minds of those who have not yet let go of their own will, to submit to Christ.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Don't Fight Them and They Won't Harm You
I just read on a facebook friends status, of the shooting of
a criminal by a police officer. Her post
was exposing the scam of some of these tiny little quips to discredit and malign
the character of the officers, while lying by half truth, what really happened.
I have seen several of these videos, I call "yellow
journalism" because they show a miniature minute and everyone gets excited
that the "cops" are doing something evil.
I don't believe these videos, policemen are highly trained
and do not want to get into trouble with wrong procedures.
The lies that one black man told that his friend was shot in
the back was despicable.
I am also tired of the media calling the criminal who was
shot.....a "victim." The
police and the public are the victims of these thugs.
The lack of respect for authority is the problem here and a
tribalism that places a family or people group above truth. I was thankful that in the case of the looting
and robbing that went on in protest of the criminal shooting, there were
sensible blacks who came out against the looting and thievery.
I know that a choke hold would not be used on me, because if
an officer approached me, I would obey his commands and be respectful. If
someone is not fighting then they will not be strong armed.
The media has been the most prejudice of all against the
black community. They have portrayed the black community as volatile and
unreasonable in their actions and attitudes, but what they don't show are all
the other blacks that are not acting that way and don't approve of what is
going on in their communities.
May we keep in mind that we should not take up offenses for
others, when we were not there to see what happened. Too often we love to take the side against
authority when God has clearly told us to obey them.
Romans 13:1-7
"13 Let every soul be subject to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities
that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the
ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do
you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have
praise from the same.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do
evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s
minister, an avenger to EXECUTE wrath on him who practices evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath
but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s
ministers attending CONTINUALLY to this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are
due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."
Self Esteem Is Still A Sin
40 years ago after I became born again, I stood against many sins that others were telling us not to judge.
The one that caused the most stir was my strong belief that the "self esteem" teaching was against God and the teachings of the bible. Many church goers argued that we all have to have "self esteem", but none of them could use scripture to justify it.
We are born with too much self esteem. We have to be taught to think of others first, we have to be taught to give up our rights for the greater good.
Philippians 2;3
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Other translations say "esteem others better than yourself."
Another lie that used to be spoken often was that we have to love ourselves first before we can love anyone else. That was a teaching from the pit of hell. We managed to get many people to justify self focus, even saying things like; "today I am going to do something just for me for a change."
The people I knew who used that phrase were always doing something just for themselves, there was no change in it.
Humble, loving, giving believers are not thinking of ways to continually get for themselves, they are those who are serving others, and enjoying it so much they don't have time to think about themselves. They don't notice they are not getting their way, and they are not noticing how much they get in return, that is not important to them.
There is emptiness in the lives of those who fight for their own "esteem." There is never enough of it, the more we esteem ourselves the more esteem we desire, it is a sort of addiction.
Whatever we foster in ourselves the most, is the character trait that will rule us.
Perhaps those who fight to argue for self esteem, are those who want it so badly for themselves that they cannot conceive of not having it.
John 3:30
"30 He must increase, but I must decrease." God calls us to diminish our own importance and enhance the importance of Christ, the more we do this the less we think of self and the more we think of others.
The devil knew just how to cloak the self esteem lie in various forms of verbiage to make it sound good, after all ear tickling is the job of the devil. Getting people to believe a lie while making them feel like they are helping someone with it, is the greatest deception of the devil. He used it on Eve in the garden, he said "you can be like God."
With the verbiage concerning self esteem he was saying, "you need to love yourself, it will help you love others." When God said to us that we are not capable of loving, it is only in Christ that we can know how to love and actually live it.
1 John 4:19 "19 We love Him[a] because He first loved us."
1 John 4:20 "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."
Jeremiah 17:9 ""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?"
No person without Christ can love, we are without God's kind of love before we are born again.
Ephesians 3:17-21
"17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen"
The one that caused the most stir was my strong belief that the "self esteem" teaching was against God and the teachings of the bible. Many church goers argued that we all have to have "self esteem", but none of them could use scripture to justify it.
We are born with too much self esteem. We have to be taught to think of others first, we have to be taught to give up our rights for the greater good.
Philippians 2;3
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Other translations say "esteem others better than yourself."
Another lie that used to be spoken often was that we have to love ourselves first before we can love anyone else. That was a teaching from the pit of hell. We managed to get many people to justify self focus, even saying things like; "today I am going to do something just for me for a change."
The people I knew who used that phrase were always doing something just for themselves, there was no change in it.
Humble, loving, giving believers are not thinking of ways to continually get for themselves, they are those who are serving others, and enjoying it so much they don't have time to think about themselves. They don't notice they are not getting their way, and they are not noticing how much they get in return, that is not important to them.
There is emptiness in the lives of those who fight for their own "esteem." There is never enough of it, the more we esteem ourselves the more esteem we desire, it is a sort of addiction.
Whatever we foster in ourselves the most, is the character trait that will rule us.
Perhaps those who fight to argue for self esteem, are those who want it so badly for themselves that they cannot conceive of not having it.
John 3:30
"30 He must increase, but I must decrease." God calls us to diminish our own importance and enhance the importance of Christ, the more we do this the less we think of self and the more we think of others.
The devil knew just how to cloak the self esteem lie in various forms of verbiage to make it sound good, after all ear tickling is the job of the devil. Getting people to believe a lie while making them feel like they are helping someone with it, is the greatest deception of the devil. He used it on Eve in the garden, he said "you can be like God."
With the verbiage concerning self esteem he was saying, "you need to love yourself, it will help you love others." When God said to us that we are not capable of loving, it is only in Christ that we can know how to love and actually live it.
1 John 4:19 "19 We love Him[a] because He first loved us."
1 John 4:20 "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."
Jeremiah 17:9 ""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?"
No person without Christ can love, we are without God's kind of love before we are born again.
Ephesians 3:17-21
"17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen"
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Don't look at the storm, look at the Savior.
Peter learned this first hand.
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Christ Walks on the Water
"22 Immediately He [a]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already [b]a long distance from the land, [c]battered by the waves; for the wind was [d]contrary. 25 And in the [e]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out [f]in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Christ Walks on the Water
"22 Immediately He [a]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already [b]a long distance from the land, [c]battered by the waves; for the wind was [d]contrary. 25 And in the [e]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out [f]in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
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