Tag: Galatians

Do not mistake God’s love for tolerance

I love you so much that I will not lie to you. I love you so much that I will not withhold from you the truth that set me free, because I want you to be free from the consequence of sin too. I will love you so much that I will not quit or give in just because you say God’s truthful love is hateful. Because I know that no one really wants to endure correction, even me. I will love you so much that I will not hoard salvation all to myself, but rather share with you the truths you need to know so you can make the best choice in your life, to receive Christ into your mind and share His greatest gift of all, the cleansing love of the blood of Christ.

Galatians 5
16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

John 15
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 14
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

Love abounds in Jesus. God’s love is so great, no human has yet to experience in its full splendor. I look forward to the day when I travel over Jordan, and get to experience His love forever.

In the few verses from Galatians we see it declared that if you do not have God’s love in you, meaning if you commit those acts without repentance, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. These are not my words, but the words of God. You cannot willingly and happily live in sin and think you are saved. To sin and seek forgiveness is one thing. But to sin and think that you are covered by God’s love and do not need to seek forgiveness, well….that’s what we are talking about here.

Please note in the second block of scriptures that Christ himself is talking and he is telling you that if you do not have his love in you, you are like a dead vine that is ripped off and cast into the fire. The fire is a symbol of judgement in the bible. Make no mistake about it, Jesus is saying if you do not accept Him as your savior, you will not receive everlasting life. Notice again, Jesus says that if you do have his love in you, you will obey; you will do as He commands. He tells us to love each other as He has loved us. What does that look like. Did Jesus ever encourage anyone to live in sin? I don’t think so, and I would need to be led to that scripture if you would say He did. Jesus has always freed people from their sin and told people to sin no more. So if we tell people that it is okay to live in sin, are we actually doing what Jesus did? Do we really love our neighbor the way Christ loves him? Do we love him as much as we love ourselves? Salvation is not just good enough for us, it is good enough for all. So why do we understand that sin has no part in our lives, but we will stand by and allow others to live in sin just because they are our mom or dad, brother or sister, best friend or co-worker? I would challenge anyone who would say, “Well, I would never do that but live and let live.” Or “To each to his own”. No….I am sorry; you are far off the mark of what Christ says here. In fact, Jesus says that if you do not do as He has commanded; he is not with you. That is why it is dangerous to claim to be a Christian and then walk around telling people who live in sin that everything is going to be okay because God loves them. That is not the whole truth! It is a half truth that is told deceitfully, and that is not the message of Christ. Yes, god loves us. He loved Hitler and Manson and Dahmer as much as He loves us. But there is an expectation that we all share as much as we share His divine love. That is to obey. Whether your disobedience is as gross as these men, or as simple as being a great person who simply does not believe, it is all the same to our God.

Please note the final block of scripture. Christ says that he who does not do as Christ says, that person is listening to another word, and it is not the word of God. Whose word do you think Jesus is talking about. Right, I thought the same thing, Satan!

God’s love is real, and it is wonderful. Do not mistake God’s love for tolerance. We are to be obedient children to the Father. You must repent from your sin. That word means to “change your mind” If you like being drunk you are to hate it. If you like being a liar, you are to hate it. If you like being an adulterer, you are to hate it. All manners of sin. I really want to stop talking about just the issue of same sex marriage and homosexuality. It is a sin, and it does qualify here. However, there are many who point fingers and don’t understand that God hates ALL sin. Not just one, but all of it. And although we are weak in our flesh, we are to repent, and seek forgiveness for our daily failures. But we certainly are not to enjoy the sin, or live in it with some form of earthly peace. We are to hate sin, and to turn away from it. That is the fruit of God’s true love, and it should be the message of our brotherly and neighborly love.

May the divine peace from the great comforter be with you today!!

We love people to heaven, not to hell.

What do you think would happen if a person was hired to do a job, and after being hired, that person not only decided to do the job the way they wanted to, but told the boss that his ways are wrong, and the employee’s way was the right way because his ways make the other employees happy? What would you do if you were that boss? Some might say, I would evaluate the employee’s actions to see if it is time to bring my business into a new and updated age. And some might say, I would fire that employee for not upholding the mission and work ethic of my company.

There was this employee once who worked as a representative of a political group. He was very good at his job, very well respected by his peers, and very feared by those on the other side. He had a mission, and his work ethic was to complete that mission at all cost. But one day something happened and he switched sides. It was total shock to everyone. His peers thought he had lost his mind. Those who once were his adversaries refused to accept him because they did not trust him. He evaluated this dilemma, and decided that the reason he switched sides was not because of him, but because of platform that he stood on and believed in. He figured if he stuck as true as he could to the political group’s core beliefs and acted as closely to its ethical standards as humanly possible, his behavior and devotion would be all he needed to gain favor from the people in the platform that was once his enemy. Who is this employee? His name is the Apostle Paul.

It’s a hard thing to look at someone who used to represent a certain brand or team and then watch them leave for another. Don’t you always wonder what that person is thinking on the inside? Do they truly like it there? Are they giving it their best or too busy trying to get back home? In the book if Galatians we see, shortly after Paul’s conversion, Paul writes to the people of that area and is acutely aware of this very position. In the first several verses he writes all about God, convincing them that he is speaking to them about the Father’s business, and not his own. He gives the Father all the credit, taking NONE for himself. He pointed to God in all ways. When your job is to represent God, and you have spent your life in sin, which is all of us, the only thing we can do is point our friends and loved ones to the almighty Father. Trying to bring someone to ourselves makes us idolaters in the eyes of others, as well as God, because that means we are the center of our universe. Paul would have never been able to gain the trust of anyone had he done that. However, Paul accepted Christ, and because he did a change happened in his actions, and his platform. He was no longer on the platform of Rabbinical Law, He was on the platform of Christ.

Key Verse- Galatians 1:10  8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Biblical Scholar and Commentator John Trapp has an excellent note on this the tenth verse.

Men pleasers, that curry favour with all, and covet to be counted no meddlers. These lose a friend of God. Neither do they long hold in with those whom for present they do so much please.

In my opening, the employee took a job, and then made it all about himself and his ideas. He made it about doing what he thought was best to accomplish the job. The same thing has happened in this world. When we accept Christ into our heart, we are now workers for Christ. We are told, however, that a true conversion will bring about a change. We can no longer serve the world, which we were once a slave to. But we also cannot come into the fold of the redeemed and say to Christ that His platform is no good and that you have a better one. What you are now saying is that my God is totally insufficient and that you are the all knowing and the all powerful. We do not get to water down the gospel, we do not get to minimize sin so greatly as to tell people it is okay to live in it while serving God. That is not the Gospel at all. It may be your idea, but it is not that of God. Verse 11 in the ‘key verse’quote shows that Paul believed this too. He knew what he did, and he knew that people were not going to just blindly follow him in the name of Christ. He simply could not preach his own message, he had to Preach Christ, and he had to do it in such a manner that not only showed loved, but also showed truth. The truth being that sin is not accepted by God.

I have said here that I have seen people act this way. I have indeed seen people dismiss sin who say they believe in Christ, all manners of sin. I have seen people who leave Christ at home while they go to the home of a flat out sinner and socialize. They are not preaching the gospel and trying to win souls for Christ. They are partaking in the activity. So much so that they proclaim the lost worldly sinner a close friend. How is that being a peculiar people? It isn’t, it is being a friend of the worldly and God has already denied you because you are denying Him.Who did Christ surround himself with in His inner circle. Sinners yes, but sinners who upon hearing His call, left everything, and followed Christ. None of them continued in their worldly life. They traveled right by his side. But the truth is that churches are doing it as whole denominations. “We have to get these pews filled.” “We can’t preach anything that will lose members.” Women can come and sit in the holy sanctuary with mini-skirts on and cleavage all over the place and no one will even bother to address how that grieves the spirit. Like wise, men come to church with a hang over. I go to churches where people will wear suits for work, for weddings, for funerals, but when it comes to going to church its jeans and a t-shirt. Why shouldn’t they take the holiness of God seriously, the pastor is leading the way! God wants the best we have. I used to say that God doesn’t care what we wear as long as we are they. I have corrected that lie. I now say, God wants our best. You know why? Because He gave us the best He had. He gave His only begotten son. Why does the boss deserve the suit, but Christ doesn’t. Since when have we minimized going to church as just another activity that we have to do, so we might as well do it our way. I am afraid that there are a lot of church leaders who are going to find themselves fired when it comes time for the heavenly board meeting with the CEO.

I wonder who this world would compare Paul today? Today we compare Donald Trump to the most evil of all men. The liberals are painting a picture of evil, all the while not really believing in evil. What does that comparison mean? I take it that it actually means that you agree there is a hell, and there really is evil behavior, and that certain people like Hitler, Manson, Mussolini, and Donald Trump are going there because God will not take them into heaven. The word evil is used so that means people believe in evil. But what I am finding is that evil is only to a certain point and evil only offends a certain moral code. So there are a lot of people out there making up their own rules to life. They have the corner on morals, because they are the Supreme Being that can say what is moral and what is not. Again, I am afraid that there are many who will not see heaven right along with Hitler and they are going to be some pretty nice people.

John 14 is a wonderful chapter to read, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety. For now, I would like to draw you attention to a few verses from that chapter.

John 14  22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Many go right to love. Jesus said we are to love first. I agree, obviously. But I call your attention to the fact that the emotional love of humans is not at all the divine love of the Father. His truth will prevail because He loves us. He loves us so much, He allowed His only begotten son to be murdered by man in order that man might be saved. That translates to you loving the enemy, and your neighbor and all of man kind enough to tell them the truth. Living in your sin will result in eternal damnation according to God’s love for man! That is the truth. We cannot say of an unrepentant sinner, after his death, that we will pray for his soul. It is too late for his soul. The best you can pray for is that in the last minutes of his life he had a changed of mind and truly repented before almighty God. But we don’t want to pray for salvation because that means something or someone else is the keeper of the morals.

James 1- 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

2 Timothy 3  1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Luke 6 43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Acts 5 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

John 8 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Matthew 22 37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Matthew 22 is pretty amazing to me. First even Jesus puts God first. Not His will, but thine. Jesus asked to be spared off the cross, but it was the Almighty’s will. And Jesus was obedient to His Father. Then Jesus tells them the truth; that they want to kill him because He spoke the truth. This should clear up all the lies told about how it is okay to let the drunk be drunk, the liar to be a liar, the thief to be a thief, the adulterer to be the adulterer, the homosexual to be the homosexual, and so on. People who wish not to witness the truth say they will bring the lost to the cross through behavior. Well behavior is evidence of the spirit in you. It may be helpful for a sinner to think you are a nice person, but a sinner needs to know what he is going to be saved from, and why. That means you actually need to speak about the sin in his life. Doesn’t matter if he is your brother or a stranger. We love people to heaven, not to hell. When Jesus sat with them He was teaching the gospel. He did not take part in their sin, nor did he allow them to feel comfortable in it. He told the truth, and free will allowed them to be saved like the Harlot, or allowed them to walk away like the rich man who refused to give up his possessions. He spoke and they listened. It is all about hearing the gospel and examining your life. But it is not about you making a decision for Christ and then telling Christ that you are going to do it your way. It is not about a church putting a cross on the facade of the building, bibles in the pews, and then saying we are going to teach things our way, and we are going to let people walk into the sanctuary and dishonor God. No Sir!!!! It is about you searching your soul for the power of the Holy Spirit and asking yourself in the courtroom of the unforgivable lie detector called the mirror, “Do I want to live for Christ, or do I want to die for me?

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

There is no Resting in Peace!

As I write this the recent events are that the ultimate champion and boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed, the greatest hockey player (arguably of course) Gordie Howe has passed and over 50 people were gunned down in the bar in Florida. In between these events, many individuals all over the planet, not famous, not nationally known or recognized, experienced a loss of their own. My mind started processing thoughts about death as the loss of Ali. I saw a nation, led by our self-proclaimed Christian President, as well as leaders from around the world, ask that the dead “rest in peace”. I am certain that there were those unknown and more common people across the planet that wished the same for their lost loved ones as well.

What is it that we really know about death? Nothing for sure other than one minute you are alive, and the next second you are not. So beyond that, it comes down to a matter of faith, the belief in something unknown and unseen. For that reason, let me take a second to explain why I believe in the unknown and unseen.

For many reasons I believe there really is a God. When I look around at life, I find it impossible to believe that some explosion created all of this. I have often marveled at the care my God put into creating the human body. The fact that we create hydrochloric acid in our stomachs. This is an acid that eats through anything. Yet God created the right mix, and the right balance that we might use this in the digestion of our food. The bible says that man was made from the earth and scientists have proven that the chemical make-up of man has no ingredient that is not found in the earth, not one microbe of us can disprove that we were initially created from the earth. Please, do not even get me started on the wonders of the female body. The delicate exchange of oxygen and food that enables a life to grow inside a life still amazes me. No scientist has ever created something new out of nothing. No one has ever snapped their fingers and said let there be a doo-hickie, and then bam, there is this thing never seen before. But my God created it all. No man has ever raised a man after being three days dead! But eye witnesses to this account tell me that Jesus did. And no other faith can boast about their God being gone from the grave. Their leaders did not defeat death and the grave. These are just a few, a very few reasons why I believe in God Jehovah. That is important because it is that belief that forms my understanding of death. I chose to believe the bible regarding death, which is truly not the end of life.

In the book of Revelation, the testimony of Jesus, told by Jesus through John, we find that after our physical death there will be a search. The book of life will be searched and if your name is not in it, you will be sent to hell.

Revelation 20 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

So why wouldn’t our name be written in the book of life?

Romans 6 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So if sin is death and death keeps us from having our name in the book of life, what is sin?

James 4 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

1 John 3 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth (violates) also the law: for sin is the transgression (violation) of the law.

So if sin is the violation of God’s law, what is a violation?

Jesus testified in Revelation 21 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus taught us in Mark 7 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Galations 5 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 3 3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

How do you avoid hell and overcome sin so that our names are in the book of life?

Romans 10 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Galations 2 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

Why do I explain this to you? For as much as we all loved to watch Ali or Gordie perform in the ring or on the ice, and for as much as we love our friends and family who pass on (from the unknown everyday person to those in the national headlines as victims of crime), UNLESS they, in the last moments of their life, called on the name of Jesus and believe in God Jehovah as the one true God, THERE IS NO “resting in peace”.

As Christians we must learn that the earthly love we all want to live by is an unhealthy love because it is a love of satan, which is to say a love of lies. We must want to love people to life, not to death. Ali did not believe in God, he was a muslim. He is not resting at all. His soul will be tormented in the fires of hell forever. And if that thought disturbs you because you liked him so much here on earth, then please, stand in front of the mirror and challenge yourself against the scriptures I presented you. I am not sure of the spiritual condition of Mr. Howe, or any one of those people killed in the bar, or anyone who died. It is possible, and I pray that it is the truth, that as the last moments of life came to Ali he saw the errors of his ways and accepted Christ. It would be a shame that his testimony of such a change cannot be shared, but it would be glorious to God and just fantastic for his soul. I can only say that if they were not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are not in peace.

Understand that you as a Christian have a job to do. That job is not to love others to hell, but to love them to heaven.  It is our job, our very important job, to talk to as many people as possible about the love of Christ, the natural human nature of sinful man, and the need for Christ’s cleansing blood of salvation while they are still alive. We want to serve our God who served us while on this earth by not letting people die in sin. For those who say “but he is my brother” or “she is my sister, and if I try to talk about Christ they will stop loving me.” please let me remind you that Jesus’ own people murdered him for what he preached. I have no problem choosing God over my family! Some have walked away from me already. It is sad, but I am not going to lie just to maintain a relationship. I owe more to God than that. He was rejected by many. His own half-brothers and sisters did not come around until He was well into His ministry. Why is our relationship with our family more important than His? Why are our feelings more important than Christ’s? God is hurt everyday by those who curse Him, and even nicely deny him. That brings Him much sorrow. Are we more important that God?

We Christians need to get back to telling the truth, starting with more brave preachers. I know of only one who publicly came out and spoke of this matter. That does not mean he was the only one, it means I only know of one. That’s sad because hundreds and thousands should be making statements like this everyday. The murders in the bar in Florida are a tragedy, but the greater tragedy is that they were in the pit of sin in the first place! The greater tragedy is the thought that their lives were taken so suddenly that they did not get right with God before they died and they are now tormented in hell for all eternity. If I am wrong about hell, then I guess I am just wrong about hell. But if I am right about hell, then why can’t we agree that this is a bigger tragedy than just the earthly death?  A brother of mine told me, “Things are only going to get worse.” He is absolutely right, they certainly are, and the world will fall apart before God comes and puts it all back together in the perfect way for which it was intended. But that does not mean that we are to sit idly by and let wrong be wrong. When we are a saved Christian we become His agents, we become disciples. We take on the same charge that he gave to the original 12. We are to speak out against sin!

Mark 16 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 1 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We are indeed to let the light of Christ shine in us through our behavior that we might draw unbelievers to the cross. But that DOES NOT translate to helping people feel comfortable living in their sin. And if they reject you, take comfort that Christ was rejected to the cross, and you are under His care! We can start by being honest and stop lying just because people are dead. We need to speak the truth to them while they are alive, and if they reject Christ, we need to be just as truthful after their death. Maybe if we start telling the truth about dying in sin, people will start living for Christ! Those who do not have the spirit of Christ in their hearts when their hearts stop beating will not experience peace, but the torment of the fires of hell! That’s the truth!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Kick back and relax

About the photo– I have been in a lot of church houses in my life, both protestant and catholic. I have been in churches with roles that exceed 600 members. This small little church house has more love, and from what I seen and felt, more people striving to live a Godly life than any other church house I have ever been in. There is no show, no theatrics, just the Spirit and His children!

So this past week I spent a lot of time thinking about what “deny yourself” really means. I found out that the meaning is hard core. So hard core that most Christians just like me say we do it, but really we don’t. The meaning is so hard core that understanding what it really means makes some not even want to follow Christ. The meaning is very simple; it is very black and white, it is very clear. There is no watering it down, and there is no manipulation, no wiggle room. Either you deny yourself and follow Christ or you choose to follow yourself and not Christ.

Luke 9- 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Mark 8- 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Matthew 16- 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Jesus himself said that in order to be a true follower of Him, we must deny ourselves. The bible offers a definition of what this means.

Galatians 2- 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

“I have been crucified” means I have died. Before Christ, I was an unrepentant sinner. Either you were too, or you still are, only you and God know which. We were doomed. We lived for ourselves and through ourselves. When Christ went to the cross, His perfect sacrifice gave us a way to repent and be redeemed for all eternity. In the act of salvation, we- the old unrepentant sinners that we were or are- is crucified, we die to our self.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” After Christ enters in, we are now alive IN CHRIST. This is the meaning of rebirth. The old man dies and a new man is reborn in an instant. We are now alive because of Christ and for Christ. This means that you and I are to take on the characteristics of Christ. If we were a drunkard before, we are to be no more. If we had hate in our heart, we are to love instead. If we were sexually immoral, in ANY way, we are to stop and cherish our body as the priceless gift that it is. If we were proud and boastful, we are to be meek and humble until our second death. If we think about the NT, Christ spoke about the Father all the time. He wanted to lead people to God the Father. Jesus was obedient to His Father. Christ not only spoke these words, but He lived them as well. He was the model of the life He requires of His followers. No, it is not an option. He has said so over and over.

John 14- 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus expects those who chose to follow Him to obey Him. “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” Notice this is written in the plural. And notice that ‘My” is capitalized. That means the commandments that are spoke of here are the LORD’s commands, not yours, not mine, and not satan’s. Many think this means love everyone and you will be okay because love is the greatest gift, or because it is the command above all commands. But that theology negates that there are more than just that one command. There are hundreds of commands in the NT that we are to live out. They are not hard, they are not complicated. They are all wrapped around Christ and His agape love for us. We are to live according to His will, not our own. When we do that, Jesus says that He will advocate on our behalf to the Father. The Father will send the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, to us. The world does not know the truth, because they do not have the spirit. But because we live according to Christ, we have the spirit and we know the truth.

The truth is we are a fallen man, and sometimes we hold on to the parts of us which are dead, or at least are supposed to be dead. Hate, fornication, murder, lying, idolatry and such are not behaviors of Jesus, but of the devil. If you are the center of your universe, Christ is not in you. You simply have not denied yourself. That is simple and it is the truth. I don’t need to be Christ to make that call. Christ has left the word here for all of us to know what the fruit of the spirit looks like, and that rotten fruit of idolatry, man centered anything, tells all who know the truth, and have the spirit so that we can recognize it that the  spirit is not in that man centered person. It is not hard really. In fact, it is more simple and plain than most people think. People only think these words are complicated or have more complicated meanings because they want to feel comfortable in their sin.

We must become a people who are in submission, that is, submitted completely to the mission of the Church, ‘in statu missionis.’ Thus, living fully within the mainstream of grace, under the mantle of God’s divine authority, and by uniting ourselves to the obedience of Christ on the cross, we participate in the reversal of Adam’s sin.

Michael O’Brien

For many years I refused to go to church. I had a number of bad experiences and ended up saying that Church is not for me. I used to say, all the time, “I can have a relationship with God without having to go to church.” Even after I went back to church, I used to say; “nowhere in the bible does it say you ‘HAVE’ to go to church.” Let me tell you, I was wrong and so is everyone who is saying what I used to say.

Hebrews 10- 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

These verses indicate that not only are we to go to church, but we are to urge and encourage others to go to church. It also indicates that not going to church is not a new idea. There were people thinking what I thought long before I thought it. These verses tell me it wasn’t right then and it isn’t right now. Finally, as it states, we should be gathering even more as the end times approach. No, this is not a quatrain declaring the end date! But my eyes work, do yours?

John Gills comments, “Now to “forsake” such assembling, signifies a great infrequency in attending with the saints, a rambling from place to place, and takes in an entire apostasy. It is the duty of saints to assemble together for public worship, on the account of God, who has appointed it, who approves of it, and whose glory is concerned in it; and on the account of the saints themselves, that they may be delighted, refreshed, comforted, instructed, edified, and perfected; and on account of others, that they may be convinced, converted, and brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ; and in imitation of the primitive saints. And an assembling together ought not to be forsaken; for it is a forsaking God, and their own mercies, and such are like to be forsaken of God; nor is it known what is lost hereby; and it is the first outward visible step to apostasy, and often issues in it.”

The great King David proclaimed that we need to Praise God in His house.

Psalm 150- 1Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Apostle Paul said we need to get together for the purpose of learning and growing.

Colossians 3- 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

How do you teach and admonish one another if you are at home alone? This is a command that we do this. Today, people want to accuse others of judging because they don’t like what’s being said. Funny connection, the devil doesn’t like the truth too! Sometimes people are wrong, that’s why the mirror is an important piece of equipment. That’s why brothers and sisters need to be more honest with each other. On brother says another brother said I should stopped swearing. He is at home, who does he ask. If he is at church he can ask other brothers, is it true, should I stop. Everyone who loves this brother should tell him the truth. Yes, you swear too much and you need to stop. If you have numerous brothers and sisters agreeing that this something amiss in your worship, then a wise person should be convicted to check himself. People don’t go to church anymore, at least the churches that still preach the truth, because they want to remain comfortably in sin. People want to kick back and relax. They do not want to be corrected because they do not want to deny themselves. There is just too much fun in sin. Isn’t that some sad short term thinking?

Christlike communications are expressions of affection and not anger, truth and not fabrication, compassion and not contention, respect and not ridicule, counsel and not criticism, correction and not condemnation. They are spoken with clarity and not with confusion. They may be tender or they may be tough, but they must always be tempered.

Lionel Kendrick

 

I will conclude with the parable of the rich young ruler

Key Verses

Luke 18- 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And this is the truth more often than not. The idea of hell scares people, so they seek Christ. The idea of heaven is so comforting. A lot of people want Christ right up until Christ starts to infringe on one’s health, wealth, loves of entertainment and happiness, idea of fairness, and so on. God is good as long as the sinner comes first and God comes last. People, there shouldn’t even be balance. It is ALL for God, nothing for you. This ruler had power and possessions and wealth. To him, Jesus told him to deny himself because Jesus knew the ruler had a love for that stronger than his love of Christ. Christ new He was not first in this ruler’s life. But that ruler wanted it all. He wanted all he had on earth, and he wanted heaven, and he wanted it for him, not for Christ. When Jesus infringed on that, when Jesus told him to put Christ first and deny himself, that was too much to bear. He walked away sad. But he could not stay sad forever, right? So what did he do? Probably the same thing we do. We start saying there is no God, and there is no heaven and hell because I have to do something with this fear of hell. So if I negate the truth, and everything that reminds me that this is the truth, I can remain comfortably in my sin. That is why there are fake Christians in the world, and people who walk away. Everything is great until God asks us to sacrifice that which we love. Here is a plain and easy example. God tells me to love my wife like Jesus loves the church. Now, I don’t know about all husbands out there, but there are times when I do not want to love my wife. Sometimes I want to walk out that door. That would be a bad choice. Why? Because that is a choice made under extreme emotion, where I am lacking a God grip on my life. That would be Mike’s will, not God’s. God wants me to stay there and love her enough to let Christ take care of the devil who is trying to destroy my marriage. I have to love God enough to love my wife even when my flesh is screaming not to. I have to deny myself. What God may be asking you to do, or not to do, can be different than this. And knowing it is easy. Are you doing it, or do you have it for God, or for yourself. Deny yourself, die to your flesh. Life is not about you!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!