We want to be in charge, commanding, demanding. Do we have authority over evil or do we submit as unto the LORD.???.  A question so many ask, with so many varied answers.  When trouble, sickness and pain come at us again and again and...what do we do.??. 

 

It is soooooo hard to rest, to be still and know that He is God. He is God, not me. It is hard to allow Him to pick up the pieces of our brokenness, allowing Him to heal, deliver and restore. It is hard to grasp that He is in the midst of our circumstances, "with God, all things are possible," that He will never leave us or forsake us and to hold on to and trust in His words: "all things work together for good...." We want to fix it, make it better, make it go away DO SOMETHING - ANYTHING  but rest.!??!

 

But rest we must, for it is God' desire that we conform to the image of His Son. He loves us too much to allow us to remain in our fallen, faithless, faltering condition; taking charge, charging ahead, rushing in where angels fear to tread.

 

And God said to Moses: "Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter." Deuteronomy 3:26

 

It was time for the old man, Moses, to die so the new man, Joshua, might live to serve the Living God. If we are born again, it is time....

 

I will attempt to walk out in my life what I know in my heart - one day at a time. 

"Catholics and Jews are brothers and sisters deeply bound by their fervent belief in the one Creator of heaven and earth"  Written by Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn and Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin,  published in the Jerusalem Post.

"The reconciliation of the RCC with the Jewish people is one of God’s great blessings, one that inspires all people around the world. If the Church and the Jewish people can make peace with each other after nearly 2,000 of enmity, then peace is possible between any two peoples anywhere."

If Jews and Catholics are joining as brothers and sisters in this common bond should we not include Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah Witness and all other religions that believe in the one Creator of heaven and earth?

Unity, tolerance, acceptance of our differences, diversification, everything but Jesus is not based on truth.

Jesus said, "I AM the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Outside of faith in Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, The Son of the Living God all religions are founded on a lie. Outside of His blood cleansing us from our sins, we are hopeless and stand condemned, our good works as filthy rags. Outside of accepting His gift of Salvation we will be judged by The Law instead of being accepted as His child, covered by His mercy and His grace.

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth..."  1 Timothy 4:1-3

Outside of His sacrificial death in our place, we will face the wrath of God.  

Revival without repentance is like a clanging bell or a noisy cymbal -

The Toronto Blessing, Brownsville, Pensacola, Lakeland all man made ‘revivals’ - Rodney Howard Brown, Todd Bentley, John Wimber… sound but no substance.

Tim Keller explains: “revivals are “seasons in which the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified.” No repentance there.

One website ask:

“What will happen if one individual or one small congregation had a hunger for revival with a great harvest of souls and a hunger to see God do the miraculous? What would happen if God's people tarried and prayed like they did in the Book of Acts where they stayed on their faces before God until the breakthrough came? In Acts 1 and 2 they "all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. They were all with one accord in one place." What a prayer meeting! What a revival! No repentance there either.

False converts, the “it’s all about me generation” fill the pews and parking lots of mega churches across America every Sunday -

Lakewood Church/Joel Osteen 43,500+
North Point Ministries/Andy Stanley 30,982+
Willow Creek Community Church/Bill Hybles 24,200+
Saddleback Church/Rick Warren 18,884+++

From Tim Keller’ endorsement of Contemplative Spirituality, to Joel Osteen’ best life now books and sermons, to Rick Warren’ stand with Islam, it’s hard to tell the sheep from the goats whether they sit in pews or stand at pulpits. All lead the undiscerning, disobedient parishioner down the wide path to his death and destruction by their unbiblical teaching and preaching.

Revival without repentance is not possible, but then perhaps one need ask “what is meant by revival and what exactly is one attempting to revive?”

The world is dying, the grave is filling, hell is boasting; it will soon be over.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls..." Matthew 11

'Means that our Saviour has invited all that labor and are heavy-laden, to come unto him. Worldly men burden themselves with fruitless cares for wealth and honor,laboring for happiness and sensual pursuit of pleasures. Those who labor to establish their own righteousness labor in vain. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and terror; and the tempted and afflicted believer has labors and burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls.' Matthew Henry Commentary

What it does not mean is that we are to have no burden for the lost. It does not mean we are to cast our cares upon Him and walk away content and joyfully secure in our own salvation. It does not mean we should find rest for our souls as thousands die daily to be eternally separated from God.

“Every true Christian should be exceedingly earnest in prayer concerning the souls of the ungodly, and when they are so, how abundantly God blesses them, and how much the church prospers. But beloved, souls may be damned, yet how few of you care about them! Sinners may sink into perdition, yet how few tears are shed over them! The whole world may be swept away by a torrent down the precipice of woe, yet how few really cry to God on its behalf. How few men say, ‘Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!’ We do not lament before God the loss of men’s souls, as it well becomes Christians to do.” Charles H. Spurgeon

  
Obviously Europe learned nothing.

God will NOT be mocked.!.

The European Union has decreed that contracts between EU member states and Israel must include a clause stating that east Jerusalem and the West Bank are not part of the State of Israel and therefore not part of the contract.

The decree, which will go into effect Friday, will forbid any cooperation, awarding of grants, prizes or funding for any Israeli entity in the specified areas.

Judea and Samaria are not ‘occupied territory.’ They are a part of the homeland of the Nation of Israel.

“This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.” Zechariah 14:12

Pray for peace, prepare for war.!!.

I am not a babe in Christ.

I consider myself a student of scripture, a follower of the LORD, a disciple of Christ. Perhaps more feeble minded and dense than most for upon reading the following I was greatly impacted by the Truth of these Words:

“…Ye cannot serve the LORD, for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” Joshua 24:19

We cannot serve the LORD because He is holy and we are not. God will not, NO He cannot forgive our transgressions or our sins because He is holy and we as sin filled transgressors are not.

Sin is unforgivable - sin demands payment and payment must be made.

But God is love, and jealous for His creation. Not as man understands jealousy, but jealous in that He longs for affection, love and fellowship with His creation.

And so God Himself came and became the payment for the sins of all who will accept His sacrifice, His forgiveness, His mercy and His love.

Payment has been made. Paid in Full...
                   Tetelestai - It is Finished.

For weeks I have been burdened with the reality of the lost state of so many family and friends. I pray without ceasing night and day - awakening throughout the night, I pray, closing my eyes at night I pray and awaken in the morning in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving for their salvation. Prayers have been offered on my behalf that this burden be lifted, but I cry "May it never be LORD, may it never be.' 

If I do not pray for them - "Who will.?."

I read:

"The true convert holds the Cup of Salvation in his trembling hands.

If you love God, your heart will go out to the millions who are in the “valley of decision.

Oswald Chambers wrote:   So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does." 

Charles Spurgeon said:   "If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."

Hell should be so real to us that its flames burn away apathy and motivate us to warn the lost. Do we see the unsaved as hell's future fuel? Do we understand that sinful humanity is the anvil of the justice of God? Have we ever been horrified or wept because we fear their fate? The depth of our evangelistic zeal will be in direct proportion to the love we have for the lost and dying." Ray Comfort - A Burden for the Lost

LORD, lay lost souls upon my heart, and love that soul through me.  And may I nobly do my part, to win that soul for Thee.

"As I observe our nation and our churches, I am called to Ezekiel Chapter 8 where the Lord has Ezekiel dig into the wall of the Temple and instructs him to enter it: "So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel...Then said he unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his idols? for they say, The LORD sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the land. He said also unto me, Turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do."

After showing Ezekiel how the elders worshipped the pagan gods, the Lord asks in verses 17-18, " Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." We as a people must repent, call our nation to repentance, and begin to speak and act boldly that as Paul says in Ephesians 6:19, "to make known the mystery of the gospel." Otherwise, it is by God's natural law that we will suffer the consequences of our leaders, both individually and as a nation."
Bill Wilson/Daily Jot 

"... How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation..." Hebrews 2:3

The Anchor Holds...

As the homosexual community rejoices over the recent SCOTUS decision, as late term abortion becomes an acceptable choice, as Islam and Christianity converge into Chrislam, as Christians across the world are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ, as we see once godly men compromise their faith and the gospel, let us never forget:

The anchor holds, though the ship is battered, the anchor holds though the sails are torn. When we fall upon our knees as we face the raging seas

let us never forget -  The anchor holds in spite of the storm.

"...we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; …" 2 Corinthians 4

Because - the Anchor holds.!!.

.*.

As the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse prepare to ride, spreading death and destruction in their wake, the church sits in glassy eyed silence while pastors cancel Sunday and/or Wednesday night services, shorten the sermon hour to twenty minutes, support the ecumenical concept of unity between Christianity and Islam - teaching God and Allah are one, all the while preaching watered down feel good mini- messages without substance to the lost and dying starving body of Christ.

Angry, perhaps a little. Frustrated, disappointed, heartsick - YES.!!.

With church attendance dwindling, the Middle East imploding, American morals eroding, the horsemen awaiting imminent orders from the Lamb to “Come” - this is not the time to skimp on the teaching of The Word, cancel Sunday night service, unite with Islam or languish in stupefied submission to theological trash while treasures remain buried, hidden from those who need them most.

“Prayer is a privilege purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. Christ died for this end, it cost him the shedding of his blood, so that we, through Him, might have entrance to the throne of grace. And will you let such a privilege as this lie still? If you do, so far as is in you, you cause his blood to be shed in vain. For if you neglect the privileges gotten by that blood, you neglect the blood that procured them.” The Puritans on Prayer
 
“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it;

but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30

I Wonder...

As fireworks sound off in the distance and July 4, 2013 winds to a close, I wonder…

How have we strayed so far from what the founding fathers intended?

We have gone from scripture reading and prayer in schools to banning all that is holy or has any form of godliness in our public buildings, school rooms, graduation ceremonies and military? We have exchanged a commitment to hard work and success into hand outs, welfare and government assistance for millions?

We fight to legalize late term abortion, pass laws supporting homosexuality and stand with pride in our nation as we sing “God Bless America.” We sit in silence as our churches morph into carbon copies of the world then stand to sing “My Jesus I love Thee.”
 
"...the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.... Professing to be wise, they became fools.... Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.... Romans 1

“Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord...." Acts 3:19
 
Will Americans repent and turn from there wicked ways, crying out to God for forgiveness of their sins, pleading with Him to cleanse and restore, deliver and heal? Or will it be business as usual for the masses as the wrath of God is poured out against the ungodly wickedness in the hearts of the citizens of this once great nation?

I shudder to think.!!.

...

A battle rages between the forces of good and evil; a battle between Jesus Christ and the spirit of Antichrist - a battle between God and Satan…

a battle for the souls of men.

“we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Will we stand and fight with our King in the strength and the power of His might, in His authority, with His provision:

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6

…or will we fight in our own power and strength, using fleshly endeavors and egotistical efforts - using weapons of idealism, philosophy, humanism or religion - fighting spiritual battles with worldly weapons...

Or will we even bother to fight at all?