Rev22-12

The Devil

2012-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Be sober, be vigilant; because your advisory the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour..

1 Peter 5:8

I hope you are aware of that fact, that statement is absolutely true. His attacks come in many different forms, sometimes they are quite obvious and other times we can be deceived. Generally speaking the enemies attacks are the same as they have ever been…

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.(1 john 2:16)

I wrote the following "Poem", it's inspired by CS.Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters". If you haven't read that book, and I suggest you do, it's about a demon talking to an underling demon and training him on how to tempt and destroy man. Everything in the book is obviously thus backwards, God is considered the enemy and light is an abhorrent thing.

The "poem"(of sorts) that I wrote is more about satan whispering in your ear, and trying everything to keep your eyes off God, and he will do that anyway he can, wether thats by puffing you up or tearing you down. He doesn't care either way, the enemies goal is not so much about you as it is stealing glory from God, and if he can take your eyes off God and from giving God all glory then he has done his job.

The point of the poem isn't to glorify the devil and his works, it's more of a warning.

For we know, we have full assurance in the heart that..

"if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

1 John 1:7

This is something the devil hates, and doesn't want us to have confidence in, that we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ! The devil is really just a pathetic prideful little worm that has already lost the war but still persists on fighting and taking as many down with him as he can.

The anti-Christ the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing, the dunce that tempts you with temporal things when you through the blood of Christ are promised eternal things!

You're ever so exquisite, so precious and yet oblivious

just how much you are like a little puppet controlled by proverbial strings.

I can play you so easily, dragging you deeper into self indulgence, blinded by the lusts of your own mind, the self-will far out weighing the surrendering one. You self destruct from your own doing,swallowed hole,ruptured and self defeated by your own flesh, and all I have to do is give you just a little push.

Aw…but in comes your repentance, despicable how He even bothers to listen. How can He forgive you? This cross, sacrificial lamb and grace you don't deserve overwhelms me with utter rage.

it's no bother really, for you are so easily swayed I can turn this very abhorrent grace into something you yourself won't be able to comprehend. Go ahead and repent….get on your little knees and pray to Him, I'll wait for the right time when you are not so quite focused on Him.

Repent..haha…fool…do you really think He can forgive you? YOU!? I mean look at you, how many times are you going to slap Him in the face? you just asked for forgiveness didn't you? ooops…looks like you just messed that up again, why even bother to pray to Him?

I bet He's sick of hearing from you and your broken promises and sorries begging for forgiveness, your first compulsion will always be the flesh don't be fooled by your false regret.

You really think you are smart, think you know how I work? just when you start to catch on, I switch the attack and come at you with different ammunition.

Feeling pretty close with Him now? think you are putting all this flesh behind you huh? that's when Ill say good job, you are such a good person, you are so Holy and pure. I'll pierce your very soul with self righteousness, have you disgusted with the very site of other christians, after all, they are not as good as you, look at so and so he didn't even go to church this week, and look at that women gossiping, man these people are so underneath you.

Ill grip you in any way that I can, I'll have you so focused on you that you don't even think about HIM. You'll weigh people down with your own standards that they can't possibly stand, hopefully dragging them down along into your self righteous sin, then i'm killing two birds with one stone. You see, you really are my son. Well done my good and faithful servant..

Maybe that's all to easy, maybe you'll come out of that. I could always just overload you with confusion, have everything you see and everything you read turn into a contradiction, because you are easily pulled by worldliness. You want to live and be accepted by them so you hold to their abrasive self pleasing accusations, all the while claiming to follow His word, but I'll use them to blind you! So instead of being changed by the word you will change it to fit the world

Then I'll keep playing you like a fiddle, and you will think you are walking in light, but really you are just blind. You'll be covered in lukewarmness thinking you are on fire, not realizing that you're really just reinforcing my empire.

So innocent and naive…it's almost too easy

Least of these

2012-02-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Yes many are: liars, thieves, fornicators, druggies and alcoholics and they deserve to be where they're at.

But God, if we all got what we deserved

we would be facing your wrath.

I'm a king on a throne with a castle I call home

They sleep underneath a bridge with cardboard

as padded foam.

Onward Christian soldier as you ignore

the man begging for a dollar.

Druggie or drunk you tell yourself

so you refuse to help,

rather sit in your church and count your wealth.

Feed the least of these and when you do you feed me,

said Christ.

So how come this is such an oversight?

The homeless person needs Christ

just as much as though's who dress nice.

I'd help... you say; "if I knew he wasn't going to use it

for alcohol or drugs!"

But who died and made you judge?

Maybe you just think it's your christian duty

to use your wealth for yourself, instead of using

it to buy food for someone asking for help?

After all God wants you rich,

He just must not love that man sleeping in the ditch.

Prosperity has got you blind,

since when was the gospel about getting whats mine?

You give your money to those who can give back to you.

Tithe a percentage that really doesn't effect you,

all so God will bless you.

Rather give your money to wolves in sheep's clothing,

then to a man who has absolutely nothing.

A man struggles with an addiction, drinks himself to sleep because he doesn't think anyone loves him.

There you sit, in your car with a christian fish,

can't stand to look in his direction, all the while

claiming to know all about grace and salvation,

the only solution to penetrate this mans addiction.

But as long as you know Christ…

that's all that matters right?

That drunk doesn't even deserve to eat,

just let him die without seeing mercy

that sounds very Christ-like oh absolutely.

You're forgetting that without God's merciful perpetual plan,

The Son taking the wrath you deserved,

you would be just like this drunk homeless man

only inward.

Why I LOVE and support Israel

2012-01-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Does Israel matter today? A question on many minds here in America "Land of the confused Christian". With it being voting season, it's a topic that comes up all over the place, specially in this particular season when you got a person like a Ron Paul. Now I know there are a lot of Christians who don't like diving into political issues because they don't want to;

A. offend anyone

B. don't think it really matters where you stand

Well if you want to read such or listen to such or have your ears tickled then go to your local westernized American church, they're not hard to find. I on the other hand live to offend, Jesus is offensive and standing by God's word will offend and piss people off hence why I am offensive(I offend because I stand by His word). I'm not mr.political or anything, but I'll plainly state what is right and what is wrong and I do think it matters who you support. The following is something I wrote and I feel it explains why I love Jewish people and the land God gave to them(Israel). I also included a radio broadcast that I urge you to listen to by Dr.Michael Brown that has to do with the question "Does Israel matter?" my reasons and his for standing behind Israel and God's chosen people are very much the same, he just explains it better then I could(although If you read my blog consistently you would have already seen my reasons, but i'll explain them here again)

The question "Does israel matter?" I find to be a stupid question. I can't help but to have an overwhelming appreciation for Jewish people, God's chosen people, when I read God's word. Am I insane? Am I missing something? or maybe just maybe we are suppose to have such feelings towards the Jewish people. Jesus(Yeshua) was Himself Jewish(just incase you missed that or were confused by the images portraying Jesus as very roman looking)

"He did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them."- by the way that's biblical, Yeshua said it Himself in Matthew 5:17-18. He also said He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel, and almost didn't heal a gentile woman's demon possessed daughter until he saw her faith- that's also biblical it's

Matthew 15:21-28.

Yeshua doesn't contradict the "old" testament and prophets He fulfills them, He stands by God's word because He was there when it was formed.

Also biblical read John 8:58.

While Yeshua was Jewish in the flesh, He is also God, not a god.... but GOD.

He and the Father are absolutely unequivocally ONE through the trinity, three distinct persons Father/Son(Yeshua)/ Holy Spirit as GOD.
That my friends is biblical for several reasons…

1. Yeshua says it Himself: "I and [my] Father are one" (John 10:30)

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

(John 14:7-10)

and two because the bible over and over again says there is only ONE GOD

(Isaiah 43:10-11) "Before me there was no God formed nor shall there be after me" is just one example. Now you may be saying something like;

"Oh absolutely I totally agree Jesus is God in the flesh, but what does that have to do with Israel and Jewish people?"

It has everything to do with it, if God is one, Then Yeshua is obviously God and that means they would not contradict each other and when it says that the jewish people are God's chosen people then that means they are Jesus's chosen too. Or are you saying that when God said "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" Genesis 12:3 are you saying Christ Jesus doesn't agree with that statement? of course He agrees with it, Jesus was there at the beginning of time, and He only does the will of the Father.

Now, just to make a clarification… if a jewish person doesn't recognize Yeshua as LORD and Savior then just like a gentile they will be forever separated from God. So yes, they must surrender to Christ like everyone else. They however are the roots of the christian faith, God chose them to work through not because they are a superior race, He chose them because He chose them;

For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people:

But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

(Deuteronomy 7:6-8)

Lets also not forget that the disciples were jewish. Saul or better known as his greek name Paul had a burning desire for the jewish people to turn to Christ, they were his brethren and countrymen. He even wished he himself could be accursed for their sake(Romans 9:2-4) Paul also says God didn't cast away His people who He foreknew(Romans 11:1). That of course is a given to anyone who actually reads the bible, God made promises to Israel and God keeps His promises.

Paul was the one whom Christ appeared to, and Christ told him to preach the gospel to the gentiles. Paul in preaching to the gentiles wished to drive his brethren to jealousy(Romans 11:13). You see as Romans 11 continues to emphatically state….we as gentiles have been grafted into the tree, the tree that has it's roots set in God, the tree that God chose to sprout through Judaism. God has through the Son grafted us gentiles into this tree, and Paul warns us not to mock or boast against the natural branches (The Jews) this is simply stated in Romans 11:16-21.

I've run into plenty of people who completely ignore this and they hate Jewish people with a passion, I shouldn't have to state just how unbiblical that is. Because if you read the bible and then hate jewish people and you become hostile towards them and wish for their death you are a not only completely blind…you're also completely stupid.I personally don't care how much you claim to "know" Jesus, if you hate Jewish people then you don't have a clue about Jesus.

I have a heart.. a love for my brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world, they need to recognize Yeshua Hamashiach and I pray for them and I support them not because I feel like it, but because GOD tells us to. I'll bless them because we are called to and I refuse to support or stand by those who don't support the lost sheep of Israel.(cough) Ron Paul (cough)

Listen to this awesome broadcast from Dr. Michael Brown on this very subject he explains way better then I can, it's about two hours but it is well worth your time. Reasons like this is why I stay on Facebook, I would like to thank a new friend who sent me this broadcast through a friend request(Rick Estrada) who probably wont read this but still, give credit to where it is do.

Dr. Michael Brown's Radio broadcast on Israel

Did Jesus hate religion?

2012-01-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

The video above is from Jared Duba aka Jesus Disciple(www.Depravedwretch.com) his video is a response to Jeff Bethke's video "Why I hate religion, but Love Jesus"

Now for those of you who are not on Facebook, first of all…good for you.

(I've debated several times on deleting my account) anyways if you don't have Facebook you most likely have not seen a video that has gone viral, even if you have Facebook you might of missed it. It's a video by Jeff Bethke, I'm not trying to put down Jeff, for he seems like a pretty legit guy, after all as Kevin DeYoung said in his blog(and I agree with him) Jeff isn't a fan of "Love Wins" the abhorrent book by Rob Bell(Mr.Universalist).

Bethke's new video has him reading a poem he apparently wrote, and the title is "Why I hate religion and Love Jesus". on the surface level that probably seems right on to a lot of you, to be honest doesn't seem that bad to me either. Of course this all depends on what your definition of "Religion" is, I'm not going to get into all the details... simply put because, a few already have and they can write/speak much better then I can on the subject.

Heres Bethke's video… watch and listen, and try to watch and listen as if you were hearing of Jesus Christ for the very first time.

Now ladies and gentleman, if Jeff was speaking directly to you from this video what belief would you come out with? what would your overall thought of this Jesus guy be? well…

1. Jesus Hates religion

2.Jesus came to abolish religion

3. Jesus also doesn't like rules

His video speaks a lot of "Christianese" it suffers from a lack of explaining certain things. It's like going up to someone who has never heard of the gospel and just quoting John 3:16 and walking away. Is John 3:16 true? yes it's scripture after all, but to not expound on it more would be on the dangerous side.

I guess one way to state this is this; Jeff's video doesn't effect me because I know(and even believe he knows) that just believing Jesus was a person at one time and died for my sins doesn't give me the excuse to continue living for myself and sinfulness. However the question is, does the non-christian who watches this video understand that? does this video put into the non-believer a Galatians 2:20 type of faith, a surrendering of self, a changed heart to walk in the light as He is in the light kind of faith? That Christianity literally means "Following Christ" and not "I believe He existed at one point and died so I can continue in sin".

The kind of people that will like the notion "Jesus hated religion" which to a point I would say is true, but the kind of people that will mis the whole point of why Jesus came and what the gospel means, are the kind of people who think;

1.Jesus was just a good teacher of morals(and preached you can believe and do whatever you want as long as you believe I died so you could)

2.Jesus came to abolish hate

3.Jesus's whole message was a message of tolerance

1-3 are all completely false. The fact is God abhors(HATES) sin so much that He crucified His own perfect un-sinful son on a cross for our sins. God took Jesus who had NO SIN absolutely spotless and perfect and poured out His holy righteous wrath onto Him in the form of the cross. There is no tolerance for sin in the bible, and Jesus was not tolerant of it Himself, for He went to His death for it WILLINGLY. Jesus didn't come so you can continue living in sin, He came to free you from the chains of sin completely! He came to save you from sin, to turn Christ into somebody who tolerated sinfulness and preached the continued living in sin as ok is a complete lack of understanding of scripture.

Again, I don't think whatsoever that Jeff Bethke believes sin is ok, or that it is ok to continue living for it and your self. I just think in his video that can be easily missed by someone who doesn't know that.

I'll let someone more gifted and knowledgable speak further on this, Kevin DeYoung the same man who wrote "Burning down the shack"

go here to read his blog on what he thinks of Jeff's video and also see what he liked about it.

Story of Hannah

2011-12-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

The birth of Samuel the judge/prophet of Israel is interesting to say the least. In 1 Samuel 1-11 it talks about Samuels father who's name was Elkanah, and he had two wives one named Peninnah and the other named Hannah. Now Hannah didn't have any children as it says the Lord shut her womb(1 Sam 1:6) but Peninnah on the other hand did have children, and she would make Hannah feel bad because she did not. It says Hannah would weep and refuse to eat when they would go and make offerings at the house of the LORD because of the ridicule from Peninnah(1 Sam 1:7)

One year Hannah was in such despair that it says she went alone to pray to the LORD in bitterness of soul weeping in anguish(1 Sam 1:10) the word bitterness here in the hebrew is "Mar" to be in pain or heavy laden/discontent, in this case it is saying her soul was in much pain she was heavy laden weeping in grief. In this moment Hannah asks God to grace her with a son, she makes a vow with God that if he would indeed give her a son she will offer him to God for all his days. (1 Sam 1:11)

Now notice Hannah a woman of God, in all the despair and sorrow she was in didn't curse God, She went before the LORD GOD Almighty and asked to receive His grace and His mercy and promised to give this child to God. Interestingly enough Hannah's name means Grace and God did show her grace by giving her a son which she named Samuel(1 Sam 1:20) [ later He would also show her more grace when Hannah; who had begged for a child..wept and pleaded for one, and the LORD gave her Samuel, she did what she promised and gave the child up, and The LORD blessed her with more children (1 Sam 2:21) ] after Samuel was born Hannah gave all glory to God:

And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is

exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.

"No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any

rock like our God.

"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth,

For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.

"The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with

strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and the

hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble.

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap,

To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory.

"For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them.

He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

"For by strength no man shall prevail.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed."

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Amen Hannah..Amen! All glory to GOD!

†..On Your Knees..†

2011-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

"The Word of GOD brings us to our knees before it gives us peace."

What I mean by this is quite simple, please don't get it twisted…does GOD

and His word bring peace? Absolutely! but before it does that, it better bring you to your knees. Yes, all glory to our LORD and Savior for bringing ultimate peace(everlasting) before we ourselves even realized we needed it. All honor glory and righteousness to the one who was and is and is to come!-(Revelation 4:8)

But if you are seeking peace without falling to your knees you're missing the TRUTH, missing the whole point of the gospels. Jesus said in Luke and Matthew

"Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it"

Luke 17:33

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Matthew 16:24-25

A confusing statement from Jesus, specially if you are one of those who think

the gospel is centered around you and is about your glory and about giving you peace and comfort. The Gospel is not meant to bring peace with yourself it's meant to make you an enemy of self. Peace only comes through Christ, it comes when the gospel makes you see it's not about you, it's about what was done in spite of you. It's all about Christ, and God forbid if I should glory in anything except in the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world-(Galatians 6:14)

Do you not know that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify GOD in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The bible does not say YOU deserve peace & prosperity and a life without tribulation…..

BUT all Glory to Christ God our savior Holy of Holies, King of Kings for His ultimate everlasting peace that far outweighs any tribulation, and far outweighs all the riches of this world. YOU can keep your prosperity and life, just give me CHRIST!

The †GRACE† you don't deserve.-[PART-2]

2011-11-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

Romans 5:12

All have sinned, all fall short of the Holiness required.(Romans 3:23)

Sin entered the world/our human lives by one man(Adam) and sin was defeated and conquered through one man(Romans 5:15) that being Yeshua Ha'Mashiach(Jesus Christ)

We are not all punished because of one mans sin, we are punished for what Adam brought into Gods perfect creation, the disposition that we all hold on to, and that is we have a right to ourselves and we are our own god. We either realize that we are not our own (Romans 14:8, 1 Corinthians 6:19) and fully surrender to who we ultimately belong to (Christ) or we just continue living in our natural state, our natural disposition which is ultimately selfishness.

Now to fully grasp forgiveness, to understand who Jesus Christ was, His purpose, and why His sacrifice means anything, we first have to understand the need, we need to understand what we are forgiven from right? We say God is a loving God, we say He is fully of mercy, and make no mistake about it.. He is. However at the same time we also say He is a Holy and Pure and a righteous judge.

"The LORD is righteous, For I rebelled against His commandment. Hear now, all peoples, And behold my sorrow; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.- Lamentations 1:18

We see through out the bible that He is completely both. Holy and pure beyond what we could ever comprehend, He is absolutely a God of justice. The question you should be facing is;

How can a Holy Pure Righteous God look at us with anything but wrath and anger?" and rightfully so! His word says several things about us that should make us understand just how undeserving of Grace we are…

"the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"

Genesis 8:21

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

Psalms 51:5

"[There is] none who does good, No, not one."

Psalm 14:3

"The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

"For You [are] not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You."

Psalms 5:4

By our fallen nature we all want what Adam & Eve wanted, and no it's not some fruit from a tree, it's what Satan tempted Eve with back in Genesis 3:4-5.

We want the knowledge of good and Evil, we want to be our own god to decide for ourselves whats right & whats wrong. It's selfishness thats what sin is in a nut shell.

So once again we come to the question;

"How exactly can a righteous God who abhors sin, after all how can God be Holy & Pure/ Righteous if he tolerates Evil, how can He show us mercy? Grace? Love?

remember what Romans 3:23 says..

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:8

"But the Scripture has confined all under sin"

Galatians 3:23

Maybe we can please God by works, earn His Grace & Mercy? a noble concept except for the fact that how can one who is born wretched & Evil a sinner (as the bible plainly states we all are) even begin to do a work that would please a Holy Just & Righteous God? Like the fantastic story "Pilgrims Progress" My iniquities are over my head, they are too heavy for me to carry(Psalm 38:4)

But we are all like an unclean [thing], And all our righteousnesses [are] like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6

So we can't ourselves follow Gods laws and commands because we are wicked and want to be our own god, our works are like filthy disgusting rags in Gods Holy sight and to top it all off we are living in a world that's fleeting and will soon pass away, all it's pleasures are meaningless under the sun(read Ecclesiastes).

Sounds like we are screwed, and WE ARE! this is what I want you to see, more importantly it's what God and His word wants you to see, that on your own BY YOURSELF YOU ARE SCREWED.

That's not what you want to hear is it? and let's be absolutely honest it's not pleasant sounding, and it drives us crazy that we are not in control. This is not something the world is going to advocate, because the world is a self fulfilling place. The world wants you focused on constantly fixing YOU, selling you empty promises of fulfillment and false ways of ultimately fixing yourself, wether that's by giving into selfish desires or taking pills to mask the suffering and struggle you are in. There's no hope and peace in hiding and masking what you are through pills and self help. Again, the fact is YOU can't help you.

Once again we are stuck with where does Gods grace come in? how can we be saved from our enemy(ourselves)/our very nature(sin).

Want to know where Gods grace/mercy comes in? His love and grace you don't deserve? Jeremiah 23:6 says "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" He is our righteousness(LORD here meaning The Lord Jesus Christ) and lets remember Isaiah 53

"But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

Grace you don't deserve is God sacrificing the undeserved, the spotless ultimate lamb Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (Jesus Christ).

"Who is the image of the invisible God"

Colossians 1:15

"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Colossians 2:9

Jesus Christ Himself said if you know Him you know the father, He also said;

He didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

Christ came to be a sacrifice and through Christ we not only see the justice of God(His wrath), but we see His mercy and love too. Justice and wrath in the fact that because of our sinfulness it pleased God to sacrifice His son Jesus Christ(Isaiah 53:10), and mercy and love in the fact that He was willing to cast all our sinfulness onto Him on the cross instead of giving us all what we deserve.

This and ONLY this is an amazing Grace….a Grace you DONT DESERVE!

All glory to God for His righteousness, His Holiness, His Mercy and Love!

Gods grace, when we ultimately understand it, drives us to want to please Him.

This is a good thing , but it's absolutely insulting when we put "us pleasing Him" above His Grace. Our performance above His sacrifice does nothing but place us above HIM, and it becomes about what we do not what He did.

"Souls are not made sweet by taking [ill tempers] out, but by putting something in - a great Love, a new Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Christ, the Spirit of Christ, interpenetrating ours, sweetens, purifies, transforms all. This can only eradicate what is wrong, renovate and regenerate, and rehabilitate the inner man.

Will-power does not change men. Time does not change men. Christ does. Therefore "Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." "

Henry Drummond

The †GRACE† you don't deserve.-[PART-1]

2011-10-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Ridiculous arguments in trying to justify wrong.

…FOR EXAMPLE…

The Pot argument.

"Pots not a big deal, I mean, alcohol is way worse than pot"

As if that justifies the pot smoker, as if that makes it "Ok".
Or arguments that come down to..

"Well everyone else is doing it"

It's asinine. Those are not logical arguments, really they're not even meaningful.
It just shows that you can't justify your wrong doing at all. I could use arguments like that to the same effect

"Murder is way worse than beating someone to a bloody pulp and making them handicap"
So hence I can go around and do that..right?

Or how about a straight "Christian" guy who sleeps around outside of marriage,
and does nothing but gay bash, is being gay wrong? YES! but so is the hypocrite that is sleeping around outside of marriage.

or when people try to justify their sin by saying "Well everyones a sinner"
so that gives us the license to do whatever we want? This is the very problem that we are all sinners! it's a problem..it's not something to celebrate or use as an excuse so that you can continue living the way you want. Jesus didn't say " I come to sacrifice myself so people can continue living the way they want" He didn't tell the adulterous woman "Go and continue living in sin" He didn't tell the rich man who asked how he may have eternal life"Oh, don't sweat it bro…see that cross over there? I'm going to be crucified on it so you can keep what's more important to you in life and thats your riches"

I agree we are fallen by nature but we are not called to continue living for ourselves we are called to live for Christ! The only one who can change and has changed our very nature.
We don't keep willingly live for ourselves with a little Christ on the side like He is the side salad to the meal,CHRIST IS THE WHOLE MEAL!

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will* have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

YES while we are still living in this world we will have "tribulation" in a word we will "struggle" we will have affliction, pertaining to we will be fighting, and in Romans 7 Paul says:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but [how] to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will [to do], I do not do; but the evil I will not [to do], that I practice. Now if I do what I will not [to do], it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:18-25

Paul hated his sin, and at the same time realized though he battled his flesh the only way to victory was through Jesus Christ. Paul wasn't advocating, which some do, "I'm a sinner but saved by jesus so I can continue living in my sins, because Jesus died so I can enjoy my flesh" Romans 6 clears that up pretty quick.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin [leading] to death, or of obedience [leading] to righteousness?
Romans 6:15-16

Now many fall down but seek to get up themselves by works,and it is only by Grace that you can get up…LOOK UNTO CHRIST! Yet still there're many who have fallen down like a pig in slop and convince themselves they are fine where they are at. Satisfied in the filth they don't belong in, and were never meant to belong in.

The question is, are we struggling? or are we oblivious to our sinfulness
to the point where we are convinced we are "fine". Lets say we have two men, and both.. being human, struggle with sin. The first man, who we will call Jack, is overwhelmed with his sinfulness and spends his life trying to be a good person.
Jack is a nice enough guy, he joins a church and on the outside looks like
a very moral and religious person, on the inside though he is tormented and
doesn't really have a relationship with Christ, because he doesn't know Christ, Jack has a relationship with a religion that tells him he needs to earn salvation by works.

The second man, who we will call Jim, looks like the world and unlike Jack, Jim doesn't bother putting on the "religious suit". Jim claims he said a prayer one time and accepted Christ, so now Jim who is neck deep in sinfulness doesn't care, and Jim says he is fine where he is... because Christ died so he can continue living in sin.

Which man is right? go ahead think about it it for a few minutes..

want the answer?

are you sure?

Ok, the answer is…………
they are both wrong, it was a trick question. It was really a way to explain what I was saying, you see… Jack is the man who tries to gain salvation by works, Jack is a pharisee what Christ Himself would call a whitewashed tomb.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead [men's] bones and all uncleanness.
Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:27-28

Just for future reference, when you have a Mormon/Jehovah Witness come to your door that's exactly what they are, whitewashed tombs.

What about Jim? Well Jim is the pig in the slop. Jim could actually be an "Atheist" but in this case I am describing Jim as one who claims to believe in the ONE true GOD. Jim in some aspects seems like he has it right, because indeed it's not about works and Jim knows this. However Jim slaps God in the face by abusing His grace, He claims to know God, but at the same time willfully lives a selfish life, that revolves around living for the flesh. Jim doesn't know Christ at all, because he thinks Christ died so he can continue living in sin. Jim doesn't "struggle" there's no tribulation in Jim's life because he doesn't care about his sins, hence he lives like the world so why would they persecute him? What would Christ say about Jim?

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Matthew 7:22-23

Psalm 40:8 describes how a man of God should be, it described Paul pretty well.

I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law [is] within my heart.

And to clarify it's all to the glory of God, and His mercy and grace that you or I am saved PERIOD. Christianity(Following Christ) is admitting we by ourselves can do nothing, we are wretched wicked sinful beings that rely completely on Christ.Christ is the unspotted lamb..we are far from unspotted and all hope relies
on Him. Christianity is not a ten step program, it's not following some rules to receive breakthrough or freedom. Breakthrough and freedom are already yours , Repent and surrender to the only one who can offer it.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:3

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:35

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

more on the Grace you don't deserve neXt blog..

180 Movie/Real Choices Clinic

2011-10-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Check this video out! all to the glory of GOD! go to http://heartchanger.com/ for more info

and for those of you who live in North Idaho, specifically speaking the Coeur D' Alene area you can help Open Arms/Real Choices clinic. They help women who are pregnant, showing them alternatives to abortion. Their website is http://www.realchoicesclinic.com/ you can also donate online! please consider doing so, and also stopping by to see if you can offer any other help if God is leading you to do so. Ask to see Nancy

Solomon and Worldliness

2011-09-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Let's take a little history trip, a biblical history trip…come on,

it will be fun! It'll be quick, I promise..after all what is that saying again?

"You can't make an Omelet without breaking a few eggs…"

oh wait…that doesn't apply here.. oh yeah it's

"If you don't know history you are doomed to repeat it"

I want to talk about King Solomon, son of David. Most of us know Solomon is credited as the wisest man that ever lived, all to the glory of God of course. God gave him this wisdom(1 Kings 3:10-12) Solomon asked and he received. We see his wisdom in use throughout the life of Solomon in his judgments and his rule over Israel. More popularly we see it when we read "Proverbs" and even "Ecclesiastes"

both being credited to Solomon. We know that Solomon made Israel a beacon of light showing the glory of GOD, and Solomon in his early years was a fantastic and humble God honoring servant.

Solomon however started to turn away from God to other gods, which his many wives turned him to, not that I am blaming the wives at all. For Solomon is to blame for his wickedness, and for turning away from the one true GOD who gave him his wisdom in the first place! It is amazing to me that a man who was so humble who wrote things like…

The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 8:13

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Proverbs 8:17

The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,

and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

FEAR GOD, and Keep his commandments! Solomon didn't do that when he took wives that he should never have taken in the first place. Solomon wasn't fearing

God and putting God first when he started worshipping false gods and Idols. You know what Solomon's problem was? He took the gift GOD gave him, which again was wisdom and put his trust in that, aka he put his trust in himself and not GOD.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 is a warning from Solomon to fear the LORD GOD, and to keep His commandments. Ecclesiastes is considered by most to be Solomons repentance for his wickedness against God, as some of the Psalms are contributed to Davids repentance of his sins. You may be asking my point, and where exactly am I going with this…

Solomon wisest man that ever lived, and ever will live, wasn't an innocent man, as none of us are. He was a man that you could very much so compare in a sense with

popular christianity today; which very much so is consumed with worldliness

…….

Did I lose you?

let me explain, many "Christians" or those who claim to be so, the people I call FAKE and the people Christ Himself would say are lukewarm, and he will spew them from His mouth, Do what? well, they conform to the pattern of this world all the while still claiming to be a follower…. right? They may have had a genuine experience, a softening of the heart, but somewhere down the line, like Solomon, they strayed away from GOD.

Like Solomon who wanted to appease his wives, these lukewarm unbiblical false christians try to appease the world. Solomon was suppose to be the LIGHT to

the darkness! he was suppose to lead his wives by example and lead them to the only GOD there is, instead he was lead astray by them into darkness.

Following me now?

The church now adays is trying to appease the world,

we are conforming to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2) when we shouldn't be! we should be the light in the darkness, God blessed us and called us to be Holy and be the change in the world NOT BE CHANGED BY IT!

This is where someone i'm sure would quote Ghandi and say something like..

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

yeah that's nice and all, but change doesn't come unless you realize how to change you, and guess what? you can do all the meditating and introspective self therapy you want, even go find some far east mystic eastern philosophy about "finding the inner you" and "enlightenment"

go ahead i'll wait…

……..

Back now?

The fact is YOU…can't change…YOU! this is what the word of God is about! it's about utter reliance on HIMSELF! all for His GLORY, not yours!

Only Christ saves and only through Him are you saved and only by HIM can

you be CHANGED! You are either light or darkness, you are either following

Christ or you are following the world. If you take your eyes off of Him, if you start to stray from the path, If you don't ultimately rely on GOD, then you are going to fall! everything has to be laid to rest in Christ all thoughts and all deeds! EVERYTHING! all worry and stress,your body, and everything you are! on your knees at the foot of the throne!

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:5

Only by grace, and only in this way are you saved. Repentance and ultimate faith and reliance on CHRIST. If you seek to appease the world or appease your self for whatever reason, and you're not willing to surrender all to Christ then all the wisdom in the world wont SAVE YOU…and YOU WILL FALL and be LED astray just like Solomon! REPENT and turn to CHRIST!

Do not be LUKEWARM…! sure nobody will claim to be lukewarm but you are either on fire or you are not! FEAR THE LORD CHURCH! what are we doing?

What are we teaching? This world is corrupt and fallen a wicked generation unashamed of being so!

It's like we are Adam & Eve in the garden all over again. We stand naked and bare

with sinfulness we can not hide, only unlike Adam & Eve we are far from ashamed, we don't even try to hide our sins…in fact we don't even acknowledge it,

there's no weeping, no brokeness, no understanding of punishment and Holiness.

We have become what those without Christ have always been…SELFISH,

we stand naked in sin and we love it! token prayers and half hearted relationships with a savior we don't even try to understand.

"Justice and wrath you say? But I'm saved! even though I don't even understand from what exactly….BUT I believe in JESUS! that's it right? I'm finished,

I mean, I read the words in red! I accept Him for his death so I can go to heaven! now don't be so judgmental…Jesus Himself said not to judge, you know!

let me just go on liven for the world because I'm forgiven!"

"Lord I pray for prosperity, I pray for blessings."

Even though you deserve absolutely nothing?

"Your son died for me? cool, think you could hook me up with a little more money? my pocket's kind of seem to be running on empty"

The church has become like a bunch of deadbeat children who treat the father like crap all the while with their hands held out begging to get what they don't deserve.

Want to be of this world?

Want to be wealthy and rich?

claim to know ME, but live for your glory?

AWAY FROM ME I NEVER KNEW YOU! (Matthew 7:23)

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

The Sin of A'chan

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"And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things,

lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed

things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

Joshua 6:18

Joshua chapter six is about the destruction of the city of

Jericho. Remember Joshua was told by the LORD

to march around the city once a day for six days, and then

on the seventh day to march around it seven times,

and the priests shall blow trumpets and all the men shall

shout on the seventh day when Joshua tells them to, and the walls shall come crashing down?

Well concerning Jericho the LORD warned them about taking

of accursed things, and that all the silver and gold, and vessels

of bronze and iron, are to be consecrated to the LORD.

(Joshua 6:19)

However, we read in chapter 7 that apparently someone didn't

listen to this warning. A'chan the son of Carmi of the tribe of Judah

took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned

against the children of Israel. (Joshua 7:1)

Accursed in hebrew is-

"Cherem"

1. a thing devoted, thing dedicated, ban, devotion

2. a net, thing perforated(Obviously not the meaning in this chapter)

3. have been utterly destroyed, (appointed to) utter destruction.

Now, The LORD accursed Jericho I.E appointed it to utter

destruction and everyone in it(besides Rahab "the Harlot")

and the Silver and Gold as it said in verse 6:19 were suppose to be consecrated to the LORD.

A'chan out of selfishness brought a curse upon Israel,

The LORD GOD Almighty gave a warning that A'chan ignored.

After taking Jericho, Joshua sent about three thousand men to attack the city of Ai to destroy it like Jericho. However Ai ran the three thousand men off and killed 36 of them, 36 men died because A'chan. (Joshua 7:4-5)

Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel;

and they put dust on their heads.

And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all--to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?

Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! "O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear [it], and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?"

Joshua 7:6-9

So the LORD said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?

"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put [it] among their own stuff.

"Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

Joshua 7:10-12

You see, not only did A'chan take accursed things(things meant

for destruction) but he stole from the LORD what was suppose to

be consecrated to the LORD, remember the Silver and Gold?

In (Joshua 7:20) A'Chan admits his wrong doing

And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:

"When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."

Joshua 7:20-21

Babylonian garment accursed thing meant for destruction, silver

and gold meant to be consecrated to THE LORD. A'chan brought

a curse killing 36 men, and in the end suffered death, him and his family for what he had done(Joshua 7:24-25)

The LORD GOD is righteous and just in His actions, all Power

Knowledge and Glory be to Him. A'chan chose to ignore

Gods word, and out of selfishness sought worldly pleasure for

himself, A'chan was a man seeking his own glory not Gods

and paid the price for it in the end, just like everyone who chooses such a path will. A'chan had everything he would ever need, and God was fulfilling His promise by establishing Israel for His chosen people, giving them this land and it's cities which they did not build, a land fertile with abundance which they didn't toil to produce. That wasn't enough for A'chan apparently.

Let A'chan's selfishness be a lesson to you, are you seeking after

God's glory? or are you seeking after your own glory? Is God who you ultimately rely on? or is it blessings from Him? Is it prosperity, wealth and worldly happiness that motivates you to give God His JUST glory?

God should be your ultimate end, no matter what.

Sick, tired, and poor OR healthy, rested, and rich

all that matters is GOD, He better have priority number 1 in your life and He deserves all praise and glory no matter what has happened or is happening in your life.

Like A'chan who I'm sure would claim God was number one in his life, many claim such today. If God is only first when you are prospering, you're quite frankly lying to yourself…because what's important to you is your well being and prosperity, you put that above God everyday of the week while still claiming to give Him all honor and praise.

You know what is interesting? Ever read Joshua chapter 8?

After A'chan gets his just do, and the accursed is destroyed

as it should of been in the first place, The LORD turns from his anger (Joshua 7:26) and in chapter 8 The LORD says,

Now the LORD said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

"And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it."

Joshua 8:1-2

The LORD GOD gives the city of Ai and all it's spoils to

the Israelites. You see God Himself will provide your needs,

He wants to provide and take care of you, and He is absolutely

all we will ever need, Gods grace and mercy to begin with

is incomparable and unfathomable if we honestly think about it,

anything else in our life he provides is just more Blessing

we ultimately don't deserve.

All Glory to you Father God!

LORD GOD...ALMIGHTY ABBA

2011-08-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA (Revelation 11:17) (Romans 8:15)

I praise you (Psalms 118:28)

in situations good and bad (Philippians 4:12)

I praise you

When title waves of despair come (2 Corinthians 4:8)

I praise you

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

Your sacrifice will not go in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1)

darkness corners me in (1 Samuel 2:9)

and sin builds it's mighty walls (Ephesians 6:12)

but by Your Holy Grace (1 Corinthians 15:10)

light breaks through

and these walls no longer stand. (Isaiah 53:5)

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

I praise you

in situations good and bad

I praise you

When title waves of despair come

I praise you

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

Fill me with Holy spirit fire (Acts 1:8)

-and-

make me a conduit

to transfer your river of life. (Revelation 22:1)

In your name LORD Jesus…

Yeshua, salvation Holy and white

at your feet I lay,

to only live as a sacrifice. (Romans 12:1)

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

I praise you

in situations good and bad

I praise you

When title waves of despair come

I praise you

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

You tore down these walls of sin (Ephesians 2:5)

piece by piece my flesh yearns to put them back up again. (Romans 7:18-19)

LORD GOD…ALMIGHTY ABBA

I surrender to Your will (Hebrews 13:21)

my own will be damned (Luke 22:42)

on your alter I sacrifice this flesh and doubt (Matthew 14:31)

to live as Your humble servant. (Psalms 147:6)

This world and it's selfishness (Romans 12:2)

in Your name I cast out.

We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

The One who is and who was and who is to come,

Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

Revelations 11:17

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,

but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,

"Abba, Father."

Romans 8:15

You [are] my God, and I will praise You;

[You are] my God, I will exalt You.

Psalms 118:28

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.

Everywhere and in all things I have learned both

to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Philippians 4:12

[We are] hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;

[we are] perplexed, but not in despair;

2 Corinthians 4:8

We then, [as] workers together [with Him] also plead with [you]

not to receive the grace of God in vain.

2 Corinthians 6:1

He will guard the feet of His saints,

But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

"For by strength no man shall prevail.

1 Samuel 2:9

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places].

Ephesians 6:12

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me

was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all,

yet not I, but the grace of God [which was] with me.

1 Corinthians 15:10

But He [was] wounded for our transgressions,

[He was] bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

You [are] my God, and I will praise You;

[You are] my God, I will exalt You.

Psalms 118:28

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 1:8

And he showed me a pure river of water of life,

clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God

and of the Lamb.

Revelation 22:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,

acceptable to God, [which is] your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1

You [are] my God, and I will praise You;

[You are] my God, I will exalt You.

Psalms 118:28

even when we were dead in trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

Ephesians 2:5

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;

for to will is present with me, but [how] to perform what is good

I do not find. For the good that I will [to do], I do not do;

but the evil I will not [to do], that I practice.

Romans 7:18-19

make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you

what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,

to whom [be] glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:21

And immediately Jesus stretched out [His] hand and caught him,

and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Matthew 14:31

The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psalms 147:6

And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable

and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2

James 1 (Part 1)

2011-07-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various

trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces

patience.

James 1:2-3

When trails come our first instinct (our fleshly instinct) isn't

patience, it isn't "quiet steady perseverance". When trials

come our first instinct is to get annoyed to get angry

and complain that there is an inconvenience in our life.

This reaction is an action that generally speaking happens

because we realize we are not "in control". This truth of not

being in control is not something our sinful fleshly old man likes,

it is however, like I said, absolutely true that we are not in control.

It is important that we realize this fact, it is God Almighty who is in control

and trials will come but we must remain patient in our faith,

we must give our worries and trouble to God.. move forward

in our trusting that all things work out for His glory and absolute goodness.

It is not about "being in control" you must lose all

thought of being "in control" for if you don't surrender all

you are to God, if you try to "Control" where and what you will do

and how you will deal with trials that come;

patience will be nothing but a mountain you can't get around.

Patience and the ability to face trials comes only through Faith

in God and giving up the "control" that your flesh wants.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect

and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom,

let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without

reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:4-5

Ask God to do a work in you, to grant you the wisdom

to KNOW that trials and tribulations only make us stronger

in our faith. Ask Him to give you the wisdom to KNOW

that reliance on self is not noble, it is stubborn ignorance to

rely on your self to pull through, trying by your own might to

pull through trials doesn't produce a strong person of faith,

it produces a man who thinks he is strong and doesn't need

God. You radically every moment need God..the very breath

of life is a gift from God, trials and tribulations should remind

you of this and in doing such result in patience in faith.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts

is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything

from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all

his ways.

James 1:6-8

Faith and doubting don't go together at all. If you ask the Lord

for wisdom and patience to get through a trial, but deep down

you are thinking "pshh..I doubt even He can help me"

don't expect the wisdom or patience to come. It's complete

asinine to say "I have faith in Christ" and then doubt His

guidance.

Remember Peter walking on water to go to Christ?

Peter had FAITH that if it was truly Christ out there standing

in the water that Christ;

1. wouldn't put Peter in a dangerous situation

2. could cause Peter to walk on water to Him.

Peter put his trust and faith in Christ and went out onto the water

and walked! but as soon as he saw the wind kick up... what entered

his mind? DOUBT…which thus caused him to sink and Jesus to

say:

"You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Matthew 14:22-31

and in Matthew 21:21 what does Jesus tell His disciples not to do?

DOUBT…

So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you,

if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what

was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'be

removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.

Matthew 21:21

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in

his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

James 1:9-11

Let the lowly, the humble, the meek.. glory in being lifted up

by God

Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; But

the proud he knows from afar.

Psalms 138:6

and brothers let the rich, not just meaning "the wealthy" but those

who are strong…those who are wise, those who are proud, let them

glory in humiliation. Let them glory in being MADE humble because if they don't…if they trust in their riches and their own

power it is meaningless because it will only fade away, life after

all is short for all of us and we all will soon fade and pass away.

This goes hand and hand with Jesus Christ's parable of

not choosing the best seat at the wedding feast, and saying

at the end of the parable;

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who

humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 14:11

Blessed is the man who endures temptation;

for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life

which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:12

As I talked about last blog, who are those who love Him?

"Those who keep His commandments"(John 14:15) those who flee from immorality.

Those who surrender the flesh.. take their cross and follow Christ,

they don't follow the world and it's selfishness but Christ and His selflessness.

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God";

for God cannot be tempted by evil,

nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived,

it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

James 1:13-15

We are not tempted by God, we are tempted by our very own nature (by our flesh) which our very nature is to SIN. We are tempted, which in itself is not the sin, sin comes in when we let

it fester, when we start looking to our flesh and we desire

our natural ways. When we let sin have it's way it is because

deep down we are saying God isn't good enough, we want God

and we still at the same time want to live to our flesh, which

is not POSSIBLE! If you want God then you get all of Him!

and He changes your desires, He changes you! no longer should

self even be important, in fact Christ demands that you surrender

SELF! Do not be deceived there is no half truth, there is no half faith there is no half way in half way out..One foot in the world

and one foot in the grave…NO! throw your whole self in that grave

and die to self! Christ is what now lives through you.(Galatians 2:20)

Do..YOU..Love God?

2011-06-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

Quick question for you, Do you LOVE God?

Now for those who are brothers in sisters in Christ,

I'm sure you are thinking "Sure do!", even unbelievers

might even say "Sure, why not". This might, at first glance,

seem like an easy question, HOWEVER, if this question

is so easy and if every self professing brother and sister in

Christ would answer "Yes, I sure do" without hesitation,

Then why may I ask do we not ACT like it?

Maybe we don't know what LOVE really is? Just maybe

we have a inadequate view of the meaning of LOVE?

Perhaps we have a "World View" of what love is.

Now if we want to know what true Love is, the easiest place to look

is Jesus Christ. John 15:13 says:

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's

life for his friends."

Jesus Christ took the wrath we deserved, loving what didn't deserve to be loved, forgiving what didn't deserved to be forgiven.

I think this is, as it says, a stumbling block for most…because you see a lot of us don't think we are underserving,( some of us do

and that also can create a problem of not accepting what Christ's

has done. ) A lot of people treat God as if

He has some obligation to love us, as if He had to forgive our sins.

So they miss the big picture, and they don't see how evil they are,

and they don't truly see God's LOVE because they just blow it off

like He is required to.

We tend to look at love like "What's in it for us" but that's not love at all. Love is a surrendering of SELF, of doing something

for someone else not out of requirement or to GET something in

return. I'm going to type that out again:

Love…IS…NOT doing something for someone else out of requirement! Are we not saved by THE GRACE of God?

God didn't have to create the human race…wasn't required too..

God didn't have to forgive our WICKEDNESS…wasn't required too

But God did create the human race and He did forgive our sins!

AMEN! glory be to Him alone!

Now this brings me to this overall point, Why don't

we LIVE and Act like we LOVE God? sin is conquered,

let it go MOVE FORWARD in Christ! Jesus says in John

14:15

"If you love me, keep My commandments."

Then why is it many claim to Love Christ, but yet not want to listen

to what He said? I'm not talking about works, I'm not talking about people falling in sin as it will always(while on earth) be

something we have to continually make war against, DAILY

we have to Die to our Flesh! Many say they love Christ,

but refuse to die daily! many say they love Christ and say

they have no need for His commandments or at least they act

like they don't need to be changed by Him.

The fact of the matter is, if you TRULY and honestly LOVE Christ

then you will surrender yourself. AND AGAIN Love is not doing something out of requirement, if you love Christ you wouldn't want to do anything else but FOLLOW and hang on His every word.

"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to

silence the ignorance of foolish men- as free, yet not

using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."

1 Peter 2:15-16

This my brothers and sisters goes hand in hand! We see Gods

grace His overwhelming mercy and forgiveness and how we

are free from sin,(NOT Free to sin…Free FROM sin)

but we don't take our freedom lightly…

we know how evil we are without Christ and we know the price!

we don't use our freedom as a means to sin MORE..NO!

we see our freedom and we hold it tightly we see our forgiveness

and we see how undeserving we are of it, we see Gods power and love and we surrender as servants looking for Him to work through

US! looking to please God and follow His commands not for

our Glory…but HIS GLORY the only place Glory can be placed!

Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly [are] not so, But [are] like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalms 1:1-6

I want to share something with you, ready? I'm not the best

example of a follower of Christ, each day I must remember

to die to this selfish-flesh of mine. I seek to be that shinning light,

not for my glory but Gods, and I know He needs to shine through

me, it's not me working for God and me taking credit, it's

God working through me and giving Him all glory for it.

There's no good in me, I can't create good, I can't save myself..

if I rely on me i'll only disappoint. God's love is amazing the more we realize how undeserving we are of it, His love should bring us to the point of surrender, it should bring peace and faithfulness.

Sometimes we lose sight of what's important, and we claim

we love God but our actions say otherwise…we must

be convicted of our weakness and we must give it to GOD,

because only He can bring the change needed.

What we can not do is get to a point where we think change

can not come, that the new creation that we are suppose to be

can not come. We can't say we love God and then live a life

of blatant contradiction. It's like saying you love your wife

but then you continue to sleep with someone else on the side.

Listen, I know we all struggle in certain areas of our walk,

and we fall down BUT

1. we can't stay down

2. we can't expect to change if we rely on ourselves to

do the changing.

Here's the overall point i'm getting at; We will be tempted,

but it's what we do in times of temptation that matter.

If you think that you can stay strong, if you think that you

can ever change you, then you are going to end up in a never

ending cycle of failing yourself. The only way you will ever change

is through Jesus Christ, giving up and surrendering to Him

is the only way change can come. Are all things possible with God?

Then look to Him not yourself! the only thing possible with you is

FAILURE

Be thankful that God doesn't give up on you, that you are

indeed forgiven and through HIM you can be remade new.

If we love God, then we must surrender to Him, we must

repent and ask Him to bring the change we can't bring ourselves..

the more you try to save you with your own power the more

you will fail.

This doesn't mean a life of surrendering to our sinfulness,

This is about living like we truly love God and surrendering

to Him to save us from ourselves, it's the only way we can be saved.

Don't say "Oh well, this is who I am…I'm a sinner..I cant change

who I am" that's actually true, but that should drive

you to Christ not into stagnation.

I write this to all those who read, but not just to you, but to myself…

for I know I am no better and need to place all hope for change

in Christ not myself, and I need this change of living a life of sin

to living a life of Holiness. I need to surrender who I am, surrender

this body and let the Holy spirit guide and work through me…

there is no other way.

I pray God would work in you, reveal Himself and renew you..

that when temptations come whatever it may be that you

would run from temptations to Christ and rest in His Holiness.

That He wold bring the change that needs to come,

Ezekiel 36:27 says:

"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

This is what I ask for, and this is what God can and WILL do!

take our lusts our pride our selfishness our hard hearts and

change them to do YOUR will oh God! too walk in your statutes..

to love you as we claim we do! We don't need to defend

ourselves or attack others back who physically or verbally assault

us, you will vindicate us LORD, our strength lies not in our flesh

but in you God!

1 Peter 2:19-21 says;

"For this [is] commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

For what credit [is it] if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this [is] commendable before God.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

Amen..

Come Home

2011-06-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

"Come to Me, all [you] who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

"For My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

A couple days ago I was switching between radio stations. For the record, I normally don't listen to much radio, usually I just

have music being played through my Ipod. Fact is I don't

really like any of the radio stations in the Spokane Wa. area..

which is pretty much standard local radio, you got your Christian

stations, most popular probably being Air 1 and your mainstream

pop/rock stations, what you would find in any state really..

If I happen to be in the car listening to the radio I do a lot

of switching between stations. Air 1 is barely tolerable for me

as I am not a fan of most Contemporary Christian Music, once

in awhile they'll play something I actually like more often then not

though it seems to be a repetitive stream over and over again of

the same songs. Same thing can be said for the local Rock station

here Rock 94 1/2. Anyways I figured I'd check out Rock 94 1/2

and listen to some new mainstream rock..maybe I wanted to

annoy myself I don't know, the point is I was listening and this

song came on and it sounded pretty good, lyrically it sounded

like the style and flow of something I would write,

that is when I was writing a lot of poetry/lyrics.

The vocals sounded somewhat familiar to me but I couldn't

figure out who it was.

Then the chorus started and I sat there perplexed at what was

being said. Well not really perplexed per-say, the whole

chorus very much reminded me of who I use to be, how I use

to think and had in every aspect the same type of mood and feel

of what I would cling to when I was blind.

Don't get it TwiSted, i'm not crapping on the band…

or going into a tirade on how messed up I think they are.

This is about how I take the lyrics, and looking at them through

a Christ-like perspective.

I'm sure you are wondering what song I'm talking about,

it's called "Fix Me" by 10 Years, a band I am familiar with as

I had their first album. Just to be clear, 10 years doesn't

claim to be Christian, to my knowledge nobody in the band does..

personally I didn't even know they were still around, and really

I shouldn't be surprised by the lyrics as it's coming from

a secular band and the meaning of the song I would be supporting

today if God didn't change my unrepentant heart.

It's taken a lifetime to lose my way

A lifetime of yesterdays

All the wasted time on my hands turns to sand

And fades in the wind

Crossing lines, small crimes

Taking back what is mine

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

So lost for so long to find to my way

I failed to follow, I'm out of place

Crossing lines, small crimes

Taking back what is mine

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

I would assume that screams to you what it did me. The chorus is very humanistic centered..very self imposing...a very anti God message. A I'm going to do things my way even if it's destructive and don't care attitude. Really it's the view of the worldly person who complains about there life being crappy or how bad the world is but at the same time screams I don't need fixing.

I'm fine in the fire

I feed on the friction

I'm right where I should be

Don't try and fix me

Simply says

"I'm fine with self-destruction, I'm fine with burning"

"I feed on the sin you hate, it pushes and motivates me and I enjoy it"

"I'm right where I should be, and thats away from you"

"Don't try to fix me I don't need fixing...I love who I am and everything I am is against you"

I don't think it takes a rocket scientists to see that a person who claims they don't need fixing is unrepentant and delusional.

Kinda hard to find God when you think you are God.

I found the song interesting, and it really motivated me to write after listening to it, so I pretty much wrote lyrics in reply to it. It's called "Come Home"

Its been years since you've been sober,

Just want life to be over.

every desire under the sun

brings you back where you started from

can't see the lies

in your excuses

redefine all your reasons

BLIND

in your selfish state of mind.

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Repent from your freedoms

These chains can no longer hold you

Your demons will only devour

If you don't surrender this hour

for Christ was pierced through

To fulfill what you can't do

but you...

can't see the lies

in your excuses

redefine all your reasons

BLIND

in your selfish state of mind.

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Your weakness is you,

worst enemies.. but still you continue,

feeding all your desires

until you find it doesn't fix..

now you sit eyes transfixed

looking within to find help again,

not realizing God came in the form of man

and only through Him can you ever find happiness.

You were meant for so much more

then you've settled for

and you...

can't see the lies

in your excuses

redefine all your reasons

BLIND

in your selfish state of mind.

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Don't sleep in your failures

Reluctant to see your forgiven

Salvation comes -and- you..

are free to come home

Patience in Faith

2011-05-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

"By your patience possess your souls."

Luke 21:19

By patience in your faith, by repentance…take heed,

let not your faith crumble do not worry or tarry

for the gift of salvation is yours.

Lay your burdens to rest, at ease with all things in life,

Our Father creator of the Universe is in control. Patience

brothers/sisters, onward Christian soldier in your walk

with our Lord and savior. Again patience…by faith you walk,

and by faith in the one true God you stand, do not let

the cares of YOUR life affect your walk, In this world

with it's distractions, it's easy to forget what is important,

it's easy to worry and stress and even become diluted

in self grandeur. This life of self is what our culture thrives on…

self-improvement

self-importance

self-Idolatry

Which is why there is so much

worry/stress

un-fulfilment

depression

suicide

A generation with immoral values because we don't live

accountable to anyone, and we live for our pleasure, our glory,

all for our satisfaction. We are our own man centered philosophy,

and we measure ourselves by our ideals NOT by the creator

of the universe, not by God who gave us life in the first place.

God didn't create you to get pleasure out of yourself, He created you to glorify Him, created you for His own pleasure and will..NOT yours.

Looking to SELF, no matter how much you want to, you'll never

find perfection or God, because simply put only God is perfection. There is only one GOD, and you can have an actual relationship with Him and one day be in His very presence because of Jesus Christ taking the wrath we deserve.

So why do we constantly look at OUR happiness? and OUR

pleasure and OUR will and NOT God's? I'm not even talking about the spiritually blind, I'm talking about those who claim

to know Christ, and yet have no patience in their walk…

have no patience in the faith and live exactly like the spiritually

blind world does..

self-improvement

self-importance

self-Idolatry

Where is God's glory? when is He magnified and glorified?

When is He put first when you are worrying

more about getting pleasure out of this world? When you are worrying about fulfilling the American dream rather then Gods plan for your life.

How is God put first when you care more about trivial

worldly blessing then you do HONORING Him.

When is God put first when you know more about Hollywood

gossip and a television show then you do His Word.

Even more true, How is He glorified by you just knowing

the word? Christ said "Follow"…He said "Do"…not

"Think about"…"just believe"

We all need to get our priorities straight, Honor God and give Him glory, surrender your will and stop worrying and stressing

over things, have patience and FAITH that God is in control.

Seek to glorify God NOT yourself, not for salvation because that

isn't earned it is and was given by the grace of God, and knowing this we surrender and give honor to Him seeking for His will to be done.

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence,

add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,

to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things are yours and abound, [you] will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

1 Peter 1:5-9

For your own Good

2011-05-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

One basket [had] very good figs, like the figs [that are] first ripe; and the other basket [had] very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."

Jeremiah 24:1-3

Putting Jeremiah 24 in historical perspective, This time in history King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has already come to Judah and he took as prisoners King Jeconiah(Jehoiachin) and his mother along with all the captains and mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all craftsmen and smiths. (2 Kings 24:13-16) Nebuchadnezzar left the poorest people in the land and then made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah King, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

So Judah at this time was wiped clean, Jeremiah was there amongst the poorest in the land, while all the men of valor and builders and craftsmen, all the strongest and most useful were taken into exile to Babylon. So in Jeremiah 24 the LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs, one basket has good figs and the other basket has bad figs…which Jeremiah can easily see, and then the LORD says..

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for [their own] good, into the land of the Chaldeans.

'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull [them] down, and I will plant them and not pluck [them] up.

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I [am] the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

Jeremiah 24:4-7

God is painting a picture for Jeremiah, He is using the example of the bad and good figs for a purpose. God says that those who were exiled into Babylon are the good figs, are you following this? Would it not seem more logical in OUR eyes that the good figs would be the ones who are still living in the land? Isn't it not more logical to think that the bad figs would be the one God let the Babylonians take away into their pagan land? But no, God says he sent them away for THEIR OWN GOOD, these same people who didn't listen to Jeremiah, these same people who said "God wouldn't let us be defeated" these same people who didn't realize how far they've fallen, God says He has sent them away for their own good. God even says that He will give them a heart for HIM!

THINK about this, here is the tribe of Judah living in the land God promised them, and they get taken away in chains to be slaves to a Babylonian Pagan empire(Daniel being one of these slaves) and God allowed it to happen for their own good. You see, this is a perfect example, just one of the perfect examples in the bible that we give God glory in GOOD and BAD. Things happen sometimes that we can't explain or understand.

God allowed it for a reason, trials and pains they come and go, the important thing is we continue giving God glory in good and bad, especially when it seems like everything is going wrong I.e not the way we think it should be going. God used the exile of Israel, the prisoners in Babylon and said He would bring them back, He would build them up and He would give them a heart for Him.

The exile wasn't something they wanted and it was hell to go through, and living in a foreign pagan land doesn't sound like a Blessing to me, but in the end it was, because through it.. God saved them, through it and by the grace of God their hearts were opened up. God made them realize how far off the path they were.

God is absolutely in control, and he deserves all honor and glory at all times. Nothing surprises Him, and in the end it's all apart of His plan.

I pray that all who are reading, and for myself that we would give God all glory, that no matter what we are going through, no matter how big our troubles look… realize that God is much bigger!

just honor Him..

just surrender..

Those who know my testimony know that I failed in this, I didn't give God glory, I didn't have faith or even ask why? I went straight to cursing God when I was going through a transplant. I now know everything happens for a reason, and although it wasn't an ideal situation and their were and are obvious struggles, I know now that I wouldn't want to change a thing, that it took this situation for Him to open my eyes. What I thought was a bad situation at the time, I know now it was for my own good, so God could give me a heart to know Him.

Seek God in struggles and tribulations because they will come,

and hope can only be found in God, we are confident in our Faith.

Confident that God will give us peace, Confident in the fact that our health and well being ,

riches and fame are all meaningless without a surrendering selfless life in Christ.

Humble...young man...Humble

2011-04-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly,

not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4

I want you to read that….wait, actually before you read any more, before you read any blog post of mine(Brothers/Sisters in Christ), I want you to pray to Almighty God, pray that He reveals Himself through what you are reading, Pray that He reveals whatever scripture I am quoting, gives you complete understanding and knowledge in that scripture.

Look at what Peter is saying "Shepherd the flock not by Compulsion..but willingly" I.e not by force, not by your irrational motives. "Not for dishonest gain..but eagerly; Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you."

What does he mean by "lords?" what does that even mean? It means a person who has authority over others. I.E don't shepherd people like you are the authority. You must always point people to God and what He says,

without puffing yourself up in the process.

Yeah, you can just read over all that is being said in 1 Peter 1-5 and be like "yeah ok", and maybe even say "yeah this is for clergy men or preachers" but no!

this is for everyone.

A lot of people like to puff themselves up, they like to think because they know this scripture or that scripture or because they can quote this or that, that they're better then a brother or sister in Christ, or better then a non-believer in general. Yet we must remember, we are not to put ourselves or our knowledge on pedestals, who gave us said knowledge? God, that is who we glorify..NEVER ourselves. To put what Peter is saying in even more simplistic terms; Yes indeed, some of us may have more knowledge of the word. Some of us may have a closer walk with Christ, but it is not US that we are to glorify for that.

We also don't lord our knowledge over others like we are to be praised for it, we share what we have learned and give all glory to God. For nothing that I have or you have is worth boasting about, for it all comes from God almighty. We share what God has revealed through His word and our lives with each other, not to praise ourselves but to praise God, not to gain knowledge of ourselves but to gain knowledge of God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For who makes you differ [from another]? And what do you have that you did not receive?

Now if you did indeed receive [it],

why do you boast as if you had not received [it]?

1 Corinthians 4:7

Why do you boast of which you didn't achieve?

It's not about "look at what i've done.." "Look at what knowledge I have" it's ALL about look at what Christ has done, look at what God has given.

It would be like if I got injured in a basketball game, and then the person who came into the game for me.. hit the game winning shot, and then I ran around boasting about how awesome I am.

putting yourself on a pedestal and lording your knowledge of God on others isn't how you shepherd, the knowledge you've gained by Gods grace and through the Holy spirit isn't for the purpose of YOUR GLORY! It IS NOT for you to hold in and puff yourself up with, and to show how great you are and knowledgeable….NO

It's for Gods GLORY! you humble yourself and you share what knowledge you've gained with others so that they may also boast in GOD and what He has done for them.

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to [your] elders. Yes, all of [you] be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.

Surely He scorns the scornful,

But gives grace to the humble.-(Proverbs 3:34)

Therefore humble yourselves

under the mighty hand of God,

that He may exalt you in due time,

casting all your care upon Him,

for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:5-8

Interesting is it not? Do you not see what Peter is saying?

do you not see how much he is warning?

Look how he says to humble yourselves to be submissive to one another, he is talking about young people to respect older…yes, but ALL to be submissive to each other. Again not to lord knowledge over each other, not to put yourselves above each other but to be clothed inhumility.

Can we safely say we are this way? I know I can't say I have been in every situation. Notice how Peter warns of humbleness,submissiveness and then as it would seem brings the Devil up out of nowhere? But he brought him up for a reason didn't he, it's because satan is the ultimate form of prideful, the classic example, the king of pridehimself. So Peter warns us if we don't humble ourselves before God, if we start to get on the path of self righteousness and lording our knowledge over others, and boasting in ourselves we are being children of the devil in danger of being overwhelmed and devoured by him.

Pride [goes] before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

"A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him."

Jonathan Edwards

100% Silver

2011-04-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

I scream and shout

don't do that man

it doesn't glorify God,

and I scream and shout

FATHER FORGIVE ME

I am not living up to the image you created me to be

...I read your word today…

don't know how I do without

...I read your word today…

it tore me inside out

The line is right there in front of me

straight and narrow to eternity

but here I am, like a drunk man,

stumbling and falling... not able to stand.

I put your name to shame

as I fall out of place

SCREAMING come save me LORD

because I'm unrighteous to the core…

...I read your word today…

don't know how I do without

...I read your word today…

it tore me inside out

Is this it? you saved this?

for what purpose?

I can't promise I won't disappoint you!

every breath I take is undeserving

just calling on your name

LORD I AM NOT WORTHY

I'm evil…spiteful, wicked and undesirable

LORD JESUS you LOVE ME? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?!

My works are like filthy rags

SO WHAT DO I HAVE TO OFFER?!

I'm nothing…i'm nobody

my words mean nothing, promises of being Holy for you

are like little pieces of paper that disintegrate in your Holy waters.

LORD WHAT DO I HAVE TO OFFER?

Your 100% pure silver

I'm like a rusted tin can of dirt..

Yet you say you'll take this worthless material

and make it new, make it 100% pure like you

LORD WHAT DO I HAVE TO OFFER?!

The answer is NOTHING

yet you refine this unclean soul

through the wrath I deserved….

took my wickedness and faced the punishment

Now I offer this life of servitude

dying daily to the flesh you've subdued