Philippians 3:7-9 NKJV 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ , 9 and be found in Him not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Reality is Not in a Culture: It is in Christ Jesus. God will use His word to encourage our heart. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 32:8 Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. Psalm 37:37 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will He not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-14
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:27-29
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Culture dictates that of the flesh. Only God can fill our hearts with His wisdom and understanding!
WISDOM and Revelation…. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. (Eph 1:17) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Revelation knowledge penetrates right to the heart of man, it is the Word of God with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Even Satan can quote scriptures but it is the Holy Spirit that makes God’s Word relevant in Love to the receiver.
If we just operate based on wisdom, we become an old wineskin that cannot take in the new wine, the present Word of the Lord. Without revelation, we will merely maintain our ministries and not truly operate in Kingdom advancement. We must continuously come to God for fresh truth so that our youth is renewed like the eagle (Psalm 103:5). This heart posture will keep us willing to break out of the mold and jump off new cliffs into deeper waters that He can release through us.
Comparing that worldly culture to our culture that has developed the mentality in God:
1. Culture dictates that it is good to reward laziness: so they give them welfare checks
2. Culture dictates entitlement!
3. Our daughter was always told she could be educated, get a job and care for herself, she would not need a man to take care of her: She was given wisdom to know that work was important if she wanted to eat!
4. We always reminded her “mom and dad will not always be here” so she needed to see value in a job, in working and paying her fair share as in taxes.. ( Today we have government giving illegals money and incentives to cheat the nation. They get all kinds of free stuff!) This is the land of the free and home of the brave. It is not the land of “free stuff”!
5. Under their leadership a baby is nothing: no true value, so it is discarded in abortion or even worse allowed to live to be born and then flesh decides to kill or murder that newborn child!
6. Rejecting the needful discipline of a child, we today have seen the “orphan” come forward..Today, when a president is elected, the father figure shining forth, the “orphan” rejects the new President and clamors for the Grandma who will give them welfare for no work, give them their wants like abortion when a baby just does not fit their lifestyle
7. Today real time-honored values of fathers being attacked ( commercials) And what is worse that men add no real value at all. The family is being dissolved from having true leadership! Children are ruling their own lives and it is proving disastrous.
8. The time-honored work of the early ancestors to this country are joked about & not regarded like those who signed the Declaration of Independence…plantation owners, business men, from all walks of life who loved God …most lost everything, lost their lives, but never left God. Will we leave God???
9. Today the appearance within society is that you get what you want by doing the wrong thing to get it……..and sometimes they are not prosecuted for doing wrong. A woman was to be executed in Tennessee and she got two doses of cocktail in needle form but she survived them. She did horrific things to the young lady she sought to do away with.
10. Cheering those who break the rules or are playing badly on the golf course: We saw today where people were cheering just for the sake of cheering. The golfer did good, a loud cheer….The golfer did poorly and an even greater cheer goes up. They cheer the lazy people and judge those who actually work for a living to eat. How is it , that there are so many going without food today? Every month is “feed me” time! Every month you hear of starving children. Their parents seem well-fed. So how is the kid starving? It was during the summer months they would plaster the screen with children starving while on vacation. Then it was during the time of Christmas vacation, children would go hungry and oh yes, they did some gift’s thing at that time too! Now in this year of 21st century it is every month for “feed me please”. ( I know what the prices are on doing specific hairstyles and anything taking 8-10 hours a day and costs over $200 is a lot that could be spent on food and not a hairstyle. Maybe I am of the generation who watched their financial use.)
Do not get me wrong, we look out for those who have worked all their lives and might need a meal today or tomorrow. We certainly know who they are and we choose not to be like the rich man who chose to keep his food near his mouth. It was when the beggar had asked and got nothing that the rich man died and his tongue burned within his mouth. He chose to burn in hell than give to the beggar. Yet today, we see beggars on every corner and on every block before those corner turns we see NOW HIRING on the windows of several businesses. YOU must speak English in an English speaking nation. You must obey the rules of that land that is within God. And if it is not of God, then it is lawlessness! One instance is driving 90 miles an hour when the speed limit is 60 mph.
It is within the context of one actively engaging the world and its culture that God promises: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (29:11). And this concept of not shying from the world is a consistent theme throughout the Word of God. After all, didn't the psalmist say that it is in the presence of our "enemies" that God would anoint, elevate and prosper us (Ps. 23:5)?
Several different groups want to choose your lifestyle. They say they are united in the democratic way but we live in a republic. Like the promise in Jeremiah 29 :11 it is a promise for the people of God who are living in this present world. Our greatest value to God is right here on this earth, not when we get to heaven. In fact, when you think about it, heaven is just a temporary holding place for us before we get back to rule and reign with Christ when He returns in glory and power.
All throughout the Scripture, the likes of Joseph, Daniel and Esther had adopted a non-antagonistic stance toward the world. That was because they understood the basic principle that relationship precedes ministry. In their interface with the world, the central issue is one on trust. That is still true today: Do non-Christians in the world trust you enough for you to speak into their lives?
THE THREE "WORLDS"….. It was the Dr. Bernard who introduced the three Greek words for "world." The first can be found in Matthew 13:22 where Jesus talks about "the cares of this world (aion)." Aion refers to a period of time, or a generation, in human history.
The second can be found in Matthew 24:14 where Jesus says, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world (oikuomene) as a witness to all the nations." Oikuomene means land, territories and geographical nations.
The third Greek word that is translated into English as "world" can be found in Mark 16:15 where Jesus says, "Go into all the world (kosmos) and preach the gospel to every creature." This use of kosmos by Christ is very interesting for it means to penetrate every social order, arrangement or culture—the way human society is organized.
Many sociologists and anthropologists In their study of human culture and human development have agreed that every society is made up of seven pillars: (1) religion, (2) family, (3) business, (4) education, (5) government, (6) arts, and (7) media. The latter five of business, education, government, arts and media make up what is called the "marketplace." And the Great Commission that Jesus Christ gave is not only for us to preach in every geographical nation, but to engage the social order within that territory, especially that of the marketplace. To do that, the Church has to be relevant and contemporary to the cultural context God has planted it in.
Our nation today seems to be appearing as those leaders in the Old Testament like Balaam and his donkey, the group Korah and the way of Cain. Balaam was consecrated to personal gain and eternal perdition of what we see in Numbers 22. 4. Korah:led rebellion against Moses and Aaron/supernaturally destroyed: Numbers 16:1-35; Dathan: joined Korah; swallowed by earth seen in Psalm 106:17/Abiram conspired against Moses Numbers 16:1-50
In the marketplace today are young children. Today's culture is doing everything opposite of God even though many leaders swear they are Christian.
Jude 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Cain was building a monument to himself, Balaam had greed of money and popularity and Korah led a rebellion against the leadership God put in place through Moses ( the politician) and Aaron (the worship leader).
Balaam could not curse Israel. Though paid well by others he could not, yet chose the money, the pay and favor of the moment. His donkey would not go forward when he chose the wrong way. The animal could see in the spirit the angel of death coming toward them.
We have people of this nation choosing to do that wrong thing. We have people choosing a fake nation to speak safety over like Palestine which is not reality. And of those in the government choose a different leader. They are never happy and choose their way to complain about each day they live. Those in the day of Moses did not like Moses nor Aaron and wanted their “own way”. But God opened a big hole to swallow them in.
A quote from Billy Graham was this: Happiness depends on worldly circumstances and joy depends on God. In Him we find that true joy to find the way through a world of chaos, disasters and plagues.
Are we just wandering to find a certain crowd that we can catch up to go along with them, so that we might go astray…to fulfill an agenda? Are we going along with the crowd that will build something but be devoid of God’s presence? Balaam tried to build something but did not have the blessings of God. Surely it was a darkened heart that set things in motion to do his own thing and God was not pleased by it! When God gets the glory, it is glory to Him in the highest who sent us way out of sin!
John 10: 17-18 NKJV “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” Jesus was put outside the city as “ rubbish”. Yet He was resurrected to life everlasting. They wanted to put Him away. They chose their ways over the kingdom of God. He lamented over them when He prayed over Jerusalem. He saw what would come to them in their refusal of His way to the Father. They thought they were the way to the Father that proved very wrong.
May we have the same relationship as Jesus did with the Father. Let’s remember the exceeding riches of His grace that is our inheritance living in Christ belonging to God the Father Who cared for us long before we even thought of Him.
Jesus did not come to accommodate our culture. He came with the Kingdom of God, to be a part of His family where light is always shining and darkness cannot be found!
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