Justifying the Path of Error

Proverbs 14: 5 An honest witness will never lie, but a deceitful witness lies with every breath. 6 The intellectually arrogant seek for wisdom, bu they never seem to discover what they claim they are looking for. For revelation-knowledge flows to the one who hungers for understanding. 7 The words of the wise are like weapons of knowledge. If you need wise counsel stay away from the fool. For the wisdom of the wise will keep life on the right track, while the fool only deceives himself and refuses to face reality. 9 Fools mock the need for repentance while the favor of God rests upon all his lovers. 10 Don't expect anyone else to full understand both the bitterness and the joys of all you experience  in your life. 11 The household of the wicked is soon torn apart, while the family of the righteous flourishes. 12 You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you will find out in the end that you took the road to destruction. The Passion Translation

When Cain slew Abel, he saw his way as the right path. Yet we are told only one was working righteously and the other was not.

Genesis 4: 6-8 NKJV So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  7 “if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.  8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, when they were in the filed, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him." 

Sin lies at the door: the language personifies that sin is a demon crouching! In the New Spirit Filled Life Bible it regards it or gives the description of a "crazed animal" at Cain's doorstep. Cain was out for revenge but had made no point of repentance. For the rest of his life ( which probably lasted several hundred years ) Cain would have to wander about as a marked man and he cried out to the Lord that his punishment ( not his guilt ) was more that the could bear. (Genesis 4:9-13) a huge difference between sin-sorrow and guilt-sorrow.

Cain in this manner had no Sin-sorrow in his heart attitude for in that sin-sorrow will produce reformation, an eagerness to provide restitution, as necessary, and a determination to glorify God in every aspect of life.   Cain did not have a change of heart resulting in complete agreement with God over this serious matter.  

Genesis 4:9 Then the LORD said  to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know, "Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.' 13 And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!" 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face, I shall be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.

From history we are told Cain's relative Lamech was even more depraved than him. He killed a young man for merely hurting him. ( Genesis 4:23-24) Cain chose to plant seeds, but Abel raised the sheep. Abel had the sacrifice that God required and Cain did not. Heard recently of a teaching about where Abel was killed. It was a sacrifice to the gods Cain worshiped. And it was an opening in the ground Jesus addressed when He came to earth. He went to the grottoes where other gods had been worshiped, like Pan. I am still working on this teaching indeed and learning all scriptures from Old Testament.

But one thing is certain God requires our attention to what He desires in worship. And if our neighbor is bothering us....maybe we should pay attention to the right path of which God provides.

Proverbs 13: 19 When God fulfills your longings, sweetness fills your soul. But the wicked refuse to turn from darkness to see their desires come to pass!  20 If you want to grow in wisdom, spend time with the wise. Walk with the wicked and you will eventually become just like them. 21 Calamity chases the sin-chaser, but prosperity pursues the God-lover.

Is that not going on today where you live? Are not those looking for wicked ways aligning with calamity where sin-chasers work? But prosperity will be seen in righteous home. Amen!

                                              Teaching at: Voice of Prayer 

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Deceit and Deception

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As Far as You can Go

 

I desire to know the places where I went as far as I could in the Lord and when He directed my path in another direction. We can see it with Philip and with the apostle Paul.

In Acts 8:5 Philip went to Samaria as evangelist. He preached: Acts 8:6, and in Acts 8:26 Philip heard the angel of the Lord:”go south to desert and he would meet a man. And he did: a eunuch under Candace queen of the Ethiopians. Acts 8:39 that after Philip ministered to the eunuch, Philip was translated away. He would be found in Acts 8:40 reaching Azotus then coming to Caesarea.

 

He was one of those who were "scattered abroad" by the persecution that arose on the death of Stephen. Going first to Samaria, he labored as an evangelist. He had much success found recorded in Acts 8:5-13. While he was living and working in the area, he received a divine command to proceed toward the south, along the road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. These towns were connected by two roads. The one Philip was directed to take was that which led through Hebron. Traveling through a district little inhabited, only known by the locals, and hence called "desert." Holy Spirit told Philip :”Go near and overtake this chariot”. Acts 8:29

So traveling in this “desert” area, Philip was met by a chariot in which sat a man of Ethiopia, the eunuch or chief officer of Queen Candace. He was at that moment reading a portion of the prophecies found in the Septuagint.  It is Philip who entered into conversation with him, and expounded these verses, preaching to him the glad tidings of the Savior. (Acts 8:30 “Do you understand what you are reading?”)

The eunuch heard the message of the Gospel, believed and was baptized in a short amount of time. The eunuch went his way when Philip was carried away by the Holy Spirit when the eunuch had been baptized in water!

 He was next found at Azotus, whence he went forth in his evangelistic work till he came to Caesarea. Not mentioned again for about twenty years, Philip was still found at Caesarea (Acts 21:8) when Paul and his companions were on the way to Jerusalem. Disappearing  from the page of history, the last know was of him residing in Caesarea..

 

Saul became Paul when he followed Jesus. Thrown from a horse in Acts 9, Saul hears Jesus speak to him. He calls Him Lord! Traveling by foot into the city of Damascus, a hard blow to one who had been breathing hardship and violence to those who believed in Jesus, the Way, Saul was led as the blind man all the way! Paul stayed in that condition until a godly man came to lay hands on him. The scales came off and Saul could see and knew where he would go. He would be led by the Holy Spirit. 

Paul’s message included the fact that conversion for any person is that from darkness to light revealing that from the power of Satan to God, always involves forgiveness from sins, and leads to sanctification found in Acts 26:18. The plan of God was that people must “repent and turn to God” and to prove their repentance by their deeds seen in Acts 26:20. It is also the message that is in line with the prophets and of Moses in Acts 26:22. The unrelenting point: the crux or the objective truth that Christ suffered and rose from the dead spoken of in Acts 26:23!

Paul desired to reach the Jews, but God sent him to the Gentiles and he finally reached that obedience in Acts 11. But what certainly proved to be a God thing is when Paul had heard this call from Macedonia. Found in Acts 16:6-10 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come  over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately, we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Holy Spirit was leading them westward not eastward.  The Gospel would be preached and spread all over Europe entering Italy and Spain, ever westward to the North American and South American continents. Meeting destiny, Paul would lead and others would continue to move to other lands giving the word of God, so that any one woman, man or child of any other continent reaching the Americas would hear the word of God. No matter if they came as the free or those who worked as in slavery to pay their way to the new world, every man, woman or child, any color or ethnicity would encounter God and the word of life. Whether they received it or not, is another story. But those who received it, embraced and lived it reached others for the kingdom of God, whose King is Jesus and whose life is peace and joy. Yes, many came to the new world: they came by the Mayflower, they came by Christopher Columbus and many by slave traffickers. But they would encounter truth when the godly would speak God's truth to them. The man or young woman, who traveled with no money but was giving pay being a slave to a boat owner or other, they came and they came expecting to find the Gospel.

Holy Spirit leads us! Or we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time with doing the wrong thing. But God, rich in mercy, longsuffering provides His plan to us if we are willing and obedient to it. Thankful today for those who left their own life to reach others for the kingdom of God. I am so thankful to My Father who loved me and you so much He gave us the best gift ever. He gave us life and He found us ever moving forward in the life that invades us with His good and leads all on to our victory. In Jesus, we are the found. Amen!

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Ever Ask God to Touch YOU

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Remember as a younger child, my sister and I were close in age. Not sure why we had such problems riding together in the backseat, but at some point, by mistake one of us would slightly touch the other. Yes, the battle then was on.
Well, she touched me,......YEAH, but you touched me too!' After about a minute, then my mother would say while never taking her eyes off the road, "I will touch you here in about a minute."
AH yes, silence would then rule from the whole entire car! MOM had put her foot down from the front seat. And no one was to touch another person. You could not even get close enough to do it accidentally on purpose.

I remember being at church, and someone asking God to touch them. "OH God, I really need  YOU to touch my finances. Yet I thought, " if you asked them if they tithed", you might get a puzzled look from them. Then you might have someone ask God to touch them in their body, but they have not spend much time seeking the HEALER!

Of course the passage I am thinking of right now is from Genesis. Genesis 32:22-32 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two females servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
Now crossing at Jabbok, meant he was crossing in emptiness. 

23 He took them, sent them over the brook and sent over what he  had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.


Now most certainly Jacob probably thought this to be Esau. But the Man was not hairy like Esau.
Let alone Jacob most likely turned to prayer to God.
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him.


When asking God to touch anything we might need help on, means God is coming to do it His WAY and not our way......you know like microwave the situation, zap in few seconds, and we are rich!  No truly God has His word for our lives and in it is the treasure of all heaven behind it.
Ego is foremost flaw that has to go from our lives.

Jacob had to meet Esau without any pretentious nature. So without ego, without that 'flash in the pan' thing, being sincere would have been the main focus of Jacob to take to his brother.  And within this meeting with Esau, Jacob would need God and not his own personality or character to garner some points with the betrayed brother.
This was given to us from Psalm 139:23-24. Verse 23: Search me, O God and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Jacob would have had some great anxieties when meeting with his brother. Would Esau come to kill him? He mentioned when Jacob had betrayed him for the blessing from his father Isaac, that Esau threatened to take him out. So Jacob would have some enormous amount of anxiety going on within his body and his thinking.
But he came with all he had and come to make peace with Esau. Still God showed up. Whatever Jacob had prayed God came. For within our passion must burn a passion for God and His way. His truth keeps us, and prevails when we learn to keep our mouth shut in anything negative against His way and His doing.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Sometimes, we worry over silly things. We become anxious about the mundane or even stupid. But God tells us to call aloud, To get His attention, we should cry, and also be willing to change our attitude to how God wants it done. He desires to come to show and shine His light in the dark places of our thinking and to reveal what needs to be removed from us.
In revealing "those mighty things" means God will reveal to that which has been inaccessible for us. In this God will answer and astound us in the most profound ways.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  It is always in the present tense. We are to always be asking, We are to always be seeking and when we knock we are to be serious about it. For if I truly mean to knock, then I mean I want the time to go over of what I am asking and the desire to receive it is always within that teaching

It is by His love we come to His family. By His love we are the "touched". In and by His love, we are empowered to love ourselves and our neighbors. Drawing near to the Father, helps us to trust. Drawing near in devotion is a matter of us choosing the right path to walk. In an intimate time with God and through that relationship we gain oh, so much more of Him. We gain more of His love, and live by it. In that warmth of life we turn from the empty and the mundane to live a life worthy of living. By entering in, the determined will see their personal goal unhindered and that is to seek Him in humility by staying out of the quick expected answers for the more revealed truths that we need to being established in Him and received that which was so inaccessible from the attitude of "I want it now"...when it is available because His Son died for us. In keeping that point so clear, we are reminded of His goodness, acknowledging worry is sin and that our trust is now in Him.
Touch us Father, and may we be reminded of the great price that was given for us to be called YOUR children. Amen!

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Way of Fruitfulness or What Am I Agreeing With

Psalm 1
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;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 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.

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

6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
NKJV

Fruitfulness is seen in the warm months like June, July and August around here! Even like the huckleberries being picked is a sign that summer is passing quickly now and fall is making its "grand" appearance with some rain and very cool mornings. Which is no surprise to us here in this area. But in truth, fruitfulness can occur anytime of the year. We can see in the markets and grocery stores, products that are grown in far-away countries in their warm months and those fruits or vegetables come to us in our winter months.
I like the garden aspect of seeing that blossom to appear and then some fruit or vegetable to come on that plant or the vine to grow and be harvested. We had a surprise this year when planting the few seeds for plants of yellow squash. We planted only yellow squash but we now have some zucchini squash growing as well!  One is of good size, was harvested over the weekend and the others are small.They need a couple more weeks on the vine!
Fruitfulness! We know it is what seed we plant that we believe to harvest. Yes, something is suppose to come up by what seed you have planted. Am thinking someone, somewhere put the wrong seed in the wrong packet! What happened to the quality control person?
I am sure we will find something to do with the zucchini, but I had no plans of having any in the beginning of starting this little garden in early spring.

We certainly kept watch on the pepper plants and counted the blooms, but alas, only one plant actually produced the peppers. The one, yes the tallest one, has been a failure in producing any peppers at all. It sure looks healthy and tall. It has it's vibrant green leaves but NO PEPPERS! Looking at it from a distance, you would think it would have peppers on every branch.


Are we producing any fruit? Well of course we are! But what kind are we producing? Are we producing that which leads to life or death? Is our fruit that which we planted and see it when we are harvesting? Whatever we sow in the ground regarding anything to our lives, will either look good and produce an abundance to a good thing or will be bad and produce in abundance to a bad thing!


In the kingdom of God, we find a blessed man, who is sowing seed. It looks like the "blessed" man is one who keeps his walk, not among the counsel of the ungodly, never stands in the path of sinners and never takes a seat among the scornful!

1 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;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 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.

In Matthew 8:8-12, we find that we are told to bear fruits worthy of repentance........

8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."    NKJV   

Bearing fruit....worthy of repentance.  Remember we have a pepper plant that will produce the flower but no fruit that even looks like the pepper. The godly man will look over how he walks, acts and conducts his life in accordance to the Word of God!

The counsel of the ungodly is......as we see them, we are not to facilitate anything the ungodly are doing or speaking. Do we see that today? It is God's Word that we should think on, act on and live by daily!

Luke 23:50-56
50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. 51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. 54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. 55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. NKJV

Others were consorting ( mixing ) together, to crucify Jesus, yet this man Joseph, a good and just man had not consented to their decision and deed.


When we stay out of the path of sinners, we will stay out of the "affected area of sin". I like that as I read it in one commentary. It would be pretty much like standing out on the roadway like I-5 during 5 pm traffic or going to someplace where they have the "plague" or "disease that kills in a few days".
I think of the days many years ago, and it was time for either basketball or baseball. You were either picked to join or forget it. Basketball I was not good at. But give me a bat, and that ball was going to sail way past the heads of those who thought they could catch it.
The thing is though with sin, that if you dance with it, participate with it, you may sound like the crowd who you thought you would avoid entirely. Clothes do not make us, nor does that "new do" and men are affected by that thing as women are. God looks on our heart and where does our heart lead us? Many will just follow "a crowd" so that they feel either loved or a part of something that had not done before, either good or bad.

Now that seat of the scornful is the man who is the secure in their wickedness.  They like doing wicked. They care not whether they gain blood of another.

Proverbs 4:14-19
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked 
or walk in the way of evil men. 
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way. 
16 For they cannot sleep till they do evil;
they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. 
17 They eat the bread of wickedness 
and drink the wine of violence. 

18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.  NIV

That scornful is one who will laugh at another in derision. The scorner is one who wants their way, and will scorn the one who wants more of the quiet, godly life. We have seen that too, today in our society. It seems the norm to laugh at another in an insulting way. But the truly godly will hold their steps in God. They will abide under the shelter of the Almighty God.
These three show us that the ungodly does not like the Word of God, resents those who do, and will seek out to change the godly to their agenda. And the sinner is the one who willfully sins against God and His commands. They are the ones who are willful to show their true colors either by drink, theft or even defile themselves in ways that causes them death in the end.

Proverbs 23:29-35
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights
and your mind imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying on top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt!
They beat me, but I don't feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?"     NIV

 From the Blog: BUTTING AND DISTURBING......What terrible problems that come when we desire or want that which we either should not have, or do not need. It is like becoming intoxicated with the thing "we so desire" to have or control, to have "my way", or add to our collection of things we think we need at the time! And being intoxicated with those desires, our want can cause us to start those quarrels that end nowhere, but in the place of many wounds JUST because "we want that thing."

In some respect, some will even go searching for those who will join in with them to agree for that "thing desired". And however good the appearance or thing may sound at the time of our desire, one will certainly know after some time has gone by, that it can come back to bite you in a big way! 
You can see that from some reports of the news of people wanting their thing done NOW! Certain peril will be evident like not making your payments on bills you owe, or putting yourself in danger to get something that may be wrong from the start for us like doing drugs or even stealing someone else's stuff! Some people just go and take from their neighbor and think it is okay. Well, it means stealing to most people of the civilized world. I heard the other day of a guy throwing ALL his mail away because it had bills in it he had to pay and he did not want to do it! He had charged so much and so much again, that he owed more than what he brought into his account each month. He wanted to have "fun" and do whatever he fancied and decided he would not pay any bills at all!

In closing: will we be fruitful to the things of God and stand for our country? Will we speak and give counsel that comes from God alone or the world? TODAY WE CHOOSE!

Father, in Psalm 1 the blessed man prospers. Fruitfulness is important to our daily living for we find Jesus talked about it in John 15. Our desire is that we abide in the true vine. Help us to see and know that abiding in You will help us bear much fruit (verse 5) Our desire is asking You to show us how to put this into practice every day for without YOU, we can do nothing. We also seek to glorify You in everything we speak and everything we do. We pray today to be found doing just that when You return to get us. We truly seek to keep to the path YOU have directed us to walk.
In and through Jesus we are reconciled back to You. We have salvation because of the love You had for us. Help us to realize that we are not to return to folly. Help us see the importance of binding in truth. As those plants, (Psalm 85: 11) to prosper, those that bear fruit, will be those that bear truth to glorify You and Who You are. Lord guide us into all truth . May we spring up everywhere we must be and bring truth to others. We desire to yes, look good, but that we would also bring forth fruit in its season that will not wither. That we would continue the way into righteousness, that which comes acting like YOU and speaking what YOU speak. We are thankful that righteousness will go before us.........and In YOUR righteousness, YOU shall make YOUR footsteps our pathway. (Psalm 85:13)
It is in Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen.

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QUESTIONING GOD'S WORD...Yikes!

What.....question what God has said?

Genesis 3:1-8...............3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. NKJV

CHALLENGING GOD'S AUTHORITY...

It is God's authority we see being challenged in Genesis and chapter 3. It was a challenge to Eve. And guess who asked the question? In the context, we find the question......"did God really say that?" (Genesis 3:1) and the second was.............."God did not mean what He said." Then the added.............."you will not die if you eat from the tree." (Genesis 3:5)

How are we holding up against the onslaught of the enemy? Do we hold fast to what God has given us as instruction or do we hold on to the tradition's of man? It can come in the bad report of sickness or even something that appears to cause death to the body. It can be in relationships with others, and in the form that families are torn apart by divorce or death. It can come in the form of someone  losing that job they need to pay bills or even in cuts in wages and in hours on the job. So what we do with said information determines our outcome! Eve took the apple to Adam and the problems mounted against them.


God gave a command and expected those to follow those rules for life.

We are told this word of God will judge us!

Psalm 96:13............13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He shall judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with His truth.  NKJV

judge: shaphat (shaw-fat') to judge.........pronounce a sentence against

OT: 8199.......execute as in judgment, reason, rule

shaphat (shaw-fat'); a primitive root; to judge, to pronounce a sentence ( either for or against); to vindicate/punish; by extension, to govern; passively

Psalm 9:8......8 He shall judge the world in righteousness,

And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.  NKJV

Psalm 72:1-4..........72:1....Give the king Your judgments, O God,

And Your righteousness to the king's Son. 

2 He will judge Your people with righteousness,

And Your poor with justice. 

3 The mountains will bring peace to the people,

And the little hills, by righteousness. 

4 He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor. NKJV

The Lord is coming and He is going to judge. And what does He judge? He judges our hearts!

Jesus came to break in pieces the oppressor.

1 Kings 3:5-9........... 6 And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" NKJV

Even King Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge.........to discern between good and evil!

Genesis 2:15-17........15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  NKJV

It was a plain command. "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die."

As we look to the Word and hear the report of the world, certainly we are witnesses to a time of strength and prosperity, but on the opposite side is the upheaval in violent exhibitions, oppression in the most severe hostile and threatening forces on another and injustice to one's right seems to be at an all time high rating.

From reading in the Old Testament, human nature in all respects as not changed. But today, with the great technology overtaking every avenue of invention from hundreds of years ago, the moral question comes to mind. We clearly see people inventing new ways to sin and take more people with them to sin! With all this great technology, we are seeing the continual rise of people being irresponsible in regards to other people, their safety and peace. It appears that humanism, that exalting man over God has risen. As we saw with Israel, that country arrived in a place of captivity.

No truly God has to remain first and only in our hearts!

We have to remain faithful to plant God's word deep into our hearts and keep the unwanted weeds out like those of poison to our lives. Are we wanting to trade our eternal life for a moment of pleasure, of partying instead of pursuing Him, and to have a conduct that is much like being holy toward God and His things? In regard to not touching something He tells us to leave alone, will we want to do like Eve and partake to our ruin?
God wants us to have fun, but not to the extent of losing our souls.

I think of the Word like that cleaning soap for stains. You put or spray a spot cleaner on the spot or area stained, and then work it through, but the wash is still coming for that garment. You have to clean it with regular detergent and rinse it. You have to dry it, but ultimately you will wear that garment again and have to wash it again. So too, we have to keep that Word going through us, not just a peek at the Word of God and go, but actually jump into that solution God has waiting to answer the dilemma or problem that might be on our pathway.  We can get that thing out by the Word of God!

When we choose to say no to God and yes to humanism, we move into bondage again. We can devalue the call of God and pervert His ways into some kind of favorable advantage.

We saw this in Jesus' time. John 8:31-47 tells of such a thing.  The Jews believed that their physical descent from Abraham gave them God's favor.

John 8:31-47.......31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. 

37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me,  and because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and  you do what you have seen with your father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 

 41 You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." NKJV

In this we find, Jesus telling them that they were of their father the devil. That they were not able to listen to His Word. Now, that is a bad  place to be in life. Following after the devil and his ways, operating and talking like the devil, will take you down the path Eve went down. No, it is not good to do that especially in this day and time of Jesus' soon return.

Acts 10:34-43.............34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all-- 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." 

NKJV

Yes, that is the JUDGE! Do you see Him? He who in verse 42.Who commanded....to preach to the people.........to testify......that is HE...who was ordained by God to be........JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.

Hebrews 6:4-8............4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. NKJV

In this we find that God accepts no excuse for failing to live His way. He provided the way to live it out day by day!

When we cultivate the Word of God into our hearts, we cultivate that life-giving force to move through and see that which is not of God. We have the heart that can discern good and evil.

Today, let's make the concerted effort to move forward to spend time, and meditate the Word that brings that life of God to us. As He has given us a way to escape the world through following His instructions, He delivers us to make a difference in someone else's life.

2 Corinthians 3:2-6............2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. NKJV

We can overcome humanism and anything else that sets itself up against God and His Word. Seeking God daily, growing and producing fruit to a godly way of life will be evident for all to see. Amen!

Father, in the name of Jesus, it is our desire to NOT wander out of Your presence, and pursue that which is of the world and the devil. We pray that our lives will glorify You the Father in our spirit, soul and body. Today we choose to pay no attention to evil done to us, it holds no place in our thought life. We do hear the voice of the good Shepherd and the voice of a stranger we will not follow according to John 10:5.... 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."NKJV

 We thank You that today our path is growing brighter and brighter till it reaches the full light of day. Father, we pray to be those who will follow Your leading and see the path becoming brighter each day! We ask for Your wisdom today, that wisdom that will keep, defend, and protect us. That wisdom we love and she guards us. We make request that we may be filled with the full knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things, that we may walk in a manner fully  pleasing You Lord, in all things and steadily growing and increasing in Your knowledge. Today we know Jesus has been made unto us wisdom. We listen and add to our learning; we discern and get guidance understanding Your will for every area of our lives. Amen.



You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV