Feeding on Foolishness

 

FOOLS MUST BE DEALT WITH DIFFERENTLY THAN THOSE WHO ARE WISE. We cannot deal with all men in the same way. Our response to people must be based on the kind of character they have demonstrated.

 Reading through the book of Proverbs last week, and this stood out in our reading: Proverbs 21:6-7  NKJV 6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. 7 The violence of the wicked will destroy them. because they refuse to do justice.

In reading the meaning a stumble toward death and the "destroy" means to drag them away. They move toward death quickly.

Matthew 16:1-4 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that he would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ‘Hypocrites!’ You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and departed.

1.         From verse 4: Jesus’ description of Israel’s religious leaders is reminiscent of Deut. 32:5 where Moses rebuked Israel for rejecting Yahweh.

2.         Deuteronomy 32:5-6 NKJV They have corrupted themselves; they are not His children, because of their blemish: a perverse and crooked generation. 6 Do you thus deal(repay the )with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?

3.         The relationship with the LORD is ruined when His children no longer act like His children.

4.         They had become a grotesque mockery of what God created them to be

Ever wonder where some of these teens arrested today were raised? Some speaking as a parent say they are the sweet child who harms no one. Yet they destroy store windows, steal produce from the store and take off running when police arrive. Interesting! Who in their right mind would take a knife to a track event in the spring time? Who decides to run down people on a roadway and call it accidental  done?  But what if these teens are just like their parents. What if they act the same manner and ready to use a weapon just because they are mad about something? Another thought here: young adults carrying signs saying ideas are not illegal? No they are no illegal, but not done in God will bring disaster. They bring consequences like a knife at a Track Meet!

Matthew 12: 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

A spiritual adulterous exhibition was presented by the scribe’s and Pharisees because of their rejection of Jesus

1.         Jonah’s experience in the depths of death would be Jesus experience as well

2.         Three days and three nights: Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly. 2 And he said: “I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice. 3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet YOU have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.

3.         Away from God’s presence…a life threatening situation

4.         Going into the belly of Sheol, the inner part of the earth, the grave

5.         From verse 6 the moorings or the bars of Sheol the land of the dead beneath the great deep; from the pits refers to Sheol

One thing for certain, fools are liars!  They may say the jury is all white when there is only what 4? And the rest are Hispanic and Asian. (total of 12) Liars are known when they can count the crowd for themselves and then tell the journalist there is only white folks on the jury. Lying is sin and is dangerous.

Steve Hill was founder of Heartland World Ministries Church in Dallas. He was widely known for preaching the uncompromising message of Christ throughout the world. He wrote this before his passing into heaven.   He wrote:     The challenging of God’s authority goes back to the Garden of Eden, starting with the serpent’s challenge to Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). This satanic challenge was twofold: First, did God really say that? And second, God didn’t really mean what He said. After all, you won’t die if you eat from the tree (vv. 1-5).

That twofold challenge continues to assault us today. Best-selling authors tell us the biblical text isn’t reliable, that the biblical manuscripts we have in our possession are hopelessly contradictory, and that we can know little or nothing about the real, historical Jesus. Other authors tell us that the Bible is no more than a collection of religious traditions and that God Himself is nothing more than a religious myth.

For the most part, though, the challenge to the authority of the Scriptures is subtler, and some of it flows out of the deification of man, which says, “The Bible must live up to my standards. I will judge the God of the Bible based on my morality rather than the God of the Bible judging me based on His morality.” In short, when the Scriptures contradict our feelings and preferences rather than crucify our feelings and preferences and bow down before God and His Word, we question God’s Word.

Steve Hill had written this as well:   Universal reconciliation promotes a get-out-of-jail-free mentality—that in the end, everyone will make it into heaven because of Jesus’ death on the cross. (In contrast, universalism teaches that all paths lead to God.) There may be future suffering, but it will be purging rather than punishment, and ultimately everyone will be saved.

Proponents of universal reconciliation point to verses that teach that God reconciled “all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). And they point out that just as in Adam all die, in Jesus all will live (Rom. 5:12-21).

What would you say if someone attempted to persuade you that Adolf Hitler was in heaven? “Abomination!” you would scream. “You’re deranged!” Yet that’s a sample of the fundamental false teaching of this layer of “avalanche snow.” Added to other layers mentioned previously, we will find the believer’s foundation deteriorated, and when the storms come in damaging ways, life is extinguished.

Are we feeding on foolishness?  Do we really recognize a false teaching that is a strong wind of error? If we think a color of a person makes it right to kill is totally wrong! Character is what counts when standing with God. This is what Martin Luther King extended in his speech before his death. He wanted his children to be known by the content of their character and not the color of their skin!  If we are in that place, darkness is coming down quickly!

A. W. Tozer wrote, "So skilled is error at imitating truth, that the two are constantly being mistaken for each another. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which is Abel." The apostle Paul also speaks to the outwardly pleasing behavior of apostates and their teaching when he says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). In other words, do not look for apostates to appear bad on the outside or speak dramatic words of heresy at the outset of their teaching. Rather than denying truth outright, apostates will twist it to fit their own agenda, but as pastor R. C. Lensky has noted, “The worst forms of wickedness consist in perversions of the truth.”

Peter says, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). Another aspect of true believers is that they have been delivered out of spiritual darkness into light (Ephesians 5:8) and therefore will not deny core truths of Scripture like Arius did with the divinity of Jesus.

Ultimately, the sign of an apostate is that he eventually falls away and departs from the truth of God’s Word and His righteousness. The apostle John signifies this is a mark of a false believer: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19).

Ideas Have Consequences

That God takes apostasy and false teaching seriously is evidenced by the fact that every New Testament book except Philemon contains warnings about false teaching. Why is this?

1.         Simply because ideas have consequences.

2.         Right thinking and its fruit produces goodness, whereas wrong thinking and its accompanying action results in undesired penalties. As an example, the Cambodian killing fields in the 1970s were the product of the nihilistic worldview of Jean Paul Sartre and his teaching. The Khmer Rouge’s leader Pol Pot lived out Sartre’s philosophy toward the people in a clear and frightening way, which was articulated in this manner: “To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss.” ( are we not seeing baseball players of the majors wearing uniforms and caps to celebrate the LGBTQ folks. God only made male and female)

3.         It should be remembered that satan did not come to the first couple in the Garden with an external armament or supernatural weapon; instead, he came to them with an idea. And it was that idea that condemned them and the rest of humankind, with the only remedy being the sacrificial death of God’s Son!

The authority the Master gave you and me  is for putting people together, not taking them apart. We want to get on with it and not have to spend time on reprimands.  And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.  Amen!

 

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Marveling at Abomination ?!?

Voice of Prayer

Revelation 17: 1-18 NKJV   Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” 30 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

Revelation 17:7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her. Which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the worlds, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue for a short time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth; and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. 12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 these will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with are called, chosen and faithful.”

Revelation 17: 15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate, and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

 

From verse seven of Revelation 17, the angel asks John why he marveled….why he had admiration for that which was of the devil! Then the angel goes on to give detail of what he saw: “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her. Which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the worlds, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

He goes on to say, that those on the earth will marvel at what they see going on. You have seven heads or seven what would be called kingdoms and of these there exists ten horns. That seen as mega companies that with one mind can rule the world and really not have a kingdom at all. And John marveled at what he saw! These mega kings will yield their power and authority unanimously to the beast which could be Rome. ( the papal)

Seven kings began this endeavor but five have fallen. So he who takes this corporate mountain forward is he who has only a short time. We know that is Satan who has but a short time on earth. It will come down to a “great fight”. But Jesus has this victory! Making war with the Lamb is the wrong thing to do. And yet we see even today many making war with Him, and if they are making war with Him they are against you too! But we are the Lord’s lords and the King’s kings and called chosen and faithful.

The woman is destroyed by the very beast, the forces of Anti-christ upon whom she rode into influence and power. We see unusual things occurring today of what is social cult and how one group desires to shut another down.

But God is using that which the enemy employs against us, against those who try to kill His own. Scripture tell us this: Proverbs 26:27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. Proverbs 28:10 Whoever cause the upright to go astray in an evil way, he himself will fall into his own pit.

 

Revelation 17: 15 then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate, and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

The harlot is destroyed, the papal ruling with influence and power. The corporate king will rule the fleshly earth for a short time. God causes the kingdoms to unite with Babylon the harlot church. This certainly has to do with commercialism in the world. And that which is established as the world market will be in play at this time. Certainly we have seen how it is trending today! But those drunk with power will fall indeed. God will have His way. And if you remember that which we have covered about in Revelation 18, there is a funeral song, celebrating the fall of Babylon, the harlot church which is commercialism at its highest degree of power!

 Yes, one of the seven angels had invited John to witness  the judgment of the great harlot. The religious part is only apostasy at its worst part sinning against God! Sitting on many waters, this agent of evil will sit on many controlling areas of the Gentile world. It is comprised of the most eligible men and women for compromise and intrigue. The world will be drunk in her own wine, that fornication with great evil influence and staggering wretchedness.

In the early part of education for this nation, America was un-apologetically as to incorporating the Bible, prayer to the God of the Bible, and biblical values in every aspect of school life. I know for when I began the first grade back in the twentieth century, my first reader was a McGuffey Reader and it was written with some scripture was added from the Bible. And the young readers prospered in their reading habits. So when they graduated from high school they could read and understand. But today it is rare to find a young person who can read or do math. But in that of God, this system produced a people that produced the most powerful and prosperous nation the earth has ever seen.

Now in this hour, the children of our nation are inundated with liberal ideologies, and those atheistic teachings. Principles in our public schools today and in most universities (including many Christian institutions) are being indoctrinated with often false, biased and anti-biblical information. It is Biblical truth and Bible-centric values that is the key to renewal and restoration in America’s failing educational system. Yeah, they teach the big bang theory! Take a look at the aftermath of the Grand Canyon. There was a great flood that caused that to happen and the Bible teaches how it came about.

 

Today there is the excess of government and overreach. In this nation, it is by the people for the people, but many within governmental positions, men and women are choosing their agenda over that of the people’s. They seem to think they know what is best and who is right when they are voted into their new position. It is someone telling you how you are to care for your body. No thank you, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and no nasty jab will pierce it. My body, my choice thank you, NO!

The progressive liberal agenda, empowered by well-known men and women in the arts and entertainment industries, have made significant gains in the political arena over the past few decades. From the governmental and educational systems there is the misapplied interpretation of the phrase, “separation of church and state.” We must see a shift in this arena in order to preserve the Christian heritage that America was founded upon. The goal is to put in place righteous political leaders that will positively affect all aspects of government.

The media mountain that exists today persists to its own news giving what is false and fantasy. Pick up a newspaper and nine times out of time, you will find several articles pointing to a certain agenda and change that is not good for any country. The media as radio, T.V. news stations and that of the internet seem to have an agenda as well.  We have seen film-making, music and social media drive cultural tastes. The advertisements on any channel reflect a fallen nation: it reveals a heavy reliance on drugs for everything. It gives direction toward sex appeal, alcohol, and entertainment as to gambling, playing slots, and buying lottery tickets. It reveals a darkness toward targeting children.

I heard today that parents who protest about what is being taught in their classes to their children in school is wrong. That those who do that are terrorists. Yeah, this was on a news broadcast just today. But what about truth, what about allowing someone to speak truth about their concerns of what is being taught in regard to changing who you, the child is or what he or she will become. School is not to teach a child to be an "it"!

Within business, we find the mom and pop stores being shut down to run as the conglomerates climb higher in power and product. They tend to sell everything the people want. In that ability to literally create wealth through ingenuity, enterprise, creativity and effort and is a God-given gift and a universal impulse. The markets and economic systems that emerge whenever people are free to pursue buying and selling become the lifeblood of a nation. This includes anything from clothing, to pharmaceuticals, to household goods, building supplies to contractors, also farms to small businesses to large corporations: it is a buyer’s market. But when you have corruption invading into the fabric of business, one can see: idolatry, greed and covetousness. In response, the Church must embrace its responsibility to train up those who are called into the marketplace to manage businesses and provide leadership with integrity and honesty. As a believer we have learned from God’s will that He desires us to have wealth. And He desires for His Church to use its wealth to finance the work of Kingdom expansion. Simply put: Prosperity with a purpose.

 

Let us keep within God and His teachings receiving what Jesus taught and know our best days are ahead of us and not behind us. Amen. We will see some strange things appearing, but fear not God is with us!

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable always abounding in the works of the Lord, knowing your labor is not in vain in the Lord. ( 1 Corinthians 15: 57-58)

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Glory!

 1 Thessalonians 2:12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

In referencing conduct, Paul calls those of believers in Thessalonica to walk worthy of God who had called them into His kingdom and glory. We are so blessed to have God who loves us and has called us into His kingdom and His glory. And then to receive His word that will hold us in that kingdom of God and His glory too!

Paul, the Apostle, reminded believers to walk worthy of God while pleasing God. If married they were to be faithful to one spouse and they could expect some suffering as was written in 1 Thessalonians 4:6..that no one should take advantage and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

It is the truth that we are to behave with honor and with purity in all our relationships!

Luke 5:36-39 NKJV 36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of  the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; or else the new wine will burst the wine-skins and be spilled, and the wine-skins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wine-skins and both are preserved. 39  And no one having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, “The old is better”.

  God saved us! He sent the Son of His love to redeem us from death, hell and the grave. In this passage of Luke 5, Jesus is describing those who are the satisfied with the old system of the Law and the tradition of the elders.

For you and I, the teaching Jesus talked about was radical indeed. And what He taught could not be used as a patch over the existing form of Judaism (the old garment). New wine is put into those who are of Jesus Christ. They hear His voice and adhere to His teachings! The radical teachings of Jesus moves the complacent out of that recliner and into life.

As we see even in this day, there are many who like the “old” ways of doing and their normal is to do what is good in their sight! But Jesus was bringing light to what God had planned for man to live in accordance with His kingdom that had come.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 NKJV 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

Like the those in Thessalonica, we are chosen for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and we are chosen to belief in that truth! Amazing GRACE!

Then we are to know that we are called to the same gospel Paul preached, so that we would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! From this passage, glory is the salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To which you and I are called by the Gospel, yes, what Jesus taught from the Sermon on the Mount. We stand fast in that faith of the word given us…....we hold to that tradition of what is revealed by the Son of God and those prophets and apostles whom He sent to declare His word! So now may our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who has loved us, given us everlasting consolation, that hope by grace, comfort our hearts, and establish us in every good word and work. Amen.

It is in the labor of life and that labor of speech that we may know this process that Paul speaks of in that sanctification was not by which a Christian grows in Christ likeness but the initial work of grace in which the Spirit of God works in us the believer to make us God’s possession.

When you and I were born again, we went through that period of time when we did not have the same vitality in our thinking nor in our reasoning. We certainly were " street smart ” to the ways of the world, so we had to learn, to gain understanding of God in His wisdom to express the new life that was within us. And yes, that comes by forming the mind of Christ we see in Philippians 2:5-6.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. "

Jesus saw  His being of God as something to be given away and not selfishly grasped for or horded. He willing came to earth to live as human being on our behalf, to experience what we experience. Yes He relinquished His glory through retaining His deity. Matthew 11:29 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.

Jesus called for an open, yes free, and loyal relationship when He spoke the word yoke. In that relationship to Jesus, we gain the ability of obedience to the Law’s righteousness which was His burden.

From Luke 21:19 By your patience possess your souls. That soul is the seat of our affections, our will, that desire, emotions, reasoning and understanding.

Patience in Romans 15:5 is interesting.  Verse 5: Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whether you are a weak Christian or a strong one, our conduct in relationships is forbearance and love so that a unity of believers will be seen as that harmony of praise together for God and the Lord Jesus Christ!

 Our conduct should be righteous, being led by the Spirit of God where we are no longer controlled  by issues like depression, anger, anxiety, jealousy, hopelessness, fear, or suicide.  We should not be ruled by our emotions. In Jesus and by His walk to Calvary, His bloodshed to redeem us from the hand of the enemy, you and I are now chosen as God’s instruments. We are chosen for restoration! He has enabled us to be the hearers of His word,  to understand His word and to  embrace  those words that speak a direction and a life! He came to redeem us and to show us that we are of value. Our focus is to be kept on Jesus, who directs us by His Holy Spirit to have that patience to possess our souls and to take charge of all those things connected with it. 

We should be satisfied in Him and understand that satisfaction is not found in the world. No one thing can satisfy you for very long. If you think of Judas Iscariot, he walked with Jesus, heard the teachings, and yet his heart for that one moment was to take the Roman empire down, moved out of Israel and use Jesus to do it! But no, Jesus would not take any throne at that time. If you look back at Esau, he was famished from hunting all day and was really hungering for something to feed his belly. Yet, he wanted it now and sold his birthright to get it. People are never satisfied for very long!

If we refuse Jesus and His kingdom that He brought to us, we are refusing our birthright for His kingdom. Satisfaction is only found in the Lord. Psalm 91:16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation. Those who know God’s name are in covenant relationship with Him. Those who revere and honor Him are satisfied in deliverance, in honor, and preservation. It was a blessing to Israel and is a blessing to us. It means we belong to God and to His kingdom. We have a home in His glory!

Jesus spoke of  glory in John 17! John 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one;

This glory (doxa) is dignity and honor!  John 14:6-13 NKJV  6 Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life:. “No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known the Father also; and from now on You know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to HIM, “Lord show us the Father & it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, & the Father in Me?” ‘The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

No one gets to the Father without first acknowledging Jesus! This passage should epitomize our lives: that encapsulated within the Father and the Son in us so that we experience the same works. Jesus was pointing them to the Father always, pointing them to truth and life revealing the Authority with which Jesus spoke.

Jesus was not a people pleaser. It was always for the sake of the Gospel and for the glory of God that Jesus was active in communicating the Gospel of grace. Jesus did as His Father commanded Him to do so. Jesus obeyed, He gave the Message, encountered conflict and was crucified. His crucifixion was for life to those who required a REDEEMER!                                                     

Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Consider, though, that many who claim to be Christian today do not consider the idea of forgiveness through crucifixion to be foolishness.

They glory in what the cross produced but foolishness to them is His example of complete surrender, which we are to imitate. As a result, it is the nominal Christianity that has become tolerant of sin, increasingly more human-centered, and less inclined to actions that might involve them in some kind of discomfort or inconvenience that disrupts their day.

Yes, it is the carnal mind that says surrender is folly, because it creates a vulnerability or the possibility of some kind of loss. But it is the same carnal mind that is blind to the vital reality that God is on His throne, overseeing the outcome—gladly using His power on our behalf if we will only but trust Him with our lives.

Glory is comprised of His word, the salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in that truth! Holding to that tradition of what is revealed by the Son of God and those prophets and apostles He sent to declare His word so that now by the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who has loved us, has given us everlasting consolation, that hope by grace,  that comforts our hearts, and establishes us in every good word and work.

The message: forgiveness of sins. The response: should be likewise a self-denial, that complete surrender, a reckoning ourselves as already dead to this present, evil age so that we might live for Him with a kingdom in mind, a life revealed and relationship of secure love indeed.

Glory!

 

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Preservation of Revealed Truth

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ACCEPTING A RADICAL LIFE

A radical life is characterized by that which is the effective in bringing change. The radical is that which is spoken of as being complete, far-reaching, thorough, major and even of being rigorous.

 As of a person: one who is zealous, and revolutionary!

 John 2:13-17

  13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 NKJV

  Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up!

  This zeal, this passion and fire has eaten Me up. Yes, Jesus had a passion. His zeal was that which consumed all His time and attention. He was passionate and was led by that passion to minister to everyone. He did not just see the rich and the famous, but He saw and spoke with those who made up the crowd of the"down and out". He spoke to those who made their living by asking for "handouts"! Jesus' concern was for that which concerned His father God and made for a radical life to live. In what we have seen of Jesus and His life, it started far from the ways our lives began. His mother was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, carried Him to full term, gave birth and laid Him in a manger. He lived in a home with many siblings and of His life, at the young age of 12 years old, He was found with the teachers, and spoke with wisdom!

  I remember being 12 years old and having many teachers in school and spent time with the Math teacher more than all the rest. Well, for one, it was the NEW MATH, and my parents did not understand what the new teaching was about! And for wisdom, not likely, other than I knew I needed the "help" & needed it from the one who knew it well! (I wanted to pass the grade with my peers!)

   As a young child, I started out with zeal for not being locked in by doors, gates or any kind of fence. Ask anyone who knew me when I was but three and they will have the story to tell. Yeah, no fence was going to keep me fenced in, where I did not want to be. I wanted to be free, run, and keep running!

   Jesus gave with zeal. He captured people with that passion that consumed Him. Yes, meeting Jesus we all had a decision to make. It was entirely based where you wanted to spend eternity: heaven or hell!  He did all by the AUTHORITY given to Him by God!

  Yes, when we read on in Chapter 2, Jesus was questioned on His conduct. Jesus remained the focus. He kept the "fire" burning as well we should do also.

 When honoring God, it is a thing of the heart. It is one which is serious. In what Jesus found was the "Market for  Business" and it was in the Temple which was for God and service to Him only.

Ezekiel 33:30-33...30 As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, "Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD." 31 "So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song who has a pleasant voice and play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. 33 And when this comes to pass---surely it will come----then they will know that a prophet has been among them." NKJV

That prophetic word can come, like it did for those as we see from Ezekiel. In referring back to some church services, one can see people excited for one praise and worship leader but cut down another, rather because of not liking the songs of the second choice "leader" chose for that service. Even though said "leader" has the anointing, prays in tongues, yet is reviled by those who think: music is either too loud, too slow, not enough drums, too many singers on the platform, or there is not enough "bass" guitar players playing. Or that they, the reviler, could do the job better! Yes, it is back to doing a better job than Ms. So and So or Mr. So and So could ever do.

Meaning of greed: intense and selfish
the desire that is heartfelt for being wealthy, being number 1, being the best at any thing
it is coveting something.........and remember what God spoke about that.
Covetousness-- "pleonexia" meaning having a desire for more.
It is found in Colossians 3:5 So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]; sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). Amp.

Proverbs 15:27
He who is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.

It is building a structure, a lusted-for thing, like being CEO of a company and no real credentials to do the job. Whatever a person lusts after in their heart, that is the thing that will be erected in their heart to be gratified. The question asked most today to the young.......those of grade school is: What do you want to be when you grow up? And their answer of well over 80 percent was that of the "super" athlete. So the other question asked was: What about a Dr. or lawyer...........the Dr. came in 2nd and the lawyer came in 3rd place next after the Super Athlete at number 1. Wow!  I wonder where on the list was the grocer, the pharmacist, the street sweeper, the pastor of a church, the nurse, the elder care person, and the welder, and ship-builder?
In reality, how attainable is that really for average person, that super athlete? For most know that it takes hard work and some amount of gifting, again from God, to play that pro-ball. And those who last, are those who have the passion for it. They enjoy it, and do well in that sport. They are always training, and their thoughts are playing with a team.

Jesus spoke to those about God, and He gave them that needed instruction. Some wanted it, some reviled Him for that correction and many just walked away. Like what we read in Ezekiel 33, we find that which so spoke of those Jesus came in contact with.

For some heard Jesus and others only wanted to revile Him. And many heard when He taught as a Rabbi in the Synagogue, yet many did not hear.  AND many did not do the Word!  That zeal Jesus carried in His heart proved what some would know as disastrous, but Jesus saw it bring Him closer to the Cross. For anyone today, who goes to the House of God and shows love, but their hearts pursue their own gain, they are those who were much like those within the Temple that day Jesus drove the money changers out. What a mob scene that probably looked like!  

The One standing for the honor of God and to His glory and those who just wanted gain in their pockets owing it all to greed,  and then we saw the chaos ensue. These were men wanting things their "own way" and that which brought financial gain into their hands. 
There is a day coming when man or woman will have to leave business at the door and come with open hearts to give honor and glory to God only. There is coming a day when one will be asked to give up their old life for that which brings life and not the deadly path so many encounter today. 

In building that God intended, was that which is completely holy to God. The temple was going to be found in us. And nothing could be brought into the temple that would take away from God!

If God did not allow King David to build the Temple because he was a man of war, how much so in our time for those who go (who attend) the HOUSE of God? How much more today should we find our full attention given to Him Who gives life? How much more should our hearts be filled with that for God and not selfish "man" (Men).
Why?
David truly had heart to build that Temple because of the love he carried for God. But God wanted another to build and had chosen Solomon to do it. David raised the funds needed, and brought all that was needed as of the gold, the silver, and fine woods. Yes, where our heart resides will shine on others or darken on others. In what God had planned from the beginning was His HOUSE, " that body of Christ " that would be with its heart toward one God: (that devotion, that adherence to and faithfulness to God and His plan and not to that of man or men wrapped up in their deeds ( those lustful desires for me, myself and I) , yes the HEART issues that come from man's personal  teachings or anything that would represent some earthly kingdom or thing !

 For where our heart is, there is where we will go for an eternity! For what we treasure, that is that which holds us to, keeps us placed and maybe not in not such a good place, but never the less, the place we treasure and hold onto. Jesus saw the Temple where God would come, and was seeing the day when the Holy Spirit would come to abide and comfort. His interest was in maintaining that which was holy unto the Lord.

It was not buying, trading and selling, but about having worship toward God. It was about employing prayer and having a relationship with God the Father. The temple was not about a few hearing and speaking to God, it was for all men and women alike to hear and speak to God. If people would only come there would be no need of war anymore! It would be a time when people would lay aside all that comprises them toward death. Those who continue to war, do not know God and have never met Him in the secret place! They have never laid anything at the Cross!

1 Timothy 6:17-19

17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life

NKJV  

Our trust is not to be in "things" but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. I would rather have what God desires for me to bask in THAN something that is not life to me or anyone else. We are to be the ready to give, willing to share, and storing up that which is a "good foundation" for the time to come..........laying hold unto eternal life. We were to come to serve and love God!

For Lord, we certainly brought nothing into this world and we will not take anything with us when we exit.

Father, today we pray for people everywhere, to come to the Light of Jesus, and know He is life everlasting. For the rich Lord, in this world, we charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, not to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on YOU, God for YOU richly and ceaselessly provide us with everything for our enjoyment. Lord, I pray that we wold be rich in good works to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share with others. And in all this, we are laying for ourselves the riches that endure forever as a good foundation for the future, so that we may grasp that which is life indeed.(1 Timothy 6:16-19 Amp)

MAY we truly focus on that which is life to us, and expect that as we wait on His goodness, those blessings will be poured on us His Beloved!

Father, thank You that having a radical life is one which looks like the devoted, not of one race or color but of many races and many colors. May our prayers be offered in reverence to Your Holy Name...........may the HOUSE of PRAYER be known and may people know that all are welcomed to come. It is in Jesus' name and to His glory we pray and believe for the HOUSE OF PRAYER TO OVERFLOW TO ALL WHO HAVE ZEAL FOR YOU OUR FATHER.  We accept the radical life that honors You. AMEN.

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