John 14:6

...Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Have You Passed The Test?

Psalm 66:8-12
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water; 
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.


OK-you're having a BAD day, maybe even a BAD year.  Your wife or husband left you, your horse ran away, your dog is missing, and you're about to lose the farm to greedy land barons...  WAIT A MINUTE-that was either a country music song, or the Hallmark movie from last night!...;-)


But seriously-maybe you are going through something today that seems hopeless.  You may not see any end in sight, nor are you praising The Lord in every situation.


WELL-I HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!!!!!


God's promises are true!  I and many brothers & sisters in Christ have experienced the deliverance of The Lord many times over.  I've seen people released from bondage, people healed, needs met, and IMPOSSIBLE things made possible all of a sudden.


NOTHING is impossible with God!  Even when you think He is late, He is still on time!


God allows us to go through these trials to be refined, as the scripture above says.  The heat gets turned up, and all the dross, the imperfections rise to the surface where God skims off all the junk.  Once God sees Himself in the silver (us), He knows it's time to allow our trial to be over.  He never removes us FROM it, he takes us THROUGH it!  


The last verse in the scripture section above states that "But You brought us out to rich fulfillment."  How awesome is it that God loves us so much that He waits until just the right time so we are brought through a trial to rich fulfillment!  The King James version states that "He broughtest us out into a WEALTHY place.." Wealthy here, is the Greek word "R VAYAH", which means "satisfaction", or "running over", or "wealthy".  It may also mean to "satisfy the thirst of", or "soak". He doesn't bring us through a trial and have us start over-He allows us to be FULFILLED so we can learn from it. We will be running over and satisfied when our trials are over!  He allows us to be "fulfilled" so we can testify to others about how great our God truly is!


Are you trusting God to take you through your trials & tribulations?  That's NOT going to work. You won't be able to be brought out into rich fulfillment unless you TRUST IN THE LORD to do it for you.


If you're going through a trial-release it to Jesus Christ.  Let Him take you by the hand, walk you through the trial into a place of rich fulfillment!


Now I'm all excited-can somebody PLEASE shout AMEN???


\O/

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

False Teachers, Part 3

Yesterday, a man who lives down my block told my wife that she needed to "repent, and be ready for the end of the world in May 2011".  This follower of Harold Camping seemed to believe that this date is really the end. Can you even imagine?


Harold Campings heresies are too many to be listed here, but this false teacher needs to answer to God on his judgement day.


Isaiah 29:13-14
Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths 
      And honor Me with their lips, 
      But have removed their hearts far from Me, 
      And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, 
      Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work 
      Among this people, 
      A marvelous work and a wonder; 
      For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, 
      And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” 


More to come.  Stay tuned......

Monday, August 16, 2010

Are You Distracted?

I once heard a sermon about distraction. This Pastor talked about Luke 10:38-42, which recounts the time Jesus went to Martha & Mary's home to teach and to eat. I cannot take credit for the content, or the message here, but I wanted to share this awesome message about "distractions". I'm just giving you the 10.000-foot view of this message...

Luke 10:38-42
"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

I've underlined the word distracted in the section of scripture, because that's where this teacher parked for about 30 minutes. Here, the word "distracted means "overly occupied and too busy". This got me thinking about being distracted in my daily walk. I had to ask myself these questions:

Is work distracting me from the things of God? (My Job)
Are money issues distracting me from the things of God?
Are "worldly things" distracting me from the things of God?

And the list goes on:

-Television
-The Internet
-Social Networking
-Socializing (In Person)
-Health Issues
-Marital Issues
-Possessions (Cars, boats, homes, gadgets)
-Other "gods" (Any person that you put higher than God)
...these are just a snapshot of what can be distractions to us.

Being distracted by these things takes our eyes off of The Lord. Not only do we run the risk of being idolatrous, but we may lose out on seeing the deliverance of The Lord when we are caught up in these things. Distractions allow Satan to gain a hand in your life. Your eyes will then be on the problem, rather than the deliverance by Jesus Christ. You may even miss the blessing from The Lord because you are so busy with these distractions.

So in the scripture above, Martha was the one distracted, while Mary had her eyes on The Lord. Mary received the blessing! What would each of these women remember about that day? Martha would remember being distracted by all the work, working so hard, and being mad at Mary. Mary would forever remember spending the day at the feet of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. She was NOT distracted. She kept her eyes on Jesus! She was the one blessed by God!

Hebrews 12:2
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

AMEN?

Sunday, August 15, 2010

False Teachers, Part 2

Before I went to sleep last night, The Holy Spirit spoke to me about my last blog post. I was told that I was NOT done yet, and that I would continue to deliver a message on this topic...

2 Peter 2: 1-3
"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

The brothers and sisters who will fall into this trap are the ones who do not know The Word of God. They carry Bibles around, can quote certain portions of scripture, but do not know (i.e.: have the EPIGNOSIS of) His Holy Word. We must continue to read God's Word at every opportunity. I believe in my heart that if I was not exposed to The Word of God almost immediately after I was saved, I may have fallen into deceptive doctrine very quickly. I was drawn into bible studies where The Word was examined, studied, and discussed. I had brothers and sisters who were able to debate doctrine with me. I had The Holy Spirit to convict me when I veered from the straight path of scripture. When there is something I am not sure about, some doctrine I'm presented with-I go to The Source : God! I search The Scriptures, I pray, and I seek His Voice for guidance and direction. Only then, and through His Holy Spirit can I discern the truth.

God is NOT the Author of confusion. All of His Word makes sense. It is what is says it is, and does what it says it does. DO NOT BE FOOLED PEOPLE!! Take The Word of God for what it's worth. Live by it. Put it to use in your daily lives! When these false prophets and preachers share their blasphemies and destructive heresies with you-be a Berean. Check everything against The Word of God!!

AMEN?

Saturday, August 14, 2010

False Teachers?

I run into lots of people who profess to be born-again Christians. It amazes me that these people actually tell me that they do not read their Bibles! WHAT??? First of all, I cannot understand where these people get their theological beliefs from. Well, it turns out that they are listening to, or watching on TV men and women who are nothing more than false teachers.

Let me share some scripture with you that tells what will happen to those who preach a false gospel:

Galatians 1:6-9
"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." This was so URGENT to Paul's message that he wrote it down TWICE!!!

Here's what I am hearing from these so called believers:

"...Joel Osteen is such a wonderful and loving man. He would NEVER tell me I'm going to hell if I don't repent..."

"...Oh so what if he or she gives a different interpretation of the scriptures. Don't the Holy Scriptures mean different things to different people...?"

"...Now now, let's not be judgmental. After all, we don't want to offend anyone..."

"...But Benny said that if I sent a gift of $100.00, he would send me the Miracle Prayer Cloth!! That sown seed would guarantee BLESSINGS in all areas of our lives..."

"... I can do whatever I want-I'm free in Christ..."

Brothers and Sisters-WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE? God's Word says that in the end times, evil will be called good, and good-evil (paraphrased). How can thee trusted servants of God pervert the Word of God? How can they preach a perverted, or watered down Gospel? How many will be led astray because they believed the lies of the enemy?

I believe that we all need to pray for all the shepherds out there who are responsible for the believers in their respective flocks. We need to pray that Jesus would continually reveal The Truth to them, and that they all would surrender to their fleshly lusts and follow Jesus-and Jesus alone. We need to continually that their eyes would be opened and their hearts brought back to their mission-to bring people to Christ!!!

Acts 4:12
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Can somebody please shout AMEN?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tuesday August 10, 2010- Are you in the Battle?

I'm convinced that the Devil is planning against born-again believers everywhere. The enemy will do whatever it takes to stop you from completing God's plan for you here on earth.

The Devil wants:

1) You to give up. The Devil wants you to give up in the midst of the battle. He will whisper things in your ear like "...aren't you tired?" or "...you'll never get out of this situation.."

2) You to NOT trust in The Lord. The enemy will try to get you to solve your problems in your own flesh, or trust in some one else to get you out of a situation.

3) You to wallow in your own sin. If you're an addict, The Devil wants you to use drugs more. If you're an alcoholic, The Devil wants you to just "have one more drink". If you have issues with lust, or sex-addiction, The Devil will send scantily-clad women or men your way so you can get in that one extra look. If you're coveting some object, The Devil will say to you "...it's OK-take it. Nobody is looking".

4) You to put other things BEFORE The Lord. The Devil may whisper "...go to sleep-you can read your Bible another time", or " I'll pray when I get a chance".

5) You to be involved with false teachers or preachers who teach a false Gospel. The Devil wants you to listen to watered-down messages in churches all over the world. He wants you to listen to lies taught in churches, bible studies, and events everywhere.

The Devil is crafty. He will do whatever it takes to stumble a believer, so he or she takes their eyes off of The Lord.

OK-Depressed yet? Asking why I am talking about The Devil? Well, in WAR, it's always an advantage to know your enemy. The Devil knows that he loses in the end, and will do whatever it takes to send as many people to hell as possible. By diligently reading and studying The Word of God (Your BIBLE), we can equip ourselves for the daily battles of our Christian walk. Read it daily. Study it. Keep it in your heart. If God's Spirit is in you, He will speak to you through His Word!

I'm not saying that it's always going to be easy. I'm not saying that you will only receive blessings every day. As a matter of fact, I truly believe that the trial that a born-again believer in Jesus Christ goes through is proportional to the blessing that they will receive when Jesus finally takes them through the trial. We need to trust in Jesus Christ COMPLETELY, and seek His direction in all aspects of our lives! God gives us the tools to get through any trial. They are all in His Word!

2 Chronicles 20:15 states (paraphrased) that "the battle belongs to The Lord, and is NOT ours!". Learn God's precious promises. For every lie the Devil whispers in your ear, Jesus will bring scripture to you to rebuke him.

Brothers & Sisters-we all need to be studying God's Word every day. We need to live it. We need to use it. We need to pray. We need to trust in Jesus!

AMEN?