The Temples of Desecration

In 168 BC Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated Herod's temple by putting a statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies and sacrificing pigs to it.  This stirred up the Jews who, led by the Maccabees, revolted and overthrew their oppressors. The Jews then cleansed and rededicated the temple.  The word for dedication is 'Chanukah' and from that day forth they celebrated the Feast of Chanukah.  Even Jesus celebrated Chanukah. John 10:22-23

Today there is no temple in Jerusalem but God has another temple which is created as His holy place in which His presence is to dwell.  In fact, there are many such temples.  You were created to be the dwelling place of God.  You are a temple purposed to hold the creator of the universe.

Everyone who lives in this world was meant to contain God within them.  Sadly what dwells within most of those temples is darkness, sin, and foulness so vile that God cannot enter in.  The world is filled with temples of desecration.  God created every person to be a holy dwelling place, but we have defiled our temples and now only the filth of self is found within.

Every person must have their own Chanukah, their own dedication to God.  Even Christians have idols they set up to other gods which must be taken out and cleansed.  If you sin, you have an idol. 

Non-believers can not see what is inside them, but the scriptures are like a mirror to show what filth there is in a person so that they might come to God and be cleansed.

We must Chanukah our selves to God and help others, with love, to find the cleansing of their temple through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Photo Credit: Happy Chanukah to All! by John

The Secret of a Blessed Life

Look around at all that you own.  Look at others who are richer and own even more.  Look at the person who owns the company you work for.  Look at everyone in the United States and how much we have compared to those in other countries.  Are we blessed?

You said "yes" didn't you?  While I can not disagree, I must point out that all those blessings are just material blessings.  There are many rich people who are blessed with material goods but do not have the spiritual blessings found in a life with Jesus as Lord and savior.

Material blessings are just temporary and will ultimately not mean a thing.  To be truly blessed we need to open up our hearts to God and allow Him to bless us with eternal blessings.  The people who find the joys of God's blessings are those who seek God. 

God pours out blessings to us every day, both material and spiritual.  The only way to receive the spiritual blessings as God pours out them out is to have your heart open to God and ready to receive them.  Too often we are looking for the material blessings of God and forget the spiritual.  We hunger for the temporary and ignore the eternal.

The secret is simple.  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

Photo by Serge Kutuzov on Unsplash

Jesus' Words in Red

Many Bibles have the words of Christ printed in Red.  I have heard preachers say, "Read and study the words in red."  They are basically saying that the words of Jesus have more power and authority than anything else found in your Bible.  After all, since Jesus is God those words should carry more weight than what some minor prophet said.  Wrong!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"  2 Timothy 3:16

Look at your Bible.  Look at the words written there.  Those words were not from the writer but from God.  God breathed those words exactly as He desired them to be written.  The writer might be Moses, Isaiah, Amos or Luke, but it was God and God alone who is responsible for what is written.  It is a paradox but it is true.  The writer's manner of speaking is found in the writings but the words are purely from God, and perfect.

The words of Jesus are from God but the words in black are just as authoritative as those in Red.

Photo Credit: bible and ballcap (4) by Eric Golub

Rest. God Commands Us to Rest.

This message is directed at those who work hard to minister to God, but we all need to learn why God gave us Sabbath Rest.

Some of us do not need to rest simply because we don't do anything, but I know of a few people out there in ministry, that might be burning themselves out.  Some may be in full-time ministry every day 24/7, and some may be working full time at a secular job and trying to minister when not at work.  I admire both of these ministers of God because they are true workers who sacrifice all for the sake of the Gospel.

One of God's commandments is to have a day of rest and yes, that even means from ministry.  A good example of why God wants you to rest if found in Leviticus 25:4.  In this verse, it tells the Hebrew nation to work the land for six years and on the seventh to let it go fallow.  Do not plant or harvest from that land.  Why? It needs to rest.

When you continually plant a crop on land, the nutrients are taken out of the ground and it will produce less and less.  To let it rest a year allows those nutrients to get back into the ground and refresh it so that the field can again be fruitful.

When we work seven days a week in ministry we are taking spiritual nutrients out of ourselves and our work produces less fruit and the job requires more and more of us to keep it going.  God commanded us to rest so that the Holy Spirit can refresh us and make our lives more fruitful.

A Sabbath rest is not a useless time of doing nothing.  It is a time given to God so that our lives are more fruitful and filled with the Spirit of God.

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The Awe of YHVH

In the Old Testament, YHVH is the personal name of God.  It can be found 6800 times and it is so sacred to the Jews that when talking about the name of God the say, "Hashem" (the name).  We have lost how to properly pronounce God's name because the vowels are inferred.  Only the High Priest would utter His name on Yom Kippur.

The name of God is so Holy that the very people of God would not even utter it under their breath.  In Hebrew, God's name is called "the ineffable name"  The name that is so great that it is never to be uttered.  The Jewish tradition is to substitute the word "Adonai"  (my lord) in its place when reading the Torah. When not reading the Torah they will simply refer to God's sacred name as "Hashem" (the name).

We have lost the Awe of God.  There were times when going to church meant dressing up in your best, but now we go in tattered blue jeans and t-shirts.  Swearing and cursing were never heard in public and you could be fined or locked up for it.  Cursing the name of God is found in our songs, movies, TV shows, and even in church sermons.

When we think of God do we think of a big buddy who throws His arm around us and says, "Ah shucks, ya shouldn't say that."  How holy is your God?

God commands respect.  God created you.  He is the one who holds your life in His hand.  He is the omnipotent one, the omniscient one, and the omnipresent one.  He alone is self-sufficient, needing no one outside of Himself to survive.   Hashem is AWESOME!!

"No one is like you, LORD: you are great, and your name is mighty in power."  Jeremiah 10:6

Photo Credit: DSC00638 by nathan_gamble

Thanksgving

We are so blessed where I live in the United States.  Today we celebrate Thanksgiving which began back in 1621 with the first Thanksgiving.  What we do not think much about is that the first Thanksgiving was after a disastrous winter.  One hundred and two pilgrims set off for the new world and after that first winter, only fifty-one still survived.  During that first winter, they suffered from diseases, scurvy, lack of shelter and hunger.

Some people might think that the pilgrims should be angry with God.  Everyone had suffered so much and half of the people died.  Only four of the married wives survived.  That first year was a time of great sorrow and yet, in the end, they held a three-day feast to give thanks to God.  They had invited the Indians to their feast and thanked them for their help, but they knew God was the one who had brought them help when they needed it.  God was the one who saw to it that their harvest was plentiful.  God was the one who blessed them with life.

The pilgrims could identify with Jeremiah in Jeremiah 33:11  "...Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for His mercy endureth forever:..."

Jeremiah was the prophet who told Israel that because of their sins, Babylon would come to kill and conquer Jerusalem.  Their king would be blinded and taken away to Babylon.  The people would die horrible deaths and the living would wish they had died.  But with all the gloom and doom that Jeremiah spoke of he still blessed the Lord as good and merciful.  Jeremiah knew that even in times of disaster, God would be watching over them and see them through all of it.

God did see the pilgrims through those rough times.  God was watching over those pioneers to the New World.  Their descendants live today among us because of the merciful grace of God.

Perhaps you are going through times of distress and don't know where to turn.  I urge you to be like the courageous pilgrims and trust God to watch over you and see you through those times of trouble.  Give thanks today that God is faithful and merciful.

God deserves our praise and thanksgiving even in times of trouble.

Photo by Gabriel Garcia Marengo on Unsplash

Awake Sleeper and Discern the Times

This could be the most important post I write.  People I see around me think the world is getting worse but tomorrow will be like today for me and every day after will be just the same.  It will not affect me. That is a deception which Satan has foisted upon us.

In Matthew 16:2-3 Jesus scolds the Pharisees for not discerning the times which they lived in.  The signs were there to show that the Messiah had come and he was Jesus who stood before them.  There are even more signs of the times today that Jesus is going to return very very soon.  It is true we do not know the day or hour but this is the season of his return.

The Middle East is in turmoil. The nations of Ezekial 38 are shaping up for war.  There are rumors of wars, with battles going on now like never before.  Any day now we might hear that the prophecy of Isaiah 17:1 has been fulfilled and Damascus is gone.  Today much of it is in ruin but soon the Bible says it will be completely gone.

Does this sound like today? "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5

No, it has not been like this before, because now it is worldwide.  The United States is one of the most guilty, but every other nation is not far behind.  What are we to do?

"But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand." Ezekiel 33:6

Are you a Christian?  If so then you are a watchman.  You are to be watching the signs of the times, not to figure out when the rapture will occur, but to warn others of the coming tribulation.  God calls upon you to cry out to the world their need for Jesus so that they might escape the coming judgment. I have only mentioned a small number of signs found in the world today.  There are many more and all of them cry out to us that the time is short and the harvest is ripe. 

God is calling you to wake up and prepare the way of the Lord, for he is coming soon.

Photo by Maeghan Smulders on Unsplash

When did Jesus Become High Priest?

I read something that said Jesus became High Priest when he was baptized.  It kinda made sense, but I didn't feel right about it. It was like the Holy Spirit reminding me not to just accept what someone says. If Jesus became High Priest when John the Baptist baptized him, why is it that Ananius called the High Priest in the Gospels? I would think it would say something like he acted as the High Priest.  Also for Jesus to be the perfect sacrificial lamb for our sins the High Priest must offer him up, which Ananius did.

I couldn't take what someone said as the truth, so I had to research it for myself.  I found what I believe to be the answer in Psalm 110: 1-4. There are a couple of interesting things mentioned here.

In verse 4 Yahway God is speaking to Jesus saying, "The LORD has sworn and will not relent, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'"  This verse has God the Father pronouncing Jesus, who has just been resurrected, to be High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who had no previous priest before him.  This is where I believe Jesus became High Priest for us all in the New Covenant.

In verse 1 it says, "The LORD (Yahway God) said to my Lord (Jesus Christ), "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  I find it interesting that the priests were commanded to always stand when performing the office of the priesthood, but the Father tells the son to sit.  That is because the sacrifices of the old covenant were never enough and had to be performed time after time.  The sacrifice of Jesus for our sins was a one-time event which covered all sins past, present and future.  It would never have to be done again so Jesus could sit down.  His work was done.

What I learned the most from this is that I can never trust the experts, the teachers, the preachers or anyone else.  I must always check the word of God and listen to what God has to say.

Photo Credit: Model of Aaron in High Priest garments by FotoGuy 49057

Not All Things are Possible for God.

I have heard the question, "Can God make a rock that He can not lift?"  Of course, if you answer 'yes' or 'no' it means that something is impossible for God.  Let me first tell you what is possible for God and then what is impossible for God.

God is powerful enough to speak a word and the Universe comes into existence.  God can also speak a word and destroy it all.  God has the ability to hear everyone who thinks little of God and a lot of themselves.  The people who insult Him, use His name as a curse word and blaspheme Him.  God could easily squeeze their pride-filled heads and pop their little brains like pimples.

God has the power to promise you anything and then go back on His word.  God is easily powerful enough to backstab, murder and destroy anyone He wants.  God has the ability to crush you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  God is all-powerful.  There is nothing at all too big for all-powerful God to accomplish.  He is great enough to do every good or evil act you can ever imagine.  There is nothing stopping God except....

God is too patient and merciful to kill everyone who blasphemes or insults Him.  He wants to see them live and repent of the things they say.  God is too faithful to break any promise He makes.  He is love and could never destroy anyone unless His sense of justice demands it.  Those who never turn from wickedness are justly condemned and even then God's heart breaks for their lost souls.

God can do anything except defy His holy nature of love, joy, peace, patience, compassion, honor, justice, grace, righteousness, holiness, kindness, and all that is good.  The only power great enough to stop God is God.

A better question to ask is "Can God lift me up to the rock that is higher than I?"  What do you think God's answer is to that question?  Just ask Him.

"...Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2


"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;  My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

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The Seeds of the Bible

Take a handful of seeds and look at them.  They are just small, dry bits of plants.  If you put them in a drawer or on a shelf, in a year you will find that nothing has changed at all.  You can prize them and put them on display, but they still will do nothing. Seeds must be sown in order for them to accomplish what they were meant to.

Take your bible and look at it.  It is full of paper and ink.  If you put it in a drawer or on a shelf, in a year you will find that nothing has changed at all.  You can prize your Bible and put it on display, but it will still do nothing.  The Bible must be sown in order for it to accomplish what it was meant to do.

The Bible was meant to be read and shared with others.  We must sow the truths of the scriptures to all people.  When the word of God is sown into the hearts of men, those seeds can take root and bring forth life.

Is the word of God being sown into your life?  Are you reading God's word so that life can spring forth into your heart?  Are you sowing God's word into the hearts of others?  Are you helping to unlock life in others or are you ignoring God's word and allowing death to take the souls of men?

Photo Credit: Abrus precatorius seeds P8104 by eyeweed

The Secret of Success

What is the secret to a successful life?  Can anyone be successful?  What must you do to have a successful life?  I am going to tell you right here and now how YOU can be a success.

Look around you at all the successful people in the world.  I am sure you could make a list of 10 successful people without hesitation.  You can be as successful and more likely MORE successful than they are.

What is it that those people have that you do not?  Money? Mansions? Hot cars and hotter women?  Do they live the life you wish to have with parties, famous people and powerful people of the world? You do not have to be left behind.

John D. Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire when asked 'How much money is enough?" replied 'Just a little bit more'.  Was John D. Rockefeller successful?  Compared to everyone else in the world, he was very successful, rich and could have anything money could buy, but he just needed a little bit more money.  Why? Because he was not satisfied.  He had not yet succeeded in gaining all he wanted.  He was not yet successful in his own eyes.

Movie stars, star athletes, famous singers and others are in the news every day because with all that they have they are not happy.  Successful at being famous and rich is not true success because it didn't bring happiness and fulfillment.  So they overdose on drugs, commit suicide, drink themselves to death and try anyway they can to get rid of the pain of their lives.

Success is found in being content with where you are, but success is never stagnate. You must grow every day, because to remain in one place your life will slowly grow old and stale. But, what are we growing toward?  What is the goal of our life?  We have seen that money, fame and power are bad goals.  Happiness is a goal but how do we attain it and grow in happiness?  What makes us truly successful so that we have a life of fulfillment and happiness?

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart," Psalm 37:3-4

What we desire is found in Christ and Christ alone.  Fame and riches are poor methods to find happiness, love, joy, peace, security, or any other truly satisfying state of mind.  This will sound crazy to some people but if we search our hearts to find what we truly want in life, we will discover that nothing in this world can satisfy us outside of Jesus Christ.

Success is not found in what you seek, but in who you live for. 

Photo Credit: let me, let me by girl/afraid

The Ironic Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin, called the 'Tractate Sanhedrin', wrote in the Talmud that the Messiah of Israel would be called the 'Leper' because of Isaiah 53: 4-8 which includes, 'surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him a stricken; smitten of God and afflicted.'

They called him a leper because he would be a man of afflictions, stricken and an outcast.  He would be oppressed and killed by his own people.  They saw that the Messiah would be treated like a leper by the people of Israel and He would not even open his mouth to defend himself.  They knew that the Messiah would be hated, despised, tortured and killed.

The Tractate Sanhedrin was the very Sanhedrin that put Jesus on trial for blasphemy, judged him guilty and pressured the Romans to have him crucified.  The very rabbis who described the Messiah as 'The Leper', were the men who fulfilled Isaiah 53.

Ironic that the men who had the vision to see how the Messiah would suffer, be rejected and be murdered, were the very people who were too blind to see the Messiah when he stood right there in front of them.

Photo Credit: High Priest Jewish by Robert Faulkner

Consuming Christ

What did the priests in ancient Israel eat?  The priests didn't just sacrifice the animals at the Temple, but they ate the sacrifices as well.  They survived by partaking of the sacrifices as their holy food.  The sacrifice was not just an outward task, but it became an integral part of their very existence.

Just as your food gives you the energy to work, move, talk and live, spiritual food acts as the sustenance for you to work, move, talk and live a spiritual life.  You need holy food to keep your spiritual life healthy.  Unholy food will actually destroy your spiritual life and bring only death.  Hatred, gossip, lust, revenge, and any impure or unclean thought or action emerges from spiritual darkness.

What was the ultimate sacrifice?  Jesus Christ dying on the cross was the sacrifice which all other sacrifices were foreshadowing.   His sacrifice for our sins was the holiest sacrifice of all.

1 Peter 2:9 says that we who follow Jesus are Royal Priests.  As a priest, our lives are to be sustained by eating the sacrifice.  We must live on the food of the priest by partaking of Christ every day.  We will survive spiritually by taking in Christ to sustain us.  His love, mercy, joy, peace, goodness, grace and His very nature and essence are the spiritual substances that keep us alive and working to accomplish God's will in our lives.

You are what you eat.  If we want to be like Christ, we must daily consume His spiritual essence of Godliness found in His Word.

Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash 

What You are Worth?

How much is a grill cheesed sandwich worth?  A couple slices of bread, a slice of cheese, some butter and then grill it for a couple minutes.  It might cost you $1.50 at a restaurant but actually, it is worth whatever someone will pay for it.  If no one buys that $1.50 sandwich than it is not worth $1.50.  If someone would pay $28,000 for it than that $1.50 sandwich is worth $28,000.  That is what someone paid to own a grilled cheese sandwich with the image of the Virgin Mary on it.

Was that sandwich worthy of $28,000?  Most people would say no but someone thought it was.  That is how everything is valued in this world.  Whatever you own is only worth what someone will pay for it.  We might not see it as worthy or perhaps as worth more, but the final decision on worth is the one who buys it.

What are you worth?  If you were kidnapped would someone pay a million dollars to get you back?  If you were to sell all you owned would that be your worth?  How do we know what we are worth?  Are we worth our annual income?  What is the price of a human life?

God is the one who determined what you are worth.  You are more valuable to God then your income or bank account.  All that you own, all your material possessions do not come close to your worth.  Look at the stars above.  You are more valuable than all of them put together.  Look at the animals and plants where you live.  You were made in the image of God and are more precious than all of creation here on earth.  There is nothing in creation which God values more than you.

To pay the ransom for you God gave His precious son, Jesus Christ. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1: 18-19

Sin had you in its grip.  You were destined for that spiritually empty life which ended in the lake of eternal fire. God redeemed you with the most valuable item in this universe and every universe, dimension or existence you can think of.

Are you worthy of such a price to be paid for you?  Most people might say no but God knew you were.  Live your life with the humility of a chunk of dirt formed into a person, but also as one loved, cherished and found worthy by God.

It is a mystery how we can be so valuable to God, but He bought you.  All that you have and are, is His. Give Him all glory and honor and praise for He is the one who is actually the worthy one.

Who is the Jew?

Have you ever thought about what the word 'Jew' means?  In Hebrew, the word for the Jewish people is Yehudim.  It comes from the Hebrew word for praise, worship, and thanksgiving.  A person who is Jewish is meant to praise and worship God.  In fact, his very presence is a witness to the love and power of God.

If it had been up to the will of man, the Jews would have been wiped off the face of the earth long ago.  The name 'Jew' has been used as a curse word for centuries.  The Jew has been hated, cursed, murdered, and vilified throughout history.  Shakespeare used a Jew as the villain in The Merchant of Venice.  Martin Luther railed against the Jew in a language so vile that I would never quote it here.  Jews were scapegoats by Hitler, the Russians and almost every nation in Europe.

Strange that so many see the people of praise and worship to God as the vilest of people on earth.  Even today many see the Jew as the villain in the Middle East.  Anti-semitism is growing in Europe and around the world.  Even in the United States people are turning their backs on Israel and the Jews.

When Jesus was crucified a sign hung over his head saying "King of the Jews".  King of the Yehudim.  King of praise to God.  Everything Jesus did in his life brought praise and worship to God.  Even his death was praise and worship to God.

The people who follow Jesus must do likewise.  We who follow the way of Jesus must bring praise to God in our lives.  Jesus is king of the Yehudim.  He is king of those who praise God.  King of the worshippers of God.

The Jew owes his existence to God, just as the Christian does.  Satan is determined to destroy the Jew and the Christian.  We are both vessels of praise, worship, and thanksgiving to God.  We are Yehudim.

Photo Credit: Happy happy joy by Smoochi

Your Scroll of Days

Did you know that God has a book where all of your days have been written down?  The days and actions of your life were recorded long before you even existed.  That does not mean you do not have free will.  It means God knew what you would do from eternity past.

Psalm 139:16b says "...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

The word for book is sefer, which is actually a scroll.  So God has written down on a scroll all the days of your life.  A scroll is not like a book in some ways.  You can not just flip to the back of a scroll and see how it ends.  You have to unroll the scroll through each day until you come to the end in order of what was written.  As you read through a scroll you unwind what you are reading towards and what you have read is rolled up behind you.  This way you can only see what portion you are presently reading and not the past or the future.

You are living that area of your life written on the scroll which is in the here and now.  You are not to go back to the past to relive it.  What has been done, is done.  We must accept that and trust God to use our past for good.  We can not look to the future.  To live in the future today is to live in a dream world of what we hope.  It accomplishes nothing except to take time away from today.

Focus on today.  Focus on the plan of God which He has opened up for you this day.  Live your life today to the fullness of God's will. Living in the moment will help lead you to what has been appointed for you in the future.  A future full of God's blessings and grace.

Photo Credit: Torah by Lawrie Cate

God makes the Sun Rise on the Evil

Could you imagine what the world would be like if the sun only shined down on what is good?  What would it be like if only the beauty of the world was illuminated and not the ugly?  What if the sinners and those who do evil only lived in darkness while the godly and righteous people of God were the only people who could live in the light of the sun?

It would change the world.  It would be so different that life would not be anything like it is today.  Not only would the world change, but the sun would also have to be altered. It would have to cease shining light to some degree.  The sun would require a bright light shining from parts of it while having dark areas with no light emanating from it.  It would no longer be the light of the whole world.

Matthew 5:44-45 says, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven; for he makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain to the just and the unjust."

Just as the sun shines on the just and the unjust, the Christian is to be a light to the just and the unjust.  Those who persecute you will expect you to hate them, but when you return love for hate, they see the light of God in your life.  We must shine forth with the radiance of God's love so that the world will seek out that light.

Shine forth regardless of your circumstances.  Bring light into the darkness of evil.  God has made you a light to the world, a light to shine forth and draw all men to the presence of God.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

What We Must Do to Heal Our Land

My nation, The United States of America, is in trouble.  People are pointing their fingers at everyone else saying they are the problem.  The real problem, according to what I read in the bible, is the Christian.

2 Chronicles 7:14 says "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Too many Christians think that praying for this country is what is needed.  I couldn't count the number of times I have been in the presence of groups who prayed for this country.  Leaders are constantly telling their congregations to pray for the country.  Prayer is very important but it is not the first thing this verse says to do.  We ignore the words 'shall humble themselves'.

Humility is more than just giving God credit for our actions.  The Hebrew word for humble is 'rpk'  which is pronounced kaw-nah'.   It means to bring into subjection, subdue, be brought down and vanquish.

How many of us have brought their bodies into subjection?  Have we vanquished our own desires for comfort for Christ?  Have we truly brought down self from the throne of our lives and subdued our will for His?  I confess that I have fallen way short of true humility.

This means more than going to church or singing in the choir.  It means more than having prayer before meals or having a picture of Jesus hanging on your wall.  It means actual affliction of self.  It means following Christ to places and situations where you do not want to be.  It means to frustrate your own desires for God.

Does that sound harsh?  Humility is not some namby-pamby word that is easy to accomplish.  It can only be accomplished when we fully submit to God, allowing Him to fully work in our lives. We must follow Paul's example in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest,....I myself should become disqualified."  In some versions, the word discipline is substituted with 'buffet'.

If we want this country to turn from its wicked ways, it is up to the Christian.  We are all called to preach the Gospel making disciples, not just believers.  We are called to sacrifice our lives, not simply to die but to live completely for Christ.

First, you must humble yourself for this verse to work and heal our land.  We in America do not know what true humility is.  We must learn humility if we want Christ to heal and reign in our country or in any country we might live in.

Photo Credit: Boy Scouts Retire Flags by Fort George G Meade Public Affairs Office

Within the Womb of God

Is it hard to imagine that God has a womb?  In the Hebrew language, the word for womb is "rechem".  Rechem comes from the word Racham which can mean womb, but it can also mean a deep, tender compassion, and mercy.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he was told that he must be born again.  Nicodemus was surprised by this statement. "Can a man enter his mother's womb to be born when he is old?"  Of course, it is physically impossible, but a man can enter the womb of God's mercy and be spiritually born again. 

Every birth requires a womb and a spiritual birth is no different.  It is that rechem of God, that spiritual womb of His love, protection, and compassion, where our lives are nurtured.  Within the rechem of God, we find His loving mercy.   How can we mature to become the person God planned without his rechem for us to develop and grow within.

The womb is a place of protection and nurturing.  This is where you are kept safe so that you can mature and develop into the person God planned.   With the help of God, you will emerge at last in His image.

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The Christian Faith is not Blind Faith

Blind faith is not Biblical.  Too often a Christian will answer a question about their belief with "Just have faith".  That is like saying a person has to commit intellectual suicide to become a Christian.  If you don't have an answer to a question about Christianity, you need to investigate and find the answer.

"...and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" 1 Peter 3:15b''

The Bible says trusting in Jesus for salvation is the only way to God.  Does it take blind faith to accept Jesus as savior?  No.  Read the Bible and you will find time and time again where God tells of future events which later happened.  Prophecies from God always come true.  Many are coming true today.  That is proof that the Bible comes from God who is outside of our limit of time.  God has the power to get His word to you perfectly and the prophecies show that the Bible is from Him.

Non-Christians think Christians are afraid of science and will deny science to follow their blind faith.  Christians never have to fear science. Science is of God.  He created it.  The Catholic Church demanded scientist to follow what the Church said was true because they feared the truth.  Christians should never fear the truth.  The truth is of God.

The Bible says that God hung the world on nothing. (Job 26:7) Others were saying it sat on the back of a turtle, but the Bible spoke the scientific truth.

The Bible is not a science book but it does contain scientific facts.  It says the earth is a sphere, waters cycle from the river to ocean to the sky and back to the land, and other scientific facts that many times man didn't know until just the last couple hundred years.

If the Bible says something that you do not understand, and you can not find the answer by investigating, never fall back on 'blind faith'.  Look to Jesus.  He has never lied to you.  He has never failed you.  He has always been with you and watched over you.  His promises are always kept.  To trust Jesus is not blind faith.  You are trusting someone who has a perfect past history of truth in your life.  Trusting Jesus is sure faith.

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The Programmer

Your brain is a very fast and highly intelligent computer with an enormous memory capacity.  Your brain puts any supercomputer to shame.

What if you had a supercomputer for your own use?  Think of the number of kitty pictures and videos you could store on it.  If your playing a video game there would be no waiting or buffering before you could start that game of Pong.  Everything and anything you ever hoped for in a computer would be right there for your use.

But what if no one programmed it before you got it?  No operating system, no graphics program, no anything except a blank empty memory on your supercomputer.  That wonderfully made supercomputer would be just one large paperweight, useful for nothing.

Your brain also would be worthless without someone programming it.  Your heart wouldn't beat, your lungs would never breathe.  Every organ in your body would just sit there with no knowledge of what to do.  Your body needs to have information sent to each organ, gland, nerve, and muscle in order to function.

A programmer is necessary to input the proper programs into your brain so that your body will function properly.  That program is so fast, intricate and multitasking that only a master programmer could ever come close to accomplishing such a marvelous work. 

God is not some old man who doesn't know how the computer age works.  He invented the greatest computers and perfectly programmed them at the beginning of time.  Birds can fly because he programmed them too.  Monarch butterflies after many generations fly back to the same places in the south because God programmed them too.

There is just one problem with your programming. The Sin Virus is constantly trying to destroy God's programming.  Every time we sin, the virus is eating away at the perfect program God created within you.  Sin is the destroyer of the mind.  Sin will slowly consume the mind unless we seek the programmer to restore our programming and renew our minds.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God."  Romans 12:2

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Your Apocalypse

Someday you will see the apocalypse.  You will be there and so will everyone else.  When we think of The Apocalypse, we think of terrible and awesome judgment from God upon the earth.  We think of death and destruction.

The word apocalypse comes from two root word. "Apo" means to remove or take away. The other root word "Kalupsis" means a veil or covering.  Together they mean "The removing of the veil" 

For the Christian, the apocalypse is talking about the wedding between the bride of Christ and Jesus, the bridegroom.  In Revelation 19:7-9 we find at the end of the Tribulation period when Jesus comes back on a white horse to rescue mankind, the Bride of Christ is revealed.  The veil which hid who she was has been removed for all to see.  The apocalypse of the bride, the removing of the veil, is accomplished to reveal her to the world.

For the Non-Christian, the apocalypse of Judgment is in their future.  All their sins and rebellions against God will be revealed to them.  Every careless word, every lie, every dishonest and evil act will be seen by them and they will finally realize the error of their ways.   They will then look upon the God who they have denied and realize that He truly is LORD.  The veil will be removed from their eyes and they will know their sins and who they have sinned against.

In a way, every Christian has already had an apocalypse.  Each one has already realized that they have sinned against God.  They have recognized Jesus as Lord and now follow him instead of rebelling against him.  The veil of sin which blinded them has been removed and now they will never face judgment.

What apocalypse will you see?  I hope and pray it is not of Judgment for your sins.

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Are We Promised Tomorrow?

I attend a small house church and yesterday Bill, one of our members, died.  He knew Jesus as his savior and today he is in Heaven enjoying the face to face presence of Jesus Christ.  I am happy for him and yet sad because people here will miss him.

I hate to think how tragic it would have been if Bill had not trusted Jesus as savior.  Today he would be in eternal torment, shut out from the presence of God.  Every day, all over the world, people are dying without Christ.  Many think they will have tomorrow but tomorrow never comes.

If you were to die today, what reason would you give God to allow you into Heaven?  Good works? Your family?  Everyone will get into Heaven?  Jesus said, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36  It is faith in Jesus alone that saves.

You who know Jesus as your savior, do people around you know Jesus?  How will they know if you never tell them?  Will tomorrow be too late for them?

"For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?"  Romans 10:13-14

Eternity is just a breath away.  No one is promised tomorrow.  No one is promised even another heartbeat.  Are you ready?  Are your friends and family ready?  Who will tell them if not you?

If you want to accept Jesus as your Savior Click Here for more information.

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