Where Are The Watchmen (Part 4)

“Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if some who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do is just and right–if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil–that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live. Ezekiel 33:12-16 NIV

It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not keep it.

The sinner has a better chance of making it to heaven once they repent–turning completely away from their sin and turning to God than the self-righteous who claimed to know God and yet will not live according to God’s ways–loving all!

What we see in Washington with the religious-right GOP (including trump is neither a Christian or Republican)–are those who proclaim to know God, yet do not know how to live Godly lives.

We know from God’s Word that He hates liars and lies.

We know from God’s Word that when the righteous turn to evil, they have lost their claim to heaven.

We know from God’s Word that He came down to earth in the likeness of sinful flesh to take sin upon Himself so we might be saved.

We know from God’s Word that it is better for us if we never claim to know God than to claim to know Him and then reject His ways.

This is what happens when we study God’s Word: we know! Only those who never study, never understand, can refute the truth of God’s Word and humiliate themselves in front of others. 

My take from the above-mentioned passage of scripture is that Pence is leading the pack (Sessions, Gorsuch, Ryan, McConnell, et al) of those who claim to be righteous, but are trusting in their own righteousness and rejecting God’s Word–to love. If they were truly righteous, they would defend the rights of the poor and the needy, embrace all human life and encourage love for one another. This is not what they do. They make distinctions as to who they’ll care about and who they’ll reject. They choose corporations and generous donors over the needs of Everyday Americans.

At the moment, they (GOP) are rejecting: any and all persons who do not look like them, worship like them or live like them. Though they claim to be “pro-life” they are actually, pro-fetus because they care less about the life after it appears and we know this by all the legislation they promote that denies access to healthcare for the poor, education for the poor, and opportunity to gain wealth since they want to hoard all the wealth for themselves.

The GOP want to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that serves the poor and women. They claim their stance against abortion is why, but if they impede women from having access to birth control and other services that helps to keep living (cancer screening, etc.), they prove they are misogynistic and nowhere in the Bible are we told to mistreat women.

So, in Christ Jesus (those believing and living according to His Word) you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29 NIV (parenthetical is mine).

We know that many of the “religious-right” confuse Old Testament historical knowledge with “contemporary application,” but that’s because they do not understand what their relationship with Christ should produce.  Yes, we can look back at what God said through the prophets and apply what much is said to us in the 21st Century. That is for our understanding, not our doing. God used the prophets to speak to the people “before” He appeared in the earth. It is because of His appearance in the earth and His return to heaven, leaving behind His Spirit–that we can “all” have access to Him, directly.

Okay, I know some will be offended by what I’ve already said, but I will not retract any of it. People are offended by truth especially when truth reveals their hypocrisy. I will speak His truth no matter how many are offended for people have neither heaven or hell for me–only God does. I’m not sacrificing my mansion to appease people. And those who do–turn from righteousness to wickedness and evil–have a place reserved for them, too– in the lake of fire.

We should carefully consider who we put into positions of authority and power and know by their love for others whether or not they belong to Christ. If they have no love for others, they cannot rightfully claim a relationship with Christ. Pause and meditate on that and willingly receive truth about the nation’s leaders in Washington. Time to make a change.

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Choosing Truth!

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15,15 NIV

Making choices is a daily task and having an opportunity to choose didn’t begin with us, but continues with us.

How many choices do we make on a daily basis? For some, too many to count and for others, too few to matter –they would think. We choose what we’re wearing, how we start our day (acknowledging God or not), we choose to either breakfast or not, we choose to be good and kind or not, we choose to be helpful and compassionate or not. We choose to live a life that’s pleasing to God or not. We choose–not God!

Everything that we “DO” is a choice! We can choose to live righteously or in opposition to God’s Word–it is a choice–as is all active, deliberate behavior.

Now, some naysayers would say there are some things that are not a choice and they are right. None of us has ever chosen our parents. None of us has ever chosen the race or ethnicity into which we were born. None of us has ever chosen our intellectual ability at birth (many choose to enhance with education). None of us has ever chosen our gender at birth (though some are not choosing to rearrange God’s perfection).

But now notice–what said earlier “ALL ACTIVE, DELIBERATE BEHAVIOR” is a choice and no one can deny that truth.  All sexual behavior on the part of the adult who is supposed to know better is a choice. Engaging children in sexual behavior is criminal and the choice of sick-minded deviants. Whether straight, gay, bi-sexual or whatever label a person chooses--any sexual activity in opposition to God’s Word is SIN and it is a choice people make.

However, while this blog post is not about sexual sin, explicitly–it is about choosing Truth. We can choose to follow God and obey or not. It is our choice. What we have to remember is the consequences of our choices and they are not all good. Even when we obey, bad things happen to good people, but if God has designed it–the results will be good. But when people disobey God, they only have coming to them what’s due for disobedience. Though man may attempt to change God’s Truth in order to pacify the masses, those responsible for making Truth a lie will reap the consequences of their choices.

As we are reminded in Revelation about the lake of fire–while we yet live we have a choice to make and any who choose not to serve The Lord will reap their place in the lake of fire. Take a minute to reflect upon what has been said today–if you know The Lord, serve Him with gladness and know your reward awaits you. If you know others who don’t know The Lord, please share this post with them so they will have time to make an intelligent choice that will save them from the lake of fire. Choosing Truth is the only way to live without regret.

The Truth Leaves Us Naked!

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Hebrews 10:26,27 NIV

Going back to the garden of Eden, when Satan manipulated Eve with deception, twisting God’s Truth, both Adam and Eve were left aware of their nakedness because of sin. Before the fall, they were naked but not aware of their nakedness because of their obedience–they were pure in heart.

Truth exposes lies–no matter who’s telling the lie–when the truth is known–the lie is exposed and they are left feeling naked without their cloak–the lie intentionally meant to cover up truth.

There is no excuse for someone lying to cover up truth–eventually–truth will find its way to the surface and all lies are exposed for all to see. So why bother to lie in the first place?

Many people lie to hide something or to avoid something. The problem–avoidance causes more problems and lies are always uncovered. The Word tells us that Satan is the father of lies, so every time we lie–we proclaim Satan is our father. Who really wants to claim Satan as their spiritual father? Only those who are so deeply influenced by him that they fail to see truth.

Who has been persuaded or influenced by Satan’s lies? Anyone who claims that sin is no longer sin lies and the truth is not in them. Anyone who encourages people to live in opposition to God’s Word is a liar and they demonstrate the influence of their father. Anyone who lies to make themselves to be something they are not or to promote themselves when they are nothing, demonstrates their lack of integrity and who their father is.

If  a person does not know truth, that’s one thing. But when we know truth and continue to perpetuate a lie, we have made a mockery of the Work on the Cross. Jesus is coming back one day, but not to sacrifice Himself again for our sins. When we continue in sin after knowing truth, we have condemned ourselves and we know the penalty of sin–death–first spiritually and then naturally, spending eternity in the lake of fire, prepared for liars.

We who have experienced God for ourselves know Truth and everything we do should demonstrate our knowledge of Truth. We cannot condone lying for any reason nor should we attempt to hide truth with lies perpetuated by others. When we lack integrity–and liars lack integrity–why would anyone trust us for any reason? If people don’t trust us, why would they listen to us? If they won’t listen to us, how can we convince them of God’s goodness? Lying has its consequences and none of it is good.

Instead lying about things, let’s just expose ourselves by telling the truth and then the world will know, we can be trusted and heard because we are living examples of Truth and God’s Word.

On The Journey–Teth

You have dealt well with Your servant,
O LORD, according to Your word.

Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.

You are good, and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.

The proud have forged a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.

Their heart is as fat as grease,
But I delight in Your law.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.

The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.

The ninth letter of the alphabet and the ninth stanza bring home a reality that most of us can recognize.

How often has someone attempted to tell us how good  God is–before we finally opened our eyes and hearts to realize how true that statement was and is? Looking back on our lives before we accepted God’s truth and His ways, we went our own way. But because He had plans and purpose for our lives–He kept us. And then He allowed us to fall into the pitfalls the enemy had laid because we didn’t want to hear truth, and He rescued us from ourselves.

We didn’t come into knowledge of His truth until we had been afflicted by life and our disobedience. But once we came into the knowledge of His truth and understood just how much He loves us–many of us pursued knowledge of Him through His Word and wanted to cement our relationship with Him.

Can we see ourselves in this stanza? Have we reached a point where we understand that we need to know His Word to overcome all the trials and challenges that are bound to come? When others lie about us–do we recognize the enemy’s attempt to draw us away from God, pulling us astray–forgetting God’s Word?

People full of false pride will lie about us, on us and to our faces when they are influenced by the enemy and have not come to a place in their lives where they acknowledge God. What should our response be to liars? We let them know their lies have been exposed and then we pray for them, encouraging them to seek God and His righteousness. We let them know that God hates liars and the lake of fire is prepared for liars, but because of His love, they have an opportunity to get right with God.

Pride goes before the fall of many–those who are determined to never admit when they’re wrong. Acknowledging where we went wrong and demonstrating a willingness to change is a character trait of the mature. Always seeking the limelight, no matter what a person has to do to get there is a demonstration of character flaws, by those full of false pride and very immature. They will never admit they were wrong.

But in the end, when we reach the place–where the writer is–we own our mistakes and acknowledge we need to know God’s Word and allow His plans to be fulfilled in our lives. Once we get into His Word and allow His Word to get into us, we recognize for ourselves that His Word is indeed more precious than silver and gold.

 

 

Is It Time, Yet?

“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:1 NIV)

Through the prophet, Jeremiah, The Lord speaks and tells him to share with the people that there will come a time when He will be the God of all the families of Israel and they we will be His people. Now, at the time this was spoken, the children of Israel were in captivity, trying to survive. God tells them all who survive will find favor in the wilderness and He will build them up again into a great nation–when they realize who He is and obey (to keep this context, one must read all of Jeremiah). They could not see it then pretty much the same way people don’t understand what God is saying now.

Before the appearance of Christ–the prophets spoke to the literal children of Israel. Now, that we who believe have been adopted into the family, the prophets yet speak–to the literal nation of Israel as well as spiritual Israel–those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

And yet, we have not reached a place in history where all the families of Israel (natural and spiritual) have chosen to obey God, so can we say–the time is now? With all of the dissidence and chaos in the Middle East, Asia, and seemingly all of the earth, I don’t think we have reached that time yet. Of course, I’ve drawn this conclusion based upon the current events that are constantly indicating a lack of reverence for the ways of God in how we treat people.

For as long as people are influenced by the enemy more than they are influenced by Holy Spirit, we have not reached the time, the prophet reveals. When people choose to kill spouses and children rather than just leaving–it’s not time. When children are abused and killed by parents–it’s not time. When living in opposition to everything God says in His Word is promoted from the highest authorities (wickedness in high places)–it’s not time. Just as those in Israel are being persecuted and killed for their faith because they do not want to harm others, and being brought into captivity, so are those who are influenced by the enemy–that grandmaster of hate–Satan–who influences others to obey the lusts of their flesh more than the Word of God.

But there is hope for those who refuse to cave to the political agenda to undermine The Word of God. We must hold fast to His Word, obey His Word, and watch as His Will is revealed in all the earth. For those of us who are willing to obey, promote the Gospel, and love as God loves–we will see this time come to past–when all will recognize that our God is God! We will receive our just rewards for obedience and allegiance to Him rather than Satan and all of his cohorts. We will spend eternity in heaven while all the rest will spend eternity with their master in the lake of fire. We will be victorious over the influences of the enemy and we will watch him–as he sees his own demise exposed for all the world to see.

Is it time, yet? Not yet, but soon and very soon, we will see our Risen Savior coming in all His glory to take us to be with Him.

The First Death Is Just The Beginning!

“Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Unless Jesus returns before we take our final breath, we will die (or fall asleep) and our end will only be for the earthly measurement of time. The heavenly measurement of time begins when He returns and all the dead in Him (those who died believing Him to be their Savior) shall rise at the sound at the trumpet and they shall be judged first.

It is not the first death that we need to concern ourselves while we live. It is the second death–the assignment of eternal resting place–in heaven reigning with Jesus or in the lake of fire, being tormenting continually for eternity.

While I know there are those who do not believe in heaven or hell, according to God’s Truth they do exist and in the end, we’ll all discover their existence. But while we wait for the end to come, we must know that our final resting place for eternity is determined by what we do while we have breath to live. Notice what John says, about who ends up in the lake of fire.

“The cowardly–those who are always fearful because they do not know that love casts out fear. The fearful do not know love for it they did, they would not fear. The unbelieving–those who refuse to accept God’s existence so they can do whatever their flesh dictates. The vile–those who do every imaginable evil thing they can without concern about how their actions impact others. The murderers–those who have no respect for life and consistently are responsible for the deaths of others. The sexually immoral–those who use sex as a tool for pleasure with anybody and everybody without discrimination or adherence to God’s plan for sex. Those who practice magic--misusing gifts of discernment and abilities given by God for monetary gain or fame. The idolators--those who worship things made by the hands of man or people–holding the things and people in higher esteem than God. The liars–those who twist and malign truth (especially God’s Truth) for their own personal agendas in order to influence others into doing what is pleasing in their own sight–totally ignoring God’s plan for man.” All these–when they have chosen to do these things–will end up in the lake of fire, unless they choose to live as God desires before the first death.

No person–can send another to hell and God won’t either. The eternal resting place in which we end up is determined by what we do when we are alive, having the ability to choose and choose wrongly. Every person–believer and unbeliever–chooses their final destination and they have no one to blame but themselves.

No matter how our end comes the first time–illness, accident, war, acts of violence or old age, our greatest concern should be the second death.

Those Who Understand, Have No Need of Control!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” (Psalm 32:8,9 NIV)

God’s response to David’s entreaty was that He, Almighty God would instruct him, teach, and counsel him and at all times, would keep His eyes upon him. Our great and awesome God is the same God that spoke to David and He is yet speaking to us--He will instruct, teach, and counsel us–we have no need for those who have no understanding of His ways to teach us anything, provide us with instruction of anything and they certainly cannot counsel us about anything that pertains to God and His ways.

Those who are looking to men’s legislation or judgments are really wasting their time. The only thing that will be proven by the interception of men in the wake of God’s way of living, is that men and women will constantly be jerked around by the whims of men. God’s instructions have been written–not only in the book most know as a bible, but in the hearts of all who have a relationship with Him. Holy Spirit dwells within the consummate Believer who knows God cannot lie and He said what He meant and meant what He said. It is Holy Spirit who provides us with understanding as He hears from God to direct us and counsel us at all times. Without God, we become like those who have gone before us–lost and wander around like mindless creatures, not having a clue as to which direction to take.

But we see in current events that whenever the flesh is tickled or set ablaze with lust within those who have no fear or reverence of God, all must be embroiled in the mindlessness and only those who are standing firm in their faith, will survive to see the glory of The Lord prevail in all things. We are warned in The Word that flesh and spirit are enemies–we either allow flesh to dictate what we do or we allow Holy Spirit to dictate what we do. Holy Spirit will not force His will upon anyone and neither should man.

Judgment, for all who sin and especially those who lie, has already been determined and unless the guilty parties change their ways and see the need to have God in their lives, their end is established–in the lake of fire.

Those who stand firm have no need for godless men with no understanding to instruct us in the ways of a living God, who is yet keeping watch over us. It is the godless who need to be careful and watchful of the mighty hand of God. The same Hand–who comforts and protects His children, also delivers a blow to those who mislead God’s children.

Be encouraged! We are not like the horses or mules with no understanding that need others to lead us around when they have no direction. We know the way–and Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Light!

Exposed!

“For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. ‘So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.’ ” (Luke 8:17,18 NLT)

Words of wisdom for all who will hear,

Words of Judgment for all who fear,

The second coming–Him Returning for His church,

The body of Believers from all walks of life,

For those who sought peace, and tried to calm strife,

When He comes, all truth–and secrets exposed

Those concealed by cold hearts who refused to believe,

Will finally understand, why God created man,

In His image, to live as we ought, by His commands,

To Love Him and obey and love others as self,

With this stance we make known, by our love, we are His!

When we stand before Him, with all exposed,

No more secrets or lies, souls laid bare for His inspection,

Too late for us, to seek time for more introspection

About how we should have lived, before He returns.

Now, why it is day, all can see clearly,

Let us live life by His Word, and hold to it dearly,

Not willing to be left behind or thrown into the lake,

Of fire with hell and all liars because of our mistakes.

If what we do in darkness cannot stand the light of truth,

Why then, do we do it? All done in darkness will be exposed

By the Light, of Truth as He speaks to us all in the end,

I pray for myself as well as for you, that all we will hear,

Is welcome and well done, my friends!

The Penalty for Lying!

“A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.” (Proverbs 9:5 NKJV)

I’m praying for any and everyone who lives to lie and cause harm to others–simply to gain monetary benefit or center stage with all lights on them.

The problem for liars is that God has already addressed their final outcome–they will thrown into the lake of fire–no escape route possible. There–with hell and Satan and all the other demonic forces-they shall be for all eternity.

I remember some years ago when I was teaching Bible Study at my home and a little boy asked me about hell. I asked him if he had ever burned himself on something hot and he had. So, I told him to imagine that hell–is 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x hotter than anything he had experienced. His eyes bucked and he made a decision right then–he did not want to go to hell.

Many people don’t believe hell is real because they don’t believe God is real and they certainly won’t pay any attention to anything in the Bible. That is so sad. If they understood the love God has for us and He does not desire to see anyone He loves thrown in the lake of fire, they would do better. That’s His desire–but we all make choices–to do what is right or to do what is wrong.

Remember this–Satan is the father of liars and his job is to kill, steal, and destroy–he has no problem influencing others to do his bidding so he can sit back at laugh at their folly.

Liars–all of them whether pathological or convenient or systematic–always create problems for the innocent. They gather to themselves false witnesses and those who proclaim to know a matter when they don’t, are also destined to be thrown in the lake of fire because they too–are lying.

If we only spent our time doing what is right, we’d never have to worry about doing what is wrong–for us or anyone else.

“The Truth shall make us free” from the penalty of being in the lake of fire, so let’s determine to always tell the truth, no matter how much it may hurt us, or cause us to lose that temporary monetary gain or fame. Integrity is still a valued virtue and I’d rather maintain my integrity in all things that lose it for money or fame. I belong to Jesus and I will proclaim truth as He reveals it and I will not become part of gangland mentality in destroying the lives of others. Satan is not my father and I will not give him that place of honor–by lying.

Everything we do has a consequence–we will either be rewarded or penalized–what is your choice today?