Where Are The Watchmen (Part 2)

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,” and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will for die for their sin and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn them the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.” Ezekiel 33:7-9 NIV

Where are the wicked, O Lord that I might warn them to give up their wickedness? If we believe we are called to be watchmen, this should be our daily cry–where are they so we can warn them and not have to be concerned about their blood being on us.

This one truth I have learned long ago: My job is tell people what God said; I do not have to convince them, they have a right to accept or reject what is said. If I don’t tell them what God says, then I put myself in jeopardy, and no one–absolutely no one–is worth me losing my mansion in heaven.

Therefore, I will continue to sing His praises and telling the world–every chance I get–confess, repent, and seek a better relationship with Him. This is especially true of those in the White House. Every day, more information is revealed that there is indeed collusion, coordination, cooperation, participation with Russia and that Russia has been instrumental in installing the current resident. Someone needs to sit down with history books, the Constitution, the Declaration of the Independence, and the Bill of Rights, read and understand in order to help this country move forward with a better understanding of what a Patriot really is. A Patriot cares about the country and will stand upright, ready to fight for country, more than aligning themselves with a president.

Here’s the Word from God–though paraphrased for contemporary use–for all the GOP including trump and clan.

I will keep saying this until the evil is removed from the White House and sanity is restored across the nation. Though wickedness may reign for a moment, its time is coming and all the world shall see how God deals with those who commit wickedness against His people.

Please continue to read Ezekiel 33 for I shall continue with Part 3, another day. Sometimes, we simply need to meditate on segments until they are deeply rooted in our hearts so we’ll know how to move forward.

In the meantime, I shall continue laying the foundation–alerting the masses that I’m running for president and seeking their support. I believe as an Everyday American, with no Russian ties, no political baggage and no celebrity status that I can and will serve Americans well.

 

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Where Are The Watchmen? (Part 1)

Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchmen accountable for their blood.‘ Ezekiel 33:2-6

Every born-again believer is called to be a watchman for the rest of the world. When we see danger coming, it is our responsibility to sound the alarm and warn the people. When we don’t do our job, and people are harmed, God will hold us–who refuse to sound the alarm, making sure the people are warned of impending danger–accountable for all loss of life and any harm to others.

I take God’s Word seriously and have been sounding the alarm for months. Some have derided my attempts to warn, some have listened, but many have ignored. The time is coming and it is soon approaching where every man, woman and child will have to make a decision in resisting the impending doom about to fall upon America and our democracy. We can submit and succumb to the fascism looming, or we can resist and remember how we came to be in the first place–fighting back to protect our freedom.

I won’t belabor the point, but I would encourage any and all reading this post to read all God said through Ezekiel and to understand the importance we all play. I don’t mean shouting from the rooftops, “The sky is falling.” I mean exclaiming to all you meet and greet and interact with on social media that a plot is afoot to deny Americans basic rights–freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to vote for our choices, without interference. Don’t take my word for it, read the independent publications as well as the Main Stream Media publications. Knowing is half the battle; how we win depends upon what we do with the knowledge we obtain. If we do nothing, we get nothing; if we act upon what we receive, we make the world a better place for all.

So, what are you going to do? I’m going to continue fighting back, alerting everyone that the Republican Party has been compromised by white supremacist groups and they desire that no brown or black people reside in this country. They are fearful of having “white skin tones” obliterated and are in dire straits to protect and preserve “white privilege” at the expense of the others–without regard to the fact that we are “one human race” established by God, not men. They are guided by hatred and bigotry, not love and they observe religious activities, but do not have a relationship with Jesus.

I’m Living to fight all the way to the White House so everyone will know–there is a voice speaking out and up for the Everyday American who loves all and recognizes all life as precious–regardless of the outer complexion.

Whose Wisdom–God’s or Man’s?

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1 Corinthians 2:4-13 NIV

ATTENTION ALL CHRISTIANS:

Stop taking The Word of God out of context and teach His Word with the power of His Spirit behind it–who has no biases or intent to deceive.

Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile. So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. 1 Corinthians 3:18-23 NIV

In order to be a “Christian” one must be a follower of Christ–doing things the way He did them, not the rulers. For He did what His Father directed Him to do. Yes, there were many watching Him and they became envious of Him because He did not rely upon their “wisdom” but the wisdom of the One who sent Him. Since they “the rulers” did not understand this, they conspired and plotted against Jesus out of their own insecurities.

When people are insecure–they began to feel insignificant and jealousy arises in them and takes over every thing they do. It is their insecurities that feed the need for greed of money, power and control over people when God does not want “mere mortals” controlling anyone. He prefers all submit to Holy Spirit control. Notice–I said “He prefers” not He forces–still leaving the choice left up to the individual.

Now–hate me all you want–I don’t really care–no one reading this blog has a heaven or hell for me and I refuse to back down or back away from the mission–my assignment–to keep people warned of the falsehoods and blatant lies, so-called Christians–the pseudo-christians are telling and lying on God. GOD DID NOT CHOOSE TRUMP TO BE PRESIDENT! CHURCH LEADERS WHO SAY OTHERWISE ARE LYING AND GOD WILL DEAL WITH THEM.

Unless a person is totally inept at understanding The Word, the scriptural passages above confirm that people chose Trump, not God–and the church leadership pushed him as God’s choice out of greed–for power, money, and control of the masses–so they could “take away” choice for many. The God of Heaven is a Pro-Choice God–He has always honored our choices, but He has never forced us to do anything. 

The end result of all these “pseudo-church leaders” is that many people are being turned off–not only from churches, but their faith in God, because their faith in people has led them astray.

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:12-14 NIV

Let me boast in The Lord for a moment! I am so humbled and honored that He chose me to be a Watchman–one who will warn the people of danger when I see it coming–whether I understand it or not. I write as He directs and I know that my opinion–is worthless–if it does not align with His Word (all of it, not selectively–within the context He intended). 

Therefore, Bruce R. Mills–God’s Man Forever–your opinion of what I write–matters not since you have shown your true colors–or rather that your true faith resides in the liars who lied on God. It is not me who needs to understand God’s Word–as it pertains to “honoring authority” but you and all those like you who have made a mockery of being a Christian with your support of a lunatic. Do you not recognize tyranny when you see it? Did you not know how fascism begins in the heart of one who does not know God? Are you so blinded by loyalty to a party that you have lost sight of God’s plans for the lives of all who Believe? I suggest you take a sabbatical and spend some time in God’s Word, away from those you hold in high esteem, so you can truly hear God speak to your heart as you seek understanding. I am confident that when you recognize God’s Wisdom, you’ll recognize the lie that you helped to promote.

For those who read my blog on a regular basis–please allow this one instance of personal attention so that there is no misunderstanding in future blog posts. I love Bruce with the Love of The Lord, but he has been influenced by the god of this world and thinks he needs to correct me or admonish me on a consistent basis and this needs to stop. I have not heretofore referenced him in any blog post before this one and I will not do so again, but the foolishness has to stop and since I am the one who writes these blogs–the buck stops here. I am totally accountable and responsible for what I write whether people agree with it or not and as long as I know I hear Holy Spirit when He speaks, I will continue to write–encouraging, inspiring, and warning people of the dangers of those who profess to know Christ when their actions tell another story.

May The Lord bless all you do that honors Him, to His glory!

30 Days of Prayer and Praise–10!

Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. You who answer prayer, to you all people will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. Psalm 65 NIV

Day Ten

O Lord,

If the meadows and valleys can shout for joy and sing, surely Your children, those You have chosen as messengers and Watchmen can do no less.

You are the God of our salvation and we have no need to fear what the enemy might do, for You have prepared us in more ways than one to stand firm on Your Word and never waver, never doubt Your faithfulness towards us and to always walk embraced by love and mercy.

As the days unfold, one by one and we see the events revealed that demonstrate the lack of love for You and our brothers and sisters, we can still look to You–our hope and our help–for with You all things are possible and we will know victory in every area of our lives.

For those who are discouraged–encourage their hearts, Lord by speaking to them and reminding them how much loved they are. Give them a desire to keep going and to allow the love of Holy Spirit to flow through their bodies and into their minds, giving them courage and boldness to speak up and stand up for righteousness and to fight against the evil that attempts to overtake us.

Lord, remind those who think they are superior to other human beings that You created one man, one woman and commanded them to multiply and cover the face of the earth as one human race. Though our tongues speak many languages and our skin tones are many hues, we are yet one–one race, one blood, one of Your Children for whom You have prepared a place for us in heaven.

Lord, catheterize every heart and drain all hate from it replacing every void with love, peace, mercy and kindness, with joy overflowing into the lives of all who are around us.

Thank You for granting us an opportunity to spend time with You–allowing You to nurture our souls and replenish our hope and joy as events of the day attempt to drain us. Thank You for loving us enough to use us for good and not evil. Thank You for molding and shaping us to be more like You every morning we rise.

Because of You, O Lord, we can hold our heads high, knowing who we are and what we have in You. Because of You, we can sing out loud our praise for You and never fear what others may think or say. Because of You, we can move forward–desiring nothing more than to see peace and love overflow in the earth so all may come to know You and be glad about it.

Thank You, Lord for one more day to give You praise and to see the marvelous works we know will result in our obedience to You. In Jesus’ name we pray and thank You, Amen!

The Work of Lies!

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job 11:3 KJV

Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom. Job 13:3-5 KJV

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Psalm 40:3,4 KJV

They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. Psalm 62:4-6 KJV

A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies. Proverbs 14:25 KJV

A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Proverbs 19:5 KJV

If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked. Proverbs 29:12 NIV

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Isaiah 59:1-5 KJV

You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live. “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD.  Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ” Ezekiel 13:19-23 NIV

If the truth shall make us free, what then does a lie do? There are many benefits The Lord has for us and then there are consequences–our just reward–whether we do right or we do wrong. This is how our Sovereign God works–faithful to His Word–not ours.

Though I know many will be unsettled for a while with the election recounts–the hope is that truth will prevail and all will know it–whatever it is. But recounting ballots–will only offer half of the truth for if people were kept from voting–there is nothing to recount for them and voter suppression (rigging the election) ran rampant across the nation.

Voter suppression–the act of keeping someone from voting by deceptive means or practices, is a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing people from exercising the right to vote. Those seeking to influence the outcome have used various means of keeping people from voting and they include: Lying about election dates, polling precincts, using robocalls or chatbots on Twitter promoting false information, collecting data through social media profiles and sending false news articles, threatening people with arrests with lies about laws, telling people not to vote or closing polls early with people standing in line because the outcome has been called before all the votes are counted. And of course, we cannot ignore the influence of Russian operatives and the hacking of systems across the country. 

For the most part–voter suppression is achieved when others believe the lies they hear. And they will either not vote or vote for the other candidate.

There is a storehouse of lies promoted by one side–either the campaign team or superpacs on their behalf that have certainly influenced the outcome of the 2016 Election. And whether people want to believe the truth or not–the truth reveals all the lies told.

The lies have several origins–Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, FaceBook False News, Chatbots on Twitter bombarding people with propaganda.

Some of the lies that I’ve discovered include: the situation in Haiti and the Clinton Foundation–the lies were recorded in Clinton Cash (both the book and the video) and promoted throughout the Internet Community faster than wildfire in a drought.

The lie: the Clinton Foundation is not a legal foundation and takes other people’s money to enrich themselves. According to Charity Watch–the Clinton Foundation has a comparable rating to American Red Cross and all the money donated is used to help others.

The lie: Hillary Clinton wants to approve abortions up to 8 months and 8 days. Abortions after 20 weeks are illegal and the 36 week (Boycott36) lie promoted is just that. At 36 weeks–it’s a delivery, not an abortion.

The lie: Hillary Clinton and President Obama are devils and smell like sulfur. Though a lie–it was effective for those who choose not to research truth for themselves.

The lie: The Clintons stole furniture from the White House. Every president can borrow furniture (from other government institutions) upon approval to move into the White House–government property with oversight–and those in charge keep inventory of everything that belongs to the government. They did not steal furniture from the White House–it was taken back to the institution from which it came.

The lie: Hillary Clinton wants to take our guns! She never said this and is only concerned about keeping guns out of the hands of people who commit mass atrocities; she has advocated for “common-sense” gun laws, not taking guns from people.

The email situation–after all the investigation by the House–and all the money spent for the investigation–did not yield anything worth prosecuting, but some folks just won’t let it go.

This could go on for awhile, but the fact-checkers have already determined what is truth and what is a lie, but I guess most people don’t want to hear truth, after believing a lie.

Even though the other candidate–drumpf–lied about just about everything he ever opened his mouth to say, people who had angst regarding the Clintons chose to believe his lies–which are unraveling on a daily basis.

Here’s the thing about the Clintons that I’ve concluded: After being under a microscope for over 30 years, I doubt they are foolish enough to do something illegal or stupid enough to do something that would certainly be reported as soon as known. That’s my take on things.

Of course, the other benefit of being an educator and understanding the value of research is also determining the credibility of the source.

Those who lie will reap their just reward, but those who promote the lies also put themselves in a position to be likened unto the one who told the lie in the first place–just to get the result they want.

So, by December 13th, when the recounting of votes is complete–we shall all know the truth and hopefully, those who have promoted lies will have their consciences seared and they will repent as openly as they lied or promoted the lies.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. Ezekiel 33:6-9 NIV

I do what I do when I hear The Lord speak to my heart–standing up and speaking out for what is right and just in His sight–not man’s.

 

When Leaders Mislead!

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the LORD. “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD.  “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the LORD. “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall. I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the LORD Jeremiah 23:1-4, 11,12. NIV

When I finally understood God’s calling upon my life, this passage of scripture took on a life of its own, rising up in me every time I opened my mouth to speak. It is a constant reminder that when I teach God’s Word, I teach what He says, rightly dividing, analyzing and explaining for the benefit of all who belong to Him. This keeps me honest before Him in all that I do because I am an ambassador of Truth, not seeking to make my name great, but to make His name great.

As an ambassador of Truth (God’s truth, not mine or man’s), I know I must hear Him speak to me before I speak to others. I also know that many will disagree with what I say, but God has reminded me time and time again, it is not me they are rejecting or disagreeing with, but Him. If I taught my opinion, then I would be in a position to receive the just punishment for ignoring God. “Woe” would be my destiny.

But since I do not teach my opinion (and I certainly have one) as it relates to living a righteous life, I have no fear of what destiny holds for me, for my destination is heaven and I will not allow anyone to become an obstacle in reaching my destination–either by believing a lie or teaching one.

Observing what other “leaders” in the Body of Christ are doing–I can only hang my head in shame–for them–for they will receive the just punishment for misleading God’s children. Whenever man (mankind) gets beyond himself and thinks that man is right and God is wrong, there is only thing we can expect–desolation in the land. And when we deliberately mislead others in order to gain favor or control of others–then “woe” is all we can expect.

I claim no greatness when it comes to teaching God’s Word, but I diligently study and seek understanding from Him and I know when He speaks to my heart. That is my claim to greatness–hearing Him speak and obeying. I am a watchman–and as such, I must sound the alarm when danger approaches and when I do–my job is done. Either people will heed the warning or they will not. Whatever they do–is not my responsibility–as long as I know–I’ve completed the task given to me. Therefore, I thank Him daily, that I do not have to worry about the end because He is my beginning, and I can do absolutely nothing worthwhile without Him.

It is to You O Lord, I give the glory! It is to You I give the praise. For You have done so much for me and I will bless Your Holy Name. It is to You, Holy Father, and no one else I give Honor, and all the days of my life–I will bless Your Name!

Being A Watchman!

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’ Ezekiel 33:1-6 NIV

If we have been called by God to promote the Gospel–our assignment is to be a watchman, warning the people of imminent danger when we see it headed our way. We have a job to do and it’s time we get it done.

“Watchmen on the wall–sound the alarm for trouble is coming and I don’t want the blood of others on my hands!”

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:5-8 NIV

I’m sounding the alarm! Blow The Trumpet in Zion–everyone! We have recently seen a dangerous display of one who speaks with a forked tongue. One minute in another country–across the border he plans to wall–a calm, almost boring presentation, but within the same day, a raucous, screaming screech–declaring the gloom and doom for the very people he had just said were such wonderful people.

There may be a mental deficit driving this dual personality or it may simply be–a politician who will say anything to any audience to win their vote. And if–the people who are listening are not careful, they will be caught up in the devastation bound to follow having  man in the White House who doesn’t know east from west or north from south and has no specific plan for anything–other than to win by any means.

And that winning–includes having his campaign team provide him with the “appropriate responses for an interview’ by a Black preacher on Saturday. They’re consulting with Black Republicans so they can make sure they tell him the right thing to say. REALLY! What a joke and a travesty if people believe what they hear when the interview airs because his campaign team is “assisting with the editing.” http://nyti.ms/2cutqWN

At any rate–I’ve sounded the alarm–what people do when they read this–is on them, not me.

A Stronghold in Times of Trouble!

“The Lord reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:7-10 NIV).

If the Lord reigns–not just in the atmosphere–but in our hearts, the world will know peace. Where there is no peace, we do not acknowledge who He is and do not allow Him to govern our lives. If He is not governing our lives–we fall prey to the influence of the enemy and allow his influence to reign in our lives.

But we don’t have to. The Word tells us to “give no place for the devil” and we should heed the Word. But what does that mean?

It means that when we know certain situations or people can open the door for the devil to step in–we should avoid them. Now, there The Word tells us there is no temptation that can confront us that He has not made a way of escape. The escape route that many ignore–is the wisdom to avoid the situation in the first place. If we do not place ourselves or allow others to put us in a position where we can be tempted, we effectively keep the devil’s influence out of our lives.

But when we don’t–heed wise instruction and warnings–the devil’s influence does not creep in–it walks into a situation because we have opened the door. When the devil does what the devil does–influencing others to do what is wrong–who is the guilty party? Is it the one who succumbed to the influence or the one who created the situation by opening the door?

People who have overcome addictions of all types, have nothing to prove to others and especially those who are trying to influence their judgment and behavior. It is not all right for anyone who suffers from addiction to put themselves in harm’s way, nor should they put themselves into a position to be influenced by others to do so. When we do things that we know are contrary to Holy Spirit’s influence, we cannot say, “this is just a test.” No, that is just foolishness.

We would not put a known thief in a room full of valuables and leave them alone, expecting them not to take anything. That’s not faith, it’s foolishness. The same is true of anything we value–respect, integrity, honor–all should be more valuable than things, and yet we risk allowing the enemy to influence what we do, when we think we know more than God.

The Bible tells us that no one should say when they are tempted, they are tempted by God, but understand we are tempted by our own lusts. We are tempted because of pride and egos and when we allow pride and ego to get in the way of wisdom and making wise decisions, we have no one to blame, but ourselves.

And when temptation wins–the least we can do is to acknowledge how wrong we were in allowing the situation to exist in the first place and not blame others. This is not to say we should condone wrong, but we must accept responsibility for any wrong that occurs and set things right.

Human beings are not God and cannot know everything, but when we allow Holy Spirit to lead us in all things, we limit the opportunities for the devil’s influence to operate and manage to maintain peace in our lives. The Lord is a stronghold in times of trouble and when we see trouble coming–we must cry out a warning and seek the refuge of God. If we don’t heed the warnings–the stain of guilt is on us–and we need to get right with God while we have the opportunity to do so.

No Holy Spirit guidance–no peace in homes or lives or nations. With Him–as our counselor and comforter–allowing Him to speak into our lives–we have peace with all we meet.

Disappointing Joy

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2: 1,2 NIV)

Things that bring great joy

Sometimes allow disappointment to seep

Into our beings, clinging, cloying our minds,

Taking away the good, replaced with evil thoughts,

Designed to lead one into temptation’s snares,

Choking back the warnings aired, stifling desire to do right,

Ignited by temptation’s blinders, shackled by flesh

Ignoring Spirit’s, “Warning, Warning, Danger ahead!”

And then when speckled, stained, tainted memory’s dust,

Takes time to see beyond the smeared rainbow bent,

By disobedience, and distrust, joy once known, disappoints

And the nerves once tinkling with anticipation, now dulled

By pain and anguish, frustration and guilt–Not by what’s done,

But the warning ignored and disregarded, like so many

Who came before, refusing to heed the signs of the times,

Determined to do things our own way, without clear vision,

Minds clouded by love and lights that falsely portray.

No matter what we do or have done, John reminds us,

Our lives are not about us, but Him, and our missteps,

Forgiven, forgotten when we repent,

Sincerity ballooning our hearts and mouths, as we seek,

Forgiveness of others and forgiving ourselves,

Remembering great joy can be disappointing.

Although we claim the joy of the Lord is our strength, we sometimes forget that it is because of His sacrifice that we are saved from ourselves and that is the joy we have in Him. However, He takes great joy in our success when we obey and then when we are tempted beyond our own ability to resist, we are disappointed with us. When we don’t know how to forgive “self” for not heeding warnings, we make matters worse by taking our disappointment out on others.

Let’s heed the warning of God’s Word and all who have our best interest in mind. He gives us warnings to keep us safe from harm and when we do not heed them, we step into the snare set by enemy to create chaos and confusion. Let’s give the devil no place in our lives and kick confusion in the outer realms of Satan’s domain, so he is the only one confused.

There is great joy in serving The Lord and derived from our obedience, but we must take care to do all things according to The Word and not attempt to rely upon our own wisdom. Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us of those things we have been taught, and show us things to come and when we see danger, we must be diligent to warn those in harm’s way. If we see danger and say nothing, the end result is on us; but if we see danger and warn others and they don’t pay attention to the warning, the end result is on them. God’s Word has not changed and will not change and we must learn to hear Holy Spirit or those to whom He has spoken.

When we do what God would have us to do, we will not know–disappointing joy, but joy to the full in Jesus Christ!

Watch For Him!

“I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!” (Mark 13:37 NLT)

In this parable, Jesus is explaining to those who are listening, how they should be ready and not getting ready when He returns.

He tells us, “Since you don’t know when that time will come–stay alert!” (verse 33). The “you” in this verse, although said specifically to those who were listening to Him at that time, applies to the reader and any others who have a relationship with Him. None of us knows when He will return–He said, “only the Father knows” and since we know that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father–if He’s not telling Him when He’ll return, He’s certainly not telling any of us–who are so far removed from Him that even if He did–we probably wouldn’t get it right.

The point being made here is–we don’t know–but we should be ready–whenever He returns. Today is a good day to be ready; tomorrow could be too late. We don’t know, but we should always be ready.

What does it take to be ready? Our heart–must already be given to Him–so we’ll hear Him speak and obey His Word. Contrary to what some people think–we won’t need suitcases packed, or tickets of any kind, or to be dressed in any certain way. It is the heart of a man that God looks upon–not the externals surround him or on him. When we get this right–the moment of His return will be imminent, but there is still one thing we must remember. God does not define things the way we do.

We tend to limit God with our own understanding when we should really be willing to hear Him more to obtain His understanding of all things. Having a relationship with Him–puts us in good position to know that He does not think like we think; therefore, His definition of things–anything is not going to be what we “think” we know.

We have attributed so much meaning to God’s Word that is not of Him–but because of our limited understanding–that we caused many to err in their behavior and have caused many to forget about God–altogether. We will be held accountable for all we say as it pertains to God’s Word and His intent–not ours.

The best way to avoid–misleading anyone–is to encourage everyone to establish and maintain a right relationship with God and know His Word–so when He speaks–you’ll know what He says–aligns with what He has said.

Don’t get caught up listening to those who profess to know the time of His return–they don’t; but be ready–Watch For Him--He could come back at any time!