Protesting against God

When Jesus walked the earth He was harder on the religious establishment than any others, some may ask why? The answer is simple the Pharisees and Scribes were self righteous believing that what they did was in service to God, but being deceived by their own desires.

Jesus spent time with those who were lost, not full of themselves. Look when Jesus called Matthew who was known as Levi. Luke 5:29-32
Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

To those who think themselves righteous the word of God is clear, Romans 12:3, 9-21 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of  himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The folly of fools is that they believe themselves to be sinless, none of us are there, we are not better than others, just forgiven by God's grace, and if we do things without love, then we act on our accord, we are to hate what is evil, sin is evil, not just one sin all sin. Let us examine ourselves and compare us to the scriptures.

I Corinthians 6:8-11 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you  do these things to  your brethren! Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

To many make their idea of god into the one they serve, either we serve God the creator  or the enemy, it doesn't work the other way. Let love be without hypocrisy, means we confront sin by exposing it for what it is, the world is lost in their sin, they do not know the ways of our Lord we pray, we encourage, we help, we share God's love to them. The scriptures tell us not to accept sin amongst the body, unbelievers are not part of the body, do you get that?

I Corinthians 13:1-8, 13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the  gift  of  prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the  poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there  are prophecies, they will fail; whether there  are tongues, they will cease; whether there  is knowledge, it will vanish away. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I John 1:5-10 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

I John 2:3-6, 9-11, 15-19, 24, 28-29 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they  went  out  that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

I John 3:7-8, 10-20 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

I John 4:7-11, 17-21 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to  be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The vanity of life

Have you ever thought about the year were born, the place you were born,the family you were born into, the life that you have been given, the talents you have, the gifts you have?

In any of the things mentioned above did you make any of the choices above? Or has God ordained each of these moments on your life?

Most of the time we never take time to think about these things,we just accept that this is how life works, even God's children never take time to dwell on what we are,where we are and who we are.

When God created us, placed us, and formatted our lives it was and is for a purpose, there are no coincidences, nothing is left to fate , or karma. Each detail of our lives is ordained by God, now I am not saying we are mindless creatures , we make choices along the way that God does not want us to make, and we deal with the consequences of those choices.

Free will comes into play once we become a child of God, until then we unwillingly serve sin.

But things in our lives  happen as God molds us into the men and women He created us to be, if we with child like faith would trust Him with all areas of our lives, our lives would be in harmony with His plan.

Today you and I are given another opportunity to slow down, reflect, meditate on God's word, and see the hands of God at work in our lives. So submit, surrender and start living today as He has planned.

Proverbs 23:26 HCSB

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

ECC 3:1-8 HCSB

There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Psalms 25:1, 4-5, 10 HCSB

Lord ,  I turn to You.   Make Your ways known to me, Lord ; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long. All the Lord ’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep His covenant and decrees.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 HCSB

For I know the plans I have for you”  — this is the Lord ’s declaration — “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.   You will seek Me  and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Romans 8:28-32 HCSB

We know that all things work together  for the good  of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.   For those He foreknew He also predestined  to be conformed to the image of His Son,  so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.   And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified;  and those He justified, He also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?

Black Friday

God showed His love for us on a #blackfriday over 2000 years ago, the Bible says that while we're yet sinners Christ died for us, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes in Him shall not die, but have everlasting life.

That is God's love for us, He gave of Himself all He is, He gave us Love through Jesus Christ , a love we do not deserve, a love most do not understand even if they receive Him, and sadly a love some reject  and condemn themselves.

Let us come together and celebrate love this Christmas season for Love has come from God our Father through Christ His Son, and let us live as He has simply said in His is Holy Word.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 HCSB

Love is patient,  love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish,  is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures  all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for languages, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

Worship the King

When Jesus Christ was born angelic host filled the sky, they appeared to the shepherds who were watching their flock.

The shepherds were in awe of the angels and they went to where the angels told them Jesus lay, and they were more  in awe of God giving us His Son and Him being born into this world, and they worshipped him.

We have lost this awe why don't we worship the King Jesus as the shepherds did the night he was born ? Do we need signs and wonders or can we just look back at all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ His Son.

God gave us His all, we have lost our love of God ,we no longer worship Him but we worship what He's created.

God forgive us,  as Christmas season starts let us focus on Jesus Christ the Son ,God's gift to mankind who brought us  salvation.  He brought us hope He brought us peace He brought us love without Jesus Christ we would be lost: lost to an eternity of darkness oh people of the world my plea is turn to Him today. Stop looking for signs and wonders for they are happening before your very eyes. I pray we worship Him not as a baby but as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

LUK 2:4-20 HCSB

And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth  in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,  because he was of the house and family line of David,   to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him  and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough — because there was no room for them at the lodging place. In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord  stood before  them,  and the glory of the Lord  shone around them, and they were terrified.   But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid,  for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:   Today a Savior,  who is Messiah  the Lord,  was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you:  You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth  to people He favors!    When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed  at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things  in her heart  and meditating on them. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God  for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.

Be Thankful

Things in life seem to never go as we think they should, our children don't always do as we desire, our jobs don't always go as planned, our drive to work and back home seem to get longer, food prices are up, heating prices are up, keeping up with all the bills that seem to come each month is stressful and disheartening.

Now when you look back at the paragraph above, look at all the things God has blessed us with. We always seem to see the negatives of our daily lives, and miss the power of God working for us and in us.

If we have children, a home, a job, a vehicle to get back and forth with, if we can buy groceries, have heat, water and electricity, if we have an income coming in, we should be thankful. The very fact you can read this means you're still alive.

This Thanksgiving let us give God thanks and praise for all that He has given us, not dwell on the negatives as everyone else, but be grateful for God's providence,love,mercy and grace that He pours out and over our lives.

Psalm 107:1
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 50:14
Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 95:2
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

Psalm 116:12-14
What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people.

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Hebrews 13:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name

Timeless Treasures

Most followers of Christ don’t need any more insights into faith, we have enough insights to last us a lifetime. The most urgent need in our lives is to trust what we have already received and know.

We need to reexamine our lives, and the authenticity of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The challenge is to actually trust God to stop believing in our life's experiences as that is who or what we are, and know that God love us where we were, but He loves us enough not to leave us there. stop clutching what we are so afraid of losing.

We need to renew our minds daily and ask the question "is every word I had ever read or spoken about Jesus Christ what I know or if I really trusted in him. Then shouldn't I be conforming into His image?

The act of trust is a brutal and ruthless act, because it makes us fully accountable by the way we live. Trust is rare and priceless but when we really trust it is a timeless treasure .

Trust God who seeks us, and works in us, who is always working all things out for the good of those who believe in Him. Whether it be in adversity,or joy, or in tribulation trust in God’s Abba Fatherhood, His personal love for us and let Him work in us were we are.

1 Peter 1:3-19 HCSB Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith — more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things. Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

Spiritual man

There are a lot of people out there that claim to be holy, looking down on others, believing themselves to be above the rest of us. I have good news for us, they are not, if you're reading this , and as I am writing this, we all need to know this, we are all sinners.

Now there are many who have come to the saving grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have been forgiven of sins, but we still have to deal with sin in our lives.

Someone who is a spiritual person, truly understands that each day they must personally confront the sin in their lives and repent. The difference is as Adrian Rogers says we become blameless before God, not sinless. And the bible tells us it is not of ourselves, but of the work of Christ in us.

Don't base your thoughts of Jesus upon another man or woman, they are and always will be fallible and sinful like you. But base your thoughts and ideas upon the word of God and the love He has shown through His son Jesus, and the works He has done on the cross and is doing in the lives of those who truly follow Him.

1 Corinthians 2:11-16 HCSB

For who among men knows the thoughts  of a man except the spirit  of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows  the thoughts  of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words  taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.   But the unbeliever  does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated  spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate  everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated  by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him?   But we have the mind of Christ.