Is the celebration of Christmas a good thing or a bad thing? As born-again Christians, should we celebrate Christmas?
There are probably two different ways to look at this: It's a time of year where we can freely talk about the birth of Christ and use it to win souls to the Lord. But, it's also a time of year that has been exploited dramatically by the commercial system to the extent that there is a shopping FRENZY taking place for the entire month of December, especially the last two weeks.
Jesus said, "By your traditions, you have made the law of God of no effect."
Paul said, "All things work together for good to them that love God..."
Let's face it: we are NOT going to be able to stop Christmas. It is deeply ingrained in our culture. But, more importantly, it is a cash cow that most businesses depend on for a large portion of their annual revenues. So, Christmas is probably here to stay. It will be celebrated come what may. Even though it may be "politically incorrect" to actually say, "Merry Christmas", it will continue to be the year's biggest holiday.
But, should we partake of it? After all, it certainly isn't the birthday of Jesus Christ, is it? It's not His birthday, at least, not that we know of. The holiday was handed down to us from pagan worshipers and the Christmas tree was one of their traditions that Christians "stole".
For me, I do like the "atmosphere" on Christmas Day. That's not to say that I am not deceived by a sense of false "peace on earth and goodwill to man" which is quite possible. But, for me, it's the only day of the year (and possibly month of the year) when the Christmas carols are being played and sung. And I just love the Christmas carols.
Many of these songs were written by true, on-fire believers who poured out their hearts to worship our Lord. So, if nothing else, just the fact that the air-waves are carrying messages of worship to Jesus, makes it a glorious time of the year. And I think this also brings down the Holy Spirit, making the message of salvation available to all.
The flip side of this is that, in developing nations, Christmas is merely a day to give gifts, put up a tree, eat a nice dinner and decorate your house with pretty lights. But, still, this really does set the stage for them to eventually reach an understanding of what the birth of Christ is all about, don't you think?
In Malaysia, even the non-believing Hindus and Muslims like to celebrate Christmas. They get excited if you give them a Christmas card! It's just because it's so "Western" and such a cute souvenir. Then, of course, you have the Christians in Malaysia that try to follow all the traditions of the holiday. Why not? Yes, we stole the "day" from the druids or whatever and it's a "harvest celebration" or something, but, so what? Christians use a LOT of stuff that once belonged to the devil.
Don't tell me that shopping malls, coffee shops, restaurants, hair salons, toy shops and so on are off limits to Christians. Most believers, including myself, enter these establishments without any concern whatsoever. AND, when we do, we usually don't go around singing about Jesus, do we? But, at least on Christmas, WE DO. At least, I do. I don't know about you.
As in all things of this world, Christians must RISE ABOVE. Folks, we have to realize we LIVE on the devil's territory! This world is the devil's domain and most people in this world are under the devil's control!
Is that hard to believe?
It's sad for those who are deceived. But, it's true. He has most of the world duped. Most of the people in this world are walking around in a daze, following their nose to eternity, not knowing that there is a way OUT. God has a PLAN for our lives.
So, what about Christmas? WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Here's my suggestion:
"Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do it all to the glory of God."
"Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world..." John 15:19
Just like with everything else that we see going on around us, Christmas can be used for God's glory. If we can go shopping for groceries and come out without demons crawling all over us, I think we are strong enough to get through the Christmas season unscathed. It's really a position of our hearts. And if I say, "Merry Christmas" to someone, I mean it and hope they do have a great time AND come to know the Lord if they don't already. You know what I mean? All things work together for our good.
More and more the darkness deepens. More and more we will be faced with choices about what's really important and what our priorities are in this life. We must be guided by the Holy Spirit step by step because there are many pits and cliffs out there and traps of the enemy. He is SUCH a drama queen. He's mostly all bark and no bite. He's just something to AVOID. And rebuke. But, let's not allow HIM to steal back Christmas.
Maybe, he already has. Christmas has become nothing be a shallow, foolish materialistic orgy for the majority of the world. Santa Claus takes front and center stage with his silly elves. He's one to avoid, for sure. I wouldn't allow any of my kids to sit on his lap. That's the dark side of Christmas.
And shopping is ridiculous. You're supposed to buy a gift for everyone and although it's a nice thought, the whole tradition has caused many to go bankrupt! It's like an obligation that we didn't ask for and didn't want but if we didn't do it we'd feel really bad. It's such a pain! We have to go out and spend, spend, spend money that we don't have to get gifts that will probably not even be appreciated. Then we have to accept gifts that we probably don't need or want in some cases. So, THIS part of the "tradition" of Christmas can be very annoying and it may take extra effort to stay in the spirit and on the right track.
Again, whatever we do should be to the glory of God. If we pray about what gift to buy (or make) and what message to write on that Christmas card, God could even use THAT to His glory.
So, Christmas is a holiday, that used to be used to glorify God in the Christian world. Like Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" about Scrooge, the miser who had a change of heart, it was a wonderful time of the year when people made merry with their friends and family. Nothing wrong with that, is there?
The mother would sit down with her children and read them the story of the birth of Jesus out of the Bible. THAT'S A GREAT TRADITION. And if things were kept simple and unadulterated, it would be fine. But, of course, these days, it's all about the latest gadgets and best gifts under the "tree". It almost seems that Christmas is going back to being a Pagan holiday full of materialism, overindulgence, and drunkenness.
It's a fine line to walk to try to be a good example of a true Christian during a holiday that makes so many of us look like hypocrites. GOD HELP US. It really is an obstacle course and what little of Jesus is still infused into it, we should dwell on that side. After all, we are the light of this world. When all is dark, we will shine even brighter. So, as Tiny Tim said,
"God bless us, every one." (Except for the devil's crowd, eh?)
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Two Deceptions
There are two deceptions that will be gaining more and more influence as we near the end:
Other deceptions, like the Mark of the Beast, the Antichrist and the One World Government are all pretty apparently evil in the eyes of most Christians, I think. But, the two I'm mentioning here are much easier to slide by the untrained eye.
So, all of us, who love Israel, love Jerusalem and even celebrate Jewish holidays may be very tempted to go ahead and join Israel to worship their god in their new temple soon to be rebuilt. They will open their doors to everyone.
Believers in Christ worship the God of Israel. Unfortunately, not all Israelites worship the God of Israel. In fact, Jesus said that they worship the devil, believe it or not. Therefore, we must be cautious about how closely knit we should become with the unbelieving Jews. The thing is, they are going to build a temple to their "god", not to our God.
Isaiah 64:11 says, "Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?"
The answer to the question is in Isaiah 65:2: "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts; a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;"
When the temple is rebuilt (which I believe will be very soon), the "Daily Sacrifice" will commence. Is it a good thing? Well, this is what God has to say about it:
"He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations." (Isaiah 66:3)
In other words: "He that kills an ox is as if he killed a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offers an oblation, as if he offered pig's blood; he that burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations."
It's really going to make God angry! I mean WRATHFUL!
"Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." (Isaiah 65:12)
The funny thing is that, when Jewish people read Isaiah, they see it from a completely different angle. They imagine that God wants them to build this third temple, but only God could have written the book of Isaiah in such a way as to allow them to be deceived by it. That's because they're not tuned in. In a sense, God wants them to be deceived as a punishment.
"I also will chose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them;" (Why?) "because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not." (Isaiah 66:4)
The book of Isaiah is constantly warning Israel and prophesying their punishment. I mean, Israel broke God's heart, so He is constantly lamenting their behaviour and begging them to return to Him. It's all throughout the Bible, even when Jesus was on the earth. The only people Jesus got mad at were the scribes and pharisees. The common people heard Him gladly, but the Sanhedrin called him Beelzebub and a devil! You'll notice Jesus changed his whole tone when He was talking to them, like a family feud, calling them fools. (Matthew 12:24) He said it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for them.
You don't have to believe that Jerusalem is Babylon the Whore, as I do. But, at least be warned. God is not going to be pleased with the new temple. He didn't ask them to build it. It's not the Lord's House. NO IT IS NOT.
The Lord's House is clearly described in the book of Revelation, the last two chapters.
the Holy City is called NEW Jerusalem and it's not made with human hands, folks. (Revelation 21:2 & 3) These two chapters, the last two of the Bible are dyno-mite. That's the REAL HIGH, the Happy Ending, the Grand Finale, and Just the Beginning!
The other "Great Deception" is the Catholic Church. Let's not forget what the Catholics did during the infamous "Inquisition" in Europe. Let's not forget how some Catholic monarchy in England behaved towards true believers.
The Catholic priests had a saying, "As a coin into the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."
Not only did they make up the idea of a purgatory, but they proclaimed that you could buy your relatives OUT of it by giving LOTS of money to the church! There are too many false doctrines in the Catholic Church to enumerate here. Let it suffice to say, "Stay away from it." That's what I would do.
During the final hours of life as we know it on earth, the Catholic Church will rise in power and influence even more than they already are. We can see it happening already. Pope Francis has quite the following: sheep to the slaughter. And he will probably be the False Prophet who will enforce the Mark of the Beast. I could be wrong. I don't deny it. I don't mind being wrong. But, even if I am wrong, this guy is NOT to be trusted. He is only a human being. And we all know what human beings are.
All that to say, beware the Catholic Church, the Pope, and the new temple going up in Jerusalem.
- The Catholic Church
- The Jewish Temple
Other deceptions, like the Mark of the Beast, the Antichrist and the One World Government are all pretty apparently evil in the eyes of most Christians, I think. But, the two I'm mentioning here are much easier to slide by the untrained eye.
So, all of us, who love Israel, love Jerusalem and even celebrate Jewish holidays may be very tempted to go ahead and join Israel to worship their god in their new temple soon to be rebuilt. They will open their doors to everyone.
Believers in Christ worship the God of Israel. Unfortunately, not all Israelites worship the God of Israel. In fact, Jesus said that they worship the devil, believe it or not. Therefore, we must be cautious about how closely knit we should become with the unbelieving Jews. The thing is, they are going to build a temple to their "god", not to our God.
Isaiah 64:11 says, "Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?"
The answer to the question is in Isaiah 65:2: "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts; a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;"
When the temple is rebuilt (which I believe will be very soon), the "Daily Sacrifice" will commence. Is it a good thing? Well, this is what God has to say about it:
"He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations." (Isaiah 66:3)
In other words: "He that kills an ox is as if he killed a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offers an oblation, as if he offered pig's blood; he that burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations."
It's really going to make God angry! I mean WRATHFUL!
"Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." (Isaiah 65:12)
The funny thing is that, when Jewish people read Isaiah, they see it from a completely different angle. They imagine that God wants them to build this third temple, but only God could have written the book of Isaiah in such a way as to allow them to be deceived by it. That's because they're not tuned in. In a sense, God wants them to be deceived as a punishment.
"I also will chose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them;" (Why?) "because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not." (Isaiah 66:4)
The book of Isaiah is constantly warning Israel and prophesying their punishment. I mean, Israel broke God's heart, so He is constantly lamenting their behaviour and begging them to return to Him. It's all throughout the Bible, even when Jesus was on the earth. The only people Jesus got mad at were the scribes and pharisees. The common people heard Him gladly, but the Sanhedrin called him Beelzebub and a devil! You'll notice Jesus changed his whole tone when He was talking to them, like a family feud, calling them fools. (Matthew 12:24) He said it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for them.
You don't have to believe that Jerusalem is Babylon the Whore, as I do. But, at least be warned. God is not going to be pleased with the new temple. He didn't ask them to build it. It's not the Lord's House. NO IT IS NOT.
The Lord's House is clearly described in the book of Revelation, the last two chapters.
the Holy City is called NEW Jerusalem and it's not made with human hands, folks. (Revelation 21:2 & 3) These two chapters, the last two of the Bible are dyno-mite. That's the REAL HIGH, the Happy Ending, the Grand Finale, and Just the Beginning!
The other "Great Deception" is the Catholic Church. Let's not forget what the Catholics did during the infamous "Inquisition" in Europe. Let's not forget how some Catholic monarchy in England behaved towards true believers.
The Catholic priests had a saying, "As a coin into the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."
Not only did they make up the idea of a purgatory, but they proclaimed that you could buy your relatives OUT of it by giving LOTS of money to the church! There are too many false doctrines in the Catholic Church to enumerate here. Let it suffice to say, "Stay away from it." That's what I would do.
During the final hours of life as we know it on earth, the Catholic Church will rise in power and influence even more than they already are. We can see it happening already. Pope Francis has quite the following: sheep to the slaughter. And he will probably be the False Prophet who will enforce the Mark of the Beast. I could be wrong. I don't deny it. I don't mind being wrong. But, even if I am wrong, this guy is NOT to be trusted. He is only a human being. And we all know what human beings are.
All that to say, beware the Catholic Church, the Pope, and the new temple going up in Jerusalem.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Insidious Lies
The most insidious lies are those that sound like absolute truth. They may sound kind and holy or "politically correct". THAT'S THE FIRST CLUE. Take this one for example:
"One of the greatest tragedies in mankind's entire history may be that morality was hijacked by religion."
At first glance, this may sound like an accurate statement. It's particularly appealing to "independent" or radical thinkers.
He says "tragedies" and that immediately alerts us to think, "Yes, what is the root tragedy of this life?" So we perk up and listen. It's like a buzz word. He also uses "hijacked" and that's a word that would set off alarms. But, let's take a look at the underlying meaning of what he's really saying.
What does he actually mean by "religion"?
I think, in most cases, religion refers to Christianity because that word was first used in the Bible. BUT, if he is referring to man-made or false religion, that's different. Even still, you have to ask,
"HOW can religion 'hijack' morality?" BECAUSE, "WHERE DID MORALITY COME FROM?"
By agreeing with his statement, he's sort of getting you to agree that mankind is BORN with morality living inside of him and that this was somehow taken over by religion. Or something like that... It's SUCH a confusing statement but, yet on the other hand, he says, "may be" thereby letting himself off the hook so that nobody can accuse him of making a false statement. It's almost a "legal" statement that you could take to court! I mean, the Devil is clever as all get-out. Which is why we need to stay one step ahead of him.
Ok, so let's look at the word: morality. What IS it? My dictionary defines it this way.
"Principles concerning the difference between right and wrong or good and bad."
In my humble opinion, only GOD knows the difference. So, in effect, you could change the word morality to GOD. God is the One who educated mankind on morality. And the Bible is the book that records "rules" or "guidelines" for morality. BUT, I do NOT like to call the Bible a religion. It's not.
Religion came from man's interpretation of God's book. In fact, Jesus Himself completely DENOUNCES RELIGION and hypocritical RELIGIOSITY. If you didn't know that, please go ahead and read Matthew 23. Even in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, Jesus makes it very clear that it's our motives that count and that obeying the law of the scribes and pharisees is just not enough. He was saying,
LOVE IS GREATER THAN THE LAW.
Therefore, true morality is true love. Nothing less.
If you said:
"One of the greatest tragedies in mankind's entire history may be that GOD and God's LOVE were hijacked by the DEVIL and his FALSE RELIGIONS."
Then, you have a MUCH more accurate statement. It's a tragedy that the devil has hijacked God. TEMPORARILY. But, NOT FOR LONG.
This is ALL an ILLUSION, folks. It's ALL an illusion of the devil!
NOT TO WORRY. All will be revealed. All will come to light! The TRUTH will prevail, make no mistake. Satan will not be permitted to continue his deceptions for much longer! His twisted take on reality will soon come into the full exposure of God's search-light!
Sorry for you, satan. You flimsy, sickly weak, miserable, wicked liar. Sorry for YOUR DESTINY. Satan KNOWS his destiny. Oh, yes! And, if you don't, here it IS right in Revelation 20:1-3. AHHH! Three of my FAVOURITE VERSES!
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled."
Read it and weep, Satan! And all you Devil-worshipers and Satan-lovers!
Now, speaking of Devil-worshipers, our dear Pope Francis (who I like to refer to as the "False Prophet") has spoken a few wide-spread insidious lies of his own that really sound like the truth! In fact they sound loving and kind and ever-so "humanist". (Putting my finger down my throat...) Here's one he came up with recently.
"You cannot insult the faith of others."
WHAT?
"Shake hands with the Devil! Be polite! Let him sit at the table with you! Listen to him! He has a LOT TO SAY."
Are you KIDDING ME??
Talk about an insidious LIE of the DEVIL!
Jesus insulted the faith of others. Elijah KILLED 450 false prophets. In fact, many people were killed by Israel just because they worshipped false gods. Paul must have REALLY offended others' religions! Not to mention all the apostles.
INSULT? Insult FALSE FAITHS? YES! YES, INSULT THEM! REBUKE THEM! Cast out devils! SET THE CAPTIVES FREE! Do you think those 450 prophets of Baal were "insulted" as Elijah KILLED THEM?
By saying, "You cannot insult the faith of others," the pope is putting himself above God and saying, "I know better than God." Well, if he is the false prophet I believe him to be, he sure is acting like it.
You know, I think that "may be" one of the greatest tragedies in the history of mankind is that a human being is respected as the "representative of God" who is merely a sinful human being and that people think the words coming out of his mouth are from God. THAT is a tragedy.
By the time they wake up to his deceptions, it may be too late!
I appeal to all Catholics when I say, "Catholicism is NOT of GOD."
The reason why it is SO DECEPTIVE is because it is SO CLOSE TO THE TRUTH. I mean, they even talk about Jesus. But, WHO do they PRAY to? That's the all-important factor, right there! WHO do they confess their sins to?
Praying to a statue is idol-worship. Praying to Mary is blasphemy. Confessing your sins to a human being will NOT resolve your sins to God!
If you ARE Catholic and you want to remain Catholic, at least steer yourself away from these false religious practices that have hijacked the Truth and Love of Jesus! Pray to Jesus directly. Confess your sins to Him. And do not ever bow your head to an idol made out of plaster. But, ideally, LEAVE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The Catholic Church is partaking now of the biggest international deception in the history of mankind and will UNITE WITH THE ANTICHRIST to form a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. Come on, you KNOW ALL THIS! RIGHT?
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Look Up!
The sound of trumpets! A bright light in the sky! Angels appear! Then suddenly we see our Lord and King, Jesus! As the lightning shines from the east to the west, the entire heavens are lit up in glory! The whole universe stands still for 30 minutes in silence as Jesus Christ returns to earth to gather His elect!
Weightlessness! Our bodies are lifted swiftly into the air as the sky fills with others. Thousands! Clouds of human bodies that are transformed in the twinkling of an eye, all soaring towards Jesus!
Earth recedes! Heaven opens!
Streams of followers of Christ flow up from all around the globe and the whole world of unbelievers watches on camera, on computers, on TV's. It's a phenomena. It's a miracle and marvel. What does it mean?
Those left behind have little time to think because a huge earthquake sets the planet rocking and reeling! Fear grips those who have hidden themselves in underground bunkers and caves of the mountains. They scream in agony to the rocks,
"FALL ON US AND HIDE US FROM GOD'S ANGER AND JUDGEMENT!"
All that planning, all that storing up of wealth, preparing for catastrophe was a waste of time. Those who tried to save their lives have discovered their lives are LOST. Their souls are LOST.
Even still, they hear the voice of an angel warning them, instructing them on how to save themselves.
The angel announces in a loud voice:
"FEAR GOD AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM; FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME: AND WORSHIP HIM THAT MADE HEAVEN, AND EARTH, AND THE SEA, AND THE FOUNTAINS OF WATERS."
Last chance! God's getting ready to pour out his Wrath. You've been warned. The two witnesses preached the Gospel to you for three and a half years but you didn't listen. You celebrated their deaths. Here's your one and only last chance to be saved from severe and dire judgement. ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN?
Meanwhile back in Heaven:
God's children are rejoicing and celebrating. There's a huge party going on. It's a wedding feast! The wife of Christ has made herself ready. She is arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Where is the Groom?
(He has some unfinished business to take care of. Having redeemed his bride from the clutches of the evil one, her Hero is going back to avenge her.)
He is sitting on a white horse; "and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." (Rev. 19:11-16)
Meanwhile on the Earth:
An angel is inviting all the fowls that fly in the skies to come to another supper! This is the Supper of the Great God and man flesh in on the menu! Yummy! (Rev. 19:17-18)
The question is: Do you want to eat or do you want to be eaten? Do you want to be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb or do you want to BE supper?
Weightlessness! Our bodies are lifted swiftly into the air as the sky fills with others. Thousands! Clouds of human bodies that are transformed in the twinkling of an eye, all soaring towards Jesus!
Earth recedes! Heaven opens!
Streams of followers of Christ flow up from all around the globe and the whole world of unbelievers watches on camera, on computers, on TV's. It's a phenomena. It's a miracle and marvel. What does it mean?
Those left behind have little time to think because a huge earthquake sets the planet rocking and reeling! Fear grips those who have hidden themselves in underground bunkers and caves of the mountains. They scream in agony to the rocks,
"FALL ON US AND HIDE US FROM GOD'S ANGER AND JUDGEMENT!"
All that planning, all that storing up of wealth, preparing for catastrophe was a waste of time. Those who tried to save their lives have discovered their lives are LOST. Their souls are LOST.
Even still, they hear the voice of an angel warning them, instructing them on how to save themselves.
The angel announces in a loud voice:
"FEAR GOD AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM; FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME: AND WORSHIP HIM THAT MADE HEAVEN, AND EARTH, AND THE SEA, AND THE FOUNTAINS OF WATERS."
Last chance! God's getting ready to pour out his Wrath. You've been warned. The two witnesses preached the Gospel to you for three and a half years but you didn't listen. You celebrated their deaths. Here's your one and only last chance to be saved from severe and dire judgement. ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN?
Meanwhile back in Heaven:
God's children are rejoicing and celebrating. There's a huge party going on. It's a wedding feast! The wife of Christ has made herself ready. She is arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Where is the Groom?
(He has some unfinished business to take care of. Having redeemed his bride from the clutches of the evil one, her Hero is going back to avenge her.)
He is sitting on a white horse; "and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." (Rev. 19:11-16)
Meanwhile on the Earth:
An angel is inviting all the fowls that fly in the skies to come to another supper! This is the Supper of the Great God and man flesh in on the menu! Yummy! (Rev. 19:17-18)
The question is: Do you want to eat or do you want to be eaten? Do you want to be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb or do you want to BE supper?
Monday, April 11, 2016
Quit Allowing Satan to Waste your Life!
I was thinking about calling this post: "Quit Wasting Time" or "Quit Wasting Energy" but then I decided, it's our life that the Devil wants to waste. He wants to waste our time, energy, strength, spiritual connection with God. He wants to drain us, weaken us and makes us totally useless as a vessel of the Lord. That's his purpose.
Sometimes it might help to know what the enemy is up to and why.
WE OFTEN HAVE A CLEAR CHANNEL TO THE DEVIL.
The secret is that he doesn't want us to know it's him! That's how he can accomplish so much. By the time we're down-and-out, depressed and suicidal, we start to realize that "maybe" it wasn't just our own thoughts that got us to this place. Maybe there was somebody or something else leading us down the garden path to destruction.
He takes us into the past because he knows that we can do nothing to change the past. (Although, you know, with God all things are possible. So, even in the past, our prayers can change the effects of past actions. I believe it.)
However, having said that, when we find ourselves standing IN the past, mulling over past mistakes, wrong decisions and things that caused harm to ourselves and others, it's time to ask ourselves,
"WHY? Why am I thinking about the past? It's gone."
You may come to the same conclusion that I have. IT IS THE ENEMY. He takes me to a place I don't want to go to and for no good reason, no purpose except to get me upset, miserable, discouraged, depressed and regretful.
Those, my friends, are NOT the fruits of the Spirit of God.
The Devil is a TIME-WASTER.
Do you ever feel that SO much time has been lost by thinking really dumb thoughts? Have you ever jerked yourself up and snapped out of a wasted hour or two of negativity and non-productivity? You feel like you've been spinning your wheels? You feel like, all of a sudden there's this HUGE MOUNTAINOUS MESS OF IMPOSSIBILITIES in your lap that you NEVER ASKED FOR!
Well, ok, if you haven't ever felt like that, I'm happy for you. You must be super-human. But, I HAVE. I admit it. Sometimes life seems impossible.
Nothing has changed. The ceiling didn't cave in. God is still on His throne. Yet, life just SEEMS impossible for no particular reason, or maybe for ALL KINDS OF STUPID REASONS that I couldn't possibly have made up on my own. It took a skillful master of GARBAGE to come up with 101 reasons to hate life and everybody on the planet.
What I'm trying to do here is to expose some of the inner workings of our PE#1. (Public Enemy Numero Uno, otherwise known as the Stupid One.) If the Devil has ANY super powers (which, by the way, he does NOT) they would be #1 stupidity #2 rebelliousness #3 deception #4 fearfulness
Do you call those powers? The Devil has no power. His non-power is in fear, deception and WASTING OUR TIME! It's up to US to STOP LISTENING TO HIM.
When Jesus went out into the wilderness for forty days just before the beginning of His ministry, the scripture says, He went out to be tempted of the Devil. Wow! Are you kidding me, Jesus? You deliberately went out there to be tempted? How does that make any sense? Why would You do that?
Like they say on some TV shows: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
Seriously. We cannot be Jesus. We can't just WALK ONTO THE DEVIL'S TERRITORY AND WELCOME HIS TEMPTATIONS. Well, we CAN, but it won't bode well for us if we do. That's because we are not Jesus. Only Jesus could do something like that. So, if we DO find ourselves inadvertently "out in the wilderness being tempted of the Devil" we better get Jesus to fight the Devil for us.
Ok, so here's Jesus deliberately going out to face the enemy. Does he arm himself? Does he bring along his sword, shield, helmet and a bunch of army rations? How does he plan to face the Devil head on?
He FASTS. He deliberately allows his physical body to be weakened. Or, on the other hand, He was concentrating so deeply on His Father God that he didn't require food. Or, perhaps He didn't realize how long He had gone without food.
Have you ever been so absorbed in reading the Word and communing with God that you have forgotten to eat?
To me, forty days is a heck of a long time. It's over a month and if I dared to try to go without food, for one thing, I'd probably faint. I'd be too weak to work, so I'd be broke, but that's beside the point. I just feel that I would never want the Devil to waste so much of my time. But, that's all human judgment, isn't it? In God's eyes, Jesus needed this battle. It was the foundation of his ministry. Satan needed to be conquered with the WORD OF GOD.
The funny thing is, I wonder whether Satan even realized that, though HE was ATTACKING, Jesus was the VICTOR that day. Satan was overcome and stripped of his authority over the King of Kings at that moment.
Round ONE: Knock out!
Round TWO: He's DOWN!
Round THREE: He's OUT FOR THE COUNT!
Hallelujah! The angels came to minister to Jesus, the newly crowned VICTOR! AMEN!
Matthew 4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
We see here that it is the Spirit of God that is "leading" Jesus into the wilderness for one express purpose.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred.
This was a true fast both day and night. Not many could survive without food for that length of time.
3 And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
WHEN DID THE DEVIL COME TO HIM? Exactly. He came when he figured Jesus was STARVING. He was going to use that against Him. Notice how scripture calls him the tempter? Satan doesn't even get to be called "Lucifer" or Satan or even the Devil, just simply the stupid, silly, weak and useless, childish, foolish tempter. Like a little kindergarten kid on the playground.
All Jesus had to do was to quote the Word. Jesus IS the Word and Jesus quoted the Word in the Spirit of God. BOY does the Devil HATE that! He tucks his scrawny tail between his knobby knees and FLEES at the WORD OF GOD.
All in all, the Devil (or the tempter or as Jesus called him, the liar) is a puny, disgusting, disobedient, weak, wimpy TIME WASTER! THINK about how much TIME he has already wasted of our LIVES! I, for one, do NOT want to waste any more of my precious time on the PUNK!
The ONLY ONE Who deserves ALL my time and attention and communication is JESUS CHRIST, the Messiah, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords and CONQUEROR OF SATAN!
Resist the Devil and he will flee from you! Leave the lousy loser to languish in LOSERVILLE. Join the WINNERS with our Number One Winner of All TIME. Our Forever Champion: King Jesus!
Sometimes it might help to know what the enemy is up to and why.
WE OFTEN HAVE A CLEAR CHANNEL TO THE DEVIL.
The secret is that he doesn't want us to know it's him! That's how he can accomplish so much. By the time we're down-and-out, depressed and suicidal, we start to realize that "maybe" it wasn't just our own thoughts that got us to this place. Maybe there was somebody or something else leading us down the garden path to destruction.
He takes us into the past because he knows that we can do nothing to change the past. (Although, you know, with God all things are possible. So, even in the past, our prayers can change the effects of past actions. I believe it.)
However, having said that, when we find ourselves standing IN the past, mulling over past mistakes, wrong decisions and things that caused harm to ourselves and others, it's time to ask ourselves,
"WHY? Why am I thinking about the past? It's gone."
You may come to the same conclusion that I have. IT IS THE ENEMY. He takes me to a place I don't want to go to and for no good reason, no purpose except to get me upset, miserable, discouraged, depressed and regretful.
Those, my friends, are NOT the fruits of the Spirit of God.
The Devil is a TIME-WASTER.
Do you ever feel that SO much time has been lost by thinking really dumb thoughts? Have you ever jerked yourself up and snapped out of a wasted hour or two of negativity and non-productivity? You feel like you've been spinning your wheels? You feel like, all of a sudden there's this HUGE MOUNTAINOUS MESS OF IMPOSSIBILITIES in your lap that you NEVER ASKED FOR!
Well, ok, if you haven't ever felt like that, I'm happy for you. You must be super-human. But, I HAVE. I admit it. Sometimes life seems impossible.
Nothing has changed. The ceiling didn't cave in. God is still on His throne. Yet, life just SEEMS impossible for no particular reason, or maybe for ALL KINDS OF STUPID REASONS that I couldn't possibly have made up on my own. It took a skillful master of GARBAGE to come up with 101 reasons to hate life and everybody on the planet.
What I'm trying to do here is to expose some of the inner workings of our PE#1. (Public Enemy Numero Uno, otherwise known as the Stupid One.) If the Devil has ANY super powers (which, by the way, he does NOT) they would be #1 stupidity #2 rebelliousness #3 deception #4 fearfulness
Do you call those powers? The Devil has no power. His non-power is in fear, deception and WASTING OUR TIME! It's up to US to STOP LISTENING TO HIM.
When Jesus went out into the wilderness for forty days just before the beginning of His ministry, the scripture says, He went out to be tempted of the Devil. Wow! Are you kidding me, Jesus? You deliberately went out there to be tempted? How does that make any sense? Why would You do that?
Like they say on some TV shows: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
Seriously. We cannot be Jesus. We can't just WALK ONTO THE DEVIL'S TERRITORY AND WELCOME HIS TEMPTATIONS. Well, we CAN, but it won't bode well for us if we do. That's because we are not Jesus. Only Jesus could do something like that. So, if we DO find ourselves inadvertently "out in the wilderness being tempted of the Devil" we better get Jesus to fight the Devil for us.
Ok, so here's Jesus deliberately going out to face the enemy. Does he arm himself? Does he bring along his sword, shield, helmet and a bunch of army rations? How does he plan to face the Devil head on?
He FASTS. He deliberately allows his physical body to be weakened. Or, on the other hand, He was concentrating so deeply on His Father God that he didn't require food. Or, perhaps He didn't realize how long He had gone without food.
Have you ever been so absorbed in reading the Word and communing with God that you have forgotten to eat?
To me, forty days is a heck of a long time. It's over a month and if I dared to try to go without food, for one thing, I'd probably faint. I'd be too weak to work, so I'd be broke, but that's beside the point. I just feel that I would never want the Devil to waste so much of my time. But, that's all human judgment, isn't it? In God's eyes, Jesus needed this battle. It was the foundation of his ministry. Satan needed to be conquered with the WORD OF GOD.
The funny thing is, I wonder whether Satan even realized that, though HE was ATTACKING, Jesus was the VICTOR that day. Satan was overcome and stripped of his authority over the King of Kings at that moment.
Round ONE: Knock out!
Round TWO: He's DOWN!
Round THREE: He's OUT FOR THE COUNT!
Hallelujah! The angels came to minister to Jesus, the newly crowned VICTOR! AMEN!
Matthew 4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
We see here that it is the Spirit of God that is "leading" Jesus into the wilderness for one express purpose.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred.
This was a true fast both day and night. Not many could survive without food for that length of time.
3 And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
WHEN DID THE DEVIL COME TO HIM? Exactly. He came when he figured Jesus was STARVING. He was going to use that against Him. Notice how scripture calls him the tempter? Satan doesn't even get to be called "Lucifer" or Satan or even the Devil, just simply the stupid, silly, weak and useless, childish, foolish tempter. Like a little kindergarten kid on the playground.
All Jesus had to do was to quote the Word. Jesus IS the Word and Jesus quoted the Word in the Spirit of God. BOY does the Devil HATE that! He tucks his scrawny tail between his knobby knees and FLEES at the WORD OF GOD.
All in all, the Devil (or the tempter or as Jesus called him, the liar) is a puny, disgusting, disobedient, weak, wimpy TIME WASTER! THINK about how much TIME he has already wasted of our LIVES! I, for one, do NOT want to waste any more of my precious time on the PUNK!
The ONLY ONE Who deserves ALL my time and attention and communication is JESUS CHRIST, the Messiah, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords and CONQUEROR OF SATAN!
Resist the Devil and he will flee from you! Leave the lousy loser to languish in LOSERVILLE. Join the WINNERS with our Number One Winner of All TIME. Our Forever Champion: King Jesus!
Monday, April 4, 2016
Perfect Peace
The Bible says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." Isaiah 26:3. That's a good reason to keep our mind constantly on the Lord. Peace is a rare commodity these days. It seems people prefer to have constant noise and confusion. We spend hours online, listening to stories, watching what other people are involved in, absorbing information, getting all kinds of input. It all adds up to a "confusion of tongues".
Then, at night, when we're trying to go to sleep, our brain is buzzing and humming, shooting out information and pictures that we took in during the day. It's like our brain cells are on overload and hyper-stimulated, vibrating with beehives of data.
When we pick up a Bible, it's like a soothing balm. It radiates peace, faith, comfort, complete love. One word of scripture can put our minds at ease.
"Great peace have they which love Thy law and nothing shall offend them." So says, Psalm 119:165.
In John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
It's simple. True peace comes from keeping our mind on Jesus. The way to do that is to read and memorize the Word. If you can't memorize it, be sure to have a Bible handy to constantly refer to!
Then, at night, when we're trying to go to sleep, our brain is buzzing and humming, shooting out information and pictures that we took in during the day. It's like our brain cells are on overload and hyper-stimulated, vibrating with beehives of data.
When we pick up a Bible, it's like a soothing balm. It radiates peace, faith, comfort, complete love. One word of scripture can put our minds at ease.
"Great peace have they which love Thy law and nothing shall offend them." So says, Psalm 119:165.
In John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
It's simple. True peace comes from keeping our mind on Jesus. The way to do that is to read and memorize the Word. If you can't memorize it, be sure to have a Bible handy to constantly refer to!
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