Do not hide the name of Jesus
The idea of Jesus is uncomfortable for a lot of people. So often we hear people say “Not my God” or “The Jesus I know wouldn’t do that”. We so often want to change the God of the bible into something softer and kinder then what he actually is.
We all know Jesus the dead man, all though I think we have heard the story so many times that it has lost much of its meaning. I think we forget how extreme life was for Jesus on the day of his death. I am guessing that if his Skull existed on the earth today it would still carry the scars from the thorns that were driven into his head. The whips used to rip the flesh from his body deep enough to expose bone. The cross, carrying the cross through the streets while guards continued to beat him. After everything he went through that day I would almost think that death would be welcome.
Then there was Jesus the magic man. My wife hates it when I say that, but really to the unbeliever, what else would his miracles look like? I mean really, a little boy’s lunch feeds 5000? Jesus rubs bud in a blind man’s eyes and he can see? Rise Lazarus – Do you know why Jesus had to call Lazarus by name? Because he is so powerful that had he not specified Lazarus all of the dead would have risen (Borrowed from Bill Johnson). I imagine that in the end times it will be like that. Jesus will say Rise, and we will. In today’s world you will hear people say that these are just stories written a long time ago, to try and prove a point. They didn’t really happen. I say this is the faith of a man who is afraid to believe that was not created in his own mind.
Of course we have Jesus the angry man. So many times I hear people talk about God Love, and Gods grace that no matter how you are God will forgive you. Yes Gods love is in failing, and unyielding. We are covered in grace by the blood of Jesus. And yes, if you confess your sins and repent God will forgive you. Nowhere that I have seen on the bible does it day that God or Jesus will never become angry with your actions. As a matter of fact, the whole picture of God speaks otherwise. The bible paints a picture of God as a father, Passionate and Loving, willing to place he first and only blood son on earth to die at the hands of man for the salvation of his adopted children. Tell me he isn’t going to become angry and punish us for not following him. That’s one of ways a father raises his children.
These last three tie together so closely that it’s hard for me to pick apart. Jesus the punisher, Jesus the king, Jesus the warrior – I can go on for days about this, but really it’s not about what I have to say. READ REVELATIONS
Is your Bible an Earthly Treasure???
One of the recurring themes in my life is where I store up my treasure.
Matthew 6:20
…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
I constantly have to asses my wants to try and determine if they are a fleshly want, or a tool to build up my heavenly treasure. One thing I have never questioned, till this past Saturday morning, was my bible. I like bibles, I have many of them. A couple weeks ago I was telling myself I need a new bible, because I have a hard time reading mine when it’s lying too far away on the table. Now I am very capable of picking up that bible and moving it closer, I could also put on my glasses. My very favorite bible, which is just over a year old, looks almost like it just came out of the box, because if am near a computer, which is most of the time, I will use biblegateway.com rather than flip though the pages. So I started looking around with this thought of buying “Another” bible. This last Saturday while in the Excellencies of Christ class, I was looking at the bibles of those at the table around me. The only ones that seemed relevant were those that were worn out and trashed looking, the ones that have shared life with their owners. Yes I have bible envy, but there is a bit more to this story than that.
You see I had a revelation that the bibles we all carry around, the ones that we can physically hold in our hand with the leather bindings, and union paper and are printed with black and red ink, are just another treasure of the flesh, another earthly belonging. Now don’t get me wrong, the bible is indispensible to our faith. I am not trying in any way to minimize that, but here’s the deal. In its printed form the bible is of this earth. It’s when we read the word; speak out what is written there, that it becomes spiritual. When we consume the words and store them up within our minds, and our hearts, and they become an intangible thing do they become a spiritual treasure, a treasure stored up in the heavenly warehouses.
If you are here reading this message you have the keys to unlock this door. Don’t get hung up on what the cover of your bible looks like; get hung up on what it protects.
Its spring time and many people are looking forward to their spring heart challenges. Many employers are sending out the pedometers, and we will start counting our steps. Here’s my challenge to you, after your daily reading of the bible, whatever that may be, 1 page or 1000 – At the end of the day look at your pedometer and for every 1000 steps you have taken read one more page of the bible.
The bible according to who?
So, I have been very consumed lately with the idea that some people changed the word of the bible at will.
I had a good friend, and somewhat of a spiritual mentor, tell me (at least this is the way I remember it) that the things book of revelation had already come to pass, so held no weight in Christianity today.
This raised some red flags for me and I should have questioned him on this further, and truly wish I would have. He no longer speaks to me, which is truly sorrowful to me, because I believe he is leading others into a false relationship with God.
Here is kind of my train of thought on this. If you can remove punctuation from the bible and skew the meaning of one sentence, why can’t you remove a word or two? Maybe remove a sentence that you don’t have the ability to explain, or perhaps a paragraph that you think is useless. How about the book of Revelation, because we don’t understand, or it makes us uncomfortable? Heck, if you can do away with a whole book and justify that, why not just get rid of everything that does not convey your message. Why not make it say Kill Thy Neighbor, or, I don’t know, some other misrepresentation of the word. What I am saying is that by anything, and I mean anything in the word of God, you are taking it away from away from Christ, and making it your own. The bible according to completefaith…
We have to freely share the word, but I think we have to be extremely careful that we are sharing the word of God, not our twisted memory of what the word may have said.
For whatever reason, I jumped to the last chapter of Revelation today and look what I found. This is what prompted me to blog this today. Tell me it’s not the “LIVING” word…
Revelation 22:18-20 (emphasis mine)
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelations 8:10 and 11 – Bitterness
10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11the name of the star is Wormwood A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter
This verse stands out to me every time I read it. The strongest word for me is Wormwood. Funny, in a strange way, that that name means Bitterness. Over the last year I have seen so may folks fall away from a true walk with Christ into something else that it brings tears to my eyes, and in most every case it is due to the fact that they have allowed Bitterness to take hold in their heart.
There is another truth in this verse that I have not seen before. “…And many people died from the waters that had become bitter”. The living word of Christ often flows through his followers via dreams, revelations, prayer, deeper understanding of the word, etc. If we call The Word of Christ the Living Water, wouldn’t it stand to reason that if we take the word and filter it through a false doctrine of some type would become something different, bitter and hurtful? Turning it from living water to bitter water, causing people to die spiritually.
I believe that in the end times we will see real physical bitter water due to wormwood, but that there is also the spiritual aspect I describe above due to bitterness allowed to take root in our heart.
Into the New Year with Repentance
God’s word is coming forth in so many places saying this is going to be a year of momentum, a year of moving forward, a year of mobilization.
People this is going to be a year that will be written into the history books, and never leave the memories of generations to come.
As I read the word, and study the messages of those around me, I am constantly hearing a theme for the beginning of the year.
In the book of Revelations in the letters, Gods word through John is telling the Churches to repent. The Churches, the ones who are to seek higher ground are still in need of repentance.
I think, because of my Catholic upbringing, that I need to wait to “Confess my sins” and penance is somehow the key to beginning to repent. This is altogether a LIE, and misleading by the enemy. I believe that Confession and Repentance are fully two different things. Confession is from your mouth, and Repentance is from your heart.
Confession is between you and another person. Repentance is between yourself and God, it’s a sorrow deep within your heart, a longing to strip away what ever it is that may become between you and Jesus.
My wife shared this with me, but I am sure she will give all the credit to God.
We do not need to wait for the weekend service, or the next prayer meeting. We don’t have to talk to our church friends or spiritual leaders to start this process. We have every right under the blood of Jesus to repent of our sins. You do not need to continue to live in that way until the next meeting, but can be freed through try longing and willingness to drew closer to Jesus.
Welcome to South Dakota, Today is Abortion Monday
Soon Cold Steal forceps will violate a mothers womb, blindly searching for an arm, a leg, a head or body to pull apart. Another child who will never be able to give voice to the pain of his or her death caused by one trained to save their life. Some how this is justifiable because we have yet to see their face or hear their cry.
The fires of Molech and the The Hunger of Leviathan will rage over South Dakota today
His Heart Cry’s Out
So I have a picture in my mind of Jesus, in a field of tall grass and wild flowers, wearing robes that are a little gray and dingy, every day cloths used for work or play. Not the White Robes of royalty, but the rough heavy garments of a Caregiver.
He, Jesus is in this filed down on one knee, grinning nearly from ear to ear and a hearty belly laugh is coming from somewhere deep inside
He is surrounded by Kids, hundreds and thousands of kids of every color and language known to man, laughing and playing, rolling in the grass and just enjoying the breath of life.
I look into his eyes and see a deep sorrow and I understand…
These are the Kids that were lost before they were able to defend themselves.
These are the kids that were lost to abortion
He sits with each one of these every day knitting them back together body and soul, loving them and laughing with them into eternity while his heart cries out every moment for very reason they are even there.
God spoke to me through a dime on the sidewalk this morning…
So this morning I found myself walking out of my home away from home, which I lovingly refer to as fourbucks, and I see this dime laying on the sidewalk. I think to myself there’s a dime laying on the sidewalk, I should pick it up, I mean it’s money right, free money. Then I start thinking of reasons not to pick it up, it’s dirty, it’s only a dime, blah blah blah. So I walked on by this little shiny silver dime thinking my final thought on the subject was that I would leave it to bless someone else. That’s when God stepped in and a very specific thought into my mind. “Who are you to pick and choose which blessings you will receive”? By the time the subsequent mental debate had subsided I found myself getting back out of the car and going in search of the dime. Funny thing is at first I was unable to find it and I had the thought God had lifted this blessing and almost started to feel a little panicked but then found this silly dime again. I imagine God was laughing a little bit saying lesson learned.
Praying Like a Lion
There are those who pray, and then there are those who PRAY. I am blessed by knowing people who PRAY. I heard someone say that my good friend Gala roars like a Lion, and just a few hours later I prayed with her. Now she didn’t actually roar like a lion, but I believe if she did you would feel the hairs on the back of your neck standup, she does have a point where her passion comes to the surface and her prayer seems to come more from the heart then the mouth, or more from the spirit then the mind. There is most definitely a roar in the spiritual when she comes to that point.
I am blessed my friend Gala’s prayer
There are so many people in my life that inspire me in many ways. Boldness, Understanding, freedom, willingness, unrelenting, these are things I desire more of in my prayer life. Gala is just one of many, but she is on the font of my mind since Sunday. So Gala may God bless you today, and thank you for allowing God to bless me through you.
To petition before the Lord
I claim to be a prayer warrior, I claim to stand on the wall through the night and protect and contend for the innocent, I even claim to be faithful. Yet when the time came and I was supposed to stand at my appointed place and cover those truly in need on prayer where was I. No where to be found… I was so involved in the earthly that I completely bypassed my what I was called to do. I forgot, I let it go, I failed.
I am human, and I ask For the Lords forgiveness in this but I also commit to redouble my efforts in covering those involved with Vote yes in prayer.
Please know, that if you are a part of that team the word I have for you this week is to take up your shield of faith. The enemy will no doubt be flinging darts in your direction, but have no fear, stand tall and do not flinch because once you take up that shield the darts will fall to the ground dead and harmless. Do not neglect the rest of the full armor, but know that the shield of faith if vital this week.
God Bless
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