Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Because the anger of God is coming, will you see it through the eyes of man or the eyes of God?

 

In the coming days His children must have a different attitude than ‘man’ has. They must remain loyal to the Lord. They must think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. They must be devoted to prayer with an alert mind, and a thankful heart. They must live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Their conversations must be gracious and have the right response for everyone.

 

For the Lord has said, “I am coming soon, and will do all the good things I have promised, and to bring you home. My plans for My children are plans for good and not for disaster, to give them a future and hope. In the coming days when they pray, I will listen. When they look for Me wholeheartedly, they will find Me.  Because of their new life with Me, they must set their sights on the realities of heaven, where I sit in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”

 

May we see correctly and finish what is ours to do – for the Lord.

 

Needed: Reformation – Chapter 7

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

SUPREMACY OF GOD IN PUNISHMENT

 

The “supremacy of God in punishment” might sound like an odd title, but one thing that we forget about God, or at least like to put on the back burner, is that God is a God that will punish rebellion.

 

1 Corinthians 15 tells us that there will be a day when all authority, dominion and power that does not confess Jesus as Lord will be destroyed. Philippians 2 tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  This is something that will and must happen for the good of mankind.

 

We all know from numerous passages in both the Old and New Testament that God will punish His people. “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.’” Isaiah 48:10, 17

 

We know from Hebrews 12:5, 6  that God will discipline us. “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’”

 

When the children of Israel were led out of bondage in Egypt they came to Mount Sinai where they received the TEN COMMANMENTS. God came down on the Mount before all of the people. We read that it was a terrifying experience. “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’” Hebrews 12:18-21

 

We see that standing before God was a tangible, terrifying experience. Why? Because their senses were involved. They could see, smell, touch, hear and even taste. Like Moses said: “The sight was so terrifying I am trembling with fear.”

 

However, in the New Testament this is not our experience. Our experience with God is not a tangible or terrifying experience. We come to Mount Zion and our senses are not involved. We come by His grace and we sense God’s forgiveness, love, etc. It is not the same experience that we find with God’s people at Mount Sinai.

 

We need to keep in mind that the God who met with Moses and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai is the same God that meets with us and saves us today. The God we read about in the Old Testament is the same God that we read about in the New Testament.

 

He will punish all wrong doing. He is a God of justice. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you.” And in verse 8 Paul says: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Verse 9 goes on to tell us: “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”

 

We might not like to talk about a God who brings punishment, but we need to understand that there is heaven and hell, and there is also eternity – which He has put in the heart of every human being.

 

Reformation brings us back into the reality of who God really is. In our day and age we have become very flippant about God. One of the things that Isaiah is bringing out to His people is that He is an awesome God. Several times God, through the prophet Isaiah, asks the question: “To whom will you compare me?”

 

We saw in an earlier chapter that there is nothing and no one that God can be compared to. He is above and beyond all. We need to come back to this truth and personal acknowledgement.

 

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Does Christ truly live in you? In the days ahead this will be tested, and if He does live in you this will give you assurance in the coming days. So what will you do when war, disaster, and disease come? What will you do when you are given a choice to either deny Christ or die, or watch your children die?

 

Then who is Christ? He is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and His supremacy reigns over all creation. He created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see. He holds all creation together. Not only this, but He has paid a full ransom for His children when He canceled the record of charges against them by nailing it to the cross. Everything He does reveals His glory and majesty, and His righteousness never fails. His word is trustworthy. What a holy, awe-inspiring Name He has!

 

So let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth, and you will overflow with thankfulness. You will not fear bad news, because you confidently trust Him to care for you and your family. You will become confident and fearless and can face your foes triumphantly. You will have influence and honor.

 

The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger because their hope that you could and would deny Christ – is thwarted.

Therefore, praise the LORD GOD forever, and remember that His arm has not lost its power to care for you and your family in the days ahead.

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

For the last 5 years the Lord has givien me the same message for California, America and His children therein, and I have passed His messages on. Each time the message has been the same: “Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing.” But no one listens, and now the Lord says, “Because they will not listen to Me or My word, and they refuse to listen to My prophets that I have sent to them over and over to warn them, they will drink from My cup of anger, and they have no other choice but to drink from it.”

 

So whatever happens in the coming days – His children should rejoice in Him. They must stay focused by forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. They must press on to the end of the race, and not have their view on the wrong finish line; one too short.

 

Therefore, stay true to the Lord, and let everyone see that you are following Him only; He and His every word. Since the Lord is coming soon, don’t fear or worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell Him what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience His perfect peace, which exceeds anything you can understand. His peace will guard your heart and mind as you live for Him.

 

So fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Be content with whatever you have, and remember that you can do everything through Christ who gives you all the strength you will need. For, we are on our way to the place the Lord promised us! Soon He will take these weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His!

 

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Because You are my Saviour I can come boldly with confidence into the presence of God. Because of You and Your mighty power within me I am able to accomplish infinitely more with my life than I think I can. By Your unlimited resources I am empowered with inner strength, so that I can understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is for me, and all Your children. Therefore, I must lead a life worthy of the calling You gave me.

 

Because of Your love for me, I can be humble, gentle and patient with others; making allowance for their faults. I must make every effort to be united with Your children in the Spirit. I must do all that I can to build up Your body Lord, so that we won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. I must expose those who will try and trick Your children with lies so clever that they sound like the truth. I must speak the truth in love, so that Your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

 

I must not live my life as the world does, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness, and have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against truth. They have no sense of shame, and live for lustful pleasure; eager to practice every kind of impurity. Because they have forsaken the truth the land has become a land of wickedness. They have filled the land with the blood of innocent children, making it a monument to their stupidity. When people stubbornly refuse to listen to the truth – there will be despair.

 

Lord, let all that I am praise You, and may I never forget the good things You have done for me and my family. Your word of truth has always renewed me day by day. Because Your word burns in my heart like a fire – I cannot hold it in! You have graciously ginen me the privilege of telling those who will listen about the endless treasures available to them in You.

 

 

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Son, let Me tell you a truth “Any nation who refuses to obey Me will be destroyed.” So why would any nation want to go back and become slaves once more to useless principles of this wicked world? How did I become their enemy? I became their enemy when they rejected this truth! When people refuse to listen to Me they will actually enjoy doing evil. The become good for nothing. Therefore, I will send on them war, famine, and disease. I will break their proud spirit, demoralize them, and confuse them. They will find no satisfaction anywhere.

 

I will knockdown their false places of worship where people come in and think they are worshipping Me, but have not repented of the immoral things they do. The leaders of these churches speak foolishness. People can not have My peace and live this way. They teach the people that they must be politically correct, and to believe that the Bible is not all true for you today.  I will punish them for their rebellion to My word, and they will have no peace.

 

To those true children of Mine, remember righteousness and justice are the foundation of My throne. I protect the lives of My obedient children, and I will rescue them from the power of the wicked.

Needed: Reformation – Chapter 6

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog, Michael K Dietz.

SUPREMACY IN REDEMPTION

 

When we think about God, who He is and what He has done, we must give some thought to the Supremacy of His redemption. In reading through Isaiah chapters 42-45 one sees the number of times the Lord shares who He is and how He is the only God.

 

One of the first things He brings out in Isaiah 42 is that He will bring justice to the nations. Several times this is mentioned. “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” Isaiah 42:1 “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” Isaiah 42:3-4

 

To me an aspect of this redemption is bringing justice to the nations. It is a two-fold act that will achieve this. First, we have the first coming of the Lord where the Gospel is preached and people are given a chance to respond. Secondly, we have His second coming whereby “the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:24

 

When I think of all of the unjust things that have been done and are being done – one cries out for justice, but there is no justice. However, one of the things that reformation brings around is an awareness of who God is and that He will not relax until justice is brought forth to the nations. He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth.

 

Another very important aspect of His Supremacy in redemption is that He is the only One. There is no one else like Him or above Him. Although our world is filled with many false hopes of redemption there is no one else that will accomplish it.

 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 43:1 “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no Savior.”  (43:11) “No one can deliver out of my hand.” (43:13) “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (43:25) “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”  Isaiah 44:22

 

It is obvious from these verses here in Isaiah that God only and God alone is our Redeemer. This is important because we do see from Isaiah 44 how a man will take a block of wood and use part of it to make a fire and keep warm, cook his food and then with what is left over he makes an idol to worship and say: “Save me; you are my god.” Isaiah 44:17

 

In our Western culture we might be a little more refined than this man depicted in Isaiah 44, but we still do the same thing. How do we use and look at money, for example. We use some money to give us heat in the winter, to cook our food over our stoves and we store it up so that when a rainy day comes, or problems come, we can say to the money that we have put away: “Save me; you are my god.”

 

Reformation brings us back to who God is and what He has done. We will begin to see afresh that Christ is the answer. We will again look to Him and no other. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2

 

Recognizing the Supremacy of His redemption will also give us a sense of urgency that this message is the only hope in this world for salvation. It will not come through our major religions, or from our governments that we so often hope in, but through the Lord Jesus Christ alone and always.  ONLY CHRIST SAVES!!!

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Son, let Me tell you a truth “Any nation who refuses to obey Me will be destroyed.” So why would any nation want to go back and become slaves once more to useless principles of this wicked world? How did I become their enemy? I became their enemy when they rejected this truth! When people refuse to listen to Me they will actually enjoy doing evil. They become good for nothing. Therefore, I will send on them war, famine, and disease. I will break their proud spirit, demoralize them, and confuse them. They will find no satisfaction anywhere.

 

I will knockdown their false places of worship where people come in and think they are worshipping Me, but have not repented of the immoral things they do. The leaders of these churches speak foolishness. People can not have My peace and live this way. They teach the people that they must be politically correct, and to believe that the Bible is not all true for you today.  I will punish them for their rebellion to My word, and they will have no peace.

 

To those true children of Mine, remember righteousness and justice are the foundation of My throne. I protect the lives of My obedient children, and I will rescue them from the power of the wicked.

 

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

God’s children must always stand for the truth. If they refuse to stand up for the truth, things will only go from bad to worse. Progressive thinkers will take over and begin to take everything you have. They will tell you what you can eat, what you can say, what you can do in your home, how to raise your children, and what is acceptable life styles. They will re-define everything in life, so that no one will know what is truth. Then when you question them they will say how foolish of you to ask why.

 

Soon when Jesus comes to rule the earth, His rule will be founded on justice and only those know the truth can live in it.

Daily Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Do any of our leaders in California even talk about righteousness any more? No! They have chosen wicked paths and said, “We do not need God.” They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right! These leaders have polluted the land with their progessive thinking, that is why the rains have stopped, and everything we have worked for will be squandered on a delusion.

 

God’s children need to unite and confess that we have failed to be led by His word. We need to change our hard hearts, and surrender our pride. Come back to God, and live by the truth of His eternal word.

 

Don’t join up with those who say that God’s word is not true for today. How can those who know the truth be a partner with this progressive thinking? How can the light of the word be around their darkness? What common ground can there be between the truth and their lies? Therefore, have nothing to do with them, and remove them from office. Don’t allow their filthy teachings into your homes!

 

When God’s children become united, and surrender their wills to Him, He will give us leaders after His heart that will guide us with His knowledge and understanding.  So if we truly wanted to return to God, we could.  Then we could say, “God’s power is working for us. Our hearts may ache, but we always have joy because of His promises. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”