The Risk

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

I’ve had a song rolling around in my head for days. It’s the theme song “Human” (Rag’n’BoneMan) for the new movie “Thank You For Your Service,” (lyrics below), which we’re planning to see. I’m so glad to see all the ‘hero’ movies coming out that show us all the risk our soldiers, law enforcers, fire-fighters, coast guard, navy seals, etc. take in doing their jobs of saving life and protecting life.

 

I like this song because it expresses what our American heroes feel, well most of them anyway I’m sure. These men and women (heroes) protect us from who those who demand, wound, damage, terrorize, kill – till they get what they want. And what do they want?

 

How do you, the protestor, demand that people treat you with respect? You give people something they CAN respect and commend you for that does not wound, damage, terrorize or take innocent lives. You serve. You don’t take or destroy.

 

What makes you think that you with your protesting can demand tax payers to take care of your needs and wants with more and more entitlements? Yet this is what we are seeing today with protestors.

 

How do you make a difference for the good of society? You do good! You set the example.

 

But do people really know what is “good?” By the looks of things that are happening in America today there is great confusion about what is good and what is evil. What we need most is to look to the Lord Jesus Christ who came to show us, teach us, set the example of goodness, righteousness, holiness, kindness, patience, self-control, humility, long-suffering; in a nutshell: LOVE, God’s perfect love. He is our model, our teacher, and He is our judge because He suffered and died on that Cross, and in OUR place to forgive OUR sins and help us to overcome our sin-nature. God’s own Son was the perfect man without any sin or any reason to be blamed for the condition of our world, whether then or now.

 

This morning talking to my Father God the thought came to me as to “the risk” Jesus took in coming into this world to do His Father’s will. (John 3:16) Was there a risk in doing what He did? I couldn’t think of any risk but only GREAT GAIN in what He did in giving Himself to us. Did our Savior suffer? More than anyone could ever know or experience! Suffer, yes. Risk, no.

 

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

 

Jesus endured suffering to draw man to his/her Father God and live with Him forever; Jesus endured the Cross for the JOY of us in His kingdom forever. No risk at all. No loss. Not even in a physical way; for He appeared in bright bodily form to all His disciples after He died and was buried. He is the first-fruit of the Spirit’s resurrecting power for us; for all those who are “in Christ” by faith.

 

The passage in Hebrews 12 goes on to say, “My son do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son. Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” (vs. 5-7)

 

God’s Son Jesus Christ did not suffer for His own sin and rebellion, but for OUR sins and rebellion, and He certainly was hated and wrongfully accused; but that only revealed what was in the hearts of those who hated Him and accused Him. He was called all kinds of names and mocked for being who He is.

 

What about the risk our human heroes take in what they do? Well, they ARE faced continually with their own physical death in what they do, or at least being handicapped; the risk of their family being left to go on without them and how they will take care of themselves; the risk of making a regretful mistake that costs someone else their physical life; the risk of being legitimately blamed or wrongfully blamed. One thing is for sure: those human heroes need to ‘personally’ know their Savior God because then “the risk” in what they do is not so haunting or morally corrupting. If they do their jobs knowing the Lord; that He watches over them and their loved ones – they can keep before them that their Father God will fulfill every promise of His to them; as He will do for all those who are “in Christ” and serve His good purpose on earth.

 

Human heroes protect and save human life on earth, but God our Savior protects our life (even through these heroes) in order to save us physical for the day we ask Jesus our Savior into our life so that we can live forever with our Father God in our NEW bodies. We must all die, there’s no getting around it. But in knowing this we should ‘make sure’ we know where we will spend eternity after we die.

 

God our Creator and Judge has made it clear to all that there are only two choices: eternity with Him in His glorious kingdom OR eternity in the place God prepared for the devil and his demons. Hell is for all those who denied God’s amazing grace, rejecting His Son each time God’s Spirit came with the invitation to receive God’s Grace through Jesus Christ His Son. We have this sure hope:

 

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away. And the One seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.’ And He told me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. The one who is victorious will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.’” Revelation 21:3-8

 

That song that keeps rolling around in my head, the words are heart-wrenching:

 

I’m only human…Maybe I’m foolish…Maybe I’m blind….Thinking I can see through this…And see what’s behind…Got no way to prove it…So maybe I’m blind…But I’m only human after all…I’m only human after all…Don’t put your blame on me…Take a look in the mirror…And what do you see…Do you see it clearer…Or are you deceived…In what you believe…Cause I’m only human after all…You’re only human after all…Don’t put the blame on me…Some people got the real problems…Some people out of luck….Some people think I can solve them….Lord heavens above!….I’m only human after all….Don’t put the blame on me….Don’t ask my opinion….Don’t ask me to lie…Then beg for forgiveness….For making you cry….Cause I’m only human after all I’m only human after all….Don’t put your blame on me….Don’t put the blame on me…I’m only human…I make mistakes….I’m only human….That’s all it takes….To put the blame on me….Don’t put the blame on me….I’m no prophet or Messiah….Should go looking somewhere higher….I’m only human after all….Don’t put the blame on me….I’m only human….I do what I can…I’m just a man….I do what I can…Don’t put the blame on me….Don’t put your blame on me!

 

Wow! Now that’s the understanding we need today for our “heroes!” Pray for them, support them. Sure there are a few bad ones, BUT those who are ‘bad themselves’ are the first ones to accuse and blame all of our “heroes” of misconduct on the job. Those who are so quick to judge and accuse are the very ones who are guilty themselves. Those doing all the protesting against our law enforcers and military soldiers with all their obstruction, destroying of property, wounding and killing law officers and bystanders – are NOT your heroes in the least; they are the criminals with evil intent behind their protests; people who take from other people and terrorize until they get what they want.

 

So, let’s put the “blame on where the blame belongs!”

 

 

God is Judging His Own Children

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

Judges 19 and 20

 

In these days Israel had no king. The Israelites inquired of God for His leadership through God’s priests and prophets. They followed God’s laws. They were not perfect men with their obedience, like we are not perfect in obeying God’s Word, but God was faithful to bring them into Canaan as promised, and to give their enemies into their hands – as long as they continued to inquire of Him and do what He said. Why did God call the people living in Canaan “enemies?”

 

James 4:4 “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.”

 

With God there is no gray area; you are either with Him or against Him. If you are against His laws then you are against Him. If you are against Him then you’ll also be against those who are with Him. You are either in His family or you are not. Even if you have told yourself that there is no God – this makes you His enemy. You have come to believe what the devil has told you instead of what God’s Spirit has told you. The devil is a clever liar and he has been lying to mankind since the beginning in the Garden of Eden. We can see the result of this all throughout our sick and hostile world.

 

Here we see an account of what God requires of His people when any part of them become “friends with the world.” (The world is under the power of Satan; for he is called “the god of this world who deceives the world.)

 

The Benjamites of Gibeah were not guarding themselves from the false-gods of the land that God told them to overtake as their inheritance. An old man (Israelite from Ephraim) living in Gibeah came in from the field and saw the traveler (a Levite with his concubine) in the town square. He warned him not to stay overnight there, and invited them to come home with him. The leading men of the city surrounded the old man’s house demanding:

 

“Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him!” (Judges 19:22)

 

Imagine that; imagine that happening in our nation where we now have laws protecting the spread of homosexuality.

 

The Bible refers to “Satan’s secret” behind all his lies. What is Satan’s secret with persuading men (and women) to go against God’s laws; that evil is good and good is evil? We can listen to all the world news reports and get a pretty good idea.

 

In Leviticus 18 God gives a list of sexually immoral acts. One in particular is what this article is about:

 

“Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable….This is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.” Leviticus 18:22, 24)

 

You’d think God had changed His mind about sexual immorality, namely homosexuality, by the way God is being explained today by those who do not have God’s Spirit in them. There is a wrong thinking/belief in the churches that we can “tolerate” evil without evil overtaking us personally. We are told in the Bible to “endure till the Lord comes,” but “enduring” the evil day is not the same of “tolerating” evil. There is a big difference. “Tolerance” is the liar’s way of “progressively” getting what he wants done.

 

If you think that homosexuality is simply about letting gays live ‘peacefully’ the way they want, you are wrong. Behind this lifestyle is God’s ancient enemy who plans to use these poor souls in the worst way, as we see in both historical accounts with Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah still hanging to his faith in God, and with this old man in Gibeah holding to the truth of God. In both accounts, homosexuals wanted to force their wickedness on all the people till they either ‘liked it’ personally or they were ‘too afraid’ to say a thing against it and having to protect themselves.

 

God says about a society like this, “Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land VOMITED OUT ITS INHABITANTS.” (Leviticus 18:25)

 

How does the land vomit out the inhabitants who oppose His good laws? Diseases in one way. Natural disasters is another. War another. In America we have all of these taking place with a rapid increase.

 

So then, what does God expect and require of His own people? God’s people, the Benjamites living in Gibeah, had “tolerated” and then “compromised” what God told them to do. So God roused the other Israelites to come against their own brothers. God “roused them” by what the Levite did with his concubine’s dead body after the homosexuals raped her all night long when they couldn’t get to the Levite in the home of the old man. The Levite cut her dead body into twelve parts and sent them into all the tribes of Israel. (Judges 19:29) This infuriated them all to action. They assembled and said:

 

“We must DO something! So SPEAK UP!”

 

They assembled before the Lord in Mizpah armed with swords to hear from God as to what He would have them to do. The Lord told them to fight. Just as the homosexuals had demanded that the old man send out the Levite so they could have sex with him, here you see the righteous demanding their brothers to turn the wicked men over. But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites! So they went to war. The outcome was death on both sides, but the Lord gave the unfaithful Benjamites into the hands of their faithful brothers (Judges 20:28), and the city of Gibeah was burned to ashes with everyone in it put to the sword. When the surviving Benjamites saw “the smoke” that knew they were beaten. Read Judges 21 to see what God told the Israelites to do for their humbled brothers after this. God did not give up on the tribe of Benjamin.

 

The Church can learn from this, as to how we need to see what is happening in our nation and what the Lord would have us do. The Church is divided (similarly like Benjamin was from the other tribes) about sexual immorality and how to treat it.

 

We endure – not tolerate. We endure by keeping our own heart ‘guarded’ for the Lord, living the way God says to live, holding our children accountable, no matter what society does or what our country’s government threatens us with, by their own laws. We endure the ‘outcome’ of having remained faithful to the Lord: persecution. We endure the ‘inner grief’ of what we see happening to people giving into the lies and deception of Satan – as we pray for God to work in the hearts the truth and the salvation of Jesus Christ who loves them. We make ourselves available to the Lord to speak the truth in love to those He is drawing to Himself.

 

We do not tolerate (accept/allow) evil. We go to battle against it, and as we are told in God’s Word, we do not fight against flesh and blood as the Lord had His people do before, but now “in Christ” we can and better fight against the true enemy with our spiritual armor on for warfare prayer: the Sword of the Spirit of God’s own Words; staying in our battle positions each day for those being rescued by the Savior from the hands of “the god of this world.” God will give them into our hands!

 

Are we are so ignorant to believe that this is NOT God judging His own people with all these fires and hurricanes and other natural disasters, along with the past and ongoing diseases resulting from sexual immorality and mass abortions as well? Is God NOT judging our man-made laws that not only protect but honor what God hates and shames? The Bible teaches us that God’s judgment FIRST begins in His own House with His own children so that we are NOT judged along with the wicked on that Day.

 

So as the Lord’s people we need to first REPENT of whatever sinful lifestyle or wrong thinking we have that opposes the truth of His Word, and then filled with His Spirit we pray continually with our spiritual armor on (Ephesians 6:10-20), making ourselves READY for how the Lord wants to use us right in our own nation.

 

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people to fearlessly make known the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our Feet

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Ephesians 6:15 “…and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

 

Have we ever thought about the important role our feet play in everyday life? Our feet touch the ground whenever we are standing, walking or running and they are an extension of your legs, which help move you. They are the foundation of your body and keeping them healthy can help keep you healthy.

 

This third piece that we are to put on in order to be “strong in the Lord and the power of His might” has reference to our feet and shows that our entire personality is involved. Nothing is more important in the Christian life than balance. If we were to think through our life we would find that many of our troubles are due to a lack of balance and the enemy capitalizes on it. We must keep in mind that our Christian life does not consist of sections and portions, but our faith takes up the whole life, the whole man and we need protection at every point.

 

Paul, in Corinthians 12, shows us the unity of the body and how every part is important and we are to treat each member with respect. This is true with the Body of Christ, the true church. So just like the internal organs have their importance – so it is with the feet.

 

We know that in any physical warfare the feet are important. Soldiers in battle are always told to keep an extra pair of socks that were dry to be able to put on the feet in order that they might stand, run and fight.

 

Paul tells us here in Ephesians 6 that in this spiritual battle we are to have on our feet the preparation of the gospel of peace. But what does this preparation mean? A number of ways to interpret this word is: readiness, prepare, provide, equipment, etc. So, what does Paul mean here? The RSV translation brings out the idea of ‘equipment,’ so could this be what Paul is meaning here? We have the ‘right equipment’ on our feet to be ready with the gospel of peace. Titus 3:1 brings out the same idea. “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.” The word ‘ready’ is the same word in our text for ‘preparation.’

 

So does this mean that we need to be ready to take the gospel of peace to the places where the gospel has not gone before? Does it mean that we are to be ready to preach and to evangelize with how we’ve been equipped by the Lord? Yes, we should be ready for all of this, but we must keep in mind that the footwear we put on is for battle. It brings out the idea of being firm in our standing, confident in what we believe – so that we stand strong.

 

1 Corinthians 16:13 says that we are to “stand fast in the faith.” Faith here could be translated ‘the truthfulness of God,’ keeping in mind that God is not a man that He should lie, or that He does not keep His promises.

 

The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 2:1 that we must be careful in paying attention to what has been said lest we drift or slip away. The reason for the footwear is to make sure that we do not slip in the battle that we are in. Here in this passage we see that many of God’s people are slipping, drifting, sliding – simply because they do not understand or know what to believe. Are we ready to stand on the Gospel?

 

In first Corinthians Paul spends 14 chapters telling the Corinthian Christians that they are standing on and dividing over the wrong issues. Finally, in chapter 15 Paul says: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.” What are we to stand on? The pure and simple Gospel! The question in this battle is: Are we ready to stand on the gospel that is outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4?

 

We have propaganda telling us what to stand on. For example, the modern fads for today, or what the powers to be tell us what to stand on. This is where political correctness has come in. We live in a world where there is a tremendous spin or smear machine telling us what is real and what is not.

 

What Paul is telling us is that we are to have our feet shod or equipped with the gospel of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we are to stand on.

 

 

 

Righteousness

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Ephesians 6:14 “….put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

 

Another important piece of our armor is the breastplate because it protects the vital organs of the body. Often the Old Testament writers would use the names of different organs to express feelings, affection, etc. This is the reason why the breastplate of righteousness is so important in this conflict that we find ourselves in, this wrestling with the world, the flesh and the devil, because what we need to protect is our feelings, affections, desires, our will and conscience.

 

The conscience is very important. We see that Paul puts the conscience second only to our faith in 1 Timothy 1:19 “….having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected.” We see in the rest of this passage that this rejection of protecting one’s own conscience affects one’s faith. The Word of God describing it as having “shipwrecked their faith.”

 

The conscience is very important and the devil will attack us in this area, and many are held captive by the devil at this point. We also have desires and there is nothing wrong with desires. God has given us desires and many of them are good. They are part of life as well as who we are, however, what the devil tries to do is bring us inordinate desires, or to inflame the natural desires we have. Through all of this the will is affected and that is the reason why the breastplate of righteousness is so important.

 

What do we mean by righteousness? Are we talking about moral rectitude, or should it be translated as integrity? Or could this be a righteousness that is provided by God Himself? I think so. For example, consider the apostle Paul. He was a man of integrity as well as self-righteousness, but like we read in Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” So this is the breastplate of righteousness that we need to put on.

 

Another example of this is found in Luke 18 where the Pharisee talks about his [self]righteousness. Listen to what he says: “I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all that I have.” Yet it was the sinner that said: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) And the sinner went home justified.

 

500 years ago Martin Luther discovered this righteousness of Christ and by starting the reformation he changed the course of history. The question that comes is: What can we do? We can do nothing and that is probably one of the first things that we need to learn. This is why God sent His Son so that we might receive His righteousness, because God is pleased with His Son.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

 

One of the great verses in the Bible is Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

 

Now that this righteousness has been imparted to us we are to work this out in our daily lives. Doing this we will find that this righteousness protects our heart, our mind, our conscience as well as our desires, emotions and will.

 

It is important to see that the breastplate protects our emotions. Human emotions and desires are real and can be good, they play a great part in our life, but unless kept in check can lead us into a lifestyle that is detrimental to our being holy unto the Lord. We can feel so strongly about something that it can replace the rational thought. Praise God for this breastplate that protects us and keeps us strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

 

At the time of this writing we have just had one of the biggest gun massacres (Las Vegas, California U.S.A.) in our history. There has been no destruction like this since 9/11 with New York’s Twin Towers. Without knowing all of the facts – immediately we see coming out over the airwaves, through media, twitter, Facebook, etc. emotional responses exploiting the situation to back up everyone’s theory about their “political agenda.” This is the time for rational thinking, not emotional outbursts!

 

Those of us who know Christ have the breastplate of righteousness that protects the emotions so that rational thinking can occur and right decisions can be made. We are living in days of unprecedented evil and this is the time for the ‘sons of God to rise’ and be a solution and not add to the problem. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9) We do not need to act like emotional children. We need to act like God’s sons who are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!

You Shall Know the Truth

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH

 

John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 

Ephesians 6:14 “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.”

 

When it comes to the armor of God the first thing that we put on is the “belt of truth,” because the armor that is put on after is dependent on the belt. It holds everything else in place. But what is meant by ‘truth’ here? Some say that we need to have a spirit of sincerity and truthfulness in us, and this is important, but is this the “belt” that we are to put on, the belt of sincerity and truthfulness?

 

I know that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, but could the Word of God be the “belt of truth” as well? Comparing Scripture with Scripture seems to bring this out. The text above about truth setting us free in John 8 is referring to His Word of Truth and continuing in His teaching.

 

In 1 Corinthians 16:13 “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave and be strong.” The word ‘faith’ brings out the idea of the truthfulness of God: His Word. We are to stand fast in His Word. This is important because truth here is dealing with the Word of God; we are to be mastered by this truth because this is what holds us together in this battle that we are faced with, and that also holds in place all the other pieces of armor that we are to put on.

 

Again, I reiterate the importance of the Word of God and so we can understand why the enemy wants it out of the way. This is why it was banned from schools and is now becoming banned from public offices, etc. This is the reason why the enemy wants to take down the Ten Commandments from the public square. The battle today is a battle over the Word of God. The enemy will try to confuse us, create uncertainty to weaken and hinder God’s people in this battle. The devil is a liar, murderer and will do all that he can to discredit the Word of God.

 

Throughout church history we can see how the enemy is always trying to work doubt in our minds, just like he did with Eve when he asked: “Did God really say?” We saw how important the promises of God are, but this is where Satan comes to bring doubt. We must always remember that “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)

 

When Jesus closed his Sermon on the Mount, He brought out the example of two men and two houses. One built his house on the sand (without a firm foundation) and when the storms of life began to blow – that house did not stand. The other man built his house on solid rock (Christ’s teaching, the Word of God) and in the storms of life that house stood firm.

 

So, we must ask ourselves: What ‘belt’ do we have girded around our loins? Is it the belt of truth, the Word of God? Or is it the fads of today, being ‘our truth,’ or whatever the ‘power to be’ might tell us what truth is? It is of utmost importance to make sure that we have the right answer to this question.

 

We live today in a postmodern world where there is no absolute truth. A book written by Sharyl Attkisson called THE SMEAR shares how shady political operatives and the “fake news” control what you see, what you think and how you vote. This has become a billion-dollar industry employing thousands of people to do one thing and one thing only and that is to smear one another’s opponent and in the process – truth be dammed. So truth has become what people think it is.

 

What happens when God’s truth is cast aside? One: words have no meeting. Things made out of words such as our laws, vows, contracts, etc. have no true meaning.

 

Two: Values have changed. Sacrifice, loyalty, morality, accountability, has changed to independence, personal happiness, tolerance, comfort, instant gratification, and the right to make one’s own choices.

 

Three: We see that image is more important than substance.

 

Four: Character is not important anymore.

 

Five: There is no such thing as evil.

 

Six. We make decisions by following our heart, which the Word of God says is deceitful, no one knows their own heart like God. (Jeremiah 11:8)

 

Seven: There is no real story giving us the beginning and end. Nothing makes sense. Everything is in bits and pieces.

 

In this spiritual battle, we see the importance of the BELT OF TRUTH. It holds everything else in place.

GOD DOES NOT PREVENT – GOD PREPARES

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

GOD DOES NOT PREVENT – GOD PREPARES

God has set His laws in place, both physical and spiritual laws. He will not prevent consequences that arise from people going against His laws – whether laws of His creation, laws of His love or laws of His kingdom.

 

You can not prevent anything from happening out of what has already happened, nor can you prevent anything of what God says will happen in the future. The only thing you can prevent are those thoughts and acts that are both wicked and destructive – and with God’s help it is very possible. Why suffer for our own wicked ways? If we have to suffer let it be for serving the good purposes of Christ our Lord.

 

God prepares ahead for what is coming against His people who are trusting in Him and obeying His Word. He does not prevent what is coming, for it’s all within the process of His great plan of redeeming each and every one of us, and the future of mankind’s glorious existence with God.

 

When we disobey God – we suffer the consequences. If we repent of disobedience, the consequences still remain, but God’s grace will abound to those who repent and submit to Him in any case so that we are able to endure, mature and prosper from what we have suffered in life. This is how a true Father raises His children who will dwell in His House forever!

Devotional

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

This morning in my quiet time with God, these verse came out to me with a thought: “This is why we have what we have in America today.” Children brought up without discipline, who believe everything they are told by their teachers, the media, the government, etc. They are lazy, irresponsible and demanding; expecting everything to be given to them. Their minds have become resistant to the Word of God which would instruct them in how to be responsible, productive and able to serve and help others. Therefore, they a have a veil that covers their minds so that they cannot understand the truth.

 

Proverbs 13:24

Those who spare the rod of discipline, hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

 

Proverbs 14:15

Only simpletons believe everything they’re told!

 

Proverbs 14:34

Godliness makes a nation great.

 

Proverbs 13:4

Lazy people want much.

 

2 Corinthians 3:14

People whose minds are hardened to the Word of God have a veil that covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Jesus Christ and what He teaches.

 

Satan, who is the ‘god of this world,’ has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Lord’s Good News.

 

 

 

 

Take and Keep Your Stand

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Ephesians 6:11-15 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

 

When we think in terms of the warfare that we are in, the word ‘stand’ is very important to being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We are told that we are to resist the devil and he will flee. When we take our stand this is exactly what we are doing.

 

We saw that one of the ways that we can be strong in the Lord is to consider the promises that He has given us. However, what sometimes happens is that rather than standing on the promise that He has given we flee or turn away.

 

We have the flesh, the world and the devil that we contend with and God has given us three ways that we are to fight. When it comes to the flesh, Paul told the young man Timothy to flee youthful lusts. So, when it comes to the flesh instead of trying to resist we must FLEE. With the devil we are to resist and he will flee. Often, we get the two mixed up – we try to fight the devil like we fight the flesh and it does not work. We will lose every time. When it comes to the world we are told not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

 

In the Greek, the word to stand brings out the idea pulling ourselves together to be ready for conflict. Peter said: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”  (1 Peter 4:12) We need to recognize that trials, tribulations and conflicts will come our way. This is life here on planet earth until Christ comes and makes all things new. When these trials do come we need to make sure that we do not give in to thoughts of self-pity that come crowding into our minds and hearts, like, “Why me, Lord?”

 

We see this in Matthew 16 when Jesus asked his disciples who He was and Peter said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Later Jesus said that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer and die on the cross and Peter rose up and said, “Forbid it Lord.” What he was really saying was ‘pity yourself, why should you die, what have you done wrong?’

 

But Jesus rebukes Peter that this type of thinking was of the enemy – Satan – and then He said: “Pick up your cross and follow me!” Instead of pitying ourselves we need to deny ourselves and follow Christ. I would say that one of the greatest sins is self-pity, being sorry for oneself and allowing to enter into the mind thoughts which cast down what God’s love, goodness, care and His great promises are for us.

 

So when the problems, trials, persecutions, etc. come because of the spiritual warfare that we are in we should not be surprised, but also at the same time we should not be frightened either. The one who is frightened is the one who will flee. We are to stand. Peter said: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:8-10) Paul was saying the same thing to the Christians at Philippi: “…and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.” (Philippians 1:28)

 

In this spiritual battle or in any battle we cannot be half-hearted; we cannot be ‘straddling the fence.’ If we are uncertain in the fight – we will lose. Being doubtful we will fight badly and we know from James that a “double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.” (James 1:8) To be honest, if we find reading the Word of God is a task that must be performed or prayer being a drudge instead of a joy in having communion with the Ruler of the universe then I would say that we are already defeated because of half-heartedness in the battle that we are in.

 

We are in this battle to win and win we will if we take our stand and not give up.

 

So we are to take the position that God has given us. A good example of this is in 2 Chronicles 20 where Jehoshaphat the king of Israel heard that a great multitude was coming against him. He sought the Lord and said: “we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” Later he was given the instructions that they would go down to the Valley and told that they would not need to fight in this battle, but position themselves, stand still and see the salvation of God.

 

This is a battle between God and Satan and God will win, but will we; will we lose more than we should?

 

 

In a time like this

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

In my time in the Word (Judges) I read how the king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s question to him: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?” Jephthah asked.  (Judges 11:12)

 

For 18 years the Israelites were oppressed by the Philistines and the Ammonites because ‘once again’ the Lord’s people served other gods. So God “sold them” into the hands of their enemies.  And ‘once again’ the Israelites cried out to the Lord saying, “We have sinned against You, forsaking You to serve the Baals. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” Then they did right in God’s eyes, getting rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And God could not bear Israel’s misery no longer. (Judges 10:6-16)

 

God raised up Jephthah, son of Gilead and whose mother was a prostitute. (Shame on Gilead.)  Gilead’s wife had bore him sons, but they all rallied together to drive Jephthah away, saying, “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman!” (11:2-3)

 

So Jephthah fled from his half-brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.  Later, when the Ammonites were coming against Israel for the land of Gilead, the sons (elders) of Gilead went to get Jephthah (hearing about his little army of scoundrels)  in hope he’d be their commander and chief against the Ammonites.  Jephthah asked, “Why do you come to me now when you are in trouble, after driving me from my father’s house?” They promised Jephthah, with the Lord as their witness, that if he fought with them they would make him the head over all Gilead.  Jephthah brought it before the Lord. Then he sent messengers to the Ammonite king with his question as noted above.

 

I find it interesting how the king answered Jephthah about the land of Israel, which was fake history he was reporting. Jephthah knew the truth about Israel’s history of the land that God gave over to them and he recited it to the king. (read Judges 11:15-26)  Then Jephthah said, “I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against us. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.” (11:27) The king ignored him, and then Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, which he later kept with deep regret and pain.

 

Two things come out to me in this account. One: that we don’t need to make a deal with God; we simply need to be faithful to what God has given us to do, raised us up to do for His people whether Israel or the church of Jesus Christ; those who are being saved whether now or later.

 

The other thing that comes out to me is this matter of “fake history” being used by our enemy/enemies to overtake the land, whether we are talking about Israel or America. Those who are out burning our flag, kneeling when our national song is sung, tearing down statues, standing up for ‘illegals,’ etc. are simply ignorant and misinformed. They are being used to fight for that which is not true and not right; self-deceived and headed down a road that leads to their own destruction.

 

I bring America into my point about “fake history” because this is exactly what is being taught to children in our public schools and what is being propagandized by America’s enemies to both legal and illegal citizens who do not know true American history, nor the true meaning of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. There are all kinds of lies being broadcasted about America’s beginnings and founders who were true worshippers of the living God. God led those people to this land ‘for His purpose.’ Not only did God show them where to go so they could worship Him freely, but He saw a “people” that needed to know the Name of the God they worshipped, and what God requires of them as worshippers because Indian tribes savagely attacked and killed each other to take from each other.

 

The real enemy behind this is the devil of course, who uses lies, envy, slander, threat and killing to get what he wants. But when God’s people KNOW what they SHOULD know, the truth about history and the truth about the enemy, and they look to their Creator and depend on the Lord of hosts to help them fight their enemies who are working to overtake them (their land and possessions) – God will fight for His people who earnestly seek Him, so that they conquer and prevail, and give HIM THE GLORY. When man trusts in the Lord and gives God the glory – the glory of God begins to fill the earth.

 

Jephthah trusted in God and gave God the glory!

 

“Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gave them into his hands….Thus Israel subdued Ammon.” Judges 11:32-33

 

Jephthah led Israel six years when he died and was buried in Gilead, the city of his father.  Not any of Gilead’s sons by his wife took on this fight against the king of Ammon until their half-brother Jephthah agreed to lead them. They saw something in Jephthah they did not have, but should’ve had being God’s people.

 

What comes out to me is how we can be so quick to judge a man the Lord chooses to use because of his past and his ways about him. God looks for skill and courage when He uses a man to get something done for His people.  We are foolish to choose a man, vote a man in as our commander and chief, based on what WE think a man needs to be; what a man’s past and ways should be. We don’t know why a man becomes the way he is, but God does. God knew Jephthah’s past and how his brothers treated him. God knew his heart. God knows Donald Trump’s past and heart; and I believe that God raised Trump up for a time as this to defend God’s people, for one thing, and be like a dam holding back the onslaught of Christian persecution.

 

Besides, who among us is perfect and without guilt before God? Who among us doesn’t need the blood of Jesus to cover our guilt and sin so that our Father God can accept us as His own? 

 

So then it is very wise of God’s people to trust God with the man HE CHOOSES to lead us in a battle of any kind, and to continually pray for and support that man and his administration. Remember what was said of Jephthah and the men with him after he fled from his brothers? “Jephthah settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.” (Judges 11:3) God used them to defend Israel.

 

With all the fake news about President Trump and fake American history being taught and propagandized – we need to WISE UP and unite in prayer and support our Commander and Chief, the president of our nation. God has put him into office for HIS PURPOSE.

 

As Spirit-filled believers in Jesus Christ – we should know what is fake and what is real, truth and lie, right and wrong, and we should ALL be in agreement instead of so divided.    

 

 

Persecution of Christ’s Body

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

 

“Children are particularly persecuted. Persecutors know the way to win – is to win the new generation. Persecutors are terrified of the Bible.” (Quoting Cole Richards) So, is it any wonder why in America the Bible has been outlawed in the public education system. Is it any wonder that most Christian millennials (raising their own children) have accepted ‘false’ biblical interpretation? Is it any wonder children in the public education system are learning ‘false’ American history; truth replaced with slander and boldface lies about our ‘Christian’ founders?

 

When anyone spends time “with Jesus,” getting ‘intimate’ with Him in His Word, to know Him, and only listens to His Voice (the Holy Spirit) who gives only truthful testimony of Jesus Christ, they not only HEAR the truth but empowered by the Holy Spirit to LIVE out the truth. “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” Correct “hearing” comes only by the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of God Almighty – the FATHER of all peoples.

 

We will be hated and persecuted for “living out” the Word of God for sure but we will be LOVED by those seeking truth and intimacy with God their Father. Jesus Christ instructed His disciples to spread His Gospel of forgiveness, healing and life everlasting. Persecution is certain, but let’s NOT forget that in obedience to our Savior and Lord – there is perfect PEACE, JOY and FULFILLMENT!

 

They (persecutors) were astonished at their boldness in speaking truth as they shared Christ’s gospel; for Peter and John had been with Jesus Christ every day, intimately, up until Jesus was crucified. Even after the Savior’s death on the cross for the sins of the world, He returned to His disciples to show them the resurrection of the Holy Spirit; that those who walk with Him in truth and Spirit will be with Him in glory – forever. This was the JOY set before our Savior as He was persecuted and hung on the cross for no crime or sin of His own.

 

The first generation church grew rapidly because of their love for their Savior and for one another in a time of great persecution (love in action) and because they taught their children ‘the truth’ according to their teacher/interpretor of God’s written Words: the Holy Spirit. So be ready and prepared for the Lord.

 

The persecutors of “the BODY of Jesus Christ” (His disciples) are after OUR children without a doubt. We better do the right thing by them, for God will hold us responsible.

 

There is NO persecution towards “religion.” Religion is of the devil; man-made ways to serve false gods. The devil is the supreme persecutor of Jesus Christ: the only Faithful and True. Only Jesus Christ is hated and persecuted; for HE IS the only TRUE GOD in whom to trust and obey. Those who walk with Jesus Christ are also hated and persecuted, but will ‘also’ see Him face to face and reign with Him forever! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God and King Eternal!